The Song of the Sea (Review)

Director: Tomm Moore

Company(s): 
Cartoon Saloon, Digital Graphics, Magellan Films, Melusine Productions, Noerlum Studios

Year: 2014

Country(s): Ireland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg

The next Miyazaki is in the making.

Cartoon Saloon is quickly establishing itself as a new animation powerhouse. The studio was founded in 1999, but did not really come into its own until the late 2000s following the release of several short films and its first feature, The Secret of Kells (2009). With the release of their newest movie, two TV series and upcoming feature in the works, Cartoon Saloon is setting an example for other small studios. Ethnically inspired, homegrown cartoons can find audiences, as they offer something different than typical Hollywood fare.

As for The Song of the Sea itself, it is a bit of a departure from Cartoon Saloon's previous film. While also heavily inspired by Irish mythology and traditions, it is set in modern times, specifically 1987. (The Secret of Kells is set around 800 AD.) Both of the film's art styles are also somewhat different as well. The Secret of Kells is dominated by interlacing spirals, geometric patterns, and thick outlines. On the other hand, The Song of the Sea veers more towards a rounded look, with smooth edges and sepia colors. However, the two movies share a similar theme: They stress the importance of family, and maintaining a sense of hope during difficult times. 

Tension bubbles just under the surface within the family.

The Song of the Sea focuses on ten year old Ben, his six year old sister, Saoirse, and his father, Conor. Conor is left heartbroken by the departure of his wife, Bronagh, who disappeared into the sea after giving birth to Saoirse several years before. Ben has grown to resent his younger sibling, due to all of the attention she receives from Conor, and to the fact that he associates her with his mother's disappearance. Saoirse is a very bright and curious child, but is also mute. Saoirse is the spitting image of Bronagh. In fact, she is later revealed to be a silkie (a person who can transform into a seal) like her mother. 

After Saoirse is found washed up on the shore on her birthday night, Grannie decides that Saoirse and Ben would be better off living with her than their alcoholic father. She takes the two siblings to live with her in Dublin. However, Ben plans to run back home on Halloween night. At the same time, Ben  discovers that the fairytale stories he was told by his mother appear to be real, when he and his sister encounter several figures form Irish mythology on their journey back home.

Boredom was also a good motivator to leave Grannie.

The characters in The Song of the Sea are complex and all grow through the trials they experience in their lives. At the start of the film, Ben is far more comfortable retreating into the world of comic books and reading his mom's stories than living in the present. He lavishes attention on his sheepdog, Cu, but rarely shows much affection towards Saoirse. It is not until Saorise falls ill that Ben realizes how much he has neglected her, and he decides to take matters into his own hands. 

Ben encounters many fairytale creatures on his quest to cure his ill sister (and, ultimately, save the rest of her kind). Some of them offer Ben advice, such as the forgetful but knowledgeable Great Seanchai, while others, such as the witch Macha, end up needing Ben's help instead. Macha is a particularly interesting character. Initially, she is introduced as the film's antagonist. She steals people's feelings and turns them to stone. However, we later learn that Macha does so in an attempt to rid others of bad feelings, she has even turned herself partly to stone in the process. Macha's first victim, in fact, was her son the giant Mac Lir, who was morning over the loss of his lover.

Both Ben and the witch, Macha, learn that locking up your emotions can actually do more harm than good in the long run. 

These mythological figures mirror people in Ben's own life. (And are in fact, portrayed by the same voice actors.) Macha represents Grannie, who attempts to help her family, but ends up accidentally causing tension by moving her grandkids in with her. Mac Lir represents Conner who is paralyzed by the loss of his wife. Finally, the Great Seanchai represents Dan the Ferryman, who acts as Ben's link to the outside world and offers him advice. 

At first glance, the animation used in The Song of the Sea seems rather simple looking. However, this works to the movie's benefit rather than hindering it. The stylized characters fit the mood of the film. They contrast with film's extremely detailed backgrounds, helping establish a relatable, but slightly otherworldly look. Since Ben's quest takes him between both the human and faerie worlds it works rather well. 

Both the final animation and concept art are beautiful.

The Song of the Sea is clearly a labor of love, having spent over five years in production. It tackles subjects not normally touched upon in mainstream family films, but does so in a way that is perfectly acceptable for children and that is easy to understand. The Secret of Kells already proved that Tomm Moore is a talented director, and this film further proves it. It is easily one of the best animated films to recently come out, and it was wrongfully robbed of its Oscar. Hopefully, The Song of the Sea will eventually get the attention it deserves.

Learning to accept life's troubles and moving on is the key to happiness.

Rating: 5/5

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (Review)

A minimalistic and emotionally charged film from an animation master.

