#10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki

[laestoica]

[mikyapixie]

I have successfully seen all the movies shown for the Studio Ghibli Fest these past 10 months & it has been amazing!!! 3 of the movies were some I’ve never seen before & watching them on the big screen was truly extraordinary!!! Watching the wonderful films that I love in theater was unbelievable, with all the Studio Ghibli movies I’ve watched I have only seen 2 in theater, rewatching them all in there was truly a spectacular experience for me!!! As well as watching the Studio Ghibli movies I’ve never watched on a big screen was truly incredible!!! As always Studio Ghibli’s movies has amazing artwork & animation paired with beautiful soothing soundtrack!!! Spirited Away Live On Stage was magnificent!!! THE SINGING!!! THE DANCING!!! THE SWEET SWEET MUSIC!!! ALL OF IT WAS FLAWLESS!!! Seeing my FAVORITE MOVIE performed on stage with some of THE BEST of Japan’s actors was a remarkable experience!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO BUY THE DVD📀!!! Also after every movie there were scenes extracted from 10 Years With Hayao Miyazaki, a documentary all about Hayao Miyazaki & his team of artists & their beautiful hard work they put into their films!!! Together with those scenes we were also shown artwork for Hayao Miyazaki’s FINAL MOVIE!!! I also saw Kenshi Yonezu sing his new song 地球儀-Spinning Globe & him being interviewed about how he made this delightful song & sung it for Hayao Miyazaki himself!!! I’m so excited to see Hayao Miyazaki’s FINAL MOVE!!! It is sad know that a phenomenal artist such as Hayao Miyazaki will be retiring but I know that it’s better this way, he deserves to live out his golden years in peace☮️!!!

[daddiesdrarryy]

Me writing

[eltristan]

Year of the Dragon coming up.

[fandom]

Celebrities

Taika Waititi went up +69 this year. Nice.

Queen Elizabeth II

Joseph Quinn

Andrew Garfield

Tom Holland +3

Chris Evans -3

Taika Waititi +69

Oscar Isaac +32

Robert Pattinson +44

Misha Collins -5

Tobey Maguire

Joe Keery

Zendaya +7

Sebastian Stan -10

Jensen Ackles -9

Elon Musk +22

Pedro Pascal -15

Chris Pine

Rhys Darby

Neil Gaiman

Henry Cavill -12

Florence Pugh +20

Maya Hawke

Chris Pratt +12

Will Smith

Alex Hirsch +55

Johnny Depp +24

Kit Connor

Mads Mikkelsen -10

Ewan McGregor +28

Tom Hiddleston -24

Sadie Sink

Hayden Christensen

Dana Terrace

Hailee Steinfeld +29

Timothee Chalamet -11

Joey Batey +59

Matt Smith

Tom Sturridge

Dylan O’Brien +8

Katie McGrath -25

Joe Locke

Finn Wolfhard

Alfred Molina

Keanu Reeves -8

Noah Schnapp

Benedict Cumberbatch -4

Zoë Kravitz

Hugh Dancy -22

David Tennant -21

Elizabeth Olsen -33

Hayao Miyazaki +10

Natalia Dyer

Apo Nattawin

Charlie Cox

Tom Hardy -24

Paul Dano

Jamie Campbell Bower

Mile Phakphum

Jodie Whittaker

Sydney Sweeney

Chris Rock

Chris Hemsworth -22

Alexa Demie

Ryan Reynolds

Nichelle Nichols

Marilyn Monroe -17

Amber Heard

Barry Keoghan

Natalie Portman

Harvey Guillén

Selena Gomez

David Jenkins

Con O’Neill

Christopher Eccleston

Tessa Thompson +15

Simone Ashley

Jonathan Bailey

Jodie Comer +7

Walker Scobell

Bella Hadid -22

Wang Yibo -54

Betty White

Scarlett Johansson -58

Anne Hathaway

Emma Watson -9

Millie Bobby Brown

Jared Padalecki -76

Ana De Armas +3

Xiao Zhan -60

Oliver Stark -23

Bible Wichapas

Prince William

Angelina Jolie

Toby Fox

Jack Black

John Mulaney -84

Michael Sheen -42

Blake Lively

Ryan Guzman

Anya Taylor-Joy -68

The number in italics indicates how many spots a name moved up or down from the previous year. Bolded names weren’t on the list last year.

[ghibli-collector]

Studio Ghibli To Release New Hayao Miyazaki Documentary

Studio Ghibli is set to reveal a new documentary that chronicles Miyazaki's work on The Boy And The Heron.

Studio Ghibli's The Boy And The Heron became the number one movie in North America for its opening weekend. The movie, which was originally billed as the final film from director Hayao Miyazaki, has become a big hit for the studio and the production house is aiming to dive further into the making of How Do You Live. A new documentary is set to be released in Japan that will chronicle not only the making of Ghibli's latest, but take us further into the mind of the legendary director Hayao Miyazaki.

