Shrek The Musical's Talk

Project A-Ko

An uncultivated and fanatical anime of its kind; there is nothing like it.

Director Katsuhiko Nishijima with the help of Tomoko Kawasaki and Yuji Moriyama craft one of the most beloved Japanese school girls around that can't ever be forgotten.

Synopsis: A school girl name Aiko (A-ko) has school battles against a bully name Biko (B-ko) over the honor of being the "BBF" to the loudmouth brat Ciko (C-ko), but in the midst of the peer pressures, an alien species invades the city thus kidnapping the adorable Ciko and having Aiko and Biko teaming up to help save her, the city and possibly the world.

Probably one of the weirdest Japanese animations I have ever seen, but most definitely one of my all time favorites. The animation is tremendous with some great action scenes and out of the ordinary story telling; school fights, lesbians, teen drama, transsexuals, invasion, military action, superhuman ability, cat fights etc. it's all provided in this extraordinary cartoon-like extravaganza.

Both the English dub and Japanese language is worth the listen when watching this frenzy chaotic mess that'll have you laughing with its combined comedy factor, and the plot is so warped you can't help but look at it oddly funny.

Although there are countless of great Japanese animations out there today that you can find in just about any commercial store, Purojekuto A-ko is one of its abnormally finest of its time.

Project A-ko - daughter of Superman and Wonder Women.

The Last House on the Left

Wes Craven (Scream, Deadly Friend) makes his film debut with an over-the-top thriller that'll have you thinking how far Hollywood could have made a movie like this go.

Synopsis: A group of convicts out on the loose take control of two young women for some sadistic fun that turns into murder. After the young girls parents find out about the slaughter, the old couple take the law into their own hands.

A first time film for Craven and well played with a few minor editing problems, but one can only assume that back then film qualities weren't so good depending on its producer and in this case if you know Sean S. Cunningham's work, you'd more or less know what to expect.

This film really goes crazy with some of the sequences that lead into a brutal rape scene. And if that's not enough, the additional brutality that concludes in the last house on the left is equally frightening - even for a film that was made in the 70's. Sandra Peabody who played the role of Mari Collingwood sometimes played the role very dark nearly making it believable this ordeal was really happening.

Overall it's one hell of a film to watch - at least one time and you'll see how tough at times it can be to grasp.

No way an original would ever be remade like this again despite it's hideous remake.

Paranormal Activity

Excellent film that leaves the reality era at its possible end with a bang.

Next to "The Exorcist" (in which is not scary any longer), I felt "A tale of two sisters" was just downright scary; setting aside "Pulse" which was more or less equivalent. Now it seems "Paranormal Activity" gets you ever so close to it.

There isn't a movie out there that can't possibly scare you more than this film can, so to say "it's the scariest film of all time" is not a bit of a stretch at all. The buildup is all there [straightaway] keeping the level of interest at its peak until the moment comes jumping at a glance that'll give you an unnatural tensely shock - most directors will be asking themselves how in the world Oren Peli did that?

What's really scary is if it wasn't for Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat's (whom only made a reported $500.00 each for the role) continuity that made their performance a frontrunner for the audience, the rest of the film may not have been so successful as it is today.

With only a 15 thousand dollar budget, it managed to score more than $60 million, so if it happened to "The Blair Witch Project" then it will happen again i. e. another paranormal part that may or may not have Katie and Micah doing it all over again with Oren Peli scaring us one more time...maybe.

A page off from "Poltergeist" tagline that best describes this phenomenon...

"It knows what scares you."

Ultimo Tango a Parigi (Last Tango in Paris)

"last tango in paris" is marlon brando's self-reviving strike before he officially steps into his senile years of obesity, and his character in tango feels literily like the aging version of stanley kowaski of "streetcar named desire": prole stud with a simmering violent streak which detonates thru his sadistic libido. stanley shuts "stella!!!" in his most fragile moment and ravishes vivien leigh's blanche to exercise his strong urge of masculine dominion since he senses the contagious menace blanche puts over his enslavened wife. as elia karzan who directs several of brando's movies, such as "on the waterfront" and streetcar, comments that brando has a very tenderized feminine side conflicted with a sort of melancholy and disatisfaction which could be very dangerously explosive. "last tango in paris" shall be a perfect set to channel such brandoesque spirit by its deranged exploration of spotaneous roller-coaster sex as well as the existentialistic tale of bleakness.

the story is about a 20-something parisian woman who encounters a middle-aged american in a desolate apartment in slums, and at the spur of the moment these two mate in an animalistic way which is very close to sanctuary rape. somehow there's an undercurrent magnetism which keeps pulling these two back into this apartment as an oblivious vaccum of random sex as well as the retreat of their primitive intimacy to forget their private problems of life.

then we discover the man's wife has committed suicide and he's under a fundamental crisis of abysmal mentality since he has no idea why his wife leaves him for good without a final note. on the other hand, the young parisian woman's fiance is a self-centered movie-maker who has emoitonally deserted and ignored her, so in a way, she's lonesome and in the need of attention despite her functional facade. so this un-usual pair unite together under the circumstance of not knowing each other's name in a wretched world of sadness.

