Blog Archives

Ergo Proxy (2006)

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Posted on September 25, 2007 by Deni

Themes highlighting and questioning identity – and by associated extremes, reality itself – are hardly rare in anime but rarely has any series attempted to take the identity crisis to the levels that Manglobe production Ergo Proxy manages. And probably, that sounds like a criticism. Well, it is, and it isn’t.

Ergo Proxy is its own paradox: an obscure and demanding story in some respects, more puzzle than entertainment. Yet it’s also inarguably engaging; a love story, a journey, part … (read more)

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Lupin the Third: Castle Of Cagliostro (1979)

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Posted on September 23, 2007 by James

Before commencing a period of activity that – from Nausicaa to the present – has so far given us a dozen or so of the greatest animated movies we’re ever likely to see, Hayao Miyazaki and his future Studio Ghibli colleagues completed this second animated feature in the Lupin III franchise.

A thrills and spills adventure movie with a touch of romance, dash of intrigue and liberal spread of action, Castle of Cagliostro stands as great an achievement in a … (read more)

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Hana (2006)

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Posted on September 9, 2007 by Deni

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest work, and his first foray into the period piece, is one of those films that before you see it, you find yourself wondering: what on earth could a semi-realist director best known for emotionally honest documentary style films do with the samurai genre? How will his organic style show through? How will he achieve the unexpected charm and humour that is such a strong characteristic in all his films to date no matter what the content?

But … (read more)

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Tomie 3: Rebirth (2001)

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Posted on August 26, 2007 by Alison

Well, there’s a thing: a Tomie movie with a plot! And I have to say it’s not at all bad, despite being made on a budget that would make a grown director weep.

Perhaps some of this giddy enthusiasm comes from having sat through the interminable Tomie 2. Sheer relief at not being faced with another whey-face, smirking teen queen may have led me to see this one as better than it is. Or perhaps it’s because some of … (read more)

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The Quiet Duel (1949)

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Posted on August 17, 2007 by James

It’s not every day you get to see a film focusing on the medical response to syphilis and the emotional torment of one of the disease’s sufferers.

I can’t say this particular absence in my film viewing habits to date particularly irks me. There’s only so much a spectator can tolerate when submitted to endless studies of a pent-up and remorseful Toshiro Mifune (infected with syphilis) pining in sexual frustration over his (spotless, timid, frail, i.e. stereotyped) wife to never … (read more)

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Tomie 2: Replay (2000)

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Posted on August 5, 2007 by Alison

Alas, poor Tomie: I knew her, Heroic Cinemanauts. A girl of infinite flirting and fancy, with a side order of cutting a bloody swathe through the teen male population. I was pleasantly surprised by the original Tomie, and so settled in for a marathon of Tomie-watching.

Alas for my expectations, this sequel is a poor imitation. We’ve lost the bewitching Miho Kanno, who was capable of making a psychotic, unkillable, regenerative boy-killer seem like a poor misunderstood girl (at … (read more)

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Infection (2004)

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Posted on August 5, 2007 by Alison

Welcome to Twilight Zone Central Hospital. From the first few moments, it’s clear that this isn’t going to be your average horror film set in your average hospital. The staff haven’t been paid, nurses are quitting in droves, everyone’s working extended shifts and then some, the hospital’s buying new equipment but not technical staff to operate it, and the director’s apparently headed off to parts unknown. Put that together with corridors that look like the typical spooky basement set, complete … (read more)

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Le Chevalier d’Eon (2006)

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Posted on July 22, 2007 by Deni

Set against the backdrop of pre-Revolution France, Le Chevalier D’Eon, by Production I.G, really is a series that earns the right to superlatives like ‘sweeping’ and ‘gripping’. The period in which it is set – the ambiance of pre-Revolution Eighteenth Century Paris – immediately identifies it as something different, something with aspirations. Of course, period settings in anime are hardly uncommon, and certainly there are plenty of series where style elements have been borrowed from foreign sources (the Grecian … (read more)

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