Jean Snow [.net]

Month: March 2017

  • Kurosawa Color

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    This is a great video essay on the use of color by Akira Kurosawa and his later films. I watched Ran recently, and was struck by the mesmerizing and intensive use of color — it absolutely acts as a tool to help tell the story that is being told. Via this tweet.

  • Sunday Morning Cartoon Cavalcade Vol. 2

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    Well, it didn’t take long for my plans to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings to switch over to Sunday mornings, and that’s because the new season of Samurai Jack airs on Saturday nights, and so it’s what I want to watch first thing on Sunday. This past Sunday I again kicked things off with Samurai…

  • Platoon

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    Next up for 1986 was Platoon. I’ll say this, I found the scenes in the village — that spark the riff between the sergeants — to be even more disturbing than I remembered. Might be that at this point in my life I can better appreciate the horror of the situation. It’s still a mesmerizing…

  • Aliens

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    I thought it would take longer before I embarked on another 80s movie marathon, but I already felt like diving back in, and decided to kick off 1986 with Aliens. I can’t really say if I prefer Alien or Aliens — I love them both for very different reasons. But I’ll say that watching Aliens again — it…

  • Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt

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    I loved the first season of this series — slickly animated mech action set in my favorite Gundam era, with a jazz soundtrack. They’re doing a second OVA season, with the first episode out, and I loved it. It’s basically more of what we got from the first season, but on a larger scale (the…

  • Split

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    Sure, this is the second Shyamalan film I like in a row (following The Visit), so it’s too early to talk about a career resurgence, but he’s definitely making stuff I want to see again. And oh man, that ending. My wife was disappointed because for her it didn’t mean anything, but for me, I…

  • Manao Kagawa

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    There’s a new episode of Toco Toco TV out, again game-related but more on the traditional side, profiling pro shogi (Japanese chess) player Manao Kagawa. Next episode will yet again be game-related, covering Nier-creator Yoko Taro.

  • The Decagon House Murders

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    I mentioned that I was reading this book back in December, and although I was quite enjoying it, it got put aside for a while — as often happens when I read books, because of my shitty attention span. I picked it up again this past Sunday, and cruised through the final 100 or so…

  • Samurai Gourmet

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    This past Sunday I binged the entire season of Samurai Gourmet, a new series that was just added to Netflix. It’s a Japanese series that tells the story of a 60-year-old man who just entered retirement, and starts enjoying his post-work life through the lens of simple joys that he rediscovers, which pretty much all…