Media Log 4: February Round-Up

It's March, so that means it's time to look back at what I watched in February!
...not a lot.

Okay so that's exaggerating a bit, there was a lot of stuff I started and stuff I've been doing, but life has been busy and there's a lot of things unfinished. I picked up Persona 3 FES midway through the month to compensate for my lack of money to buy Reload, and I've been keeping up with Delicious in Dungeon. Neither of these I actually got to finish yet, so I can't give my full thoughts on anything.

What I can discuss however...

Watched the dubbed version of this in a quiet theatre and man. What a movie. Such a curious depiction of one's struggle to accept grief in all its forms. The team at Studio Ghibli continues to create such enchanting and expressive films, and the backgrounds alone took my breath away every time.

That said, I don't have a lot else to say about it, and while that is due to the length of time between seeing it and now (around the 9th of Feb), I also don't think it quite hit me the same as it did for a lot of other people. If anything, this gave me a greater need to go through Miyazaki's filmography before going back to this one.

I will say that the dub was excellent, as a lot of GKIDS dubs have been (not all their dubs ((eva 3.0+1.0 I'm looking at you))). Robert Pattinson was obviously my go-to here, and he more than exceeded my expectations. But a lot of the other voices surprised me as well, like Florence Pugh as the old lady and Dave Bautista as the parrot. I'm looking forward to seeing Luca Padovan take on more roles, because his Mahito was terrific. 

The only truly odd one for me was Christian Bale as the father. Now I feel like I'm going insane, as I haven't seen anyone mention this. But. For the first hour, I honestly thought they brought in Simon Baker to play the Dad. Seeing 'Christian Bale' in the credits completely shook me out of my seat, because who the hell told him to put on an Australian accent for this film?! Again, I feel like I'm the only one who felt this way, so maybe Baker's accent is just implanted into my memory, but idk. Anyway speaking of which-

See there's Simon Baker. For those not Australian, this is a mini-series produced for Netflix based on the book of the same name, which revolves around Queensland boy Eli in the 90s struggling through low socio-economic environments, drug deals, crime families, and a mysterious figure controlling the city from the background (except its not that secret its, like. well you'll see). But maybe there's something underneath all of this, with an unplugged phone speaking riddles and a brother that can see the future?

Wasn't into this one too much at first, and I was intent to half-watch it while working on my laptop. A lot of the first two episodes are spent on set-up for its big, in-media-res opening, and while it introduces some interesting storytelling concepts and conflicts, it didn't hold my attention too much. Once episode 3 hits, however, things really get rolling. 

Maybe that's due to Simon Baker appearing as the kid's absent father. I can never go wrong with him honestly, but he perfectly encapsulates such a neurotic and obnoxious character that it wraps all the way around to being endearing. In fact, there are a lot of great performances here, from the menacing gait of Chris Baker's Ivan Kroll to the recovering addict and Eli's mother Frances played by Phoebe Tonkin. The actors playing Eli in particular (Felix Cameron and later Zac Burgess) are definitely ones to be looking out for in the future.

My only real issue comes with its more supernatural elements, which, due to the cavalcade of organised crime and personal struggles, get kind of lost in the shuffle and act more as set-dressing to the overall piece. While definitely a shame to see a lot of its more fantastical ideas get somewhat wasted, it's also clear that any more of it would end up being at odds with its more grounded drama. There's also the whole relationship between a 17-year-old Eli and reporter Caitlyn Spies in the latter half which, while sporting decent chemistry between Burgess and Sophie Wilde respectively, is a very... bizarre choice, within the context of her meeting him as a 14-year-old. I have no clue if this happened the same way in the book, but it soured what was a good endpoint.

If you're looking for more Australian shows to watch in the sea of Netflix originals, definitely give this a watch and see what you think.

I almost forgot I read this, but it's been a busy few weeks. Hell, I picked this up from Readings on a whim, having watched the movie a few months ago with my mum and feeling intrigued to know what was changed or cut from the original source material. I was expecting quite a bit left in the pages, and there certainly is here and there (I think a few beats in Venice get dropped in the movie, while some of her childhood is brushed over in favour of larger set-pieces).

What I wasn't expecting was how it was actually structured, both chronologically and physically. Seeing a graphic novel sectioned up in vignettes, as if it were a Peanuts or Garfield compendium, was intriguing to me, as if displaying Satrapi's childlike innocence outside the frame. Moreover, the film's framing device at the airport in modern day is absent, instead giving Satrapi's character a more omnipresent role throughout her various stories. I think the movie's framing allows for a stronger ending overall, but it's still devastating nonetheless.

You may have noticed that I haven't really discussed the book by itself so far, but I don't have a whole lot to say about it at the moment that isn't tied to my experience with the movie (also because I'm writing this on a stuffy night in March and I'm tired). Satrapi's art can capture both stupid immaturity and complete devastation mere panels apart from each other. Her perspective during this point in Iranian history both informs the reader and dumps them into the same confusion she experienced in her youth with tactful grace. It's probably one of the important pieces of autobiographical fiction in the last few decades. If you haven't read, or at least watched, Persepolis yet, make it a necessity.