Smith Perfect Blue

Perfect  Blue is really cool looking and entertaining. In Perfect Blue there is a lot of nasty violence and suspense-- qualities which typically make for a pretty solid film. What I enjoyed most was Perfect Blue's sympathetic, mongoloid antagonist, Uchida. Uchida's simple intention is to stalk the girl he loves. Who can blame the guy? Uchida's Obsession with the film's main character, Mima, becomes less innocent when it morphs into a dangerous and violent case of multiple personality disorder. After Mima leaves her beloved J-pop group, "CHAM!", her number one fan begins to hallucinate her former pop image as the real Mima, a Mima who urges him to murder the fake Mima. This is where things get sticky. Uchida begins to send Mima letter bombs, dead producers, and a bunch of other cool stuff to reinstate the old Mima as the real Mima.  In contrast with the Uchida who once defended Mima's honor by taking a nasty beating for her at her final show, the new Uchida is an entirely oppositely-minded individual. 

     I believe that Uchida changes the way he does because he is a figment of Mima's imagination.There is a number of instances in which it is suggested that Uchida is only visible to Mima. On top of his suggested invisibility, it seems like his change demeanor is directly related to the attitude Mima needs to solve her problems. Throughout the film Mima inwardly expresses her desire to return to her pop star way of life. Uchida's sentiment is likewise but violent and extreme. Uchida's assaults are directed at people who encouraged Mima to leave her pop group and people who portrayed her as "dirty." What's more is that Uchida's activities all take place while the "real" Mima is unconscious.  Pretty convenient stuff. When you look at him that way he can't be creepy because he isn't real. All he is is Mima being a total badass. That is why i love Uchida. Cool guy.

Smithbotchan

     Botchan was a really nice flick. The producers and writers and whatnot put together a great summarization of a classic Japanese novel that felt as natural as an original work. However, the camera angels and the liberal use of stills sometimes made it seem like one of those terrible PBS fairy tale interpretations (whatever those are called). That being said, I really enjoyed Botchan on the whole.

     One thing I like about Botchan is the fact that the hero of the story isn't really a great guy.  The only fully sympathetic moments he has revolve around his old lady best friend, Kiyo. I believe she was his nanny or something, but I like to think they were also lovers. Anyway, as soon as Botchan is faced with responsibility or important decisions, he tends to react in a pretty extreme and disrespectful fashion. On his first day of night duty at a boarding school full of middle schoolers, he decides that it is more important for him to completely break the rules of his brand new job and go swimming at the hot springs. Gee whiz! Botchan's rash pattern of behavior also presents itself in his encounters with his students. For example, When they present him with an equation that he is unable to solve, he totally freaks out and yells at them. As soon as I saw that I was like seriously, bro? They are twelve. Take it easy. Naturally, Botchan's relationship with his students only gets worse from there. The students have eyes all over the place and they use them to track Botchan and mock him for his recreational habits like swimming laps in the hotsprings or eating too much tempura.  Botchan handles his assailants by calling them stupid and indiscriminately accusing them of trespassing against him.  As you can imagine,  his strategy does not exactly work out. The irony of Botchan's reactions is that they make him look pretty stupid and the students are not really the bad guys.
   
     Botchan's oppressers (the real bad guys), the principal and vice principle, treat him as tactfully as possible while cleverly deceiving him and besting him with their wit.  Of course, Botchan triumphs against their evil, but he also loses his job and nothing super consequential happens to the bad guys.  In this regard it would appear that Botchan suggests the futility of hot-headedness and the ultimate supremacy of intellectual methods of problem solving. In another sense the film presents a message about standing up against one's opressors and following your <3.

Smith Ninja Scroll Smith Smith

*DISCLAIMER*

     

Judging by the definition of the muscles in his mastoid
region, this horse had years and years of labor
and love to look forward to. 

     The absolute low point of Ninja Scroll occurs when Jubei, the supposedly morally upright hero of the film, murders a perfectly innocent and lovely horse and disguises it as a plague host in an attempt to scare a few townspeople away from certain death. Nice try, Japan, but the fact of the matter is that the majority of equestrian diseases pose no threat to mankind. If you know me personally or follow my blog, you are well aware of my affinity for horses. There is absolutely no circumstance under which I am willing to tolerate the slightest of transgressions against these marvelous acts of nature. It amazes me to see how comprehensively Ninja Scroll's perverted development team was willing to bastardize the art of animated film making with this indiscriminately violent smut.

That's right, folks. He can fit an entire boob in his mouth.
Just one of his many helpful demonic attributes.

