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Komencanto
Reviews
John Safran vs. God (2004)
Excellent series - funny, informative and thought provoking
Having seen all of the episodes on TV I can say that they have been very interesting to watch. Some episodes in the middle sort of fall over themselves as he tries to stretch out weak jokes. But the vast majority had me in stitches. The Scientology bit, his rants and the countless jokes about Mormonism and many more are truly hilarious and often makes poignant criticisms of the various religions. Needless to say, the final exorcism episode is an exhilarating fly on the wall documentary, although it was obviously heavily edited considering the process went over 4 days. Form your own opinion about it, but remember that all is not as it seems and a lot was cut out. John doesn't seem to have converted! The DVD will contain the outtakes from this episode so it will be interesting to see what they reveal. Overall a highly entertaining Australian series which goes where few other shows have and has some truly revealing pieces (the voodoo one in particular!).
Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984)
Great first half, weaker ending; See Mononoke first
In agreement with many other reviewers I would comment that this movie has excellent moments, interesting characters and a truly fascinating world reminiscent of Dune (but far better than any of the awful movie adaptations of that). I wish some of the relationships and nations had been more fleshed out (they are in the manga), but I was fascinated by the themes he explores and the architecture and nature he invents are intriguing as always!
However, as Miyazaki himself has pointed out, this movie was made before the comic was finished, leading to an inferior and partly rushed ending which Miyazaki himself did not like. It is far from a bad movie, but I would highly recommend watching Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke (which has a similar theme) before. Watch Nausicaa after if you want to explore some of his earlier work, it's enjoyable as long as you don't expect perfection.
The Jerry Springer Show (1991)
Scapes the bottom of the pan of human misery
I don't know if this show is real or not, but if it is, then it is a disgrace to the people who go on it, and if it is not, then it is a disgrace for the people who actually enjoy watching it. I mean, when it gets to the point point of a gay guy cheating on 5 obese, hermaphrodite, 50 year old childrens clothes wearers, where is your country headed? For the love of all that is decent, don't watch this show, and don't give them an excuse to broadcast this drivel!
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Close to Perfect
All of those people who have written how bad this movie is must be out of their minds!
Well, actually, there are not that many in reality, it is just that they are more likely to write comments than the rest of us. This movie is sooo close to perfect, the computer animation is extraordinary, far beyond anything I have ever seen before and the wide landscape pictures simply took my breath away. The acting is brilliant, the pacing is wonderful, making sure the movie doesn't drag on like the book while slight changes make it all the move believable and suited to a movie. The acting is beyong reproach, I simply cannot think of any flaw.
I cannot believe I will have to wait a year for the next installment! Take my advice, ignore the ungrateful crazies who have written that this movie is terrible, go see it for yourself, today if possible, and experience this extraordinary movie for yourself. You won't notice a moment of the 3 hours passing and you're sure to come out of the theatre a devout fan of Tolkien and Peter Jackson.
The Lord of the Rings (1978)
Not as good as the book, but a good effort. Nice animation, and good interpretation of the characters.
This is no masterpiece, and it's not finished, but it had good overall and certainly not an embarrassment to LOTR. It's not a bad way to burn 2 hours. I look forward to the movies that are coming out over the next few years that will continue where this movie stopped. The animation is certainly interesting, and creates a good atmosphere for the movie. 8/10