mature | timotheories

Set The Stage (Akira review)

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

I grew up on a lot of interesting anime cartoons. Dragon Ball Z, Samurai Pizza Cats, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and lots of live-action Japanese themed shows like Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and Super Human Samurai.

The one thing in common with most of these shows though, is that they didn’t really have an audience over here until the early 90’s, when I was a kid, because we just didn’t know the art existed. Thankfully we have a particular movie to thank for ushering in this culture before globalization was a thing.

Hence we are starting off this years movie reviews with a classic…

Akira (1988)
Cast:Cam Clarke, Jan Rabson, Lara Cody, Tony Pope, Lewis Arquette, Michelle Ruff, Bob Buchholz
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
rereleased on blu-ray November 12, 2013
****** 8/10

IMDB: 8.1
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%, Audience Score 90%
The Guardian: *****/*****

Akira was a groundbreaking animated film (or anime) which was directedby Katsuhiro Otomo. Akira the movie is a variation on it’s manga namesake which was also written by Otomo.

The movie focuses heavily on the first half of the book, and takes key elements from the second half in order to tighten the story up and fit it in a two hour window.

But is it any good?

On July 16, 1988 we see an atom bomb destroy Tokyo. Roughly 30 years the resulting WWIII, a Neo-Tokyo has been built and is both beautiful and desolate. The Capsules gang is hanging out at a bar and getting ready to take on the Clowns. Kaneda (Cam Clarke), is the leader of the group and heads outside where Tetsuo (Jan Rabson) is admiring his red bike.

After meeting, they chase the Clowns through the city, eventually knocking most of them out. Tetsuo loses control of his bike during this fight and is abandoned when the police show up.

Elsewhere a man is wounded and leading a small green skinned child through the streets. He shoots a dog during this run and is gunned down by the police. A building collapses and the crowd disperses, revealing a mustached man and a young lady named Kei (Lara Cody), who are are split up.

Meanwhile, the Capsules continue to fight the Clowns. During this Tetsuo gets into it with one Clown in particular and beats on him. When Tetsuo looks up, he sees the green person standing in his path and narrowly misses him, causing a crash and explosion. Tetsuo is unconscious and Kaneda and friends arrive to see the green person leave. Another green person in a hoverchair tells the fleeing person there is no escape and a tall military man, Colonel Shikishima (Tony Pope), emerges from a helicopter, picks up Tetsuo, while the Capsules are taken into custody. The Colonel then leaves with the two green children.

At the police station, Kaneda and his gang are interrogated, but eventually released. Kaneda notices Kei and arranges to have her released as well. It turns out she is part of a terrorist group, but teases him for flirting with her.

At the hospital Tetsuo is examined by Doctor Onishi (Lewis Arquette), who realizes that Tetsuo has similar psychic potential to Akira, a young esper like the green children. Akira caused the explosion 30 years prior. Shikishima is informed by Onishi that Tetsuo is the key to solving the problem of Project Akira, a secret mission that was organized by an underground terrorist group. However, Shikishima is not convinced and will kill Tetsuo if he gets out of control.

Tetsuo wakes up and heads back to school. The rest of the Capsules are chatting with their girlfriends about the fight, the arrest and their messed up hideout. Kaori (Michelle Ruff), is concerned about her boyfriend, Tetsuo. He decides that they should run away and they steal Kaneda’s bike. But Kaneda and the others see this.

The bike eventually stalls. Then Clowns appear and assault Kaori. Luckily Kaneda and the others show up just in time. Tetsuo, is upset about being rescued yet again. And decides to beat on a Clown who is on the ground already. Tetsuo then gets an intense migraine and hears the word “Akira.” Military people suddenly appear and Doctor Onishi has Tetsuo taken back to the hospital. The gang is visibly confused.

Almost simultaneously we see another building explode and a group of men flee the scene. Kaneda then sees the mustached man and Kei fleeing. He follows her as the police close in. Kaneda then aids Kei in her escape and is taken to the terrorist headquarters where the leader, the mustached man named Ryu (Bob Buchholz), reveals the plan to capture the first green esper child has failed. He wants to capture the newest government subject, Tetsuo. Kaneda has been listening in and explains that he and Tetsuo are friends, he can help them out.

