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Reviews
Majo no takkyûbin (1989)
Fly
I think what gets me about this movie is that it is so quiet and still. One of the traits of good classical music is that the composers and players make it look easy and simple on first notice. I think this movie is a lot the same.
I caught this on Disney quite awhile back, and I found myself sucked into the movie unlike anything else in a long time. I think part of it was the slow maturing of Kiki, a girl who is forced to grow up quickly (a standard plotline for the director, whose Studio Ghibli has a few movies with this theme--all of them good) while finding out her strengths and weaknesses. She starts out naive and happy, enters into a crisis of faith, and comes out of it content and learned. The other part that sucked me in was the scenery and supporting characters. Sure, none of it is real, but that is the point: the suspension of reality worked. This movie is perfect for kids, but will affect adults as well. It makes you smile. Most importantly, unlike many kids movies, it doesn't insult your intelligence.
I've only seen the US dub of this, but that was enough for me. Phil Hartman was great as Jiji, even if he went off script. The only thing that wasn't perfect was the final song, but that's forgivable. Happily, the DVD comes out in about a month, and those sub purists will be able to watch everything that way it was originally done.
Key: The Metal Idol (1994)
Stumbles a bit towards the end, but good overall
Key The Metal Idol is something of a diverse anime show. I first saw an ad for it on another video a few years back, where the premise of the show was described: Key's a robot who needs to find 30,000 friends to make her become human. I saw it again later in a local rental store and decided to give it a shot.
At first glance, that's pretty much it: Key's robot-like behaviour is pretty standard at first - she speaks mostly in monotone and rarely uses First Person pronouns. Oddly enough on her trip to Tokyo (Key lived in a small village when her "grandfather," her guardian and alleged creator lived before he gave his dying instructions to Key for her to become human) she runs into her old friend Sakura - a friend from when she was in Junior High. Sakura takes her in, but is very skeptical about her mission to become human. Sakura also has a male friend named Tataki, but they are only friends - even if Sakura has an obvious thing for him. Tataki is the head of the fan club for Miho, the current top idol singer (an idol singer seems to be the Japanese counterpart to the flash-in-the-pan singers like NSYNC or Britney Spears in the US). Key is facinated with Miho, and realizes that Miho must have at least 30,000 friends, so her desire is to become an Idol Singer like Miho. Tataki is a kind person and takes an interest (friend only) in Key, enough to want to solve some of the mysteries around her.
But, like in almost all anime and most good dramas, things are not what they seem. The chief bad guys, Ajo and "D" want to capture Key because they believe her to be source of a power box that would allow their robots (called PPORs or Sipes in the show) vast strength. They seem to have a tie to Key's grandfather, her hometown, and even the Idol singer Miho. Even more bizaare, when these PPORs get around Key, they have a habit of blowing up. Key has something of a bodyguard, a man named Wakagi, who was her grandfather's assistant. He is mysterious and usually arrives just in time to help Key when she is in trouble. On top of this, Key already seems to be making a transformation. When in intensely emotional situtations, Key's robot-like voice and appearance are changed to that of an emotional, powerful girl who seems to have superpowers that disappear as soon as they happen - and then she passes out and wakes up with no memory of these moments -- back in her robot mode.
With all that I've written, I've still only scratched the surface of this complex show. The series is 13 30-minutes shows, along with two 90-minute rap-up shows. By far the most interesting character is Key. Her appearance is that of an thin, almost aneroxic teen (very non stereotypical anime) who has odd personality ticks and habits that annoy Sakura and interest Tataki. Her brief moments of her humanity beginging to take form are the highlight of the show, and are demonstrated in their 4th episode - one of the best of the series. She is almost contrasted with her friend Sakura, who I found to be somewhat irritating. Sakura almost doesn't fit in on the show: she looks like a stereotype of every anime teen-girl. She's somewhat annoying with her outbursts at Key and impatience with Tataki. But, she holds a key to Key's past.
Some fans have been very upset at the last two episodes, nearly 3 hours worth of material. The first long episode (13) is comprised of nearly all backstory, almost all of it given to us by conversations and grumblings of former friends of Key's Grandfather and Ajo. Wakagi and Tataki sit in a park and talk about Key's family for almost half the time. This in and of itself is not terrible, but there's very little to break up the time, so the show drags a bit here. The final show, without giving much away, is a bit better, but feels like it could have been about 10 minutes longer to give us some sense of closure with these characters. The feel of the final two shows are different as well, it's hard to describe except to say that it almost feels like a different set of writers finished it.
But that alone shouldn't detract people from seeing it. It's a good show that is very addicting. It feels like a PG-13, and maybe even R. There's a bit of nudity (most of it from the Robots Ajo creates and has a very disturbing relationship with, plus the standard fan-service Sakura shower scenes as well as a trip to an X-rated movie producer -- all of it getting a bit tiring after awhile), language, and a few rather violent scenes.
