Kurenai no buta (Porco Rosso)

An aging pilot hiding away on a remote exotic island, with some wine, a tent, a plane, and a radio, the hours slowly pass by, until called upon yet again (Shûichirô Moriyama as Porco Rosso).

He's somewhat of a virtuoso and was feared during World War I, his daring exploits exceedingly agile mechanistic maestro intuitive ignition.

He works as a bounty hunter recovering loot obtained by pirates, who grow weary of his nimble meddling, and hire a challenger to face him (Akio Ôtsuka as Donald Curtis).

His plane stalls, he's suddenly shot down, after just having made his last payment, the government changing and promoting fascism, which doesn't jive with his democratic sympathies.

Fortunately, friends have been made, one who'll set about rebuilding his plane (Bunshi Katsura VI as Mr. Piccolo), his granddaughter's brilliance seeking distinguished prominence (Akemi Okamura as Fio Piccolo), if she can stop love from fouling things up.

She designs his new wondrous jet stream just before the secret police arrive, the two escaping to Porco's secret hideout, which the pirates have meanwhile discovered.

The challenger arrives and is jealous of how much a maiden thrice widowed loves freewheeling Porco (Tokiko Katô as Gina), and defies him to fight once again, enough money to cover his costs versus Fio's begrudged hand. 

L'amour's injudicious vicissitudes bewilder nimble Porco's individualism, the intensity swiftly increasing the more he denies them, the more he attempts to reconstitute anew.

Transformed into a pig who some quietly say can only have his curse lifted by heartfelt innocence, he worries intently about age and probability, still with no interest in settling.

Definitely the strangest Ghibli I've encountered (it's rather literal) yet still abounding in feminine strength, as it creatively contends with a bellicose world so often composed by combative men.

Versatile lyrics enlighten the madness yet inspire more danger as they're sought after, equanimous tandemed quaint domesticity reservedly tempting romantic plots.

A film certainly like none other this airborne Kurenai no buta (Porco Rosso) imaginatively glides.

What's love like if uncertainty abounds.

And you consistently take to the skies?

Sully

Bring along a hearty appetite and get ready for a film that plummets down to earth, as Clint Eastwood's Sully presents bread and butter filmmaking, toasted with a side of marmalade, that's as straight and narrow as a prairie turnpike and as hard-hitting as a goal line stand.

It humbly elevates the courageous work of brilliant pilot Chesley Sullenberger (Tom Hanks), whose resolute calm under mortal pressure reflexively saved the lives of 155 people by improvisationally landing his plane in the hostile Hudson River below.

But he didn't do it alone, he was eagerly assisted by his capable staff and all the rescue workers who quickly came to their aid.

A real time jazzy impeccable work of practical art, his methods were inevitably questioned then investigated by a legion of computational suspicions.

Bottom lines having been unprofitably effected, Sully has to prove his innocence and thereby revitalize the knowledge of the human factor.

The models his detractors create to analyze his decision lack the input of common sense even though dozens of people likely took part in their creation and execution.

Sully's input wasn't requested, even though he was there, reacting with stoic impeccability.

The film's alright, an accessible well-acted well-written everyperson film that's easy to follow and celebrates a well deserving team.

The reenactment of the plane's descent into the Hudson eats up a lot of screentime though, and, even though Eastwood takes time to briefly introduce some of the passengers, because we know their lives aren't in danger, and the depicted descent is smooth and uneventful, it's more like a textbook display than a mainstream artistic articulation, which, considering the risk factor lying at the heart of Sully's action, doesn't formally give enough credit to the heroic act itself, it's too stale, too abc.

If Sully had began with the passengers entering the airport only to descend into the Hudson shortly thereafter rather than sticking the extended scene in the middle, it would have made more of an impact, according to me, and they could have been seen at other points afterwards throughout as Sully clears his good name.

After the film explains what happened with a brief illustration of Sully's bold decision making and then turns into a cat and mouse insurers and airline reps versus competent workers game, the actual descent into the Hudson seemed unnecessary, and could have been captured instead in chill haunting flashbacks.

Perhaps I'm being too generic.

A competent 21st century David and Goliath tale that picturesquely promotes active rational immediacy, in flight, I sometimes wonder how much money companies lose trying to discredit their employees instead of simply listening to what they actually have to say.

Is there an app for that?

Trusts.

Burdens of proof.

Critical counterstrikes.

Decent filmmaking.

Glad to know pilots like that be surfin' the skies.

One flight at a time.