Director: Isao Takahata 

Company: Studio Ghibli

Year: 2013

Country: Japan

Isao Takahata is an unusual director, especially for an anime director, given that he was never trained as an animator. Takahata's films tend to be focused around mundane everyday experiences, where as his close friend and collaborator, Hayao Miyazaki, tends to make larger scale epics or family fantasy movies. (Perhaps this is the reason that Miyazaki tends to be better known than Takahada, as his films are more accessible to most audiences. Outside of the morbidly depressing, but excellent, Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Takahada's movies are often overlooked in the West.)

After an absence of 14 years, Takahada officially returned to the big screen with The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Initially, Kaguya was supposed to be released as double bill alongside Miyazaki's The Wind Rises (2013), but was released several months later due to falling behind schedule. Princess Kaguya is based on the Japanese folktale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, which is about an old couple who find a baby girl inside a bamboo stalk and decide to raise her as their own. 

Does Kaguya bring a miracle into her family's life, an extra burden, or an opportunity to grow?

The Tale of Princess Kaguya has a relatively small cast of characters. We get to know Kaguya and her family quite well, along with her childhood friend, Satemaru, and her stern governess, Lady Sagami. Other characters such as the various suitors that try to win Kaguya's hand aren't given much development, but this actually works largely in the film's favor. Kaguya herself is a quiet, often inquisitive child. She grows unusually fast, earning the nickname Takeneko ("Little Bamboo") from the other children in her village. Kaguya loves playing outdoors and is more interested in playing with her peers than material pursuits.

As she grows older, however, her adoptive father becomes increasingly convinced that his daughter deserves the best. After finding gold and some cloth in the bamboo grove, the Bamboo Cutter convinces himself that is a sign that Kaguya should be wed to a wealthy suitor. Believing that Kaguya is divine royalty, he moves his small family to the city. Kaguya is trained to be a 'proper lady,' but after the glamor of her new life wears off, she begins to miss her previous home terribly. Her life of royalty has become a cage, and she feels that she can no longer express herself as freely she used to.

It's better to live poor but happy than to live surrounded by wealth and misery.

If this isn't symbolic, I don't know what is. 

Macross: Do You Remember Love? (Review)

Love triangles, J-pop & giant robots shouldn't normally work together, but...

Director(s): Shoji Kawamori, Noboru Ishiguro

Company: Studio Nue, Tatsunoko Production, Topcraft, Artland

Year: 1984

Country: Japan

Macross is one of the most iconic Japanese franchises. Over 30 years ago, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross debuted as a 36 episode television series. (It has since been followed with various other incarnations over the years, each along a different point within the fictional world's timeline.) As a result of its popularity, the show was rewarded with an expensive, high profile animated feature. The film follows the same plot, but is reduced to fit within a two hour runtime. Because of this, the film has a few chronological differences and is set in medias res. Macross: Do You Remember Love? takes place in the future. Humanity has evacuated Earth and is in the midst of a war with the male Zentradi and female Meltrandi. The U.N. Spacy, a successor of the United Nations, is in charge of defending Earth and general peacekeeping. 

A young pilot named Hikaru Ichiyo is one of U.N's members. Despite newly joining, he is rather talented. However, his carefree attitude often gets him in trouble, particularly with his superior, Misa Hayase. One day, the Macross is attacked by a group of Zentradi. In the chaos, pop idol Lynn Minmei is rescued by Hikaru. After spending a couple of days together, the two develop a relationship. However, it becomes increasingly threatened by Minmei's busy life, Hikura's duties, and the impending pressure of the war…

Lynn Minmei, the forerunner of Hatsune Miku.

This film is not like other franchise films of the era, which were often simply recaps using recycled footage or else made on very tight funding. Its animation and art direction is fully realized, and holds up remarkably well today, perhaps even looking better than the average anime put out now. (In fact, one scene had to be cut because the movie was starting to run over budget.) The amount of detail given in each frame is impressive. Backgrounds convey each scene's mood, and the character's clothes realistically wrinkle when they sit down or stand up. In this way, the film is a lot like Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Both were the first true big budget anime films of the era, and were coincidently released the same year.

Eat your heart out, Gundam.

The backgrounds are gorgeous, and often give off a melancholic feel.

Do You Remember Love? is, of course, also remembered for its use of pop music via Minmei (or rather her voice actress, Mari Iijima) and its tightly choreographed intergalactic battles. Macross's ability to easily switch between genres allows it to appeal to a wide variety of audiences. The film also makes great use of contrast regarding its narrative flow. The first half of Macross is a lighthearted romp akin to a typical teen romance film with some action a la Star Wars. However, the later portion of the movie is more solemn and slow paced. The songs Minmei sings take on a sad, empty tone. Hikura and Misa are left searching for life on a seemingly abandoned Earth. When the action does return, it is more fast, more brutal. (Certain rather graphic scenes were even edited out of a recent Japanese DVD release.) Only by making peace with the Zentradi and Meltrandi can Hikura, Misa, Minmei and the rest of humanity hope to survive. 

