Babymetal - Legends I, D, and Z

So I'm a new fan of Babymetal. Just discovered them last month, and I've been pretty obsessed with them since. I've bought both of their albums, and I've watched tons and tons of their live performances. Heck, I've already fallen so far down the rabbit hole, I've even ventured quite a bit into a lot of their Sakura Gakuin stuff, too. I just love how positive and innocent their music is, and the sheer number of genres they blend together in some of their songs, all the while maintaining both a clear metal inspiration, as well as a very anime-inspired vibe to their music, which carries over into their performances.

There's just something infectious about this band, something really refreshing about them. Watching their live performances is just mesmerizing, how they're able to consistently move around at the pace that they do and maintain that level of energy and sing at that level of quality night in and night out without missing a beat. I can't say I've ever been into a band quite in this manner, where I've gone out of my way to watch so many different live performances and behind the scenes interviews and footage and such. Their shows are almost like watching theater, they're just as much visual as they are musical, and the way they tell a story and change things up from show to show is just really compelling to keep up with.

The amount of energy and positivity surrounding this band is almost overwhelming, and has made me more emotional on more occasions than any other band I've ever followed. There's just this irresistible connection that they have, both with one another on stage, as well as with their audience, that really just blows me away. And I don't think I could've caught the Babymetal fever at a more appropriate time, when I was feeling particularly depressed, and finding my passion waning in a number of my personal interests and questioning some of my aspirations.

In particular, in the world of film, I know it's been almost an entire year since I've seen a single movie that has elicited enough of an excited reaction out of me to where I felt the need to write about it and discuss it on here. I attribute that partially due to the fact that this past year has honestly been an unimaginably weak year for film, but also because the way Hollywood is using the media to obsessively discuss politics is becoming more and more of a soul crushing drain. Hell, that was one of the big reasons I actually quit social media recently outside of strictly for promotional uses, was because it had become a complete and total toxic wasteland with the non-stop hatred and politics becoming so inescapable, and we're reaching the point where the only way to enjoy any new media anymore is to just grin and bear it and try to ignore the obnoxious political agendas that are being constantly shoved down our throats.

But this band is like a breath of fresh air, a complete and total escapist bliss from all of that nonsense. It's a reminder to me that there does still exist a world out there that hasn't become completely entrenched by modern day Western politics. And it's also served as a reminder to me of just why I fell in love with anime and other Eastern style media so much, which I've largely fallen out of in more recent years. There's just such a fun innocence and so much focus on genuinely positive affirmation in their music and their dance routines that I just find it all to be really inspiring. So much that it's even left me reconsidering my own approach on a number of upcoming projects. And also so much that I actually even feel inspired to write again.

After writing a full review for their Budokan show on some of the forums I visit (which I'll likely tweak a little and post here at some point as well), I felt something click in me that I hadn't felt in a long long time. Something satisfying about really digging deep and discussing a topic of passion a little more in-depth, a satisfaction I used to feel while reviewing movies, or even further back while reviewing wrestling shows, but which I honestly hadn't felt in what seems like years at this point. I mean, you can see for yourself by how infrequently I've blogged this year alone. But after reviewing Budokan, I felt compelled to go back to the beginning and take a look at some of the band's other bigger shows, and just share my thoughts on them, which may relate back in some ways to what's happening with the band today as well. So to start off, let's take a look at their original trilogy of big shows, Legends I, D, and Z.

First thing to note about these shows is that there wasn't as much actual moshing in the crowds back then, though that's not to say that it wasn't a raucous bunch. They were packed to the brim and practically crawling on top of one another reaching out to the stage all throughout, and the smaller venues made the audience's shouts back to the band sound especially awesome, particularly during the songs Doki Doki Morning and Uki Uki Midnight. It's just amazing to see just how into this band people were, even that early on, well before they really broke out and made it big. But then again, I can totally understand it. After all, it didn't take long for me to become as huge a fan of theirs as I already am.