Miyazaki had originally stated that he would be retiring once The Boy And The Heron was released, but the director has seen changed his mind. Returning to Ghibli with a number of fresh ideas for films in the future, Hayao might be in his 80s, but it's clear that he is aiming to create anime movies for some time to come. Since the release of Ghibli's new film, the movie has received several accolades from film critics and groups, leaving many to wonder if How Do You Live might follow Spirited Awar's path and nab an Academy Award for Best Animated Picture.

2,399 Days With Ghibli and Miyazaki

The new documentary will arrive on Japanese television channel, NHK General, on December 16th. While an international release has yet to be confirmed by either Ghibli or NHK, it's a good bet that anime fans in the West will someday have the opportunity to watch it. The previous documentary following both Ghibli and Miyazaki, 10 Years With Hayao Miyazaki, eventually found its way online thanks to NHK for anime fans all over the world.

If you haven't had the chance to catch the latest anime film from Studio Ghibli, it is still available to see in North American theaters. Here's an official description from the production house for The Boy And The Heron, "Mahito, a young 12-year-old boy, struggles to settle in a new town after his mother's death. However, when a talking heron informs Mahito that his mother is still alive, he enters an abandoned tower in search of her, which takes him to another world."

Source: Evan Valentine

comicbook . com

[thehomelybrewster]

1d8 "Free" Fantasy RPGs To Replace 5e At Your Table

D&D 5e sure is a roleplaying game, and it's one that I have enjoyed a lot. However, that doesn't mean that I'd recommend it automatically for other people. This has many reasons, which I won't elaborate here. It has also shaped the perception of TTRPGs significantly thanks to its market dominance, and not in a good way.

5e has a reputation for being an expensive, complex game, and 5e players fear that other RPGs might just be the same. That it's too much of a hassle and too much of a financial burden to switch systems.

So, to help 5e players pick out a different system, I've made this handy 1d8 rolling table to help them pick a fantasy TTRPG with a combat component that they can try instead!

Let's now go through these eight nine RPGs and see what's up with them, right below the "Keep reading" section!

I'll be listing some metrics like the page count for the rulebook(s), the core resolution mechanic, how complex the game is in terms of character creation & combat, and how well-supported the game is by their publisher and the community-at-large.

1. Cairn

Author: Yochai Gal

Release Year: 2020

Cost: Free PDF, printed copies cost between $3 to $10 depending on the print quality.

Page Count: 24

Website: https://cairnrpg.com/

Resolution Mechanic: 1d20 Roll Under system for ability checks/saving throws, attacks hit automatically, "fiction-first".

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Random character creation, class-less and level-less, advancement based on "Scars" (suffering damage that reduces your HP exactly to 0)

Setting: Implied. Low-magic European-style fantasy; mysterious woodlands.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Hit Protection and Ability damage instead of HP, Slot-Based Inventory.

Degree of Support: Very high. Available in fifteen languages (e.g. Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and German); full rules text is under CC-BY-SA 4.0; multiple published third-party adventures & supplements available; some official bonus material (e.g. bestiary, magic items/relics, and spells) is available for free on the website.

Addendum: An expanded 2nd Edition is currently on Kickstarter (ends April 26th 2024); Cairn is legitimately easy to learn, however the Hit Protection system and the connected Scars system is a very different abstraction to health and advancement compared to 5e.

2. Cloud Empress

Author: worlds by watt

Release Year: 2023

Cost: Free PDF of the rulebook and the creator-written sample adventure "Last Voyage of the Bean Barge", $20 for the print edition of the rulebook, $12 for PDF supplements, $25 for print + PDF supplements; free solo rules also available as PDF only.

Page Count: 60

Website: https://cloudempress.com/

Resolution Mechanic: d100 Roll Under system for stat checks/saving throws, critical successes or failures on doubles (11, 22, 33, etc.), 5e-style advantage/disadvantage, attacks generally hit automatically.

Action Economy: Two actions per round with no free movement.

Characters: Semi-random character creation, four classes ("jobs"), no rules for character advancement in the ruleset.

Setting: Specific. "Ecological science fantasy" heavily inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind"; costly magic, giant insects, dangerous mushrooms; only human player characters.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Damage points culminate in Wounds; Wounds and Stress as ways to track your character's physical and mental state; slot-based inventory system.

Degree of Support: Low-ish. Several official supplements exist, however third-party material is very sparse. May improve due to the recent establishment of a Cloud Empress Creators Fund, has a simple 3rd party license system.

Addendum: A supplement, "Cloud Empress: Life & Death" is currently on Kickstarter (ends April 26th 2024, yes, the same day as Cairn 2e) and as a disclaimer I even backed that current Kickstarter; Cloud Empress is built on the engine of the sci-fi horror RPG "Mothership"; clearly built for one-shots and short campaigns; has a wonderful resting system that encourages roleplay between players.

