Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue
Release Date: July 1997
Director: Satoshi Kon 
Rating: 18
Manga Entertainment, Madhouse

Who are you? What’s going on? Perfect Blue was the first of the great Satoshi Kon’s feature-length works and it brings about the confusion as reality blurs. To change from one career to another sure brings about a lot of problems. After years of neglect due to the much talked about violence and terrors, I finally embrace the madness and find a film which is smart as it is chilling.

 

Lupin The Third: The Secret Of Mamo

Lupin The Third: The Secret Of Mamo 
Release Date: 16th December 1978
Director: Soji Yoshikawa
Rating: 15
Manga Entertainment, Toho

Immortality is such a common subject matter in Japanese fiction, they sure must want to live forever. Lupin The Third: The Secret Of Mamo has an evil guy claiming to have found the secret of eternal youth, but thief Lupin suspects foul play. An adventure packed full of car chases, thieving, mystery, love, sex and explosions await. A different beast to Castle of Cagliostro for sure.

 

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Release Date: 26th December 2011
Director: David Fincher
Rating: 18
Scott Rudin Productions, Yellow Bird Films, Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The Hollywood remake is something many fear. An original idea redone again and again, nine times out of ten coming out like nasty pulp. I haven’t seen the original Swedish The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo but I think I can guess this is in the one out of ten.

 

Photo 47: Fortune

Aww.

After walking out of the cosy Chinese restaurant into the cold and windy night, I pulled the cookie out from my pocket. I snapped it in half to gain an insight into my future as cars drove on by, everyone with a destination most likely in mind. As I stood by the traffic lights I could see the red lettering on the paper, though only held tightly as it would ripple in the wind. My future seems bright, overly so. When I thought about how I ended up in the restaurant in the first place, I think fortune cookies have a place in everyone’s lives. I just sailed on in and calmed myself with a beer and curry. It was relaxing, even if the music skipped. I couldn’t read the writing on the wall or overhear any conversations, but my dreams were going to come true.

 

Photo 46: Mountain

Everything becomes a mountain of rubbish eventually. The end product of living.

Sally hides among the bin bags. Can you spot her?

 

Ponyo

Ponyo
Release Date: 19th July 2008
Directors: Hayao Miyazaki
Rating: U
Studio Ghibli

Under the sea something amazing was bubbling. A small goldfish/person/thing waited to burst out onto land, and with it came some of the most incredible animation I’ve clapped eyes on. Ponyo is cute,cheerful and a treat for the eyes. A tasty sea dish. Mmm, goldfish/person/thing on toast.

 

Welcome

Make yourself at home. Put your shoes at the entrance and your coats on the hooks. Bring your own sweets and put them in the bowl. Now get the hell out so I can enjoy my freebies.

 

Hanna

Hanna
Release Date: 6th May 2011
Directors: Joe Wright
Rating: 12
Marty Adelstein Productions, Studio Babelsberg, Focus Features

Hanna is a film with a wafer thin plot, some poor acting, predictable outcomes and a lot of unbelievable elements. But it isn’t a bad movie. It takes the style over substance route and while you can pick it to pieces all day long, it has a look and feel which will have you going along with it to the conclusion. Super assassin girl on the run to a soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers and through some dreamy renditions of the real world. Let yourself go.

 

The Godfather The Coppola Restoration

The Godfather Coppola Restoration
Release Date: 2nd June 2008
Directors: Francis Ford Coppola
Rating: 15
Paramount Pictures

Before this weekend, I was a virgin to The Godfather trilogy. Shocking, I know! For all those years I’d have people go on and on about it, while seeing the VHS tapes sticking out of their drawers. I still avoided it despite the praise, and only now have I decided to jump in. I think due to being exposed to all the Italian gangster junk that came after, I was expecting The Godfather to be the same. How wrong I was, and how foolish I’ve been.

 

The New Kit Kat Chunky Collection (Minus Peanut Butter, Ewww!)

Peanut butter is something I can’t handle. I remember a time I had a peanut butter sandwich at a party and had to rush to the toilets and let it go. It isn’t easy to have a heavy dislike for something. In life it would be the best to get through loving everything, but life is all about likes and dislikes. You can’t truly love everything, hatred lies in all our hearts. Maybe from the seven deadly sins or just the body rejecting what you want to embrace. If they have tasting surgeons as they have face surgeons I would adjust it so peanut butter would be welcome, but alas I hate the stuff.

It seems the world loves peanut butter though, and out of the four new Kit Kat Chunky flavours it is winning the race for Chunky Champion. I just focus my attention on the other contestants. Mr. Orange, Miss. White Choc and Sir Double Choc. I must pledge support on the floundering chunksters.