Anime Juke Box - My Heart, Your Heart - The Goddess Family Club

You want peppy candy colored J-pop, than it is hard to beat the songs used in the series Oh My Goddess. Performed by the Japanese voice actresses who performed as the goddesses Belldandy, Urd and Skuld, you may be surprised that they all sing fairly well and in character. The OAV series featured several songs (and even more were released on an full album released at the time of the series). But everyone who's seen the show remembers the opening and ending credits. Here is the opening credits song My Heart, Your Heart. Yeah it is sugary sweet, but it fits the series.

Silent Running (1972)

Introduction:

This is one of those movies that comes up when people discuss science fiction films of the 1970s. Lately I’ve seen some good reviews of it, some people even putting in their top five sci-fi films of all time. Now that gets my attention. So when it appeared on Netflix download, I had to check it out.

Summary:

Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) is an astronaut aboard the space ship Valley Forge. His mission for the past eight years was maintaining the flora and fauna preserved from earth inside of giant domes attached to the ship. Earth has lost all of its natural resources, and only on a fleet of ships like this have they been retained. The objective was to return them to earth when the planet was cleaned up and ready to have life on it.

Unfortunately orders come up to jettison and detonate all the domes and return to earth. No reason is given. But none is needed. Lowell can’t and won’t let that happen. He disobeys his orders and manages to save one dome, even if the rest of the crew has to die in the process. Now Lowell is stranded in space with his three robot pals and trying his best to keep life in the dome going strong. But will Lowell be able to maintain his Silent Running or is he a doomed man.

Good Points:

• Some brilliant model work and visual effects for the era
• Impressive production design giving the ship a lived in appearance
• Contains some pretty intense moments in it

Bad Points:

• Bruce Dern seems to be just a little too intense to be likable
• Those musical montages with Joan Baez singing… um, yeah…
• The message gets in the way of the movie

Overall:

Visually this movie is really something else. I love the designs and execution of the ships, the robots, the interiors, everything. Obviously the film went on to influence other science fiction films afterward. But the heavy-handed approach to the material ends up hurting the end result. Bruce Dern often looks a couple fries short of a happy meal, keeping me from connecting to him and being more afraid for what he’s going to do next. The musical montages and the lack of explanation of certain key events pulled me out of the story. In the end, I can see why some folks might connect to this more than I did, but it is worth checking out.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 5

Sound: 4

Acting: 3

Script: 3

Music: 3

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 3

Total:  3

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.    

Lovelace (2013)

Introduction:

Well this movie seemed to come out of nowhere. When I first heard about a biographical film about the life of X-rated film actress Linda Lovelace, I was surprised. And then to hear that Amanda Seyfried was going to play the lead, well that intrigued me even more. I wondered how far the star would go in her role, and how far the film itself would explore the life and times of Linda Lovelace.

Summary:

Linda (Amanda Seyfried) is your typical all American girl enjoying life in the early 1970s. Her parents are over protective and very religious. She needs to break away every once in a while and have some fun at discos and roller rinks. That is where she meets Chuck (Peter Sarsgaard). At first Chuck seems like a cool guy with a bad boy streak in him. He helps Linda escape her overbearing home and enjoy some solid party time.

Of course all this costs money and soon the pair (now married) have to make ends meet. So Chuck convinces Linda to appear in an adult film, showcasing her very special talent. Linda becomes an instant success, turning the film Deepthroat into a huge hit and media talking point. But things are not well and good with Linda and Chuck. The more famous she becomes, the more success corrupts Chuck. It’s a downward spiral that causes Linda to want to escape the name Lovelace.

Good Points:

• Seyfried does a good job in the lead role
• Sarsgaard is particularly vile in this film
• Moves a good pace

Bad Points:

• Fairly standard execution typical of biographical films
• Some have argued that the source material is not reliable
• Those looking for Boogie Nights 2 will be disappointed

Overall:

I imagine Seyfried wanted to try something a little different in this film and she gets the opportunity. However the movie itself never really reaches out and grabs the viewer. It may have something to do with the odd flashback structure (something that all biography films seem to require). Not a bad film, but missing that extra something to make it a real winner.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 3

Sound: 3

Acting: 4

Script: 3

Music: 3

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 3

Total:  3

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.    

Nostalgia Nugget: Looking at 2013

Can you be nostalgic about the past year? Well even if you can’t I had to put this blog somewhere.

With these VR glasses you'll be able to replay
your favorite moments from 2013.

Well 2013 marks the fourth year for this particular blog. I set a few goals for myself and I met most of them. There were a few unexpected surprises as well, so that kept things exciting. I have to say that writing this blog continues to be a great experience and one that I look forward too.