3. Iron Halberd

Author: level2janitor

Release Year: 2023

Cost: Free PDF of the rules; no print option available.

Page Count: 60

Website: https://level2janitor.itch.io/iron-halberd

Resolution Mechanic: 1d20 + Bonus Roll Over system against difficulty or armor rating, however most non-combat-related actions follow a fiction first approach without dice rolls.

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Semi-random character creation, class-less but there are four different "gear kits" that nudge your character towards certain archetypes, levelling up with XP.

Setting: Essentially non-existant. General European fantasy with magic, gods may or may not exist/shape the world, various fantastic ancestries included.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Includes rules for building strongholds and maintaining warbands; slot-based inventory with a durability mechanic.

Degree of Support: None. The game is intended to be relatively compatible with other OSR content and the creator suggests using adventures made for the D&D retroclone Old-School Essentials if you wanna use pre-published ones. An official introductory adventure, "Sea-Spray Bay", is apparently in the works. No 3rd party license available, as far as I know.

Addendum: One thing about Iron Halberd I like especially is how it uses random tables for generating equipment. Most of the equipment is listed in a numerical order by category, and the various gear kits include references on different rolling formulas for those equipment categories. For example someone taking the "soldier's kit" rolls twice on the d20 Weapons table and takes their preferred pick, while someone taking the "sage's kit" only rolls a d4 on that table.

4. Mausritter

Author: Isaac Williams

Release Year: 2020

Cost: Free PDF of the ruleset available; box set with the rules and several goodies including an adventure costs $55; additional box set + PDFs containing eleven official adventures costs $55 (or $20 digital-only).

Page Count: 48

Website: https://mausritter.com/

Resolution Mechanic: 1d20 Roll Under system, 5e-style advantage/disadvantage, attacks always hit.

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Random character creation, class-less, levelling up with XP.

Setting: Vaguely specific. You play as mice and everything is related to mouse-size; cats are the equivalents of devils or dragons; humans exist as a setting background but may or may not be present in a campaign.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Includes rules for recruiting warbands; slot-based inventory with a durability mechanic.

Degree of Support: Very high. Several official supplements exist, as well as loads of content, be it adventures or supplements, made by other creators. Available in seven languages (all of them however are European). Has a simple 3rd party license system.

Addendum: Mausritter uses the phrase "adventure site" instead of dungeons. On the website a free adventure site generator is available, as is a digital tool that can be used to generate your own item cards for the slot-based inventory system.

5. Maze Rats

Author: Ben Milton

Release Year: 2017

Cost: $4.99 for the PDF, no print option regularly available.

Page Count: 32

Website: https://questingbeast.substack.com/

Resolution Mechanic: 2d6 + Bonus Roll Over system; advantage system that uses 3d6 drop the lowest + Bonus.

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Semi-random character creation, class-less but instead there are character features (e.g. spell slots or attack bonuses), levelling up with XP.

Setting: Essentially non-existant. Magic is very irregular (s. the section below), but otherwise it implies a vaguely European fantasy setting.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Spells are randomly generated each adventuring day and spell effects are negotiated between the GM and the spellcasting player; includes several fantastic d66 tables that can be used to randomly generate worlds.

Degree of Support: Decent. The rule text is licensed under CC BY 4.0 and unofficial translations are available. Some third-party content has been made specifically for the game.

Addendum: The only purchase-only game on this list. However "unofficial" distribution of the PDF is very common. Also this is the oldest game on the list. Ben "Questing Beast" Milton is a prolific OSR blogger and runs a YouTube channel on the OSR. Great dude.

6. Sherwood - A Game of Outlaws & Arcana

Author: Richard Ruane

Release Year: 2022

Cost: Free quickstart PDF titled "Sherwood - A Quickstart of Outlaws" available; digital rulebook costs $7.50 and the print edition (including PDF) costs $15.

Page Count: 25 (Quickstart), 32 (Rulebook)

Website: https://www.r-rook.studio/

Resolution Mechanic: 2d6 + Bonus Roll Over system for skill checks (including attacks), 2d6 Roll Under system for saving throws; advantage & disadvantage system that involves rolling 3d6 and using the higher/lower of the two results; almost all rolls are player-facing

Action Economy: "Conversational", assumption of movement + action.

Characters: Largely choice-based character creation. Combine two (of six) background abilities with the benefits of seven different careers. Big focus on interpersonal relationships during character creation. Limited character advancement takes place during downtime.

Setting: Specific. Takes place in a fantastical version of 13th century England, with fey and magic coexisting with outlaws and crusaders.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: The group of outlaws possesses two shared resources (Resources and Legend) that can be spent to gain certain benefits; spellcasting is divided into two categories: arcane talents and sorcerous rites, with the former being immediate and the later taking significant time; slot-based inventory.

