Pan's Labyrinth

I went to see this movie as one of the first things I did when one of my best friends got out of prison. I had read about this movie quite often nearly two years before it was released, in Rue Morgue and Fangoria magazines.

It's a fairy tale (for grown-ups, as the tv spots say) about Ofelia, and her magical adventures with a faun who tells her she is a princess and gives her three tasks to complete before she can be reunited with her royal parents.

In reality, however, she has a family, albeit a broken one. Her mother, with child, has fallen very ill, and her step-father, a military Captain of the Spanish Civil War, is hunting refugees from the other side, who hide in the forest surrounding the cabin to which he has brought Ofelia and her mother.

The film was anything but dull. It was extremely violent in a way Hollywood tries to avoid. And it was also brilliantly gorgeous, with amazing cinematography. The saddest part for me was the fact that it brought my own childhood fantasies to life, and made me long for them to come true, like I had then, and sometimes do now. I wanted it all to be real. And then BANG! the movie comes to a screeching halt that wraps it up phenomenally and quite sadly.

One thing I wanted in the end was the story Ofelia told about the lonely rose atop a dangerous mountain of death to make a second appearance, somehow giving her eternal life in her fantasy, which we will never know if she actually achieved.

Cinematography gets a 10/10. So does the story, characters (real and make-believe), and all that violence.

The Fuccons

The Fuccons (aka Oh! Mikey) started off as a skit on a Japanese variety show called Vermilion Pleasure Night (which I will review at a later date). The idea is to use mannequins as live action actors, and inserting the Fuccons, your average, deliriously happy American family into suburban Japan.

The main character is Mikey, a happy-go-lucky, and fairly dumb grade school boy, parented by James and Barbara (who reek of infidelity and other shenanigans). The show comes in 5 minute skits that keep the whole family laughing, and laughing, and oh why won't they stop laughing?!?

I picked up volume 0 from a Media Play that was closing down. The American voice actors couldn't have been more perfect, and I prefer to hear it in English (after all, they are American). Each episode is filled with hilarious situations, including a sexy session with a sexier tutor, a hostage negotiation to get Mikey to drink his milk, and MURDER! (well, maybe not on this volume).

I give it a 5/10 for action, 8/10 for hilarity, and 9/10 for fun.

Cat Soup

I had heard of Cat Soup back in 2001 near the time it first came out. In fact, I think I made some pins of the pictures from the article. This was before I knew what it was. I don't even think I read the article.

I picked up the movie at a video game store when I saw it in a bin for five dollars. It's one of the coolest experimental animations I've ever seen. It's completely up for interpretation, really. I didn't know what to think of it at first, but it still made me cry at the end.

The story follows two cat siblings- Nyako (the sister) and Nyatto (the brother)- on a journey beyond the realms of the living, into a surreal landscape of gods, elephants made of water, and a strange man hungry for some cat soup. The goal is for Nyatto to retrieve his sister from death, while at the same time, risking his own return.

It's a movie to watch more than once, for sure. To let all the details sink in, sans dialog. And to let the main menu play you to sleep with its melodic music box tune.

For everything (sights, sounds, and concept), I give this movie a 9/1o.

Suicide Club

Suicide Club!!! I would have to say that this is my favourite Japanese cult classic so far. This goes TOTALLY against the grain of Sion Sono's normal array of gay porn films. What a refreshing concept. Many thanks go out to my little sister for letting me borrow it.

Any movie that starts off with 54 cute school girls clasping hands and jumping onto subway tracks in front of a fast moving train is worth watching. On one hand, you just know it's going to be good, but on the other, you just know it's not going to get any bloodier than that.

Suicides are popping up all over Tokyo and it's up to Detective Kuroda (and a couple other detectives whose names escape me) to find out why. None of them seemed depressed. The suicides were sudden, and booming. Things seem to go nowhere until Kuroda is tipped off by someone known only as The Bat, who shows them a website with dots representing the boys and girls who've done themselves in (and the dots appear before the suicides!). What does the site have to do with all the deaths? And does the hottest sensation j-pop band of adorable girls Dessert have anything to do with them?

There are many bloody scenes accompanied by the cute music of Dessert, and there's even a wanna-be copy cat killer who goes by the name Genesis (j-pop artist Rolly), who kidnaps The Bat and makes her tell police it was him, while he serenades her with a song. My sister found this part disturbing. She was talking about when Genesis kicked a sack (containing a dog) until it stopped yelping and was all bloody, while I replied, "I know, his voice is terrible!" His voice isn't really that bad, and in fact, the song he sings frequently gets in my head for days.

The ending is full of holes, which I wasn't particularly happy with, but after a couple times of watching it, I found that I could piece together things that were missing.

Bloody: 10/10. Funny: 7/10. Story: 8/10. Ending: 5/10.

Russian Ark

I picked up Русский ковчег (Russian Ark) from Blockbuster the other day, with my friend Kelly (thanks for putting it on your tab, Kelly).

I watched it, and I was bored stiff.

Don't get me wrong! It's a beautifully crafted film and its credentials are amazing! But as I have been told before, it tries the patience of Americans. People who are from Russia, have taken a Russian history class, or have been to the Hermitage Museum might find it far more interesting, but in my point of view, it was like sitting in a historical art lecture for three hours.

People who loved it, people familiar with Russian culture, have said that we've seen two different movies.

Why this movie is amazing:
It has 2000 actors and is shot in 33 rooms of the Hermitage Museum. The costumes are simply amazing. The most impressive part is knowing that it is the longest single shot in film history, and on top of that, it is the first movie EVER to be shot in one single take! Three hours in one take! Traveling from room to room, from a modern set to a historical scene... You have to see it to believe it!

Why this movie is dull:
It's 3 hours of walking around an art museum, and not everything was translated, so sometimes, you have no idea what they're saying.

I give this movie a 4/10 for interesting, and a 10/10 for impressive costume design and 100/10 for the amazing feat of shooting the movie in only one take!

The Pillows

The Pillows are my favourite Japanese band, so I simply must do a review of sorts (more like all-out praise). To be honest, I only have a couple albums of theirs that aren't licenced to the rad mini-series Furi Kuri (FLCL).

I have introduced many people to this band and nobody so far hasn't absolutely loved them. The guitars aren't overpowering, and they use so many different techniques with their guitars, too. They play so melodically, and then bam! They rock the casbah hardcore.

The Pillows are one of those bands you can play while you're hanging out with a group of people, or all alone. They're loungey, without being classically lounge. They only sometimes sing, and when they do, it's crazy amazing! Their melody is stunning, and they don't even try. I pop in one of their CDs every time I have guests, or when I'm sitting on the couch reading... simply put, it's music to listen to.

Ultimate amazing band: 1000/10.