Ponyo and Other Stuff

This week has been a bit hectic lately. I have a couple of days off and then some extra busyness at work so my head isn't screwed on right (when is it ever?). Here is some Marnie Stern to make us all feel better:



So what was yours truly doing at a G rated Tuesday yesterday morning? Well, aside from it being my wife's birthday, Ponyo is the new film by world-renowned animation director Hayao Miyazaki and I wasn't going to miss it for the world. This breathtaking and fun film did not disappoint at all and I'm glad that somebody, somewhere is smart enough to realize that there is always going to be an audience for this stuff.

The odious ending song caused some hilariousness. The fools at Disney decided to translate the lyrics to English and then do a painful remix with the American voice actors rapping about Ponyo. Everyone in the crowd friggin' bolted for the door when this unholy and shitty noise started. Now I've heard the Japanese version and I don't really like it either bit the American one is like having your face bashed in with a candy hammer. Some kind soul has posted a comparison of the two on Youtube:


You see, I am an old anime nerd. When horror slipped from the top spot of my main entertainment focus (a dark time indeed), anime stepped in to dominate my life for many years. Over the last couple of days, I got onto an old school anime kick and just wanted to either revisit some old titles or see some things that I missed (or have been avoiding for years). So I checked out Dominion Tank Police and one of the Black Jack movies online at ye olde Netflix.




I was really surprised by the Black Jack movie. It ended up being really entertaining and horrifying with some really freaky medical experimentation gone very wrong. The Earth Day message tacked on at the end was really bad and me want to go out and poor bleach on some flowers. Dominion Tank Police was fun and all but there were a lot of abandoned plot threads (maybe due to the English translation).

To be continued...