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Comment by xoxxala | Hacker News Reader

Ebert did a commentary track on the DVD of Dark City that could be used to teach film school. Absolutely illuminating.

There was a bonus track or something on an anime called “Grave of the Firefires.” It’s been forever since I saw it, but it was a discussion about post WWII Japan and how the anime industry came to be - Disney influence, why so many characters have a distinctly Western appearance, etc. It really was fascinating to watch.

(Edit: grave, not graveyard. Added link to his review of the film.)

[0] https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-grave-of-the-...

Going off the tangent here, Grave of the fireflies was the most depressing movie I ever saw. Number two on my list, Requiem for a dream, is a distant second.

As a rule, I avoid depressing content and was wholly unprepared for the emotional pounding I got.

Watch (both) if you haven't, they're great movies, but brace yourself.

I first watched it as part of a double feature with My Neighbour Totoro, which is apparently how the film was first shown. Mercifully, Totoro is an incredibly sweet, gentle film, and provided some relief from Fireflies.

I loved that movie. 'Shut it down'. It's one of the few where I could not figure out the rest from halfway into the movie.

This commentary track single handedly made me appreciate film critics.

I think I have that DVD somewhere. I didn't see it when it came out, but saw it on TV years later. I guess the Matrix overshadowed nearly all Sci-fi that year?

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