Netflix:

So I finally have taken the plunge. Even though I knew about Netflix in its relative infancy through friends, I never once thought of signing up. Why rent, I thought when you can just buy the discs and keep them forever? Well, that's all well and good for films I adore and will watch
over and over but what I have done in the last few years is to accumulate a few discs here and there that I love and a whole ton of average discs and crap.

After my 31 Days of Film experiment I found myself a bit put off of watching movies for a while. This, combined with other life events, lead to me no longer buying any DVDs. While I did clear the backlog of a few titles, I unfortunately have lapsed in my bookkeeping and I'm not really
certain as to my backlog. What's worse is that I have not written anything on my blog in months. So to rectify these two events I have signed up for Netflix and have added tons of obscure (mostly foreign and/or silent) films to my queue. So after receiving and watching my
third disc, The Passion of Joan of Arc, I feel I can now start writing on some of the films and shows I have watched in the previous months. So stay tuned faithful readers and here's a taste of some reviews that are in the near future:

Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood
Ikiru
Superman: Doomsday
Angels and Insects
The Oyster Princess
and more!

Labels: site news

With this third volume the story of star-crossed lovers Koshiro and Nanoka come to an end. Koi Kaze has been a sea of emotions thrown in the utterly believable yet horribly taboo relationship. Koshiro decides to be the adult of the situation and moves out suddenly in the hopes that the feelings he and Nanoka have for each other will subside. In his new apartment he lives on takeout and instant meals while his coworker, Chidori makes regular visits and spends most nights there.

By all outward appearances he has moved on and has started a relationship with Chidori. The truth is another matter. Inside Koshiro is torn and wishing that he could see Nanoka again although he actively avoids her if he sees her. This unfortunately doesn't last forever when Nanoka starts coming by his apartment regularly. Though he's given several chances to break the relationship and let things return to a somewhat normal state Koshiro instead gives in to his urges and the two move further beyond the point of no return.

I have been reviewing DVDs on this little blog of mine since September of 2003. Yet in the five and a half years since I started the site I have never had a harder time reviewing a dvd as I have with Koi Kaze. Oh sure there are times when watching garbage like Omoo Omoo the Shark God I just want to pull my hair out over having to remember how awful it was. Koi Kaze is something completely different as it is a fascinating story and yet incredibly disturbing and tragic.

When I first decided to sit down and watch Koi Kaze, I was fearful that it would try to portray incest as a normal, everyday occurrence and that this would be treated as a sort of propoganda for acceptance of a sexual kink or something like that. While Koi Kaze is not exactly promoting the lifestyle of Koshiro and Nanoka, it doesn't do all that much to discourage it. The judgement is left up to the viewer and we must judge whether what has transpired is good or evil.

Watching Koi Kaze is in many ways like watching a Greek Tragedy. You know the ending before it begins and you know that things aren't going to turn out well. I won't pretend to claim that Koi Kaze is in the league of Sophocles but the tradgedy and human emotion is very real and I did find myself feeling quite depressed over the state of Koshiro and Nanoka's life. As an observer I, like Chidori, wish that I could just slap some sense into the poor misguided fools and allow them to take a different path. Yet, like Oedipus the King, their fate seems pre-ordained.

This show is not for everyone. It deals with deeply disturbing topics in ways that many of us might not be comfortable with outside of the latest joke about renecks. Still, it's an interesting and well made anime that deserves a chance. If you can watch with an objective mind there's plenty to enjoy here. At the very least it got me to think.

Labels: Animation, Anime, Japanese

As we left Koshiro and Nanoka in the last volume we see two confused siblings who seem to have noticed the start of some attraction but have not really acted upon it. Koshiro being the older and more experienced member of the family seems to know what he must do and yet he struggles to treat Nanoka as a sister. Sadly, just when he seems to get the hang of the familiarity of her, the affection of Nanoka is returned with the simple words, "I like you."

Meanwhile while this is going on Koshiro's co-worker Chidori is becoming more and more suspicious of the two. She observes that they don't look like the typical brother and sister and she also notices that Koshiro is no longer as belligerent about his sister as he once was. While she can't quite put her finger on it, she seems to know that something is up.

Koi Kaze is progressing along very nicely and I must confess that as I watch each episode I become more and more engrossed. While incest has been seen in literature from Genesis to Greek Tragedies to modern blockbuster films it is rarely handled in such a sensitive way. What surprises me so much about Koi Kaze is how well written the show is. Honestly most anime appears to be written to a focus group. If I did have one complaint it would be the character of Odagiri. In what is otherwise a totally atypical anime the stock pervert co-worker just seems out of place.