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
The Muppets return to form
The good news is that this is easily the best Muppet outing since their "Muppets take Manhattan" movie nearly 18 years ago. Almost every Muppet that made the Muppets popular is there, and even more, the right people (Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie) are all front and center; which may be the first time in recent memory that Fozzie was given equal billing (and intelligence!!) with Kermit - instead of Piggy. Equally interesting is that the original "Muppet Theater" idea of the TV show is there, complete with Statler and Waldorf heckling from the balcony (with some of the best heckling they've had a chance to do in nearly 20 years). This being the case, many of the 90s Muppets such as Clifford amd Data are nowhere to be seen - not even relegated to "cameo" status. However, Pepe the Prawn is around.
Ironically, with a setting from 25 years ago, Frank Oz is no longer doing the voices. With Jim Henson and Richard Hunt dead, this more or less constitutes a complete turnover in Muppeteers. But it looks like they more or less threw caution to the wind, and finally brought the Muppets into the 21st Century. There's a lot of good here, It took me half of the show to realize that Gonzo, Piggy, and Fozzie were voiced by new people; and to that respect they did a fantastic job. This is great: instead of worrying if Frank Oz's (or whomever) Muppets will be able to give a few token lines and then leave, new people took up the mantle and gave great performances. For the most part it works: Scooter is back as is Sam the Eagle and Kermit's nephew Robin, plus Dr. Honeydew and Beaker in top form. Unfortunately, Animal and Rowlf are pushed to the background.
The Story? Oh there's a story?? Who cares? We all know that any story is just an excuse to see the Muppets go crazy. Basically, it's a spoof of "It's a Wonderful Life." There's a few spoofs thrown in, most notable being The Grinch and Moulon Rouge. Some work great, some don't.
Unfortunately, what doesn't work ALMOST killed it. The cameo with Piggy on the set of Scrubbs was funny -she quits the Muppet Show to start her career: an extra as a corpse on the show- but it cements the special to the success or failure of Scrubbs. Then there are the obligatory human cameos and roles. I never was one for them on the TV shows or movies, but here they seemed more forced: the most unforgivable is Whoopi Goldberg as a God-like deity (Goldberg probably feeling like she was typecast) who brings the show to a screeching halt at the end with a boring Guinan-like sermon about self-esteem. Almost as unforgivable is the ending song as the credits rolled, which was uncharacteristically sappy and contrived - fortunately modern devices of stuffing as many commercials as possible allowed it to go mute while the ending was split-screened with a promo. And then there were some things that seemed totally out of line: Pepe says he's got a permit for a topless club (Gonzo hints that he likes the idea), Scooter is cage dancing in a fantasy-scene, and the more bizarre Pepe and Joan Cusack lust scenes. Overall, it relied more on Simpsons-like references and spoof-gags to get through 2 hours than the witty writing of years past.
But, that wasn't enough to wreck it. The Muppets, in my book at least, are back. Now, if they can work on the writing, drop the need to spoof the next-big-thing at every turn, and keep it clean enough for the kids, there will be no stopping them - again.
Road to Redemption (2001)
Good for what it is
Usually, when you know the movie is put out by Billy Graham, no one is going to be converting to Zoroastrianism by the end of the movie. The subplot is usually the same in every movie: Christian befriends non-Christian, non-Christian (and audience) hears the plan for salvation, and non-Christian usually becomes a Christian by the end. There's little suprise in that part.
This movie reminded me a lot of the old "Walt Disney Presents" movies on Sunday night TV. Family-friendly, geniunely funny in some places, a little corny in others, and usually had some pro-social message in the end - be nice to old people, don't shoot deer, listen to Julie Andrews sing and you'll be rewarded by dancing on the celing....whatever. So, I guess you can call old Disney movies "propaganda disgusied as a movie," or whatever the bitter guy said a few posts back.
As a light comedy, it works. The "Bad guys" are silly, the chase scenes are fun, and there are a few running gags that pay off towards the middle and end. Besides any "Christian" comedy that dares to take a swipe at the Partridge Family can't be that bad, can it? The parts that are shaky, as it sometimes is with WWP movies, the "Serious" moments between the granddaughter and grandfather are slow at times, and the scenes at the end are cliched. But, like I said, it's like a Sunday night Disney movie....You know what you're getting yourself into.
Toransufômâ: Kârobotto (2000)
Things change, accept it.
Yes, it is not the 80s version of the Transformers. Yes, Megatron isn't a weapon. Yes, Optimus is a fire truck. The reason is because this isn't the same people. It's a dub of the Anime series "Car Robots," where they all have different names. It's also done by Saban, who do the infamous Power Rangers. This one looks MUCH better than Power Rangers.
Also, keep in mind that the original series wasn't exactly high-quality in every aspect. For every "Call of The Primatives" or "The Secret of Ultra Magnus" there were "Hoist goes Hollywood," and the infamous "5 Faces of Death." Plus, the animation bordered on average to horrible at times--with faces deforming, and robots magically the same size as humans. The animation on Robots in Disguise is far better, even if it does have it's flaws (what's up with the flying shark?). The stories on RiD go from great to silly.. just like most kids cartoons.
Basically, enjoy the new series and don't take it too seriously. Besides, there's no Blur, Wheelie, and nobody's been called a "Decpti-slag" or something corny like that.