GHOST IN THE SHELL (Rupert Sanders, 2017)
Whitewashing controversy aside, Hollywood's live-action adaptation of Masamune Shirow's manga "Ghost in the Shell" is a visual feast, among other things. Rupert Sanders, who will now be forgiven for the disaster that was "Snow White and the Huntsman," herein directs with a steady eye for detail. Sanders borrows some shot-for-shot iconic scenes from Mamoru Oshii's 1995 anime version, while setting up plenty of stunning images himself, through the help of lensman Jess Hall ("Transcendence"). In this new "Ghost" adaptation, 3D holograms adorn the facade of huge skyscrapers, which could be a reverse "Blade Runner" because much of the story, or at least the exterior scenes occur in daylight. Most of the visual composition focuses on circles, like the shape of Major's "apartment building" and the cemetery, which could either be a metaphor for the brain (the "ghost") or the narrative path which leads us...