It is great to see my readership expand a bit. I see new followers and see comments from new readers, as well as the folks who followed me over from my older blog. I’ve also expanded my blog reading and have been inspired by these other writers and the movie and anime related topics they are exploring. It is always good to connect with folks, even if we don’t always agree about the specifics, we can enjoy good commentary.

One of the new features of this blog are the Score Sample and Anime Jukebox posts. My love of film and anime music has been something I usually end up mentioning in my movie reviews, and You Tube allows me to share some of my favorites with everyone. It gives me the opportunity to write a bit about the film, composer or anime series the music comes from. These short posts make great supplements to my Movie Music Musings. I finished up my exploration of my Favorite Composers this year with posts on Michael Giacchino and Jerry Goldsmith. Expect more music related posts next year, including an examination of some of my favorite film scores in the similar style that I tackled Star Trek: The Motion Picture earlier this year.

Another new feature on this blog is the Top Ten list. You call all blame John Kenneth Muir for that. He started a fun reader top ten feature on his blog. I figured since I was spending time writing up these top ten lists, I might as well post the movie related ones here too. I also posted a couple of top ten lists that were exclusive to my blog. I’ll continue this feature and will be participating in Mr. Muirs future polls as well.

The movie "Avalon" is in my future, but will I
be able to make heads or tails of it.

2013 also saw me embracing my fandom for anime, focusing mostly on nostalgic favorites like Gunsmith Cats, Akira, Ninja Scroll and Boogiepop Phantom. Because of all these anime posts, I created a new section for them, the Anime Archive. I included links to my anime related reviews that I wrote for DVD Verdict, for those looking for reviews of anime that were actually shown in this millennium. I wrapped up my coverage of the work of Satoshi Kon with Paprika as well as his short film Good Morning. The next director I’ll be diving into in 2014 is Mamoru Oshii, of Ghost in the Shell fame. I’ll be looking at a selection of his work include some of his live action films (as long as they stay available for streaming on Netflix and Hulu).

I’m going to continue my coverage of the James Bond series, starting in early summer. I wrapped up work by Dalton, Brosnan and Craig this year, but I’ll revisit some of my older reviews and polish them up a bit. We still have quite a few Connery and Moore films to review as well as the odd man out: Mr. Lazenby.

I think I'll have to tackle a few more Gamera episodes
this year.

You’ll also get another set of Mystery Science Theater 3000 reviews. I tried to write a review a month last year, corresponding my monthly coverage with the season – January was season 1, February was Season 2 and so on. November will be turkey month again, so you can expect a whole set of new and revised MST3K goodness. I’ll also continue my tradition of reviewing horror films in October.

In between I’m pondering tackling a series of films, not sure which series or topic I’ll pick yet. I’ve got a few likely candidates including classic gangster/crime flicks, Star Trek films, virtual reality flicks of the 1990s or even 1980s fantasy films. We’ll see where I end up, and if you have any suggestions feel free to send them my way.

My goal for 2013 was to write at least 8 blog posts a month, and I succeeded. Some of them were revisits of older entries (usually with better editing and more images), but they still count as part of the overall goal. I’m shooting to meet that same goal again (maybe hit 100 posts for the year). So if you have anything you’d like me to write about or if you are curious about a topic I already covered, feel free to contact me. I’m certainly looking forward to 2014 and all the blog writing and reading in my future.

Score Sample - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Time to kick off my first blog of the year. I figured I'd start with a post on the newest film score in my collection, Howard Shore's wonderful music to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. True to form Shore has crafted another fine score filled with various themes, some old and some new. What I really enjoy about this score over the previous one, is the large variance of tones and textures. Nearly every new location in the film is reflected in the music, sounding different enough but still holding the musical identity of Middle Earth that Shore created back in 1999 when the Lord of the Rings films were first entering production. 

While my favorite theme in this score has to be the music for the dragon Smaug, I have to say that one of the best tracks is the final one, used during the end credits. The track is called Beyond the Forest and it includes two new themes for the elves of Mirkwood. One is specific to the new elf character Tauriel. These new elven themes fit perfectly with the elf themes created for Rivendell and Lothlorien in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Top Ten - Mystery Science Theater 3000 Favorites

A few years back a friend of mine wanted a breakdown of my favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes. I found this nearly impossible to do, but after some serious thinking and discussing with my wife, I decided the best approach was to pick my favorite episode from each of the 10 seasons of the show. This provides a nice spread of episode types and styles. Of course some of my bias toward movie types is evident.  I think it's a good time to resurrect the list, add some fun elements. So here you go, my top ten favorite MST2K episodes in Season order.

Season One

I think Valeria is gloating, but I can't understand her.

