Do animals talk in this dimension?

[sovay]

I had been looking forward for several months to tonight's screening of Scarred Hearts (Inimi cicatrizate, 2016) at the HFA, but at the last minute I decided that perhaps I did not actually feel like watching a movie about being chronically-terminally ill in the face of rising fascism and instead spatch and I walked to the Brattle Theatre and saw Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018).

I'm delighted we did. It was great. The visuals were as excellent as promised and the storytelling just as strong. I may or may not write up it properly whenever my ability to think returns, but it was definitely a better choice than TB and World War II.

Comments

[sholio]

Into the Spider-Verse was such fun! I didn't see it until just about a month or so ago, and I really loved it.

[sovay]

I didn't see it until just about a month or so ago, and I really loved it.

I wanted to see it in theaters when it first came out, but it was just no go in terms of health and other obligations. I'm so glad to have finally caught it! I suspect it will be a little over the head of my five-year-old niece for a few years yet (she's about at the attention span of individual musical numbers), but I have already recommended it to the rest of the family.

[cyphomandra]

I really liked this! To the extent that we were 2/3rds through before I realised that the air con wasn’t working, and it was super muggy :D Such a solid, well characterised story, and the art was fantastic.

[sovay]

To the extent that we were 2/3rds through before I realised that the air con wasn’t working, and it was super muggy

Aw! That's a great tribute to a film. I hope you did not melt.

Such a solid, well characterised story, and the art was fantastic.

The story and style were so beautifully in service of one another. I loved the different comic-book techniques.

[umadoshi]

Into the Spider-Verse is pure magic. *^^* I'm glad you went and saw it.

[sovay]

I'm glad you went and saw it.

Thank you! It just seemed suddenly like a good idea and it was.

[rmc28]

It's such a delight; I intermittently have the soundtrack on repeat.

[sovay]

It's such a delight; I intermittently have the soundtrack on repeat.

I was surprised by how much I liked the soundtrack! That is not usually a feature of my reactions to superhero movies, even ones I like. I adored Miles unsticking his fingers with "Sunflower."

[kore]

I loved that movie! It was such a great example of what CGI CAN do. I even got the artbook, which has a lot of great concept sketches in it.

[dewline]

I have yet to see if I can get a copy of that book.

[sovay]

I even got the artbook, which has a lot of great concept sketches in it.

Oh, cool. I will see if it's in my library. I loved the mix of hand-drawn and computer-generated styles.

[asakiyume]

So glad you enjoyed it! I thought it was a lot of fun.

[sovay]

So glad you enjoyed it! I thought it was a lot of fun.

We really did! It was an absolutely classic comic-book movie that just happened to do a whole bunch of quietly groundbreaking things and it was not grimdark.

[moon_custafer]

Max Blecher and Scarred Hearts must be one of those “notice a character actor and suddenly they’re everywhere” situations – I came across mention of the writer two weeks ago, AFAIK for the first time, while googling “spinal tuberculosis.”

[sovay]

Max Blecher and Scarred Hearts must be one of those “notice a character actor and suddenly they’re everywhere” situations – I came across mention of the writer two weeks ago, AFAIK for the first time, while googling “spinal tuberculosis.”

I believe it. (What were you Googling spinal tuberculosis for?) I wanted to see it because while I've never read the novel, it's been on the edges of my radar for some time now for obvious reasons, and the film was reviewed interestingly in its own right. I think it's still okay that it's not what I put in my brain last night, though.

[moon_custafer]

(What were you Googling spinal tuberculosis for?)

Fic research, according to the Law of Fiction which states that you can handwave the big stuff as long as the little details ring true, and that therefore the vast majority of story research is done to confirm that some throwaway line, not at all necessary to the main plot, is plausible.

[sovay]

therefore the vast majority of story research is done to confirm that some throwaway line, not at all necessary to the main plot, is plausible.

I hear that.

[larryhammer]

It is indeed tons of fun. Finally saw it when it reached Netflix last month, and would love to watch it again.

"Nice haircut."

[sovay]

Finally saw it when it reached Netflix last month, and would love to watch it again.

I didn't realize it was on Netflix! That will make it much easier to show my parents.

(So quotable! "I think it's a Banksy.")

[larryhammer]

Watched it with the Eaglet, who had already seen it in the theater and kept reassuring me at the scarier parts how things would work out.

[sovay]

Watched it with the Eaglet, who had already seen it in the theater and kept reassuring me at the scarier parts how things would work out.

That was very kind and thoughtful of them.

[starlady]

The best American animated movie of this century by such a large margin--it was beyond refreshing to see people in this country finally realize that animation is a medium that can be used to do other things than mimic live action realism. And everything else about it is amazing too.

[sovay]

--it was beyond refreshing to see people in this country finally realize that animation is a medium that can be used to do other things than mimic live action realism.

I thought of it in terms of remembering rather than discovering, because animation in this country used to be a gloriously non-naturalistic medium, but otherwise I agree with you. I put the dimension-blending finale right up there with Satoshi Kon's Paprika (2006).

[ranalore]

I love that movie. It is, in my opinion, the only Spider-Man movie that ever needed--or needs--to be made.

[sovay]

It is, in my opinion, the only Spider-Man movie that ever needed--or needs--to be made.

I feel the Raimi movies may still have the edge with respect to J. Jonah Jameson, but if a sequel feels like voice-casting J.K. Simmons, I'll gladly hand the whole thing over to Earth-1610.

(I loved Liv Octavius. We both felt quite confident that being hit by a train in the middle of a collapsing multiverse was a guaranteed way to come back in future installments.)

[a_reasonable_man]

I'm glad you saw it! I found myself googling a lot of stuff afterwards, and I found a pretty plausible fan theory that Peter B. Parker is actually "our" Spiderman--that is, the one from "our" universe.

By the way, the B. apparently stands for Benjamin. Also, although I didn't notice it, some people caught that at the flash image of this Peter's wedding to Mary Jane, he steps on a glass. Hmmmm ....

[sovay]

I found a pretty plausible fan theory that Peter B. Parker is actually "our" Spiderman--that is, the one from "our" universe.

Oh, neat. I wasn't looking for it at the time, so I don't remember whether his New York had familiar names and advertisements rather than multiverse variations ("PDNY! Stop!").

Also, although I didn't notice it, some people caught that at the flash image of this Peter's wedding to Mary Jane, he steps on a glass. Hmmmm ....

I did see that! Seemed like a perfectly normal way to get married to me.

[rinue]

I loved Into the Spider-Verse! I did not expect to, because I have not liked other recent comic book movies much, but I found it completely delightful in every aspect - storytelling, performance, visuals.

There is a song on the soundtrack with the refrain "I gotta elevate" but Ciro and I both hear this as "I got a elephant" which is an excellent brag we now use all the time.

[sovay]

I did not expect to, because I have not liked other recent comic book movies much, but I found it completely delightful in every aspect - storytelling, performance, visuals.

I sort of fell out of the live-action Marvel universe around the time of Captain America: Civil War (2016) and have returned only intermittently for certifiably good ideas like Black Panther (2018) and surprisingly strong diversions like Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), but Into the Spider-Verse gave me an absolutely satisfying comic-book movie without engaging with any of the ponderous mythos that now surrounds even the good entries in the MCU and I am honestly surprised there's going to be a Spider-Man movie that isn't about Miles Morales, because seriously. This one just works so well.

There is a song on the soundtrack with the refrain "I gotta elevate" but Ciro and I both hear this as "I got a elephant" which is an excellent brag we now use all the time.

That is an excellent brag.