Roderick

About Fish Mooney:

Since I rarely watch anime anymore, for me it's this insane injection into a pop culture zeitgeist I haven't been actively following. It's fantastic. I have few expectations on where it might or might not be going, I'm just enjoying the weirdness.

Ethically disinterested, surely...

The field of grass at the bottom is doing strange things with the perspective. It seems an almost Esscher-esque reversal.

I liked From up on Poppy Hill and agree about the nostalgia factor. It had a great sense of location, especially surrounding the student house. Me and my girlfriend are watching Yurikuma together. It's about lesbian bears, cute schoolgirls and sexual angst. I regret nothing.

Have little to say about Thor, but damn if that's not awesome.

Your post illustrates exactly why the term if so poisonous: all you can do with it is paint the movie in a deprecating light. Saying 'Oscar bait' isn't classifying a film, it's implying there's something wrong with it. It's dismissive, entirely negative. And yes, I think that's bad criticism, because you're not actually engaging the film for what it is, you're generalizing and, to paraphrase Birdman, which is ironic in this context, it's all just labels. On another note, I think Birdman won because it was good.

"They just made it for the Oscars." If there's one single piece of garbage criticism around, it's that. I loathe it and it's nonsense for a variety of reasons. 1. Why would that be a bad thing? It implies that the movie is somehow less good, but why? Because it's easy to win an Oscar? Because it appeals to certain ideas and themes, and somehow they're unworthy? Because Oscar films are somehow less good? Because they pander to an audience? Have I got news for you: so does every film. 2. Saying things like this is such a gross underestimation of the effort it takes to make anything, let alone a film. The majority of movies, most of all the ones that actually turn out well enough to be considered for an Oscar, are the product of passionate people sacrificing years of their lives to create something. Brushing off their creative choices as some ploy is condescending. 3. By all means, criticize a film for what's there, but don't give in to this. It's a lazy shorthand for disagreeing with the film's theme and/or considering it pretentious (in itself one of the more worthless critiques possible) or saccharine. Instead of elucidating those points with a thorough critique, the Oscar line is sneaky, it's a nasty little snipe at the film, something that sounds like you've 'uncovered' a secret motivation that dispels the whole thing. It's ratty and mean-spirited: "Ooh, it's just Oscar-bait."

The joke thing is, as with all humor, really about getting a feeling of what's appropriate, how far you can go, how much has or hasn't been said... and as always, err on the side of caution. Worse is, I think, the 'imitating bad dudes' behavior. Of course I've also done this, but recently I've stopped because a.) it was too easy, b.) the line between actual harassment and faux harrassment is way too fine. As the article says, it's self-serving. And yes, don't do that stuff publicly. I mean, I will do a hilarious Hitler dress-up for a poker game with friends, and brag about it on the Idle Thumbs Forums Feminism Thread, but I wouldn't put that shit online.

Last week I held a lecture at Dutch anime convention Tsunacon about the history of the shinsengumi, the shogun's secret police in Tokugawa Japan. I put it online, with English subtitles, so if anyone feels like a 20 minute history lesson with tons of pictures, this is the YouTube Video to watch!

Light saber whips in action:

What the hell, Birdman, how did you get to be so good? And when is Michael Keaton ever not going to be fun to see? http://www.filmadeus.com/2015/02/birdman-or-unexpected-virtue-of.html

That would be Wizzard? Check out their christmas song.

Would break a lance for Portrait of Ruin as well, but none of the others. When will we get a good 2D Castlevania on the 3DS?

Same, I got just tons of gameplay hours out of that deal. Metroid Fusion, the Marios, The Zeldas!

You're right, sorry! I had to choose what to focus on and since I have a thing for Jemaine I chose him and skipped Taika because it would've made the text too much of an info-dump.

I just saw the recent What We Do In The Shadows, and it was surprisingly funny! Well, leave that to Jemaine Clement. You'd expect something horrible and tired from a vamire mockumentary, but they just pull it off. Wrote a bit about it on Filmadeus.

True christmas is blue and cold like a gulag.

I've been pretty invested in Last Week Tonight with J. Oliver, since it's an easy 15 minutes to watch on Youtube whenever I feel like it. I watched the last, celebrity-studded episode of the Colbert Report. Man, some of those people were really awkward in there. Still, a goofy send-off for the character.

It's always a tough decision to dive into a new enterprise, especially one you know will eat up a lot of your time. I think the true metric should be how enthusiastic you are for this. You've been doodling on it for four years, you haven't grown tired of it yet... I'd say that's as good a sign as any that you should go for it (and finish HobLob ofc). So basically Storyboardo is the new Director but online.

Ah, Otaku no Video is by GAINAX? Interesting. I loved how in Aoi Honoo you see this whole gang of future anime movers and shakers as awkward dweebs. And especially Yamaga as a caclulating, powerhungry snake ready to exploit his friends for a meal... ticket! And I liked the ending to Dennou Coil, it felt pretty neatly done. Agreed on the length of the show, there was a bit of filler here and there. Great soundtrack, by the by.

Yes, do exactly thisss

This last year I've been reading the very nice Vinland Saga omnibuses and it's so good. Beautiful artwork (by the guy who made Planetes before) and a gripping tale of vikings and their conquests. Not campy, but both subtle and violent.

No, that's actually a fair translation. Protip: my young adult series is called 'Peanut Butter and Sushi', which sounds a lot better in Dutch than it does in English It is already no secret more