For me the choice is easy on this one. You've got a 1980s post-apocolyptic sci-fi with no budget - I'm there! Robot Holocaust is a lot of things and none of them are very good, but it is pretty much non stop hilarity without the riffing. Joel and bots do a great job, and the film provides them with so much to work with. My favorite character is the vampy Valeria, whose accent is so thick and performance so over the top, that she steals the whole film - in a bad way.

Fun Fact: Our protagonist is named Neo, and he has super powers, faces down a robotic overlord and frees an enslaved people. Any similarities to The Matrix are coincidental, right?

Season Two
I'm so surprised that they got to riff on Godzilla vs. Megalon, but I'm so happy they did. Made in the early 70s, this film seems like the little annoying brother to the other Godzilla films. It's got all the typical moments you expect in a Godzilla movie, but then it has a whole host of other oddities, my favorite being the robot randomness of Jet Jaguar. Joel and bots have a lot of fun with this one, and it is one of funniest episodes they ever did. I hope one day Sony lightens up, so this episode can see an official release - because it is gold.

Host Segment Highlight: The boys attempt to translate the Jet Jaguar song at the end of the film. it is silly, random, and yet I've seen enough translations of J-pop to say, they make plausible alternate lyrics

Season Three

Here's to good friends, tonight is kinda special.

Season three was the season where the boys tackled an immense amount of Sandy Frank imported Japanese media. Nearly all those episodes were great, but one stands head and shoulders above the others, Fugitive Alien. With it's plot made up of hacked and dubbed television episodes, barely making any sense in the final form, you've got a gold mine of fun. The movie is filled to bursting with odd moments, strange characters, horrible dubbing and plot points that come and go into the void. This kind of thing was made to be riffed and Joel and bots deliver - big time.

Favorite riff: (sung to the sassy brassy musical score) This is the song, written for the train chase. This is the chase: Rocky and Ken. He tried to kill me with a forklift. OLE!

Season Four
How can you not include "Manos": The Hands of Fate on this list? That movie is so well known now because of MST3K, and the classic riffing they put this movie through. In so many ways, it's almost become it's own cliche, and yet when you watch the episode they do such a great job with it. Torgo provides so much fodder for them of course, but every character is so poorly executed and filmed and recorded that there are countless riffing opportunities. Joel and bots are deeply scarred by the film, and yet it remains one of the funniest episodes they ever did.

Personal Favorite Episode: If the list was for myself, I'd pick Hercules Against the Moon Men. It was the first episode I ever saw, and holds a place in my heart for that. It is also the funniest sword and sandal epic they ever tackled. 

Season Five

Yes Satan! Speak to me through this song!

Not a lot of folks love this one as much as I do, but I Accuse My Parents is one of the best riffing sessions of Joel's era. It is a pure melodrama, a genre they rarely tackled. It's got goofy songs, a ridiculously naive hero, and fast talking gangsters. This mix was unique for the writers and I think they did a great job with it. Season five is filled with excellent episodes, but I can always pop this one in and have a good laugh.

Worthy Second Pick: Well you can always go with Mitchell. Not only was it Joel's farewell episode, but it has one of the funniest riffing sessions of the season in it. They didn't do too many 1970's flicks, but this was a great one.

Season Six
You want proof that you can riff on anything, then check out Red Zone Cuba. This is juggernaut of a bad film. It is soul crushing in the worst way, and yet it is clearly the work of a man trying to tell us something. It is Coleman Francis at his most epic, and it takes a top notch trio of riffers to tackle it. Mike, Kevin and Trace do an amazing job with this episode keeping the quips flying fast and furious. What should have been a slog is an amazing testament to how good these folks (writers and performers) were at their mode of comedy. 

"But I Just Want to Laugh" pick: Don't feel like marveling at the skill of of cast and crew of MST3K and just want some hilarity. No problem. Season six also contains the wonderfully 70s Angels Revenge the low budget Charlie's Angel wannabe. Can't go wrong there.

Season Seven

They call him old pasta marinara face.

This was a tough one, because there are two stellar episodes on here. And if you ask me next week, I might even say that Deathstalker and the Warriors From Hell would be my pick. But today it's The Incredible Melting Man. Everything about this movie is a mess, from the goopy drippy monster to the ineffectual hero, Dr. Ted Nelson. There is barely a plot, the script is painfully bad, and the effects are very gross. But Mike and the bots have so much to work with. Maybe the must disgusting movie they've ever riffed, but also one of the funniest.

Favorite "What the hell?" moment in the movie: The entire rant that Dr. Ted Nelson goes on about having crackers for his soup. Atchka indeed my friend, Atchka!

