Sen To, X-Men 2

liquidbrains writes "With 'Princess Mononoke' fresh in our memories, the number one highest grossing film in Japan -ever- is coming to the US. Thanks to Disney and Pixar's John Lasseter, who has supervised the dub, we can soon expect a fine English adaptation of animation master Hayao Miyazaki's latest masterpiece, 'Spirited Away'. See the trailer here." Reader thefalconer writes "It seems that Apple has just released the very first trailer to X-Men 2 on their website. From what I've seen this movie looks like it's going to rock! Too bad I have to wait for May of next year!"

Comments

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[Sancho]

we could send a message to the MPAA by boycotting [these] movies.

Nah, I guess that just won't happen.

Re:OR

[mttlg]

we could send a message to the MPAA by boycotting [these] movies.

Yeah! We'll show those corporate bastards what we think of them by not going to see the movies we actually like! That'll teach them to make anything outside the fart jokes and bodily fluids genre!

Seriously, there are so many people who will spend money to see any piece of crap (even the latest Eddie Murphy flop had millions in ticket sales, but at least its $100 million price tag will make sure there is never a sequel) that a geek boycott would be lost in the noise floor. The only thing the MPAA will see is a spike in ticket sales (LOTR, Spider-Man, etc.).

Sure this won't do anything about the MPAA's business practices, but there is no way to have a realistic impact with a boycott - it will never gain enough support to put a dent in the billions of dollars the industry brings in each year. It is up to our legal system to resolve these issues, and boycotting the EFF, Congress, etc. isn't going to help on that front (hint, hint)...

The best reason for a boycott of this type isn't its effect on big corporations, but instead the impact on ourselves. By not spending money on crap, we have more money to spend on things we like. Instead of seeing "Adam Sandler Whines, Farts, and Beats People Up, Part XVII," you can buy a DVD of that obscure movie you love but nobody else has even heard of. Or you could buy stock in an undervalued company, or pay off some debts a little bit sooner, or get a few more minutes of entertainment at the nickel slots (ok, so maybe that one isn't such a good example). Considering the current state of Hollywood, it is easy to see how a boycott on crap could look like a boycott on the MPAA.

"If the movie stinks, just don't go!"

Sen's "To" versus X-Men's "2"

[KNicolson]

Tut, tut, any self-respecting anime geek would know they don't sound alike, as this headline seems to be trying to imply.

Anyway, mixing the two is sacrilige, as the first is 500 times what the second will ever be. (self-respecting anime geek subtle joke inserted in the hope of karma whoring a few points off them...)

Re:Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi

[-brazil-]

Because a truly self-respecting anime fan is able to resist the anti-dub propaganda? Because he hopes that the US release will not have the strong red tint of the Japanese DVD, and knows that it will also contain the Japanese soundtrack and be cheaper?

Because It Makes You Think

[Anonymous Coward]

As CmdrTaco himself best said,

"anime makes you wish American tv and movies had a soul..."

What I loved about Mononoke was that there was no clear good or evil. The central character, the boy, was kind of a protagonist, except he fucked up royally and got poisoned. That mark sealed the fate of his doom. You wouldn't see something that grim from Disney. They are afraid to even say the word "death." And Lady Iboshi was pretty bitchy and greedy, but she turned around in the end. And the great forest spirit was supposed to be so benevolent and good, ended up being a total havoc wreaker. So the movie doesn't draw clear lines about who is good and who is evil.

That's the point. You're supposed to think about the qualities of the character and decide for yourself whose side your on. It gives you insight into human nature. And it's a hell of a lot more entertaining than watching some Bruce Willis action flick where the villain may as well have the snidely moustache painted on his face with the word "VILLAIN" stamped on his shirt.

Mononoke was about redemption, about good and evil, about preservation and progress, and about carrying out your duty even though you're damned to die.

And come on, did you see when he shot that guy's head off using only an arrow? Fuck all, that's badass as hell.

Re:Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi

[rgmoore]

Why would any self-respecting anime fan buy a English dub of "Spirited Away" when the Japanese DVD includes a very good set of English subtitles?

Because this isn't a DVD release. It's a theatrical release, and even the hardest of hardcore subtitle fans realize that watching a movie on the big screen is much better than seeing it on DVD.

FWIW, Disney and American Cinematheque are doing an advanced showing at the El Capitan theater on 10 September. Miazaki will be there in person to answer questions after the showing. I was at a showing of a subtitled version of Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira where the preview was mentioned, and after the show essentially the whole theater walked over to El Capitan to buy tickets. That ought to give you some idea of how vital those people thought that subtitles are. Tickets weren't available that day (or the might have sold out immediately) but I bought mine the first day they were available. Good thing, too, because they sold out the next day.

Re:Stop nit-picking and just enjoy the damn film

[_xeno_]

It should have been the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

I think that the writer changed that on purpose in order to blur the line between good and evil. In the movie, Magneto was not evil: he simply believed in the superiority of mutants over normal people and wanted to ensure their continued surivial in the face of growing anti-mutant concern.

So instead of being good vs evil, what we actually had was mutant who believes that mutants and mankind must coexist vs mutant who believes that mankind must be crushed in order to allow mutants to survive vs humanity which is just scared about the new mutants.

All in all, a lot of the "corniness" that can exist in comic books ("Would you prefer yellow spandex?") doesn't really work on the big screen, so a lot of the more comic-book type elements were altered and made more mature. So the Brotherhood of Mutants was made not so much evil as it was a "terrorist" (from the normal's point of view) organization securing the future of mutantkind.

Likewise, Rouge and Iceman are teenagers because the movie focused on the creation of what would become the X-Men. So the "elder" characters were already there (Jean Grey, Professor X, Cyclops), while the "younger" characters were still growing up in preparation to become X-Men. Don't think of the movies as The Amazing X-Men on the big screen, think of it as the a new universe based on the Marvel universe. Then all the nitpicky stuff can just be ignored. (Likewise, I think the Spiderman movie was supposed to take place in the same Movie-verse that X-Men does.)

So, yeah, just enjoy the damn film! :)