Speaking of Anime... Everyone knows of the great titles like Ghost in the Shell and Ninja Scroll, but here's one you may have passed over. It's called Grave of the Fireflies. I recommend watching the Japanese audio with English subtitles. The Japanese little girl's voice is pretty damn precious.

Like Akira, this is an animated film released in '88. According to wiki, "It is an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka, intended as a personal apology to the author's own sister." And it's amazing. A straight animated drama that will certainly tug at the heart strings.

>> ^spoco2:
Really, Anime fricken leaves me so cold. People wax on and on and on and on about how it's so damn superior to western animation, but really, so much of it is lazy...


Well, I generally think that orchestral music is better than "hip hop", but that doesn't mean that all orchestral music is good or that all hip hop is bad.

As far as japanese anime, there is some crap out there, but there is some amazing stuff too. Princess Mononoke is wonderful, as is Cowboy Bebop (NOT the english version, holy crap it sucks).

There is also some very good american anime (I count Pixar in that), but I think the japanese really were the main ones pushing animation as an art form rather than saturday morning children's entertainment.


Anime films I've watched include:
Ghost in the Shell: Reasonably entertaining back when I watched it many moons ago
Princess Mononoke: It was so hyped by a co-worker a number of years back... watched it, was very bored by it
Ninja Scroll: Pretty sure I watched this one way back, was ok I think... nothing amazing
An Episode of Cowboy Bebop: Yup...


The Ghost in the Shell series is way better than the movie. Ninja Scroll is neat... I could watch it again, but it isn't high only "best of" list. Cowboy Bebop is great, though one episode in the middle of a continuous storyline won't give you a good idea of its merits.

Also, if you're watching these in english (with the possible exceptions of Mononoke or FLCL) then I can definitely see why you think japanese anime sucks.

>> ^Farhad2000:
>> ^spoco2:
How you watched anime films like Grave of the Fireflies?

Everyone: you owe it to yourself to see Grave of the Fireflies. Sure, you may be stuck in the worst depression of your life for a few weeks after watching it, but trust me, it'll be worth it.

"Some critics (most notably Roger Ebert) consider it to be one of the most powerful anti-war movies ever made. Animation historian Ernest Rister compares the film to Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List and says, "it is the most profoundly human animated film I've ever seen.""

Anime films I've watched include:
Ghost in the Shell: Reasonably entertaining back when I watched it many moons ago
Princess Mononoke: It was so hyped by a co-worker a number of years back... watched it, was very bored by it
Ninja Scroll: Pretty sure I watched this one way back, was ok I think... nothing amazing
An Episode of Cowboy Bebop: Yup...

And a host of other ones I have seen portions of, or started to watch and couldn't make it very far through. And also all the ones I used to watch as a kid (Astro boy, Star Blazers etc.), and I enjoyed them when I was pre teen, but they were very poorly animated.

You'll probably write me off as some mainstream, big budget loving waste of space who wouldn't watch a foreign language film if he was paid to... but you'd discover that was patently false (not to say I don't enjoy big budget films too).

I just don't like Anime. Fine if you do, but if you try to justify a movie with animals using their ballsacks as parachutes and landing devices as something that's relevant to folklore and mythology, sorry, you lose me.

>> ^spoco2:
Really, Anime fricken leaves me so cold. People wax on and on and on and on about how it's so damn superior to western animation, but really, so much of it is lazy (a LOT has an awful lot of static image in the frame with barely a mouth moving), outlets for the repression of the Japanese culture.


Really you made that entire conclusion from watching a short segment of the entire film and what you saw on Nickelodeon?

The entire film is centered around animals fighting mans encroaching development on their forest, packaged in this cute way that sometimes borders on the ridiculous for western viewers but is actually highly relevant to Japanese folklore and mythology.

How you watched anime films like Grave of the Fireflies? Perfect Blue? Millennium Actress?

I don't think you explored enough in the genre to make such a statement, its like saying all Hollywood films suck because they are all centered around violence and sex.

Oh man, that's too clever. I hope Zack Snyder never see this, or he might venture into directing animated films. God help us all.

*promote

From IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0297703/

"Adagio" (2000) -is a ten minutes long animated miracle created by Russian master-animator Garry Bardin. He used paper folding also known as origami technique in the film because he felt that the idea of "Adagio" and its visual solution required paper as a perfect material. It took nine months to produce "Adagio". Bardin and his team of animators tried to manually move the paper figures, strange half-men, half-birds creatures, using the trial-and-error method.