Season Eight
The first season with the Sci-fi channel ended with a trilogy of wonderfully goofy 1980s sci-fi films - one of my favorite genre's for riffing. But the king of those three films is Space Mutiny hands down. Another movie that seems tailor made for riffing. The costumes, the acting, the plot, the sets, the hair (oh sweet God, the hair) all lend themselves to jokes. Our big beefy hero ends up with so many alternate names, and each one is hilarious. And let's not forget Kalgon and his maniacal glee. For the chase scene finale alone - you need to see this episode.

Favorite moment: When Chunk Manmuscle screams in rage, and then calmly exits the vehicle. 

Season Nine

I think he put on the goofy suit.

After you see MST3K take on Puma Man you wish they tackled more superhero flicks. Of course this movie really deserves to be mocked. The hero is a complete dork. He is constantly saved and out shown by his sidekick. Donald Pleasance dresses as a disco maniac as the villian, and then there's the music. I love the music in all it's Casio glory. Puma Man seems to be deadly serious one moment and completely off its rocker the next. This is one of those episodes that gets funnier the more times you see it, and it is hilarious the first time you watch it. You'll be singing the theme song for weeks afterwards.

Favorite riff: (to the Pumaman theme) Puma Man, he flies like a moron. 

Season Ten
This "movie" comes straight from the riffing gods, because no one else could have cobbled together such a weird "movie" from so many loose parts, and hoped it would entertain. And yet there it is, Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders. Part horror film, part kids flick, and none of it working any way. I love how the two different eras of film don't mesh at all. I love the stupid framing within a framing story idea. I love the acerbic and angry Jonathon, I love the angry psychic, and I love the Rock and Roll Martian - whoever the hell he is. This should have been the final episode of the series, because it really is one of the best they ever did.

Favorite Riffing Moments: When Mike and bots attempt to reconcile that Ernest Borgnine is telling these horrible stories to his grandson. "Grandpa Borgnine no!" "Oh you just wait, what happened to the cat was nothing to what was about to happen to Sparkle the dog."

Favorite Short

'And no one can wait to leave this seething cauldron
of angst."

This was a tough one, because I love so many of the shorts and sometimes one will strike me as hilarious one time and just plain funny the next. But there is one that pretty much makes me laugh out loud constantly through the whole thing and that is A Date With Your Family. This little short about eating dinner with your family is so odd and patronizing and yet perfectly 50s in every way. The riffing is just gold, with Mike and bots working with the holier than thou narrator. So many lines and riffs from this short get quoted around my house it isn't even funny.

Favorite Riff: (after a long discussion about who gets to eat first during dinner, Mike adds the following) "Father feigns eating, draws Junior out and then disowns him!" 

Favorite Movie
Ok so this one is a bit of a cheat, because there is only one MST3K movie: Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. I know a lot of folks don't enjoy this one half as much as I do, but I think the combination of This Island Earth with one of the best riffing teams of the series delivers one of the funniest movies of the 1990s. I get a kick out of the movie every time I watch it and that is quite a bit.

Favorite Riff: (as Tom Servo scans the opening credits) Let's see... Shatner, Shatner, Shatner... he's not in this one. We're safe.

Jet Jaguar and Godzilla try out for cheer.

So there you go, my top ten favorite episodes from my favorite television series. What is great about this show, is that fan favorites are all over the map. One person may think that Radar Secret Service is the funniest thing they've seen, others will swear by The Rebel Set, It Conquered the World, Hercules Unchained, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank or Mad Monster. But when it comes down to it, the show has a perfect mix of writing and comic timing, and it's hard to find an actual weak episode. Hopefully this list can guide those looking to dive into the fun.

Score Sample - Gremlins

In my previous blog about Jerry Goldsmith I mentioned that he created a score for nearly any genre of film you can imagine. So some of you said, what about a Christmas movie, I bet he didn't score one of those. Well, he did. In fact Goldsmith had a great working relationship with director Joe Dante, and provided the score for nearly all his films since they first started working together on Twilight Zone: The Movie. So naturally when Dante finished working on Gremlins he brought in Goldsmith to score it. Dante seemed to bring out some of Goldsmith's humor in his music. For the snazzy theme for the gremlins, Goldsmith took the theme he crafted for the monster on the wing of the plane in Twilight Zone: The Movie and tweaked it a little - making it more mischievous and fun. But you can hear a very clear similarity between them. Makes sense, since the creature on the wing of the plane is gremlin-like in his destruction of machines. Here is the end credit suite from Gremlins, with Goldsmith indulging in his 1980s syths, as well as giving us one hell of a memorable theme.

Listen carefully and you can hear digitized wailing cats being used in counterpoint. A clever nod to a cat loving character in the film.