Remembering the 8th of January 2024

 

...And, it’s nice to be back doing this stuff, probably just one article after N years; and what made me remember that I have a created a writing repo somewhere is that… *drum roll*…

a *Hayao Miyazaki* film finally made its way into Philippine theaters!

Credit: Studio Ghibli from the film "The Boy and the Heron" (https://www.ghibli.jp/works/kimitachi/)

 

I find this surreal, coming from a person who has been fond of many Studio Ghibli films, and with this supposed “final” Miyazaki film – wishing on that big glowing rock coming from outer space, that there will be another film release after this, as he is reportedly coming out of retirement again! – The Boy and the Heron, I believe, is among his cinematic gems.

 

It is visually impressive; and surprisingly, I feel that the movie, through the energy level of the animation here, was created at the height of Miyazaki’s prowess.  I even have this impression that “The Wind Rises” is more like the “final” film than “The Boy and the Heron.”

 

The emotional moments, that a viewer may experience among Ghibli’s finest, may not be as evident here, but instead they are compensated with more thought-provoking scenes, with lots of figurative stuff that can even surpass those present in “Spirited Away.”

 

Credit: Studio Ghibli from the film "Spirited Away" (https://www.ghibli.jp/works/chihiro/)

I believe this is Miyazaki’s most complex film, and the world it presents can feel convoluted.  However, if you have been familiar with many of his films and with a glimpse of Miyazaki’s life, I believe “The Boy and the Heron” will have more profound impact on the viewer.  It is his most philosophical and most personal film as well.

 

I consider “The Boy and the Heron” as one of my favorite Ghibli films, along the lines of “Howl’s Moving Castle” and “Spirited Away.”

Credit: Studio Ghibli - from the film "Howl's Moving Castle" (https://www.ghibli.jp/works/howl/)

I would like to remember that day, 2024.01.08 (PH Time), when a Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki film finally made its way into Philippine cinemas, and to commemorate that, I have started reading a book – although with unrelated story as the story in this movie is original – from which the title of its Japanese release was referenced: “How Do You Live?” by Genzaburo Yoshino.  So far so good, as it is thought-provoking, and I hope to finish reading it as soon as possible.

 

Credit: Studio Ghibli - from the film "The Boy and the Heron" (https://www.ghibli.jp/works/kimitachi/)

At the end part of the movie, I found myself staying in the cinema under a contemplative mode, while listening to the song "Spinning Globe" during the end credits.  One may feel some uneasiness with the film's conclusion, and I believe the song served to console the viewers as well (and the news that Hayao Miyazaki is working on his next film).

Spinning Globe by Kenshi Yonezu 

And by the way, that Golden Globes win for the Animated film category is well deserved! (That was tough competition against Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse, which is another great animated film)

 

it doesn't seem to make any sense : either nonsense or not getting the sense

talk about some far-fetched sense : on the origin of life on Earth
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To state the obvious, the human brain is the most powerful natural brain on earth.  It is curious that being the #1 top-performing brain in the world, it has a very big gap in terms of the things that it can do over the #2 brain on the animal brain list.  Assuming that there has been a fair game of developing different types of brain from the same set of resources, one can say that the game's current state is highly anomalous.  The human brain is a quintessential outlier relative to the set of naturally thriving brains today.  Adding more damage to this almost "whitewash game" is that this brain is capable of designing artificial brains (i.e. A.I.).  The development of these factitious brains tries to match what the natural human brain is capable of, or even surpass it.

After many years from now, mankind maybe capable of transporting these brains to other prospective worlds in space; and if these are "ultra sophisticated" enough, e.g. self-replicating and capable of evolving on its own under the environmental conditions where it is designed to thrive (yes, designed; i.e. ensuring with the highest possible probability that a biological system will still develop under the harshest possible factors in that alien world, e.g. self-assembling lego parts to create different "living" creatures - somewhat an open-ended result as long as the lego parts keep on thriving), then a different biological system will develop in that world, not necessarily similar to that of the Earth as we know it.  Think about a chain reaction of artificial brains landing on different worlds in the universe.  A brain that developed in a certain world has evolved into something that is capable of creating another brain and then might be interested to propagate it to another alien world.  In this case, this is even beyond what Star Trek or Star Wars has depicted.  That chain reaction is in itself a quandary, and borrowing terms from mathematics, each brain should still have an "origin" for that "chain line" (from the "number line").  Think about the number line.  What is considered to be observable is just a portion of that line; but then the other portions are not necessarily falsehoods, and they cannot be even dismissed in an instant as non-existent.

on the plight of dunkirk

With the Hollywood film year about to end, Dunkirk still stays inside my head as one of the year's best (hey, definitely it will standout considering that you have watched only one of those less crappy films this year). Well, it's not a bad thing, considering its quality being comparable to some of the acclaimed films in the previous years, e.g. "A Separation", "Zero Dark Thirty", "12 Years a Slave", "Lincoln", etc.  One of the reasons is that it is different from other World War II films, and it takes a different perspective when compared to the likes of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Letters from Iwo Jima".  Will it win Best Picture at the Oscars? It has a high probability that it will get nominated, but I think its chances of winning is actually uncertain. 

One reason is that it might be labeled as one of those bland films among the Academy voters.  They might find it inglorious in the emotions department, and would rather view it as something more of a technical film; and at the end of the day, throw multiple awards in the technical department.  So if a more dramatic and more emotionally satisfying film pops up at the end of the year, its chances of winning will be significantly lowered.  Another reason is that it doesn't actually have a well developed "personal" viewpoint in it that will help the voters find the perspective of the characters compelling.  So if a more personal and also substantially technical film comes up at the end of the year, it's then a no-win for Dunkirk.  Does it really matter? I think not.  Whether with an Academy win, intrinsically, I think Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk is still a film to beat in many years to come.

So how about the animated film department? Sure, "The LEGO Batman Movie" is a fun movie, and a really good one as well.  However compared to last year's very competitive year for animated movies, in which many films in the lineup deserve to be considered as top animated film, it seems that it may not be as competitive this year.  The upcoming "Coco" film from Disney/Pixar - with Lee Unkrich from "Toy Story 3" around - is potentially a film to beat.  Otherwise, "Ferdinand" might also sneak in, together with other foreign animated films like "The Breadwinner", which has a weighty synopsis, and probably, Hiromasa Yonebayashi's "Mary and the Witch's Flower" under Studio Ponoc, which consists of almost everyone who previously worked at Studio Ghibli.