FunBlog

Management is a small, low-budget screwball comedy. It’s lightweight, but parts of it are very funny.

Mike (Steve Zahn) is stuck in a small town in Arizona, working as the night manager for his parents’ motel. He is clearly unhappy and wants a different kind of life, but he doesn’t seem to know exactly what. When a pretty, 30-something traveling saleswoman (Jennifer Aniston) checks in he makes a clumsy attempt to seduce her. She is bored and frustrated with her life and his lost-puppy charm is sufficient for them to end up having clumsy sex in the laundry room. Then she leaves with no intention of ever seeing him again.

Mike decides to go after her, and follows her to Maryland and then to Washington, hoping to win her love and lure her away from her maniacal ex-punk boyfriend (played by Woody Harrelson, whose performance is in itself worth the price of admission.)

Doesn’t this constitute stalking? Well yeah, but it has always been an article of faith in Hollywood that it is OK to stalk someone as long as you look like a movie star and there are pratfalls involved. Just remember, it’s not OK for ordinary peons to do it. The result in this case is predictable but amusing.

TRAFFIC COP: Citizen, what is your name?

BLOND PUNK KID: My name is James Tiberius Kirk!

If you were a fan of the original Star Trek TV series, you pretty much have to go see the new Star Trek movie. This is a witty but respectful tribute to the original series, with the same spirit but better special effects.

Director J.J. Abrams reimagines the beginning of the story, showing us younger versions of Kirk, Spock, Bones, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov as they enter Star Fleet Academy, meet each other and gradually bond as a team while confronting a threat to The Universe as They Know It.

This probably wouldn’t look as good to someone who was unfamiliar with the original TV show. To someone who didn’t know the original characters and the Star Trek universe much of the humor would fall flat, and many of the actions might seem puzzling. Such a hypothetical naive viewer might judge this to be routine sci-fi, perhaps even somewhat incoherent.

Still, anyone from a hard-core Trekkie to a casual fan will almost certainly enjoy this.

Kemono no Souja Erin (Erin the Beast-Player) premiered last January, and initially I wasn’t too impressed. Recently I revisited it and it’s really starting to grow on me.

It’s an odd series with an unusual drawing style. The artwork isn’t bad (in fact it’s quite good) but it’s rather unique, not quite what we are used to in contemporary anime.

The story involves a young girl growing up in a land where warriors ride giant hairy poisonous lizards. It’s a long series with 50 episodes scheduled, so it won’t wrap up until the end of the year. (I trust they plan to finish in one year–it’s based on two novels, so there shouldn’t be enough material for a second season.)

The story takes a while to get going and the early episodes told me far more than I really need to know about the care and feeding of giant hairy poisonous lizards. However now things seem to be falling into place, and it has become fascinating. It sort of reminds me of the movies of Hayao Miyazaki. The artwork is quite different, but it has a similar sensibility and the same loving attention to detail.

Initially the only available translation was so bad as to be almost unwatchable. However Static-Subs has picked it up, with much more readable results.

The early episodes feel like a children’s story and it might be good for older children–say age 10 and up. It wouldn’t be a good choice for younger children. (There are worse things in this world than giant hairy poisonous lizards, and some of them walk on two legs.)

I’m not optimistic about this being licensed in Region 1. It’s too long for a DVD-only release and it’s probably too unusual for one of the television networks to pick up. Cartoon Network started to broadcast Moribito–Guardian of the Spirit by the same author, then dropped it after a few episodes.

Crunchyroll would probably run it, but they tend to get the cheaper, low-end shows. Though it may be a bit outside of mainstream tastes, this show is a class act, which may mean that the owners will hold out for more money than in Internet distributor would be able to pay.

A timely warning, which may hopefully spare someone considering the JET program a grave disappointment.

In case anyone doesn’t get the joke, if they tell you your Japanese is “jouzu” (skilled) that generally means that it’s pretty bad. It’s sort of like exclaiming over the skilled dancing of a trained monkey. You’ll know that you’re really starting to get good if someone corrects your mistakes.

Personally I’ve been told that my Japanese is “kirei”, because it is exceptionally awful.