The dogfight scene between Max and Milia.

Big Hero 6 (Review)

Director(s): Don Hall & Chris Williams

Company: Disney

Year: 2014

Country: USA

We introduce to you, the most huggable robot ever!

Normally, this blog does not cover Disney films due to its primary focus being on obscure and foreign titles, but I decided to make an exception for Big Hero 6. It's not because the film is outside of Disney's comfort zone or that it offers anything out of the ordinary. It's simply a really fun and entertaining superhero flick with a lot of heart. Big Hero 6 is based upon the Marvel series of the same name, but it has far more in common with a typical Disney production than it does with the comics it is based upon.

In some ways, however, this seems to have worked in the film's favor. The comic's narrative has been streamlined to allow it to work within a 105 minute run time and much more emphasis is put on the relationship between the protagonist, Hiro Hamada, and his late bother's robot, Baymax. (There has been some debate over the film's whitewashing of two of its cast members, although Big Hero 6 remains a multi-ethnic team. It is also important to note that the comic is not without fault: having plenty of cultural stereotypes and sexualized depictions of its female characters. Both of which the film thankfully avoids.)

The Disney film is vastly different from the comic version (and that's not necessarily a bad thing). 

The movie's plot is nothing new, but it is enjoyable. Big Hero 6 is set in the fictional city of San Fransokyo, a fusion of modern-day Tokyo and San Francisco. 14 year old wiz-kid, Hiro Hamada, and his older brother, Tadashi, live at a coffee shop with their eccentric Aunt Cass. Tadashi urges Hiro to attend college. However, Hiro is more interested in participating in illegal bot fights than going to a 'nerd school' that will teach him things that he apparently already knows. All of this changes once Tadashi shows Hiro his university's lab. At the lab Hiro meets his brother's friends: GoGo Tomago, a no-nonsense, adrenaline-driven, developer of electromagnetics; Fred, the school mascot and resident comic-book expert/hippie otaku; Honey Lemon, a quirky chemistry expert; and Wasabi a heavily-built, slightly neurotic lasers expert.

Hiro is also impressed by the esteemed Professor Callaghan, and Tadahsi's invention, the robotic nurse, Baymax. Hiro manages to get accepted into the college after winning a robotics competition with his microbots, but his victory is tragically interrupted when a fire occurs at the university hall. Tadashi rushes in to save Callaghan, and is killed when the building explodes. Hiro withdraws from college and his friends, until one day he accidentally reactivates Baymax. Hiro and Baymax eventually discover that a mysterious masked man has stolen Hiro's microbots …which were supposed to have perished in the fire. Hiro is joined by his concerned friends. He then proceeds to upgrade Baymax and provides his newly formed team super-suits. But will apprehending the man in the mask really make Hiro feel better? Just who is the masked man anyway? And what would have Tadashi wanted?

Our protagonist 'nerds' before and after suiting up.

As mentioned before, the film's focus wisely sticks to the relationship between Hiro and Baymax. At the start of the film, Baymax is very naive about the world around him and tends to take things quite literally (which is frequently a source of the film's humor outside of Fred's geeky antics). For instance when Baymax accidentally scares Hiro, Hiro yells "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Baymax then prepares his built-in defibrillators. Over the course of the movie, Baymax matures and begins to question Hiro about his quest for vengeance. The two form a relationship similar to the one Hiro had with his brother and Baymax frequently acts as Hiro's moral compass.

The supporting team characters do feel a bit shorthanded at times. It is refreshing to see that neither GoGo or Honey are pushed as Hiro's romantic interests, however. Fred actually seems to get the most screen time outside of Hiro and Baymax. This is probably to keep Big Hero 6's tone upbeat and detract from some of the heavier topics the story deals with. (Death and dealing with feelings of revenge are surprisingly common topic in family films. However, they are often presented in a way that kids can more easily swallow or are de-emphasized to avoid upsetting certain parents.) Fred even gets a bumper at the end of the film which heavily implies the possibility of a sequel.

