Watched "Pom Poko" by Isao Takahata. They are also Studio Ghibli production. All Ghibli productions have been of superb quality And so have these. Takahata made "Grave of the Fireflies."
This in itself should have warned me. But, it didn't. "Poko" like "fireflies" is an excellently made movie with a good script, nicely done animation, and a damn good English translation.
Unlike "Fireflies", "Poko" uses talking magical Raccoon Dogs (mistranslated in the English version as Raccoon rather than Raccoon Dogs) trying to protect their homes from the encroachment of human civilization. The time is the '50s in Japan.
Like "Fireflies", "Poko" is a damnably depressing movie that ends on a depressing note. It isn't about the victory of the Raccoons. It's more the resigned acceptance of the fact that the human encroachment will not end. Those who have the magic powers are able to integrate into human society by disguising themselves as humans. Those who can't, well, their fate is to become the rabid Raccoons who live for the moment as they become feral and survive off of human scraps.
All in all, a great movie. There was enough of a feigned happy end note that Uma liked it. Steph and I were unable to just find that happy end note.
Also, the movie uses Raccoon balls a lot. By a lot, I mean they are a source of their transformation ability for the guys and are used a lot. A lot. According to wiki, the idea of transforming Raccoon dogs is part of Japanese folklore. According to wiki, "Prominent testicles are an integral part of tanuki folklore, and they are shown and referred to throughout the film, and also used frequently in their shapeshifting."
Yes.
Of course, in the English version, they are referred to as pouches rather than...balls.
Oh yeah, The animation is also anatomically correct for the guys, at least about their... pouches.
Ball magic...
Moments when a piece of entertainment completely rocked you.
Moderator: Moderators
Look, it's Japan. I don't know how they had room for people on the islands, with as many crazy monsters as they had. There's one boogeyman that looks completely normal, except he has an eyeball instead of an anus.
Studio Ghibli is pretty prolific, though. They don't do ONLY the super-depressing stuff. I mean, they did Totoro, a show filled with more concentrated Cute and LSD than any other movie out there. Spirited Away is another of theirs that isn't super-depressing.
Though when you get down to it, they have two major directors--Miyazaki did Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Totoro, etc. The other one, Takahata, did Pom Poko and Fireflies.
So check the director.
Studio Ghibli is pretty prolific, though. They don't do ONLY the super-depressing stuff. I mean, they did Totoro, a show filled with more concentrated Cute and LSD than any other movie out there. Spirited Away is another of theirs that isn't super-depressing.
Though when you get down to it, they have two major directors--Miyazaki did Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Totoro, etc. The other one, Takahata, did Pom Poko and Fireflies.
So check the director.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
Ghibli also has a few films by other directors, mostly slice of life romances. Whispers of the Heart and Ocean Waves were both good. Only Yesterday was a bit more grown up in tone (less teenage drama), but it's a Takahata film.
Miyazaki did some irrepressibly cute movies (Totoro, Kiki), as well as some more violent ones (Nausicaa, Mononoke). Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away are in-between.
Miyazaki did some irrepressibly cute movies (Totoro, Kiki), as well as some more violent ones (Nausicaa, Mononoke). Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away are in-between.
"Whisper of the Heart" was awesome. I was surprised my five year old enjoyed it so much.
Most Miyazaki films are films that I've found to be awesome.
I was just surprised at Pom Poko. The film description on Netflix gives a mostly happy-go-lucky theme to it. I assumed it had similarities to Ferngully from what I saw of the plot.
The sexuality isn't something I worry about. I'm okay if my kid sees naked people. When it actually becomes sex or something nearing it is where I will lay the line. Also, Pom Poko has scenes where they transform into myriad Japanese monsters. I think one had an eye between his legs. I had noticed it but I filed it away as another Japanese are weird fetishists fact.
I really want to see "My neighors the Yamdas." It's another Takahata flick. So, is it as depressing as the other two?
Most Miyazaki films are films that I've found to be awesome.
I was just surprised at Pom Poko. The film description on Netflix gives a mostly happy-go-lucky theme to it. I assumed it had similarities to Ferngully from what I saw of the plot.
The sexuality isn't something I worry about. I'm okay if my kid sees naked people. When it actually becomes sex or something nearing it is where I will lay the line. Also, Pom Poko has scenes where they transform into myriad Japanese monsters. I think one had an eye between his legs. I had noticed it but I filed it away as another Japanese are weird fetishists fact.
I really want to see "My neighors the Yamdas." It's another Takahata flick. So, is it as depressing as the other two?
Ancient History wrote:We were working on Street Magic, and Frank asked me if a houngan had run over my dog.
