Resident Evil, Point Break and Why They Make Me Yearn for Anime

Summer 2009:

Some would say with the recent purchase of the Milla Jovovich vehicle "You Stupid Man" and my last three "thank god big sis is in bed, I got be up when?" flicks have been:

1. "Resident Evil"
2. "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" (I like to keep my sequels Russell Mulcahy free)
3. "Point Break" - a film featuring Lori 'What fuck'n reason can prevent her from getting billed ahead of Gary "not Buddy Holly" Busey' Petty

That I am just missing the good times I had with the last girl who tried ruining my life who is not my mother. But I say, it is simply because the American distribution of anime is messed up.

Here are some tweets to support that from http://twitter.com/russthebus

• Can anyone clue me into some great anime? I'd like to expand my late nite DVD selection beyond action movies.
  
• Anime usually promises you action, and even if it doesn't deliver. The good ones will still draw you in.
  
• Like Sailor Moon and Gravitation, the one about the up and coming rock star who discovers his sexuality. Gayest Tweet ever???

In high school, I would d save up what ever money I could mooch of my parents (basically skipping the popcorn and soda when I saw movies with the pals) to save up $30 to watch the next great anime. Most of them were action (I should say bad ass bitches who kick ass and just might get naked), and mecha (action with the awkward high school kid I could relate to), but you see previews before the tapes where animation can just tell mature tales (at least 13 and up).

Since there was no cheap publication to keep me up on anime, I would usually buy what was on the previews. Action filled or not, I made it a point to wait and treat myself after everyone went to bed to these films. Hope it was loud enough (and what anime is not) to get me a little bit pumped while feeling like I was an accomplished film connoisseur.

The truth is I am an action fan. No, they are not as good as my favorite directors (Boyle, Tarantino, Scorsese, Smith), but I got to really sit down and make it a point to appreciate the art. Good action is usually so loud and ridiculous that you forget about caring. Caring as a reaction to "Dolph just jumped over the speeding car with Yakuza gunfire...really?" does not cross my mind. Give me a gimmick, and if you play it up, you have me at Arnold's first obscenity.

Sadly, action movies do not encourage me to go and buy romantic dramedies, unlike anime. And since we get maybe one good action flick on a quarterly basis ("Watchmen", "Terminator Salvation") I am not made to ponder the rest of the live-action world. Since celebrity is all about who hot, who their sleeping with, and why did they let them tape it, is there a reason to seem enthralled with features that have physical depth?

So, I am left sticking to weird and cute faces. Milla, Lori, Arnold (after 25 years, can I really take it seriously?). Unfortunately, I cannot return to anime easily, because they made it to easy.

I loved the anticipation of getting the latest one-hour tape of "Evangelion". Overpriced, but I was left feeling dedicated to something. A feeling of elitism. But now, you just have to stay up late and watch cable to feel like a fan. Fans who just have to catch bits and peaces of a series as they wait for the inexpensive season/series boxset.

Where is the fun in that? The anime does not belong to you, it now belongs to the distributor. That just does not feel right.

It feels like I'm living in a world that just waits for the greatest hits album instead of lining up at 12:00 am on a Tuesday morning for the new album that cannot possibly capture why you became curious with the band in the first place.

There just seems to be a lack of excitement in entertainment, and it is because the fan does not want to make it exciting. If there is chaos at an event, it is because the people creating it are brainwashed into doing so.

Can anyone else come up with another way to explain "Twilight", The Jonas Bros., and super success of a Cyrus? All I'm saying is do not let anime end up like this.

The failure of "Dragonball's" live-action adaptation (take that white Goku) gives me hope that otakuism will stay weird, but the Cubs fan in me will keep me paranoid.

And that is s why I've stayed away from "Princess Nine".