This film is one of the most visually interesting movies Disney has put out in recent years. It definitely looks like a Disney film. However, it is also a love letter to super hero comics and Japanese culture. In many ways, it is similar to Wreck it Ralph. Just as Wreck it Ralph is a tribute to retro video games and arcades, Big Hero 6 is a homage to mecha and super sentai shows. The scenery of this film is quite gorgeous, with its mash up of San Franciscan details (such as trollies and the Painted Ladies) and a futuristic, fantasized Japan. The animation in the film features some of the slickest looking CGI animation to come out of Disney yet. The character designs, outside of Baymax, are familiar and derivative of earlier Disney films. (Let the comparisons of Honey Lemon to Rapunzel commence!) However, the costumes they wear have far more in common with anime from the 1970s-80s.

San Fransokyo. Just attempt to say it fast five times.

I'm pretty sure most of the animators on this film got at least some visual inspiration from the likes of this.

Overall, Big Hero 6 is a solid, if slightly generic, family film. It is a bit derivative of films like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and How to Train Your Dragon. And its story is instantly familiar to anyone acquainted with superhero franchises. So is Big Hero 6 a complex, life-changing movie? No. Is it fun? Hell yeah. Even if certain aspects of the film seem a bit too familiar at times, Big Hero 6 is well-paced and so lovingly put together that its impossible not to smile while watching it. Still, one hardly needs to promote this movie. It's Disney after all. (The Youtube trailer already somehow has over 7 million views somehow!) Now if only more people would be willing watch the likes of Princess Kaguya and The Song of the Sea. Oh well, at least they aren't spending their money on the likes of  "Ice Age meets Alvin and the Chipmunks 5" this year.

It wouldn't be a tribute to super sentai shows without a cool Japanese poster.

Rating: 3.5

About the Short: Feast (director: Patrick Osborne) is a lot like Disney's 2012 short, Paperman. It blends the aesthetic look of hand-drawn animation with CGI. Feast is about the life of a Boston Terrier, Winston, who sees his life through the meals he shares with his master. Winston's way of life is later disrupted by his owner's love interest, a waitress with a knack for healthy cooking. It's a simple story, but like the feature it is attached to, Feast is well executed (and absolutely adorable).

Moral: Boston Terriers are the cutest things in existence. 

Jungle Emperor Leo (1989) TV Series Review: Final Part

The Confusing Conclusion (Final Thoughts)

Is this show's idea of 'the circle of life' too hardcore?

There is a lot death and self-sacrifice in this version of Kimba. In a sense, it explores the concept of 'the circle of life' in more depth than most versions. But it eventually becomes bogged down by being overly serious and depressing. So who is to blame about the series's inconsistent quality? Osamu Tezuka possibly did contribute to a few of the problems (The original manga is somewhat sporadic and had a few bizarre plot twists), but he can't really be blamed considering that he died after the sixth episode aired. It is possible that he had some say on the direction of the later episodes, but chances are we will never know.

Rintaro was in charge of directing the remaining episodes. It's just strange that the quality of Jungle Emperor suddenly declines half way through, when Rintaro's earlier episodes seem consistent with Tezuka's vision. In fact, Rintaro had worked for years with Tezuka before directing the show and was personal friends with Tezuka. Perhaps Rintaro attempted to make the show distinctive or else 'update it' for modern audiences. (But, apparently he forgot that this the show is supposed to be Kimba the White Lion not Ginga Nagareboshi Gin!)

So is this a series that should be recommended to Kimba/Tezuka fans or even anime fans as a whole? Simply put, the show runs for too long and eventually loses steam. It tries to keep its audience emotionally engaged by raising the stakes of danger. But, over time, it just becomes taxing to watch so many animals get shot, poisoned or electrocuted. It's frustrating because Jungle Emperor 1989 has such a prestige behind it and the early episodes (especially the first six) are great. The series is not the most terrible remake ever created, but it does become terribly misguided over time. If you want to watch a modern recreation of Jungle Emperor Leo, I would recommend watching the theatrical 1997 film instead of watching this show all the way through.

"Remember Leo, a leader is neither a boss or a king."

Final Rating: 3/5

About the Dub:
Part of the reason why this show remains so obscure outside of Japan is due to its dubber's infamous hack job. Unlike the dub of the original show (which is a bit hokey but decent by '60s standards), the 1989 series's dub by Pioneer completely changes its narrative flow. Episodes two and three were completely omitted, and only episodes one through fifteen were released on tape. Pioneer apparently tired to edit 'The New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion' into something more upbeat, and just gave up after they realized the show would continue to get darker. In the process they rid the show of its charm, only to replace with it bad jokes or annoying dialogue. (In other words, the characters never shut up.) And the voice acting itself is just as awful, if not worse than the edits.

Thankfully, these terrible VHSs are long out print. Avoid them like the plague.

