Reviews
Deddo ribusu (2004)
Ride and a half! Well worth a go! (But not for the overly conservative)
As the above reviews imply this flick is utter insanity, but brilliant insanity! Thoughtful, creative and brutally raw Dead Leaves is essentially a Japanese acid trip in prison. Full pointless filthy creations that can quite literally only work and defecate! The creators are not surprisingly complete lunatics (But just the sort of guys you would love to have a drink with). The directors commentary is hilarious, opening with the pair discussing how long they have been in the bar drinking before even mentioning the film itself.
Involving the producers of Ghost in the Shell, three drunken Japanese legends claimed to have blown nearly the entire budget in the first ten minutes of the picture. A Dramatic but classic car chase between our protagonists' (one with a TV on his head, the other a strange clown looking woman.) Who set out on a ten-minute trail of destruction through an urban futuristic city, until their exploits dump them into the highest security prison on the moon.
The budget constrictions become so obvious throughout the rest of the picture but rather than holding back, these constraints actually add to films aesthetic affect. It's a comedy more than anything and these financial problems heighten the comedic factor to a great extent. Also the animation is inventive and affective, a simplistic style of animation that would in fact require enormous artistic talent on the part of the animators. Very typical of the best new styles of animation whereby extreme complexity creates a beautifully simplistic image. (Cartoon Networks Samurai Jack being a great example of such an animative style.) Dead Leaves is great fun, a new experience and not for faint-hearted or over conservative. As I say it's raw, brutal and blunt; the writers have held back in no respects whatsoever, putting the true dark extremities of the human consciousness into a comic script. So for fans of the genre or newbie's who want to see something crazy, off world and unimaginable – Dead Leaves is well worth a watch. You may feel slightly offended but will certainly not miss 55 minutes of your life! Enjoy.
The Secret of Kells (2009)
Celtic Beauty and a new worthy direction of modern animation!
A beautiful piece of children's cinema buried in a world of archaic Celticism. Setting the story around the famous Book of Kels, believed to have been comprised by monks from the small island of Iona, off the western coast of Scotland.
Telling the tale of a young abbots apprentice who goes off into the forest in search of Crom-Cruic, the fierce headless horseman of pagan mythology. In hopes of recovering a lost artefact.
The films true beauty lies in its' animation. Cell shaded in a bright and inspirational style of deep complexity resulting in a look of seem less simplicity. Deriving much from the artistic style of the brilliant Cartoon Network series 'Samurai Jack' for its genius use of mark making and background depth, The Secret of Kels creates a consistently affective Celtic world living under the shadow of Viking invasion.
The history may be intensely inaccurate and the ways of life portrayed lacking realism but these facts are utterly irrelevant as the film sets itself in a world of fantasy and Celtic-revivalist mysticism. The girl of the forest is a wonderful addition and in my opinion makes the picture what it is, as she glides from branch to branch. Appearing and disappearing like a mysterious nymph with qualities resembling the legendary Cheshire Cat from Alice and Wonderland.
The Secret of Kels is an absolute treat. For all genders, all ages, it's a lovely piece of family cinema.
Don't expect to be awed but instead pleasantly impressed!
Bekushiru: 2077 Nihon sakoku (2007)
A picture that simply tries too hard
A visually spectacular edition to the CGI anime genre - buried inside a thoughtful and intensely relevant perspective of humanities future, putting an interesting spin on the common 'Neo-Tokyo' theme. The makers of Vexille have created a sci-fi backdrop to rival the likes of Akira and Ghost in the Shell. Sadly however the characterization and narrative structure both more than fall short, not to mention some minor plagiarism, in turn cause a visually inspirational piece of CGI cinema to fall into the rubbish bin of cinematic mediocrity.
For fans of the genre, it's a great piece. A bit slow perhaps in the middle and I felt it was the films construction that let it down. For example, the first CGI Appleseed kept the structure simple and simple works. The first half of the picture introduced a sci-fi world, Olympus and its characters. The second half focused on a narrative plot. Whereas Vexille tries to be too clever, they push for a psychological standard to compare with 'Ghost in the Shell' but sadly there just isn't the depth and creativity of Masamune.
Not a picture to dismiss and if your new to the genre your in for a treat but hardcore fans will not leave feeling overly impressed.
Hua Mulan (2009)
Well worth a go! A nice new addition to the romance of the three kingdoms genre.
I got quite excited when I heard of this re-adaption of the Chinese folk tale Mulan, having always loved Disney's version for unexplainable reasons. (Not being a Disney fan in any sense).
I'm very much left at a crossroads after watching the piece. Well worth giving it a go to draw your own opinions because the film is brilliant yet at the same time flawed throughout.
Having the feel of many recent Romance of the Three Kingdoms historical epics that have been popping up regularly from the fantastic new generation of Chinese cinema, Hua Mulan is fast paced, uplifting and in a narrative sense very well strung together. Unlike many of its' counterparts we don't have the long and often drawn out political segments we found throughout the Red Cliff films (Absolute wonders in their own right).
The evident flaws popping up in the casting of Hua Mulan herself and the balance between the story of a solider and that of romance wasn't really able to find a true sense of equilibrium, I felt slightly discontented by the conclusion but Hua Mulan is not a film to disregard from the above remarks. A film well worth watching, putting a blunt and more practical spin on the story of Mulan; placing the tale within an Era of Chinese antiquity that easily rivals that of King Arthur or Julius Ceaser.
Saibâ shiti Oedo 808 (1990)
90s Gold!
A piece of antiquity in my eyes, brutal, blunt and abrasive, generally, a classic piece of 'lads cinema' - just as fun today as when I was twelve.
The glory of Manga's cyberpunk collection, Cyber City is three episodes surrounding the collar-wearing criminal police force of a future 'neo-tokyo'.
Full of classical clichés; the quick snapping hard man sporting a mullet and a snazzy red trench coat. The enormous, goggle garbed somehow Japanese- Italian- American computer hacker and oddly, a long haired transsexual - Bentin, with his flashy pedicure and exceptionally effective cheese knife.
But, the wonder of Cyber City is its' shameless tough man aesthetics, (the sort of characters that say 'yeah I gotta a mullet/Mohawk or a nice pretty dress! What of it!) Simply striving off the spine-tingling, dramatic action that every fella is ashamed to love, knows he does but just doesn't know why. Cyber City is a show for the boys whatever age so long as the ladies aren't home, its just one of these boys' animations that the girls just cannot understand nor will they ever care to.
So for a few tins, a blast from animation past, f'in, blinding, beating, killing and great cheesy action, it's a show and a half!