Miyazaki also did Porco Rosso, which is my second favourite Ghibli movie. I thought Pom Poko was interesting. My kids enjoyed it.
King Francis I's Mother said wrote:The love between the kings was not just of the beard, but of the heart
The narrative style of Pom Poko was interesting. The first 20ish minutes was mostly done with a narrator. After that, it became different points of view. As I mentioned earlier, the kid enjoyed Poko quite a bit.
Porco Rosso was an awesome movie. I need to show it to the kid.
Porco Rosso was an awesome movie. I need to show it to the kid.
Ancient History wrote:We were working on Street Magic, and Frank asked me if a houngan had run over my dog.
I found it a bit lacking in pacing and short on the character development.
Come see Sprockets & Serials
How do you confuse a barbarian?
Put a greatsword a maul and a greataxe in a room and ask them to take their pick
How do you confuse a barbarian?
Put a greatsword a maul and a greataxe in a room and ask them to take their pick
EXPLOSIVE RUNES!
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nockermensch
- Duke
- Posts: 1898
- Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:11 pm
- Location: Rio: the Janeiro
All this recent talk about Ghibli and nobody mentions Laputa? That movie is like concentrated adventure.
@ @ Nockermensch
Koumei wrote:After all, in Firefox you keep tabs in your browser, but in SovietPutin's Russia, browser keeps tabs on you.
Mord wrote:Chromatic Wolves are massively under-CRed. Its "Dood to stone" spell-like is a TPK waiting to happen if you run into it before anyone in the party has Dance of Sack or Shield of Farts.
Fairy tales with commentary
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
--The horror of Mario
Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Avoraciopoctules
- Overlord
- Posts: 8624
- Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:48 pm
- Location: Oakland, CA
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/gr ... x-king.phpMaxus wrote:Fairy tales with commentary
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Josh_Kablack
- King
- Posts: 5318
- Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
- Location: Online. duh
Springsteen's Wrecking Ball. Somehow he manages still being Bruce while also channeling Johnny Cash.
"But transportation issues are social-justice issues. The toll of bad transit policies and worse infrastructure—trains and buses that don’t run well and badly serve low-income neighborhoods, vehicular traffic that pollutes the environment and endangers the lives of cyclists and pedestrians—is borne disproportionately by black and brown communities."
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Ted the Flayer
- Knight-Baron
- Posts: 846
- Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 3:24 pm
Still jazzed about seeing Eluveitie again in concert. Their new album is pretty great too.
Going to Paganfest 2012 on the 29th in Baltimore. I expect that to be an epic time, Turisas puts on a good show.
Going to Paganfest 2012 on the 29th in Baltimore. I expect that to be an epic time, Turisas puts on a good show.
Prak Anima wrote:Um, Frank, I believe you're missing the fact that the game is glorified spank material/foreplay.
Frank Trollman wrote:I don't think that is any excuse for a game to have bad mechanics.
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PhoneLobster
- King
- Posts: 6403
- Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
Oh haaaai thread!
Anyway after finding myself reaching for the worst movie I could think of this second I just referred to "The Room" somewhere.
It is a bad movie. I watch lots of bad movies, since I am a fan of making fun of them. And of MST3K and Rifftraxs and so forth. (Rifftraxs harry potter series, AWESOME by the way, made me watch enough potter movies over one weekend to permanently destroy my sanity, Jokes on you potter! I had already seen The Room by then!)
Anyway. As a happy accident I stumbled across the IMDB review page for The Room. It took only 30 seconds to make watching at most 30 seconds of The Room almost feel worth it, which is to say it rocked.
My favorite Review is almost certainly the top one.
That rocked me. But maybe it's remaining psychic trauma from my experiences within... "The Room"...
Anyway after finding myself reaching for the worst movie I could think of this second I just referred to "The Room" somewhere.
It is a bad movie. I watch lots of bad movies, since I am a fan of making fun of them. And of MST3K and Rifftraxs and so forth. (Rifftraxs harry potter series, AWESOME by the way, made me watch enough potter movies over one weekend to permanently destroy my sanity, Jokes on you potter! I had already seen The Room by then!)
Anyway. As a happy accident I stumbled across the IMDB review page for The Room. It took only 30 seconds to make watching at most 30 seconds of The Room almost feel worth it, which is to say it rocked.
My favorite Review is almost certainly the top one.
It's like sitting on an Atom Bomb that is about to explode!