Degree of Support: None. No further publications exist for the game and while it is published under the CC-BY 4.0 license, no third-party content exists as far as I know. It does include a guide on how to convert D&D and Troika (N)PCs into Sherwood characters, as well as three adventure seeds (one in the Quickstart, two in the rules), which is at least something.

Addendum: Might just be the game on this list that encourages the most roleplaying; the character sheet is sadly very provisional-feeling and the Quickstart feels outdated compared to the finalized rulebook.

7. The Electrum Archive

Author: Emiel Boven

Release Year: 2022

Cost: Free Rules PDF available, zines cost $12 as digital PDFs or $24 as print + PDF combos; the first zine contains the entire contents of the Free Rules PDF

Page Count: 26 (Free Rules), 72 (Issue 01)

Website: https://www.electrumarchive.com/

Resolution Mechanic: 1d10 Roll Under system, attacks always hit.

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Largely choice-based; three archetypes roughly corresponding to fighters/rangers (Vagabonds), rogues (Fixers), and spellcasters (Warlocks); player characters are presumed to be human; levelling up with XP.

Setting: Specific. Mechanics heavily tie into the lore; humanity has abundant access to minerals but requires a rare substance known as Ink to operate certain pieces of tech (like guns) and cast spells but cannot produce Ink themselves; spirits of various sorts can be foes, targets of worship, or sources of power.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Uses a spellcasting system for the Warlock archetype that's heavily based on the one used in Maze Rats, as in it uses randomly-generated spells whose effects are negotiated between the player and the GM; slot-based inventory with a durability mechanic.

Degree of Support: Minimal. The game consists out of the free rules and (soon) two zines; a third party license exists but content produced under it is very rare.

Addendum: I need to disclaim that I recently backed the Kickstarter campaign for the second zine for this game; the free rules feature wrong page numbers in its table of contents which is unfortunate; The Electrum Archive uses incredibly simple stats for NPCs which makes creating new ones based on other games rather simple.

8. Shadowdark RPG

Author: Kelsey Dionne

Release Year: 2023

Cost: Free player and game master quickstarts exist as PDFs and are available in print for $19, the core rules cost $28 in PDF form and $57 in a print + PDF bundle

Page Count: 68 (Player Quickstart Guide), 68 (Game Master Quickstart Guide), 332 (Core Rules)

Website: https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/

Resolution Mechanic: 1d20 + Bonus Roll Over system, 5e-style advantage/disadvantage, natural 1s are critical failures and natural 20s are critical successes.

Action Economy: Movement + one action per round.

Characters: Largely choice-based; players have a fantasy ancestry and a class; levelling up with XP; class progression largely random.

Setting: Vague. General (dark) western fantasy conventions apply; alignment is a force in this universe and a sample pantheon is provided; the most potent enemies in the rules are named individuals that fit classic TTRPG monster types; illustrations and lore snippets have recurring motifs.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: The key mechanic of Shadowdark is how the game handles light, namely that light sources are tracked in real time (i.e. a normal torch lasts 1 hour), which increases tension; slot-based inventory; has a 0th-level character creation option using an eliminationist "Gauntlet".

Degree of Support: Fantastic. Several official supplements and offically sanctioned digital tools exist; lots of third-party content available under a generous third-party license.

Addendum: Definitely the most similar game to 5e on this list besides the next entry; very robust mechanically and the Core Rules features extensive lists of magic items, monsters, and spells; also for early play giving your players only access to the quickstart is a totally valid choice; and finally, before Dionne made Shadowdark, she made 5e adventures for years and it shows (affectionate).

9. Pathfinder

Authors: Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Mark Seifter

Release Year: 2019 (initial release), 2023 (remaster)

Cost: Free and comprehensive SRD available via the platform Archives of Nethys, free "Pathfinder Primer" abridged rulebook available via the Pathfinder Nexus (powered by Demiplane), Core books are priced $20 for PDFs and $30/$60 for print as a softcover/hardcover; a Beginner Box set with shortened soft-cover rules costs $45

Page Count: 464 (Player Core), 336 (GM Core), 376 (Monster Core), 160 (Combined Beginner Box Softcovers)

Website: https://paizo.com/pathfinder

Resolution Mechanic: 1d20 + Bonus Roll Over system, 5e-style advantage/disadvantage, four degrees of success based on result compared to target number.

Action Economy: Three action points per round; various actions may require more than one point; every character can use one reaction per round of combat.

Characters: Choice-based; players first pick an ancestry and a background and a class (the ABCs) and then tend to have meaningful choices after each level-up; levelling up with XP.

Setting: Important. Golarion, the game's setting, is a world that has been long in development and it shows; powerful magic and influential gods; very clear notions of what the societies of the various peoples of the world are like and how they should behave.

Other Noteworthy Mechanics: Balance between character classes and reliable combat challenge calculations are an important design goal; weight-based inventory system; archetype system for "multiclassing".

