While I’m not exactly a fan of Zack Snyder’s films, his personal brand of razor thin plotting and fast-paced action just might make for a stellar children’s film, which is exactly what Legend of the Guardians looks like it might be.
I know next to nothing about the series of books it was based on, or what the heck the film is about, but I must admit, I’m a sucker for epic fantasy films starring animals. Dare I dream that this will be as good as Watership Down?
I’ve been touting Ink ever since I watched it last year (read my review here), its a fabulous throwback to the kind of sci-fi/fantasy films that were everywhere in the 80’s yet have seemingly gone out of fashion in the decades since. Its a terrific little film from some of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of meeting. If you haven’t checked out the movie yet, let me once again urge you to do so.
Now, I’ve been not so secretly hoping that writer/director Jamin Winans would return to the proverbial well and make another film that would involve the Ink universe, and while his latest short film doesn’t do that exactly, it certainly involves a lot of elements that made Ink such an enjoyable film to watch. Most of the actors in Uncle Jack were involved with Ink (note to self, watch anything with Jeremy Make in it), the plot certainly cribs some elements from Ink and of course Winan’s visual style and flair exists in both films. So sit back and watch this great little short film, and perhaps it will finally convince you to give Ink a try.
And we’re back! James and I sit down as we attempt to maintain a robust and brisk pace of one episode of High and Low (Brow) each month. Rather than stick to the standard numbering of episodes numerically we’ve decided to go to a seasonal format to hopefully confuse everyone even further. Thankfully, that’s not the only possible change we might have in store for you.
In this episode James and I watch and review two films that are based on legends or fairy tales, those being the 1940 fantasy epic The Thief of Bagdad and the 1972 film The Pied Piper. The first is a multiple Academy Award winner while the second has people in funny hats. Well, more than just funny hats, but you really need to see those things to truly believe them.
Besides the main review we read some viewer mail, plug my recent appearance on the Movie Club Podcast and discuss the possibility of James and I devoting an upcoming podcast to a director who’s films that we both enjoy. Will it become a regular feature? Who knows but it certainly is being considered. Rounding out the show we have our selection process for the next episode and this marks a return to our standard format as I once again pick the theme and films for James to choose from.
If you have any recommendations for films we could watch for the podcast, or want to suggest a potential theme for us to use, feel free to email us and tell us your ideas. If you enjoy the show make sure to subscribe through iTunes or our RSS feed so you can catch every new episode. Also, please friend James on Facebook. Because it will frighten and confuse him.
One more thing, if you enjoy the show feel free to donate to it through PayPal in either a single installment or as a recurring donor. We’d love to upgrade some of our equipment and anything you donate will go directly towards us getting some decent mics and perhaps even pop screens that aren’t made out of cotton balls.
As a youth I used to live in the shelves of my local video store. Most summers I would spend my days down at the local strip mall (a scant 1.3 miles away) bowling for hours, reading comics off the rack at the drug store, picking out the most essential candy at the grocery store and finally wandering in the stacks, searching for the perfect movie to watch that weekend. All this time spent in the stacks lead to a curious skill of recognizing films based solely by their cover art, and I’d often know the plot of the films based off of the descriptions on the back. Soon it became a bit of a game for my friends to quiz me on what the films were about, but only the films I’d never actually seen and using simply the cover as a hint.
Of course, back then I was still very young and simply didn’t have the time nor the resources to watch every film I wanted to. So I would pick and choose which I would watch, often leaning heavily towards science fiction and fantasy films (my horror obsession didn’t really kick in until my early twenties). So how is it that I never watched a post-apocalyptic film about a nomadic swordsman? Simple, I hated the cover.
I know next to nothing about Mamoru Oshii’s latest film. What I do know is that he’s directed some pretty great animated films like Ghost in the Shell and The Sky Crawlers, and judging by the teaser for Assault Girls it should packed with plenty of sand whales, giant guns, angels, Lucifer and cute Japanese girls kicking ass. Really, what more from a fantasy film do you honestly need?
Film: Assault Girls (Asaruto gâruzu)
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Starring: Rinko Kikuchi, Meisa Kuroki, Hinako Saeki
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