Thalya Reviews

Inuyasha (2000–2004)

*dreamy sigh*

[18 January 2003]

You know a series has to be good when you fall in love with a

"flawed" main character, especially an animated one (the only

other time this has happened was Vegeta from DBZ). I've only

seen the English dub on Adult Swim, but it really seems that

Richard Cox and Inuyasha the character were a perfect match; the

voice-acting is one of the biggest draws.

As for the show itself, anyone who's a fan of Buffy the Vampire

Slayer and Angel will love this. The storyline about an ancient half- man/half-demon and a young modern girl does have that base

parallel to Buffy and Angel, as well as incredibly good storytelling

that defies just as many genres. But from there it goes off on its

own particular mythologic twists and turns that make it so unique

and powerful. After every 24 minute episode I'm amazed at how

much has been accomplished and developed, all while giving a

fair balance to the cast of characters, all sharply-delineated and

possessing their own unique appeal. The scoring is equally

wonderful and often difficult to get out of your mind.

All in all, who cares about gritty or anything near that when for once

in a long time you can get swept up in the romance and fantasy

and drama of it all? This is a rare series, and one bound to get

rarer, particularly when all the networks (American at least) seem

to care about these days are reality shows or "realistic" dramas

uninterested in strong character-based plot developments. Anime

seems to be one of the last realms where you can find good

stories told exceedingly well with the emphasis where it should

always be, on the characters; that there's action, adventure,

romance, drama, or comedy is merely secondary.

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

HE'S SO CUTE!!!

[10 July 2002]

Ok, for starters I'm probably biased as I'm typing this with Stitch in my lap. Now: *SPOILERS ahead for what is fast becoming my favorite movie ever (and note, I'm 21 and past faves have included L.A. Confidential and Gladiator)*

And where to start? This movie just was everything; it completely matched my own personal aesthetic in a way no movie I've seen before has: wild, crazy, adorable, laugh-out-loud funny (the most I've laughed at a Disney film ever), poignant, sci-fi, fish-out-of-water/misfit action (I completely empathize with Lilo), and above all CUTE (and FLUFFY!)! And it had the King no less and was beautifully animated; in fact, if it hadn't had the watercolors, I wouldn't have liked it so much, it would make it more akin to some of the earlier-90s flat-color too-serious sap-and-songfests.

Now Stitch is wicked, and that he goes through such an immense character transformation makes this movie stand out from the lot of them. Most earlier Disney animated movies have been drawn from fairy tales, with the heroes and heroines going through superficial change, mostly in social class. This little guy also happens to have alot more intelligence than most heroes do, which helps in him picking up modern lingo in no time flat. "Blue punch buggy!" and "Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! One potato, two potato..." could only happen in a movie like this, which happens to also be the only Disney movie that comes to mind set in the modern day, not some period piece.

In addition to those lines above, I've never laughed so hard or remembered so many, or just marveled at tiny little moments. The expression on Stitch's face as Lilo starts teaching him to hula (the one where he goes "Ooooh!..") is utterly priceless, not just for the sheer cuteness but if you just take a frame of it and add sound, think of the absurdity of a little blue alien the size of a little girl, in a hula outfit, listening to Elvis and swinging his hip and getting intrigued. It's mindblowing. There's a similar part when he's in his spacesuit and spouting alien gibberish whilst pointing 4 ray guns at a laconic toad. That they made the connection between Elvis and aliens only adds to the rollicking absurdity. Lines to remember: "I like fluffy..", "Not to mention cute and FLUFFY!", "It's okay, my dog found the chainsaw", "L-l-ost..I'm lost..", "No more caffeine for you", "She looks like she could use some lovin'", "H-hiii....""Wow!..." (when Lilo met Stitch), "I wanna buy him! Can I borrow 2 dollars?", "Pudge controls the weather", "Oh no, she's just ugly", "...and steal everybody's left shoe.", "He took the red one", "Talk! I know you can.""Okay, okay..".

Other things of note: they drew David as a hunka hunka burnin love, if you ask me (never a bad thing); the San Francisco rampage (complete with Stitch doing mock voices); the pouting/rolling in a ball bits; the spaceship's horn doing La Cucaracha; Stitch's reaction when Lilo tells him there are no big cities on the island, juxtaposed with Jumba's explanation of Stitch's purpose; Earth vs. the Spiders; the way the two plotlines, family and alien (and come to think of it, an alien was the perfect choice for a story like this, a literal alien), interwove; the (I think it was) Devil in a Blue Dress montage where Nani is job-hunting (excellent interweaving of music and action); also props to Wynnona for her rendition of Hunka Hunka Burnin Love over the end credits, I was set to dance out of the theater; the photos in the end credits were extremely heartwarming as well. Too many things to name, really, which is why it's perfect. I would have preferred a small throwaway line about Elvis and aliens, but it wasn't entirely needed.

