Aloha Y’all! Catgirl Island www.catgirlisland.net & Clan of the Cats www.clanofthecats.com purr-sent a Mike Moon purrduction of
The Catgirl Critics’ Media Mewsings for June, 2008
featured in this month’s mew, the catgirls (and Mike) tender their reviews & recommendations purr-taining to these
Movies: Nim’s Island, Iron Man, Speed Racer, Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
DVDs: 30 Days of Night, Cloverfield, Bewitched Season 6, and Speed Racer Vol. 1-5
Comic Books: Buffy: Season Eight #14, Angel: After the Fall #7, Serenity Better Days #3, Giant Size Astonishing X-Men #1, Gold Digger Swimsuit Special #15
& Manga: Aria Vol. 2, Foxy Lady Vol. 1, Dragon Sisters Vol. 1
Books: The Emily Windsnap series, Ursula Vernon’s Nurk, and Anime Figures- Tokyo’s Hottest 50 Figurines
Art: some favorite artists with birthdays this month, and a few kind words about the late great John Berkey
Events: Atlanta Dogwood Festival, Bot Con, toy shows, Free Comic Book Day, TAAS & NCWCCC gatherings, Animazement
Places: The Carolina Basketball Mewseum
Toys: The Hotwheels 1:16 1966 Batmobile and Art Asylum’s Star Trek II USS Enterprise
plus the Monthly 13 Lucky Kitty WebComic Picks of the Litter, several Lightning Round topics, and other tidbits
Warnings in bold red purr-ceeding any reviews indicate potential plot spoilers or locations of hidden easter eggs!
Mike:
(The catgirls’ purrducer) So how about this beautiful weather we’re having, hmm? This time we’re coming from beautiful downtown Purrbank Bridge at Catgirl island’s scenic riverwalk by the shops and restaurants, where the pedestrian and bike paths meander amongst the pretty landscape of our cordial coastal Carolina community! And now, ready for their fish sammiches, extra special baked yams, apple nummy cherry berry drinks, and a time of scintillating discussions, reviews and recommendations, here are-
The Ladies of the Mew!
Mary Nyan:
(wearing a job bra top and the cycling shorts with pretty plumeria pattern) Konnitiwa!
Elizabeth:
(in an off- shoulder mid-drift senorita blouse and ruffly slit skirt) Hi Hi!
Jeannie:
(wearing a string bikini under a sheer cover-up) Nihao!
Yvonne:
(wearing a cropped tank top and capri pants) Nameste, nya!
(all four catgirls in unison, with happy swishy tails)
Thank you for the food, Mike, nya!
Mike:
(in tee shirt & jeans as if anybody cares) Y’all are very welcome. So what have y’all been up to the past few days?
Elizabeth:
Oh just the mewsual stuff… how ’bout you Jen?
Jeannie:
Belly dance class, yoga class, kyu-do class, scuba class, and I’ll be modeling in Brazil next week.
Yvonne:
That kite of y– BRAZIL, nya? Wow! Tell us more, nya!
Jeannie:
It is a photo shoot at Lopes Mendes Beach for couture Janete.
Mary Nyan:
It would be good to go there and to soak in the sun on those beaches.
Yvonne:
The March/ April issue of Gaff magazine has an article on fishing for Peacock Bass in Brazil, nya! I think we should pose on my boat- I bet we could be good Gaff girls, nya!
Jeannie:
I would like to sample those Peacock Bass.
Mary Nyan:
Oh gosh- I was watching a neat show Monster Quest on the History Channel- it has sort of a cryptozoological theme. A recent episode was on giant fresh water fish, including giant catfish in the Amazon! There were other legendary giant fish purrofiled from Asia to the Arctic Circle too, such as the 12′ Alligator Gar in Texas, 1916 shark attacks in NJ, monster lake trout in Canada, and 70 lb Muskee in Wisconsin.
Elizabeth:
Vonny, we need to take your boat to where those giant fish are!
Yvonne:
Nya!
Jeannie:
That would be a good trip. But to get back on topic, Vonny, what are your plans?
Yvonne:
Oh I’ll just be purr-paring for the next beach volleyball tournyament, and tomorrow I’m taking my Taiko group out on the boat, nya!But yes we should go look for those monster fish, nya.
Mary Nyan:
On the other paw, I saw another show on Animal Planet called Eaten Alive which mentioned an Amazon fish I would rather avoid- the Candiru.
Yvonne:
Nya!!!
Elizabeth:
I know that pirana fish are dangerous but what about the Candiru?
(Jeannie whispers to Lizzy why the Candiru are a feared fish)
Elizabeth:
EEK!
Mary Nyan
Good luck Vonny! Taiko on the boat? There are Puppy Drum Fish at the inlet, but that would be a Kitty Drum, hee!
Yvonne:
Howboutchoo Myayr, nya?
Mary Nyan:
Aside from the shrine, just the mewsual hula, surfing, cricket, aerial dancing, gymnastics and fishing since our our last convention!
Jeannie:
Monster Quest and Eaten Alive remind me that I would like to purrpose an actual purrliminary Lightning Round to warm up the Mew.
(all four catgirls’ curious ears perked)
Mary Nyan:
What is it?
Jeannie:
We mewsually focus on science fiction but this topic is science non-fiction television. This will be good to purrpare us mentally for the Mew. “Four tuna flavors the purr-pared mind”.
Yvonne:
Are we having tuna. nya?
Jeannie:
The tuna would be good to get us pepped for the Mew. It is brain food you know.
Mary Nyan:
Tuna steak!
Elizabeth:
Your mewture is at steak. Hee!
(all four catgirls in unison with tails a-swishin’)
LIGHTNING ROUND-GO!
Jeannie:
Lightning Round #1: Favorite Science, Nature & Technology Shows!
(Jenjen tags Vonny to go first)
Yvonne:
The expurrditions of Jaques-Yves Cousteau http://www.cousteau.org/ and Steve Irwin http://www.crocodilehunter.com.au/ who are missed.
(Myayr & Lizzy clap hands together & bow heads out of respect)
Mary Nyan:
I like National Geographic Specials, and those shows with realistic CG creatures such as Walking with Dinosaurs! And the Swimming with Sea Monsters was good too! (tags Elizabeth)
Elizabeth:
Oh gosh purrobably Mythbusters and Wild West Tech… What about you, Mike?
