Thank you, Mr. Ebert
Apr. 4th, 2013 06:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jon_chaissonI have to admit, I didn't always watch Siskel & Ebert Go to the Movies in the 80s when I was a kid...sure, I checked it out now and again just to see what was coming out and what to look for in the future. To this day that show has made me enjoy watching trailers (and get somewhat annoyed that we also see a lot of commercials in their place nowadays), and they were also partly my inspiration for getting into film school at Emerson.
I kinda sorta knew about Japanese animation then, I was familiar with Robotech, Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets...but I was also someone with a deep history of seven-minute Looney Tunes shorts. It never dawned on me that anime could be long form.
Then I saw them review Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA in 1988:
And let me tell you...my first thought was HOLY CRAP I have GOT to see this. I'd never seen animation so detailed, a story so serious (and violent), and storytelling so unlike anything I'd seen before. Both Siskel and Ebert gave the movie rave reviews, knowing before everyone else that this was the wave of the future for animation.
So thank you, Mr. Ebert (and Mr. Siskel)...you introduced me to a new world, to a genre that has deeply influenced my writing for years. I don't think I'd have ever gotten so deeply into anime and SF/F if it wasn't for that review.
RIP, and I'll see you at the movies. :)
I kinda sorta knew about Japanese animation then, I was familiar with Robotech, Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets...but I was also someone with a deep history of seven-minute Looney Tunes shorts. It never dawned on me that anime could be long form.
Then I saw them review Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA in 1988:
And let me tell you...my first thought was HOLY CRAP I have GOT to see this. I'd never seen animation so detailed, a story so serious (and violent), and storytelling so unlike anything I'd seen before. Both Siskel and Ebert gave the movie rave reviews, knowing before everyone else that this was the wave of the future for animation.
So thank you, Mr. Ebert (and Mr. Siskel)...you introduced me to a new world, to a genre that has deeply influenced my writing for years. I don't think I'd have ever gotten so deeply into anime and SF/F if it wasn't for that review.
RIP, and I'll see you at the movies. :)
