Category Archives: World Cinema

Feb 5 2012

City Of The Living Dead

Viewed – 04 February 2012  Television

In the early eighties, a bunch of horror movies were deemed, at least here in the UK as too shocking for public consumption, and were banned outright.  In subsequent years these so called ‘video nasties’ began to slowly emerge, more often than not in a censored form.  Thankfully these days many of them can be found uncut, and one of the pioneers of such movies was late Italian director Lucio Fulci.  I have only seen a couple of his movies, but can attest they do live up to his moniker of ‘the godfather of gore’.

This 1980 release has a priest hanging himself in a cemetery whilst at the same time a psychic see’s the incident in a vision during a séance.  Soon after weird things start to happen, and recently deceased persons start coming back to life.  The psychic and a group of other people then journey to Dunwhich, where the priest hung himself to hopefully prevent the end of the world … as you do.

This is typical 80′s horror fair, with questionable acting, a couple of pretty females, and stand out moments of gore.  Lucio Fulci was a skilled director that’s for sure, even if his stories were usually wafer thin and incoherent.  This movie is no different, as the plot is mostly left unexplained (like what was the priest all about?) and the characterisation non-existent.  The movie is very creepy however, with some decent atmosphere and the soundtrack certainly works to crank up the tension.  For a Fulci movie the gory moments are a bit hit and miss (the drill sequence is stunning, but the vomit-up-ones-own-guts bit, is just ridiculous) and whatever interesting ideas it has to start with, just degenerates into your average zombie movie towards the end.

This was entertaining though, and I’m glad I have finally managed to see it.

Verdict:  3 /5

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Jan 29 2012

Laputa: Castle In The Sky

Viewed – 29 January 2012  Blu-ray

It goes almost without saying, that Studio Ghibli, the animation house that brought us the Oscar-winning Spirited Away has become one of the most respected animation studios in the world, and taking just a glance at their back catalogue reveals a wealth of magical and endearing movies.  Back in 1986, the famed studio was formed to make its first feature-length movie, and so we have this, a magical Jules Vern inspired adventure that proves even over twenty years ago, director and studio founder Hayao Miyazaki was a true talent.

Pazu is a hard-working young boy in a mining community, who one day witnesses a young girl fall from the sky.  Hurrying to her rescue, he soon discovers she is on the run from a group of pirates and the army, who seek the magical properties of her necklace.  Before long a spectacular adventure ensues as Pazu tries to help the girl unravel the mystery of the necklace’s origin and its connection to a fabled city floating in the sky.  Clearly the imagination and artistic style Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli have become known for, was their from the start.  The animation and character on display here is quite breathtaking.  The story borrows from the aviation-mixed-with-science-fiction of Jules Vern, but also reminded me of the Brit fantasy Stardust, which this could easily have been the inspiration for.  The two young characters are easy to like and get caught up in their adventure (voiced well by James Van Der Beek and Anna Paquin), and the mother pirate is a classic Ghibli creation, as is the shady villain, all smart suit and sunglasses.  The action, when it comes is also very exciting (the robot encounter, the various sky battles) and the final act is pretty damn magical.

At over two hours, the movie is quite lengthy for an animation, but doesn’t drag.  I would have liked more revealed about the floating city, and sometimes the comedy was laid on a bit thick.  Yet this doesn’t really spoil what is essentially a well made and enjoyable movie, surely worthy of any animation fans viewing list.

For an older movie, this Blu-ray release from Optimum is difficult to fault.  The colours are vibrant and the detail is very sharp.  It looks like the whole movie has been remastered to show off the format, including a decent soundtrack and some good effects with booming explosions, as well as clear voice work.  Extras include brief behind the scenes featurettes, story boards and trailers, as well as the movie on DVD.

Verdict:  4 /5

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Jan 26 2012

Paprika

Viewed – 25 January 2012  Blu-ray

I had previously only been aware of Japanese animation guru Satoshi Kon after seeing the brilliant Perfect Blue some years ago, and on hearing of his  passing in 2010 from pancreatic cancer, I always promised myself I would seek out anything else he had made.  Paprika, adapted from the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, follows the story of an experimental device that enables therapists to enter the dreams of their patients in order to help them.  When the device is stolen, chaos erupts as reality and the world of the dream collide.

This is a startlingly visual experience, awash with colour and imagination.  Kon’s movie assaults the senses and really blew my mind.  It plays with your perception of what is real and what isn’t, much like he did in Perfect Blue, but this time its much more avant garde and limitless, showing a director at the top of his game.  Sad it was to be his last feature.  Yet Satoshi Kon has left the world on a glorious high note, delivering one of the most beautiful and imaginative animated movies I have ever seen.  The detail and wonder on display here, along with utterly freaky music and sound, is often quite breath-taking (the reoccurring image of the parade, the gloriously weird theme tune etc).

Ok, it’s quite hard to follow with the kaleidoscopic style and imagery at times overwhelming, but conventional story structure is not the big selling point here, more the look and ideas, with many visual references including classic Japanese TV show ‘Monkey’, and Disney’s Pinocchio.  Christopher Nolan has cited it as his inspiration for the similar Inception, and also in my opinion it has much in common with David Cronenberg’s Videodrome.

A unique, brain-melting event of a movie that I urge you to seek out immediately.

Verdict:  4 /5

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Jan 14 2012

Arrietty

Viewed – 13 January 2012  Blu-ray

I have to admit, I am a great admirer of the movies from acclaimed Japanese animation masters Studio Ghibli, with Spirited Away and Ponyo being two of my favourites.  This latest entry tells the tale of a tiny girl, who along with her mother and father, live under the floor boards of a huge house, unbeknownst to the humans occupying it.  At night they creep out to scavenge for supplies in order to survive … but it’s not stealing, they are Borrowers, as in the classic children’s books by Mary Norton.  Stepping into the shoes of recently retired studio head Hayao Miyzaki is Hiromasa Yonebayashi in his directing debut, and let’s just say, the studio is in good hands.

From the start, this is magical stuff.  The way the world of Arrietty and her family is captured, from their perspective is stunning, with as expected from Ghibli, wonderfully detailed animation and gorgeous art, making you feel like you are right there with them in a huge world.  The sound design is also exceptional and greatly adds to the atmosphere.  Arrietty’s story, that of a little girl who befriends a human boy suffering from a heart disease, is touching and well observed.  The voice casting is generally good, especially from The Lovely Bones’ Saoirse Ronan in the lead, although the boy proves less interesting, with a very bland, wooden performance … which does lessen the movie’s emotional impact.  The story also lacks the sort of peril you might expect, and it’s not all that exciting either.  Even when the house keeper makes an alarming discovery, and a rescue is set into motion – you never feel anyone is in particular danger.

Don’t get me wrong however, this is a movie that despite such gripes, is still filled with wonderful imagination and bags of personality, as well as beautiful animation and a very memorable theme tune.  I found the ending to be a bit of a let down, but overall … this still enchanted the hell out of me.

Verdict:  3.5 /5

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Dec 31 2011

Top Ten 2011

So readers, here it is.  After much deliberation, list-making etc, I have finally come up with my Top Ten, comprised of the best movies I have watched this year.

Note:  Some movies may be older than 2011.

1.     Black Swan

2.     127 Hours

3.     Julia’s Eyes

4.     I Saw The Devil

5.     Source Code

6.     Despicable Me

7.     Monsters

8.     Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

9.     Easy A

10.   The Loved Ones

I think this year has been very memorable and offered up some very interesting and unique movies.  Of those that did not quite make the above list, I would also recommend the following:  Tangled, The Fighter, Insidious and Hanna.