(Myayr tags Jen)
Jeannie:
Nova, Nature, and Scientific American Frontiers http://www.pbs.org/ are excellent. Alan Alda is the purrfect host with his enthusiasm and interest for the scientific and technological explorations. Cosmos is an older favorite and the more recent Blue Planet series are excellent. I am also rather fond of Battlebots http://www.battlebots.com/ (tags Yvonne)
Mike:
Ok fellow stargazers, allow me to add Connections, In Search Of…, and Jack Horkheimer’s Star Hustler, whose web site can be viewed with the naked eye at http://www.jackstargazer.com/.
Well that was a good round- fast and on topic! Thanks Jen! We’ll be right back after this break!
(tails happily swishing, the catgirls begin to chomp down their tasty tuna lunch before the next segment of movie reviews begins)
(snip)
Mike:
We’re back!
Elizabeth:
mmm thishish good fish!
Mary Nyan:
The PepPURR Sauce is good.
Yvonne:
(chomp) Mmm so what’s the next topic, nya?
Mary Nyan:
Well, this yummy food does remind me of what we purrtook of at the
2008 Atlanta Dogwood Festival
Mary Nyan:
We had a splendid time at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival http://www.dogwood.org/ which was April 3-5 2008 which was held at Lennox Mall, unlike previous years at Piedmont Park. We were very lucky to arrive there Friday morning and eluded the rain! There were many booths and tents showcasing the magnificent works of many artists and craftspurrsons, fine organizations, and venders of numcious foods. Alas we left earlier in the day, missing the swell venue of live mewsic that was scheduled for each day, but we certainly did enjoy the very cordial, friendly atmosphere, and seeing so many amazing creations. A neat item I bought was the handmade cobweb broom of sour wood intwined with honeysuckle vine by Friendswood Brooms http://www.friendswoodsbrooms.com The fine flavor of the festival foods was also a swell part. The huge kilbasa smothered with peppers & onions was a great lunch! Lizzy got the teriyaki chicken, Jeannie sampled the cheeseteak sammich, and- you should have seen Vonny when she drank that very fresh lemonade- she was a real sour pu-
Yvonne:
Don’t say it, nya!
Mary Nyan:
Oh Ok! So who is next on our recap of recent events?
Carolina Basketball Museum
Elizabeth:
Vonny you should mention the trip to the Carolina Basketball Museum http://www.carolinabasketballmuseum.com/!
Jeannie:
It is not quite genre related purr se, but since it is an extra special Tarheel topic of hallowed importance to us it should get a mention.
Yvonne:
On a lovely Friday under a breezy Carolina blue sky, Mike took us to the glorious Carolina Basketball Mewseum on the 1st floor of the Ernie Williamson Athletic Center which is beside the Dean Dome at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, nya! It is open 10 am - 4 pm Monday - Friday, nya. Parking was curious, as they were purrparing the campus for graduation day, but we found a good spot, nya. Approaching the building is the courtyard with plaques & bricks with names of donors as you enter the atrium where there’s a cordial greeter, nya. Beyond this is a theater showing a rousing short film Game Day. which leads to the main exhibit hall, big and bright with large windows overlooking the campus, nya!
On the hardwood floor are various displays and A/N purresentations on every aspect of UNC (mens) basketball- it’s just focused on the mens basketball, nya. There are Jerseys, articles, documents, videos, etc about plays, players, memorable games, point guards, defense, All-Americans, Tarheels that went on to the NBA, academic excellence etc, with special kiosks and videos devoted to players such as Michael Jordan and James Worthy and coaches Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, Frank McGuire and Roy Williams, nya! There are touch screen displays including a database of people, games, etc, and game highlights that you can watch accompanied by The Voice of the Tareheels, Woody Durham, nya.
From there is a more intimate, darker room devoted to March Madness, with display cases purrtaining to UNC’s victories in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments nya. There are photos, videos, memorabilia and championship trophies, cups, plaques, rings, and basketballs, nya. After this room is the shrine to the purrestigous NCAA Championships won by UNC in 1924, 1957, 1982, 1993, and 2005, with gleaming trophies, nya. Exiting back to the atrium is a corridor lined with large photographs of various Tarheel purrsonalities, nya. We were only there for a couple of hours but it would have taken a few more hours to see everything, nya! Of course, it is now baseball season, and we drove by the nearby Tarheels’ Boshamer Stadium which is undergoing major renovations, nya. Hopefully this’ll be the 3rd year in a row they’ll go to the college world series, nya! Afterwards we roamed the campus and other favorite spots in Chapel Hill & Carrboro, where there are are lots of good restaurants, nya! I got pancakes nya!
Mike:
Then it was time to get back to the drawing board afterso much fun time off!
Mary Nyan:
(kitty ears lower like closing doors of a McLaren F1) Drawing Board? More like the TV! I thought you said that you had too much work to do when you got back!
Mike:
Hey I was just watching some impressive science fiction TV after supper that Monday night, for uhh… media review purposes!
Mary Nyan:
Impurressive Science fiction to review? You were watching a game show! Not that there is anything wrong with that, but-
Darth or No Darth (or, I’ve got a bad dealing about this…)
Yvonne:
What were you watching, and how was it sci fi, nya?
Jeannie:
He was watching Deal or No Deal - Winner Take All’s Star Wars edition. Darth Vader was the guest banker.
Mary Nyan:
More specifically, he was watching 26 briefcase models who were wearing the Slave Leia costumes!
Elizabeth:
That Howie Mandel can be quite comedic!
Yvonne:
I liked him in that Gas movie, nya!
Jeannie:
I seem to recall that you have a Slave Leia costume too, Myayr.
Mary Nyan:
Yeah but that’s not the-
Yvonne:
Darth Vader was the banker, nya?
Elizabeth:
I bet the Sith Lord is a much meaner banker than Milburn Drysdale ever was!
Mary Nyan:
The-
Jeannie:
In fact, that Slave Leia costume is not as skimpy as some of my dance costumes.
Mary Nyan:
I know that but-
Yvonne:
Just think what Vader would do to you, if you could not pay the mortgage, nya!
Elizabeth:
(talks into her glass for Vader voice effect) I find your lack of credit disturbing!
Jeannie:
Come to think of it, we usually wear less than a Slave Leia costume at the beach.
Mary Nyan:
Th–
Yvonne:
Jabba the Hut was not one to owe money to either!
Elizabeth:
You could purrhaps make a deal with Jabba for a little while, but Vader would Force Choke you on the spot!