Jungle Emperor Leo (1989) TV Series Review: Part 3

 The Bad & the Confusing

The Pessimistic Second Half of the Series

Unfortunately for all of the praise I give this show, it is far from being perfect. From about episode 35 onwards, the series becomes obsessed with being as dark and edgy as possible which undermines much of its core meanings and values. Threats begin to show up more and more frequently and death becomes common place. This wouldn't be too big of an issue if Jungle Emperor 1989 balanced out some of its darker elements with more comic relief or signs of progression/hope, but the later episodes rarely do so. (This is something that almost all of Tezuka's manga always managed to do, despite that he had a fondness for semi-tragic and bittersweet endings.)

Jungle Emperor Leo is supposed to represent the complex relationship between humans and animals and how they must put aside their differences in order to understand each other. This is the 1989 version's main flaw. The early episodes do a decent job showing that 'not all humans are bad' and a certain number of them even featured the protagonists being saved by humans that they saw as potentially threatening. But then the humans start to become villainized a bit too much. For instance, in Episode 40, Leona's hunters return to the jungle to search for precious metals in Marody's mountain. This sets the series's final arc into motion, in which the animals proceed to battle the invaders, many of them fighting to the death...Episode 48 is not much better. Leo is tranquilized and is nearly captured by hunters, after wandering around for hours on end in a confused daze. (This could be used as a minor plot element, but stretching it out for a whole episode seems a bit excessive.)

Jungle Emperor Leo (1989) TV Series Review: Part 2

What's Good About It?

A poster depicting much of the series's cast.

The First Half of the Series

This series is very difficult to properly rate due to its varying degree of quality. Despite Jungle Emperor 1989's reputation, it is initially quite enjoyable. Indeed, the first six episodes are very accessible to Tezuka fans and classic anime fans (which makes sense as they were actually the last productions to be overseen by Osamu Tezuka before he passed away at age sixty on February 9, 1989). These early episodes are very concise, closely following the manga's narrative. The next 30 or so episodes are also quite good even if they are a bit less cheery. The series deals with many dense subtexts despite its deceptively cute looking exterior.

As Leo attempts to succeed his father, he is confronted with many challenges. Not all of the animals believe that he has the capacity to rule as his father did, and they often argue amongst themselves. Panja's (Leo's father's) jungle is a refuge for disenfranchised animals who have been been driven out of their homelands due to famine, feuds or human activities. The law of Panja's jungle decrees that no animal can kill or harm one another, so Leo must remain vigilant of law breakers. While humans are a concern, they only appear occasionally. The series's primary antagonist is Bubu (Claw), a scheming, dark-maned lion who holds a grudge against Panja after losing one of his eyes in battle.

Don't let his ridiculous sounding name fool you. In this version, Bubu means serious business. 

Jungle Emperor Leo (1989) TV Series Review: Part 1

Director(s): Rintaro, Osamu Tezuka (original concept, oversaw direction of first six episodes)

Company: Tezuka Productions

Year: 1989-1990

Country: Japan

Although it may look cute, this is one of the most polarizing remakes in cartoon history.

The Controversy about the Series*

In the past couple of years, Hollywood has gotten a lot of flack for its recent fixation with creating 'grittier' and 'more realistic' revisions of popular franchises ranging from the likes of the misguided Man of Steel to this year's summer blockbuster, Godzilla. Of course this is nothing new, back in the 1960s-70s the James Bond and Planet of the Apes film franchises were exceptionally popular and continue to be made today, and other countries spout out remakes frequently as well. The problem with many these reboots/remakes is that tend to focus too much on superficial aesthetics and end up ignoring the core values of the original property that they were supposed to represent.

Many have claimed this is the case with the 1989 version of Jungle Emperor Leo (aka The New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion). The series has been accused of lacking the charm of the original 1960s show, and being devoid of any value beyond its much improved animation. It is often written off as a footnote in animation history compared to the '80s remake of Osamu Tezuka's other famous series, Astro Boy; and information about the series in English is surprisingly scarce (more on part of the reason as to why later). Yet, the remake has also been defended by members of its small community of fans. They claim that the series is a misjudged re-imagining that explores many dense topics that were skimmed over in the '60s version. The 1989 version of Kimba must have also been met with some success in its home country because it did receive several tie-ins and merchandise during its run in Japan (including a canceled video game).  

This is the one thing fandoms can agree on apparently.

