Adam Selvidge's Website Blog
My Neighbor Totoro: Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. With Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi, Sumi Shimamoto. When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby. Decidedly lighter fair in comparison to Grave of the Fireflies or even Valley of the Wind, there’s still some extremely emotionally charged moments that really had my heart getting ready to break. I was luckily saved from that sad fate by a well timed catbus, for which I’m grateful that were introduced to earlier in the film, because as a...
Princess Mononoke: Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. With Billy Crudup, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver, John DiMaggio. While seeking to cure himself of a curse, young warrior Ashitaka stumbles into a conflict between the people of Iron Town and Princess Mononoke, a girl raised by wolves, who will stop at nothing to prevent the destruction of her home. I’m still on my journey to watch all the Studio Ghibli movies in order, but this one was at my local theater and was supposed to be a great showing, but it was in the crummy IMAX seats that kill my back after...
Grave of the Fireflies: Directed by Isao Takahata. With Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara, Akemi Yamaguchi. A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II. I already knew what this movie was about, so when it came time to watch it on my journey to see all of Studio Ghibli, I hesitated for a moment. Was I ready for a beautiful, yet heavy film about the final days of World War 2? I thought I was, but I was honestly expecting it to be told through allegory, much like the first two...
Ash: Directed by Flying Lotus. With Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott. A woman wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed. Her investigation into what happened sets in motion a terrifying chain of events. There’s a few big names and familiar faces in “Ash” that I had limitedly high hopes for it, perhaps I trusted the trailer a bit too much, but the final product didn’t do it for me. The story has been done many times before where your POV character wakes up with no memory of what’s...
I ran into this two issue mini series from Marvel during one of my journeys through my local comic shop’s dollar bins. It’s an adaptation of the first episode of “Once A Hero” an ABC series that lasted just a single season and is unavailable to stream anywhere that I know of and there are no vhs nor DVDs of it out there. I did find some hilariously bad transfers on youtube, so I did get to watch a small amount of it. The show has some obvious inspirations, the suit is extremely evocative of “The Greatest American Hero” and...
Castle in the Sky: Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. With Mayumi Tanaka, Keiko Yokozawa, Kotoe Hatsui, Minori Terada. Pazu’s life changes when he meets Sheeta, a girl whom pirates are chasing for her crystal amulet, which has the potential to locate Laputa, a legendary castle floating in the sky. My favorite quote from this movie: “All good pirates listen to their mom!” Another post apocalyptic tale from Studio Ghibli, this one is much more whimsical, but none the less captivating with a strong soundtrack, a story that really works well, and characters that feel as real as it gets. I’m sad...
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. With Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyôda, Gorô Naya. Warrior and pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet. I’ve never watched a Studio Ghibli film before, at least not to my knowledge. One of my co-workers had an adorable stainglass thing with a cat on it and she said that it was from one of their films (Kiki’s Delivery Service iirc), and this company has been constantly on the periphery of many different genres that I love, but I...
The Outsider: Created by Richard Price. With Ben Mendelsohn, Bill Camp, Jeremy Bobb, Mare Winningham. When an insidious supernatural force edges its way into a seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a young boy, it leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe in. I straight up stopped watching this when one of the main characters was killed, I had assumed it was going to be all about him, but nay, it was about another character that I didn’t quite care for. The end result of the show was amazing, and I would...
Paradise: Created by Dan Fogelman. With Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom. A Secret Service agent investigates the murder of a former president in a seemingly peaceful community. I’m watching both “The Outsider” and “Paradise” at the same time and it was fun seeing two different sides of Julianne Nicholson. Sterling K. Brown is getting to be someone that I really enjoy seeing, regardless of the type of role. Luckily for me, it looks like there’s ample room for a second season for Paradise. The fundamental story is very familiar, a guy in a locked room...
These are from over a year ago, but they’re good enough to share!