I also loved seeing their set list gradually expanding over the course of these shows, as it was apparent they were still coming up with new songs and accompanying dance routines during this period of time. It was pretty neat to see that Kimi to Anime Ga Mitai was a regular for them during this period, and I liked how they also incorporated a number of cover songs and remixes here too, particularly on Legend D (which is probably my favorite of the trilogy).

What's most likely my favorite song of the whole lot came from their rendition of Over the Future on Legend D, and it honestly might be my favorite individual live performance from the band that I've seen yet at that. I first discovered this song when watching a compilation video of the band's covers that they've done over the years, and this one in particular happened to stand out to me at the time. But then, upon digging deeper and learning just how much history there is behind this song as well, and how much this song really means to the band, it just made it stand out as all the more powerful, and left me moved in a way that no other piece of music had managed to do before.

Add to that, a really unique choreography arrangement for this song as compared to most of their others, with the song starting off with just Yuimetal and Moametal alone, only for Su-metal to make her grand appearance partway through like a friggin boss, and yeah, everything just comes together to make for one hell of an epic and emotional performance.

Legend D also features a neat dance remix of the song Headbanger, which I thoroughly enjoyed. This particular song is completely lip-synced, and they make no real efforts to hide that, as it exists here really as an excuse to just let Su join in with Yui and Moa and really just jump around and punch in the air and spaz-dance her ass off on stage. I also noticed this on the footage for the shows where both Yui and Moa got to trade off with Su on lead vocals for this song, how Su just looked like she was having the time of her life really being able to finally let loose as a dancer and go all out, and that was certainly the case for this song, too.

In addition to that though, I have to bring up the band's use of backup dancers for this number. There's something of a controversy happening now where some people are getting up in arms over the band introducing a number of backup dancers in their current shows. But really, they've been incorporating this element from the very beginning, with the Babybones and the Ladybones acting as living set decoration in these early shows, much like the current dancers on tour with them now. Granted, the dancers here were used perhaps more sparingly, but I felt their inclusion in this rendition of Headbanger definitely worked, and added to the all out dance-fest vibe of the song.

Speaking on the Babybones for a moment now, I will say that while I definitely appreciate Babymetal going with a live band nowadays, I did get a kick out of some of their fake band's antics on these early shows. It was rather silly on Legend I for instance when, during the dueling guitar solos for Akatsuki, two of the Bones took the spotlight and proceeded to pretend to play the guitar. (Thankfully, they went with something different and far cooler during this song on Legend Z, when Su engages in a fight dance against, you guessed it, another backup dancer!) And during the more traditional rendition of Headbanger on Legend D, I loved how the Babybones completely stopped pretending to play instruments altogether to join Yui and Moa in bowing down to Su-metal. Stuff like that really cracked me up.

But going back to Legend D again, the show closes with another one of their covers, which was a simply beautiful rendition of Tsubasa wo Kudasai. The girls' singing in this song is so touching, it's bound to drive damn near anyone to tears, as the show then ends with the first of many times to come where we close out on some sort of Su-metal crucifixion imagery.

And then, picking up right where Legend D left off, Legend Z opens with Su-metal still in her crucifixion pose against the cross, only to come back to life and start things hot with the first of two different performances of Ijime, Dame, Zettai (and unlike Headbanger on Legend D, it's the same version of the song both times at that). Interesting decision to both open and close a show with the exact same song, but I guess this just goes to show how limited their song list was at the time, as now they definitely have a lot more options available to them for really strong openers and closers.

I mentioned before how interesting it was to see their set list gradually expanding, and that was never more the case than on Legend Z when they got to performing Catch Me If You Can. I was seriously giddy during this performance, you don't even know! I already love this song, and the dance choreography might be my favorite out of the whole band, so to reach the point where presumably the song was making its first major on stage appearance was an absolute delight, and I was left grinning from ear to ear throughout.

