Movies Movies Movies

First up, Tokyo Godfathers, the newest film from Satoshi Kon. I reviewed Kon’s previous film, Millennium Actress, in this very blog a couple of months ago. Tokyo Godfathers is a modern anime update of the classic 3 Godfathers. In this version, a group of homeless people (a middle-aged man, a runaway teenage girl, and a drag queen) find an abandoned baby and try to return her to her parents.

This is a very good comedy-drama. The characters are great, and there are plenty of funny scenes mixed in with some emotional ones (the scene when a homeless old drunk is on his deathbed is both funny and emotional). The animation is nicely done, while staying low-key. At times, it feels more like a live-action film than an anime. I highly recommend Tokyo Godfathers not just for anime fans, but for those who want to see a funny, sweet film with a lot of heart.

On a different note, this is the second consecutive Sony anime movie release that has no dub on it. Again, I have to say that despite the rantings of some anime fans, I think there should be a dubbed version available. I feel that without a dub, the audience for these films is limited (primarily to anime and foreign film fans). Anime companies make it their business to release both dubbed and subbed versions for much of their product, but bigger companies like Sony are going backwards. I have to wonder if/when Memories, Tokyo Godfathers, and Millennium Actress (all of which are subtitled only) will appear on cable TV.

The next movie is Big Fish, the latest from Tim Burton. This is another well-done Tim Burton movie. He seems to excel at the gothic (Batman), the unusual comedy (Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice) and the dark fairy tale (Edward Scissorhands). This movie is fairy tale-esque, but tinged with sadness. It’s about a guy who doesn’t feel like he knows his father because of the tall tales he tells. With his father dying, he tries to figure out what he really was like.

The father’s tall tales are shown in the movie in grand detail. Burton handles the bright, the dark, and the unusual very well. I liked the characters and the cast, from Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor as Edward Bloom (old and young) to Danny DeVito as a circus owner and Helena Bonham Carter as a mysterious witch (and the older version of a young girl, as well).

This movie is a tearjerker of sorts (the father is dying, you know). But it made me think of the two kinds of sad that exist in films. There is the very common “sentimental sad,” the type of sad that attempts to make you cry from things like the loss of a parent/friend. Big Fish fits into this category. Then there is the “depressing sad,” the type of sad that leaves you feeling bad afterwards. The one that has you asking questions about why things happened the way they did in the film and so on. The only film I can think of off the top of my head that’s like this is Grave of The Fireflies. It’s a great movie, but severely depressing.

Anyway, Big Fish is not depressing. It’s a heartfelt film that suits the style of Tim Burton perfectly. I will admit that the story outside the tall tales is kind of underdeveloped, but it’s a film that is charming nonetheless.

I find it kind of funny that the DVD for Big Fish was advertised as a great Mother’s Day gift. In all honesty, this is more of a Father’s Day gift. Yes, the main character is really really in love with his wife, but the core of the movie is the father/son relationship. I’ll bet you’ll almost want to hug your dad after you see this movie.