VERSUS THE SCARECROW EPISODE 16: In 3D?!. I decided to challenge myself and really open the doors of my film knowledge and take on “The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide”. It’s 808 pages of movies and movie reviews from some of the most knowledgeable movie people you don’t know. It’s a book put together by a staff that praises, and destroys, some of our favorites and not so favorites. You can read the rest of my series here.
Just a quick refresher: each episode, I’m going to tackle three films from three different categories. Two films will be films I’ve never seen before and one will be one I’ve seen before or own. For the new films, well, new to me, I’m going to review them like a typical FTS review using the TOAST Rating system. But, for the films I’ve seen, I’m going give a quick paragraph or two about why I like or don’t like the film. We’ll try to include the poster and trailer for each film. “….and here. We. Go!”
Well, not really. But I have yet to talk about animated films on Versus the Scarecrow so I’m dedicating an entire episode to them! This week I’ll be taking a look at the whimsical odyssey that is Spirited Away, the surrealist stop-motion film Alice, and I’ll reflect on Katsuhiro Otomo’s groundbreaking film Akira.
Akira (1988) Directed by Katsuhiro Ôtomo. Starring: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama. IMDB says: “A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psionic psychopath that only two kids and a group of psionics can stop.”
“Kanedaaaa!”
Whenever I would roam the aisles of Barnes and Nobles or Boarders, I was always looking at the art. What jumped out at me? What piqued me interest? I didn’t even care to read the description half the time. But now that I’m older, I read the descriptions. Nowadays with film, most of the artwork on the cover is a few faces of the stars, and maybe a hint or two at the plot. They’re not as intriguing or mysterious as they used to be. But one that always stood out to me was the artwork for Akira. It was simple, but kinda bad ass too. It was just a guy, in a red leather jacket, walking back to his motorcycle and underneath was the word “Akira” semi-covered by red Japanese lettering.
I was in college (07, maybe 08) walking through a Blockbuster and I saw it in the 99 cent rental section. There was my chance! I remember having no idea what to expect. I asked around campus and no one knew what I was talking about. I didn’t bother looking on the internet because here it was in my hand! Why waste another second! The popcorn was popped. The Pepsi was cold. My girlfriend at the time was ignored, and my discovery of Akira began. I remember being blown away by the visuals and how they had this… indescribable look to them. I realize now that look is called anime and is not as uncommon as I think it is. But regardless, the feeling of discovering something so new was riveting and I remember finishing the film and instantly rushing to Wikipedia and IMDB to read as much as I could about it. Then I discovered it was based on the Manga written by the films director, and that the film was only based on the first half of the series. I found that, at the time, finding those books was harder than I thought and my persistence waned. I still have interest in reading the books, I just need to be more persistent in taking the time to find them and read them.
In 2011, I was living in a city in the southern part of Louisiana. In that city, about a 15 minute walk from my house, was the Prytania theatre. This theatre had midnight movies and it just so happened that one weekend they were showing Akira. So my roommate and I decided to go and it was like watching the film for the first time. Colors were more vibrant, the sound was more entrancing, but that feeling of discovering something new was still there. As I walked home with my roommate, we talked about the film and our interpretations of it, he discussed his views at length, and yes, I listened, but quietly I was thinking to myself, “man, I gotta get the poster for that movie.”
Be sure to read the rest of episode 16 where I reviewed Spirited Away and Alice. If you’re interested in more, you can find the rest of the Versus The Scarecrow series here.