Mary Nyan:
Oh never mind!
Jeannie:
I sense a great disturbance in the discussion topic.
Yvonne:
We have a blip on the Stray-dar… back on topic, nya!
Mike:
Yeah… we should resume our original course. Lizzy, next topic please!
Fabulous PURRizes
Elizabeth:
So- we were talking about game shows, right?
Yvonne:
Is this a lightning round, nya?
Elizabeth:
No, just an aside.
Yvonne:
Oh Ok- I like the PURRice is Right, nya!
Mary Nyan:
(sigh)
Jeannie:
JeoPURRdy is my favorite.
Elizabeth:
Meredith Vieira is my favorite game show host!
Mike:
I’m sorry Myayr! Here, let me buy another appetizer!
Jeannie:
There was the Star Wars Clone Wars trailer in front of Speed Racer. I am quite looking forward to seeing this new Clone Wars movie, which unlike the prior Star Wars cartoons is done in 3D CG animation likePixar movies, but retains the stylized character designs of the prior cartoon, with realistically rendered looking vehicles and environments. You get to see Anakin, Obi Wan, Jabbah, Yoda, Dooku, C3PO, other droids, troopers, various Jedi and Sith including and a cute little Jedi girl that’s running around with Obi wan and Anakin, who appears to be of the same race as Shaak-Ti.
Yvonne:
Y’know all this Star Wars talk reminds me that—
Elizabeth:
Nya ni?
Yvonne:
Oh- I should turn this into a surpurrise Lightning Round, nya!
Mary Nyan:
OK Vonny, let’s hear it!
Jeannie:
Tell us the topic.
Yvonne:
SurPurrise Lightning Round #2: Some of our Favorite Artists’ June Birthdays, nya!
(Vonny tags Lizzy to go first)
Elizabeth:
The great comic book & commercial artist Neal Adams http://www.nealadams.com/ was born on June 6th,
and the amazing George Perez http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Perez was born on June 9th! (tags Jenjen)
Jeannie:
Co-creator of Elfquest, the wonderful Wendy Pini’s http://www.elfquest.com/ birthday is this month, on the 4th of June, and
manga-ka group Clamp’s Makona Apapa http://www.clamp-net.com/ (in Japanese) was born on the 16th of June (tags Myayr)
Mary Nyan:
He is stardust, he is golden: fantasy artist Charles Vess http://www.greenmanpress.com/ was born on June 10th, and the Lord of the Xenozoic,
Cadillacs & Dinosaurs creator Mark Schulz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Schultz_%28comics%29 was born on June 7th- Quahoon!
So let’s see who Vonny was thinking of to purrompt this topic! (tags Vonny)
Yvonne:
Purrhaps most famous for his Star Wars conceptual art, visionary designer Ralph McQuarrie’s http://www.ralphmcquarrie.com/ birthday is June 13th, nya!
Not only that, but science fiction & fantasy illustrator Michael Whelan http://www.michaelwhelan.com/ was born on June 29th, nya! (tags Mike)
Mike:
Let us not forget our dear friend, web master, and web comics creator Jamie Robertson http://www.clanofthecats.com/ whose birthday is June 15th!
but our artist / cosplayer friend Bix http://tonomurabix.deviantart.com/ was born on June 3rd!
(the catgirls in unison)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Y’ALL! NYA!
Mike:
Well that was a great thing to suggest, Vonny, and that round moved along at a good clip too! However, this brings us to a more solemn topic.
Lightning Round #3: Our favorite John Berkey masterpieces
We were saddened to read that legendary artist John Berkey passed away on April 29th 2008 at age 76. A book collection of his work Painted Space was published by Friedlander Publishing Group in 1991. Perhaps best known for his science fiction work, his peerless use of color and light and iconic paintings of such minute detail have adorned the pages and covers of so many scientific books, novels, magazines, and movie posters. Among his popular subjects were majestic, massive partially abstract starships that seemed as if sculpted from nebulas, colossal structures and vehicles whose grand size is matched only by their beauty and elegance against the wonders of the universe. Here are a few of our favorites-
Elizabeth:
I think my favorite works of art by him were Star Wars pieces, such as the cover to the 1977 Star Wars movie novelization, and the fold out ‘Death Star battle’ poster that came with the soundtrack LPs.
Mary Nyan:
What’s ironic is while those renderings enormous space ships do have such a solid sense of mass and surface texture, at the same time they seem so light and aerie. His painting of a whale like ship rising from the water for Mike Scott Rohan’s “Run to the Stars” might be my most favorite. To think something that seems miles long and weighing thousands of tons still having such believable supple sleek grace is maybe what fascinates me most about his work.
Jeannie:
The awe and splendor of his visions are a staggering. it is humbling experience to imagine mankind possibly ever attaining such grand technologies as he painted for Glen Cook’s “Starfishers” & “Passage at Arms”, or The National Geographic Society’s book “Our Universe”. “Exit Beyond the Point”, “The Sightless Bird”, “Around the Triangle” and “A Change in Direction” are just a few favorite examples of Berkey’s astounding images of casein & acrylic on canvas.
Yvonne:
I like those movie posters he did for King Kong and The Towering Inferno and Orca and Star Wars- those are just such powerful and monumental images, nya! He did some pretty landscapes too, nya!
Mike:
My personal favorite image by John Berkey is the advance teaser poster art he created for Star Trek- The Motion Picture, of the Enterprise hurling towards you. This also appeared on the back cover of many a late 70’s comic books, and preceded the later Style A release poster (with Kirk, Spock & Ilia’s faces against a ‘rainbow’) by the late Bob Peak, another legendary illustrator. There is an article on Mr. Berkey at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Berkey, and there’s an impressive list of his works at http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?John_Berkey.
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We’ll be right back after this short break.
(snip)
Annnnd welcome back!
Mike & the Catgirls Cat the Movies!
