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Kiki's Delivery Service, a review by dfmorgan

Title: Kiki's Delivery Service
Original Title:Year: 1989
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Rating: G
Length: 103 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Minami Takayama
Rei Sakuma
Mieko Nobuzawa

Plot:
Rarely does a film touch so many hearts or reach such artistic heights as the highly acclaimed Kiki's Delivery Service, the magical adventure of an enterprising young girl who must follow tradition to become a full-fledged witch.

Venturing out, with only her chatty black cat Jiji, Kiki flies off for the adventure of a lifetime. Landing in a far-off city, she sets up a high-flying delivery service. Here begins a wonderful experience of independence and responsibility as she finds her place in the world.

Kiki's Delivery Service showcases the breathtaking animation of legendary Hayao Miyazaki and the star voice talents of Kirsten Dunst (Kiki), Phil Hartman (Jiji), Matthew Lawrence (Tombo) and more. This spectacular 2-disc set will give you an inside look into the acclaimed movie that soars with energy, excitement and the kind of imagination that entertains again and again!

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Multi-angle
Storyboard Comparisons
Closed Captioned
John Lasseter Intro


This was my second venture into the world of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. As with My Neighbour Totoro it was on laserdisc but this time it was issued by Disney and was in widescreen although dubbed. Another enjoyable, enchanting film.

Kiki is a young witch who has just turned 13 and is required to leave home for a years training and to find and hone her skills. After leaving home she finds herself in a big city and although some people recognise her for what she is others just ignore and brush past her. After wandering for a while she helps a baker to return a lost item to one of the bakers customers and with this she also finds a place to stay and a career path. Following a couple of setbacks Kiki gets a little disillusioned and loses some confidence, this has a knock-on effect and Kiki finds that her powers are going. However after meeting a friend and visiting one of her earliest customers Kiki manages to turn things round and regains her powers.

Again there is more to this film than I have detailed above but I need to leave room for others to find the details. The usual Miyazaki trademarks are plentiful in this film.

Whilst this is another marvellous, enchanting and magical film, I will only give this a 4 because it it slightly more simplistic.

Dave

ETA original title

(From dfmorgan's Studio Ghibli Marathon on June 28th, 2010)

Encounter with the Unknown, a review by Jimmy

Title: Encounter with the Unknown (1973)

Genre: Horror
Director: Harry Thomason
Rating: PG
Length: 1h32
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1:78.1
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Rod Serling
Robert Ginnaven
Rosie Holotik
Michael Harvey
Gene Ross

Plot:
Rod Serling (TV's Twillight Zone) phones in a shocking trilogy of UHF television level thrills. A curse hits three frat kids when a homicidal mother decides they are resonsible for her son's death, and this prophetic mother won't stop untill she gains her twisted vengeance. Each frat boy meets with the most painfull death that you will encounter in a familly film. An inbred boy's dog falls into the pit of hell, and it's up his uncle/dag (standout performance by Robert Holton) to go down to investigate. Watch out when he returns! Third, an unsuspecting driver picks up lost girls, Rosie Holotik (Don't Look in the Basement, Horror High), only to learn that she died years before. Featuring box office champ Bill Thurman (Gator Bait), outrageous funnyman Gene Ross (the groovy judge in Here Comes the Judge), comedian Charlie Dell and Robert Ginnaven as the business-class-riding priest.

An uneven anthology with one excellent story (The Girl on the Bridge), one so-so (The Hole) and one awfully bad. It's a regional movie (Arkansas) with many regulars from the S.F. Brownrigg and Larry Buchanan pool of actors. As I said the first story is an awfull mess with a story repeated over and over. The midle one is about a hole in the ground that can be evil or not depending of what you believe (with a better writting and details this could had been a good story). The last one is about a dead spirit who is lost and wants to return home, ok this isn't a new theme but it's well written and well acted (certainly better than anything else in that). This is the first movie of Rosie Holotik (she played the Lady on the Bridge) and she do a great jobs.
   
Rating :

(From Jimmy's - 2013 Ooctober Horror Marathon on October 17th, 2013)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Bones
David Boreanaz (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) stars as F.B.I. Agent Seeley Booth, who teams up with forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel) to solve some of the most baffling and bizarre crimes ever. Booth depends on clues from the living, witnesses and suspects, while Brennan gathers evidence from the dead, relying on her uncanny ability to read clues left behind in the bones of the victims. Their different investigative styles cause the two to frequently clash, creating an undeniable chemistry and just the right touch of dark humor. Inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs and state-of-the-art criminal invenstigation procedures, Bones is compelling, cutting-edge television.

Pilot:
Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan teams up with FBI agent Seeley Booth to investigate the murder of a Senate intern, the political implications of which may prove to be staggering.

My Thoughts:
This is an awesome series with a great cast. It was a bit weird seeing Brennan's old boss from the first season again. While I enjoyed it I do prefer her new boss now. This is another show where I was left wanting to watch more episodes. Definitely a series I highly recommend.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on November 9th, 2009)