The Sundown Spectator #2
For some reason, the cold months indicate to me that I should be watching more shows and movies with subtitles. This is mainly due to the fact that many of the anime I have watched throughout my life have had winter premieres. Also, scheduling for American tv is seriously lacking the closer we get to the solstice. This year has been no different as I am currently watching three brand new animes all at once. In fact, you will need to read subtitles for a few selections on this list but I hope you can still find it within you to check these works out despite the break-neck reading they require. As director Bong Joon ho said in his acceptance speech at the 2020 Oscars, “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”
Godzilla Minus One (2023):
Godzilla Minus One is a stunning expansion of the Godzilla canon and a marvel of modern CGI animation. Godzilla looks fantastic while still paying homage to the original look of the monster, with particular emphasis placed on the size of Godzilla in comparison to his surroundings. The film also perfectly extolls the virtues of respecting the value of human life and coming together without the instruction of the greater government, themes of which are incredibly timely and important given the state of the world. However, some of its other themes troubled me and are hard to ignore if you understand the greater context of Japan in the early 20th century. There is a lot of emphasis placed on our main character Koichi’s identity as a kamikaze bomber who abandoned his post. This being regarded as the main source of shame for him as Sumiko chastises him and blames people like him for Japan’s loss in the war. While towards the end we are taught that wanting to live isn’t a bad thing, that sentiment is expressed from a self-preservation perspective only, without any acknowledgement of what winning the war would have meant for Japan. What Japan winning the war would have meant for all of east Asia. Now that isn’t necessarily the responsibility of one film to acknowledge unaddressed war crimes and the colonial history of an entire nation, but I would’ve appreciated seeing the characters grapple with that on some level, especially considering how real and varied they felt and that this film takes place in the direct aftermath of World War II. Ultimately, it was a great watch and I will be sat for the inevitable sequel. (8/10)
The Apothecary Diaries, Episodes 1-10 (2023):
Apothecary Diaries is one of the best new anime I have seen in a really long time. It is so immediately enthralling and engaging that I struggle to see a reality in which the average anime fan wouldn’t enjoy this show. Mao Mao is a fantastic main character and effortlessly dances around the harmful stereotypes that women like her in anime often fall into. The mystery at the center of the story is also really solid and every episode is wonderfully gasp-inducing because of it. The show also has that cozy feel that I personally crave from my winter watches which guarantees that I will be revisiting this show once it’s over. (9/10)
Suzume (2023):
Suzume should work. All of the trappings of a Makoto Shinkai movie that we love are here. The flexible and dynamic animation, the deep sentimentality, and the loveable main characters are all here. But the story just… isn’t. So much so that it felt like an AI approximation of a Makoto Shinkai screenplay at times. Even now I struggle to put the film into words because I just don’t remember most of it. Which, considering the Triumph of his previous films like 2016’s Your Name, is insane. If not for the breathtaking art I probably wouldn’t have bothered to sit through it. (5/10)
The Vampire Diaries Season 6, Episode 4 (2014):
My roommate requested that we have an apartment fanfic fest assigned to us by the other. As I was assigned the Vampire diaries, I chose an episode at random and set my story to take place directly after that episode. While the show is definitely not for me, I wish I could go back in time, sit younger me down, and say “Vampires aren’t lame, you’re missing out!”. I would have loved to have seen this show back when I was the target demographic because quite frankly, I would’ve ate this up. Every episode of this season is named after a late 90s to early 2000s rock song like are you kidding? That’s all I listened to at my most edgy. You are missing out on very cringe fanfiction because I insisted on watching “The Challenge” instead.
NCT Nation: To the World in Cinemas (2023):
As a long time kpop fan, I was pleasantly surprised to see that NCT not only had their long awaited full concert (all 20 members had the opportunity to perform together) but that they had cut the concert into a film and brought it to US theaters for a special 2 night feature. Now, I understand completely that songs had to be cut for time. There are 4 fixed subgroups as well as NCT U performances that have different arrangements of members totaling in 40 songs being performed at this show (I can only imagine how tired and sweaty everyone was after just watching the concert in person). However, I do not for the life of me understand why the cuts that were made, were made. The film itself was just slightly longer than a Disney Channel Original movie at 1 hour and 43 minutes with a massive chunk being the nonsensical animated “fan story” they included to give the members time to change and hopefully sit down. Why include that in the film when the concert is long over and this doesn’t add anything? In fact it uses time that could’ve been devoted to member introductions and interviews especially since the popularity gap across all 20 members is massive (Taeyong has been on American TV several times whereas I had to google most of the members of Wayv). I say this all to say, it was a wasted opportunity to bring NCT to a wider audience, which is truly a shame. (5/10)
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010):
My journey through the world of Twilight continues as I tackle the worst movie in this series yet. This film is a disaster from start to finish. The performances were much more stilted and wooden this time around, especially from a finally wig-less Taylor Lautner. He too has started to do that unbearable wincing and everything is worse for it. The entire film felt like how you envision the first table read to go except everyone’s in costume and this is somehow the final take. The writing is also seriously lacking in the one area you would expect it to be the strongest, which is in the scenes where Bella, Jacob, and Edward are all interacting. I started to fall asleep when I wasn’t laughing hysterically. The “army of newborns walking through water when they could’ve driven to Forks” scene especially tickled me. Also, the messaging has gotten so much worse and as someone’s Auntie, I’m appalled. I especially dislike the way they try to assign fake agency to Bella at the end of the movie. As if becoming a vampire and abandoning her family is a choice she would make without the grooming of this 104 year old youth pastor. This was such a hard watch, can’t wait for the next one. (3.5/10)