Please be aware that in the next segment there might be plot spoilage ahead for the following DVDs & films:
30 Days of Night, Cloverfield, Bewitched Season 6, Nim’s Island, The Forbidden Kingdom, Iron Man, Speed Racer, The Chronicles of Narnia: Purrince Caspian, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Darkness on the Edge of Town: A Review of the 30 Days of Night DVD
Warning: purrpare for cemetery plot spoilage
Elizabeth:
30 Days of Night is based upon the IDW comic book of the same name. A tribe of vampires descends upon the small town of Barrow, Alaska just as the month-long arctic nighttime begins. Sled dogs, roads, phones, computers, and electricity are deprived as the vampires commence their feast. A small group of survivors lead by Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett) and Fire Chief Stella (Melissa George) wait in hiding for over a week, running out of food as dissension sets in. Their numbers are withered away as they make a supply run, some of them turning into vampires until just five remain alive, hoping they can last until the sun rises, but the vampires plan to set the town ablaze before that happens. In order to save Stella who is hiding under a car, surrounded by oil fires and blood suckers, Eben injects himself with infected blood, to gain vampiric super strength to fight their leader. The film ends with Eben dying in Stellas’ arms, fried as they watch the sunrise together.
This 113 minute long film is rated R for gore & violence, released on Region 1 DVD in 2.40:1 anamoprphic widescreen, with audio in English or French, subtitles available in English, French or Spanish. There is also an audio commentary track with Melissa George, Josh Hartnett and purrducer Bob Tapert. Extra features on the disk include 8 featurettes varying in length from 5 to 9 minutes in length. These are: Pre Purrduction, Building Barrow, The Look, Blood Guts Gore & the nasty #@$&!, Stunts, The Vampire, Night Shoots, and Casting. Also included are a few film purreview trailer, and the 20 minutes worth of the 1st episode of the Japanese anime series Blood+, dubbed in English language.
I thought this had a well directed cast, good FX & stunts, with a well designed town set that is nicely photographed, illuminated, and accompanied by a good sound track of crunchy wet blood & snow, and Brian Reitzell’s very effective synth mewsic score that is reminiscent of early 70’s weird horror. Unfortunately, during several attack / fight scenes, this film sadly hops on the trendy bandwagon of having such scenes edited in sped-up motion, the camera flailing around like a floppy fish on a boat. I wish horror & action films would stop that annoying shaky / sped up style because it is quite distracting, calling too much attention to itself and ruins the suspension of disbelief. Whatever hopes any film has of captivating me are thrown out the window by this technique.
Of the plot I have mixed feelings, especially scenes of survivors huddled together in an attic, torn between hiding, fighting or fleeing. There is a sense of nightmarish tension when one has to choose between purrtecting a loved one- whose noisy panic might threaten the safety of the group. Yet, it is hard to believe that they could remain that healthy in an attic for that many days, and not be found by the vampires, who have human intellect, keen senses, super powers, and relentless, methodical, sadistic hunger. The resolution to the conflict seemed a bit too easy though- as Eben is able to defeated the vampire leader just moments after becoming infected. I was also dissatisfied in how the remaining vamps then just give up and leave, and that Eben allows them to escape, to possibly attack other towns. I am still unclear how they or their Renfield-like minion managed to steal so many cell phones. The ‘meat grinder’ scene in the Utilidor was also quite purrdictable.
I have not read the comix book that it is based upon so I cannot comment on how faithful an adaptation the story is, but the screenplay was co-written by the comic book’s writer Steve Niles. The film’s ending is apparently the same as in the comic book. Compared to other vampire cinema / television of the past decade or so, I think it is better than some of the more action / adventure or romantic / sexy types of vamp films such as Underworld or Van Helsing, and at least it tries to be scary instead of angsty; however, It certainly breaks no new genre ground, and it is nowhere nearly as good as say… Ultraviolet, Buffy or Angel, Hellsing or Trinity Blood. I did not care for the episode of Blood+, nor the anime Blood: the Last Vampire which inspired it, nor much other anime by Purrduction IG in the last 15 years, but that’s another topic.
I give 30 Days of Night a letter grade of C-. Finally a special catgirl shout out to Todd at Monkey Time http://www.monkeytime.org/ who gave us this DVD as a purrize for calling into his show, and to the excellent used book store The Readers Corner for donating that and other nice purrizes. Arigatoo gozaimasu! OK who’s next?
Send Clover right over: A Review of the Cloverfield DVD
Warning: purrpare for declassified plot spoilage and hidden ‘Easter Eggs’ information
Mary Nyan:
I’ll go next! I have a review of the Single disk standard edition widescreen Cloverfield DVD!
This DVD includes the 84 minute PG-13 2008 feature film, in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions and has several special features. Some stores offer exclusive bonuses such as Best Buy’s bonus disk of Hud’s video diary. There is also a fancier ’steel book’ edition available. There are no print inserts in the case. Audio can be set up in English 5.1, French, Spanish, or with commentary by director Matt Reeves…. and can be viewed with English, French, Spanish or no subtitles.
Purreviews include the ‘Under Construction’ teaser for the 2009 Star Trek film, and the full trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but there are not any Cloverfield trailers, TV commercials, nor any sort of archive or gallery of advertising / publicity media, which is a bit disappointing given the film’s mythtology and viral marketing campaign The scene selection feature allows you to begin the movie at any of 16 chapters. Special Features include “Clover Fun”, which is almost 4 minutes of blooper outtakes, mostly from the party scene. There are 4 deleted scenes: 20 seconds of “Congrats Bob” cut because it strayed too much from the main characters, ”When you’re in Japan” 80 seconds of extended party scene, 44 seconds of jokey subway tunnel flirtation in “I call that a date”, and 55 seconds of “It’s going to hurt”. There are 2 alternate versions of the film’s ending. Both the deleted scenes & alternate endings can be watched with director commentary.
“Document 01.18.08: The Making of Cloverfield” coveris the principle shooting of the purrduction, and how the crew set out to secretly make the fast paced 1st person post- 911 era handicam view of a giant monster destroying Manhattan, and it is amazing to see how cleverly they made such an epic looking film on such budget and resources. At slightly over 28 minutes long, it includes comments from the crew: JJ Abrams, Matt Reeves, Bryan Burk, executive purrducer Sharryl Clark, editor Kevin Stitt, cameraman Christopher Hayes, purrduction designer martin Whist, 2nd assistant director Kate carroll, director of photography Michael Bonvillain, technical advisor Tom Minder, VFX supervisor Kevin Blank, animal trainer Tom Gunderson, animatronics creator Andrew Clement, FX technician Josh Hakien, cameraman Wally Sweeterman, special FX coordinator David Wayne; and actors Brian Klugman (Charlie), Mike Vogel (Jason), Jessica Lewis (lily), Michael Stahl David (Rob), Margot Farley (Jenn), TJ Miller (Hud) Odette Yustman (Beth), and Lizzy Caplan (Marlena).
