Movies

For those interested in Anime...

Click here for a great article that not only outlines a few soon to be released movies that will make waves, but also chronicles the history of Japanese Animation.

This was great information for me, someone who enjoys the movies/shorts/shows, but never understood much about the industry and how it began.

(The article appears in the September 2004 issue of Wired Magazine)

My question is how many people really quote movies well? I would imagine that a decent percentage of teens and even twenty-somethings would have a good handle on movie dialogue. There is no way I am the only one who breaks into an occassional movie line.

My sisters get mad when our brother is in town as we've been known to go off on tangents of conversation involving 100% movie quotes. Sure I may throw them in more frequently than most people, and sometimes they tend to be slightly obscure (both the quote and the movie they it is from), but I never do expect you to know them. Well, some I do expect you to know.

(My sisters both missed an Augustus Gloop reference last night at dinner...)

I do like, however, that I do get to watch movies with people on a more frequent basis when I quote movies that they have never seen. It's a nice way of indirectly finding out which movies your friends can't live another day without watching. You should look into it.

(The comic is Heart of the City)

So despite the fact that this movie has been playing around here since it's limited release began, I finally saw it on the night of it's national release.

The question is how do I start to talk about this movie. I guess I should start with telling you how amazing this movie is. I have been waiting for this movie to come out for a long time. This movie has been heralded as the movie that will define my generation. That I feel is an understatement. The beauty of this movie is that I can tell you that and I know that it will not ruin your movie-going experience. I can say that because I follow it with this: this movie will mean something different to everyone that sees it. I came through with my character defining laugh that annoyed every person in the theatre minus myself many many times throughout the movie, though the encompassing plot was not a comedy.

This is a compassionate tale of a dysfunctional family that through a series of tragic events may have found a way towards functionality. The movie more than anything to me meant hope. It was great to walk out of this and just feel good. Mind you, this was not a feeling of "boy am I glad I was not forced by my parents to take Lithium for the majority of my life" kind of good, this was the restoration of faith in humanity to make a story that had no explosions, no nudity, and plenty of fun.

Garden State really is just about real people. Sure the real people it's about need a little help, but this movie shows that who doesn't? There was nothing in this movie that was out of place. Everything that happened, even the few things unexpected, were expertly pieced together.

This was my kind of movie.

| Forum | Zach Braff's Blog |