It's a hard show to recommend based on its subject matter but if you can stomach the idea of incest and a romantic relationship with a minor. While I personally cannot understand the feelings of the main characters, the idea of a forbidden or unattainable love/lust is a universal feeling felt by all. Here's hoping that things somehow get better in Volume 3.

Labels: Animation, Anime, Japanese

Good old MST3K! One of the greatest shows in television history and yet I can never seem to find time to watch the box sets as they come in. This set, Volume 12, is the last set to be released by Rhino. All subsequent volumes are being released by Shout Entertainment. Not to worry, of course as the Shout discs are just as good content-wise and are released in thinpacks and not the nasty Digi-paks that Rhino used.

The Rebel Set: Now here's a movie that sounded good on paper but ultimately falls flat. It has tons of character and television actors but the plot is boring and really makes no sense at times. The riffing is average but not memorable. Honestly it's a below average episode.

Secret Agent Super Dragon: Now here's a fun and crappy spy thriller from the swingin' 60s. Ray Danton stars in this Italian take off of the James Bond super spy film genre. There's modestly hot women and some half decent fights. To quote my brother, "The film would've been good with the actors and the premise had it had a real plot and made by competant people."

The riffing on this one was quite good although no lines stuck in my head afterwards. Certainly not bad for a Joel episode.

The Starfighters: Oh God, please don't ever let the Air Force take me. I have the utmost respect for our service men and women but by George this film was a pain to watch. For some reason I think my cousin who spent 20 years in the Air Force would love this film. At least the host segments are hilarious.

Parts the Clonus Horror: Ugh! I HATE THIS MOVIE! Honestly, there are few MST3K epsisodes I can't watch and this is one of them. The film is disturbing and thus probably met its goal of shocking the audience into an anti-cloning stance. I just mourn for the waste of such talents as Peter Graves and Keenan Wynn. Ironically this film was remade into the Michael Bay crapfest known as "The Island."

At least the host segments are funny.

All in all a good set. There are two more sets after this one that I need to get around to watching soon. As of this writing I already have half of Vol. 13 watched so it may be sooner than I think.

Labels: Comedy, MST3K, TV Shows

Koshiro is a 27 year old man employed in a marriage arrangement company. Despite working to make other people's lives happy his own personal relationships are nothing to be proud of. Living in a rut Koshiro is always sporting a five O'clock shadow and is barely able to take care of himself. He is dumped by his girlfriend and yet he doesn't seem to care. He also lives at home with his father in the city, far away from his mother and sister whom he hasn't seen since he was a small boy.

This all changes when in one chance meeting he happens to run into a high school girl named Nanoka. After a couple chance encounters he takes her to an amusement park where he finds out that she is his sister who has come to live with him in the city. After the initial shock is over Koshiro soon finds that his feelings for Nanoka are not the normal brother and sister relationship feelings but instead he begins to desire her more as a female much to his frustration where he must begin to sort out the feelings in himself and how they relate to Nanoka.

Anime by and large is a genre which is rarely taken seriously in the west. The main reason for this is that for every Miyazaki film there is a dozen giant robot shows and for every Akira or Metropolis there are hundreds of fan-service shows released each year. Thus when a show attempts to look at such taboo and difficult subjects as incest, lust, regret and shame it is bound to make an impression one way or the other.

When I first heard of Koi Kaze back in 2005 I was at first intrigued by it but decided to pass as I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with the premise. I honestly didn't think that a show about a 27 year old man in love with his 15 year old sister could be entertaining but upon the suggestion of a friend, I decided to pick it up.

Koi Kaze is a hard show to review. It certainly has its share of drama with some comedy thrown in to keep things lively. This is no ordinary romantic anime, though; the subject matter is treated very seriously and the lives of Koshiro and Nanoka seem realistic and it never feels as though the show was created to fulfill any sort of fetish or perversion. Koi Kaze is certainly not for everyone but it is intriguing and certainly fascinating so far.

Labels: Anime, Japanese

Here we have twelve more episodes of what is certainly one of the best anime shows ever. It's always sad to see your favorite show work towards a conclusion but that is exactly what Volume 7 of Maison Ikkoku does. Several side plots and characters such as Yagami and Coach Mitaka are more or less put to rest in terms of the Kyoko / Godai romance story.

I find that as I review each volume of Maison Ikkoku I find myself with less and less to say. It's not that I am losing interest in the show but that I feel there is nothing more I can say that hasn't been said before. Maison Ikkoku is consistantly good and if I was to find any fault it would be that at times they don't deviate much from the path. While I would love to see more episodes focusing on the side characters like Yotsuya and Akemi this is a show about Godai and Kyoko.