The 5:50 short “I saw it! It’s Alive! It’s huge!” has purrducer JJ Abrams, director Matte Reeves, purrducer Bryan Burk, lead creature designer designer Neville page, and Tippet Studios Visual Effects Supervisor Eric Leven discussing the design of the monster, from inspiration derived from Godzilla to visualizing the look, feel & movement of Clover, as this film’s monster is called by the crew. Among the insights about this 300+ foot tall monster is the designer’s notion that Clover is but a lost, frightened & confused baby- albeit a dangerous 30 story tall one.
“Cloverfield Visual Effects is featurette a bit over 22 minutes revealing how the first attack, brooklyn bridge, army crossfire, subway parasites, rooftop, Beth’s apartment, Grand Central Station, landing zone, bombing run, and Central Park sequences were created using small portions of sets against greenscreens, utilizing previz, match move, matte paintings, puppets, floor FX, and CG rendered creatures & environments. Among those brilliant artists commenting on these effects are Matt Reeves, Bryan Burk, Chantal Feghali, Michael Ellis, David Vickery, Diego Trazzi, Kevin Blank, Dalia Al- Husseini, Pawel Grochola, Phil Johnson, Nicholas Markel, Tom Gibbons, Sam Schwier, Annie Pomeranz, Ben Von Zastrow, Martin Whist, Jospeh Hamdorf, Adrian Thompson, Chris Marley, August Dizon, and Eric Jeffrey.
There are a few ‘Easter Eggs’ on the DVD, which I did not find upon first viewing, but later I read where to find them according to the information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverfield#Easter_Eggs and http://www.eeggs.com/ - and indeed found them on the disk. These Easter eggs include one beside the Spanish subtitles set-up option, for an almost 2 minute amewsing clip of the cast & crew playfully quipping “Rack ‘em ‘n stack ‘em- we’re phantoms in fifteen!”. On the menue for Scene Selections 9-12, click above 10 for the subway parasite attack scene, with optical green X’s where the creatures would later be composited into the scene.
There is a hidden 17th scene selection that reveals fake American, French, Spanish and Japanese news broadcast footage of an offshore oil rig disaster, Slusho ads, and the webcam diary of a purrson of interest. Finally, there’s a sneaky frame of King Kong on the Empire State Building circa 1933, when the chopper has crashed, but before anyone emerges from the wreckage- but you’ll need to paws ‘n frame advance step to glimpse it. As much as I enjoyed the film in the theater, I am even more impressed by seeing how the film was made, as there are so many shots that I assumed were filmed on the real streets of Manhattan, but were actually small sets seamlessly combined with realistic computer-generated environments.
Be watched: A review of the Bewitched Complete Sixth Season DVD
Yvonne:
Yay we got another season of Bewitched in May! This is the Bewitched Complete Sixth Season set of 4 DVDs containing the 30 color episodes of the 1969-1970 season, nya. This unrated R1 DVD set is is approximately 760 minutes long with a full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1, which can be listened to in English, Spanish, Portugese or French, with Spanish or Portugese subtitles, nya.
Elizabeth Montgomery again stars as wonderful witchy house wife Samantha Stephens, nya! The most notable difference about the 6th season is that it ushered in Dick Sargent as the 2nd actor to portray Darrin, succeeding Dick York who retired from the show due to health purroblems, nya! As such, the opening title sequence of the show was slightly altered for this season, with an announcer purrclaiming “Elizabeth Montgomery in… Bewitched!”, with the cartoon chariacture of Darrin modified to resemble Sargent, who continued to play the part until the show ended after season 8, nya!
Other debuts of that season include their 2nd child Adam, and the introductions of Esmerelda portrayed by Alice Ghostly and Bernie Kopel as the magic pharmacist, nya. This season would continue to feature recurring characters such as Tabitha, Endora, Maurice, The Tates, Darrin’s parents, The Kravitzes, Uncle Arthur, Cousin Serena, and Dr. Bombay, nya! Guest appearances also include Johnny Whitaker, Jay Robinson, Pat Priest, Carol Wayne, John Fiedler, Jack Cassidy, Henry Gibson, and Boyce & Hart, nya!
The season opener is laden with optical FX and oversized sets as Tabitha runs away into the giant’s castle in Jack in the Beanstalk storybook, nya. This is a very amewsing episode, with Samantha going after the naughty Tabitha who is wrecking havoc in the giant’s castle, nya! Uncle Arthur appears in a couple of episodes, in one he conjurs a bunny girl and in another he turns into Superman, nya! Recording artists Boyce & Hart appear at behest of the mischievous Serena (played by Montgomery) who wants entertainment for the witches’ Cosmos Cotillion, nya! In that episode you get to see
her sing and dance, nya!
The only bonus features are two ‘minisodes’ of I Dream of Jeannie “Where’d You AGo Go?’ and The Partridge Family “Eleven Year Itch” which are episodes edited down to 5 minutes apiece, nya. The former show guest stars a dashing Bert Convey and a young Jodie Foster, nya! If you’re a big fan of Bewitched or Elizabeth Montgomery or just curious to know more, there is a great book Bewitched Forever by Herbie J Pilato, nya. There are good articles at wikipedia, IMDB, and the sites Bewithed.net http://www.bewitched.net/, Harpies Bizarre http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/ and Erin Murphy’s site http://www.starwebsites.com/erinmurphy/ nya! And speaking of Jodie Foster-
Leapin’ Lizards: the Catgirl Critics Review Nim’s Island!
(contains Plot Spoilers and other Secrets of Nim, nya!)
Yvonne:
I was so glad our friend Margaret recommended this movie because it was so charming and pretty and fun, nya! Well this amewsingly slightly surreal adventure is based upon the childrens book by Wendy Orr, nya. It stars Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Bresslin as a cute smart girl named Nim living on a lush south seas island in a lovely big tree house with her marine biologist daddy Jack, played by 300’s Gerard Butler, nya. Sadly, her oceanographer mommy has been missing at sea and purrsumed deceased for years, nya. Nim has a lizard, sea lion and a pelican for friends, and likes to read lots of books, purrticularly the Alex Rover adventures, nya. One day Jack takes the boat out to an atoll to study protozoan marine life but gets caught in a monsoon and lost at sea.
