New Anime: Summer Wars

When I catalog movies here at the library, I sometimes need to watch the opening credits to verify title and other information. This is more frequent a responsibility with films in languages other than English, which will likely list the title in English and its original language.

Fortunately, this is not always dull as some opening sequences just look fantastic, like in the new anime DVD, Summer Wars. The good news with this film is that the unique visuals recur throughout the film, as it all takes place in the virtual world, OZ, which is at the center of this suspenseful story.  Here's a preview:

Proms and Racism

I should note that I haven't been reading as many (meaning none) YA titles the past few months--hence so few IMHO posts lately.

However, I am watching a documentary of potential interest.  It's called Prom Night in Mississippi, and it's about the proms in the small town (pop. 2100) of Charleston, MS.  Proms, as in more than one prom. Specifically, a white prom and a black prom. 

Actor Morgan Freeman, a Mississippi native, offered to pay the full cost of an integrated prom in 1995, but his offer was ignored.  In 2008, he tried again, and this film is about that year and that prom.  I want to emphasize that in 2008, had Freeman not intervened, this school would have had segregated proms.

As I said, I'm watching it--it's stopped about halfway through at home, waiting for the next round of dinnertime DVD viewing--so I can't say how I felt about it.  So far, it's interesting, and sort of mind blowing--at one point, a man states that he isn't a racist before noting that he doesn't want his white daughter to have an African American boyfriend. 

I've gone on long enough.  Here's the trailer for your viewing pleasure.

Ink

I'm a fan of Neil Gaiman, and even after reading his more recent stories, I think of American Gods [Hardcover, Paperback], Neverwhere [Hardcover, Paperback, Book on CD, TV Miniseries], and The Sandman when I consider the characteristics of his work. So when I say that watching Ink [IMDb, official site]is like watching a graphic novel populated with Gaiman-esque characters, its those sort of odd, mystical characters that I've got in mind.

Ink takes the interesting premise of dream people (Storytellers bring pleasant dreams, incubi nightmares) locked in battle over a girl kidnapped from the real world, and adds an odd, blind Pathfinder who's manner brings to mind Delirium. The movie looks slick visually, with several fun fight sequences and some interesting special effects, and the story is engaging. Both the effects and the writing are a little rough, but are still pretty high quality for such an independent film. Ink was not picked up by any major distributors, likely due to the current recession, so the filmmakers released it themselves. If the library copy is unavailable, you can freely and legally watch it online. Check out the trailer:

Ohayo - Another from the movie list

Ohayo translates to Good Morning, and it makes sense as a title after seeing the movie.

The story of the film is that of two brothers in a Japanese suburb, and their parents and neighbors all add to the story. The director, Yasujiro Ozu, is well-renowned and allows plenty of time for the setting and characters to develop. The boys head off to school with their friends, often practicing the farting they've learned to excel at by eating pumice. Their fathers head off to work or in search of work, while their mothers gossip about one another. There are a pair of scandalous neighbors who sit around in their robes all day, and the mothers are unhappy with the fact that, as this ccouple is the only family around with a television set, their boys lie and hang out with the robe-neighbors after school every day to watch sumo wrestling and baseball.

The stage is set, and now the main characters, the brothers, argue with their parents over dinner one night about wanting a television. After their father has had enough, he tells them to stop talking and the brothers vow not to talk for one hundred days unless they get a television.

This causes a stir in the suburb and elsewhere. The neighbor mothers speculate about the brothers' mother, the teachers cannot figure out what is wrong with the boys, and their aunt is troubled that they will not speak to her, either.

Ohayo is an example of how complex a simple story can be, and it raises interesting themes with regard to small talk and consumerism.

Alohamora!

School’s out! It’s time for sun, summer reading, and family trips to awesome places – such as the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and the world-premiere of Harry Potter: The Exhibition. If you loved the books and the movies, the exhibit is your opportunity to get up close and personal with the costumes and props from the Harry Potter films, see some magical creatures, and try some hands-on Hogwarts activities. Here is just some of what you’ll see and experience:

• You might be selected to don the sorting hat. Find out what Hogwarts House is calling you!
• Check out the themed environments, such as the Gryffindor Common Room, Hagrid’s Hut, and the Hogwart’s Great Hall.
• See many of the wizardly props, like the Monster Book of Monsters, Harry’s acceptance letter to Hogwarts, the list of Dumbledore’s Army, and Ron Weasley’s howler.
• Pull a Mandrake out of a flowerpot in Professor Sprout’s classroom and listen to it shriek!
• Try your hand at throwing a Quaffle in the Quidditch area.

Harry Potter: The Exhibition is at the Museum of Science and Industry through September 27, 2009. Watch the museum website for “free days” when you’ll not be required to purchase a general admission ticket (you’ll still need to purchase special entry tickets for The Exhibition). No cameras are permitted – be prepared to leave the exhibit with only memories and a few great souvenirs from the official exhibit gift shop!

Coming soon to a theater near you -Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on July 15! Now’s the time to catch up on reading (or re-reading) this great Rowling series, or refresh your memory by watching the first five films on DVD. The Urbana Free Library has all of the books and all of the films in their collection! Place a request through the library's online catalog for the books and the films. We’ll notify you when they are available and hold them for you at the circulation desk. And now – most books in the collection have a 4-week loan period (new books remain at a 2-week loan). Five points from Gryffindor!