Posting this here too
Belle
(Bought copy initially Google play but then paid for the Amazon Prime version because Google Play has moving subtitles and Jesus who thought that was a good idea ever?)
Rating: 5.999999 recurring out of 6 stars
Weird thing: The Bluray of this offers a dubbed version with language selection while on demand versions only offer the Japanese language version with subtitles
Plot Tagline: Beauty & the Beast meets the Metaverse but so much more than that sounds and more heart than Disney pretends to still have.
Plot: I basically can't talk about it without spoiling major things
Thoughts in brief / in a Tagline: A film that truly understands the internet both good and bad in a way I don't think I've ever see done before and why are you asking if I'm crying, I'm not crying my eyes just happen to have spontaneously become the source points for 2 rivers it happen.........
Thoughts in full (least spoiler version):
To talk about why this film is one of the few near perfect ratings I've ever given is tough because I don't want to spoil it for people, I looked up the plot before buying it having seen it pop up on Google play and watching the trailer a few times and it just hitting something in me. So do not look up the plot, go in blind and hopefully I will now lay out a convincing set of thoughts to make you want to go in blind.
A bit of background on me that may well add context here. I'm not hugely into anime, I'm not some-one who dunks on it but I've never really been sucked in by anime. I've watched all of
Gungrave and I think it was
Hellsing Psalm of Darkness (the first segment before the years long break); I've seen the first
Vampire Hunter D film and I'll say I really enjoyed
Metorpolis (the anime remake of the fairly old Sci-fi film) I also got through
Giant Robo. Mostly though I look at anime and I respect it but I leave it in it's space, I've bounced off
Full Metal Alchemist in the past along with
Elden Lied and a number of other anime series. The last movie I gave a high and near perfect score to was
Hardcore Henry because it was a film full and action, violence and boobs, Belle is like the complete opposite of
Hardcore Henry and yet I love this fim. I shed a whole 3 tears during
Toy Story 3. I maybe shed 1 tear during the film
A.I. Belle had me in tears and that was before I'd drunk any Gin.
I'd like to highlight some of the more subtle commentary the film does brilliantly that isn't too much of a spoiler that I feel it ruins anything. The film really does touch on the idea of the corporatisation of the internet (not in a Corporate dystopian
Ready Player One way) and firmly plants it's feet in the camp of "ultimately the corporate approach will lose". The film also really does show the power of the internet to bring people together and be used for good sometimes along with planting it's fee firmly in the "Anonymity isn't a bad thing" camp.
The reason it doesn't get that perfect star is at one point in the film there's what I'd call a suspension of disbelief check and it so nearly had me willing to go with it's super hopeful and optimistic event and believe it could be true but I just couldn't. It could have done if it had done a few little extra subtle things I think but I just had the feeling on "This isn't how it would play out in reality and it shows how sad and awful the world is that I'm probably right". (More on this in a spoiler post).
Oh forgot to mention to really cool visuals and way the film shows off certain things like the complex socio-politics in the school among the girls being played out at one point in the style of a paradox grand strategy game complete with game board visuals.
Also cool how it goes into the idea of social media witch hunts but also social media and the impact it can have on people along with how people can impact the world for the better.
Right go watch the film, I'll do a spoiler post but don't read it. Go watch this film
My Spoiler post in the Films thread
https://letterboxd.com/thebobmaster/film/pocahontas/
forums.escapistmagazine.com
