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The scene where the plan to use a nuke on Godzilla is revealed uses a slow zoom out that is really good
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Oct 17, 2016 01:01
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 12:20 |
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Another excellent use of a static shot: when the Prime Minister's telling everyone there's no chance of Godzilla coming on land, and then the aide runs in from off-frame to whisper in his ear. The framing completely makes the joke.
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Oct 17, 2016 01:04
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Saw the movie, quite rad! loved it, although you can really tell that the Japanese budget was way lower than the American one in tons of places, very muted even in the scenes that demanded a ton of action. I laughed several times because a ton of Hideaki Anno's sense of style and camera choices really showed. Overall a goddamn good Godzilla movie, although to be honest I felt that it could've used some more Godzilla and less bureaucracy, but as a political satire it worked really well. I'm a bit sad though we didn't get a proper Godzilla atop rubble screaming mightily to the heavens, they were surprisingly conservative with that. The American ambassador though was really super bad and I'm surprised they didn't bother making a couple of phone calls to an LA talent agency to find an American Japanese person to spare us that horrible English. You could feel the enthusiasm leave the room whenever she was on screen. also, WHAT THE gently caress WAS THAT THING IN THE LAST SHOT OF THE MOVIE?!
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Oct 17, 2016 01:32
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Al-Saqr posted:The American ambassador though was really super bad and I'm surprised they didn't bother making a couple of phone calls to an LA talent agency to find an American Japanese person to spare us that horrible English. You could feel the enthusiasm leave the room whenever she was on screen. Her English was bad but that aside she was fantastic.
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Oct 17, 2016 01:41
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Mechafunkzilla posted:
I wish I could put that as my wallpaper, it was so loving good. Going back and reading early reviews of this, I can't believe how loving bad some are. The one from Kotaku is especially bad, going to the tiring "wahhhh they talked too much" poo poo, which is pretty much the first way you can tell a reviewer's opinion on Godzilla is worthless.
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Oct 17, 2016 01:59
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MinibarMatchman posted:...Kotaku is... ...worthless.
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Oct 17, 2016 02:22
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Didn't some of those reviews say the film endorsed fascism or something? I can't say I saw that in the movie myself.
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Oct 17, 2016 02:24
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Al-Saqr posted:also, WHAT THE gently caress WAS THAT THING IN THE LAST SHOT OF THE MOVIE?! That thar is the critter some of us like to call, a "sequel hook". Most Godzillas have them, and given the nature of the monster- any nature given, actually, as protector or destroyer- it always fits. If Godzilla is protector, he will be back because there are always new threats to Tokyo, society, or the children. And if he is destroyer, well... he was always meant to be the Nuclear Problem personified, and therefore can never be truly destroyed any more than Oppenheimer can unsplit the atom and undo Trinity. The genie is out of the bottle now, and our destiny forever after is to either live with him... or die with him.
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Oct 17, 2016 02:31
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Raxivace posted:Didn't some of those reviews say the film endorsed fascism or something? I can't say I saw that in the movie myself. It's right-wing for sure. Fascist is another story.
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Oct 17, 2016 02:58
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:It's right-wing for sure. Fascist is another story. Even then I'm not sure since the first military attack on Godzilla is what prompts him to unleash the atomic fire.
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Oct 17, 2016 03:03
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I dunno if I think the movie is right-wing (Or perhaps how far to the right I think it is, if we can even apply this kind of binary political divide to a Japanese film). It seems kind of ambivalent to me- I think of the government characters in the beginning for example. They're incompetent when it comes to handling the unimaginable threat of Godzilla, but none of them seem like bad people. They seem to genuinely care about helping as many citizens as they possibly can.
Raxivace fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Oct 17, 2016 |
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Oct 17, 2016 03:15
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Well, the prime minister is incinerated essentially as punishment for being concerned about collateral damage (literally, for not making to order to blow away an old man carrying his disabled wife) and for allowing foreign powers to infringe on Japan's sovereignty. That's quite some subtext, and I understand how people might view the film as having right-wing ideology.
Mechafunkzilla fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Oct 17, 2016 |
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Oct 17, 2016 03:41
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The movie ends with the two love interests sarcastically conspiring to create a globalist, neoliberal equivalent of the Clinton dynasty. There are definitely fascist undertones to Shin Gojira, but these are juxtaposed with a "monument" made of immolated citizens. It's no Pacific Rim, that's for sure.
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Oct 17, 2016 03:51
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This is problematized by the military attacks without concern for collateral damage being ineffective and the solution to the problem being a multinational cooperative effort, is the thing. The film's protagonist is right-wing for sure, but the film itself is a lot further to the left than he is.