I have now seen Mr. Tommy Wiseau's cinematic tour-de-force, 'The Room' three times. With each viewing, 'The Room' becomes more complexly entangled in and inseparable from my own life. I no longer know where The Room ends and I begin. It is, without question, the worst film ever made. But this comment is in no way meant to be discouraging. Because while The Room is the worst movie ever made it is also the greatest way to spend a blisteringly fast 100 minutes in the dark. Simply put, 'The Room' will change your life. It's not just the dreadful acting or the sub-normal screenplay or the bewildering direction or the musical score so soaked in melodrama that you will throw up on yourself or the lunatic-making cinematography; no, there is something so magically wrong with this movie that it can only be the product of divine intervention. If you took the greatest filmmakers in history and gave them all the task of purposefully creating a film as spectacularly horrible as this not one of them, with all their knowledge and skill, could make anything that could even be considered as a contender. Not one line or scene would rival any moment in The Room. The centerpiece of this filmic holocaust is Mr. Tommy Wiseau himself. Without him, it would still be the worst movie ever made, but with him it is the greatest worst movie ever made. Tommy has been described as a Cajun, a Croatian cyborg, possibly from Belgium, clearly a product of Denmark, or maybe even not from this world or dimension. All of these things are true at any one moment. He is a tantalizing mystery stuffed inside an enigma wrapped in bacon and smothered in cheese. You will fall in love with this man even as you are repelled by him from the first moment he steps onto screen with his long Louis the Fourteenth style black locks and thick triangular shoulders packed into an oddly fitting suit, and his metallic steroid destroyed skin. Tommy looks out of place, out of time and out of this world. There has never been anything else like him. Nor will there ever be. The Room begins with 'Johnny' (Tommy Wiseau) and his incomprehensibly evil fiancée 'Lisa' (played by a woman with incongruously colored eyebrows and a propensity for removing her shirt) engaging in some light frottage, joined by, Denny, (played with a deft sense of the absurd by Phillip Haldiman), their sexually confused teenage neighbor who is clearly suffering from a form of aged decrepitude. When Denny, who looks like the human version of Gleek the monkey from Superfriends, says, in a slightly creepy yet playful tone of voice, 'I like to watch!' as Johnny and Lisa roll around the bed in a pre-intercourse ritual revolving around rose petals, you know you are in for a very special movie. After a lengthy lovemaking scene (not to worry if you miss it the first time, they show it again in its entirety later in the movie) in which Tommy's bizarre scaly torso and over-anatomized rear-end are lovingly depicted over and over again as he appears to hump Lisa's hip, we discover that Lisa, for no particular reason, has become bored with Tommy's incessant lovemaking and decides to leave him. Just when you think the movie might lapse into an ordinary, pedestrian sort of badness, Johnny's best friend Mark, a man who's job seems to be to wear James Brolin's beard from Amityville Horror, shows up and electrifies the screen with a performance so wooden that it belongs in the lumber section of Home Depot. Incidentally, Mark is played by Greg Sestero, who, in addition to being described as a department store mannequin, was also the line producer on 'The Room' and one of Tommy Wiseau's five (5!!!!!) assistants on the movie. Lisa forces Mark, amid his paltry, unconvincing protests, to have an affair with her on their uncomfortable circular stairs. For no apparent reason Lisa decides that she is made of pure evil and wants to torture her angelic and insanely devoted fiancé, Johnny. Lisa receives pointed advice from her mother who casually announces that she is dying of breast cancer and then never mentions it again. But Lisa is determined to make Johnny's life a living hell, in spite of the fact that she, according to her mother, "cannot survive on her own in the cutthroat 'computer business'". But not before they recycle the sex scene from earlier in the movie where we get another bird's eye view of Johnny's ludicrous naked body. Denny gets into trouble with a drug dealer. Mark shaves his beard. Tommy gets drunk on an unusual cocktail made from mixing whiskey and vodka. Lisa lies and tells everyone that Tommy hit her in a drunken rage. A balding psychologist appears out of nowhere, offers some advice, then apparently dies while softly falling on the ground in an attempt to catch a football thrown by Mark. All of these seemingly disparate events build up to two cathartic moments. The first is when Tommy expressively yells at Lisa with the line 'You are tearing me apart Lisa!'. You will cheer at this line as you realize that the film has been tearing you apart the whole time. And the second is at Tommy's birthday party where the worst actor that has ever been born plays a unidentified man wearing a silk shirt who utters a phrase that perfectly describes the experience of watching The Room, 'It feels like I'm sitting on atom bomb that is going to explode!' The shocking ending will leave you pleading for some kind of sequel. See this film at all costs. See it twice. Or three times. Or as one kid that I met from Woodland Hills has, 12 times! See it until you can recite every precious line of dialogue this movie has to offer. Let The Room become your new religion and Tommy Wiseau your prophet preaching the gospel according to Johnny. My dream is to someday buy a theater and run The Room 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until the print disintegrates. I hope it becomes your dream as well.
