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Reviews
The Muppets (2011)
t's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights...
Yes, I could talk about the Muppets, the humans, the whole hokey plot about the telethon, but, I have something else to bring up.
Ever since the Muppets finished The Muppet Show's run, there has been one thing that has pretty much vanished from the Muppets, has been absent ever since The Muppet Movie... The Muppet Theater itself.
In 'The Muppets', Several decades of doing productions in every location except the Muppet Theatre is shown in stark detail, as we go back to a Muppet Theater where the sets are dismantled, the audience area dilapidated, the roof is badly damaged... Oh wait, they did that themselves.
However, just like the Theater itself, the Muppets themselves have seemingly forgotten what made them so great in the past, and this film re-finds that in spades, culminating in what has to be the most unique case of A Show Within A Show.
While they may be older, they may have misplaced some of the ensemble cast that appeared in it, when that infamous set of archways comes along and the music begins, you realise the real reason this film was made.
It's not about the trials and tribulations of the newest Muppet...
It's not about Kermit trying to save the Muppet Theater...
Actually...
It's about reviving what made the Muppets so popular then, and making it why they are popular NOW.
So, forget thinking about what actors or puppets appear in it and what they do, watch this film for what it is... The return of the classic Muppet experience.
The Flight of Dragons (1982)
Considering it's age, it's still a masterpiece today...
In these days of CGI and DTV, where technology is emulating magic and magic is something you read of in a book, Flight Of Dragons is one of those films that makes it worthwhile to look back at old cel-animation...
Through the eyes of Peter, played by the late John Ritter, We are taken to a world which could really exist... Where real old magic is on it's last legs, and the last of the great wizards wish to take it somewhere to exist for the rest of time. When you look at Peter's science, you will find it flawed, since new theories have replaced old, but nowadays, CGI dragons are cheap, and you don't really need to have a actor even on the set... Or, in some cases, the set even.
I hope, one day, this will come to DVD... Yeah, The animation is outdated, but it's story is not...
Kaze no na wa amunejia (1990)
Is humanity really the sum of someone's memories?
Wind Of Amnesia offers a rather unique outlook on humanity...
It begins with a young man trying to stop a berserk mecha unit, left without any coherent commands, which is attacking people in a town. He is asked, by the mysterious and enigmatic Sophia, to take her across country to a rendezvous with someone.
As they travel, They discover that, rather than humanity being totally destroyed, it still exists, in the sense of duty and honor that they find the people they meet have to themselves and others. They may not know who they are, but there will be those that know duty and honor, and they will organize what they can out of the savage majority.
It's a interesting ending, in that Wataru means Traveller... and that is all he will do, since it's his new life, with it's new past, it's new present and it's new future... He might meet Sophia or her kind again, or he might not, but he will find others who he can help...
Morudaibâ (1993)
Never let your younger sister play with your stuff!
MOLDIVER is about the misadventures of Mirai Ozora, who discovers her brother's aspirations to become a superhero, but decides two things straight off... One, She can do better... and Two, She can design better costumes... Both are found to be very much true, and Mirai quickly becomes the costumed superheroine, Moldiver, as well as the superhero, Captain Tokyo, when the transformation unit decides to turn her into him.
One thing that surprised me about this anime, considering the abuse a lot of anime got, due to US edits, in the 90's, It was always broadcast with the same intro and outro, to such a degree that you could show the anime to a Japanese otaku of the show, and they could sing their version of Go Go! Moldiver and Time Limit over the English words, and you could do the same in Japan, except the other way round. Also, It is incredibly funny, partially due to the fact Mirai is still a high school student at heart, and the fact you can't be dressed when you transform, a fact that costs Mirai a lot of money in one episode...
Anyway, Buy it, rent it, It doesn't matter... Just enjoy it.
Fushigi no kuni no Miyuki-chan (1995)
Miyuki caught in a loop of her own making
The first of the Miyuki-chan shorts, this has Miyuki, a student in a unnamed school in a unnamed town who, when she accidentally finds herself running late, falls into a Groundhog Day style loop, where numerous Alice In Wonderland based lesbians try to pin her down to seduce her, but her resistance causes her to constantly repeat the same mistakes, finally being caught by the Queen Of Hearts, whereupon she wakes up, and repeats the same events over and over and over again, until she finds some way to break the loop.
It's a interesting exploration of the endless-loop syndrome, and notably has only three possible breakpoints... Either she'll avoid the hole, which is ideal for her, she'll be seduced, or the Queen Of Hearts will make her into a slave... Any other option will lead to the same conclusion...
Ghostwatch (1992)
I watched it, and I have to say I can't watch it without the lights out...
Ghostwatch, When it was first broadcast, I missed the title card, and was immediately suckered by the opening monologue.
Due to how quickly they go through each sequence, you don't have a chance to question the credibility of the acting... As the film goes on, you begin to worry about what is going on, as doubt after doubt is squashed by the filmmakers.
The ending is a master stroke, whatever people might say. You have the lights explode, the majority of the cameras no longer of any use, and the experts are running for anywhere else. Parkinson tries his professional best to stay on air as long as possible. He finds a working autocue, not even knowing it's not what he expected to be saying...
Now, I'm a lot older, but I still find it unsettling. Similar to the Blair Witch Project, It doesn't try to work itself as some mock-umentary. Even now, it isn't dated. Admittedly, Who knows what the BBC could do with it in the modern age? Each scare is well-placed. I am no longer scared by the Gremlins 2 film rip, but the disrupted feed of Ghostwatch is still scary.
If you want to watch it as a hoax, panning some bad acting, you watch it as one, and let half the shocks slide. If you want to watch it as a 'recording' of a live event, You'll discover that it still has shock value... I go into it each time with the concept of someone trying to exorcise their childhood demons. I never watch it through before going to bed.
Akai kiba Blue Sonnet (1989)
A good start... Now, Where's the next part?
This was one of my favourite anime of the 90s... and also one of the biggest disappointments.
Similar to Dangaioh, A huge lump of the anime is... missing. In this case, it's the series it could have been. You have plenty of setup, with Sonnet, the emotionless automaton warrior of Taron, who ends up by the end questioning her own emotionless state, and Ran Komatsuzaki, the bearer of the power of the Akai Kiba, who starts off as a typical young girl, but ends up as a esper warrior of great potential.
The intro even suggests the kinds of things the series could have had, with Lan and Sonnet fighting each other for reasons that as yet are unknown, and probably never will be known, except the series ends after the big battle to free the awakened Ran, with the Akai Kiba, a spider robot and Sonnet herself ending up in a battle royale that threatens to kill everyone in it's path!
This could have made a great series, but for some reason, It either wasn't picked up for one, or the series dropped off the radar. At least we have what we got... even if it's not enough.