Andy – Heroic Cinema

Madman hits Blu-Ray

Andy — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:04:39 +0000

Welcome to the future people – Madman has begun issuing some of their best and brightest on Blu-ray disc. So pound for pound, feature for feature how do these hi-def versions stack up against their DVD superseded forbears? Are they worth your hard-earned bucks? Do you need to not pass Go and head straight to the upgrade? This preamble has posed enough questions. Let’s get to the main event.

Disclaimer: Word of warning to the uninitiated. As compelling and persuasive … (read more)

Ponyo (2009)

Andy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:03:14 +0000

It may be heresy to say, but quite frankly, Studio Ghibli’s last two outings have been major cause for concern. Howl’s Moving Castle and Tales of Earthsea (the latter directed by Miyazaki’s son Goro) were disappointments, but of more concern was that both suffered from similar issues. To say any Ghibli film suffers from issues let alone repeat them is like suggesting that Shakespeare should work on his characterization. With themes close to Miyazaki’s heart, it is easy to see … (read more)

Gurren Lagann (2009)

Andy — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:06:14 +0000

Kudos to Madman for posting episodes of Gurren Lagann as part of their free streaming service: Screening Room. While miserly companies would have hosted lesser titles, with prime cuts like fan favourite, Full Metal Alchemist and top shelf work like Gurren Lagann from Studio Gainax, Madman is giving fans a real gourmet selection of titles to taste.

Studio Gainax is best known for Neon Genesis Evangelion and it sure must be one hell of a place to work. Up in … (read more)

5 Centimetres per Second (2009)

Andy — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:03:51 +0000

Yep, trying to write a synopsis for a new Makoto Shinkai anime is a thankless task. It comes off sounding like a TAFE writing course exercise veering off into high school therapy territory. But in the hands of Makoto Shinkai, a master of creating emotional landscapes, the result is entirely the opposite. There aren’t too many creators like Makoto Shinkai. He is a true iconoclast in the world of anime. He writes, storyboards and directs his projects. The content of … (read more)

Darker Than Black (2007)

Andy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:39:21 +0000

I know I go on a bit, but the problem with a lot of anime is how slow they are to show their hand. It’s as if there is some misplaced prevailing wisdom that starting with lazy stereotypes, predictable set-up and a culminating in freak-of-the-week fight sequence of all speed lines and no substance will lull the viewer into a sense of pattern-recognition comfort. Once subdued, five or six episodes in, all manner of aces, kings and queens start appearing … (read more)

Claymore (2007)

Andy — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:44:25 +0000

Have you ever wondered how reviewing works? When a series has shapeshifting demons (Yoma), a Euro medieval setting and a secret society of warrior women from the Joan of Arc finishing school for badass demon slayers with an armour dress code that suggests a feudal Britney Spears – sight unseen that is a (6). When said series is produced by Madhouse, creators of the original and genre-defining demon-slaying fest Ninja Scroll, you’re looking at least a (7) up to (9). … (read more)

Hell Girl (2005)

Andy — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:16:34 +0000

Japan has always understood the value of its folklore. Its cultural subconscious has provided a rich vein that writers continually return to constantly finding new ways to explore, reinterpret and repackage. In the late nineties appeared the Ring, films attaching modern technology to its urban legends creating the J-horror genre. It’s as if Japanese storytellers inherently understood that folk tales required a modernisation pass. Cautionary tales about the dangers of wearing red and visiting grandma in the forest lacked contemporary … (read more)

Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad (2004)

Andy — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 03:34:15 +0000

Beck begins the compelling story of a boy who discovers who he is through music. A teenage boy meets an amazing guitar player and together they form the band Beck. Follow the band’s ever-challenging road to fame, as told through the eyes of the impressionable boy.

As much as I am prepared to dive off the nearest stage in appreciation of Madman releasing the single finest anime of the year, that above synopsis must have been written by a … (read more)

Tales from Earthsea (2006)

Andy — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:58:54 +0000

Tales from Earthsea is the latest offering from Studio Ghibli and first from Goro Miyazaki. Yep, that’s right. That surname makes him son to pop Hayao and heir apparent to the visionary and iconoclastic Studio Ghibli.

Light shining through the celluloid of a new Ghibli film is usually grounds for anticipation to pass way beyond safe operating levels with the needle pushing dangerously into the red. Breath is so baited that oxygen deprivation becomes a real risk. It’s strange then … (read more)

Paprika (2006)

Andy — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:06:34 +0000

Satoshi Kon has always been fascinated with the inner lives of his characters and the conflict that arises when self-perceptions are exposed to the air of reality. His first feature, Perfect Blue (1997) was a perfect Hitchkockian nightmare that explored the breakdown of a pop idol who attempts to break out of her teen image by taking on more ‘adult’ oriented acting roles, only to find that transformation sat mentally uncomfortably with not only her values but those of a … (read more)

Wings of Honneamise (1987)

Andy — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 21:50:37 +0000

Studio Gainax’s most visible pre-Evangelion project in the West was a meditation on spirituality, technology and man’s future in space.