This movie was made with alot of love and alot of joy. Every time I think about it I positively beam. Giant props to Chris Sanders! Wonderful idea, vision, execution, and above all voice! I can only try to mimic it and I'm very close to getting the "eh/ih" as "Yes" down. Ok, I'm obsessed, but my hamster voice was very close to Stitch already.

This is a treasure and I still haven't picked out all the details. I need to see this at least 2 more times, this tops Spiderman and definitely Ep2. This will be a hard one to replace as #1.

Spider-Man (2002)

I've never had so many thrills at a movie before..

[10/10 · 5 May 2002]

There's so much I could say about this movie and it wouldn't be enough. Let me put it to you this way. After seeing it last night I wanna see Spiderman 4 (after seeing this one 10 more times). And I thought XMen was a well made comic book movie, but this one had an amazing comic book feel to it, requisite episodes and all, and not just had the feel, but felt like you were inside the comic world and seeing more than the blocks would show you. You saw the meaning of ZOOM and KABLAM. The story was an excellent coming of age as you saw Peter evolve into the hero that is Spidey. Something I particularly liked was how Peter was Peter, but once in Spidey's suit, had Peter's voice but which felt exactly right as Spidey's too (kudos to Tobey Maguire). I had only seen a bit of the Spiderman cartoons when I was a kid in the 80s, but the villains had always seemed stupid and too whimsical/fantastical to really care about. Not so here. Willem Dafoe was superb at creating a real menace, A REAL MENACE! Something that was unpredictable and could snap at any moment, adding tons of suspense to any scene where Norman was in control, especially the one where he hugged Harry. In superhero movies you always know that the hero will beat the villain and that there's usually an Achilles heel, but not so here. Here the villain was clearly the stronger of the two, and while our hero has spider-strength and all, he's still human and less armored. It makes you appreciate the victory all the more. As for the score, it was generic (no themes). In a good way. Compared to something like FOTR where most of the emotion came from the score, the score stayed in the background save for some Green Goblin touches, letting the emotional quality of the story take center stage. I came to the movie needing a respite from life stresses, and heavy as they were, I got sucked in by the story. Not to mention it may have been formulaic, but I couldn't tell. I'm not up to snuff on the whole Green Goblin mythos, but it was great to see the chaotic villain calling the shots in a wild and fastpaced world where anything could happen. Even when things were predictable and you could tell what was going to be said, something that followed brought the cliche back into reality (the scene where MJ & Peter talk outside their houses for instance).

Here is the cultural mythology we've been lacking for some time, and while we're living in a golden age when comic book movies are all the rage (with some Marvel-icious stuff like The Hulk and Daredevil coming soon to a theater near you), it's a shame that only now are all these wonderful stories coming out of the ghetto. Heroes with a solid moral code instead of all the Stallone/Schwarzenegger/Willis/Gibson crap that we've been fed the last 20 or so many years. I'm also thankful that studios are getting great directors like Raimi with real respect for the material instead of hacks like Schumacher.

In summation, I loved everything and the details made it come alive. To quote my favorite line: Woooohooooooo!!!!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

Movie=Spray-can cheddar, Series=Fine Roqueforte

[6/10 · 4 September 2001]

Hey, even fluffy films such as this can use a little serious critiquing when there's comparisons to be made. For one thing, with all the acting talent in there I was hoping for a bit more character development a la the series, but then this is only 1 movie and spoofy at that, so char. development wasn't the point. Still, with the mix of Whedon writing and Kuzui directing, anyone else notice that Pike was at some points purely Xander (being drunk/early in the film), purely Angel (the dance), not to mention his name has much in common with a favorite blond vamp?

Granted, the direction got a bit annoying at times with the various shots probably overdoing the cheese factor and lacking a better sophistication seen in the series, but it's been pointed out that this wasn't exactly Whedon's original version from which he based the series (it's noted in the Pilot that Buffy burned down the gym). However, the teenage valley girl turn to slayer was nailed by Kristy Swanson, which is probably the best unique quality the movie has (the series seemed to have moved past that somewhat before it even began, and besides, Cordy basically took over the fluffy material from B).

If anything, I'd say this movie is the epitome of a prototype: something which lays the groundwork but still has much that can be improved upon. As a singular entity its spoof qualities and humor work the best, but they too often get weighed down by the story's seriousness.

Gladiator (2000)

A MOVIE'S MOVIE

[10/10 · 6 May 2000]

And that's not a comment I throw around lightly. This ain't no stinkin' summer action flick folks. On the surface, it may seem all action action action, but really, thanks to the furious pace of the cinematography, the action (and gore) isn't centered upon at all. That's not the point. If you find yourself wanting to see it all more, you're no better than the mob in the Colliseum. THAT'S THE POINT OF GLADIATOR.

