DVDs, DVDs, DVDs.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed
Where has this film been all my life? Reiniger combines several Arab folktales while remaining faithful to their spirit, spinning her tale with beautiful and elaborate silhouettes set to restored music against freshly tinted backgrounds. The silhouettes' motion is marvelously expressive in the best fantastic tradition. (Some of the elements of the design for the Chinese subvillains are a bit... unfortunate.) Even the screen titles are works of art. The extras on this disc are longer than the feature itself and fascinating, particularly the documentary about Lotte Reiniger herself.
The Legend of Suriyothai
Before watching this sprawling historical, I knew exactly nothing about the period of Thai history in question. Now that I have, I want to find out more; according to the extras, I am hardly alone in this wish, and it was commissioned by the queen of Thailand precisely for that purpose. It therefore does not play fast and loose with historical facts as many such epics do. The extras are fun, particularly the documentary on the making of the movie: there is a real sense of how much everyone loved the project, and revelations such as the fact that it was filmed with hundreds of extras and real elephants because they were cheaper than CGI, or that many scenes were filmed on their historical location.
Unfortunately, there is enough of a resemblance between the two female leads that it sometimes took me a while to realize who was in a given scene; the movie, too, has been cut (by Coppola, no less), quickening the slow-building pace but losing some of the historical and character development. Still, if you like majestically paced historical epics, this is great fun, and I hope to own it or its longer version someday.
Original Patlabor OVA: Disc B
If Episode 4 had been on the first disc as Netflix claimed, I'd have given that disc three stars and this four (if possible). After the silliness of the "supernatural mystery" in #4, the OVAs kick into high gear for the two-parter and then calm down to business as usual in Episode 7 (the only one not directed by Oshii Mamoru). The last three episodes are good, tight storytelling in a near-future setting, albeit one with a split Germany and Communist bloc projected onto it. In addition to (sadly dubbed) trailers, this disc includes as an extra the first episode of Patlabor TV, for ready comparison.
Soukyuu no Fafner: Discs 1-3
1: Could Kazuki and Soushi be any more obviously in love with each other? 2: This show is NOT afraid to kill off important characters. It could almost be a Gundam series. 3: I would dearly, dearly like to know wtf is going on. With luck, the journey will be as much fun as the destination. 4: I have high hopes for this series: it's like a combination of RahXephon and Neoranga-before-it-dissolved-into-suck, with a flavoring of Fantastic Children.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex discs 1-2
The first movie was thoughtful, but left me feeling a little cold. The second movie was beautiful, but not particularly something that appealed to me. This is one part cybernetic philosophy to one part cop show to one part Motoko bouncing vertically and the Tachikoma just bouncing, and so far I adore it. A lot. Even when I disagree with the Deep Philosophical Thought of the episode. The extras on the discs are also fun, and so far there has been a pleasant variety of audio tracks.
Real Ghostbusters: Creatures of the Night
This was always one of the more thoughtfully written cartoons, and these four episodes are up to the standards of the show. The disc, however, is extremely basic, without any frills. Choosing to end it with the episode where the joke is on Janine is also a little annoying, although she's had some great lines in these episodes (but Peter still has the best oneliners). The first episode was a Winston episode, which also made me happy: the one where he plays baseball in a fated game between good and evil for what turns out to be the soul of a friend.
ChunHyang
This movie is not so much a photoplay per se as a recording of a traditional Korean storytelling performance with actors acting out the narrator's words and occasionally parroting them or performing a scene inspired by them. For some reason, the storyteller's initial speech was not subtitled; even if it were traditional nonsense words, a note to that effect would have been nice. That said, if you can get into it, it was fun in an exotic sort of way.
Where has this film been all my life? Reiniger combines several Arab folktales while remaining faithful to their spirit, spinning her tale with beautiful and elaborate silhouettes set to restored music against freshly tinted backgrounds. The silhouettes' motion is marvelously expressive in the best fantastic tradition. (Some of the elements of the design for the Chinese subvillains are a bit... unfortunate.) Even the screen titles are works of art. The extras on this disc are longer than the feature itself and fascinating, particularly the documentary about Lotte Reiniger herself.
The Legend of Suriyothai
Before watching this sprawling historical, I knew exactly nothing about the period of Thai history in question. Now that I have, I want to find out more; according to the extras, I am hardly alone in this wish, and it was commissioned by the queen of Thailand precisely for that purpose. It therefore does not play fast and loose with historical facts as many such epics do. The extras are fun, particularly the documentary on the making of the movie: there is a real sense of how much everyone loved the project, and revelations such as the fact that it was filmed with hundreds of extras and real elephants because they were cheaper than CGI, or that many scenes were filmed on their historical location.
Unfortunately, there is enough of a resemblance between the two female leads that it sometimes took me a while to realize who was in a given scene; the movie, too, has been cut (by Coppola, no less), quickening the slow-building pace but losing some of the historical and character development. Still, if you like majestically paced historical epics, this is great fun, and I hope to own it or its longer version someday.
Original Patlabor OVA: Disc B
If Episode 4 had been on the first disc as Netflix claimed, I'd have given that disc three stars and this four (if possible). After the silliness of the "supernatural mystery" in #4, the OVAs kick into high gear for the two-parter and then calm down to business as usual in Episode 7 (the only one not directed by Oshii Mamoru). The last three episodes are good, tight storytelling in a near-future setting, albeit one with a split Germany and Communist bloc projected onto it. In addition to (sadly dubbed) trailers, this disc includes as an extra the first episode of Patlabor TV, for ready comparison.
Soukyuu no Fafner: Discs 1-3
1: Could Kazuki and Soushi be any more obviously in love with each other? 2: This show is NOT afraid to kill off important characters. It could almost be a Gundam series. 3: I would dearly, dearly like to know wtf is going on. With luck, the journey will be as much fun as the destination. 4: I have high hopes for this series: it's like a combination of RahXephon and Neoranga-before-it-dissolved-into-suck, with a flavoring of Fantastic Children.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex discs 1-2
The first movie was thoughtful, but left me feeling a little cold. The second movie was beautiful, but not particularly something that appealed to me. This is one part cybernetic philosophy to one part cop show to one part Motoko bouncing vertically and the Tachikoma just bouncing, and so far I adore it. A lot. Even when I disagree with the Deep Philosophical Thought of the episode. The extras on the discs are also fun, and so far there has been a pleasant variety of audio tracks.
Real Ghostbusters: Creatures of the Night
This was always one of the more thoughtfully written cartoons, and these four episodes are up to the standards of the show. The disc, however, is extremely basic, without any frills. Choosing to end it with the episode where the joke is on Janine is also a little annoying, although she's had some great lines in these episodes (but Peter still has the best oneliners). The first episode was a Winston episode, which also made me happy: the one where he plays baseball in a fated game between good and evil for what turns out to be the soul of a friend.
ChunHyang
This movie is not so much a photoplay per se as a recording of a traditional Korean storytelling performance with actors acting out the narrator's words and occasionally parroting them or performing a scene inspired by them. For some reason, the storyteller's initial speech was not subtitled; even if it were traditional nonsense words, a note to that effect would have been nice. That said, if you can get into it, it was fun in an exotic sort of way.