I have now seen Mr. Tommy Wiseau's cinematic tour-de-force, 'The Room' three times. With each viewing, 'The Room' becomes more complexly entangled in and inseparable from my own life. I no longer know where The Room ends and I begin. It is, without question, the worst film ever made. But this comment is in no way meant to be discouraging. Because while The Room is the worst movie ever made it is also the greatest way to spend a blisteringly fast 100 minutes in the dark. Simply put, 'The Room' will change your life. It's not just the dreadful acting or the sub-normal screenplay or the bewildering direction or the musical score so soaked in melodrama that you will throw up on yourself or the lunatic-making cinematography; no, there is something so magically wrong with this movie that it can only be the product of divine intervention. If you took the greatest filmmakers in history and gave them all the task of purposefully creating a film as spectacularly horrible as this not one of them, with all their knowledge and skill, could make anything that could even be considered as a contender. Not one line or scene would rival any moment in The Room. The centerpiece of this filmic holocaust is Mr. Tommy Wiseau himself. Without him, it would still be the worst movie ever made, but with him it is the greatest worst movie ever made. Tommy has been described as a Cajun, a Croatian cyborg, possibly from Belgium, clearly a product of Denmark, or maybe even not from this world or dimension. All of these things are true at any one moment. He is a tantalizing mystery stuffed inside an enigma wrapped in bacon and smothered in cheese. You will fall in love with this man even as you are repelled by him from the first moment he steps onto screen with his long Louis the Fourteenth style black locks and thick triangular shoulders packed into an oddly fitting suit, and his metallic steroid destroyed skin. Tommy looks out of place, out of time and out of this world. There has never been anything else like him. Nor will there ever be. The Room begins with 'Johnny' (Tommy Wiseau) and his incomprehensibly evil fiancée 'Lisa' (played by a woman with incongruously colored eyebrows and a propensity for removing her shirt) engaging in some light frottage, joined by, Denny, (played with a deft sense of the absurd by Phillip Haldiman), their sexually confused teenage neighbor who is clearly suffering from a form of aged decrepitude. When Denny, who looks like the human version of Gleek the monkey from Superfriends, says, in a slightly creepy yet playful tone of voice, 'I like to watch!' as Johnny and Lisa roll around the bed in a pre-intercourse ritual revolving around rose petals, you know you are in for a very special movie. After a lengthy lovemaking scene (not to worry if you miss it the first time, they show it again in its entirety later in the movie) in which Tommy's bizarre scaly torso and over-anatomized rear-end are lovingly depicted over and over again as he appears to hump Lisa's hip, we discover that Lisa, for no particular reason, has become bored with Tommy's incessant lovemaking and decides to leave him. Just when you think the movie might lapse into an ordinary, pedestrian sort of badness, Johnny's best friend Mark, a man who's job seems to be to wear James Brolin's beard from Amityville Horror, shows up and electrifies the screen with a performance so wooden that it belongs in the lumber section of Home Depot. Incidentally, Mark is played by Greg Sestero, who, in addition to being described as a department store mannequin, was also the line producer on 'The Room' and one of Tommy Wiseau's five (5!!!!!) assistants on the movie. Lisa forces Mark, amid his paltry, unconvincing protests, to have an affair with her on their uncomfortable circular stairs. For no apparent reason Lisa decides that she is made of pure evil and wants to torture her angelic and insanely devoted fiancé, Johnny. Lisa receives pointed advice from her mother who casually announces that she is dying of breast cancer and then never mentions it again. But Lisa is determined to make Johnny's life a living hell, in spite of the fact that she, according to her mother, "cannot survive on her own in the cutthroat 'computer business'". But not before they recycle the sex scene from earlier in the movie where we get another bird's eye view of Johnny's ludicrous naked body. Denny gets into trouble with a drug dealer. Mark shaves his beard. Tommy gets drunk on an unusual cocktail made from mixing whiskey and vodka. Lisa lies and tells everyone that Tommy hit her in a drunken rage. A balding psychologist appears out of nowhere, offers some advice, then apparently dies while softly falling on the ground in an attempt to catch a football thrown by Mark. All of these seemingly disparate events build up to two cathartic moments. The first is when Tommy expressively yells at Lisa with the line 'You are tearing me apart Lisa!'. You will cheer at this line as you realize that the film has been tearing you apart the whole time. And the second is at Tommy's birthday party where the worst actor that has ever been born plays a unidentified man wearing a silk shirt who utters a phrase that perfectly describes the experience of watching The Room, 'It feels like I'm sitting on atom bomb that is going to explode!' The shocking ending will leave you pleading for some kind of sequel. See this film at all costs. See it twice. Or three times. Or as one kid that I met from Woodland Hills has, 12 times! See it until you can recite every precious line of dialogue this movie has to offer. Let The Room become your new religion and Tommy Wiseau your prophet preaching the gospel according to Johnny. My dream is to someday buy a theater and run The Room 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until the print disintegrates. I hope it becomes your dream as well.