Another thing I noticed about these shows that I don't see them doing so often these days was that the band liked to tease the crowd quite a bit by seeing them off early, only to wait a few minutes and leave the crowd chanting for more, until they would finally come back out and crank up the awesome to end things on a high note with a couple of encore performances. On Legend D there wasn't any live band, but Legend I actually saw the debut of the Kami Band for the encore (who mostly stayed hidden in the background back then), and the Kamis made their return during the encore of Legend Z as well.

And for the Legend Z encore, the girls actually changed over into white dresses, as opposed to their usual black and red, which appeared to symbolize a sort of rebirth of sorts. It certainly made for a cool and unique look for them in any event. And I also found it neat how, in addition to their performing Over the Future, this was another wish of Yui's come to life, who expressed on a radio interview I had stumbled upon that she would love for the band to at some point be able to perform while wearing white. She also expressed in another interview her desire for the band to perform wearing their casual day to day attire, but sadly, that particular wish doesn't look likely to happen at any time in the foreseeable future.

So yeah, I think that about wraps up most of my main thoughts on this trilogy. These shows were a ton of fun, and it was really neat seeing them perform at this stage, in these smaller, more intimate venues, and seeing how they gradually evolved from show to show, be it in their set, in their attire, and even in their dance routines. For instance, in the early days, I didn't realize that Yui and Moa were straight up falling onto their backs during the fight dance sequence of Ijime, Dame, Zettai. Considering Yui had to recently drop out of the band partially due to health issues which may or may not have been due to the physical strain of their act, I'm glad they stopped doing that in later shows. They do more than enough up there without taking damn wrestling bumps on top of everything else!

But yeah, I enjoyed taking the time out to write about these shows, and now I look forward to catching up even more and further sharing my thoughts and feelings as I dive deeper and deeper into the lore of this wonderful band known as Babymetal. See you!

Kip - The First Ninja Kat Movie

Here it is, my latest short film, and the very first movie to come out of the Ninja Kat series, Kip, based on elements from the title character's story arc in the Velcro the Ninja Kat novels. I'm really pleased with how this one turned out, and I hope you all enjoy this first cinematic take to come out of the world of the Ninja Kat!

www.VelcroTheNinjaKat.com

Sianostra - My return to filmmaking

So I recently released my latest short film, Sianostra. And that film marks my return to filmmaking after about a three year hiatus. My last movie I completed was Breathe back in 2015. And since then, I've dabbled in others' various film projects to certain capacities, but for the most part, I was taking a bit of a break. I spent the time mostly focusing on writing more new installments of the Ninja Kat novels, which were themselves going neglected while I was focusing on my filmmaking full-time at the time. But since I knocked two more of those out, and I also wound up writing no less than four new film scripts in that same time frame, I got the itch, and it was definitely time to come back to the world of filmmaking.

Now, I say that I wrote four different screenplays during that time, but I actually had five on my plate to choose from. Because before I had taken my break from filmmaking, I had actually written a script for a short film back in 2015, shortly after we had wrapped up Breathe. In fact, Cam Ray, who played the character Charlie in Breathe, approached me afterward with an idea for a film project of sorts.

What he pitched me was actually a really big series about these alien characters who come to our world and just sorta interact with us and experience life in a very quirky anime style slice of life sort of way. We had a number of discussions for ideas that we could pursue with this concept, but what I ultimately boiled it down to was, let's do a short film first, something that could act as an introduction to our main characters and the main concept, and if it works, and we decide to move forward with the bigger project at play, it could also work as either a pilot to a series, or just a short film introduction to a larger film production with a wider cast of characters to play with.

What's also interesting to note is that this also marked my first big collaborative writing project, which presented its own challenges and learning experiences. Cam pretty much wrote the first half of the original screenplay, and provided me with notes on where the story could go from there. And after a number of conversations, I filtered through for some of the better ideas and put together the second half, and went back over to try and tie everything together, revising accordingly until we were both satisfied with it. And while this was initially intended as the opening act to something bigger, I also felt it was important to try and keep things as standalone as possible, just in case it didn't really go anywhere, while leaving room to expand on if we did decide to later on.

