Welcome again to We Have Always Live the Kraken, a pop culture blog transmitted directly to you from the belly of the beast. Here in the Notes we’ll show you this week’s posting schedule, but first here are some thoughts.
Well played, Pete’s Dragon, well played.
Though the 2016 movie year has been bleak at times, there have been bright spots–namely, so-called kids movies. This definitely isn’t always the case, but this year these movies have proven to be mostly well-done, and quite a few have really been willing to offer challenging lessons and morals to kids as opposed to spoonfeeding easy platitudes. A big part of this strength has been an exceptionally strong animated movie slate (I of course am now obligated to state that a film being animated does not mean that it is or should be aimed at kids, but the fact is, in America they mostly are). Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, Zootopia, Finding Dory, April and the Extraordinary World, The Little Prince, and I could go on and on. These animated movies really raised the bar collective (some more than others, and of course, no matter the progress we are still stuck with another Ice Age film and The Angry Birds Movie, so they aren’t all good), but they are not alone. The live action adaptation of The Jungle Book was visually stunning, and Pete’s Dragon was a far more emotionally satisfying and good movie than it ever should have been. It’s great seeing filmmakers commit to making these younger-skewing movies with a more artistic and creative slant, and hopefully it is a sign that we trending away from dumbed down children’s movies that don’t trust kids to handle being challenged by what they watch on screen. In 2016, kid’s movies took a large step forward and proved you can be fun without being mindless and still do quite well. Maybe this is one thing that 2017 actually takes from 2016, while (we can only hope) the rest of the year is consigned to oblivion.
David Robertson
From the depths of the Kraken, here is what we are bringing you this week.
- The Life in the Kraken Podcast returns like it was always going to do with Episode 018 to talk the mind-bending sci-fi film Arrival, plus sci-fi graphic novels and a new pick for the best show currently airing, FX’s Fargo.
- The Anticipated returns with the movie everybody’s singing about, La La Land.
- On Saturday, Baturdays continues with the second story in Batman #6, “The Clock Maker,” or as Kyu likes to call it, “Time Does Not Pay.”
Catch of the Week:
Each and every week the residents here in the Kraken will offer one recommendation for the week that we think you all would enjoy. It might be a movie. It might be a book. Who knows? This is your… Catch of the Week.
Special note: we’re exploring new ways that you can support the Kraken. If any of this week’s recommendations interest you, feel free to click on our Amazon affiliate links below. We get a small kickback on anything you buy at no extra cost to you, and that money goes toward sustaining and improving the site. Thanks!
David: This week I would like to recommend the game Inside. Made by the makers of Limbo, this game is stylized awesomeness that demands to be played. So jump in and enjoy this puzzle platformer!
Keskel: This week I recommend the anime Yuri!!! on Ice. It’s the breakout AniTwitter show of the season, being both a sports show, and one of the few textual (as opposed to Fujoshi fanservice subtext) homosexual relationships in mainstream anime.
Kyu: La La Land is just plain great, simultaneously a love letter to old Hollywood musicals and a very relatable story about what it’s like to struggle as a creative person in Los Angeles. Definitely make it a point to see this this Best Picture frontrunner in theaters–and pick up the lovely soundtrack, too.
That’s it for this week. Visitors, please note that the alarm which yells “WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE EVACUATE NOW FOR THE LOVE OF GOD THIS IS NOT A TEST” is a test and should be disregarded.