Obviously, the title of this entry is an oxymoron. I watched Porco Rosso last night, which is the first one I've seen of the new releases. Wonderful entertainment. It takes place in the easy range of Miyasaki's imagination, where there's a central unreality (the aviator pig in a world of sailing pilots) overlaid on a relative reality of Fascist Italy. When I say easy range, I mean that it is not the magical world of Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro. More like Kiki, with a dab of Cagliostro. In any case, highly recommended.
Spirited Away, on the other hand, is a desert island flick. It makes you actually wish for that mythical desert island.
In other breaking news, as they say over at Say Hi to Your New York Friends dot com, I'm also putting in a small recommendation for the new Bob Dole memoir, One Soldier's Story. I'm a sucker for this kind of story, and Dole's is a good one. And he's not a divisive character, so you don't care about his politics (which he never mentions aside from pointing out that he got into the business). I wouldn't rush out and buy it if I were you, but if it's sitting around, pick it up. You'll read it in one sitting and you'll get something out of it.
And yes, I won $45 Friday night. I couldn't get a bad hand. Pip could have won $45 with those cards. The idea of buy-ins for Sham Peons was roundly defeated in a tie vote, the cutthroat opinion being, get the bastids out early and let 'em eat dirt. Great friends I've got. We're hoping to Sham Peon again in the May game, although one or two voices inexplicably absent Friday night remain to be heard from.
Finally, thumbs up to Spotless Mind. I'm a sucker for Charlie Kaufman, what more can I say?
1 comment:
Miyasaki generally has references to fascism or communism in his movies. Princess Mononoke, his best film by far, has a very explicit symbol for communism. I completely agree, the man is a genius.
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