Movie Review: From Up On Poppy Hill (2011, Studio Gibli, Cinedigm Entertainment)

...this viewer really has to hand it to the skilled writers, directors and animators of the best of contemporary Japanese anime; when skillfully integrated, there's a certain symbiotic relationship between the extraordinary visual splendor of these varied productions, and the engaging & quite compelling storylines, which the striking visuals help to tell. Often, from production to production, the story relies on the visuals, and vice-versa, but also, they complement each other. Without the story, the visuals prove to be merely eye-candy, and without the visuals...well, one might as well merely be reading a book, and imagining the visuals. And some select anime productions are so masterfully written...so visually immersing...so captivating and engaging, with regards to the characters, it makes one genuinely wonder why the filmmakers involved, chose not to conceive and render such an exquisite production, as a live-action feature film, rather than utilizing animation. It is that keen latter observation, which denotes anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, as one of the most skillful artists, working in his field. Most anime devotees very much know and lovingly embrace his masterful work, which includes such classics as "Princess Mononoke" (1997), "Kiki's Delivery Service" (1989), "Spirited Away" (2001), and "The Castle of Cagliostro" (1979), amongst others. And proving that the proverbial apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as far as equally skillful filmmaking artistry, in the realm of anime feature-film production, Hayao's son, Goro, has proven himself, his father's equal, carrying on the tradition, with the strikingly beautiful, breathtaking, captivating and compelling coming-of-age drama, 2011's "From Up On Poppy Hill"...

Movie Review: Twixt (2013, Blu-ray)

Oh, boy. You know, there's always something suspect about a movie when a list of talented people is attached, yet you never hear of it until the screener shows up on a straight-to DVD/Blu-ray release. Okay, when Val Kilmer is the lead in 2013, you can be suspect, no matter where it shows up. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy in spite of his being the worst Batman that will ever be. (Sorry, Affleck haters, he'll be one of the better choices for the role.) Seeing that Bruce Dern and David Paymer are in the movie is encouraging, though they're hard working actors, and I don't think they turn down much. Not to mention that Dern can be a bit hammy and over the top at times. Elle Fanning is still getting her sea legs behind her sister's fame. The one odd duck on this list is Francis Ford Coppola, who wrote, produced and directed Twixt. He's made some legendary and brilliant films, including The Rainmaker, which I think is one of Matt Damon's best. I'll be honest, I didn't even realize it was his movie until the end credits rolled. This looks like a horror geek's first movie. I'll explain why.

This is My Fist to Your Face Style: The Best of Kung Fu Movies, Volume One (2011)

There are few things in this life that bring me happiness like a good trailer compilation. It's like a Valentine's box of candy, except in lieu of chocolate truffles and sugary goo, you get bite sized samples of cinema! Now, like any box of sweets worth its salt, there has to be some sort of loose, unified thread of commonality. Most do not want peanut brittle mixed with that filled chocolate with the mystery pink center. In the small but growing categories of trailer compilations, Southern DVD, a small company out of South Africa, has released BEST OF KUNG FU MOVIES VOLUME 1. While the kung fu sub genre has been somewhat represented on a number of fine compilations, it has rarely if ever gotten its very own disc. That is, until now. So what's being served on the cinematic buffet tonight?