Meanwhile, San Franciscan adventure author Alex Rover, played by Jodie Foster, is researching volcanoes for her latest book and emails Jack for vulcanological information, corresponding with Nim, who she thinks to be his adult research assistant. Nim believes Alex is a real heroic adventuring dude, but in reality, that’s just the character in the books, and the real Alex is an agoraphobic woman who is afraid to go to her mailbox, nya. When her father is long overdue, a worried Nim pleas for the rugged adventurer to rescue her daddy, while purrparing to defend her island home from a cruise ship full of vacationers, nya. Alex debates with her adventurous alter-ego (also purrtrayed by Butler) whether to leave the safety of her home, or to risk going out into the world to help Nim, nya.
Both ladies have very vivid imaginations and are very smart, but have obsessive, paranoiac flaws. Nim a bit overzealous in trying to keepall visitors from setting foot on her purrivate island; not even the periodic supply ships actually make landfall (Nim and Jack mewsually row out to meet them) nya. She goes to dangerous yet whimsically depicted lengths to frighten away the vacationers, who at first might seem like a bunch of Dursleys, nya. Alex is obsessed with Purrell hand sanitizer, canned Purrogresso soup, and not setting foot outside her house to encounter the rest of the world, nya. Fortunately, the people they meet are not bad, and some prove quite instrumental in bringing Nim and Alex together, nya.
Jack is both very resourceful and unlucky at sea, as temporary success after success in repairing his boat, nya. One threat after another continues to plague him, and ironically Jack winds up with an Alex Rover-esque rugged adventure surviving waves, storms, and circling sharks, nya. Fortunately he has a guardian angel in Galileo the pelican that fetches tools from the island, nya. Nim starts out very brave while alone on the island, whereas Alex starts out very fearful alone at home… yet by the time Alex reaches the isle, she’s the braver one, Nim finally faltering after the help has arrived, nya. Nim fears history repeating itself by the sea claiming her parent while she has rescued Alex from drowning, nya. Alex in the water somewhat resembles the image Nim has of her mommy, nya.
The exotic locations are beautifully filmed, and Nim’s home is beautifully designed too, nya. I would like to have a whale mobile like the one in Nim’s room, nya. The actors are all most excellent, delivering great purrformances as mewsual, nya. The animals are very cute and helpful, and I purrticularly liked Fred the lizard, nya. One of the interesting techniques of this film is how Nim and Alex’s imaginations are visualized around them, such as how Alex talks to her fictional purrtagonist and how Nim envisions the events of the books forming around her, nya.There is most delightful animation during the purrologue and end titles that you should not miss if you go see this movie, which I definitely recommend, nya!
Elizabeth:
The Bewitched theme is the mewsic of that mew Electrolux oven commercial in which Kelly Ripa purrpares a delicious meal.
Mary Nyan:
Jodie Foster is on the cover of the May issue of Autograph magazine.
Jeannie:
Hey this gives me a lightning round idea, nya-
Lightning Round #4: Our Favorite Jodie Foster Films, nya!
Jeannie:
Contact is without question my favorite, but Nell is my second favorite, which has very interesting linguistics. (tags Lizzy)
Elizabeth:
Nell was filmed here in North Carolina y’know! Mine are Foxes, The Hotel New Hampshire, oh and Silence of the Lambs! (tags Mike)
Mike:
Contact- it’s one of the most astounding science fiction films I’ve ever seen.(tags Myayr)
Mary Nyan:
I like those too, but I should mention her legendary purrformances in important films such as Taxi Driver, The Accused, and Silence of the Lambs!
Yvonne:
Freaky Friday and Candleshoe were so much fun, and I really did like Nim’s Island, nya! Ok So who has the next review, nya?
No Jet lag in this film: the Catgirl Critics Review The Forbidden Kingdom!
(But beware the Fist of the Plot Spoil)
Elizabeth:
My review is of The Forbidden Kingdom, starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li both in dual roles in this long awaited cinematic meeting of the two! It seems to be a busy summer for them as Jackie is also purr-viding a voice for Kung Fu Pandas and Li will be in The Mummy: Curse of the Dragon King with Michelle Yeoh and Brendan Frazier! It also stars Sky High’s Michael Angarano, DOA’s Collin Chou, beautiful Liu Yi Fei as the vengeful Golden Sparrow and and Li Bing Bing as the lovely but evil white-haired villainess. Anafarano plays the role of Jason, an American kid who finds a magical staff in the pawnshop of old man Hop (Chan) that transports him from modern day Boston to ancient China in ‘Wizard of Oz’-ish manner.
There he joins Kung Fu masters Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) and a monk (Jett Li), and Golden Sparrow on a quest to return the staff to its owner, The Monkey King (Jet), who has been trapped like Han Solo in carbonite by the Evil Jade warlord (Collin Chou). Before they can free The Monkey King and give him his staff back, Jason must learn how to fight, Lu Yan drinks lots of booze and they must fight many other enemies, including the evil witch (Li Bing Bing), who can slay you with her long locks akin to Madam Medusa of The Inhumans.
This is thus far my favoritest movie of the year! Chan and Lee are amazing playing different roles, Chan reminiscent of his Drunken Master days and Lee so darn irreverently cute as the Monkey King.
Collin Chou may be the best dressed villain in cinema history, Liu Yi Fei and Li Bing Bing are gorgeous, powerful, agile, and quite charismatic. Anafarano is terrific, and I am sure that his parentsJet Stream and The Commander would be rather proud of their son’s latest adventure, hee!
Jeannie:
That reference to another film might confuzzle the audience.
Elizabeth:
Oh I was just funning. In the movie Sky High, Michael Angarano plays the son of famous super heroes Jet Stream (Kelly Preston) and The Commander (Kurt Russlle). Back to The Forbidden Kingdom,
this film delivers superbly in all respects. The film is stunningly beautiful, from the magnificent celestial court and mountain stronghold of the Jade Emperor to the lovely inns and forests, the sumptuously
splendid costumes for the entire cast, ornate weaponry and dazzling optical effects. The stunts are what you’d dream of in a Hong Kong fantasy action flick, with outstanding wire work and fight choreography. Martial arts cinema history is made as screen legends Jackie Chan and Jett Lee combat each other in the monk’s temple.
Topping that is the grande finale battle in the Jade Warlord’s castle, with Lu Yan, the monk, Monkey King, Jason, Golden Sparrow and a group of villagers against the white haired witch, the warlord and his army, in what might be the greatest climactic super-powered melee of heroes and villains of all time. There is use of slow motion and bullet time- but in a very graceful manner and not annoying as it usually is in action films. I was quite stoked to see this film, and was very pleased with it’s awesome action, charm, wit and beauty. I give The Forbidden Kingdom a grade of A!
