Blog Archives

Ring 0 (2000)

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Posted on March 12, 2007 by Mark Morrison

Poor Ring Zero. It never should have been born.

It’s the bastard progeny of the mega-successful Ring series. With the deliriously creepy Ring and the telekinetically explosive Ring 2 already out in circulation, the investors were crawling out of the television with sackfulls of cash wanting another in the series. But Ring 2 pretty much wraps up the plot. The solution? Crank out a prequel. Oh no, the Ring cycle just caught the George Lucas virus. We’ll have to … (read more)

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R.O.D. TV (2003)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Andy

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)

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Rainy Dog (1997)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Deni

Undeniably serious, Rainy Dog has a lot going for it, least of all it’s slightly Kitano-like approach made recognizably Takashi by the distinct absence of quirkiness that Kitano manages so well in favor of a darker, more realistic humor. Not that it’s a funny film, and indeed could even be thought of as difficult to watch at times, but ultimately it is a somewhat direct, touching take on the heroic bloodshed film yakuza style.

Rather than cool and successful, hitman … (read more)

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Psycho Diver (1997)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Andy

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)

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Porco Rosso (1992)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Ching Yee

Yes, I know what you’re thinking, is this yet another review that waxes lyrical about the genius of Hayao Miyazaki?
Well, guess what, you win a million dollars!
Well, you would if I had the money in the first place!

But how could I not? Porco Rosso is one of my favourite Miyazaki films and worth every damn cent you didn’t get from me. A spirited film that surprises and fills you with a sense of elation each time you … (read more)

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Planetes (2003)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Andy

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)

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Perfect Blue (1998)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Mark Morrison

A hallucinogenic animated thriller about a pop idol who changes careers to acting. She goes from tiny roles to demeaning roles, and then things get stranger.

The film explores the whole idol phenomenon – who are you, a person or the public’s idea of a person? What happens when you want to become your real self?

The plot is intricately enmeshed with that of the soap opera being filmed within the film. Throw in a few layered dream sequences and … (read more)

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Peacemaker (2003)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Deni

It might seem like something of an oxymoron calling a series about the Shinsengumi — Japan’s most infamous police force — Peacemaker. If you’ve seen any of the Samurai X OAVs or the Rurouni Kenshin TV series, you’ll already be familiar with — at least in vague, creatively licensed terms — the main players in this well known period in Japanese history. During the death-throes of a two hundred year-long period of isolation for Japan from the outside world, … (read more)

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