So that's basically what this film was, was a script that I had dusted off after three years of sitting in the shelf, and finally getting around to shooting. I personally didn't feel my heart was quite in the project enough back in 2015 to really pursue it and do it any real justice at the time, but I definitely felt that now I was in a much better place mentally to give it a go. It was a simple enough concept to act as a good starting point to reintroduce myself into filmmaking and really get my feet wet again. And in the end, yeah, I definitely feel like you can see my rustiness in places in the finished product. But for the most part, I'm pleased with how it turned out all the same. As I mentioned, we were going for more of a quirky anime style, and wanted to play with music in a way that really interacts with the imagery on the screen. And in those regards, I'm definitely pleased with what we accomplished.

We definitely had a lot of fun filming it, too. There were a number of unexpected hurdles we had to cross over along the way (next door establishments making tons of noise, the neighbor's dog barking over dialogue, getting suddenly rained out mid-scene, etc.), but we managed to power through them and put together something decent all the same. Believe it or not, we actually filmed it at the same house we filmed Breathe as well, but you'd never know that just from looking at it. And the new cast were truly a pleasure to work with, and I've already since made plans to work alongside them again in future projects to come, so watch out for those as well.

It was also my first real foray into the genre of comedy. I've definitely sprinkled humor into mostly everything I've done so far, but this was what I suppose could be considered my first full fledged comedy. So that was a bit daunting, especially when I'm not entirely sure if any of the humor is actually landing or not, being so close to the project as I am. But after showing some rough cuts to some people and hearing them genuinely laughing in places, it was nice to see that at least it appeared we got some of it right.

In some ways, looking back on it now that the project's finished, this film actually reminds me of my first movie, The Red Scarf. For one thing, it's about as long as that one, but also the focus on a more anime inspired style and emphasis on music is prevalent in both as well. But just as with my first movie, as I mentioned, you can also see at points where we were definitely still finding our footing with this movie, just as we were learning as we were going along on The Red Scarf way back as well. So while this may have been a fun, if imperfectly shaky start back into filmmaking, then I can only hope that perhaps I'll be able to take all that I've learned from this experience, and that my next films will similarly follow in the footsteps of those that immediately followed The Red Scarf, in that we'll only improve from here.

As to where we go from here, I mentioned how this film was meant as an introduction point for a larger story. And that does still stand as a possibility for us to tackle one day. I've already had some conversations with Cam concerning where the story at large can go from here, so we definitely have some ideas. But in the meantime, we still have at least three more scripts on deck for us to attempt to tackle first, so it may be some time yet before we reacquaint ourselves with Noah and Sianostra again.

But for now, despite being a little rough around the edges in places, this movie has received a mostly positive reaction so far, with many using the words "cute" and "charming" to describe it. So I'm pleased enough by that. And so, now that I've given you a little bit of background behind it, if you kindly would, please give this new film a watch, and see what you think of my return to filmmaking with Sianostra!

Sianostra

The wait is finally over. If you would, please check out my latest short film, Sianostra!

Best of the Year movie rankings, revisited years later...

I've been doing these Best of Year in film lists for every year since 2009 now. At the end of the year, I pretty much rank my favorites, usually in a Top 10 list, and I may or may not briefly explain why the movie placed where it did. However, these lists really only reflect my feelings at that particular moment in time, which typically tends to be right at the tail end of the year in question. And as time continues to pass, my opinions on those films also continues to evolve as well. Some movies sit better with me in the months and years that follow. Others kinda become forgettable to me. And as such, if I were to redo these lists today, they'd almost certainly look quite different from how they appear in their preserved posts.

