Fun Fact:

Fun Fact:

Before Victor Frankenstein created his infamous monster and sparked the debate over man's right to create artificial life, a 16th century Jewish mystic called the Maharal invoked the names of God to give life to clay. This created a golem with superhuman strength and loyalty that guarded the mystic's community from persecution in medieval Prague. The golem also wore an amulet that gave it the power to turn invisible and summon dead witnesses whose testimonies were considered totally valid in Prague's court and used to prove the innocence of people who judges were biased against. The problem with the golem is that although it was animated, it couldn't speak, had no free will and took instructions way too literally, causing it to do things like chop down entire forests when asked to get firewood. And one night, the golem was feeling lonely and neglected, so it rampaged through town, attacking the innocent people it was supposed to protect. This forced the mystic to remove one letter from the Hebrew inscription of "emét", changing the meaning from "truth" to "death" and rendering his creation lifeless.

The story started so positive too...

It's hard to believe it, but Hades (the Greek god of the Underworld) had 3 encounters with his nephew Heracles (Hercules) and was left humiliated. Each. Time.

The most well-known encounter is when Heracles travelled to the Underworld to capture the three-headed hound Cerberus for his 12th and final labor. Hades told his nephew that he could only take Cerberus if he could subdue him without using any weapons. But clever Heracles used the impenetrable Nemean Lion skin he wore as a makeshift muzzle and wrestled Cerberus until he was worn out.

The second time, Hades came to the surface to collect the soul of Queen Alcestis, who agreed to die in place of her husband King Admetus. But Heracles didn't like the idea of the happy couple's love being cut short and wrestled Hades into submission, just like he did his dog.

The third instance is the strangest though. When Heracles attacks the city of Pylos after its king refuses to purify him of his sins, Hades arrives to either collect the dead from the battlefield or defend the city (depending on the version). Either way, when Heracles sees his uncle, he shoots him in the shoulder with an arrow and Hades retreats to Olympus where Apollo heals his wound.

Phantom of the Paradise by Brian De Palma.

A perfect reimagining of Leroux's 1910 novel.

This is a deranged, romantic, and quirky comedy horror with a perfect soundtrack.

The Red Turtle (French: La Tortue Rouge; Japanese: レッドタートル ある島の物語) by Michaël Dudok de Wit.

One of the most beautiful animated films.

A story about the circle of life and all its splendor and benign brutality. It's a masterpiece. Sublime animation and a deep meditation about life, love and man's place in the natural world.

The main character faces mysteries that elude him, but eventually surrenders to love, life and his place in the universe. This film is a poem.

As much as I'm mixed on Mutant Mayhem, I still give it my most favorable, most sincere wish for success.

May three of the most successful movies in 2023 be animated movies. May artistry be celebrated. May the ratings go higher than PG and beyond if the storytellers need it to be.

Fun Fact:

The Cheshire Cat was first introduced in Lewis Carroll's novel "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". The character was inspired by an old phrase "Smiling like a Cheshire cat". The origins of that phrase are still debated to this day, but the most widely accepted theory is that it refers to a cat living in the English county of Cheshire, which is known for producing a lot of milk and dairy, which cats love, hence the smiling. Carroll decided to personify the cat from that phrase, he gave it a physical form, a personality and magic powers. In the book, the cat doesn't play quite as large a role as he does in the Disney movie, but the two have very similar characteristics. They talk in really confusing ways that are sometimes funny but also kind of annoying, they raise philosophical questions to Alice even though she clearly doesn't understand them and while they sometimes appear to be making a situation worse for her, they're actually rooting for Alice to succeed and even are helping her indirectly.

Some animated running by Yoh Yoshinari (吉成曜)

Tutorial by the director of Little Witch Academia, and key animator in: Gurren Lagann, FLCL, KILL la KILL, Evangelion, Panty & Stocking (X)

Turning Red by Domee Shi.

Great movie. 

Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ) by Satoshi Kon.

A masterwork by the late storytelling master, Satoshi Kon.

For those who don't know, Satoshi Kon is the same director who worked on films like Paprika, Perfect Blue, and the mystery/psychological thriller/supernatural anime masterpiece Paranoia Agent. Unfortunately, on August 24, 2010, we lost this creative mind to terminal pancreatic cancer. If you ask me, we're probably never gonna get anything close to the creepy works this guy managed to craft ever again.

Tokyo Godfathers is a really good example of a tragicomedy, and it is one of the most disturbing Christmas films you'll ever encounter (without relying on pure shock value) solely because of the subject matter. While animated, it really focuses on making the setting as realistic and as gritty as a wacky story like this can be, leading to this unsettling, off tone in a familiar, yet urban setting that really made me feel uncomfortable. What makes this movie disturbing is how realistically the developed characters and setting are. These are just average, everyday people - the kind you may have encountered or known in real life - dealing with a stressful/unfortunate situation, while also dealing with the preconceived notions about who they are from the people around them and each other. There are fantastical elements to this movie, to be sure. But I'd say that the grounded nature and focus on mental health and identity are just downright heartbreaking and genuinely hard for me to watch.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what background you come from, what horrible thing has happened in the past or what society says about who you are. The things that make us truly human is the empathy we can have for one another. This isn't your traditional Christmas film, but it's most certainly one of the best I've ever seen. It's not only disturbing, heartwarming and more than earned the right to be labelled as a modern classic, I think it's one of Satoshi Kon's greatest projects that he's ever worked on. To me, this film exemplifies his filmography the best and shows how an artist really can create something that is stunning, beautiful and eerie all at the same time. He has a perfect filmography. Let us never forget.

The biggest mistake is that anime, in general, is often misunderstood. It has created timeless adult masterpieces.

"Be like water; water has form and yet it has no form. It is the softest element on earth, yet it penetrates the hardest rock. It has no shape of its own, yet it can take any shape in which it is placed. In a cup, it becomes the shape of the cup. In a vase, it takes the shape of the vase and curls about the stems of flowers. Put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Please observe the adaptability of water. If you squeeze it fast, the water will flow out quickly. If you squeeze it slowly, it will come out slowly. Water may seem to move in contradiction, even uphill, but it chooses any way open to it so that it may reach the sea. It may flow swiftly or it may flow slowly, but its purpose is inexorable, its destiny sure." - Bruce Lee