Phonelobster's Self Proclaimed Greatest Hits Collection : (no really, they are awesome)
Phonelobster's Latest RPG Rule Set
The world's most definitive Star Wars Saga Edition Review
That Time I reviewed D20Modern Classes
Stories from Phonelobster's ridiculous life about local gaming stores, board game clubs and brothels
Australia is a horror setting thread
Phonelobster's totally legit history of the island of Malta
The utterly infamous Our Favourite Edition Is 2nd Edition thread
The world's most definitive Star Wars Saga Edition Review
That Time I reviewed D20Modern Classes
Stories from Phonelobster's ridiculous life about local gaming stores, board game clubs and brothels
Australia is a horror setting thread
Phonelobster's totally legit history of the island of Malta
The utterly infamous Our Favourite Edition Is 2nd Edition thread
OotS attacks the health care vote in #847
so funny!
so funny!
Play the game, not the rules.
good read (Note to self Maxus sucks a barrel of cocks.)
Swordslinger wrote:Or fuck it... I'm just going to get weapon specialization in my cock and whip people to death with it. Given all the enemies are total pussies, it seems like the appropriate thing to do.
Lewis Black wrote:If the people of New Zealand want to be part of our world, I believe they should hop off their islands, and push 'em closer.
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angelfromanotherpin
- Overlord
- Posts: 9745
- Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
Benderverse is back, baby! Legend of Korra starts April 14th. Be there!
Also, first 2 episodes for free on iTunes now.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/th ... d511441792
How awesome? So awesome.
Also, first 2 episodes for free on iTunes now.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/th ... d511441792
How awesome? So awesome.
I just got finished watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, it was really good. But the part I took the most glee from was the episode where Team Avatar watches a play about their lives, besides being really funny it was like a pre-emptive rebuttal against the live action movie.
Oh thank God, finally a thread about how Fighters in D&D suck. This was a long time coming. - Schwarzkopf
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Josh_Kablack
- King
- Posts: 5318
- Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
- Location: Online. duh
So the local bar has an "obscure games night" on Wednesdays, and my new schedule has me off Weds nights, so I go to check it out.
Unfortunately, the games get cut short because the local bar has also booked a band for tonight.
Fortunately, the band turns out to be shockingly good alt-bluegrass musicians. While bluegrass isn't a genre I generally seek it, it was an notable part of my childhood. Also they are playing in a corner of a small local bar with like a dozen people in the room, so it's an very close, unmediated, interactive experience.
The true moment of awesome comes when the lead singer's voice starts to crack and he asks if anyone's seen the waitress to get him more water. Nobody has, but one of the regular gamers shouts out her name and someone else blurts out, "Hey, sing a song about her"....and then they provide to improvise one. They use her name and parts of the layout of the bar in the song and the lead singer manages to stay on-key despite really needing a drink water, and ad-libbing lines about how thirsty he is.
So, you really should check out their free EP.
Unfortunately, the games get cut short because the local bar has also booked a band for tonight.
Fortunately, the band turns out to be shockingly good alt-bluegrass musicians. While bluegrass isn't a genre I generally seek it, it was an notable part of my childhood. Also they are playing in a corner of a small local bar with like a dozen people in the room, so it's an very close, unmediated, interactive experience.
The true moment of awesome comes when the lead singer's voice starts to crack and he asks if anyone's seen the waitress to get him more water. Nobody has, but one of the regular gamers shouts out her name and someone else blurts out, "Hey, sing a song about her"....and then they provide to improvise one. They use her name and parts of the layout of the bar in the song and the lead singer manages to stay on-key despite really needing a drink water, and ad-libbing lines about how thirsty he is.
So, you really should check out their free EP.
"But transportation issues are social-justice issues. The toll of bad transit policies and worse infrastructure—trains and buses that don’t run well and badly serve low-income neighborhoods, vehicular traffic that pollutes the environment and endangers the lives of cyclists and pedestrians—is borne disproportionately by black and brown communities."