(Welcome to Ani-time Ani-where, a regular column dedicated to helping the uninitiated understand and appreciate the world of anime.)
It’s taken some time, but it’s finally time to address the Gundam franchise in this column. Mobile Suit Gundam is arguably the biggest anime franchise there is, and one of the biggest media franchises around. In many ways, it is Japan’s answer to Star Wars, and much like the galaxy far, far away, the Gundam franchise includes so many entries, timelines, and universes that it can be incredibly daunting for newcomers. So let’s explore the easiest (and best) way to dip your toes into this massive property — by watching the excellent Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team.
Set right in the midst of the One Year War that both kickstarted and also defined much of Gundam, The 08th MS Team moves away from the epic space battles and instead focuses on a grounded, grittier side of the war. Deep in the jungles in Southeast Asia, we meet a Federation soldier named Shiro Amada who, after a fateful encounter with separatist Zeon soldier Aina Sahalin, starts to question the nature of the war and whether he really wants to fight the other side instead of running away and marrying an enemy soldier.
What starts as the misadventures of a dysfunctional group of soldiers quickly escalates into an exploration of the pointlessness of war, with a poignant anti-war message. Oh, and there are also giant robots with laser swords.
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In this edition of Sequel Bits:
- Rossif Sutherland has joined the cast of the Orphan prequel.
- Andrew Koji talks about playing Storm Shadow in Snake Eyes.
- Angela Bassett is returning for more Mission: Impossible movies.
- The Kazakh American Association is not happy about Borat 2.
- Will Killer Klowns From Outer Space 2 ever happen? Maybe.
- Pauly Shore wants Encino Man 2, probably because he has nothing else going on right now.
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On the November 27, 2020 episode of /Film Daily, /Film Editor-in-Chief Peter Sciretta is joined by weekend editor Brad Oman and special guest Bryan Young (from Star Wars Insider, StarWars.com and Full of Sith podcast) for a spoiler-filled conversation about the fifth episode of Disney+’s The Mandalorian season two, entitled “The Jedi.”
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The trick to adapting Peter Pan is embracing that it’s a tragedy at its core. So many children’s stories are sadder and often more horrifying than they appear, though only in ways that become more clear once the reader grows up. Two of the most familiar English-language children’s stories, and among the most frequently adapted, are Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, each of which gets blended into an odd remix in the new live-action fantasy drama Come Away. Some elements of the concept are fascinating, but the way in which the filmmakers treat the stories being remixed as upbeat and magical through and through implies a misguided sense of what these stories are really about.
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Christopher Nolan‘s complex time inversion blockbuster Tenet is finally leaving theaters and coming to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD just in time for Christmas. To hype the forthcoming home video release, Warner Bros. Pictures released a featurette that showcases hip-hop artist Travis Scott‘s original song “The Plan” and how it came to be in the movie. It turns out we have Grammy-winning Black Panther composer Ludwig Göransson (above right) to thank for that. Read More »
(Welcome to The Unpopular Opinion, a series where a writer goes to the defense of a much-maligned film or sets their sights on a movie seemingly beloved by all.)
Before Adam Sandler hit us with his lazy vacation period (you know what films I’m talking about), it was always easy to identify his worst movie: Little Nicky. The film was a financial disaster, his first flop after an unstoppable rise from the cult hit Billy Madison to the hugely successful Big Daddy. Even more painful, it was a financial disaster on a very ambitious swing, story-wise. A film where Sandler takes care of a child with an adorable speech impediment is almost mathematically certain to succeed. A film where Sandler uses an obnoxious speech impediment to play the son of Satan is not.
Little Nicky proved Sandler had limits, and stands out as a blight on his filmography as a result. Twenty years later, however, the time has come to remove that blight and put it where it belongs (I dunno, Bedtime Stories maybe). Little Nicky rules and it’s high time more people figured that out.
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Naturally, there are spoilers here.
Dave Filoni, protege of George Lucas and a shepherd of the future of Star Wars, wrote and directed the thirteenth chapter of The Mandalorian. In this episode, Din Djarin finally makes his way to the forest planet of Corvus and the city of Calodan, and it’s there that we meet a familiar face. Read More »
Fitzcarraldo. Grizzly Man. Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Little Dieter Needs to Fly. These are what many cinephiles might call the essential Werner Herzog films. For anyone who saw him for the first time as an actor in The Mandalorian, were intrigued by him, learned he was also an acclaimed director, and are looking to dive into his filmography, those entries would be a good place to start.
But if you ask the man himself, another film should be included in those ranks: 2009’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which stars Nicolas Cage as a corrupt, hallucinating police officer. Read More »
Written by Pablo Hidalgo, Senior Creative Executive of Franchise Story & Content at Lucasfilm, Star Wars: Fascinating Facts – Story, Lore & History From the Greatest Galaxy is a compendium of hundreds of little-known facts about the Star Wars saga. From behind-the-scenes on-set tidbits to in-universe lore, this guide from Portable Press has tons of interesting info, including character profiles and firsthand accounts from cast and crew members.
Whether you are a diehard Star Wars fan or a casual reader curious to learn more about the series, Star Wars: Fascinating Facts is an invaluable guide to some of the lesser-known facts about that galaxy far, far away. Below is a sampling of some of the guide’s most interesting tidbits, including new information on the Sequel Trilogy.
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Cool Posts From Around the Web:
If you’ve been perusing the internet since the election, there’s a good that that you’ve encountered images and photos of a human dressed as a giant rat scrounging around New York City, dragging a giant slice of pizza or riding the subway. Though this is fairly typical of New York and all its weirdness, the human-sized rat is actually the result of the aptly titled short film Rat, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, the filmmaker behind A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas and Isn’t It Romantic, and starring stage actor Jonothon Lyons as the titular rodent.
Watch the Rat short film below to see Read More »
