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Spirited Away, a review by dfmorgan

Title: Spirited Away
Original Title: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi
Year: 2001
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Rating: PG
Length: 124 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.00:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French:

Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Rumi Hiiragi
Mari Natsuki
Miyu Irino
Yumi Tamai
Bunta Sugawara

Plot:
From one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of animated cinema comes the most acclaimed film of 2002. Hayao Miyazaki's latest triumph, filled with astonishing animation and epic adventure, is a dazzling masterpiece for the ages. It's a "wonderfully welcoming work of art that's as funny and entertaining as it is brilliant, beautiful and deep" (Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal).

Spirited Away is a wondrous fantasy about a young girl, Chihiro, trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free herself and return her family to the outside world.

This deluxe 2-disc set overflows with outstanding bonus features, including the Japanese television special about the making of the film, an inside view into the artistry of Miyazaki, and a storyboard-to-scene comparison. Spirited Away is a spectacular DVD the whole family will want to experience over and over again.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Featurettes
Production Notes
Storyboard Comparisons
Closed Captioned
Introduction by John Lasseter



The one that won the Oscar.

Chihiro and her family are moving but her father takes a wrong turning and finishes up trying to reach the new house over a dirt track but instead this track leads to a tunnel. The family take time out to walk through the tunnel, as you do when moving house, and come out on the other side in a field with some abandoned buildings. The father surmises that this must be an abandoned theme park. They explore further and end up in what appears to be a deserted town but the parents can smell fresh food and upon finding the restaurant start to eat the food. Chihiro though doesn't want any and leaves her parents busy scoffing. During her excursion Chihiro meets a young man who warns her to escape with her parents but when she goes back to them they have been turned into pigs. Thus begins this mystical adventure from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

All the usual trademarks from Miyazaki are here plus to a minor extent, compared to his earlier films, we also have the environmental and ecological themes.

Whilst I do like this film it is not one of my favourites but it is enjoyable so a 4

(From dfmorgan's Studio Ghibli Marathon on August 4th, 2010)

Bloody Mary, a review by addicted2dvd

Bloody Mary
When a group of psychiatric hospital nurses invoke the spirit of Bloody Mary-a supposed urban myth-the slaughter begins. First, a young nursing assistant disappears, her body never found. Now, patients are turning up dead-battered beyond recognition, soaked in blood, their eyes ripped out. Mary's wrath has begun. Freed from her eternal prison behind the mirror's reflection, she unleashes a murderous, maniacal fury upon the asylum. Moving at will through mirrors, she strikes when victims are unsuspecting, defenseless, and lone. Bloody Mary's legend is real, her vengeance is fatal, and to free her, all you have to do is say her name.

My Thoughts:
This movie I would say is only fair at best. I mean... it has it's moments... and an original idea thrown in here and there. And there is blood in it... not what I consider gory... but definitely has it's share of blood. One thing that was pretty aggravating to me at least was that you never really got a decent look at Bloody Mary. Besides all that... the acting leaves a lot to be desired. But as I said... it has it's moments. It is a movie I can see myself watching again... but not one I would watch very often.

(From Weekend Movie Marathon: 7/11 - 7/13 on July 11th, 2008)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

American Dad!: Volume One (2005/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 284 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Plot:
From the delightfully twisted creative minds behind Family Guy comes American Dad!, the animated tour de force featuring CIA operative Stan Smith, his outrageous family, and Roger, the alcoholic extra-terrestrial who lives with them!

Follow the adventures of the Smiths from the California desert where Stan's wife Francine relieves her wild youth at the Burning Man Festival to Saudi Arabia, where the entire family is sentenced to death by the Vice and Virtue Police! Whether it's rigging elections, erasing memories, casing sleazy strip clubs, or staging "bum fights," it's all in a day's work for Stan, and it's all here in the side-splittingly hilarious first 13 episodes of American Dad!

American Dad!
1.01 Pilot (2005-02-06)
Writer: Seth MacFarlane (Writer), Mike Barker (Writer), Matt Weitzman (Writer)
Director: Ron Hughart
Cast: Seth MacFarlane (Stan/Roger (voice)), Wendy Schaal (Francine (voice)), Scott Grimes (Steve (voice)), Rachael MacFarlane (Hayley (voice)), Dee Bradley Baker (Klaus (voice)), Curtis Armstrong ( (voice)), Mike Barker ( (voice)), Chris Cox ( (voice)), Carmen Electra ( (voice)), Jeff Fischer ( (voice)), Mike Henry ( (voice)), Natasha Melnick ( (voice)), Kim Parks ( (voice)), Kevin Michael Richardson ( (voice)), Andre Sogliuzzo ( (voice)), Daisuke Suzuki ( (voice)), John Viener ( (voice))

Going in I thought this was too similar to Family Guy and wouldn't last long. But this series found its own voice later on. The pilot episode was boring though.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on March 25th, 2011)