Degree of Support: Fantastic. Loads of content gets regularly produced by the game's publisher Paizo; the Pathfinder Infinite program (similar to D&D's Dungeon Master's Guild) provides lots of lore-compliant third-party content; uses the ORC third-party license for content produced outside of the Pathfinder Infinite program. Translations into other languages available but Paizo does not provide a comprehensive list of available languages (only German and French confirmed after brief personal research).

Addendum: The most popular and commercially successful of the listed games; but also by far the most complicated, though it is easier to GM for specificallty than 5e; also I dislike how certain feats create situations where fairly mundane actions get mechanics through these feats instead of being things you can generally do; anyway the reason why it's a 9 on a 1d8 table is because if you wanted to try out Pathfinder 2e you already would have and because while Paizo is better than WotC it's still a flawed big company.

...

So this was an exhausting little project. I hope you found this helpful and I hope you give at least one of these games a shot! A follow-up to this post is not out of the cards, but I don't plan on one.

Before we go, have this poll about which of these systems you're most looking forward to try! Shame it can only be open for one week...

[ashstfu]

A list of your fav books/movies/documentaries pls!!!

my current faves (in no particular order) –

Books:

The Waves – Virginia Woolf

Kitchen – Banana Yoshimoto

The Stream of Life – Clarice Lispector

The Book of Disquiet – Fernando Pessoa

The Book of Delights – Ross Gay

Upstream – Mary Oliver

Letters to Milena – Franz Kafka

The Sea – John Banville

Notes from Underground – Dostoevsky

We Run the Tides – Vendela Vida

1984 – George Orwell

Simple Passion – Annie Ernaux

Slouching towards Bethlehem – Joan Didion

Little Weirds – Jenny Slate

Saltwater – Jessica Andrews

Movies:

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)

Goodfellas (1990)

Whisper of the Heart (1995)

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

3 Idiots (2009)

Yi Yi (2000)

The Green Ray (1986)

Eastern Promises (2007)

Mid 90s (2018)

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Past Lives (2023)

La La Land (2016)

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

La Haine (1995)

Vivre sa vie (1962)

Documentaries:

Faces Places (2017)

Pamela: A Love Story (2023)

Close Up (1990)

For All Mankind (1989)

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Jeen-Yuhs (2022)

The Beaches of Agnès (2008)

Fire of Love (2022)

Homecoming (2019)

10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki (2019)

[amalthiaph]

crush (n.) - a strong but temporary feeling of liking someone.

Inspired by that one scene in Princess Mononoke (1997) by Hayao Miyazaki.

Just to be clear, a crush is what I'm trying to picture here. I just headcannon that at some point in the episode 'Retrieval', Omega and Benni had some kind (like a slight teeny weeny) crush on each other. And Omega just doesn't understand the concept of it yet.

Based on an article I read on a health magazine, it's common for 10-13 year olds to have a crush. It's normal, and it provides opportunities for communication.

And yes, this is me trying to defend myself from any (and inevitable) hatred by the fandom for (perhaps) shipping these two. But once again, this is my take.

I also had a headache drawing Omega's bow.

Bye.

(BTW, my Imperial TIE Fighter Lego Kit is being shipped. I can't wait for it aaaa)

[thebarontheabyss]

Hiya~

Newcomer to your interactive story (and the genre as a whole tbh, a bit of a boomer so it's my first time experiencing it.) and gotta say, I absolutely love it!

I've only finished 2 chapters but goddamn! I love Raven sm lol and how interesting all the other characters are too; you can tell how excellent of a storyteller you must be! I'm genuinely blown away by everything - down to the vocab even!

Curious; i wanted to know any BTS tea you could spill about TBOTA, like what was the inspiration behind the premise, the characters...etc. did you model anyone after people you know? and oh, the humor is just immaculate, any shows/comedians that inspire that or are you naturally that funny lol? (these are the questions that pop into my mind now but feel free to spill more deets, I'd love to pick your brain!)

Hi there! Thank you for reading! Happy to answer :D

Welcome to interactive fiction! I highly recommend checking out Choice of Games, a platform for similar interactive stories. The forums are also chock-full of fantastic works in progress that you should definitely take a look at!

I actually combined two unfinished stories of mine from 10 years ago to create TBOTA. One focused on Death, while the other provided most of the lore I use for this game. I don't want to give away too much about the plot, but after publishing TBOTA, I plan to work on the other story, which will be called "Awakening: Tehomot."

Talking about humor, I was an unathletic nerdy gay kid, so being funny was an important trait to have, lol. I love writing banter, and much of my inspiration came from dialogue in RPGs like Dragon Age and Mass Effect. In general, I prefer comedies that mix tragedy (it's the best remedy, after all) or even the horror genre (What We Do in the Shadows!)

I guess I just love comedy as a coping mechanism lol!