The Royal Space Force is an embarrassment to the military, a funding black hole to the public, and its dress uniform an affront to fashion. The unit exists on a whim of the royal house, and is filled with misfits and dreamers. It is only during a war that the government sees a use for the Space Force: initially … (read more)

Gun X Sword (2006)

Andy — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:24:32 +0000

Gun X Sword creates a sense of unease right from the get go. Its hero Van’s (literal) Puritan attire of uncocked, felt hat and black longcoat seem to be cast offs from Vampire Hunter D. The hand-me-downs don’t end there. Van is not only a dead-ringer for Cowboy Bebop’s Spike but his personality is a facsimile right down to his melancholy indifference to the world around him. Finally, Gun X Sword’s setting, the planet Endless Illusion, is a futuristic … (read more)

Fafner (2006)

Andy — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:18:24 +0000

With teen mecha pilots, huge glowing celestial enemies and poly-mythological naming conventions with a leaning toward the Norse and the sturm und drang of Wagner’s Ring cycle, Fafner doesn’t so much wear its influences on its sleeve as tailor a whole leisure suit out of them.

What Fafner may lack in concept originality, it certainly makes up for with intrigue. The first volume works hard to set up an array of mysteries that pretty much indicate there aren’t one or … (read more)

Origin – Spirits Of The Past (2006)

Andy — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 03:05:28 +0000

Japan’s Gonzo Studio is best known for its anime featuring slick production values and embracing the fusion of traditional 2D animation with 3D CG elements. Gonzo’s prolific output has centered around sci-fi actioners like Kiddy Grade or Yukikaze but has showed a willingness to branch out into genre mashing with the Weimar Republic meets airships of Last Exile or Speed Grapher’s neon decadent near-future monster bash. In its fifteen year production history, somewhat surprisingly, Origin is Gonzo’s first foray in … (read more)

Fullmetal Alchemist – The Conqueror of Shamballa (2005)

Andy — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:10:03 +0000

It’s always a tough gig spinning off a movie from a loved TV series. Sure your production values are up and those action sequences suddenly get the necessary frames to make them look really sweet. But there’s a trade-off. Immediately you have lost the episodic slow burn of the series that built to a carefully crafted conclusion. The cast you have developed over 50 odd episodes must be prioritized with some members allowed to wave in a ‘where are they … (read more)

Brotherhood of War (Taegukgi) (2004)

Andy — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 00:27:17 +0000

Brotherhood of War was the highest grossing film ever in Korea at the time of release and it is easy to see why. It’s is big. It has battle scenes of visceral intensity to rival Saving Private Ryan, soaring orchestral strings and seething crowd scenes that make Gone with the Wind look like an amateur, suburban theatre production. Even the steam coming off an idling locomotive looks epic.

The core of the film is the relationship of two brothers, … (read more)

Steamboy (2004)

Andy — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 15:45:25 +0000

Steamboy starts with two shots of the world distorted by water. The first is through a droplet. The second is workers reflected in the radiating ripples as the droplet disrupts a pool of water. Welcome to Katsuhiro Otomo’s latest creation Steamboy: a world altered by another form of water — steam.

Whenever a major league hitter like Otomo steps up to the plate it is almost inevitable that a new benchmark in anime will be set. The PR machine … (read more)

R.O.D. TV (2003)

Andy — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:51:33 +0000

Years ago Raymond Chandler recalibrated librarians in my adolescent psyche. Gone were the motherly figures of primary school replaced with formidable intellectuals with a simmering sexuality. The first R.O.D. (Read Or Die) in many ways was just the logical anime action extension of this. Librarian, Yomiko ‘The Paper’ Readman, whose paper manipulation powers put my feeble attempts to make an origami swan to shame, is called on by the British Library to battle super-powered historical figures and save the world. … (read more)

Psycho Diver (1997)

Andy — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:55:45 +0000

When I saw the DVD case for Psycho Diver my expectations were set. Its stylish combination of black, blue greys and greens immediately evoked an emotive mood of a fluid subconscious. The box stills of bloodied bandages, a cadaver-colored body and a knife-wielding woman – read sex and death – reinforced the notion of mental fragmentation. I was there. I wanted to see Bosujima, the Psycho Diver, tramping around in somebody’s subconscious encountering all kinds of disturbing imagery. If … (read more)

Planetes (2003)

Andy — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:54:36 +0000

Science Fiction tends to portray the future in one of two ways: there’s the idealized, hang-the-expense future where doors are automatic and cars float. Alternatively, there are the dystopic or apocalyptic visions where humanity has slipped on the razor’s edge on which it is so precariously balanced into destroying itself and its environment – often over something as trivial as the best ways to get cars to hover.

Planetes eschews these approaches. Instead it presents a perfectly possible future where … (read more)