My mutuals recommend so many good movies to watch.
Memories is an anthology film consisting of three shorts that vary in artistic styling, themes, and direction but all form a cohesive film that burrows itself within my mind. In high school, I was obsessed with anime, seeking out every new show that premiered each season. Even if it wasn’t good, I just wanted more. I had always heard about this movie, and the poster of the white humanoid figure hooked up to wires intrigued me, but I never took that leap until now. While I have my favorite of the shorts, none ever crossed the threshold of boredom; all maintained my interest. Having some variety and living in these fleshed-out worlds was pleasant for 20 to 40 minutes.
My favorite short—and what most people would agree is the best of the bunch—is Magnetic Rose, written by Satoshi Kon, so you know that it deals with images of the self and the psyche. Magnetic Rose follows a space crew locating an abandoned spaceship emitting an S.O.S. signal. Upon boarding the spaceship, they discover a lavish interior with everything crumbling to dust at the slightest touch. As the crew uncovers the secrets of the spacecraft, more of its horrors become known. While my experience with Kon’s work is limited to Perfect Blue, it still stands as one of the premier psychological thrillers, and this short, while not on the same level, still succeeds in conveying a tragic story stuck in time, tethered to loss and desperation. The atmosphere in this short is perfect, tightening the tension at every opportunity. From the start, I felt uneasy, and it got worse the rest of the way through. That’s beautiful cinema. It’s a sad horror story in a particular niche to which I find myself drawn. Magnetic Rose is why you should watch this film and stick around for the other shorts.
Stink Bomb might be my least favorite of the shorts, but it made me chuckle throughout. I think it is tough for anything to follow Magnetic Rose. But Stink Bomb is still a potent story about the military’s use of bioweapons, the government’s decision on how many lives are acceptable losses, and the outrageous expectations placed on employees to complete work that is beyond their pay grade for the sanctity of the company. The concept of a human stink bomb that kills you shortly after exposure is a terrifying thought; arming that with the ambition of an overly eager employee, and you have a comedy layered over what is a horrific ordeal. The risk evaluation from the pompous United States speaks to a certain indifference they have when it comes to other human beings, not themselves. The ending is precisely what I wanted for my catharsis.
Cannon Fodder might be one of the most visually appealing anime I've seen. It’s unlike any style I’ve encountered in the medium. The thicker lining around the characters, their designs, and the world-building make Cannon Fodder stand out the most from the bunch. It follows a family living in a walled-off city perpetually at war, similar to 1984. In the world of Cannon Fodder, the children know nothing of education for creation and salvation’s sake; they learn how to kill and maim with cold precision. They are taught at an early age to dehumanize the enemy, and this sentiment is compounded by the fact that you never see the enemy they’re fighting, which only makes you question who exactly this enemy is and what started this conflict. It’s an anti-fascism short that holds nothing but contempt for those said fascists, drawing a lot of imagery from the Nazis; at one point, you even see the SS Nazi logo. Most of the short examines the mundane existence of each family member. The father helps load a cannon that fires off to some land in the far-off distance, the mother makes munitions for the cannons, and the son fantasizes about being the person to fire the cannon. The only character with aspirations wants to become a high-ranking fascist because that is the only dream you can hold in this world.
Memories is a great grab-bag of shorts that may not always tonally merge into the most cohesive vision. Instead, you get unique directions and entertaining shorts covering a vast array of themes and emotions. One of them will stick with you, and there’s going to be something of merit in the other shorts.
My mutuals recommend so many good movies to watch.
Memories is an anthology film consisting of three shorts that vary in artistic styling, themes, and direction but all form a cohesive film that burrows itself within my mind. In high school, I was obsessed with anime, seeking out every new show that premiered each season. Even if it wasn’t good, I just wanted more. I had always heard about this movie, and the poster of the white humanoid figure hooked up to wires intrigued me, but I never took that leap until now. While I have my favorite of the shorts, none ever crossed the threshold of boredom; all maintained my interest. Having some variety and living in these fleshed-out worlds was pleasant for 20 to 40 minutes.
My favorite short—and what most people would agree is the best of the bunch—is Magnetic Rose, written by Satoshi Kon, so you know that it deals with images of the self and the psyche. Magnetic Rose follows a space crew locating an abandoned spaceship emitting an S.O.S. signal. Upon boarding the spaceship, they discover a lavish interior with everything crumbling to dust at the slightest touch. As the crew uncovers the secrets of the spacecraft, more of its horrors become known. While my experience with Kon’s work is limited to Perfect Blue, it still stands as one of the premier psychological thrillers, and this short, while not on the same level, still succeeds in conveying a tragic story stuck in time, tethered to loss and desperation. The atmosphere in this short is perfect, tightening the tension at every opportunity. From the start, I felt uneasy, and it got worse the rest of the way through. That’s beautiful cinema. It’s a sad horror story in a particular niche to which I find myself drawn. Magnetic Rose is why you should watch this film and stick around for the other shorts.
Stink Bomb might be my least favorite of the shorts, but it made me chuckle throughout. I think it is tough for anything to follow Magnetic Rose. But Stink Bomb is still a potent story about the military’s use of bioweapons, the government’s decision on how many lives are acceptable losses, and the outrageous expectations placed on employees to complete work that is beyond their pay grade for the sanctity of the company. The concept of a human stink bomb that kills you shortly after exposure is a terrifying thought; arming that with the ambition of an overly eager employee, and you have a comedy layered over what is a horrific ordeal. The risk evaluation from the pompous United States speaks to a certain indifference they have when it comes to other human beings, not themselves. The ending is precisely what I wanted for my catharsis.
Cannon Fodder might be one of the most visually appealing anime I've seen. It’s unlike any style I’ve encountered in the medium. The thicker lining around the characters, their designs, and the world-building make Cannon Fodder stand out the most from the bunch. It follows a family living in a walled-off city perpetually at war, similar to 1984. In the world of Cannon Fodder, the children know nothing of education for creation and salvation’s sake; they learn how to kill and maim with cold precision. They are taught at an early age to dehumanize the enemy, and this sentiment is compounded by the fact that you never see the enemy they’re fighting, which only makes you question who exactly this enemy is and what started this conflict. It’s an anti-fascism short that holds nothing but contempt for those said fascists, drawing a lot of imagery from the Nazis; at one point, you even see the SS Nazi logo. Most of the short examines the mundane existence of each family member. The father helps load a cannon that fires off to some land in the far-off distance, the mother makes munitions for the cannons, and the son fantasizes about being the person to fire the cannon. The only character with aspirations wants to become a high-ranking fascist because that is the only dream you can hold in this world.
Memories is a great grab-bag of shorts that may not always tonally merge into the most cohesive vision. Instead, you get unique directions and entertaining shorts covering a vast array of themes and emotions. One of them will stick with you, and there’s going to be something of merit in the other shorts.
