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Time for a long overdue update.

This is part 1, mostly some Netflixing:

We been watchin' stuff at da Kzin House y'all, and here it be:

Memories: kinda like a Japanese "Heavy Metal", 3 different animated films in 3 different styles.
"Magnetic Rose" is an update on the old classic tales of sirens luring sailors to their death.
In this case, the sailors sail aboard a starship and salvage space junk for a living.
They pick up a beautiful voice singing "Madame Butterfly" on the emergency band and decide to go check it out.
The animation is top-notch, and I think it's done by the "Royal Space Force: Wings Of Honneamise" team.
"Stink Bomb" is a more light-hearted tale of a hapless office worker in a biochemical company who accidentally
takes a new kind of drug, which mutates unexpectedly inside his body (he's got a cold and he's loaded with
every kind of medicine on the market). The net result is that his body generates a mist that makes all plants
grow and renders humans and animals. From the "Perfect Blue" and "Millenium Actress" people (both worth seeing).
"Cannon Fodder" is a more abstract piece. It's by Otomo himself and it's an odd piece about a city whose
whole life revolves around firing huge cannons at an unseen enemy. It's pretty strange. And short.
Overall, this is a really good DVD. The animation is of high-quality and the stories are engaging.
The DVD is in Japanese only, with no English dubbing. There are subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
Definitely worth the rental if you lean toward the "brainier" side of anime, like me. :-)

Once Were Warriors:it's the Maori film from New Zealand that's not "Whale Rider". It's about the
struggle of a Maori wife trying to keep her family together while living in a seriously depressed area of
some large New Zealand city. Her dimwitted brute of a husband is played by intergalactic bad-ass Jango Fett.
It's not a happy movie, it's about struggle, survival, and having the guts to put your foot down.

Spy Kids 3D: Game Over:starring everybody from "Spy Kids" and "Spy Kids 2" plus Sylvester Stallone.
I like Roberto Rodriguez's work. He's a talented guy. He's responsible for the "El Mariachi/Desperado" series.
He's got a Tex Avery sense of humor and a love of action. His movies are never boring.
The first "Spy Kids" is great is definitely worth a look. The second is pretty cool too, if only for the
wonderful Ray Harryhausen-style stop-motion skeleton swashbuckling sequence. The third installment in the
series ain't so hot. It's a bit like Nintendo-TRON and more geared toward the kiddies.
The movie was in 3D in the theaters, and I was lead to believe that the DVD was too, but my version was
flatter than restaurant Coke. Must complain to NetFlix.

Wasabi:a fun and funny action flick from France, starring the man who is currently widely regarded
as The Coolest Frenchman In The World: Jean Reno, star of many Luc Besson films and the Onimusha 3 videogame
(and "Godzilla" and "Mission Impossible" and "Les Visiteurs" 1, 2 and 3. And "Ronin" too, come to think of it).
Anyway, Jean-Jean plays a Dirty Harry style Paris cop who has a tendency to punch perps in the face.
He accidentally punches the son of the prefect at a night club, sending him to the hospital. The police chief
strongly advises Jean-Jean to go on vacation. AS if on cue, our hero gets a call from Japan. The woman he loved
once and who abandoned him 19 years ago has passed away, and he is the only executor of her last will and testament.
So Jean-Jean flies to Tokyo to see what's up. And finds out he has a 19 year-old daughter. Supplies!!
We watched it in the original French without subtitles (one of the coolest things about DVDs!).
The bulk of the movie takes place in Japan and is fairly action-filled. It's fun and not nearly as goofy as
the two movies listed below this one. If you're a Jean Reno fan, you've probably seen it already.
If you wonder what a French good Lethal Weapon movie looks like, check this one out.

Charlie's Angels: my brother wanted to see this. It's a goofy-ass cartoony cheese-fest. 'Nuff said.

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle: same here. Seeing Bruce Willis in aging make-up is kinda interesting.

American Gun: James Coburn's last film, also starring Barbara Baine and Virginia Madsen.
It's a sad, slow little film about a man wrestling with his inner demons and trying to track down the last
owner of the gun that killed his daughter. Yes, I phrased it like this deliberately. The DVD also includes
"James Coburn: Bang The Gong", a good-sized retrospective of his life with copious interviews with his friends
and colleagues. James Coburn was quite a guy and we all miss him. I know I do.
Thanks to prickvixen for turning me on to "The President's Analyst", one of Coburn's personal projects.
I'm eternally grateful.

Secret Window (Sony screening last week): starring Johnny "Arrrrr" Depp, John "Creepy" Turturro,
Timothy "All Grown Up" Hutton, Charles "Heavyweight" Dutton, and Generic Actress #23475463.
What do you get when you cross "The Shining" with "Fight Club"? Something that's not that good, and would
look strangely familiar to anybody who sees "Secret Window". The story is a little on the weak side.
This could easily be made into a play. Good ol' Stephen King is recycling himself.
The acting is pretty good though. Rated R for a reason. Matinée only, I'm afraid.



And that's all for now.
More later...

Gothika Immortal

Crap, I forgot to add in "Gothika".
That one turned out to be better than I expected. I've been weary of Dark Castle releases because they've been
kinda bad in the past. And yeah, I'm especially thinking of you, "Ghost Ship". I want my 91 minutes back!!!
But this one is pretty good! Maybe because it's got a French director at the helm. :-)
They put more money in this one and it really paid off. It's a good, spooky thriller. Recommended!!



And now for something somewhat different:

If you liked "The Fifth Element", and wanted to see something similar but darker and weirder...

You're in luck!!

Feast your eyes on this little beauty!

http://www.immortel-lefilm.com/#

Look at the bottom of the page for the phrase "Découvrez la bande-annonce", that's the trailer.
Choose either "standard" of "full-screen" depending on your connection. It's in Quicktime.
Warning: the server is probably in France and it's kinda slow.

"Immortel Ad Vitam" is a movie based on the "Nikopol" trilogy by graphic novelist Bilal.
His son adapted the books to screen. The look and feel is pure Bilal.
The movie came out Wednesday March 24th in France. It was filmed in English and dubbed in French.
I am seriously hoping that the original English version is brought over here in the U.S. and released.
Hopefully uncut. It will be rated R for sure.

Between this, Hellboy, Spider-Man 2, Appleseed, and Ghost In The Shell 2, it's a rockin' year for sci-fi/comics!