Plot: Realising that she is at a crossroads in her life, bored twenty-something office worker Taeko heads for the countryside. The trip dredges up forgotten memories, the first stirrings of childish romance, puberty and growing up, the frustrations of maths and boys. In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.
Beautifully evoking both the 1960s and 1980s, Only Yesterday is a double period piece, and the quintessential drama of Japanese schoolday nostalgia. Directed by Isao Takahata and produced by Hayao Miyazaki, it is a classic of the anime medium and the last movie from the world-beating Studio Ghibli catalogue previously unreleased in the United Kingdom… until now.
A tour-de-force about growing up and growing older from the masters of Japanese animation.
Extras: Scene Access Feature Trailers Bonus Trailers Featurettes Storyboard Comparisons
My Thoughts:
It is 1982 and Taeko, a 27 year old office worker from Tokyo, has always dreamt of traveling to the countryside for holidays like many of her school friends did every year. She managed it for the first time last year, by staying with her sisters in-laws at their farm, and is to do the same this year. Whilst packing she reminisces of her time at home and school in 1966 when she was ten. The memories continue during the journey and after she has arrived and is working on the farm. Some of the memories tell of trials and tribulations she had and are told to her brother-in-laws friends and family to highlight an event, others are to give a background to Taeko. Memories of first love, disappointments etc. All the while they are helping her to discover herself.
A nice gentle tale of a young woman and how she finds herself. Not too everyones taste but I find this to be well told and enjoyable. The memories are highlighted within the film by having a slight pastel colouring to the scenes rather than the bright colours that are used for the current day Taeko.
As I stated in my My Neighbour Totoro review this film is the only film from the initial agreement with Studio Ghibli that Disney have not released. My understanding, from the interweb and places such as nausicaa.net, is that Disney have a major problem with a sequence within the film. Disney apparently asked permission to cut the sequence out completely but Studio Ghibli reiterated that the agreement clearly states No Cuts. Disney then asked whether they could reword the sequence and Studio Ghibli said that it was part of the agreement that Disney could reword sections to allow for the difference in cultures but they could not change the meaning. Disney therefore decided not to release this title. That is the background and the problem sequence is:-
In one of the reminisces Taeko goes back to a Sex Education class the girls had where they were taught about Periods and Menstrual Panties. The boys find out about this lesson and take the mickey out the girls and look up their skirts to see what panties the girls were wearing that day. The boys also expressed fear of catching Periods if the girls who were missing PE touched the ball.
As a "family" company Disney felt that they couldn't show this sequence. It has been pointed out that Disney, if they so wished, could release the film on one of their more adult lines, e.g. Touchstone, but Disney have so far chosen to keep this film from the American public. There is an on-line petition, links at nausicaa.net, but in 5 years nothing has come of it. The television channel Turner Classic Movies has shown the film a few times in America and it apparently is high on their request for repeats charts. Luckily Madman Entertainment, Australia, and Optimum Releasing, UK, also had an agreement with both Disney and Studio Ghibli to take whichever version was available and Madman obtained a version from Studio Ghibli that they and Optimum had subtitled, deciding that dubbing to the standard of Disney would cost too much and they both released this version in their respective countries.
My rating is a gentle 4
Dave
p.s. In fact there is another film that Disney have yet to release but that wasn't part of the initial agreement and the lack of release was out of Disney's hands. Tales from Earthsea hasn't been released because The Sci-Fi Channel owned the TV, film and video rights to Earthsea. These rights have now expired and Disney should be releasing Tales from Earthsea to cinemas in the US this August.
Title:Queen of the Damned Year: 2002 Director: Michael Rymer Rating: R Length: 101 Min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Stars: Stuart Townsend Marguerite Moreau Aaliyah Vincent Perez Paul McGann
Plot: It's her time. Her place. The wickedly regal Mother of All Vampires is ready again to rule! Aaliyah plays the title role in this stylish shocker based on Anne Rice's 'The Vampire Chronicles'. Stuart Townsend portrays Lestat, the undead antihero previously seen in the movie version of Anne Rice's 'Interview with the Vampire'. This time, Lestat finds acceptance in a tattooed and pierced world. He's a rock star. And his intoxicating Goth-riffed sound rekindles the desires of all-powerful Akasha.
Awards:
MTV Movie Awards
2002
Nominated
Best Villain
Aaliyah
Saturn
2002
Nominated
Best Horror Film
Extras: Closed Captioned Commentary Deleted Scenes DVD-ROM Content Featurettes Music Videos Outtakes Photo Gallery Production Notes Scene Access Trailers
My Thoughts:
I have bought this movie blind about a year ago when it was on sale. I have treaded watching it, as I mostly read negative reviews for this. Those reviews were right. It is a boring movie, though it has its moments. I watched it today, because my brother was here and wanted to watch it with me. As he is a "Korn" fan (who provide the music in this movie), he often tried watching it when it was on TV, but always fell asleep during it.
The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena
SeaQuest DSV
What's the show about? The SeaQuest is a Deep Submerge Vehicle and the largest submarine there is. Its task is to keep the fragile peace on Earth's oceans that have become farming grounds and mining fields for all kind of entrepreneurs and countries. The SeaQuest works under the mandate of the UEO - the United Earth & Oceans Organization and is only partly a military ship. It's also a research vessel and a lot of scientists live and work aboard it.
"To Be or Not to Be" A year ago Commander Ford had to relieve Captain Stark of her command because she intended to fire nuclear torpedos on rivalling parties. Now the ship belongs to the UEO and Admiral Noyce is trying to convince Nathan Bridger to take command. He has designed the ship but after the death of his son he's also retired and has no intention to return to this world. But he agrees to take a look and when a pirate sub starts to attack underwater colonies he hasn't really a choice.
My Opinion I liked this show, even the third season - which was different and where the SeaQuest had a new captain. The ship was an underwater version of the Enterprise but due to the environment they could tell new stories and old stories differently. Unfortunately large parts of the crew were replaced from season to season and they never had a real chance to become a well-developed team. Especially the more distinct members of the first season were replaced by younger people who didn't have the charm of the old ones.
Total Members: 78
