Like INCEPTION, Love PAPRIKA: Alternate Recommendation #3

Welcome to the Dream World

This year marks the eighth anniversary of INCEPTION, it represented the next big step in Science-Fiction with its unique vision of what we perceived as the dream world, but it was not the first. Director Satoshi Kon created his final feature film in 2006, in the form of PAPRIKA. While INCEPTION’s concept of the dream is rather unique PAPRIKA takes those concepts, and molds them into something completely different. There’s plenty to talk about here, despite their similarities, what helps these two movies is how they act as two sides of the same coin, which is why if you like INCEPTION, then you’ll love PAPRIKA.

            Thematically, INCEPTION, and PAPRIKA are completely different, one is a heist film and the other is a mystery thriller. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, PAPRIKA’s plot tends to jump all over place, while INCEPTION’s is more precise. Probably the biggest difference between these two films is how present the dream world, in INCEPTION the dreams are well-structured, and most of them appear to be “manufactured” in a way, while PAPRIKA’s presents them more “naturally” as in, they seem more jumbled, wacky and insane.

            PAPRIKA’s biggest advantage over INCEPTION is definitely its music. The soundtrack was composed by Susumu Hirasawa (Japan’s version of Daft Punk), it brilliantly immerses the viewer into the world PAPRIKA creates. As the music goes on, it soon becomes a representation of dream world, considering most of it sounds like a bunch of random sounds put together, though some songs in the soundtrack are quite catchy. That doesn’t mean INCEPTION’s score isn’t any good though, it heightens the tension in key moments, which allows the audience to get emotionally invested in said moments.

            In many respects, INCEPTION acts as a sequel to PAPRIKA in a way, since PAPRIKA is about the creation of the “dream device” and INCEPTION more or less, shows what happens after that device is made. It almost seems like a timeline of sorts. The different uses of the device can be very interesting at times.

            If these points have interested you, both these films are available on Blu-Ray and DVD, they can easily be found on online and at your local video-store.

Like DOCTOR WHO love JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: Alternate Recommendation #2

 

A new season of DOCTOR WHO has arrived on BBC and while some people are excited for it, I have moved on since Steven Moffat took-over as showrunner. Fortunately, for the past several years, I’ve been indulging myself in another long-running show: JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE. While the show itself is a little more recent than DOCTOR WHO, it has a rich history that spans all the way back to the ‘80s. JOJO has a lot of qualities that fans of DOCTOR WHO would greatly appreciate, which is why: If You Like DOCTOR WHO, Then You’ll Love JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE.

 

JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE was originally a comic book published in 1987 by Hirohiko Araki, which is still going strong to this day. In 2012, it was re-adapted into an anime series by David Production (an animation studio). The show depicts the crazy and unbelievable adventures of the Joestar family bloodline starting from the ‘1880s, all the way to present day and more than likely, beyond that. While DOCTOR WHO is, more or less, divided by how long each incarnation of The Doctor lasts, JOJO’S is divided between story arcs instead, while also introducing new characters in each one.

The JoJo fan base refer to these story arcs as “parts”, there are currently eight parts in the original source material, while David Production has only re-adapted four of them. The first four include Phantom Blood (1), Battle Tendency (2), Stardust Crusaders (3), which is recognized by most fans as the most iconic part of the series and Diamond is Unbreakable (4). The time-span between most arcs differ and sometimes even the setting of which the story takes place, at one point it may take place in one location and then it may take place in several. The way each arc unfolds is always different, never using the same story twice, sometimes the story will even include more than one JOJO from time to time. Moments like that may remind some Whovians of the TV special THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR in which several incarnations of the titular hero were able to share screen-time together (also, the second JOJO, Joseph Joestar, has thing for running away).

So, if any of these points have got you interested, you can check out JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE on Crunchy-Roll, it’s a streaming service that specializes in all things anime.

like ALIEN love THE THING: Alternate Recommendation #1

“In space no one can hear you scream,” the same rule applies if you’re in Antarctica. ALIEN is one of my favorite works of science-fiction to date. It expertly blends traditional sci-fi with elements reminiscent of the horror genre, with minimal effort. Not mention that the Xenomorph is one of the most iconic movie monsters of all time. If your just as much of a fan of ALIEN as I am, then I highly recommend checking out John Carpenter’s: THE THING, from 1982. If you like ALIEN, then you’ll love THE THING.

 

THE THING revolves around a group of scientists, from an American research institute who discover an alien creature that can imitate other lifeforms perfectly. Now, on paper these two films may seem completely different, but upon inspection they’re a lot more similar than expected. Both ALIEN and THE THING take place in isolated locations, the locations are much different than the usual places you’d normally see in any other horror movie, a spaceship is much more interesting than a cabin in the woods.

Something that both films have going for them are strong characters. What makes these characters so memorable is just how ordinary they appear to be. They are portrayed as regular people put in an extraordinary situation. On one side, the characters in ALIEN are basically truckers in space on a routine mission to drop off supplies on Earth, while people in THE THING are just scientists doing research in the cold wasteland that is Antarctica. The beginning of each film establishes the connections the characters have with each other, some of them are either good friends, or colleagues but ultimately know each other pretty-well. Soon things turn for the worst when the alien creature arrives, the characters begin to re-evaluate their relationships with each other and soon start turning on one another, this feeling is much more apparent in THE THING.

Lastly what ties these films together is the way they respect the classic science-fiction films of the ‘50s. ALIEN is (more or less) a retelling of IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, meanwhile THE THING itself is a homage to the film, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, released in 1951. John Carpenter was a big fan of the film and wanted to create his own version of the movie.