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A few months ago, I reviewed two of Takashi Miike’s most recent films. Zebraman was his family-friendly, cheesy-70’s-Japanese-action-show tribute. 13 Assassins, the more recent of the two, was his critically acclaimed, internationally recognized masterpiece which also served as an expression for his own stylized work. So, how does a director follow up a masterpiece like 13 Assassins? With Zebraman 2, of course! ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Anyone who was dissatisfied with the series finale of Joss Whedon’s “Buffy: the Vampire Slayer” will be happy to know that Whedon continued the story in a new line of comics: “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Season Eight.”
While I personally like season 7, I must admit it left us not only with an overly-hopeful (though awesome) ending, but also refused to tie up certain loose ends from earlier in the series, and doesn’t exactly jive the related comic trade “Fray” (which is about a future slayer). Season 8 successfully addresses these ends; I won’t say exactly where this season goes, for fear of spoilers. But rest assured every character left alive from the TV series “Buffy” (and even a character we were sure was dead) makes an appearance in 8. I mean everyone.
In addition to these reappearances, we’ve also got an army of slayers to contend with. While this army gives us an onslaught of bad-ass chicks to cheer on, Whedon also address the problems posed by the world having thousands of slayers. On the plus side, there are just that many more girls out fighting evil. On the down side, some girls pull a Faith and start abusing their power. Furthermore, the rest of the human race gets nervous about so many super-strong ladies running around and—with society’s new-found sympathy for vampires—starts plotting a slayer take-down. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Since I owed a fan of the site (a friend) a review of Disney’s Tangled, I figured I should, you know, actually write it. As it is, I’m sitting here writing this review while in the process of watching a very non-Disney movie, Scarface. This will be very stream-of-consciousness. I apologize in advance.
So, why is a dudely dude like me watching Tangled in the first place? Because my co-editor is a princess stuck in a man’s body and forced me to watch it. Tangled, as you can probably guess, is loosely based off of the fairy tale, Rapunzel.
My first thought, as I watch the prologue of Scarface, is that the evil witch who imprisoned Rapunzel, Mother Gothel, would have kept the tower sexy-prince-free if she had just stuck some criminals in the tower ala Castro sending unwanted criminals along with the refugees. Sure, Rapunzel might be in there, but sexy prince then has to deal with a couple serial killers and a “political refugee” or two. As I type this, I’m pretty sure this could backfire, but Rapunzel seems to be able to handle herself. The same cannot be said for Flynn. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Zebraman Teaches its Audience the Power of Believing, but without all that Hokey Bullshit
on August 30, 2011 at 1:53 PM
With this movie’s sequel already made and awaiting release, I thought it pertinent to enlighten you all to this Takashi Miike film before I rush off to see part two and subject everyone to its review.
The main character of Zebraman is Shinichi: a sad, lonely man who’s ignored by his wife and kids, and who’s despised by most of the elementary children he substitute-teaches. At the beginning of the film, his only joy is watching 70’s shows in the vein of “Ultraman” and dressing up as his favorite hero of these programs: Zebraman. Shinichi gets a little more relief when he meets a transfer student—a ten-year-old boy bound to a wheelchair—who’s also an avid fan of the short-lived “Zebraman” show. Gaining confidence from the new-found relationship with the boy and his mother (Kana), Shinichi starts venturing out of the house in his Zebraman costume. Eventually, he encounters a crime and—amazingly—is able to stop the bad guy. As Shinichi becomes aware of his actual power as a superhero, real monsters start popping up around town, and it’s up to Zebraman to stop them. The real conflict of Shinichi, then, is to become the revered Zebraman. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…