So today, I wanted to do just that, and take a look at some of the more drastic differences I would make to these lists. I'm not going to be re-ranking the whole thing, mostly just pointing out instances where certain key movies may have slid either up or down the list, and why that may have been. So to start off, let's go back to my first Top 10 Movies of the Year list that I posted here, and take a look at the year 2009:

2009

(Original Top 10 Movies of 2009)

The interesting thing about this one is that the movie I'd place at #1 here is a movie that I hadn't even seen at the time of posting. In fact, I hadn't seen it until several years after the fact. But that movie is (500) Days of Summer, which absolutely floored me when I finally got around to it, and has since become one of my favorite movies of all time.

So yeah, it'd easily take top honors for the year were I to redo this list today. But that's not to say that my listed #1, Avatar, would merely slip down to the #2 spot. In fact, it's possible that, if I were to put together a new list today, Avatar wouldn't even get ranked at all. I loved the movie when I first saw it in the theater. However, after revisiting it on DVD, it did not hold up. At all. And it's honestly the only example I can even really think of where I was so impressed by a movie in the theater, only to turn around and watch it at home, and not feel even the slightest bit impressed by it at all. But that's what happened, and that's why today it would slip right off the list for me.

2010

(Original Top 10 Movies of 2010)

This is one where I've gone back and forth with it a couple of times. The current list shows Inception at the #1 spot. However, there have been times where I've actually retroactively bumped Tangled up into that spot, which as you can see on the original list, was ranked #5 at the time of posting. Tangled actually had an opposite effect on me as Avatar, where revisiting it at home actually increased my appreciation for it, as my theater experience was a distracting 3D showing, and without that distraction at home, I was really able to be swept away by the emotion of the film.

That said, I've since placed Inception back in the top slot for the year, as it really does stick with you, and its influence on the medium is just impossible to ignore. But rest assured, Tangled continues to sit securely in the #2 spot, and could easily find its way back up top for me on another day.

2011

(Original Top 10 Movies of 2011)

At this point, if ever there was a year where my top pick of the year should've been a tie, this would've been it. Ask me on any given day what my #1 movie of 2011 is, and I'll give you a different answer. At the time of the original posting, I went with Sucker Punch. However, as you can see in my list of the Top Movies of the Decade So Far, Drive had slid past Sucker Punch in that instance. And it's sorta been back and forth and back again for me with those two in the years since.

As of right now, I'm currently leaning more towards Sucker Punch as the #1 film of the year again. But ask me in another month or so, and it's very possible that Drive will slide right past it again, if only for a little while. I just love those two movies, for entirely different reasons, but they've both really managed to stick with me in an equally strong manner.

2012

(Original Top 10 Movies of 2012)

This is a year where the #1 spot actually hasn't changed at all. Dredd's spot at the top remains quite secure there for me, as even now, nothing else from the year even comes close to it. However, where I might alter the list would be as it concerns The Avengers, which at the time of the original posting was ranked at #4. Nowadays, I could easily slide it up to the #2 spot and think nothing of it. But yeah, otherwise, not much else I would really put too much thought into altering from this particular year, so moving right along.

2013

(Original Top 10 Movies of 2013)

This is probably the most notable year for me where clearly I got it wrong at the time of posting. As you can see, I listed Iron Man 3 as the #1 movie of 2013. And the movie it bested out for that slot? Yeah, it just so happens to be none other than Frozen. So, for those of you who've been following me for some time now, you likely see the error there already.

Obviously Frozen has since retroactively become my #1 for that year. Hell, I also listed it at #1 in my aforementioned Top Movies of the Decade So Far, whereas Iron Man 3 didn't even receive an honorable mention there. And I'd also now consider Frozen to be my personal #1 favorite movie of all time at that. All things that hadn't become apparent to me until months after the posting of that year's list. So yeah, definitely the most glaring instance of me getting it wrong at the time of posting, which really just goes to show precisely how greatly one's feelings towards these movies and how we'd personally rank them can continue to change over time, the more they really sit with you.

