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Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind, a review by dfmorgan

Title:Original Title: Kaze no tani no Naushika
Year: 1984
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Rating: PG
Length: 117 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, Japanese: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English

Stars:Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Featurettes
Production Notes
Storyboard Comparisons
Closed Captioned
THX
THX Optimizer



Dave

Review Addendum: After cogitating overnight I have decided to add a little extra to this review as much of my writing above wasn't really a review.



(From dfmorgan's Studio Ghibli Marathon on June 10th, 2010)

36 Hours, a review by Antares

36 Hours (1965) 76/100 - I had never heard of this film and caught it on TCM about a week ago. At first I thought it was going to play out a little like The Americanization of Emily, another war film starring James Garner. But then I was quite surprised when it turned out to be a rather exciting tale of espionage and intrigue which used the D-Day invasion as a backdrop. James Garner plays an OAS operative who is kidnapped in Lisbon by the Nazis, just days before the invasion. He is taken to a special encampment near the Swiss border which is fabricated to look like an American military hospital. Here, he is made to look a few years older by some temporary kind of plastic surgery, in order to create the ruse that he has suffered from amnesia for the last 6 years and that the war is over and the Allies have won. By convincing him of this scenario, they hope by treating him for the amnesia, that he will communicate the actual invasion plans to his physicians. All in all, this film kept me engaged throughout, and the ending of the film is quite satisfactory.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on October 12th, 2013)

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: In a few days Buffy will turn 18 and she doesn't really want to celebrate it due to the fear that it will be a crap-fest again. And she's right. She has suddenly lost her Slayer powers and is a normal young woman again. The gang investigates in this - with the exception of Giles because it is he who must put her through an ancient and cruel Watcher's Council ritual.

My Opinion: Between this and the last episode of Buffy I've watched, I watched a lot of other stuff, including four seasons of Bones, in which David Boreanaz plays the male lead. So I needed a bit of time to get used to the brooding Angel again. I never really liked the plot of that episode because IMHO it doesn't make sense. The Slayer is always in constant danger of being killed and the more experienced she gets the better are her chances of survival. So why take the chances of her getting killed in this stupid test when the result would be that you end up with an inexperienced beginner Slayer again?
But I really liked the ending when Buffy wordlessly forgave Giles when Quentin fired him due to his fatherly love for Buffy.

Synopsis: After being pummelled by a demon again, Buffy and Giles seriously advise Xander to stay out of future fights. But without being in the midst of it he feels useless and decides to become the "wheel man". This doesn't really work out either and he suddenly finds himself being the driver for a bunch of dead-yet-not-in-the-ground former high school jocks who want to have some fun.

My Opinion: That was a great Xander episode. I really liked it that there was a big Hellmouth fight - but that it wasn't really the plot of the episode. I also liked how they pointed at the danger Angel had to face (and survived of course) without ever explaining or showing what he was up against - because that it wasn't really the plot of the episode. This way they could create a cool Xander-based story without making the others his sidekicks (which would never work) or make them disappear for the entire episode.

Synopsis: The new Watcher has arrived: Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, a young stiff Englishman on a high horse who isn't taken seriously by neither Buffy nor Faith. Because both have better things to do: Want. Take. Have. Faith shows Buffy her philosophy of what it means to be a Slayer and together they party and slay and party and break into a weapons store and party ... until Faith makes a horrible mistake.

My Opinion: When I saw him enter the library I had a hard time imagining that this man is the husband of Alyson Hannigan and father of her child. It's just a role, but still... But back to the episode: When I first watched this episode I didn't know what was going to happen in the end but I was quite certain that something would bring the party crashing down. It was inevitable from the moment they broke into that weapons store. But I didn't recognize who Faith had killed (Bad with faces, remember?) until it's explained in the next episode. Still, I liked this episode, Faith and Buffy partying and playing bad girls.

Synopsis: Faith has accidentally killed the Deputy Mayor but she has no intentions of facing the consequences and is trying to cover everything up. When that doesn't work she tries to blame Buffy who has already a hard time to cope with what had happened. When Wesley gets wind of this he tries to deport Faith back to England which makes matters only worse.

My Opinion: This episode I really, really liked. It was great to see Buffy struggle with her secret and how she tried to convince Faith to come clean and how she sobbed in Willow's arms. She is a warrior, but she still remains human. I also liked how Xander honestly tried to reconnect with Faith even though he failed. But this is his quality: He does not give up on his friends and one day it will save the world.
What I honestly didn't understand was Willow's breakdown in the bathroom. Granted, she had always feelings for Xander, but after Lovers Walk she wanted to get back with Oz and Xander was single again. What did she expect?

(From "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon on August 31st, 2009)