FunBlog

If I tell you the plot of this story it’s going to sound like a laundry list of anime and manga clichés. But in this case there’s a good excuse: this is the story where many of these clichés originated. As is often the case, the original is better than most of its imitators.
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Last Friday was the 200th anniversary of the passage in the House of Commons of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which largely eliminated the Atlantic slave trade. More significantly, the Act laid the groundwork for the eventual abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833. In less than 100 years the rest of the world followed suit.

It took some extraordinary people to eliminate an institution that had previously been unquestioned in every civilization since the dawn of history. It required men an women of great passion, courage and dedication. The movie Amazing Grace, released on the anniversary of the passage of the Act, focuses on William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) the politician who led the fight to get the Act through Parliament, a process that took almost 18 years.
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Quite why the majority of US critics are so offended by this particular outrage remains a mystery. Hollywood has always had a somewhat cavalier attitude towards foreign accents, as those of you scarred for life by Dick van Dyke’s chirpy Cockney in Mary Poppins will attest.

–The Register: US film critics slap Calcutta-born Welsh

Actually I was scarred for life by Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

This movie is most notable for Peter O’Toole’s Oscar-nominated performance as an elderly actor who is witty, charming and something of a reprobate. It is a superb performance, but somehow I wonder if it is really much of a stretch for him.

We start with two over-the-hill actors, Maurice (O’Toole) and Ian (Leslie Phillips). Ian is a fussy old hypochondriac who has just agreed to allow his grand-niece to move into his apartment to take care of him. He anticipates home-cooked meals and tender loving care, so he is bitterly disappointed when Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) turns out to be a foul-mouthed, ignorant girl who can’t cook without a microwave and drinks up all his Scotch.
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I’ve crossed my fingers and switched everything on the site to WordPress 2.1. If you see anything that is obviously broken, let me know via the contact form.

Guillermo del Toro’s new movie, also known as El Laberinto del Fauno is a very dark and very violent fantasy. It is brilliantly imaginative and filled with astonishing imagery. Yet I never warmed to it.

I think the problem is in the “magical realism” which in this case involves too little magic and too much realism. The net result is more repellent than inspiring. It may well be that this is the effect that del Toro was trying to achieve, but it doesn’t work for me.
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“Doctor, Doctor! What’s wrong with Shiori? Will she be all right?”

“I’m sorry Kaori, but your sister is not going to live past her next birthday. More specifically, she’s going to look fine until the exact day of her birthday, then she’s going to drop dead.”

“How awful! How is that possible?”

“Shiori is suffering from Anime Disease. It is similar to Movie Disease, but even worse. Remember she is very weak, so keep her out of school, but let her wander around in the snow and eat all the ice cream she wants.”

Words fail me.