EverdarkHeolstor

**Sugoi, sugoi, SUGOI ‼️** ———Spoilers/Review——— Rewatching this with a copy of the 2009 double-disc special release DVD. The first time i saw this, it was on Netflix. I decided to watch it dubbed in English and remember it being good. This time though, i watched it in the original Japanese with Finnish subtitles. Joe Hisaishi, you beautiful, beautiful man. The music in this movie is so damn good. The sound work in general is very good. Not to mention the animation. Miyazaki hasn't disappointed me yet. Stellar work. I believe this movie was made just before Studio Ghibli was officially established. It was produced by Topcraft, with Ghibli being founded the following year, but it has almost the exact same DNA as all the other Ghibli films. Almost like a precursor to what was going to come. The Valley of the Wind is home to peaceful people, gatherers and wanderers, led by a young princess who's courageous and thoughtful, named Nausicaä. Their valley gets struck by misfortune when the cruel forces of Tolmekia invade. They're there after one of their aircraft crashes in the valley, carrying the Pejite princess Lastelle and valuable cargo that they're eager to get back. Nausicaä is a very badass protagonist, beating a dozen armed soldiers on her own with ease. Though, her kind and pacifist nature makes her stagger when she sees even a couple drops of blood shed. Her mentor Yupa is also something like a legend in that world, a very admirable character. Yupa is also an excellent fighter who takes over a airship invaded by the Tolmekian in the later half of the movie. We also get a small, funny sidekick that tags along with Nausicaä. A fox-squirrel. Very cute. The plot steadily picks up, evolving from an innocent adventure into a destructive war between insects and different kingdoms of people, who also wage war against each other. The pacing was good, no complaints in that department. The scene near the end where the baby Ohmu goes to help Nausicaä, who is bleeding from gunshot wounds, gave me chills. Incredible moment. The actual ending did not disappoint. Nausicaä getting revived by the Ohmu while the amazing soundtrack plays. After that, she's greeted and celebrated by the people of the Valley and the new friends she made. Again, chills. Amazing film. It might not land in the Top 3–5 Ghibli movies for me, but nonetheless, it's still VERY good. **In conclusion: GREAT.**

**Six Batmans but no Joker? No Robin? No Catwoman? C'mon fellas.** ———Review——— This was a rewatch. I saw this film as a kid for the first time, but i don't remember much from it, just that it had many stories stitched together and was pretty brutal and weird. *First Story, "**HAVE I GOT A STORY FOR YOU**":* It starts off with four friends, three of them being late to a hangout and each one telling the story of why they were late. And Batman is in every story, chasing the same bad guy. Each story exaggerates Batman in different ways. I love that approach. The normal citizens view him like a mythical being, an unstoppable force who flies through the sky, morphs into shadows, shoots lasers out of his hands, and so on. The story ends with the bad guy and Batman crashing their hangout. This time, we see Batman injured and exhausted, with one of the kids knocking out the bad guy. Really solid introduction to the whole film. *Second Story, "**CROSSFIRE**":* This one feels like a bad dream. The plot feels a bit shallow and nonsensical. Though, this is more like a traditional Batman story. We have the man himself, detectives, James Gordon, gangs, and maniac criminals. Batman was cool as hell in this story. He takes down the gangs and pretty much speedblitzes Maroni lol. We see a familiar design for him here, something akin to the *Arkham Knight* game design. A pretty good follow-up to the first story. *Third Story, "**FIELD TEST**":* This is interesting. We see Bruce Wayne for the first time in this one, without the batsuit i mean. In the anime art style, he looks a bit like L from *Death Note*. The batsuit design is pretty good in this one. Except for the side view lol. Horrible. The story was amazing this time. Bruce almost kills someone because a contraption that deflects bullets worked a bit too well. I'll also say that the art design was stellar. Overall, really liked this third story. *Fourth Story, "**IN DARKNESS DWELLS**":* Like the second story, this is pretty traditional again. Although, it's really grimy since he treks through the sewers looking for Killer Croc. We get to see Scarecrow along with Killer Croc. Scarecrow's design is meh, and Killer Croc's is pretty bad. Batman's face and overall design took a big nosedive here. Not as great as the previous ones. Again, still not much to critique. I liked this story as well, and it ends on a high note. *Fifth Story, "**WORKING THROUGH PAIN**":* This is maybe my favorite of all the stories. The art style is amazing, and Batman's suit and off-suit designs are great. The story is so damn good. We see Bruce trying to find enlightenment and ways to deal with his pain. On the other hand, we see him as Batman, going through a LOT of pain. We also get to know a second character, Cassandra. This is the only story that gives us another character to learn about beyond the surface, apart from Batman, of course. It adds so much more depth. Just amazing. *Sixth and final Story, "**DEADSHOT**":* Huh, they depart quite a lot from the past art styles and go for a slight Western animation aesthetic. In this story, Batman goes against Deadshot. And of course, he stops him with minimal difficulty. It was really neat. Though, not much to comment on. This story was simple yet effective. This film is better than i remember. Every short story had me wanting a bit more 👏🏻 Awesome time for a Batman fan. I feel like if they reduced the number of short stories to 4–5 and made each one about 20 minutes long, then i could've rated it as great or even as a masterpiece. **In conclusion: GOOD.**

**Now i want to take some shrooms.** ———Spoilers/Review——— That opening shot of the cool looking mural transitioning into a dark, snowy forest landscape, oo la laa. I really enjoyed the pre-Sweden stuff. Though, not to say it went downhill in Sweden. I guess i just dig winter aesthetics more than summer. The movie in general was very visually appealing. Ari Aster loves to start his films with some kind of disaster. First it was Charlie's head getting chopped off by a telephone pole, and this time, i guess they decided to kill off Dani's whole family. Holy shit dude. The Swedish guy "Pelle" instantly gave me the creeps. That off-putting smile/smirk he had going on. Plus, he was just way too positive. And highkey, fuck Christian too. Josh's death was unfortunate, but he kinda deserved it. Those elders were very strict and clear about not taking pictures or anything like that. The other deaths though, yeah, not cool. That "love story" depiction was out of pocket. I know it was a nudge towards what was later going to happen to Christian, but still, yuck. WHERE WAS THE HORROR, ARI?! This film was just very weird, slightly disturbing and trippy. It wasn't scary at all, tbh. I really liked *Hereditary* because the weirdness and scariness went hand-in-hand. *Midsommar* just decided to go 110% in the weirdness direction. No clue why this film was marked as horror. Swedish people are so weird. Glad i'm Finnish. **In conclusion: GOOD.**

**The Minnesota accent 👎🏻 Sounding like passive-aggressive Canadian pirates.** ———Spoilers/Review——— Yah yah, you see. Oh yah? You betcha! Uh, you okay Margie? You good, Margie? You eat yet, Margie?!?!!? These darn tootin' Minnesotians. The film looks great. Idk what they did back in the day, but every older movie looks so good. The start, about 25 minutes in—is kinda comical. It gives off *Home Alone* vibes. Then it gets dark. People start dying. Kinda a shame that the detective/police stuff starts so late, because those parts were my favorite. Seeing them piece everything together and pursue the kidnappers were the highlights for me. Oh jeez, the end. That dude putting the funny-looking little guy, "Carl", through a woodchipper. All of this happened because some man wanted more money. To me, the movie treated the deaths pretty mundanely. They didn't add any extra shock or make them crazy. Just boom, guy gets shot, then another one. Then it just moves on. Not sure if i like that approach. This movie was pretty cut and dry, tbh. Not much to chew on. Short and sweet, ya'know? **In conclusion: GOOD.**