An issue with the images….

Hey, everyone…

You may have noticed that some images haven’t been loading recently, instead just displaying a villagephotos “image not found” thingie.  This is because of a bandwidth issue that I will definitely resolve once my usage resets next month by uploading everything to a different website for hosting.

The changes will be taking place ASAP.

-Recca

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) UK, dir. Tony Richardson. Color/35mm/Panavision.

I recently saw this film because it features the two stars of my favorite film Blow-Up, David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave.  Furthermore, it has animated sequences by the incredible Richard Williams, who I’m a big fan of.  I was not disappointed.  It’s a solid war film and satire with some great animation and acting.    I’m mostly going to discuss these aspects rather than going for my usual full review.

The visuals are great.  This is a nicely-shot film, making full epic use of the widescreen frame in many shots.  Secondly, the animated visuals are fantastic.  They make up the opening credits as well as several transitional scenes, all done entirely in the style of 1800s political cartoons and engravings.  It’s really something special.  Here’s some images to give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

View all the images in an album here: http://img205.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=brig6.jpg

See what I mean? Pretty cool, eh?

As for the close-ups in that image set, those are just there to show you how different Redgrave and Hemmings look from their roles in other films. That just goes to show the power of good costuming and make-up, I suppose.
It’s not that great a film to be honest, but the animation segments and visuals do make it worth watching at least once. The film is rather long and jumps around – it can’t really decide on its tone. Yes, I don’t have much to say here. Nothing constructive, anyway. I just wanted to share some amazing images from this film, mostly.

trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFIkxAQCIM0 (it’s a pretty lame trailer, and it’s way too long. It barely shows any of the animated sequences!)
To make up for the trailer’s lack of awesome animation, here’s the opening credits of the film:

My “mandala” for The Who

I made this several years ago, and recently re-discovered it on my computer while cleaning out my art folder…

(c) 2008 Recca Phoenix

(click for fullsize)

It’s a “mandala” of sorts for my favorite band of all time, The Who.  The way much of their music and albums are organized sort of lends itself to the mathematical and geometric organization here, I guess.  4 (band members) is such a nice number, and it plays into many of their works.

Now for the explanation.

Obviously, the overall background motif is a British flag….because the Who were British and it has at least something to do with them.  Which leads me to the next feature, “MOD” at the center in a mod symbol, the R.A.F rondel.  The Who came out of the mod subculture and were originally sort of a “modsploitation band” called the High Numbers who wrote songs about mod stuff.  Moving outwards from the center, we have the blue ring of the rondel, the 4 band members as expressed by 4 songs showing the 4 personalities of Jimmy, the main character of the album Quadrophenia.  These songs are the “themes” of each of the band members: “Bell Boy” (Keith Moon), “Is It Me For A Moment” (John Entwhistle), “Helpless Dancer” (Roger Daltrey), and “Love Reign O’er Me” (Pete Townshend).  The red bars radiating from the center contain the names of the band members.  The “records” represent 4 of the Who’s most well-known/representative songs, “Baba O’Riley,” “I Can See For Miles,” “My Generation,” and “Who Are You.”  The lyrics of these 4 songs are written on the diagonal white bars that cut through them.  Finally, the 8 triangular blue sections in the background are the 8 best albums by the Who (which is obviously a matter of opinion, but most would agree with me): A Quick One, My Generation, Quadrophenia, Who Are You, Tommy, Live At Leeds, The Who Sell Out, and Who’s Next.

So that’s my little “fan art” for my favorite band.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Why You Must Watch “Kino’s Journey” (even if you hate anime)

After a long state of disillusionment with most anime, I found a real gem in Kino’s Journey (キノの旅） And trust me, because being a film nerd, I’m very picky about my films and TV series.

Many people dislike anime because they find it “poorly/cheaply animated” and “too difficult for non-fans to understand,” or they don’t like the exaggerated facial expressions and stylistic devices found in many popular series.  Many also complain of overly lengthy stories with too much “filler” material, lack of depth, and how many series are similar to one another.  “Film people” especially tend to dismiss anything not directed by Hayao Miyazaki without a second thought.

Luckily,  Kino is here to provide a breath of fresh air for all the jaded film people (and non-film people) out there.  Here’s my breakdown.

Why you should watch Kino’s Journey:

• Episode count and structure: Kino’s Journey is only 13 episodes and the structure is episodic.  No complex character histories and stories to keep track of, no filler, no extended battle sequences.
• It’s really deep: This series makes you think.  And not in an over-the-top preachy way, either.  It’s almost a type of existential wandering story.
• Simple but awesome: No over-the-top battles and magical powers here, folks.  The premise is almost neorealist in its simplicity: the two main characters, Kino and Kino’s motorrad (motorcycle) Hermes, travel around the world, stopping in each place for only 3 days.  That’s it.  But don’t let that simplicity fool you because as I said before, this series is full of psychological depth.
• Good animation and design for a TV series: Don’t expect the animation quality of something theatrical like Ponyo, but you’ll be surprised by the quality here.  It’s simple like most anime, but I feel that the simplicity works for the story, which is “simple” in itself.  The style is also really neat – Kino travels through a fictional, almost steampunk kind of world, so the designs of clothing, machinery, etc. are all very “retro.”  Check this out:

Kino and Hermes

nice background...

….see what I mean?

• Really good sound design: animation sound can be tricky because everything has to be created.  And oftentimes anime sound is just “there.”  However, in Kino, especially in episode 12, I noticed some very creative and effective sonic transitions and distortion.  By the way, the music for this series is quite good.  It’s got a sort of ambient-world feel to it.
• No weird Japanese-culture things: You don’t have to know anything about Japan or anime to watch this series.  Anyone can watch it.  Except young children, because it can be a bit scary at times.

Watch this show!  Try it out!  It’s only 3 discs (13 episodes) and will only take about 5 hours to watch all the way through.  Recca highly recommends it!