Change Your Image
Zohariel
Reviews
Taiyô no ôji: Horusu no daibôken (1968)
Groundbreaking
This was one of the first movies that legends Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata worked on, and probably the first movie that suggested animation might be more than just for children. I understand a copy of the video is not easy to find. I was lucky enough to see it at Anime Society last night at the local university.
The film is important for its place in anime history. As a story, it's slightly weak (there are several subplots that didn't quite seem to fit), but nevertheless very enjoyable. This was partly due to the fact that the fansub I watched was, um...rather poorly translated, and some of the subtitles caused me to break into fits of hilarity. The animation itself seems mediocre nowadays, but must have been exceptional for the time. There's a slightly Disney look to it, but the anime style is definitely there...and the film is much darker than anything Disney could come up with. I mean, there's an Ice Demon whose dream is to kill everyone in the world. ! I'm thinking also of the part when Hilda's squirrel companion says something like, "But Hilda, if you save this girl she will live a life of rejection and hatred! Just like your whole life has been!" (That's nowhere near an exact quotation, but it's as close as I can remember.) And then there's the scene when Horus enters the Forest of Delusion...
It's fun to see the early development of Takahata and Miyazaki. You can see ideas just forming that would manifest in their later films. The film in itself is quite good, and in fact one of the better anime (animes?) I've seen. [Certainly it was better than the other feature at Anime Society that night, an inexplicable, boring, badly animated mess about a detective who is his own client and airplanes turning into fish and a two-year-old who is God...no, I didn't get it either.]
In conclusion, if you ever get the chance to see "Horus, Prince of the Sun", don't hesitate. I just wish there was a way I could see it again...
Majo no takkyûbin (1989)
Incredible!
I was completely blown away by "Kiki's Delivery Service". It's just wonderful. I had heard of "Princess Mononoke", as one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, was involved. I still haven't seen "Princess Mononoke", and can't wait for the North American release, but meanwhile I found out that "Kiki" was by the same director, so I had to check it out. I expected it to be good, but it went way beyond that.
This movie touches on important themes like loneliness and growing up, in a very sensitive, human way. Disney normally avoids these subjects, or deals with them in a (by comparison) cliched, unrealistic or melodramatic way. Adults will be wary of it because it looks like a tacky B-grade kids' movie, but just take the time to sit down and really watch it, and despite any reservations you have, you will soon be entirely won over.
I just can't recommend this enough. I could relate fifty different wonderful scenes, but words can't really describe this movie. YOU HAVE TO SEE IT.
L'albero degli zoccoli (1978)
Don't you have better things to do?
My only thought when I look back on this movie is, What a waste of my time.
I don't know about you. But *I* did not want to waste four hours of my precious time watching Italian peasants go about their daily lives. Maybe you think it's deep and meaningful; maybe it's art. To me it looks like a bunch of ordinary people eating, walking around, slaughtering a pig, having an occasional conversation. Come on! Life is wonderful; get out there and enjoy it; why on earth would you wish to spend your time sitting on the couch watching other people's (boring and mundane) lives going past?
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Very realistic, hard to forget
People say that the script of The Blair Witch Project was contrived and not clever, but this movie is incredibly realistic because it DOESN'T have all the usual witty Hollywood dialogue--this is what teenagers would *really* do and say in a situation that scares them. The "boring" scenes at the beginning only add to the tension and realism. I wasn't as scared as I expected to be but I was *not* disappointed. It's true you don't particularly like the characters, but that only seems to make them more realistic.
Now this movie is permanently stamped into my mind. I can not stop seeing over and over the last couple seconds. I can't get that image out of my mind. (Not a spoiler...you'll see what I mean when you see the film.)
As everyone has mentioned before, you will be more scared if you are imaginative because this film is mostly psychological and leaves it up to your imagination to figure out what's going on. Probably not a good idea if you get motion sick (I didn't at all, but some people...) or if you like only gory, action packed horror films--or if you are going to be in the house alone for a while.
I never knew *trees* could look so scary....
P.S. Make sure you also see The Sixth Sense; not as scary but a wonderful, wonderful film.