It’s back! Cinefessions is running their annual horror/sci-fi film watching challenge and Sketchy Details will participate for a third year in a row. I’ve always managed to pop up near the top of the scoreboard and I don’t intend to stop that trend this year.
The checklist is worth 30 points. The five extra bonus items are another five points each. Completing the full checklist, with bonus items, is 80 points. I’m allowed three wildcard films that just miss the horror/sci-fi genre.
Films are one point; half hour TV is a half point. Those scores are doubled for matching the weekly themes.
What can I say? I knew I’d be on vacation and had far away adventures in mind. Creature from the Black Lagoon features one of my favorite movie monsters, even if the film is pretty underwhelming as a whole. Still, a lot of fun can be had gawking at the beauty of the visuals, the stunts, and that monster suit.
I couldn’t let AniMAY 2014 pass by without at least one review of a horror anime. Shiki is a doozy. It’s like a mash-up between Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Twin Peaks.
A town is dealing with an inexplicable run of deaths. Natsuno, our hero, is fascinated by death but won’t be of much use in the story for quite some time. Things turn strange when a high school girl, Megumi, is found in a catatonic state brought on by anemia and dies later that night. Her parents refuse an autopsy so that her suffering isn’t extended even though the only thing wrong with the body is a few bug bite wounds. At the same time, a new family, the Kirishikis, move into a long-abandoned Western-style mansion in the middle of the night and are never seen around town. Megumi was on her way to visit them when she fell because of the anemia.
Did you know that Hulu finally started putting up the original run of Sailor Moon, unedited and with accurate subtitles? That’s pretty remarkable. I’ve watched the available episodes so far and they feel right.
See, Sailor Moon isn’t just a silly series for kids. There is a good bit of depth there. It does go to dark places. The characters aren’t perfect and the ever-expanding web of players adds some intrigue.
Kaito Daimon is a master puzzle solver. With a little help from his best friend Nonoha, he solves a massive labyrinth designed to kill anyone who doesn’t solve it correctly. The prize is a magical armband that enhances his puzzle solving ability. It also sends him into a world of deadly puzzles being thrown at a small group of students at his school. These four students have the potential to solve the Puzzle of God, unlocking all the secrets of the universe.
Phi Brain: Puzzle of God is simultaneously strange and familiar. It has the same kind of dramatic structure as many other competition as storyline series (Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon, etc.), yet there actually are deadly stakes to the story. There are random characters who only appear for one episode, but the core cast is developed beyond the young male lead. Each of these core characters is strong in their own way, but not held so high up that they can never be used for humor.
I finally finished proctoring AP Exams today, so I can cement the content schedule for next week when I’m in Florida through Friday and then immediately jumping into PressManMode at Book Expo America.
Just a quick post while I’m thinking about these things. I have a thing where I obsessively play games for months and months, sometimes because they last that long and more often because I fall in love and just keep beating/exploring them. These are the ones I can’t stop playing in May.
Stephen King is notorious for changing his feelings about his film adaptations. One consistency, however, is his claim that Maximum Overdrive is the single worst adaptation of any of his stories. Funny, since he himself adapted and directed this schlocky howler of a technology gone bad horror picture himself.
Another day, another panel accepted at ConnectiCon 2014. I’ll be discussing Shakespeare and anime on Saturday, 12 July, at 11:30AM. This is not an attempt to impose a Western reading on Japanese animation but a celebration of the times when Shakespeare is adapted, referenced, or revolutionized in anime. Think Blast of Tempest, which will figure heavily in the discussion. Details.