I can't wait to watch the next and final volume. While I will be sad to see the show end, I know that I will most certainly have to watch it again. It would certainly be a good excuse to try and introduce it to some friends.

Labels: Animation, Anime, Classics, Maison Ikkoku

So the experiment is over now. I was able to successfully watch thirty-one films, one for each day, and to successfully blog about each and every one. I was able to take a considerable chunk out of my DVD backlog as well as to explore some films I had always wanted to see but never had. There were times when watching the film was a sheer delight and at other times I honestly thought I couldn't get through the darn movie.

So how did the movies stack up? Well for some raw statistics Of the 31 films watched:

5 were comedies
6 were Science Fiction
5 had Bela Lugosi
6 were silent films
13 were Foreign films with
5 Hong Kong
4 Japanese
2 French
1 British and
1 German
8 I tagged as "Classics" and
7 were tagged as Crap.

So what about the present and the future? Well, for now I am just back into my normal, pre January routine. I have almost finished a Mystery Science Theater set and I've gotten back to watching some anime so look forward to some reviews on that. If you are interested as to what's sitting in my "watch pile" right now, well here it is:
(all episodes refer to the next epiosde I will be watching)

Inazuman: Episode 5
Super Robot Red Baron: Episode 27
Ultraman Moebius: Episode 1

All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku OAV: Episode 2
Chance Pop Session: Episode 12
Maison Ikkoku: Episode 82
Rose of Versailles: Episode 29
Touch: Episode 41

Mystery Science Theater Vol. 12: (30 minutes left of The Starfighters)
Mystery Science Theater Vol. 13 (20th Aniversary set): First Spaceship on Venus, Werewolf and Laserblast.

So I certainly have a lot on my plate for now. Expect more grand things in the future and if you have any more crazy ideas for experiments feel free to let me know!

Labels: site news

I meant to post this back at the end of 2008 and yet it got delayed due to my 31 days of film project. Listed below is the original review in its entirety.

In November of 1978 Star Wars fever was still running hot. The film had come out the previous year and merchandise was still selling well and The Empire Strikes back was already in the mind of George Lucas. Seeking a way to get in on the Star Wars money making action further expand the story of the Star Wars universe. CBS looked to make a two hour special using the Star Wars characters along with musical acts, comedy and action to sell a lot of ad time. Lucas agreed although had little to no involvement and it was left to some variety TV show people. What they produced was one of the worst moments in television history.

There really is nothing that I can say about this that hasn't been said hundreds of times before. Han Solo and Chewbacca are rushing back to Chewy's home planet for some holiday known as Life Day. What this involves is never fully made clear but storm troopers show up at the Bacca household looking for the man of the house.

Most of the special is either grunts and groans from the Wookies or strange segments by guest stars such as Harvey Korman, Bea Arthur and Art Carney. For one who is a die hard Star Wars fan there is probably a lot to find sacrilegious but since I'm not a fan I merely found myself staring silent at the screen.

After its original airing it was never shown again. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your take) someone recorded it and started making bootleg copies which can be found at conventions and Bit Torrents alike. George Lucas is reported as saying that if he had a hammer and enough time he would smash every copy of this film. George, you can have mine ...

If you must watch this crap, do yourselves a favor and get the Rifftrax commentary.

Labels: Crap, sci-fi

Mon Oncle (or My Uncle in English) tells the story of the simple Monsieur Hulot. He's a total idiot with no steady work and spends most of his days goofing off or taking his nephew out for mischief, much to the dismay and disapproval of his sister and brother-in-law.

I chose tonight's film with no prior knowledge of either Jaques Tati or the Monsieur Hulot character. M. Hulot was the main character for four of the films for Tati. He was also quite an influence for Mr. Bean and it's certainly not difficult to believe. Like Mr. Bean Monsier Hulot is mostly mute as are many of the characters around him. He does not have the mean streak that Mr. Bean shows and, outside of his Brother-in-law, seems to not have an enemy in the world.

If Hulot was to have an enemy it would be modern lifestyles. While he lives happily in a poorer part of the city (in a house which looks as if it was made of spare parts) Hulot's sister and her husband live in a decidedly modern and streamlined house. Like Buster Keaton's Electric House the Space Age home is impractical and uncomfortable with the Arpels more owned by their possessions and home than the other way around.

Mon Oncle is a fantastic film. Before today I was ignorant of this film, Jaques Tati and Monsiur Hulot. Honestly I chose this film on a whim from Time Warner's Free Movies on Demand channel. I highly recommend it to all. You'll laugh yourself silly!

On a side note, this is the final film of the 31 Days of Film experiment. Stay tuned for a review and retrospect on the experience as well as what the future brings.

Labels: 31 days of film, Comedy