A Masterpiece

Today in my anime class we watched Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies (1988), and I am confident in saying that the film is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking movie experiences I've ever had. It's filled with precious moments and stunning revelations about human nature. It follows a young teenage boy (Seita) and his little sister (Setsuko) as they try to survive in the Japanese countryside during WWII. American planes drop napalm canisters on the characters' home village, causing the neighborhood to blow up in flames. As a result, Seita and Setsuko are separated from their mother, and the rest of the movie deals with their attempts to live in a war environment which is breaking the souls of thousands.

For those Republicans out there, fear not, the movie never blatantly condemns America. Instead, war itself is the villain; war... that completely senseless affair that robs mankind of his dignity. Grave of the Fireflies deserves to be grouped with Apocalypse Now, Grand Illusion, Schindler's List, and The Thin Red Line as one of the great anti-war films. Wait, I'll go further than that - it deserves to be considered one of best motion pictures ever made.

Oh Belle

The first great album of 2006 is Belle & Sebastian's The Life Pursuit. It doesn't quite reach the level of 1996's If You're Feeling Sinister, but it's still quite wonderful. The group seems much happier these days, and their songs are little pop-rock gems.

Here's a sample song.

The Secret of "Lost"

The island's mystery is revealed in this clip.

Tsotsi

My review of Tsotsi is here.
It'll probably win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

The Empire Brokeback

Another very good Brokeback parody here.

And now for some humor...

First up, some Ali G commercials for NBA on TNT.

1. With Kobe

2. With Steve Nash

3. With Steve Nash #2

4. With Shaq & Wade

If you remember the game show "Double Dare," click here

And related, if you like "Family Feud," click here

And no description would ever suffice for this

Nor for this

Only on the Internet

This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen (or more precisely, ever heard) on the web.

You need headphones for it to work. Go here.

Also, I would love to have one of these.

More PS2

I've been in a buying mood of late. But when I can buy a great PS2 game for only $15, can you really blame me?

Today I bought two new games:

"Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater"

"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time"

Top 20 Films of the Decade (2000-2005)

#20

Amelie

#19

Capturing the Friedmans

#18

The Incredibles

#17

Moulin Rouge

#16

Traffic

#15

Munich

#14

Finding Nemo

#13

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

#12

Hotel Rwanda

#11

Gangs of New York

#10

Murderball

#9

Downfall

#8

In America

#7

Best in Show

#6

Requiem for a Dream

#5

Memento

#4

Howl's Moving Castle

#3

Lord of the Rings:

The Return of the King

#2

Lord of the Rings:

The Two Towers

#1

City of God

Brokeback to the Future

There are a lot of "Brokeback Mountain" parodies out there.

This is the best one I've seen yet.