Like the original 1965 TV series, the basic plot follows the exploits of Leo (Kimba) a young, white lion cub raised by humans who eventually returns to his homeland in order to follow his father's footsteps as ruler of the jungle. (Leo is an orphan. His father was shot by a hunter before he was born and his mother perished in a shipwreck after being captured by humans.) Both series also choose to focus on Leo's youth (with the later focusing on a 'teenage' Leo) rather than portraying him growing into an adult lion, as he does in the manga. Unlike the first series, the 80's show draws more influence from some of the manga's darker themes which were absent in the '60s show in order to appease the network standards. (This is even more apparent in the English dub). For this reason, the mood of Jungle Emperor 1989 bears more resemblance to the series, Onward Leo! (Onward Leo! was produced by Tezuka without his American partner NBC. It is a sequel to Kimba the White Lion, focusing on the titular lion's adulthood.)

Shift in tone aside, the other most obvious difference between the two TV series has to due with budget. The 1965 version looks very dated by today's standards and its animation is very limited/static, which makes sense given that it was the first color anime to be ever produced for TV. Kimba the White Lion's art style is very 'cartoony' compared to its newer incarnation. The remake's animation, on the other hand while somewhat dated, holds up quite well as its art style is more 'realistic' and modern looking.

For comparison's sake, here is the first episode of the 1965 show (of the English dub; sorry purists!).

…and the 1989 version (in Japanese).

*= No, not this controversy :p

Drop Dead Fred (Review)

Director: Ate de Jong

Company: Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Working Title Films, New Line Cinema

Year: 1991

Country: United States, United Kingdom

Today, I review another cult film…uh-oh.

If Drop Dead Fred succeeds at anything exceptionally well, it's being exceptionally annoying. Despite having garnered a small fan base over the years due to how bizarre and irreverent it is, this film is a chore to watch due to its unlikable characters and scattered plot. Drop Dead Fred was met with mixed to negative reviews upon its release. The movie earned back only $14 million at box office. Its current critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes is at an 'impressive' nine percent. And Gene Siskel stated that it was, "Easily one of the worst films I've ever seen," and was, "made in shockingly bad taste." So with that stated, let's take a dive into this slapstick nightmare.

The film begins with a young girl, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Cronin, being read a fairytale by her mother, Polly, while in bed. When Polly tells her daughter that the story ended happily ever after with the girl marrying the prince, Elizabeth enquires, "How do you know?" Polly says it was because the girl was well behaved, which causes Elizabeth to state, "What a pile of shit!" Charming. I'm sure this movie's opening lines went over well with all the parents and children in the crowd.

After some opening credits, the movie abruptly cuts to 21 years later.  Elizabeth (Phoebe Cates of Gremlins fame) has grown up to be an unhappy adult. She is unsatisfied with her current state in life and strained relationship with her domineering mother. Lizzie has also recently divorced her husband, Charles, who is in love with another woman named Annabella. Shortly after trying to talk with Charles, Lizzie's wallet and car are stolen. On top of it all, Lizzie arrives late for work and loses her job, which causes her to be chewed out by Polly again. Back at her childhood home, Lizzie becomes desperate. She decides to seek help from her childhood imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred, as a last ditch effort.

Because everyone knows that struggling with depression and having a mental illness is hilarious. 

The titular character reappears when Elizabeth foolishly decides to release him from the jack-in-the-box her mother sealed him away in many years ago. After opening this Pandora's box, Fred proceeds to wreck havoc and crack unfunny jokes. He is an obnoxious hybrid of Beatle Juice/Peewee Herman portrayed by the late British actor, Rik Mayall. However, Lizzie tolerates Fred's potty humor, immature antics, and lewd behavior because he gives her a release from her oppressive mother. Frankly, I'm not seeing how this movie is supposed be funny yet. It's just making me feel kind of sad.

Thanks movie, I don't think I'll be able to sleep for a week now.

Soon after, Fred decides to start accompanying Elizabeth so that they can pull pranks on unaware bystanders and people they dislike, just like old times. The only catch is nobody can see Drop Dead Fred except for Elizabeth. Polly becomes concerned with her daughter's increasingly strange behavior (which includes talking incoherently, sinking her friend's house boat, and pouring wine on herself) and takes her to see a psychiatrist. Lizzie is given a pill prescription to rid herself of thoughts about Fred. But, of course, this doesn't work. As Fred becomes increasingly more crazy and out of control, Lizzie finds him harder and harder to deal with. Too make matters worse, Fred's behavior has began to sabotage the relationship Lizzie is trying to rebuild with Charles.

While Drop Dead Fred desperately tries to be funny and unconventional, the 'humor' in this film either falls flat or, more often than not, either annoys or offends the audience. Without the right balance of lightheartedness and genuinity, a comedy movie about a depressed protagonist is simply not funny. It's mean spirited...That is unless you actually happen to find jokes such as picking boogers, throwing poop at people, and staring up women's skirts funny.

And to think this film is sometimes marketed as a 'family movie.'

