Book 2: The Guru / The Crossroads of Destiny

The Crossroads of Destiny is just, the coolest name of anything ever. Second place is probably Sons of Destiny.

If you don't know what I'm talking about re: The latter, you will.

Anyway, Book 2 finale. Took us long enough, hasn't it.

The episode already starts out in a pretty uncanny way; Zuko has a positive attitude.

Can't relate.

#44: Chronicle

Gosh, I wonder what Josh Trank followed up this near masterpiece of a film with. 

This is a fantastic (ha), and pretty heartbreaking movie. The first time I saw it, being in a fairly depressed mindset, I was seriously shaken and it took me a week to watch another movie.

There is an interesting balance between the folly of youth and showing a sensible and sensitive side to young men.

It really should have been an anthology movie...I would say "Like Cloverfield," but haven't we seen how that works out? Not so great.

Sometimes, Sci-Fi just has to stand alone.

The hand-held camera aspect is pretty cool, and on rare occasion will the tables turn and have someone have a camera on Andrew, the lead character.

In this day and age, it takes a lot for me to feel sad about the fates of men, especially white men, but
this movie can be easily summed up as "What happens depressed people get superpowers and it doesn't fix your problems."

#43: Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension

A late - minute entry that breaks my One-Word Title rule by a long shot.

If you know the basics of the show, you can follow along pretty easily, luckily a lot of jokes land and stand outside of the basics besides some visual coding gags that have been long-running in media ("The bully knows about philosophers? Shocking!")

There's less music than in normal episodes of the show. I thought this was the set with the song Phinedroids and Ferbots but apparently not.

It's funny but not special. It doesn't even get a serious animation bump.

#42: Stoker

Things happen because fuck you.

In retrospect, maybe movie 42 of the year should have been ... 42.

I feel the same way about this movie that I did about Lady Bird and The Killing of A Sacred Deer - they exist. This is a bit less creepy than the latter but I didn't feel that any of this was horrifying.

With the exception of Lion, I believe every Nicole Kidman film I've seen that I can recall has had some kind of unsettling undertone to it.

 I bet you an acorn to an oak that Destroyer is not going to stop that trend. I am so, so excited for that movie!

I've not seen Mia Wasikowska in anything to my knowledge (I tried several times to watch Crimson Peak but that wasn't happening), and for as...simple as the rest of the movie is, she really does carry it though non-verbal acting.

Do they live in a dream world?

Book 2: Lake Laogai / The Earth King

Welcome to a good pair of episodes; The second of which is probably my second favorite in the series because it hosts my favorite action piece.

Have you seen this flying bison.

Book 2: Tales of Ba Sing Se / Appa's Lost Days

These are going to be very short, only hitting pertinent information here.

The only really important part of Tales of Ba Sing Se is Iroh's story, as he goes throughout the lower rings of the city helping people, giving out advice, to finally conclude by having a picnic at the makeshift memorial of his son, who died in Iroh's attempt to take the city long ago.

#41: The Incredibles

This movie has permeated pop culture deeper than anyone expected.

I can't say anything about this movie that you probably haven't heard.

It's only flaw is that it shows its age visually. 

So instead, let's talk about how much this has permeated pop culture.

I'd say this is probably the most pervasive Pixar property out there. Sure, people can quote "To Infinity and beyond," and ... maybe two other lines from Toy Story, but I tell you to quote something, anything, from this movie, and what will you give me?

Probably an Edna Mode quote. As it should be. Or even something that doesn't seem special but sticks out.

"You're in charge, Violet." "What!" "You heard her."

"How are you doing that?" "I don't know!"

And, of course, "Where's my super suit?!"So, why has, what seems to be a truly one off film, lasted so long?

#40: Tron

Walking in a Windows Screensaver Wonderland.

Just like A New Hope, Tron has that look that's so distinct, it doesn't bother you that it's thirty-six years old. Also, I was incredibly hard pressed to believe that guy was Jeff Bridges. Wow! 

The plot is simple - escape and save the inhabitants of a computer game that has been taken over by evil forces. It's a world that starts out very minimalist and childish - it's as if someone computer-rendered children's building blocks and slapped bowling-alley carpet designs on the walls.  As the film progresses, we get more detailed settings.

I love every design choice here. It appeals to my turn of the century tech aesthetic.

Tech things like Hackers already look outdated as shit as well as being madly incorrect with the components they are trying to convey, but as we cannot zap people into video game systems (yet), Tron still looks like a very cool idea with a gorgeous user interface. And apparently when Dillenger logs into his machine, his password is in the clear. Bad security practices there.

There's clearly a lot of green screen work happening, and the fakeness lends itself very well to the surroundings.

The costumes look just a touch silly.

The Last Of The Film Ones - 2017 Films That Didn't Make It.

In my Film in 2017 roundup, I list my top ten. Which is all well and good, months later, my opinion is nearly the same.

I couldn't help thinking of the ones that didn't make those coveted top spots. Some films dropped the ball. Others just missed the net.

So, with the exception of the one above the cut, and some direct to DVD kids' films, let's talk about the other movies that didn't make the cut.

But first - mentions go to the two movies that technically had releases in 2016, in the final weeks of December, angling for award season looks.

 Hidden Figures (Good, enjoyable, treated defeating racism like a spectator sport for people to cheer at and pretend they're the good guys) did score a fair amount of nominations, though no wins.

That's still far better than A Monster Calls (Sad, sad, and very sad, I read the book and thought "Hey, this movie can't do shit to me," and here I was just crying in the theater.), which got absolutely no love anywhere because Focus moved it around about twice, and already had their work set against them for trying to advertise a children's book about cancer and loss as a fun, imaginative movie.

I could probably host everyone who saw it in the continental US in my home. If it wasn't for this technicality, it would have been #4 on the list instead of...what was it?

Anyway.

11 - War For the Planet of The Apes

This just missed the mark, and I'm sad about it. Not because everything else was so good, but because this well and truly dropped the ball in its final act.

#39: Kedi

#CatsofIstanbul

I mightily enjoyed how this was not "Follow ONE street cat throughout the city and see how they touch EVERYONE'S lives!", but instead focused, however briefly, on various cats.

There are maybe two shots of cats with owners, the rest are more or less their own free citizens.

As well as upon various humans and what cats mean to them. One man talked about how caring for them brought him back from a mental breakdown, and one woman feeds quite a lot of them daily, with pounds of chicken a day.

Easily the most enjoyable documentary of the year thus far. There's a hint of concern at the growing urbanization of places, which would be interesting to discover, but it's nice to see how a place doesn't treat stray animals as a bother.

I know this is idealized, but I envy the basic view of the lives of the people we see here. "I work here and I feed the cats that come by. I like dealing with them and considering the spirituality I feel is inherent in them."

There is beauty with interesting with nature and how, at its core, everything we need is already there. As I live in capitalist hellhole America, it's the antithesis of what we're bombarded with day in and day out. This really reaffirms that I would love to bypass the rat race and live a simple existence in a seaside capitol city somewhere else.

Book 2: The Drill / City of Walls and Secrets

That can't be good.