Posted on by Alexander Case

Film Review: Silent Running (1972)

Silent Running is a weird film to talk about. It’s clearly a film that wants to be a response to 2001: A Space Odyssey, made in the 1970s in the wake of auteur films like Easy Rider.  It’s also very clearly a film with something to say, which is cool as I really like science fiction that engages in social commentary. However, there is a bunch about Silent Running that doesn’t quite work. Read more

Posted on by Alexander Case

Film Review: Vampyr (1932)

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Vampyr. I’m pretty familiar with vampire movie concepts at this point, but most of the even most well known films of the concept really brought something to the table that gave them something extra – Nosferatu used the memories of the 1918 Influenza outbreak and leveraged that to bring a new direction to how the vampire is scary (and in a way that has aged incredibly well).

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Movie Review: Royal Warriors (1986)

I’m a fan of the films of Michelle Yeoh – I generally thought she was super-cool back when I first saw her in Tomorrow Never Dies when I was in High School, but unfortunately very few of her movies had become particularly accessible in the US. Supercop got a wide release, as did Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but the rest of her filmography required hunting online, requiring you to hunt down DVDs through Amazon or other services.

Netflix made some of those films accessible on disks, but as those disks fell out of print (and were not returned to Netflix), it became harder to find some of those films. Thankfully, some of those movies have become available again through streaming services like Amazon Prime and Netflix Instant, such as the film I’m reviewing this time, Royal Warriors. Read more

Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: New Game!

As I mentioned way back in my review of Shirobako, I’m a fan of works about the making of stuff, going all the way back to reading Aliki’s How A Book Is Made and Digging Up Dinosaurs when I was a little kid. Consequently, when I learned about the anime series New Game!, it went on my watch list. I’ve finished watching that, and while the second season is currently airing I figured I might as well give my thoughts on the first season. Read more

Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ

Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ is one of the Universal Century Gundam series that had yet to receive a US release. Bandai Entertainment USA had announced a US release prior to them shutting their doors several years ago, but now that RightStuf has been working to bring out various Gundam series to the US, which means that fans here can finally take a look at the show legally.

As a head’s up, there are some spoilers for the show here, but I’m going to work to keep them to a minimum. There will be some heavy spoilers for Gundam Zeta, which are somewhat essential due to how the show starts. Read more

Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Ouran High School Host Club

Anime comedies, are absolutely willing to get self-referential, in some cases going full parody. Now, you can get a bad parody by shoving random jokes and references into the work because they can (the Seltzer & Friedberg films), or come from a place where you actively hate and dislike the genre they are satirizing, and in turn can end up creating works which are poor examples of that genre.

By comparison, the best parodies are those which are also good examples of the work in question, and such is the case with Ouran High School Host Club. Read more

Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Moyashimon (Seasons 1 & 2)

When it comes to manga about various real-world topics, there is an educational element to the work, but it’s usually ancillary to the main thrust of the story. Hajime No Ippo/Fighting Spirit is a boxing manga, and Hikaru No Go is a Go manga, and both use elements of their actual sports or games in the narrative of the story itself, but the sport and game in question are secondary to the actual thrust of the story from the very beginning.

There are a few manga which take the opposite tack – put the main thrust of the story on the thing they’re talking about, and then will bring in other plots to give additional structure of the story. On the seinen side there is Drops of God, which is primarily a manga about wine, but which incorporates side plots to keep things from getting monotonous – and there’s also the show I’m reviewing – Moyashimon. Read more

Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Genius Party & Genius Party Beyond

Genius Party & Genius Party Beyond are a pair of anthology films from Studio 3°C. Anime anthology films often open up a lot of opportunities for experimentation and exploration of the craft, and Studio 3°C in particular is a studio who likes to nurture this degree of experimentation. I’ll be discussing both of the two films together, as the films were originally planned to be released together. Read more

Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978)

I’m something of a fan of Leiji Matsumoto’s work, and particularly the character of Captain Harlock. Harlock made his first appearance as a supporting character in Matsumoto’s other major series from the 1970s – Galaxy Express 999. However, he was popular enough to get his own series in its own separate continuity in 1978. I figured I might as well give my thoughts on the show. Read more

Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Dallos

Dallos is an anime that reminds me a lot of what got me into anime in the first place. I came into anime as a fan of science fiction and fantasy, and I came in through OVAs and films like Akira, Demon City Shinjuku, Ghost in the Shell, and Record of Lodoss War. So, when I found out that Dallos, an anime considered to be the first OVA (or one of the first alongside the Cream Lemon series), and which was directed by Mamoru Oshii (who also directed Ghost in the Shell and Angel’s Egg – which I’ve previously reviewed), had been licensed by Discotek Media, and later made available for streaming on Crunchyroll, I put it on my to-watch list. Read more

Posted on by Alexander Case

Documentary Review: Sgt. Pepper’s Musical Revolution

It’s been a while since I did a review of a music documentary – the last one that comes immediately to mind is a documentary review on the career of Pink Floyd. Well, this year is the year that the Beatles concept album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band has it’s 50th anniversary, and the BBC did a documentary on the album, which also broadcast on PBS, which is where I saw it. Read more