Liverpool city centre has been like a giant construction site for the past few years, so much so it was as if everything was residing below a canopy of colossal steel trees. It's not so bad now that various projects are being completed all the time but you'd still be hard pressed to find a open landscape view that doesn't contain a crane.
Liverpool + Polaroids = Liverpoolaroids. Or, to elaborate further, a project chronicling Polaroid photos of Liverpool - it's people, places, and *essence* captured through the medium of instant photography.
It was one of a plethora of ideas myself and a friend had planned to celebrate the city of Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture 2008. Unfortunately it never really got off the starting blocks due to a lack of time, money, and the fact that we are both notoriously bad at not seeing these kind of things through to the end.
I will go back to it in future though. The name is too snazzy not to.
Till then, feel free to cast your eyes upon some overtly underwhelming shots of the Albert Dock, the world famous heritage site, in splendid super-expired Polaroid-o-vision...
Because my lust for Polaroid cameras knows no earthly bounds I couldn't resist getting myself a Polaroid Macro 5 SLR when the opportunity passed by. I like it because it's shaped like an underwater scuba camera and has the best zoom of any Polaroid integral-film based camera - a whopping 300% magnification (extendable to 500% with a further attachment that I have yet to acquire). It was also the most expensive instant camera Polaroid ever produced, with an original RRP a penny shy of £650.
It's designed primarily for use by dentists, surgeons, and for medical documentation - none of which I'm likely to dabble in, yet it was still addressed to me with Dr. as my title all the same. I guess they assumed that a non-physician couldn't possibly have a use for it.
Their prognosis was wrong.
[Or, in English, 'Animal Forest: The Movie' - Animal Forest, of course, being the (literal) translated name of the Nintendo game series known to the Western world as Animal Crossing.]
Feature film interpretations of videogames, be they live action or animated affairs, have a notoriously poor reputation with gamers and movie lovers alike for good reason - that pretty much every single one to date has been complete pants. The biggest problem is that massive liberties are taken with any semblance of story or plot resulting in a situation whereby more often than not the only real relation between the film and the game that inspired it is the title. Some would argue very few games have enough narrative backbone to provide for a movie proper but if you're going to bother creating something from a known licence surely the whole point of the project is to capitalise on the existing popularity by presenting fans with something vaguely familiar (let alone extended canon) via a theatrical medium? If we were to assume that is the ideal working definition of a movie based upon a videogame then I (half) seriously believe the Animal Crossing movie is the first truly good example and perhaps the first game-derived film to break the pants mould that has, erm, been festering for many years now.
So why is it good? In a nutshell the Animal Crossing movie is immensely faithful to the source material - specifically the most recent game in the series, 'Animal Crossing: Wild World' for the Nintendo DS - while remaining plausibly enjoyable viewing regardless of prior experiences. It successfully captures the look, feel, and charm of the infectiously colourful world perfectly; mirroring the games by managing to be engrossing, endearing, casually paced, and even, dare I say, relaxing.
Much like the premise of the game the story revolves around a girl moving to town, her trials and tribulations over the seasons as she integrates herself into life with the locals, and the importance of friendship. 'Cherry pie' is also integral to the plot, as is a special event that can occur in the game. It's hardly Shakespeare but then it's not like the bard's work has succeeded much making the opposite journey...
The attention to detail in transforming the game to big screen is unrivalled. It is evident that quite a lot of thought has gone into incorporating as much of the game as possible by encompassing almost all of the gameplay aspects, locations, major characters, and the original soundtrack. References are made to pretty much everything you can experience in the game - from clothes designing, letter writing, messages in bottles, bug catching, fishing, pitfalls, to the Happy Room Academy, gyroids, fossils, feng shui, festivals, and more. Components of interaction with the animal neighbours such as emotion symbols, questions, and bizarre randomness could easily have been overlooked during the crossover but work with good effect - heck, there are even pieces of dialogue that have been lifted directly from the game. While we're passing the subject of dialogue I should mention, however, that the characters speak in Japanese and not the native tongue of 'Animalese' found in the games. An understandable omission but purists will be happy to learn that K.K. Slider's singing voice remains authentic!
