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The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

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Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#101

Post by the_af »

sleepybrett wrote: post #96
kouru225 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ngl the idea that the average commenter is thinking about how to make changes to Miyazaki's two best movies is so funny to me. It's like your average tourist walking up to Van Gogh's Starry Night and being like "I dunno I think I would do it differently."

I have yet to run into anyone that hasn't let out a bit of a sigh when sen gets on that train. I love the movie, I actually think Naussica is his best movie, followed by Princess. However as someone who grew up on western movies there is a rhythmic miss to these movies, a pacing that is unlike other movies. I never said it made the movies bad, just that it was, I guess strange... unexpected. .. and like I said, looki…

That's anecdotal at best.

I haven't watched the movie with anyone (and I don't mean anime fans -- which I'm not one, by the way) who was bored or frustrated by the train scene. A screenshot of that scene is often featured in articles about the movie, so at least reviewers seem to like it. I think it's one of the most hauntingly beautiful passages, too.

"The expected Western rythm" isn't something to be treasured at all costs, if at all. "A pacing that is different" is not the same as a "rythmic miss". It's just part of media literacy to be able to appreciate different rhythms. And come on, these aren't alien or bizarre movies, I've watched movies where the pacing really threw me off, and these barely register.

We do agree Mononoke is superb, so there's that!

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#102

Post by raffraffraff »

Can't get into it. But whatever about me, the wife straight up hated it. She's not a fan of LOTR and it felt way too LOTR, story wise. You're supposed to love the (beautiful or cutesy) entities, hate the (ugly, so obviously evil) entities, and care about wherever mysterious evil has gripped the land. You're supposed to want the protagonists to go on a quest that brings you on a rollercoaster of emotions etc. But I don't really care enough about anyone in this to finish the first episode.

My biggest gripe is that puppets have no facial expression, so this so-called "amazing voice acting" doesn't work for me. It feels like they're overacting to make up for lack of facial expression. Thing is, I've seen this work in shows like Yonderland where puppets make up less than 50% of the cast. If their human counterparts are good actors, the puppets interaction with humans work, especially if they have good lines and interesting characters (which, in the case of Yonderland, they do but with Dark Crystal they very much don't).

It's odd, but I also think that the CGI and lack of any physical actors is what kills this for me. I don't know anyone in the acting profession but one example I can relate is the amazing "Yes, Minister" political comedy series from the BBC on the early 80s. That was originally available as a radio show. Having watched and loved it, I decided to put the radio version on one day while cleaning. I had to turn it off. Even though it was the same cast of great actors, I think the fact that they were sitting around a bunch of microphones and not inter-acting completely stunted the dialog. I decided to put on the TV version and simply listen to it. Even though there were visual gags I couldn't see, it was far far better. Something about being the characters in costume, on a set, interacting with other actors, injected vitality and comic timing into the performance. You could listen between the lines and feel the gags you couldn't see.

I understand that a lot of time, effort, CGI went into this, but I just feel slapped in the face with beauty while not caring one jot about a single character. Or as the wife very uncharitably put it after 45 minutes "I hope all of these characters die in this".

Sometimes there are adult shows that also appeal to kids. Sometimes there are shows that appear to be aimed at kids but are really aimed at adults. But this wants to be the latter and fails as either.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#103

Post by thelaxiankey2 »

donatj wrote: post #26
OisinMoran wrote: post #18

Hard disagree with a lot said here. Watched both the film and this series (though haven't got around to finishing it yet) for the first time last year, and the series lacks a lot of what makes the film great. The film has some interesting zen-like qualities like duality, and a more complex set of morals. The series just feels like most modern creations with a pretty bland right vs wrong. The film is also almost entir…

If you have not seen "Princess Mononoke", I highly recommend it. I rewatched it recently and the people and creatures on both sides of the conflict are neither really good nor evil. Just two opposing forces with different goals. It offers a level of subtlety I have not seen often in film, particularly since Star Wars.

Somehow a lot of TV seems far more subtle (or at least nuanced) to me than popular movies. The Wire or Scavengers Reign are a couple off the top of my head.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#104

Post by pjc50 »

ericmcer wrote: post #52
dash2 wrote: post #50

The author seems to conflate "dark" with "adult", so let me take the chance to point out this common mistake. Horror films, Warhammer 40K and 2000 AD comics are all famously dark, but they're for kids or teens. A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Importance of Being Earnest are light but grown-up. It's a weird deformation of the past generation to think that being depressing makes you deep.

Oh man yeah I hate this trend. It has especially worked its way into popular literature. A books writing is at a 5th grade level, has almost zero depth, but then is full of sex and violence which makes it an "adult" novel. Authors like Sarah J Maas are almost comically bad writers but have achieved immense popular success using this setup.

America gradually reinventing the Japanese "light novel". Or even its own "pulp" tradition, which these days are only remembered for their cover art rather than any of the content.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#105

Post by globnomulous »

dash2 wrote: post #50

The author seems to conflate "dark" with "adult", so let me take the chance to point out this common mistake. Horror films, Warhammer 40K and 2000 AD comics are all famously dark, but they're for kids or teens. A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Importance of Being Earnest are light but grown-up. It's a weird deformation of the past generation to think that being depressing makes you deep.

