Chapter 411: Castle in the Sky
Unable to contain the urge to rub his eyes, Alexander simply did so.
These unexpected flare-ups are quite disconcerting, after all.
More so when it came to this one as it would seem that Chaos and his Mind Mansion were acting up again.
Was it that time of the year already?
Yeah... it pretty much was.
Come to think of it, what happened earlier this year... could they be liable for that somehow?
While soothing his eyelids, Alexander pondered but there was that looming feeling that trouble was ahead of him.
His eye-rubbing body language sure was appropriate though.
Irritated eyes, which was the case for him, however, it can also indicate tiredness and sleepiness.
Sleepy he was not but tired he was. Tired of Chaos being chaotic, that is.
Not within those options, Old Sullivan actually jumped on something else.
The act of rubbing one's eyes is a close cousin to the facepalm, and both are really visceral displays of disbelief at a stupidity that was just heard and said.
Which was why the old man grimaced and defended himself. "Come on, Alex. I admit my theory was a bit off, so you don't have to react like that."
"With all that you're showing to be capable of, you really can't blame me for thinking that you'll somehow unleash a self-aware supercomputer ten years from now." His old bones weren't kidding with that.
ChaosNet, the other nets, and just the Internet could very well be SkyNet and it could very well blow up the world in 1997.
Especially with this boy's penchant for coincidental predictions.
Who's to say otherwise that instead of just foretelling, his grandson will do it himself?
"It's just a dust-up in my eyes, grandpa." Alexander reasoned and corrected. "Not whatever absurd thought you're thinking it is."
Old Sullivan didn't take that to heart, as he simply shrugged, stared with suspicion, and muttered. "We'll see..."
"We all will see..." He even said it twice for good measure and rather ominously for the fun of it.
At that point, Alexander found it best to leave it at that.
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Consequently, he actually had to leave...
He had a scheduled screening to get to... and to no surprise... the girls were not too far off.
Milla had that star-shaped shades worn, and so was Drew, albeit hers was the normal circle, only too large for comfort.
Obviously, they had to not get noticed but their quirky disguises sure did what was opposite of intended.
Fortunately for Alexander and the recent tag-along Miss Consigliere, nobody seemed to bother them much.
It's just that when they finally approached where they were originally headed, Milla suddenly said. "Uhm... I think I saw your computer acting up, Alex."
"Yeah... I saw it, too." Drew even added to that, implying. "It was kind of spooky because it isn't even plugged. Is it haunted or something?"
"Oh..." Despite the surprising information that this was, expressionless Alexander just had to skillfully brush it off. "Don't worry about that. It's an old configuration so it gets wacky from time to time."
On that old and wacky note, Old Sullivan would probably take this phenomenon as a confirmation to those theories of his.
"Wasn't that computer from your dad?" Milla asked as she suddenly came up with a thoughtful theory of her own.
It's just that Drew overtook it by blurting out. "So, it's just father-in-law that's haunting it."
"Father-in-law?!" Milica was livid. Not for the supposed ghost probably knowing all that they did in that room, but of Shrew's offense. "I don't even dare say that!"
"Hehe!" Drew grinned tauntingly. "Then maybe you're just not bold enough to take things to the next step, like me!"
"You're just shameless!" Milla could only retort with that.
"Uhm... maybe we shouldn't try to draw more attention... " Miss Consigliere was really trying here.
Thankfully, this cinema was company booked... and those closely where the employees used to these antics.
Their little boss was just something else.
Alexander, on the other hand, was just ruminating since sure enough... trouble did come.
Of course, as much as he wanted to straighten some things out with that inexplicably random program, it may have to wait.
He had to put a stop to the bickering duo's usual bickering...
Ask his new personal assistant to procure some popcorn...
Enter their special venue...
Situate themselves in the perfect spot... among noticeable Creed Animations employees...
And get this requested 'date to the movies' slash sort-of-premiere event rolling already...
As for their go-to choice to screen in this theatrical off-season... it's Seasoned Hayao's and Studio Ghibli's debuting piece...
Castle in the Sky!
Alexander even figured that since Chaos reacted accordingly to Old Sullivan's take on Terminator and Skynet.
It should mellow out when it came to castles and the sky, right?
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There was no conclusive answer to that. It was a good movie, though.
It can be viewed as an imaginative filmmaker's dream coming into picture with its mysterious island in the sky, fantastic flying machines, pirate raids, explosions, and power-hungry villains.
Many of these elements can be seen in Hayao Miyazaki's animated film from overseas Japan.
A take on Jonathan Swift's Laputa from Gulliver's Travels with quite the positive elements here that are to be saluted with for its merits.
The story revolves around a resilient young girl on a quest to discover the truth about the place where she was born.
Sheeta is a young orphan who has been captured by Muska, a secret agent who is being taken to a military prison.
But his airship is attacked by a band of air pirates led by Dola, the matriarch whose favorite slogan for her sons and husband is "one for all, and all for one-Mother."
Sheeta escapes from both parties. As for why she was pivotal, it's because she has a magical pendant that they want.
A pendant that allows its wearer to levitate and float on the airwaves.
Much to the delight of Pazu, an orphan who works in the mines, Sheeta lands gently in his arms.
He takes her home and in the early morning serenades his doves with a tune on his trumpet.
Pazu's father was a photographer who took a picture of Laputa, a legendary floating castle in the sky but no one believed him.
His ambitious son is building his own flying machine in hopes of proving the veracity of his father's story.
This is a fortuitous connection because Sheeta is intent on discovering the truth about her connections to Laputa.
Meanwhile, others are interested in the city in the sky for their own reasons.
The army wants to make use of the advanced technology there that created fierce robot warriors; Muska is after a precious rock that could give him unlimited power; and Dola and her pirates just want a little extra moola.
Making 'Castle in the Sky' an animated adventure story that reminds us of many other outer space sagas with plenty of battles and fast-paced sequences.
It has picturesque visuals and a few scenes where the natural world is celebrated.
Even though the main structure of the film is a fantastical floating island built around a giant, ancient tree.
All in all, the film sends its viewers off with a climactic shining moment... that is when compassion is touted as a more powerful force than destruction.
That whole professionally worded take is what one of the many critics think of the film anyways.
Like anyone who viewed it in select theaters near them, Alexander had his own perspective on it.
Especially with what he knows of what Studio Ghibli will become, his acquainting with Seasoned Hayao, and the fact that Creed Pictures is the one distributing it.
It's really not his fault that there's not much fanfare here in North America like its premiere in Japan...
The off-season of January, select theaters, and a sort-of-premiere by Hayao "students" is actually good enough.
A foreign film is a foreign film and there are just too many factors restricting them.
There are still some takeaways from this, however.
Like the debate on whether to go dub or sub and the decision that Creed Animations also had to take when it came to exporting their popular projects.
Becoming the preferred overseas channel for Ghibli...
All the while, the distribution arm has a film for them to warm up on for this year.
Alexander didn't expect much but he checked and aside from Charles Bronson's 'Assassination' this January 9th... the other simultaneously screenings films were basically pitiful...
Against Oscar favorites and lingering box office champions, that is.
So... maybe... just maybe... Castle in the Sky had a shot.
At making a fair few millions, of course.