"Adagio" which is a philosophical parable exploring the conflict between a hero and the crowd is loosely based on a romantic short story written by the famous Russian writer Maxim Gorky about a young man named Danko and his burning heart. In the story, Danko belonged to a tribe of strong men that were forced by their enemies to retreat into the depths of an old dark forest filled with swamps. Danko, young and brave, believed that there was a way out of dark and hostile forest, and he bravely led the people deeper inside. But soon they started to grumble. Fueled by fear and darkness, frustration and anger grew among them. Danko looked at the people and saw only hatred in their faces, and the flame of desire to save them flared up in his heart.

"This flame of love for his people became stronger and stronger, and suddenly, overpowering the sound of thunder, Danko exclaimed: 'What shall I do for my people?' And he tore apart his chest and tore out his heart and raised it high over his head. It blazed like the sun, even brighter than the sun, and the forest, stunned by this overwhelming love for the people, became quiet. Danko ran forward, holding high his burning heart, lighting the road for the people, and they rushed after him. Suddenly, the forest ended, and they emerged into an ocean of sunshine and fresh air, cleansed by the rain. Danko looked at the free land, laughed proudly and fell dead. And the happy people, filled with great hopes and expectations, did not even notice Danko's death and did not see that next to his body his brave heart still burned brightly. Only one person noticed it and fearing something, stomped on the proud heart and extinguished its flame... "

In his short amazing animation, Bardin was able to meditate on many burning issues - intolerance to different opinions and religions, ignorance and lack of desire to learn the history lessons, suspicion that easily turns to hatred for someone who stands out. It is easier to worship the dead hero than to follow him while he is alive. It is unbearable to see that someone is pure and shining – it feels great to smear them, to make them as grey as everyone else around. "Adagio in G minor" widely known as simply Albinoni's Adagio, one of the most frequently recorded pieces of Baroque music, brings tragic and sublime mourning to the film. Well, I can go on for long time about deep meaning of Bardin's images and his pessimistic outlook at the modern society but first and foremost, "Adagio" is a fabulous work of art by an Artist who is known for almost supernatural sense of material. Bardin uses the objects that surround us in everyday life - matches, ropes, wires, and paper as the characters in his animated films.

*love

Good point, and good solution. There are a large number of short animated films posted here that would also have to be removed.

Boring music, boring video! The band kinda reminds me of boredom. Another new band for me to not listen to. The fact that it was created entirely from 45,000 Photographs taken by a Nikon DSLR, is not impressive. Animation has been around for something like a hundred years and still every time someone makes an animation film everyone goes: wow! thats so...art...like! It must have taken an eternity! you must be a very patient person! how many images? 45.000?!?! wow thats a large number. you must be able to count very far.

sorry. Hope noone got personally offended.

Looks like yet another winner from Pixar. I don't think the world would be a worse place if Pixar were the only American studio allowed to make animated films. They seem to be the only ones to consistently get it right (oh so right).

this video also explains everything that is wrong with the new (and the remake) of starwars.
George Lucas: "Be sure to add some comedy".

Comedy for Lucas is farting animals, filming into big muppet mouths, and tripping on something and saying "osa mesa sorry".

Damn I watched almost all of that.

I really liked Titan A.E. back in high school. Not enough animated films deal with space and the future (besides anime).

I watched Sunshine. I was sorely disappointed with the ending. It just got retarded in 10 minutes flat. I thought Event Horizon was much better.

The Thing I have on DVD. Best film Carpenter ever made.

Battlefield Earth I watched once. I thought it was shit but not as bad as some people claim it is. Travolta was really ridiculous looking.

Brazil is a great Terry Gilliam flick. Loved it.

The Cube movies I always loved.

Titan A.E. was pretty good for an animated film. I wouldn't say it's only for kids or only for adults either - so it may not be your bag, baby.

I just killed this this week because it was a dupe....

http://www.videosift.com/video/Over-Time-Incredible-Short-Animated-Film-0502-2004

*discard

Allegro non troppo is a Bruno Bozzetto animated film released in 1977. The film is a parody of Disney's Fantasia, though possibly more of a challenge to Fantasia than parody status would imply.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegro_non_troppo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074121/
*shortfilms
It's part of a bigger 85 minute film but this part can be seen as a short film.