The characters are also woefully lacking in development. Polly is either too over the top to be a believable personality or else she is underplayed. Her actions sometimes don't even seem that mean or spiteful. Sure, Polly acts over protectively, but the way Lizzie responds to her mother's concern often just makes her end up looking really immature. (And, yes, I am aware that is probably part of the movie's intent. However, the audience is supposed to sympathize the most with Lizzie.) Phoebe Cates does an ok job considering what she's been given to work with, but Elizabeth spends most of her time moping (which makes the audience feel uncomfortable) or else awkwardly interacting Fred (which also makes the audience squirm in discomfort). As for Drop Dead Fred himself, well…this article has already talked enough about what's wrong with him.

The relationship between Elizabeth and her mother feels flat despite its large role in the story.

Watching his movie was one of the most miserable experiences I've had in a while. Drop Dead Fred is an uneven sloppy mess of a film. The fact that the titular character is introduced as both the film's center of conflict and as Lizzie's savior is an ill advised plot twist. This may have worked in the hands of a more skilled director, but considering Ate de Jong's track record their was no chance of that. Drop Dead Fred is a film at war with itself. It can't decide wether it wants to appeal to children or adults. In the end, it hardly appeals to anyone.

Sometimes it just sucks to be you.

Rating: 1.5

Cowboy Bebop (TV Series Review)

Director: Shinichiro Watanabe

Company: Sunrise

Year: 1998-1999

Country: Japan

The anime for people who think they hate anime.

How does one even begin to describe Cowboy Bebop? It's one of the most critically acclaimed television series ever created. It's the Firefly of anime. It's one of the few shows that actually lives up to all of its hype. Cowboy Bebop was conceived during the late 1990s, a time during which the space operas and sci-fi dramas where exceptionally popular thanks to manga/anime series such as Crest of the Stars, Trigun, Outlaw Star, and, of course, Neon Genesis Evangelion. The production company Sunrise thus employed a team of talented industry veterans to create a show in similar vein to the above. The team consisted of: director Shinichiro Watanabe (Marcos Plus, Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy), screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto (Wolf's Rain, Tokyo Godfathers), character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and talented jazz composer Yoko Kanno. The primary goal of this team was to create a show that would defy genres and appeal to adult audiences.

Cowboy Bebop is set in the future year of 2071. The entire solar system is now traversable through hyperspace gates. Several decades earlier, in 2022, an experimental hyperspace gate exploded, damaging Earth, causing most of the survivors to abandon Earth and colonize other planets and astroids in the Solar System. Mars has become the primary hub of civilization. Due to the Solar System's enormous size, law and order has become hard to enforce. Crime abounds. Thus, a bounty hunter system is set up, creating a similar situation to the American Old West. (Bounty hunters are commonly called 'cowboys.')

Big Shot, a ridiculous TV bulletin show that informs prices on bounty heads.

The show centers around the various exploits and misadventures of a group of bounty hunters on board the spacecraft Bebop. Each of which have their own unique and contrasting personalities and (often tragic) backstories. Spike Spiegel is a former member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate. A skilled gunman and pilot with a biting sense of humor (Think of Lupin III, but as less of a woman chaser and less of a goof.), Spike is constantly haunted by his past, particularly by a beautiful woman named Julia and his rivalry with his former partner, Vicious. Jet Black is the team's engineer and cook. Although he doesn't like being called old, he commonly acts as a supportive father figure to the rest of the crew. Jet is former cop with a strong sense of justice and is a jack of all trades. Faye Valentine is a femme fatale who uses her assets and skill with firearms to get what she wants. Faye is generally mistrusting towards others and frequently runs off to her own device. She is constantly on the run from the law due to the debts she inherited and is unable to pay off…which is certainly not helped by her gambling addiction. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski (or Ed for short) is a thirteen year old hacking prodigy. She is a fairly strange, androgynous looking girl, who often speaks in rhyme, refers to herself in third person, and frequently drifts off from reality. Ed is the show's primary source of physical humor and comic relief. She is almost always seen with Ein, an intelligent Pembroke Welsh Corgi.

Who is the mysterious woman and what has she got to do with Spike's past?

The series is often billed as space adventure drama, but it is much more than that. While Cowboy Bebop is an anime program, its wide variety of influences and heavy references to Western culture make it very accessible to non-Japanese audiences. Cowboy Bebop certainly excelled at its goal of defying genres. It's a hodgepodge of Film Noir, Cyberpunk, intense drama and medium aware humor. Although set in space, many of the episodes take place in urban inner city areas. It avoids many of the cliches used in the sic-fi genre. There are no giant robots, space aliens, or laser guns. The environments in the film often look used or run down. The technology used in Cowboy Bebop is mixture of that advanced beyond our own and relics from the later half of the 20th century. The various colorful characters that appear throughout Cowboy Bebop's 26 episodes are ethically diverse. All of this gives the show a truly unique, somewhat strange, but truly inspired and relatable feel.