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Oct 17, 2016 03:51
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What the film is really about is Japan reprocessing its national trauma from having brought tremendous ruin upon themselves during WWII. Godzilla is an avatar of that unresolved shame from historical transgressions; however, this shameful past is contextualized only in terms of how the Japanese suffered and were failed by their government. He's not the spirit of Nanjing or Pearl Harbor come to seek revenge for unacknowledged crimes. There's absolutely a nationalist bent to the movie in that sense. The bureaucracy's obsession with formality and legality is demonstrative of an unhealthy fear of self-determination borne from the hubris of 1941, and is is rectified by an honest reckoning with the past that necessarily destroys the entire current power structure. The protagonist thinks it's ambition and self-interest that guides his predecessors' actions, but he's wrong; he's just too young to remember why they're afraid of wielding power with confidence. "Bring me people with balls", he says. An interesting read is that Anno is basically saying that post-WWII Japan is like the Weimar Republic, and Godzilla represents an ascendant fascist backlash. When Godzilla first appears, the masses rally outside of government buildings, chanting his name loudly enough they can hear it inside even as they scramble to manage the crisis at hand. Creating a sense of self-worth through industrial innovation, affirming sovereignty, and devotion to collectivism is enough to keep the beast at bay -- temporarily. Mechafunkzilla fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Oct 17, 2016 |
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Oct 17, 2016 04:07
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Mechafunkzilla posted:The bureaucracy's obsession with formality and legality is demonstrative of an unhealthy fear of self-determination borne from the hubris of 1941, and is is rectified by an honest reckoning with the past that necessarily destroys the entire current power structure. On that note, "do what you will" is a such a great line. in this regard, since it's a call for the government to take responsibility. No one else is going to tell them how to respond. They're absolutely free to decide on their own how best to handle that situation, and that freedom is terrifying. It could also be a taunt: go ahead, give Godzilla your best shot! Finally, it's suiting last words (quoting occultist Aleister Crowley) to have before summoning a demon. resurgam40 posted:And if he is destroyer, well... he was always meant to be the Nuclear Problem personified, and therefore can never be truly destroyed any more than Oppenheimer can unsplit the atom and undo Trinity. The genie is out of the bottle now, and our destiny forever after is to either live with him... or die with him. Mankind must learn to coexist with Godzilla. Schwarzwald fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Oct 17, 2016 |
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Oct 17, 2016 04:31
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Mechafunkzilla posted:Well, the prime minister is incinerated essentially as punishment for being concerned about collateral damage (literally, for not making to order to blow away an old man carrying his disabled wife) and for allowing foreign powers to infringe on Japan's sovereignty. That's quite some subtext, and I understand how people might view the film as having right-wing ideology. Old guy was only somewhat endanger of being blown up. Those anti-tank missiles would have probably had a similar effect on him as the bunker-busters bombs the USAF dropped on it with the added benefit of maybe actually killing him.
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Oct 17, 2016 04:36
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K. Waste posted:The movie ends with the two love interests sarcastically conspiring to create a globalist, neoliberal equivalent of the Clinton dynasty. There are definitely fascist undertones to Shin Gojira, but these are juxtaposed with a "monument" made of immolated citizens. It's no Pacific Rim, that's for sure. They aren't just "immolated citizens" or casualties of war -- they've become twisted, nightmarish things, bursting forth among a host of fanged maws. Atonement means being devoured. If the sins of the past were to truly catch up to us, that reckoning would destroy the world. The only option is to try and keep it frozen in the past -- but it isn't going away, we can only try and outpace it. Mechafunkzilla fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Oct 17, 2016 |
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Oct 17, 2016 04:38
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Specifically, the target of the film's satire is that Japan's post-war occupation and humiliation by the Allied superpowers persists only as to perpetuate their infatuated desire to participate in contemporary, globalist, "legitimate"/"legal" imperialism. As Mechafunk points out, this humiliation does not yet have anything to do with Japan's own imperialist atrocities. Rather, the characters are also burdened with remembering their proud, empiric history - with having this self-infatuated desire to emulate the successful, bureaucratic imperialism of the now, also, post-Cold War superpowers.Mechafunkzilla posted:They aren't just "immolated citizens" or casualties of war -- they've become twisted, nightmarish things, bursting forth among a host of fanged maws. Atonement means being devoured. Right. The imagery even seems to be an overt callback to Godzilla vs. Hedorah.
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Oct 17, 2016 04:48
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Uncle Boogeyman posted:That's what I was gonna say too You should watch Evangelion either way. If for no other reason because I want to see CineD regulars weigh in on it even if they hate it.
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Oct 17, 2016 04:53
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:You should watch Evangelion either way. No you shouldn't. What makes Shin Godzilla such a success is that it is so good when Evangelion was such a steaming pile of horse poo poo. Seriously it's a week of my life I will never get back and I greatly regret it. Just know Shin is great, Evangelion is not and you'll be fine.
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Oct 17, 2016 05:00
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gfanikf posted:No you shouldn't. What makes Shin Godzilla such a success is that it is so good when Evangelion was such a steaming pile of horse poo poo. Seriously it's a week of my life I will never get back and I greatly regret it. Just know Shin is great, Evangelion is not and you'll be fine. Did Anno kill your dog
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Oct 17, 2016 05:07
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Eva is pretty good. Don't expect the exact same thing as Shin Godzila though. There are similar elements but Anno was a lot younger and a lot more depressed when he made Eva.
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Oct 17, 2016 05:08
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Uncle Boogeyman posted:That's what I was gonna say too It's one of those things that I'd say is worth giving a fair shot.