Regarding other inspirations, my long-term memory is SO BAD, so I linked an ask from a while ago where I answered a similar question. (It took me about two hours to remember all of this stuff, lol)

I will add that I grew up watching Hayao Miyazaki's films, which inspired the characters and story in this game and shaped the way I create and write.

Thanks for the ask, I would be glad to answer any additional questions you may have. ❤️

[zukkacore]

My perhaps overwrought LeoSaya as different reflections of the same One thesis: a.k.a. Chapter One Is Good and Thematically Rich, Actually

Punisher, Phoebe Bridgers // The Beginners Guide, Davey Wreden // Stage Fright, Jenny Slate // 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki // DanganRonpa S: Summer Camp // Post by Picasshole, art by Klimt, quote by John Berger // The Crane Wife by cj hauser // Danganronpa: The Manga; Act 2: the Case of the Super High School Level Baseball Star, Leon Kuwata, story by Spike // excerpt from 'Etcetera' by E.E. Cummings // Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc; Chapter 1, Free Time Event, and Prologue

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff: Best Movies of 2023

This was NOT a great year for blockbusters, huh? This was probably Disney's worst in years, multiple flops including what was meant to be their centennial anniversary film. It looked remarkably by the numbers, but think of the conglomerate's losses... Anyway, this to me was a pretty great year for films. Like 2022, I'm amazed at the variety we got that says more about the shifting tides of people's interest in movies. It was the most times I've been to the theater. We got a big worker's strike over the summer, especially large push back against degenerates trying to push AI to do more than just shitposting. And it was enough for me to know Adam Sandler, Godzilla, and Hayao Miyazaki could get the better of Disney. With this said, let this be a first for Good Stuff and count down my favorites of this year.

12. Renfield

My suspicions were on the money and I'm glad I gave this a shot in the theaters. Cage was the best Dracula I could've asked for in what you might say was an Adult Swim-esque dark comedy. It definitely has that style of gruesomeness and humor given Robert Kirkman and the Writer/Director behind Moral Orel made this. Unfortunately, Ben Schwartz stuck out like a sore thumb even if he fulfills his purpose in this, reminding me of Christopher Mintz-Plasse in KickAss; I feel he or Jason Schwartzman would've been better suited. Plus it can feel all over the place, an identity crisis that you can't even grasp after it finishes. Then again, I just had fun watching and would gladly rewatch for Cage and Hoult who are the highlights of this.

11. Migration

Call it blasphemous, but I enjoyed this more than the Mario movie. It's essentially Rio mixed with National Lampoon's Vacation, with a lovable cast, solid animation, and an eazy breezy road trip story. I've always looked to Illumination for simple enjoyable romps and I got what I expected here. Gave me Amphibia vibes in a way, replace frogs with birds. Everything surrounding the villain is my only real issue, he was an obvious and very nothing bad guy, but it's overall better paced than Super Mario Bros where it felt like you watched an eternity in 3 minutes. Still don't get the air of folk looking down on this for just being serviceable when it's honestly become my favorite Illumination movie next to the first Despicable Me.

10. Killers of the Flower Moon

Sad to say this is the weakest Scorsese movie for me, mainly because it felt like we're following the wrong main character. Lily Gladstone is incredible in this, among the other great performers, but she felt sidelined in favor of DeCaprio and De Niro's perspectives. It's like if in 1995's Casino, we just follow Ginger throughout the moment Sam introduces her. I liked the turmoil Leo's character goes through, but it paled in comparison to Mollie who was more affected by his and Hale's actions. That does not mean it's all bad. This can be a beautiful, dynamic, and ruthless movie that just made me feel bad for watching it; running with the words "harsh reality" throughout the 3 and a half hour runtime.

9. Good Burger 2

I watched Good Burger 1 & 2 this Thanksgiving weekend, and just had a blast. These are the kind of movies that are charmingly stupid but not insultingly so. Kel Mitchell's Ed is emblematic of how much dumb fun this duology is where he's actively comical but not smoothbrained to ruin your time. This I say is like Home Alone 2 where it is just beat for beat the 1st movie with minor developments but that doesn't really matter when it's just as well put together. It never feels like Kenan nor Kel missed a beat and the drama not overstaying its welcome. It is just "Good Burger Again" without it feeling like diminishing returns compared to other rehashing sequels.

8. Leo

Can you believe this got better publicity than Disney's Wish? Even YMS could appreciate this movie, that's how you know Sandler has his recognizable game when you least expect it. But Leo is a surprisingly good comedy that has actually sincere moments. Being Happy Madison's 2nd ever animation, it's like Adam waited to refine the production as opposed to putting a cash grab together like one would expect. It's not all good, especially trying to be a musical, but seeing it once you'd be impressed how much good it does with the risks it takes.

7. Nimona

Like Migration, everything surrounding the villain is the one big issue I have with this, especially when it comes to affecting the film's message. At the same time, she pales in comparison to the dynamic pairing of Ballister Blackheart and the titular shapeshifter. Nimona is my favorite character of 2023, her energy and confidence matched by the struggle she bears existing alone and the facade made to band-aid it. Her and Ballister's journey alone made me glad this got out of development hell, being Blue Sky's final production posthumous. To me it wasn't about being a take that to Disney, it was about the fact a movie like Nimona got to exist as great as it did. Hoping Stevenson is satisfied with their adaptation, because it definitely earned its flowers.

6. Emesis Blue

Offhand, it openly sucks that Letterboxd refuses to let this stay on the site to log, but it can't be overstated how much of a marvel this was. Repurposing not just the characters, but the lore and mechanics of Team Fortress 2 into a feature length horror thriller. The animation's top notch where it can have godly framing that was on par with the known legends of horror film making. SFM animations can be beautiful on their own, shitpost or otherwise, but Emesis Blue goes a step beyond by having a compelling story fitting for the universe on top of, again, every frame being a painting.

5. Shin Kamen Rider

I've never really saw any Tokusatsu shows. Not that I hate the genre, just could never get into it while recognizing the glorious looking chaos found in clips. Knowing Hideaki Anno directed was what got me into seeing this film and it opened my mind quite a bit. This was the legacy film that definitely had Anno's touch in both the action and drama. While the climax can notably drag, you never feel left out of what was essentially the original Kamen Rider's origin story. It doesn't have the complex VFX of stuff like Marvel, but the costumes and fight scenes makes me wish we got more of this in America beyond Power Rangers.

4. TMNT Mutant Mayhem

Advertising before release really didn't make this appear like a promising film. If there's anything I learned from this year though, appearances can be deceiving. Like Nimona was for her movie, the creative choices for this made it the TMNT movie I never knew I wanted. To me this felt akin to the Lego Batman movie where it's not only a good love letter of the franchise for more than its fanservice, but this spin on the characters is able to have a new sincere view of them without overhauling everything about the TMNT. That and it has the greatest needle drops I've had in a long while like how do insert He-Man Fabulous Secret Powers and expect me to hate this?

3. Godzilla Minus One

I call this a great year for films because it marks the first time I got to see a Toho produced Godzilla, with subtitles, in an real movie theater. Needless to say, it felt like I got to enjoy the 1954 film again anew. Not a remake mind you, but the parallels were uncanny and this spins here work just as well, if not more here than with the original in a couple places. Both are still strong movies nonetheless. Minus One is a refurbish that dishes out what people always wanted and uniquely giving a little more while never sacrificing why the OG is that timeless. With it getting more than a limited release, I'm glad this got to be more than a niche celebration of the kaijuu king.

2. Oppenheimer

This film's been meme'd to heaven, hell you could say it got meme'd to success thanks to its dual release with Barbie, but it didn't undermine getting hooked to watching this anyways. This really has become my favorite Nolan film, a compelling biopic that doesn't exactly herald its titular lead in the best light thanks to the paradoxical storytelling. Oppenheimer gives us the largest ensemble I know, and delivers in the most breathtaking moments I never knew I could get. Cillian killed it among the many who made the three hours of people sitting and talking in rooms actually tense and intriguing to thread. Plus it gave us the beauty of Josh Peck being the guy to detonate the test bomb like cherry on top of this cinematic cake.

1. The Holdovers

I remember watching Alexander Payne's Sideways with Paul Giamatti as a high schooler but couldn't appreciate it until rewatching this year. It's one of the best mid-life crisis comedies you could see, still fresh in its easy going presentation and music. The same can be said for this film, made to feel like it came from the late 70s or 80s with the old opening logos that I didn't think you could do in these times. Out the gate, this was the holiday story I was shocked would be as relatable as it was, with the trio of Giamatti, Randolph, and Sessa each having their story that resonated with me strongly. With the right amount of time, Payne offers an remarkably cozy, down to earth movie where from reserved to outgoing, it did a lot for me emotionally. Like Netflix's Klaus, I kinda want this to be a traditional rewatch for the holiday seasons. One that everyone should try at least once, especially if they feel the disillusionment of the season where this might lift their spirits one way or another.

If there's anything to learn from this year, it's that the meta has definitely shifted. Even when the many on my list didn't make billions like the Avatar films, the variety and risks made spoke more than the big dogs like Disney and WB putting out unprofitable blockbusters that ranged from very by the numbers to you don't need to see The Flash to know how god awful it just was. More people are & should branch out beyond the major mainstream names. Not that the big dogs aren't ever gonna make great films in the coming years, but we should appreciate more than the big budget features you can tell are playing it safe. Time can be patient for great cinema, sleeper hits or not, so take advantage while you're young.

[daddiesdrarryy]

Me when I finish writing something:

[exhaustedwriterartist]

5, 7, and 10 for the artist asks

Hi Crow!!