2014

(Original Top 5 Movies of 2014)

As you can see, this is the only year where I only did a Top 5 list, as opposed to the usual Top 10. That's because I personally felt 2014 was a pretty weak year in film, and at the time of posting at least, despite all of the films that I had seen in that year, I didn't personally feel enough of them were great enough to warrant being listed when it came time to do my end of year rundown.

Now, while my #1 choice, Interstellar, hasn't changed, what has changed is that I feel that I now have seen enough truly great movies from that year to warrant doing a full Top 10. And what's especially silly is that it only took less than a month after the time of posting for that to happen, when I was able to see the movies Predestination and Selma. Neither of them were available to me at the time, but after I was able to see them, I felt that they were both not only worthy of the list, but hell, they'd both probably crack the Top 5 for the year at that. This year was certainly the greatest argument for why I should probably wait until sometime in January to actually post these lists, but alas, I find the tradition hard to break after all this time.

2015

(Original Top 10 of 2015)

My listed #1 is Inside Out. And I still love and adore this movie. However, listed at #3 is Mad Max: Fury Road, which is a film that I've only grown to admire and appreciate more and more over the years since. So much so that, similar to my 2011 example, depending on what day you ask me, I may actually consider it my new top pick for the year 2015.

As I said though, I still love Inside Out. But if I were to do an updated ranking for my Top Movies of the Decade So Far, if I'm being honest, I'm not so certain it would make the cut for such a list. However, that same thing can't be said for Mad Max: Fury Road, which on top of being a uniquely tremendous and relentlessly memorable film, easily stands as one of the greatest cinematic achievements of the past decade, which like Inception above, simply can not be ignored.

2016

(Original Top 10 of 2016)

Similar to Inside Out, I absolutely love La La Land, which was my original pick for #1 of the year. I love that movie so, so much! However, as much as I love that movie, I can't help but feel like my #2 pick for that year, The Neon Demon, just speaks to me so much more on a really messed up personal level. So much so that I might actually consider it my new favorite all around movie from that year.

And not only that, but another movie that I want to mention that I would specifically bump up the list is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Originally coming in at #6, it would easily sit somewhere in the Top 3 for me today, as that movie has aged incredibly well for me, and has continued to stick with me in a way that most films just flat out don't anymore. God, 2016 was such an awesome year for movies!

2017

(Original Top 10 of 2017)

And now here's where things get a bit tricky, because honestly, 2017 was a terrible year for film. And while my #1 pick, Logan, was certainly a great one, if I'm being honest? In a better year, it may well have not even cracked into my Top 5 for the year. But while I wouldn't necessarily lower its ranking now, I can say that I'd probably bump a couple of movies up, which over time could very possibly continue to grow on me and perhaps one day take over that top spot. And those movies are A Ghost Story, originally listed at #4, and Detroit, originally listed at #7, both of which would likely find their way somewhere higher in the Top 5 range.

Those were both fantastic films that have really stuck with me from that year, and Detroit in particular stands out to me in part due to how horribly it got overlooked during this past awards season. It didn't receive a single nomination, yet in my estimation? There wasn't a single movie from that year that deserved to win Best Picture over it. So yeah, I don't get that one at all.

But anyways, yeah, that's about it. I'm sure if I dove in more and got really in depth, there would be a lot more changes to each list, but I just wanted to point out the ones that really stood out to me the most, the ones that were most obvious to me without having to even really put too much thought into it, you know? And I just think it's pretty interesting how our opinions on these films can continue to change over time, where we might look at one movie more fondly today, only for another one to really stick with us as time passes, and we realize just how much more that other one really affected us.

So yeah, that's how my Best of Year lists would change, given the proper time for these movies to all settle. So how about you? Are there years where your #1 pick has changed? Is there a movie you weren't quite so hot on before, but which has really grown on you? Or vice versa? Let's hear it!

Announcing the first Ninja Kat movie...

www.VelcroTheNinjaKat.com

Sianostra - Coming Soon

We've been working on something new, just for you! So if you all would, please take a look at this teaser trailer for our next upcoming short film, Sianostra: