enipuzgma

So little has to be said about this movie; it really needs to be seen. It depicts the strangeness of some place called Tokyo. Not the landscape of Bladerunner where the strange Oriental characters and the people are crowded in the rain and shadows. This Tokyo is the landscape of a mythic New Millenium City: neon that dances and sings, sharing space with the stillness of a temple hiding among the trees. This Tokyo is really the landscape of loneliness and isolation, but what a beautiful place to be stranded. And what better company to wander around with than Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and Sofia Coppola.

Go see the movie. Go to a karaoke bar. Find another part of the world.

I know that is an exaggeration, but I truly believe that this movie sets the standard by which all other "kids and sports" movies will be measured.

What it does that is unique is that it keeps the swearing and fighting where it belongs: on the field. This movie does not even try to make anyone look good, for the sake of making them look good. It just shows the kids at their very essence: booger-eating morons, just out to have a good time trying to play baseball.

For an animation movie that could have benefited from the many years of Warner Brothers, Disney, et al, it is very quiet. There doesn't seem to be many sound effects, only because there is so much silence. The vocal performances are fine, but there seems to be so much D...I...S...T...A...N...C...E between characters' lines, that it is obvious every performance was recorded seperately. There are songs, and music throughout, but also too much silence. The backgrounds are empty too. For a place that is approaching an ice age, there doesn't seem to be much that could be lost BEFORE the ice age. Oh well, at least Fox has cable to fall back on.