5. What piece of art are you still proud of to this day? (Show or describe)

Ooo! I drew this one on a shirt at a camp last year. Unfortunately that shirt is ruined now ;-;

And then I drew this one in 7th grade (6-7 years ago) not too long after I first watched TMNT 2007 (it's a scene redraw):

I'm actually working on a redraw for this one (slowly). You can kind of see the wip behind the first one. Nya @nyaboshi, surely you know which scene in the movie this is from (;-;).

7. Who are some artists that have inspired you?

Hmm.... There are a lot of artists that inspire me. MANY on here (including all my moots <3), Nirami on insta and YouTube, Bluebiscuits and Dingo Doodles on YouTube as well, Disney and DreamWorks artists, Don Bluth (MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE ANIMATOR!!!!!!!), Hayao Miyazaki and other Studio Ghibli artists, the artists/animators for ROTTMNT and LMK, and many more.

But I suppose the two artists that have inspired me the most are my Finnish Gran and my older brother.

10. How do you deal with art block?

Art block is legitimately painful for me. Like I want to draw, but my brain hurts and insides feel funny. I can still draw, but I tend to dislike what I draw during those periods (even when it's completely fine).

What I tend to do is 1. Fight through the art block if I can handle it, or 2. Write down/doodle the ideas I have to draw them later, 3. take a break for a few days, 4. watch something that motivates me to jumpstart me.

Doesn't always work, but option 3 is probably the one to follow. 😅

Thank you for the ask Crow!!

Art Asks

[james-stark-the-writer]

was absolutely agonizing over which movie to start the year with bc i didn't want it to be horror like every movie i've seen for the last 3 months so i decided to commit to something i've been meaning to do anyway, watching all Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki films. bc i haven't seen any of them. or know anything about any of them. other than that people love them.

anyway, so i'm starting from the beginning (well, as far back as i can start anyway, i'm not tracking down the shows Hayao Miyazaki has worked on) and currently i'm a little under 10 minutes into Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) and the image of Lupin cranking his belt mechanism as they slowly descend is absolutely cracking me up

[khaopybara]

get to know me 🐝

i saw this, thought, 'this is fun, i'll do this later,' and proceeded to completely forget about it. thank you @sherrymagic and @chinzhilla for tagging me! i might take a little bit, but i eventually get there, and i had fun answering these.

do you make your bed? - nope. i remember one time when i tried making it into an habit, but to no avail.

what's your favourite number? - lucky number 3.

what is your job? - as of right now, i'm studying. i also occasionally translate articles and school papers (i know, surprising).

If you could go back to school would you? - honestly? yeah.

can you parallel park? - yes, but only if there are no cars behind me wanting to get through.

a job you had that would surprise people? - i don't know if it's surprising but i worked in a police station for like a year and a half during law school. it was actually my internship, but i did everything, so i will say it counts.

do you think aliens are real? - absolutely.

can you drive a manual car? - we learn how to drive in manual cars where i live, so yes. i do have an issue with inclines, though, but i can do everything else.

what's your guilty pleasure? - what is even a guilty pleasure, fr. nothing comes to mind, to be honest, and trust me i pondered over this for like almost 10 minutes.

tattoos? - unfortunately no. i do want to a haku on his dragon form on my shoulder, though.

favourite colour? - yellow.

favourite type of music? - pop, k-pop, r&b are genres i always go back to. during only friends, i started listening to a lot of alt/indie rock because of sand and khaotung's songs recommendations.

do you like puzzles? - as in jigsaw puzzles? yes. crosswords can be fun. i grow frustrated quite easily especially when there's a difficult puzzle on a video-game, so if i can't figure it out, i just skip it and move forward with my life.

any phobias? - i'm insanely scared of frogs (just found out it's an actual phobia, ranidaphobia). i guess claustrophobia, too, to some degree.

favourite childhood sport? - volleyball and handball. i was so good at those, but i got injured and had to quit.

do you talk to yourself? - yes, especially when i'm driving or riding my motorcycle.

what movie(s) do you adore? - i was thinking about this the other day, how all my favorites change depending on what phase i'm in, but the one constant has always been spirited away (2003, hayao miyazaki). i guess it's bc it's one of the first movies i ever watched that i could see myself in the protagonist, and it was the first one i could pinpoint as being my favorite. the ones i've been liking as of the last six months are la sociedad de la nieve and bottoms.

coffee or tea? - tea. any type of tea. coffee only if it's with milk (i'm lactose intolerant, but we ignore that)

first thing you wanted to be growing up - a dentist.

also another funny thing about me, i don't usually tag people in anything bc i'm like apprehensive that i'll be imposing on them (i don't feel like y'all are imposing on me when i get tagged, i feel really great actually, so i don't know why my brain just assumes that i'm the annoying one), but do feel free to do this and tag me if you wish to.