     Otherwise, I felt that the film was generally agreeable and downright entertaining. The writers did a splendid job of combining super human combat sequences with a modest dash of romance. I enjoyed seeing the more personal sides of characters which could easily have been overlooked in lieu of additional action or more expedited plot advancement. Nearly every character in the story is driven by a cocktail of terribly weakening vices and grave moral defects which often contribute to his or her demise. Among these vices are greed, pride, substance abuse, and a rather hefty appetite for rape. The film does not, however, exempt morally sound characters from nature induced misfortune. The savior of Ninja Scroll's universe, Jubei, nearly meets his end when he refuses to have sexual relations with Kagero, a girl whose bodily fluids are guaranteed to quell the life-threatening poison within his veins.

That's a pretty ghetto lookin' booty. 

     A fairly prominent theme of Ninja Scroll is the poisonous nature of women. It is certainly no coincidence that the film's two sexiest broads are genetically designed to seduce lustful males and infuse them with poison. The film's heroine/sidekick, Kagero, controls (or lacks control of) poison as a defense mechanism against the tyranny of physically superior males. Anyone with whom Kagero has sexual contact-- consensually or otherwise-- is affected by her poison. Kagero's demonic counterpart, Benisato, possesses the acutely malicious abilities of hypnosis and an army of uniquely poisonous snakes which disguise themselves as tattoo's on her attractive, often naked body. Pretty hot stuff. As rough as the women of Ninja Scroll may sound, they aren't entirely bad. Jubei's dependency on Kagero's sexual inhibition suggests that there is, perhaps, a proper poison out there for all of us. <3.

Smith Akira

     Akira is a pretty killer movie. There are all sorts of cool things in it like spaceships, mutants, violence, motorcycles, and Japan! My favorite part of the film, however, is none of these. It is the little old man children (I'm not the biggest fan of the little old woman child.). They look really cool and, without spoiling anything, their pasts are about as interesting as it gets. The craziest part about these guys is their ability to shapeshift. In the film they use their telekinetically charged super child brains  to torment their adversaries by transmogrifying into violent, monstrous replications of childhood toys. I like the way this is done because it reflects the intensity of their powers while remaining true to their childish frames of reference.


This is my favorite character, Masaru. How cute is he?!
Now imagine him turning into a giant teddy bear and
beating you to death.

     These little cuties' powers are made possible in part by Akira's super outdated special effects. The film's special effects are the most obvious timestamp of its production, but they sort of help to accentuate the timelessness of the work.  The fact that such a marginally important element of the film is the only element which has not stood the test of time goes to show the advanced nature of Akira's overall production. The concepts of nuclear apocalypse and the downward spiral of society, for example, remain relevant in the realm of storytelling. Additionally, Akira's quality and style of animation not only played a large part in inspiring today's anime, but also rival said anime quite competitively-- even with its 23 year handicap.

     Akira is pretty cool in the violence department. The presence of motorcycles and space age technology makes for some really interesting fight scenes. Lots of blood. Very cool.  The gnarliest fights take place between the the "Capsule" biker gang and the "Clown" biker gang. In the gangs' engagements, the film's choreographers integrate standard elements of hand-to-hand fighting with vehicular chases and makeshift street weaponry to create fight sequences which are not only violent, but also fluid and inspired.

     Akira is smooth as eggs.

Smith Smith Smith Smith Smith: A Brief Introduction to Robert Daniel Smith



This is a picture of me using an iPad and a
toilet at the same time.

     Hey, guys! My name is Robbie Smith and, as you may have deduced from my enrollment in a freshman seminar at Loyola, I am a freshman at Loyola.

     There are plenty of things that interest me, but the love of my life is a game called Pokémon. In fact, I spent a large portion of my summer driving across the country in an effort to secure a spot in the national event of the Pokémon Video Game Championship Series (If you care to follow the link and scroll down to the photo of Samurott, you will see my name in the top 16 of Atlanta's "masters" age division.). After solidifying said spot in the national event, I participated and finished at 59th in the United States.

This is a picture of me with the beauty that
forever changed my expectations of animals. I
never got her Name, but we both know
there was something special.

          I love horses. I don't know what it is,  but there is something about those majestic beasts that really does it for me. When I pet a horse I feel like the king of the world. If you have never touched the hide of a horse, the sensation is somewhat comparable to (however, exponentially more satisfying than) rubbing your hands on a really nice pool table. So you can imagine the excitement!

This is a picture of me holding
a human being above my
head with nothing but my guns
and one of her feet. Her name is
Lauren and she is a real sweetie.

   

     Another interesting fact about me is that I served as the head captain of my all-male highschool's co-ed cheerleading squad. I spent 4 years as a cheerleader and it truly was the most enjoyable experience of my life. I even qualified for the All-American Cheerleading Squad and was invited to march in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. How cool is that?!

     Unfortunately, that period of my life is over and my efforts are now focused on the neverending pursuit of scholarly knowledge. And Pokémon. And horses.

     I love you. Get muddy.