The Sky Crawlers
I've just acquired the Blu-Ray release of Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers, and the subtitles on it are so good that there are notes appearing at the top of the screen that denote subtleties in the use of language that the subtitles don't have time to pick up. If only all subtitle tracks were like that.

Magnus, it's getting a UK cinema release on 10th April. I hope you're not one of those unfortunate people who lives a million miles away from an art cinema. I can't agree that it's the best vampire tale ever told like some people have said while in the grip of some kind of hyperbole spasm, but it's definitely worth…

I guess everyone is glad that John Lasseter handled the voice work on the Studio Ghibli collection that came out recently, but on Laputa, there is extra dialogue added to explain some of the actions of the characters where before there was nothing. To make it extra annoying, the subtitles are directly from that audio…

I would dearly have loved for Snyder to have broken the story up more. As it stands, a lot of the film follows the narrative line of the comic, but barely mixes things up. A bit more boldness in tinkering with the source material might have made it breathe more. As it is, it's a lifeless facsimile. IMO.

"Groundbreaking" effects
In defense of HtD, this did feature the first use of digital wire removal in a motion picture. It sounds like a small thing, but it's a technology that's used constantly now. The animated energy effects throughout are unlike anything ever seen before (or since), and Tippett's creature is one…

"Did you miss the ensuing Wolf-mania? "
Wasn't the mania more about his awesome basketball skills than his lycanthropy? It almost counts…

Sometimes It Snows In April by Prince
I think I've only ever heard it once, but that first time, while feeling depressed about some stupid teenage drama or other, was traumatic enough to stop me dead in my tracks. I don't even know what I was upset about, but when that song starts up, I freak out until it's off. It…

My first great friend from my teenage years died many years ago, and at his funeral they played "You'll Never Walk Alone" and, less obviously, "Riders on the Storm". That's that song ruined for me.

Dylan. The only song I knew of his when I was young was "Lay, Lady, Lay", which I thought was annoying and wheedling and overplayed (UK's Radio 1 had it on repeat, it seems). Of course now I realise he is the greatest lyrical genius of our time, and even love that damnable song.

Sensei, have you seen Apocalypto? That movie is as bugfucknuts insane as Gibson is, so it kind of works. It's also a narrative machine.

I almost totally agree about Angel. It's many years after this post was written, but upon stumbling across it, I hear season five of Angel being dismissed as sloppy? It's probably the best single season Mutant Enemy ever did! I'm enraged to the point of impotently posting a comment on an article that no one is ever…

Victor twist
The reveal of Victor would have worked a lot better if early trailers hadn't shown that actor walking into the Dollhouse sleep chamber. It's a cool twist, but they fluffed it. I've been waiting for that shoe to drop since episode 1. Shame.

Elisa Dushku's Sexy Faith Dance (as debuted on Buffy) is the antithesis of sexy. I'm half glad she didn't use it this week, and half disappointed, as it makes me laugh so much.

She had to audition?
Really? Why the fuck is anyone asking Viola Davis to audition for anything? Meryl's right, get this woman a movie of her own. Get her an HBO show. Something! For fuck's sake! One of the best actresses in the entire world and we're missing out on her talent because, unless you're in travelling…

lexicondevil speaks the truth about Moore's work and the movie adaptations. From Hell the movie is a horrid mess, but it does have some nice atmospherics. From Hell the graphic novel is a hyper-dense, shocking, moving, intricately constructed masterpiece. I swing from that to Watchmen and League of Extraordinary…

"If everything about the Neapolitan mafia is so bleak, so uniformly awful, what causes people to sell their souls and become part of it? "

Cronenberg on Cronenberg is one of the best books on filmmaking (and the intellectual, artistic impulse) I've ever read. Best director working today, by far.

Oh, and Alan Ball ruins everything he touches. His Six Feet Under episodes were routinely frustrating, resolving plot threads mid-season instead of letting the writers run with them. Everything he finished off had to be re-ruined in the following episodes so the season arcs could play out.

Isn't he at least humbled now the best work he can get is 10th Ocean and Comedy Sitcom Dad? (He'll always be a Pro From Dover to me.)

(Oh *now* the damn site lets me log in!)