Dantalian Ends
The Mystic Archives of Dantalian a.k.a. Dantalian no Shoka a.k.a. Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian did not, as I feared, have a Gainax ending, but the ending was nevertheless startlingly abrupt…. Read more »
50/50–Movie Review
50/50 is sort of like a Judd Apatow comedy except it’s about cancer. The movie is loosely based on the experiences of screenwriter Will Reiser who is now in apparent… Read more »
Hanasaku Iroha Ends
Hanasaku Iroha has to be the most disappointing anime of the Summer season. I’m not comparing it to the numerous crappy shows that I avoided entirely or sampled and quickly… Read more »
Nichijou Ends
I think my opinion of Nichijou (My Ordinary Life) has improved over the course of the series. Two of the main characters seem more likeable. Yukko isn’t really a jerk…. Read more »
Moneyball–Movie Review
Moneyball is an unusual sports movie, perhaps a sports movie for people who hate sports movies. A slightly fictionalized adaptation of Michael Lewis’s book, it ignores the usual sports movie… Read more »
Ikoku Meiro Ends
Ikoku Meiro no Croisée (The Crossroads of a Foreign Labyrinth) ends rather abruptly. This may be a feel-good slice-of-life anime but it does have an overall story. Yet the ending… Read more »
Contagion–Movie Review
Contagion is an unusual disaster film: tightly written, thoughtful and totally plausible. Pretty much everything that is shown could actually happen and in fact is not particularly unlikely. The movie… Read more »
Usagi Drop Ends
Usagi Drop turned out to be basically a feel-good slice-of-life anime with none of the melodrama I expected. It is charming and heartwarming; not silly but not entirely realistic; maybe… Read more »
The Guard–Movie Review
The Guard is a darkly funny Irish crime drama that seems to owe a debt both to American Westerns and the plays of David Mamet. (It’s the sort of movie… Read more »
Our Idiot Brother–Movie Review
Our Idiot Brother is a moderately funny offbeat comedy about a misfit with a heart of gold. Ned (Paul Rudd) is a latter-day hippie type who lives happily on a… Read more »