I GUESS I'M A FILM/ANIME REVIEW BLOG NOW... I'LL TRY TO READ

After watching Hotarubi no Mori e, which I have a "review" for on my blog, I wanted to watch more sad animes. One of the most highly suggested movies was Wolf Children. I saw clips of it on Youtube, I read the synopsis, and I wasn't that intrigued; in fact, I was a little weirded out after I saw the clip where Wolf Man reveals that he is a werewolf to Hana, and the next thing they decide to do is make babies... Not how I would react if I found out the guy I've been seeing is a werewolf, but you do you!

Wolf Children follows Hana and Wolf Man, who fall in love and have two kids: Yuki and Ame. Eventually, Hana moves them to the countryside to raise her kids. While she's there, she learns how to live in a rural area, work the land, befriend neighbors, and tries her best to raise her werewolf children. And her werewolf children are quite the handful! The siblings have to choose to live as a wolf or as a human (IDK why they can only choose one), and most of the movie is their journey to find what they want in life. 

Maybe I'm jaded and disillusioned, but the animation is not stand-out. It's definitely beautiful in a soft, cozy, and green sort of way, but I wasn't pressing my nose against the screen to bask in its beauty. Must take screen captures and use a wallpaper. That's fine! I would've been too taken aback if it had vivid bursts of colors, bokeh, flares, sunsets, sunrises, etc. The art fits the story. My real beef with the art lies in the character design: why are their eyes so far apart?! The eyes are practically where we expect the ears to be. I didn't know eyes had to maintain social distancing. Even with the loss and a mother's unconditional love/unwavering patience, I was not crying or terribly moved by the story. The entire movie is fine; I just don't see myself rewatching it. 

Remember when I said Valerie and Her Week of Wonders was one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen? Scratch that. The Holy Mountain takes the cake as the weirdest movie of all time! The cinematography is outstanding and mesmerizing, but I wasn't as mesmerized once The Thief meets the other 7. It mentions religion, what I perceived as the corruption of important religious figures, colonization/genocide, hyper-consumerism and capitalism, war, religion, sex, etc. There are so many problems it tackles and illustrates throughout the film. There are many symbols and messages in the movie that you just have to process for yourself. This movie is absolutely bonkers. While I enjoyed the symbolism and cinematography, this movie really wasn't for me. I think you'll have to rewatch this movie several times to fully understand it, but that's not happening anytime soon, or possibly ever. Have you watched/rewatched this movie, and do you like it more after the rewatch?

Please search up The Holy Mountain to see the cinematography because I can't pick one picture; they're all great.

I have conflicting feelings about Belladonna of Sadness. This movie is triggering, so if you do not want to see sexual assault/rape, please skip this movie! I think the watercolor art is gorgeous. The character design is beautiful too. I think Jeanne is so beautiful, and Milady reminds me of the character from The Color of Pomegranates, which I have not watched yet. Milord is absolutely repulsive looking. This line from Wiki is very accurate: notable for its erotic, violent, and psychedelic imagery. The film has a strong feminist message: despite going through a terrible experience, she attempts to move on, regain control, and get revenge. Women are strong and resilient.