Welcome to the future, the used, gritty future.

Another  big draw of this anime is its diverse musical score composed by the eccentric and brilliant Yoko Kanno. Reflecting the diversity of its cast and Western influences on screen, Cowboy Bebop sports a soundtrack consisting primarily of jazz and blues (It's called Bebop after all!), along with rock, heavy metal, rap, and even gospel like music. (Much of the music on display also originates from the fringes of society, reflecting the series's realistic, gritty style.) 

Obligatory theme song post.

Shinichiro Watanabe certainly loves films and makes several parodies and homages throughout the series's run. Several of the less serious episodes focus on spoofing a specific genre or movie. For instance, the episode, "Toys in the Attic," involves Spike and his teammates being attacked by a unknown presence on their ship (which turns out to have originated from bad food kept in the fridge), which ends up incapacitating most of them before it is destroyed. The plot is quite similar to Ridley Scott's Alien and also references 2001: A Space Odyssey. Another episode, "Mushroom Samba," invokes the feel of 1970s Blaxploitation films. (It involves a starved Ed and Ein chasing down a hallucinogenic mushroom dealer. Yes, it's as crazy and hilarious as it sounds.)

Outside of all of these parodies and homages, much of the show's humor (and relatability) comes from its cast's conflicting interests and personalities and the situations they wind up in. Whereas Jet is ever calm and the most rational of the crew, his conservative views and dedication to truth and justice sometimes put him at odds with Spike and, especially, Faye. At first look, Spike and Faye seem to hate each other. (In one scene, an exasperated Spike asks Jet what the three things he particularly hates ['kids, dogs, and women with attitudes'] are doing on his ship.) Ironically though, both Spike and Faye have several similarities. They are both very stubborn and determined. They refuse to show each other's true feelings towards each other, unless in the most dire of situations. Little lifelike details appear in Cowboy Bebop that several other anime series either ignore or lack. Unlike many other 'animal mascots' / 'team pets' Ein is realistically drawn and behaves much like a real dog would. The crew constantly combats with hunger and starvation when they are out of work. Heck, we even get to see what the Bebop's bathroom stall looks like!

As a broke college student, I can relate.

While certainly funny in places, Cowboy Bebop is even more well known for its sophisticated storytelling and dark, intricate plots. Indeed, while Watanabe admits that about 20% of the show is dedicated to humor, he also states the other 80% is centered around serious drama. Several heavy handed or controversial subjects are dealt with throughout Cowboy Bebop's run including: drug dealing, homosexuality, organized crime, terrorism, and religious cults. While some episodes contain little to no violence, others are quite brutal and feuds are often realistically depicted on screen. At times the anime has an existentialist and philosophical tone. Between all of the action sequences, many of the characters have quiet moments of solitude, as they contemplate about their pasts and the current state of their lives.

Spike, in particular, takes everything with a grain of salt. As he pushes forward towards an uncertain future, he simply states, "Whatever happens, happens." Themes of betrayal and self redemption also come into play. The anime's ending is left open ended. We are left uncertain if Spike has survived or not or what happens to the rest of the Bebop's crew. However, Spike has managed to make amends with his past and settle his score with Vicious. His (debatable) death is his redemption. Vicious can be essentially seen as Spike's shadow. Whereas Spike is able to contain his anger and remain cool and level headed, Vicious is unable to control his tendencies. When threatened, he always acts out with violence. Vicious is unable to comprehend mercy.

Is it worth searching for meaning in the past, or should we simply move forward without looking back?

Faye, like most of the other characters in this show, faces crisis with her identity.

Really, I could go on talking even more about this show. However, several people already have and, like all good things, this review must eventually come to an end. For those who haven't seen Cowboy Bebop, GO WATCH IT NOW. Trust me, you have no idea what you're missing out on. Well, until then…

…See you Space Cowboy...

Rating: 5/5

About the Dub: Unlike many other anime of its day, Cowboy Bebop has a stellar dub (by company Animaze), rivaling that of the dubs Disney gives Studio Ghibli's films. Some even consider it to be superior to the original Japanese voiceover. (In the case of Wendee Lee as Faye Valentine, I would probably agree with them.) The script follows the original cut very loyally and each character feels very real and three dimensional. Steven Blume (who was rewarded a 2012 Genius World Record for his prolific voice acting career) does an excellent job as Spike, being both subtle and volatile when needed. All of the other voice actors do a fine job as well.

Seriously, this scene gives me chills every time I watch it.