their intercourses are not genuine lovemaking but a result of the man's manipulated flaunt of manhood and the woman's side is more of a morbid curiosity for racy experiements, such as the notorious butter scene of anal sex and the fingering sodomy. what counts is their interactions driven by dialogues. they bares a sort of existentialistic anxiety out of their seperate conditions, and they crave for a space of temporality intagible to the reality. it digs into their memories of childhood to summon up their truest childish selves.

this otherworldy dimension of temporality is shattered when the girl eventually meets the man outside the apartment, and this unique romance is over when brando's sleazy banal self's exposed under the blistering sunlight of cruel reality, her heart flees away despite the man vows to capture her again as his prey. the moment he finally acquires her name, he's shot into the un-comprehesibly ironic death while she keeps mumbling to herself that "he's a stranger, i never met him, he broke into my apartment trying to rape me, so i shot him" as if their passionate redenzvou never happens. the aged brando with thining hair is no longer the powerful irresistible stanley kowaski who robs his woman back by an overwhelming snarl. and this time he's destined to lose the girl as youth and strength slip away from him no matter how desperately he attempts to keeps them. our existence may just be like that, an deliberated oblivion of constant denials due to our weakness to cope with death and the annihilation of beings.

A Life Less Ordinary

"a life less ordinary" is danny boyle's primary attempt to hit into american market after his smashing success of countercultural revolt in 1995's junkie cult "transpotting"...it was shot when ewan mcgregor still belonged to the trio of boyle/hodge/mcgregor screen team since "shallow grave", the art-house british channel 4 independent production before boyle sold him out in "the beach" by casting leonardo dicaprio in the role he was supposed to play, long before mcgregor's become commericialized star-war prop..it took place also when cameron diaz still played sassy hard-boiled femme fatale before "something about mary" sweetens and softens her screen persona as romantic lead..

the scenario is goofy. it's about a stupid janitor who kidnaps his boss' daughter in a rage after he's fired and dumped by his live-in girlfriend..then these two fall in love absurdly. of course, even angels in the heaven are their guidances to the journey of celestial bliss despite the course involves mayhem and bloodshed. it's generally a mixed genre of romantic comeday and neo-noir. don't expect rationality and sensible plot-developments because the essence of this movie is a brazen cheer of slacker's hashish daydreaming and mcgregor's presented as a character of proteriat outrage in the oblivion of the generation x, a mutant divergence from his trainspotting persona. he fantasizes about writing a blatant trash-novel to redeem his miserable existence of ephemerality, and his ideal romance is a game-show called "perfect love", favored by a pampered brat who appreciates such weakling demeanors and even aids him to get the ransom from her abrasive father who insists on cutting off her allowances. they pretend they're pop-stars and cabret dancers along the melody of bob darin's "beyond the sea"...in spite of their slacker narcissism, they do have a naively sacred respect over the bond arranged by fate but their deterministic conventionalism's got to be rendered in their deviant imaginations like angels act like noir villains to help the course of destiny, blah blah blah...oh, bank-robbery could be a pleasant stimulus of passionate kiss..

basically "a life less ordinary" is a celebration of "style over substance"..the costumes and location shots are particularly elaborated with a boyle trademark, such as mcgregor's mullet hairdo and floral shirt, diaz's bob-headed siren who high-hats men around..as for the location, i bet it's around the borderline of nevada and california where i've driven for several times while heading for las vegas, or it's around the woods in colorado??(i would be happy if anyone tells me where it's shot)...the valley cabin as the hideaway spot and the desolate driveway within the desert hills are well-selected and they all give you a otherworldly feeling of american universalism due to the unique perspective of a british director shooting america..

audience might neglect it's neo-noir trying to act like romantic comedy, or the other way around, holly hunter and cameron diaz are the neo-femme-fatales who conduct themselves rough and ruthless like avenging fury with a pistol in well-tailored suit..diaz coaches mcgregor how to perform lethal dialogue to ask for ransom while hunter orders delroy lindo to murder mcgregor in the corder of dark woods digging a hole beforehand for the burial...the deliberate gender-reversal's gonna make you giggle..but eventually it's less a romantic comeday than dark farce since our hero only concedes his emotions to our heroine after someone persuades him with words "she's a glamorous pussy in heaven and you're a two-dime worker cleaning floor in hell, why bother to think too much over whether she's your type or not??" this movie has so many colors on its palette that it's too distractive to enjoy..but ain't the life-style of lovelorn slacker so? also, it has one of the coolest soundtracks ever like trainspotting since the soundtracks of danny boyle's movies always have a it chicness before he reached international fame by 28 days and slum millionaire.

(ps) around the same year, alicia silverstone made a stupid comedy about love in the course of kidnapping with benicio del toro, called "excessive baggage"....the sketch of storyline does have a parallel but it's much less creative and much more mundanely melodramtic(should i just say cheesy?)...don't get mistaken by that.