Nicely put. I like Lauren Oyler's formulation of a related thought, in her review of a work by Otessa Moshfegh, when she refers to Moshfegh's "bored manipulation of the fallacy that the more unpleasant something is, the truer it must be."

https://www.bookforum.com/print/2701/ottessa-moshfegh-s-affe...

Edit: and for the life of me I could never understand what anybody saw in that vile show "Euphoria." It seemed so obviously just to want to do nothing but luxuriate in its own vulgarity and graphicness and expected audiences to be very impressed by how big everybody's feelings are. Same for "The Power of the Dog," which was as unsubtle and uninteresting a melodramatic turd as I've ever seen.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#106

Post by metalliqaz »

mandmandam wrote: post #91
metalliqaz wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. People just can't read. I think this is one of many upstream causes of the current political landscape. When faced with reading a corporate financial statement, any laws, scientific papers, municipal budgets, or even an article in WSJ or The Atlantic, people are unable to proceed. So a defense mechanism comes up: "it's all just lies, anyway." Then they go and find a tweet or watch TV.

I'mma go out on a bit of a limb here, and say that even the people who can read often 'can't read'. Many people who 'can read' only read things in one of two particular bubbles, colored either blue or red. This has resulted in a population which is terrifyingly disconnected from reality, and yet utterly certain of their own beliefs; beliefs which have been worked into the core of their self-identity by the magic of p…

This is why I said "one of many". There are many motivations and factors at play, but being overwhelmed when reading complex documents is a real great motivator to dismiss them out of hand.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#107

Post by stuckinhell »

donatj wrote: post #19

How strange, the most positive review I heard from anyone I know was that "It ruined my childhood" and that it let's say "craped" on the source material. Mind you these are the nicest things people said. I have not seen it nor the original film to be fair, but this is quite literally the first positive thing I have heard about it.

Yea I feel the same.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#108

Post by the_af »

sleepybrett wrote: post #96
kouru225 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ngl the idea that the average commenter is thinking about how to make changes to Miyazaki's two best movies is so funny to me. It's like your average tourist walking up to Van Gogh's Starry Night and being like "I dunno I think I would do it differently."

I have yet to run into anyone that hasn't let out a bit of a sigh when sen gets on that train. I love the movie, I actually think Naussica is his best movie, followed by Princess. However as someone who grew up on western movies there is a rhythmic miss to these movies, a pacing that is unlike other movies. I never said it made the movies bad, just that it was, I guess strange... unexpected. .. and like I said, looki…

Addendum: I've upvoted you because I don't think anyone should be downvoted just for expressing an opinion about art, as long as they do it politely.

Also,

> I actually think Naussica is his best movie

I don't agree but I love Nausicaa's visuals. They are also hauntingly beautiful. I owe it to myself to get the manga, too.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#109

Post by engineer_22 »

mock-possum wrote: post #89
jhbadger wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but it still takes place after the Mystics and Skeksis split off from each other. The Gelflings were really just irrelevant bystanders to the real story even if we the audience see the story from their perspective in both the movie and show.

Isn’t that the point, in some regards? The urSkeks were alien invaders who committed genocide and caused widespread environmental destruction - it’s their ambition that drives the plot forward, it’s their powet and their willingness to wield it - without that, nothing would have happened on this wholesome sleepy little planet, you know? How do you, as a Gelfling, navigate your life, in the shadow of these incredible…

i find the AoR to be subtle enough about what is right and wrong to be entertaining. good number of plot twists and hooks. a shame the garthim war wasn't covered... but maybe 20-30 years and they'll return to it

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#110

Post by Micoloth »

globnomulous wrote: post #105
dash2 wrote: post #50

The author seems to conflate "dark" with "adult", so let me take the chance to point out this common mistake. Horror films, Warhammer 40K and 2000 AD comics are all famously dark, but they're for kids or teens. A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Importance of Being Earnest are light but grown-up. It's a weird deformation of the past generation to think that being depressing makes you deep.

Nicely put. I like Lauren Oyler's formulation of a related thought, in her review of a work by Otessa Moshfegh, when she refers to Moshfegh's "bored manipulation of the fallacy that the more unpleasant something is, the truer it must be." https://www.bookforum.com/print/2701/ottessa-moshfegh-s-affe... Edit: and for the life of me I could never understand what anybody saw in that vile show "Euphoria." It seemed so obv…

To be fair-

I was agreeing very much with both parent comment and yours, until your edit.

I loved Euphoria.

> graphicness - Was it graphic at all? > how big everybody's feelings are - Were their feeling that big? > It seemed so obviously.. - Maybe obvious to you? This might say more about you..

I found it brilliant and at times ironic and self aware and very explicit about what its target is (I think it's very much for teenagers)

So i don't know if it is a good example of this trend at all.

Just to say how nuanced these things can be, i guess...

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