Nintendo and it's animation partner have managed to do the seemingly impossible by amalgamating a relatively original story within an accurately repackaged essence of a gaming world/scenario without detracting or deviating massively from the game itself. The graphical style of the Animal Crossing series obviously lends itself perfectly to a seamless transition to anime, and the fact that the games are relatively open-ended with user defined main characters means there is no real fixed story to emulate or stand up against in expectations. But I guess the most pleasing factor that counters those points is that it doesn't feel forced. It plays out more like unobtrusive fan-service than a marketing exercise or what could have amounted to a feature-length advert, providing satisfying viewing for anyone who has played the game while at the same time remaining accessible enough and primed to entice new fans by managing to be enjoyable as a self-contained whole to those who haven't. Just compare it with the regurgitated nature of the merchandise motivated Pokémon films - the last (and still continuing!) Nintendo franchise to receive cinematic treatment.
The frustrating part is 15 months after release it has still yet to be available outside of Japan and sadly, despite the relatively high popularity of Animal Crossing in Europe and the U.S., that will probably never change. You can, however, watch it on Youtube or download it via a torrent.
Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, and LIFE
'Animal Crossing: Wild World' is truly an awesome game but I must confess I haven't played it in almost a year. Wry? Unfortunately I went into overkill on it. As a result of my intensive agricultural reforms I managed to fully pay off Tom Nook within 2 months of playing it for less than an hour a day. After this my motivation was spent: the all-consuming mission to become completely debt-free was gone and I was left with the relatively long-drawn quests to befriend every possible neighbour, and the painfully restrictive task of finishing off the various collections. Unfortunately neither of those two achievements are legitimately possible (assuming no online trade) without dedicated daily play for in excess of a calendar year, which is quite frankly too much to give to a game that starts to offer a compelling, if somewhat depressing, overview of modern life. How so? Capitalism rules the coop, mortgages bleed you to death, even the closest friendships can end abruptly (and randomly at that), and existence can be summarised as the never-ending pursuit of stuff. Still, I guess it's not as harsh as the equally addictive 'Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town' which echoes reality further by highlighting the mundane and repetitive nature of the daily grind (whereas you don't actually work as such in Animal Crossing), as well as the harsh fact that girls may only become interested in you after you've showered them with flattery over a period of years and spent every penny you've made (from the aforementioned sadistically arduous jobs) on them. Oh, that and the revelation that sprites are addicted to flour (ba-dum). Never did a game so unashamedly and sadistically repetitive in nature have so much hidden depth and charm. It's just a shame every Harvest Moon game since has been not so much a considerable backwards step but a backwards roll down a large hill into a ravine.
The last few weeks I've been treated to sessions of (the as-yet-unreleased in the UK) Rock Band on the PeeSss3, courtesy of Mr Ray and Mr Adam, and assisted by fellow 'band' members Mr Sy and Mr Robin.
Due to being (or at least feeling like) one of the world's worst Guitar Hero players I shocked the oblivious music press by somewhat surprisingly taking on the mantle of vocalist. Yes, it truly was M-i-k-e on the m-i-c as I brought my unique blend of no-discernible-singing-voice and tone deafness into the fray with attempts at emulating the likes of Thom Yorke, Rivers Cuomo, and Karen-O - including a particularly heartfelt rendition of 'Maps' by the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. Well, it was heartfelt for me anyway...
Still, it's great fun and even though I lack the fist-clenching stage presence and ad-lib ability of some, I can comfortably hold my own on Hard without murdering the songs beyond playability. Perhaps I need to master the drums before I can be the next Dave Grohl - although given recent performances with the sticks this may be a long time coming as I have all the rhythm and hand co-ordination of a drunk in a straightjacket in zero gravity.
And after the game is over we pay homage to indulgent rock hedonism with ice cream and Oreos, which while I have to admit may not be as deviant as mind-altering substances and awe-struck underage groupies, is quite delicious all the same.
Rock on.