There is a lot more to it, and I’m not stopping to avoid spoilers – the statute of limitations on spoilers is a year or two tops, and this movie is over 25 years old. I’m stopping because there is a lot of plot left and your appetite should be whet by now.

Pros: It is so tightly packed with plot, action, and interesting ideas, it was incredibly ambitious for it’s time. And it still holds up today. You’ve got cyberpunk visuals aplenty too.

Cons: Because it moves at such a quick pace, is content heavy, and visually dense. If you don’t pay close attention it can feel rushed and you’ll lose interest.

Runtime: 124 minutes

Points of Interest: It cost over a million dollars to re-dub and layer in a new soundtrack when the film was rereleased in 2001. There have been talks of putting together a live-action version of the film, but it’s been difficult to get it off the ground.

If you enjoy The Matrix series, Kill Bill and many other sci-fi action films, this is the anime that brought these ideas to western culture and influenced the makers of those movies. The plot is great, the visuals are stunning, and it is just as interesting today.

Sure there have been other brands like Studio Ghibli that offer anime in a digestible format, but if it had not been for Akira, we wouldn’t have seen the darker and more mature side of animated film. When CGI is the hot topic of the day, anime continues to let us see hand drawn art come to life.

My hope is that we learn from the eastern culture and begin to marry the 3D content with the traditional 2D artwork and move forward with awesome stories.

Similar to what the big studios are doing by reintroducing practical effects into film and combining it nicely with computer effects. *Cough* Star Wars The Force Awakens *Cough*. Our eyes enjoy it better.

And that’s all I’ve got to say about that folks. I hope you take some time to check this classic out.

Have a good night, and I’ll see you tomorrow for some wisdom.

Tim!

Make Up The Breakdown (Cage the Elephant, Tell Me I’m Pretty review)

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

You know that guy or gal that walks around with a lot of confidence but just can’t seem to make it work? Says they’ve got it all. Says they’ve got it. But you don’t really want to be the one to point out that they don’t.

Hot Hot Heat appropriation aside, this week’s album review is about a band that seemed hot to trot, but just couldn’t convince me before. But can they finally break the proverbial ice?

Let’s find out.

Cage the Elephant – Tell Me I’m Pretty
released December 18, 2015
********* 9/10

Cage the Elephant is a Kentucky born American Rock group that got their start in 2006. Tell Me I’m Pretty is their 4th studio album, which was recorded in spring of 2015, announced in October, and released rather delicately at the end of the 2015.

Because you expect honesty from me I’m gonna tell you that I’ve had some mixed feelings about Cage the Elephant.

I bought their self-titled first album on a whim for 8 bucks last year because I enjoyed that dumb catchy single, Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked, when it was popular, and the album turned out okay – like a 5 or a 6. Then I bought Thank You, Happy Birthday later in the year and just couldn’t get into it. It felt disjointed and the hooks weren’t there for me. It’s albums like that which make me hate buying untested music.

But that’s part of it.

So I said to myself, “Tim, Cage The Elephant’s third album Melaphobia could be really good or really terrible, based on their current track record. But I’ve been hurt and I didn’t want to get hurt by them again.”

And then I kinda forgot about the group and didn’t pick the record up.

I was busy with life and after the holidays came around I got back into the swing of things by going through my yearly Boxing Day shopping gauntlet, but then I remembered I hadn’t gathered my music and movie picks for this week and I saw a new Cage The Elephant album.

I had mixed feelings, as eluded to previously, but I bought it. And this album is more than okay. It’s really really good.

If I were to guess I think Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys had a lot to do with it. He helped produce Tell Me I’m Pretty and while Mess Around sounds familiar, the kinda song that will eventually get used in a jeans commercial, the rest of the album is incredibly thoughtful and poised to get the range of emotions you should be craving right now.

Some might argue that their roughness was what made Cage The Elephant a good act, and I would heavily disagree with that. Cold Cold Cold is incredibly minimalist and tight, whereas That’s Right and Punchin’ Bag bring a bit more excitement and eclectic paranoia to the mix.

If you like soulful ballads then Too Late To Say Goodbye and Trouble will be perfect people pleasers for you too.

Probably my favourite aspect of the album is the fact that each track has enough weight to hold it’s own and provide a bit of organization to hold the mix together.