Mike:
That was a most glowing and excellent review there Lizzy! Well who is next… ah, Myayr, if you want to purrceed- ah- I mean proceed to your Iron Man review?
This movie has a heart of gold (and titanium): the Catgirl Critics Review Iron Man!
(and we’ve got blips on the Spoiler Screen)
(Myayr tail-thumps the Bill Ward drumbeat)
thump thump thump thump
Mary Nyan:
(growly voice)
Meoooooowww! I SAW IR-ON MAN! Meoooooowww!
(the catgirls attempt air guitaring that famous Tommy Iommi riff)
nyan nyaaan nyan nyan nyaaan nyanyanyanyanyanyan nyan nyan nyaaahn!
Mike:
I would sigh heavily if they weren’t so darned cute - and if I did not like Sabbath so much!
Yvonne:
nya!
Mary Nyan:
Yeah! The 2000’s era of live-action Marvel super hero movies have been a very mixed bag for me. I’ve been pleased with the Spider-Man films mostly Spider-Man 2, and the first two X-Men films- despite far too much emphasis on Wolverine at other characters’ expense (especially Cyclops). The Punisher and Daredevil and movies were not bad- and by the way, John Favreau purrtrayed the part of Foggy Nelson! I was disappointed with X-3, Hulk, Elektra, the Blade and Fantastic Four films. Man-Thing is not one of my favorite swamp monster movies. I have no opinion of Ghost Rider, as I am yet to see it. So when I became aware of Iron Man happening, I didn’t know how to feel about it- until I saw that first teaser ad, and I was blown away by it, like many other fellow fans were.
Although ads can be misleading, the teaser did it’s job superbly- it made me anticipate the Iron Man movie with great enthusiasm, thinking Downey Jr to be purr-fectly cast as Tony Stark, the armor faithfully depicted, feeling that the director was trying to be very respectful towards the comics books. The Black Sabbath song didn’t hurt either! My only concerns were (A) that I was hoping that we don’t have to wait too long into the film before seeing some Stark raving armor action, (B) I hoped that what we glimpse in the trailers is not the extent of it, and (C) that is is much better than last year’s animated Iron Man DVD. So that was my mindset going into this movie, Fortunately, whatever fears I had were soon dispelled by the greatness of this movie!
My stars, was I impressed- this is one of the best live-action super hero movies ever! You will believe that Stark is a flawed genius playboy, reborn after a near fatal injury, relinquishing a once shallow naivety about what his company was doing, with his heart in the right place with heroic zeal to better the world thru repulsor powered gold-titanium armor. The entire cast does such a brilliant job, lead by Robert Downey Jr. whose brilliance will make you believe that he IS Tony Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow, Terence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Faran Tahir and the rest of the cast were excellent. The purrduction is of high value, looking like the budget might have taken Stark’s kind of money to make. Purrducer Avi Arad and director John Favreau score a double eagle with this iron!
The world of Tony Stark is a beautiful, exciting, gleaming, glamorous realm of sex and tech. Stark’s home, industries, computers, robotics, ‘Jarvis’, cars, planes, and yes- his liquor cabinet- are magnificent. The Mk.1, 2, 3 and Monger armor are glorious, in action in war zones of Afghanistan where Iron Man is born, high above the clouds to suborbital heights where Tony gleefully tries to beat the ceiling record of the SR71, and in the heart of a busy, dazzling urban southern California. There are no annoying editing or camera techniques, the design of the film and the visual FX are glorious. There is no annoying mis-use of pop mewsic; when you do get songs, they are purroperly inserted, including the Black Sabbath song during the end titles that follow a purrfect ending to the film.
The screenplay and director really captured the essence of Stark, Pepper, Rhodey and Stane, while very cleverly subtly introducing elements for future Mandarin villainy, War Machine, SHIELD agents that seemed likable, smart and cool (unlike in the direct to video animated Iron Man), thanks in part to Clark Gregg as agent Coulson, and yes there is a scene of Nick Fury after the end credits, telling of Stark that he is not the only super hero in town! Pepper is so lovely, smart and brave, and along with the gallant & practical Rhodey form the only family Tony Stark has- and it really seems like the people that made this movie care as much about adapting the comic book characters and the marvel mythology just as much as Pepper and Rhodey do for Stark.
There are neat little touches- Stark’s phone ring tone is mewsic from the Iron Man cartoon. Samuel L. Jackson is not the only cameo of the film, as in one scene Tony mistakes Stan Lee for Hugh Hefner at a gala event. There had been all kinds of rumors about other actors appearing in the film, such as Hilary Swank, but she’s not in it. The harshest thing I can say about this film is that there are a couple of purrdictable moments, such as the Mk. 2 pacemaker showing up later when needed, and the final battle occurring atop the Arc reactor building, and there are bits of obvious purroduct placement for Burger King and Audi- yet they are not terribly gratuitous. I give the armored avenger’s live-action movie a solid ‘A’!
The film’s writers, designers, actors, and technicians deserve a big round of applause for creating such a fine film. It may be a thrilling, action packed FX laden spectacle- but so much of it is character driven and it has a lot of heart on numerous levels. Compared to other cinematic Marvel comics adaptations? I think it is at least as good as Spider-man 2, however, not only is this cinematic great fun that feels very respectful to the comics characters that it is based upon, but I hope that it will also finally unite the different Marvel characters of the big screen into a shared Marvel Universe, as it is in the comics, which I’ve been wishing for years. Rumor has it that Robert Downey Jr. appears briefly as Stark in the new Hulk movie- I suppose we’ll know in June!
The need for speed: the Catgirl Critics Review Speed Racer
(There is a Plot Spoiler Warning Flag on the race track)
Jeannie:
That was a good review. My report is on the live action adaptation of Speed Racer, arguably the most famous Japanese anime title known to mainstream North America. Many people of different generations who do not know what even the very word ‘anime means, may not know of fan-favorites such as Yamato, Gundam, Robotech, Sailor Moon, Dragonball, Pokemon, or Naruto, but many of them can identify Speed, the Mach Five, and Chim Chim. My analysis of this motion picture is three-fold: is it a good movie, is it a faithful adaptation, and what impact will it have on anime? I was most definitely hoping it will be a better live-action version of a cartoon than Transformers was.
