Wrapping up September

I got the best news ever this month - are you ready? Are you sitting down? I was offered a place at uni next year in the Honours program!!! Okay, maybe it's not momentous for you lot, but I've come to the realisation over the last few months that I want to get more out of university than what my last degree offered me. Don't get me wrong - I'm very happy with my Bachelor of Communications, as it introduced me to some great people and great opportunities. I wouldn't have done anything else. But now, I can further refine that, and aim towards a specific career sector. Whether I head further into the world of academia after my Honours, or leap into the world of cinema with a new passion, or give it up completely and turn to a life on the streets (just kidding) isn't locked in stone yet, but I feel better about my future than I have for a while.



I really wanted to knock off a review of Martha Marcy May Marlene in the next day or two, but I'm on a short film until Sunday (my birthday, yay!) and I don't think I'll be getting a chance. Living out in the burbs has its disadvantages when it comes to travel. I am near nothing. I'll be waking at five just to make sure I'm out the door on time in order to get to the train station to get to location. I also need to buy batteries. Can't make a film without batteries. So, long days for me for the next week, but it should be pretty fun. I was an extra on said film today (as sound would have been an absolute impossibility and there was no dialogue anyway) and it looks pretty freakin' cool.




REEL ANIME kicks off on Thursday in Melbourne and I got to cover it all for Reel Good! to keep up with my reviews (exactly five) as they pop up over the course of this week. It was an absolute pleasure. I am a little smug.



Evangelion 3.0



The films I watched last month...



Picnic at Hanging Rock (re-watch)

Berberian Sound Studio

Dead Calm

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (re-watch)



Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory



Chernobyl Diaries

- REEL ANIME

Hairspray (re-watch)

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence



Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence



Ghost in the Shell Arise: Border 1 - Ghost Pain - REEL ANIME

(re-watch) - REEL ANIME

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo - REEL ANIME

The Garden of Words - REEL ANIME



The Garden of Words



From Up on Poppy Hill (re-watch)

Martha Marcy May Marlene

All Quiet on the Western Front



So as you can see, a lot of animation, and Japanese anime in particular, this month. Ghost in the Shell 2 was almost as brilliant as Mamoru Oshii's first film, and as for Ghost Pain...well, let's just say it didn't live up to expectations. That's a Reel Anime review, and it'll be up at RG soon. I also did a marathon of all three current Rebuild of Evangelion films in one day - my poor heart, it cannot take it! I'd only ever seen the original series until then, and god knows how long those films have been on my watch list. 3.0 is also a Reel Anime feature.

Chernobyl Diaries absolutely creeped me out, but it wasn't the scariest thing I'd ever seen. Martha Marcy May Marlene also creeped me out, obviously in a different sort of way, and what amazing performances from Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes! And never has a sound design gotten to me in recent memory more than Berberian Sound Studio. See it if you can!



Berberian Sound Studio



Highlights include Rush, which was surprisingly good film for me - Daniel Br hl is pretty brilliant, and Chris Hemsworth ain't half bad either. All the Evangelion, of course, and it was lovely to revisit Poppy Hill and Willy Wonka.

The lowlight of the month is probably Planes. It's not that the film is awful - it's kinda cute in places - but I expected so much more. Still, if you're looking to keep kids occupied for a couple of hours, this'll do the trick.

Until next post!
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