Unfortunately there aren’t any music videos that I could find just yet, but that just might be a testament to the calm and cool of this release.

Normally I’m a big fan of anything independently made or which has even a hint of an alternative sound, but Cage the Elephant had a hard time earning back my trust after that initial few let downs.

Then I learned that their sound just needed to mature a bit. They needed some proper attention, and here we are, with an excellent rock album. Fortunately for us they were able to make up the breakdown of their previous efforts and I can’t wait for what they have in store next time around!

Until tomorrow, dear readers. Have a good one.

Tim!

What A Creep Show! (DeviantArt)

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Tim Kuefler

What the heck is a deviant? And why does it send a chill down your spine when Grandma calls that guy with a mustache across the street feeding the pigeons one?

I’ve often wondered this myself dear readers, and I’ve read definitions of the term of course, to properly understand what the word means, but do these people really exist? I feel compelled to wonder, and of course they do, because people are slowly coming to terms with the idea that normative behaviour isn’t as far reaching as we’ve been told by experts. but before I go any further, this description should get us all started on the same line of thought.

deviant

(ˈdiːvɪənt)

adj

1. (Sociology) deviating, as from what is considered acceptable behaviour

n

2. (Sociology) a person whose behaviour, esp sexual behaviour, deviates from what is considered to be acceptable

Okay, so if someone differs from a norm or a standard of society, then that makes them a deviant. But why do I have a strong suspicion that grandma is somewhat biased in her outlook?

Well to be quite blunt and methodical, my rationale for this is that while psychopaths and sociopaths are decently capable of managing their illness from an external viewers perspective, there are several factors to consider.

According to this article which discusses the findings of Dr. James Fallon (a neuroscientist of U of California who accidentally diagnosed himself with psychopathy), people can have the genetic markers of psychopathy but not be dangers to society, but that doesn’t mean they are criminals. And further to that point, it can be difficult to separate “discovery” of traits from “acknowledgement” of traits and realize that doesn’t make the person a threat.

So the assumption from grandma that someone is a threat because they have strange behaviour is problematic, and further to that point, the people who DO exhibit those tendencies or follow criminal behaviour don’t exhibit the behaviour in obvious ways in most cases.

But you knew that discussing sociology and criminal deviancy wasn’t the real intent of today’s Wisdom Wednesday post.

No I want to write about the implications of deviancy and share with you a resource that encourages that behaviour in the realm of the arts. And luckily for us, the name of said source is DeviantArt.

Deviant Art is the self-proclaimed “largest online art gallery and community,” and has been around since the beginning of the 21st century. Which is fairly poetic and appropriate, given the content it churns out.

Of course I am going to over the INs and OUTs of the community with you of course, but I think this tutorial video I’ve included below is a good place to look at before we continue. Mostly because it makes me laugh.

If I’m being perfectly frank, DeviantArt is not as obviously deviant from the typical fare as it sets out to be, but that doesn’t mean it is something to avoid. As you learn to navigate the forums, you will find some really amazing content and in many cases, it will spurn creative ideas.

Where you see the deviation will be in the communication of ideas.

Don’t be alarmed by this. Because it is an unmoderated forum, there will be offensive artwork, but mostly it comes in the form of posts and groups. The questionable content is what makes the website so unique in it’s identity.

This website has millions of images on it which is amazing in and of itself, but it also features videos and written content for artists pursuing those disciplines. It is effectively both a gallery and an art forum, a place for people to submit their artwork and comment on artwork with both text and pictures. Heck, if you want can record yourself making a drawing and submit the entire process to the website for critique.

I find it incredibly fascinating that users have the option to submit their works to be used however they personally deem appropriate. Which means that work could be copyright protected or distributed freely.

You have the option to view work that is trending, artwork that is currently featured in contests, whatever has been submitted in the past “instant”, participate in art challenges, submit work to particular boards, comment on blog posts or create your own virtual gallery. And you would be surprised by all of the different kinds of artwork available from pencil drawing to painting, from child friendly to mature themes, from realism to comic book fan art, there is something on DeviantArt for everyone.

I hope you enjoyed today’s resource folks, please leave some comments and share you experiences with the website or send me an email with a resource you want me to talk about next. I’m out of theories for now, till next time.

Tim!