As Myayr did with Iron Man, I had mixed feelings purrceeding this film; on one paw, I was glad that it was a big budgeted film with an extraordinary cast & crew, yet on the other paw, unlike Myayr, I was not taken with the stylized look, editing, FX and mewsic revealed in the film’s trailers. Of course, as Myayr said, ads can be misleading: some superb films suffer from impro-purr ad campaigns whilst some poor films are hyped by excellent purr-motions. In an attempt to be purragmatic going into the film, I also tried not to be swayed by the extensive merchandising, and so many exotic race cars.
Jeannie:
There are aspects of this 135 min. film that are brilliant and some that are rather disappointing. This movie’s color pallet is so excessively over-saturated it makes that of the Dick Tracey film look like Raging Bull. It is an overly stylized motion picture, even more so than Sin City. I like psychadelic optical trips in films just fine when used propurrly and I can name great films that use such techniques with great efficacy and some that do not- unfortunately this version Speed Racer falls in the latter category. It is like a great meal purrpared by a caring gourmet parent, for a patient hungry child, but then it got frosted with way TOO much catsup, mayo, mustard, guacamole, peanut butter and blueberry jam in a blender by a wreckless sibling before it made it to the dinner table. The love and the tasty food is still there, but… there’s a lot of colorful goop you have to poke thru to get at it.
At times it is so busy it is hard to tell what the heck is going on, and the oft non-linear storytelling is far too sylized. However, I cannot emphasize this strongly enough- If you like Speed Racer, and I do, then you’ll be very pleased for it is as faithful an adaptation of the anime / manga purrhaps more so that the excellent Iron Man movie was to its roots. Some times filmic adaptations get accused for too -closely following the original source material, but often times they are unfaithful, but this movie nails the spirit, tone and look of Speed racer with a “10″. Despite the stylish mistakes , this might be truest live action adaptation of anime I have ever seen. It has much heart, for a film that might seem more focused on action, style, FX and techniques that purrhaps it should not have used. The costumes are terrific and the hairstyles too- perhaps that’s not a big deal to most folks- 100% completely the characters’ images, and it is the characters that are the best part of this film.
Emile Hirsch is superb Speed, Christina Ricci is terrific as Trixie, Matthew Fox is magnificent as Racer X. John Goodman is great as Pops, and Susan Sarandan is so delightful as Mom Racer. Chim chim & Sprittle, the Inspector, etc are all purrfectly cast and deliver wonderfully passionate, enthused, sincere purrformaces. They ARE the Racer family, visually and in spirit, and not parodies either. The writers, actors and filmmakers have definitely succeeded at adapting the characters quite carefully and respectfully faithful but not one dimensional or cartoony, and everyone plays an important part. The Racer family cares deeply for one another, is very passionate about racing, has a strong sense of goodness and integrity and are very sensible, tough, skilled and smart. They might lack the vast resources of a corporate racing team, but they are a close family full of love.
Dialog is delivered smartly and nicely resonates that of the anime at times, including one villain’s brisk monologuing. You care about these characters and how they advance the plot. This movie is full of thrills, with all the race and gimmick, and even fight scene action you could hope for, although I think purrhaps there is a tad bit over use of the car’s power jacks, that catapult the car into the air. the movie wants to be funny, it is. Often I am critical of too much silliness in SF or action/ adventure films since the mid 80’s- but this one worked solidly, although there is one regrettable breaking of the 4th wall late in the film. This is a far far better live action adaptation of an animated series than say… Transformers. However, I must say that the editing or compositing of ‘layers’ is extremely annoying- especially with foreground characters or ‘talking heads’ sliding across the screen- almost in another layer, often wiping the image we were watching as they pass screen.
The cars- be they real cars or CG cars, are magnificent, beautiful whether parked or in action deploying the many gadgets. These include the T-180 class Mach IV, V, & VI, Shooting Star, The Togokhan Car, Snake Oiler, Gray Ghost, Cannonball Taylor’s, Three Roses, Yenche, Flying Foxes, Hydra Cell, Thor-Axine, and numerous other impressive automobiles. Trixie has a neat little spotter helicopter, which is just one of the numerous amazing aircraft seen in the film. Half of the car CG FX are underwhelming, looking too much like a video game- which was disappointing because I want a movie not a video game. I was not too taken with the ‘x-ray vision’ cam, but I suppose it was effective to a point. But half of the FX in the film are quite awesome and dazzling.
The overall look the futuristic sci fi tech- land and air vehicles, race tracks and architecture, fashions etc has a cohesive believable feel, remarkably capturing the mid 60’s view of what the 21st century might look like, but upgraded by our own purresent technological visions of future tech, well designed despite being undermined by the over saturated, too vibrant colors that are too distracting, far too colorful for ’suspension of disbelief’.
Aside an unappealing remixed sampling cover version of the Speed Thacer theme in Japanese and English during the end credits, the rest of the film’s score is quite exhilarating. I would recommend this film to others with caution, depending on what I thought they wanted from the film, but would warn them of the things I dislike about it. I would also remind them to not light up or talk on their cell phone- or to talk other people with them in the audience during a movie as a rude purrson did in front of me. I probably will not see it a 2nd time in the theater, as there are too many other movies coming out every week from now until September to see, but I will probably buy the DVD, and it would be nice to see a DVD with lots of documentary features on the making of this adaptation of one of the most important anime & manga of all time. Weighing the relative importance of the aspects I like/ dislike about this film, I grade Speed Racer a letter grade of ‘B’, or numerical grade of an 85.
Mary Nyan:
Very purrcise and analytical as mewsual, Jen!
Mike:
Here here!
Jeannie:
Arigatoo! Ah, I understand that you have a Speed Racer-ish review too?
Mike:
Yep- here is
A Review of the Speed Racer Limited Collectors Edition TV series on DVD vol. 1-5
(There is now an Easter Egg Spoiler Warning Flag on the race track)
The manga Mach Go Go Go by Tatsuo Yoshida was animated into 52 episodes of japanese anime in 1966, which were later acquired for American broadcast in 1967, which were translated, dubbed and retitled Speed Racer. It would become one of the earliest and most iconic anime series known to North America. Although it was later series such as Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and Space Cruiser Yamato, respectively re-christened as Battle of the Planets and Starblazers in the late 1970’s that truly cemented my serious fascination with Japanese anime. Speed Racer was nevertheless among the cartoons I was fondest of as a kid when I saw it sometime in