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Oct 17, 2016 05:11
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gfanikf posted:No you shouldn't. What makes Shin Godzilla such a success is that it is so good when Evangelion was such a steaming pile of horse poo poo. Seriously it's a week of my life I will never get back and I greatly regret it. Just know Shin is great, Evangelion is not and you'll be fine. I think you're incredibly wrong, but I'm also interested in hearing you explain why. We don't even have to argue about it if you'd rather not.
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Oct 17, 2016 05:18
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gfanikf posted:No you shouldn't. What makes Shin Godzilla such a success is that it is so good when Evangelion was such a steaming pile of horse poo poo. Seriously it's a week of my life I will never get back and I greatly regret it. Just know Shin is great, Evangelion is not and you'll be fine. hmmm, nah
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Oct 17, 2016 06:12
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I mossed most of the static camera talk, but to me it felt like another film about a monster that dug at its homeland's political anxieties: I Stand Alone.
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Oct 17, 2016 07:05
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Mechafunkzilla posted:They aren't just "immolated citizens" or casualties of war -- they've become twisted, nightmarish things, bursting forth among a host of fanged maws. Atonement means being devoured. Actually, that's not at all what they were. They were Godzilla. There is that bit where the clump of Shin drops to the ground followed by the researchers reacting with amazement that it must be how it reproduces, and that it can "evolve" smaller forms. Also, their heads and hands are still very monstrous. I'm sure you can come up with an interesting new theory about Godzilla's "new form" looking humanoid.
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Oct 17, 2016 13:45
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There was a really nice breath of fresh air in the ending where the room just sighs in relief, instead of jumping up and celebrating . It rams home how exhausting and terrifying it all was. Seeing Godzilla as an unstoppable force instead of smart, big monster yet again was really, really excelleny. Anno directed the hell out of this.
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Oct 17, 2016 13:54
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People keep saying the protagonist of the film is right-wing, or fascist. As far as I can tell, though he's not. Ascribing any political definition to his action, other than maybe as a symbol of hubris, seems meaningless.
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Oct 17, 2016 16:50
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Nationalism in Japan is a thing that exists. The poster ascribing him to the Komeito is hilarious as hell, though. I mean, not to be a negative Nancy or anything, but Godzilla movies are never subtle in their metaphors.
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Oct 17, 2016 16:52
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Choco1980 posted:Actually, that's not at all what they were. They were Godzilla. There is that bit where the clump of Shin drops to the ground followed by the researchers reacting with amazement that it must be how it reproduces, and that it can "evolve" smaller forms. Also, their heads and hands are still very monstrous. I'm sure you can come up with an interesting new theory about Godzilla's "new form" looking humanoid. I wasn't talking about a diegetic explanation for why his tail looks like that.
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Oct 17, 2016 16:56
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Mechafunkzilla posted:I wasn't talking about a diegetic explanation for why his tail looks like that. I'm glad we were all ashamed of our words and deeds for questioning the phallic nature of his tail, when it turns out it actually spurts the demon seed of the idiot god
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Oct 17, 2016 18:07
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:I think you're incredibly wrong, but I'm also interested in hearing you explain why. We don't even have to argue about it if you'd rather not. All the human drama was mind numbing crap about miserable/horrible people who I didn't care about and their personal lives. Robot stuff was fine. That's what makes Shin Godzilla so great...it doesn't have any of the human drama I hated...along with being a fantastic movie.
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Oct 17, 2016 18:34
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gfanikf posted:All the human drama was mind numbing crap about miserable people who I didn't care about and their personal lives. Robot stuff was fine. Tuxedo, did you get what you want out of this? I did. 
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Oct 17, 2016 18:35
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Phone posted:Tuxedo, did you get what you want out of this? I did. Yeah, my curiosity has been completely sated.
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Oct 17, 2016 19:11
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SEX HAVER 40000 posted:I mossed most of the static camera talk, but to me it felt like another film about a monster that dug at its homeland's political anxieties: I Stand Alone. Now there's an interesting comparison.
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Oct 18, 2016 02:22
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I saw the film last night, and god drat was it great. For me, I've always loved the two styles of Godzilla more as they approached the extremes on each end. So I love the outright superheroic Godzilla, and with this one, I think I've got a new standard for the 'unstoppable god of death and nightmares' on the other end. Almost every scene with Godzilla gave me chills, and the fire vomit into particle beam scene was so powerful, it'll stick in my brain for years. There were only about 30 people in the theater, but everyone loved the political satire, with a lot of laughs at various absurdities like the note passing contradicting previous assertions, unnecessary political jockeying, or dumb bureaucratic bullshit. I definitely loved those scenes, since without them, it all would have been a bit too bleak, and it broke up the tension nicely. Also I do think the little derp babyzilla was cute, but it's a testament to the film that they made it so unnerving in actual movement.
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Oct 18, 2016 16:15
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ACES CURE PLANES posted:Also I do think the little derp babyzilla was cute, but it's a testament to the film that they made it so unnerving in actual movement. 
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Oct 18, 2016 16:25
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 12:20 |
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Hahaha. That's awesome.
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Oct 18, 2016 16:45
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