Having followed Russell Crowe's career for some time, having seen him in interviews, and now, having seen him in Gladiator, I realize no one else could play Maximus because Russell Crowe IS Maximus. It's that simple. Gladiator in its early stages very much resembles his career up until this point, and in his dialogues (some of which Russell is said to have written himself) Russell is letting himself exist up on the screen under the pseudonym of "Maximus".

Ridley Scott is known for taking massive images and then telling intimate portraits. While Russell's is a piece of the intimate portrait, the massive image of Gladiator is the Roman world paralleled as our own entertainment (not just sport)-centered way of life. The world Scott shows is dark, Rome a shadow of what it once was. His use of light is reserved for places where the ideal and metaphorical are able to peek through the canopy of the real: home, Elysium, forelighting, etc.. And indeed, light is rare, just as in the world Scott creates. But mind you, watch the characters for this as well: Lucilla and Lucius, what's the Latin root of these names? ;)

In all, this is my ideal movie, going beyond what I could have ever expected coming in, knowing Russell Crowe, Ridley Scott, Hans Zimmer, and DreamWorks were all attached. The subtle commentary Gladiator offers on the experience of viewing the movie itself is on the same level as that of L.A. Confidential. That is the qualification that makes a well-executed movie go from a 10 to an 11 in my books.

Light and Dark. Life and Death. Strength and Honor.

Die Hard (1988)

The archetypal modern action movie

[10/10 · 8 April 2000]

This is one for the ages. The strength of this movie, unlike the numerous later ripoffs (I can't say anything about the sequels yet), lies in substance over style. At first I was repulsed by the obvious 80s feel of the movie, but then, hey, Bruce Willis was starring so I had to keep watching. He makes this wonderful transformation from ordinary joe into, literally, Rambo at the end where he's shirtless, shoeless, bloody, hurting and smoke-stained (and then he says "Hi honey" to his amazed wife!). All throughout this transformation he's helped by a very strong script filled with what might be throw-away lines and details, but instead come back to haunt later on. What defines this picture above the rest is that it starts out giving you characters, not violence, and the level of realism portrayed makes McClane's metamorphosis all the more spectacular.

Die Hard plays like it was taken right from a novel (which it was) but rises above that feel by seeing it played out on the screen, especially helped by the action scenes so pivotal to the twists and turns of it all.

Some things of note: •the use of "Ode to Joy" type motifs in the scoring (not the obvious parts)

•great intelligent bad guys, no clichés (unless you count the German baddies, which this movie probably originated), an actual worthy set of adversaries

•a performance by Alan Rickman played to a T...

•...as well as a perfect performance by Bruce Willis, no one else could've done it as well as he.

Jaws (1975)

A testament to one of the true classics.

[10/10 · 8 April 2000]

Skip so-called horror movies, Spielberg knows how to work the scare factor. Not since I saw Jurassic Park in the theater have I so squirmed and jumped around in my seat from fear -- and I saw Jaws for the first time at home (thank goodness).

I was also fortunate to have seen the wide-screen version of Spielberg's masterpiece. From the underwater photography, usage of a real shark, and poetic justice in the sharp script to the well drawn and acted characters, and the gripping emotional connections in every moment, this movie is excellent.

The Insider (1999)

Gotta love Russell

[9/10 · 11 November 1999]

Just a few short notes:

•There was an actor playing Mike Wallace?

•There was someone _acting_ as Wigand?

•How did Al Pacino figure into this in real life?

•Can Russell Crowe do intensity subtly or what? (at least he won't be going up against any of his LA Confidential castmates except Spacey come Oscartime)

•Creates a wonderful feel with everything technical, then adds a wallop with the acting, scripting, and directing.

•The partially repetitive style makes it feel in some aspects like a 60 Minutes show, itself.

•The Insider and Fight Club both show you that you're watching a movie, Fight Club more directly, Insider much more subtly as the presentation mimics the theme of media manipulating the facts of the case.

Fight Club (1999)

...and you bleed just to know you're alive....

[9/10 · 1 November 1999]

I'm no real movie critic, but I enjoyed this movie and found some powerful truth in it. Look at the scene where Tyler lets himself be beaten by the bar owner. He's clearly enjoying it. With the consumerist/materialist focus on the self, this is the way in which the self can be denied. There might be the work of id, ego, and super ego going on here (which would necessitate Marla), but I'm not quite sure. Anyway, this is probably the scene that helped me understand the ending, how the two came one by means of such violence. Rather Zen in a way. Amazing how two such philosophical movies (as far as I've seen) that have a great share of violence are made in the same year (this and The Matrix). Perhaps this is saying something about society in this time.