Studio Ghibli Anime

Not Science Fiction, exactly, but something that I'm very excited about mentioning:

Coming to UC Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive June 2nd through June 30th is "The Art of Anime: Studio Ghibi."

Almost all of Studio Ghibli's catalog will be screened at this year's event, including Hayao Miyazaki's most recent film, Howl's Moving Castle. I believe this will be the first opportunity us Bay Area folks will be able to watch Howl's Moving Castle locally. I'm also looking forward to watching My Neighbor Totoro and Porco Rosso on the big screen.

A similar program is scheduled to run at the Los Angeles MoMA June 3rd-30th.

Third Time, The Charm Wears Off

I have to say I was disappointed by Ep 3. It provided a good bridge between the films by answering many questions, like Yoda briefly explaining how Obi-Wan gets "Force Ghost" knowledge. (He gets it from Qui-gon's force ghost on Tatooine.) So that was nice, and it filled in some of the other gaps. But I was bummed. It still had none of the spark that the original IV thru VI had. I got to see those great classics again this weekend, and it reaffirmed the fact that in Eps I-III, there is never the same clever dialogue, clever plot twists, or surprises. It is all rather dry, matter of fact directing and acting. You certainly cannot say that about the original trilogy, those things blazed up the screen with enough spirit and character struggle to match the exciting visuals. So it was unfortunate that the payoff to this trilogy had to end the same way it began, with no spark.

I did enjoy, (perhaps Sean will elaborate more on this, as he is a true fan) the Commando Cody reference where one of the Clone-Troopers is named "Commander Cody". Nice shout out, George.

Star Wars Episode III

I, too, am procrastinating writing a review of Revenge of the Sith. In the meantime, here's a link to another blog with an attached podcast. Jason Calacanis was VERY excited to have seen the movie. A word of warning; the podcast is not just a spoiler, but a complete play-by-play of the film. So, if you haven't seen the film yet, you might want to hold off on listening to this one.

Other Star Wars related podcasts that I've enjoyed this week are posted on Sci-Fi Talk:

The Empire Strikes Back - Star Wars Memories
Phil Tippett - Special EFX Master & Director

There's Always Leaks

In lieu of a ROTS review for the moment, I'd like to talk about a great sci-fi movie I just saw again recently and liked even more. The movie is Primer (released 2004), a garage-invention adventure that takes on the fun stuff about time travel. (Paradoxes, loops, doubles, etc.) In fact, it is one of the best time-travel movies out there. The writer/director, Shane Carruth is not afraid to leave all the complicated stuff in the story. He never dumbs down what is happening, but expects you to pick up on it and follow along. I definitely appreciated that.

Smarter than the science is the way the characters are written and acted. They are what keep the plot together, not the time/space details. The science is there, if you'd like to pick it apart (very cool), but the characters are there first, and that's what makes it such an engaging film.

Primer is out on DVD now, so be sure to check it out!

Godzilla Screening in San Francisco

As part of their Human/Nature film series, The Balboa Theater in San Francisco will be showing the original uncut restored 1954 version of Godzilla (Gojira)! Unfortunately it is playing for one day only, Sunday June 26th at 2:35 and 7:10.

I had the pleasure to see this cut of the film last year at the Castro Theater as part of Godzillafest. And it was truly an eye-opening experience- the original uncut film is more of a psychological reaction against the destruction of Japanese cities in WWII, with gloomy and graphic sequences of mayhem and destruction. I was instantly converted into a huge Godzilla fan (no pun intended), and I think you will be too (if you aren't already).

Also, on the same day, Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke will be screened at noon, 4:35 and 9:05 if you want to make a day out of it!

The Empire Strikes!

The day has finally arrived (well, almost)! In less than 5 and a half hours I'll be watching the opening crawl to the final theatrical Star Wars release: Revenge of the Sith. I've heard from a couple of sneak preview goers, and it sounds like a fun film (I've been told that I'd like it, at least).

I didn't think I would be, but I'm definitely getting excited much the same way I had for the last two "episode" releases. Hope really does spring eternal...

This will probably be my last midnight premiere (I'm getting too old for this sort of thing).

Switch On!

The much beloved 1970s Japanese TV show Kikaida is now being shown Saturdays at midnight on KTSF (channel 26) in the San Francisco Bay Area!

I first discovered Kikaida on vacation in Hawaii a couple of years ago. Aparently, it has never been off the air since it first started airing there in the early '70s. The show is absolutely amazing- and it's such a part of TV culture in Hawaii that people there were consistently shocked when I told them that I had never seen an episode. Kikaida is everything you'd want in a tv show: guitar playing cyborgs, fast paced karate action, color-themed rubber monsters, a motorcycle with a sidecar, and a flute-playing supervillian! For me, it was love at first sight.

If you like campy, frenetic, colorful Japanese rubber monster shows, I highly recommend that you check out Kikaida!

Also available on DVD.

May K-9 Be With You

The media has been saturated with Star Wars "news" this week. So why not take a break and go to the doctor. Doctor Who that is! Here the BBC has posted a bunch of Dr. Who ebooks and artwork. Cool!

Funky Space Pictures

We here at Gargon Terror really enjoy that fifties forward-looking style. Here is a great site that has a large range of pictures from vintage space books. So funky, so fun!

Here are some primo selections made by Sean:







If you dig that style, be sure to check out these stills from Ward Kimball's masterful take on the UPA funky flat look in Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom!

Begun The Clone Wars Have

If you haven't seen them already, the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars are great! I've only seen the first volume on DVD and it's been a very cool experience. I hear the second volume is even better!

The Clone Wars fill the gap between Episode II and III, and are mostly filled with great battle scenes, but they've also got great new characters (some of which carry into Episode III) and great character interaction. It's great to see how the Jedi and the Clone troops work together. For me it really filled in the gaps as to how Anakin can enjoy fighting so much. I could really start to see the how he could be the same character as Darth Vader, even more than Ep. II. Especially when he's in his starfighter you can see how good he is. He even says, "I'm on the leader" just like in Ep. IV, A New Hope!

They are directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack. You can definitely feel his style here with the slow close-ins on the face and multiple shots of the same action. But I think it's even more sped up than his normal animation, probably because of the three minute episode time frame he has to work with! But I really liked how fast it was. I think this animation really hits home the Star Wars feel that gets you jazzed about how cool it would be to be a Jedi or to ride a speeder bike or to have a dogfight in space!

So remember to watch Cartoon Network tonight (Saturday, 7pm) to watch all the Clone Wars, Volume One and Two back to back before you go see Revenge of the Sith! And apparently you can go watch all of Volume Two online here!

Personal Visions

Wired magazine has a couple of cool articles out on George Lucas. Much about Lucas's inspirations and what will come after Star Wars. Lucas on his success:

"I'm not happy that corporations have taken over the film industry, but now I find myself being the head of a corporation, so there's a certain irony there. I have become the very thing that I was trying to avoid. That is Darth Vader - he becomes the very thing he was trying to protect himself against."

The Main Article

A Q&A

To contrast a man whose personal projects propelled him, there interesting new book about Orson Welles' attempts to make his personal films after Citizen Kane. Welles on making the studio's pictures:

''I believe that the only good work I can do is my own particular thing, I don't think I'm very good at doing their thing.''

It's called "Despite the System: Orson Welles Versus the Hollywood Studios" by Clinton Heylin. The New York Times gives it a good review.