03 Nov 24
So I've had a time of it. As you may have noticed from the site's appearance, I've been able to make some things happen after updating Drupal, which is fine and dandy, but then I came to found some 403 error blocking me from editing the blog. I've been trying to troubleshoot the issue myself, but it looks like I need to take it up with my provider as it may be a server-side issue. Anyway, trying to deal with that in addition to a fairly heavy load at work and the battery to my laptop threatening to explode have kept me from making progress on Children of Promise, so I'm just going to kick the can three weeks down the line and try again later. Anyway, for now, let's get to reviews. As I mentioned last week, we're picking up our coverage of the Summer 2024 anime season. Let's start with the trash and work our way up to the treasure. Actually, only one item on today's menu warrants the "trash label" and that's Love Is Indivisible by Twins. Hopefully you don't find it so bad that you find yourself constantly wanting to kill yourself like the protagonist in No Longer Allowed in Another World. If your homicidal intent is directed more outward, you've got Season 2 of Oshi no Ko, or else you can choose profit over revenge with the remake of Spice and Wolf, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf. If you're in the mood for pure sugar, then we've got The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies. I'm also briging back the feature of working through my movie review backlog, so we've got two films from the 1940s, Crossroads and Crossfire. I have some catching up to do, but I'll try to have enough shows completed for a full slate next week. If I come up short, I'll dig into some more of the movies I saw over summer vacation. We'll also be moving forward in RttW (which I already have ready, so it's one deadline I won't miss). Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 13:41:07
27 Oct 24
Well, the big day is coming up, so the most natural choice of a feature is the grandaddy of the slasher subgenre, John Carpenter's Halloween. We follow it with Halloween II, the black sheep of the family Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and then the Thorn Trilogy of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. I might cover the first soft reboot and the remake films next year, but I don't want to touch the Blumhouse ones. Of course, next year is next year's problem. We'll be resuming our Summer 2024 anime coverage next week. Work's been keeping me busy and will probably continue to do so, but I'm going to make another stab at launching CoP next week as well. Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 10:35:53
21 Oct 24
This week we're rolling out the classic Halloween monsters. First, from Dario Argento comes Dracula 3D with all that Italian quality you'd expect from the Argento name. Next is the final directorial outing of Roger Corman, Frankenstein Unbound. We then have the abysmal An American Werewolf in Paris, the not-quite-sequel The Mummy's Hand and finally the last of the Universal Monsters in Creature from the Black Lagoon. Our fourth and final week of this year's Spookyween festivities will feature a selection from the Halloween series. I plan to also have the debut of Child of Promise. There may be some downtime on the site as I try to upgrade to Drupal 11, so be prepared for that. Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 13:12:41
13 Oct 24
As mentioned last week, the series premiere of Dandadan gave me my inspiration for this week's theme. I decided to combine alien abductions and ghosts. The pics above should tell you which kind of movie I enjoyed more. (I guess I'm more of an Okarun than an Ayase-san.) Let's start with the alien abduction movies, first with the Christopher Walken-starring Communion, then Fire in the Sky and the movie that may well have inspired it, The UFO Incident, starring James Earl Jones. For ghost movies, we have 2012's The Apparition and the first Paranormal Activity. Ghosts are lame, though. Or maybe just American ghost stories are lame. I probably would've done better to find some Japanese ghost movies instead. So it goes. Next week we'll see a selection of classic Halloween critters, our good friends Dracula, Frankenstein and such. Hopefully we can get the next chapter of TWH out at long last while we're at it. Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 14:10:36
12 Oct 24
We close out a busy first day in the World in Chapter 7 of RttW. We'll have reviews tomorrow, so brace yourselves for some close encounters of the spooky kind. Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 14:51:34
06 Oct 24
For this year's October spookyfest, we kick things off with some kaijuu action featuring none other than the King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla. To connect this year's selection, I've chosen Mechagodzilla to be Big Daddy G's nemesis across the eras. We start with 1974's Godilla vs. Mechagodzilla and its sequel, Terror of Mechagodzilla, which mark the end of the Showa Era of the franchise. We then get the unrelated (contrary to what the English title would have you believe) Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II of the Heisei Era. We then close on a duo from the Millennium Era: Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. In other news, while I have ideas for Weeks 3 and 4 of the month, I was at a loss for what to do next week, but then I saw the premiere of Dandadan and I had an apostropheepiphany. We're going to be having aliens, ghosts and maybe even alien ghosts. Also, be on the lookout for the next chapter of RttW. Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 12:48:28
05 Oct 24
Well, it's a been a long run, but we finally bid farewell to the Everyday Magic series with the epilogue of EM3. We also have the character glossary, the map of Altamira, and the military ranks of the New Earth Empire. I still haven't decided what I plan to take this slot in the lineup, but I have three weeks to figure it out. Look for some Godzilla reviews tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 17:06:31
30 Sep 24
This is a bit late, but I didn't want to have to postpone this one until November. We continue our Summer 2024 anime coverage with a pair of dueling shows. Which flavor of obliviously strong protag-kun do you prefer? I Parry Everything: What Do You Mean I'm the Strongest? I'm Not Even an Adventurer Yet! or The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Trained to Death by the Most Powerful Party, Became Invincible? Next up is a pair of series from PA Works: Narenare: Cheer for You! and Mayonaka Punch. Last but definitely not least, and in fact it's one of my favorites for the season if not the year, is Too Many Losing Heroines! Starting next weekend, we'll be kicking off our October reviews starting with a selection of outings by the King of the Monster, Big Daddy G. Before that, though, I'm going to post the conclusion of EM3, so look forward for that. Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 15:08:23
22 Sep 24
We continue our Summer 2024 anime coverage with a couple of romcoms, the rather high-profile Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian and the more under-the-radar Pseudo Harem. Next is movie coverage, featuring a selection of airplane movies from my recent summer vacation. We start with a Mel Gibson double feature of Lethal Weapon and Braveheart, follow it with original Ghostbusters, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and then we close on the clever little character drama Freud's Last Session, featuring Sir Anthony Hopkins as the eponymous Dr. Freud. We have one more week where we can focus on the summer anime before we start our October coverage. I'll make yet another stab at getting TWH out Saturday, but you know better than to hope for too much. Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 18:30:41
16 Sep 24
I ended up finishing more anime than I was expecting, so we're going to be doing an all-anime feature. We start off with two series featuring the vocal talents of Jun "Lelouch vi Britannia" Fukuyama: Suicide Squad Isekai and The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord's Army Was a Human. Which one do you think makes the most of his talents? Next, love is in the air with last year's Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible and this year's My Toaster Can't Possibly Be This CuteMy Wife Has No Emotion. Lastly, it's a review that's been oft-delayed, but I finally finished Undead Unluck and can now share my thoughts with you. And I know I've been adding film reviews from the backlog lately, but I'm going to leave it here for today. It's Respect for the Aged Day here and I think I'll show my respect through imitation and have a nice afternoon nap. The kiddos are going to be busy with bunkasai this week, so hopefully I can squeeze enough writing in to finally get that chapter of TWH finished. Something to shoot for. Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 05:19:29
15 Sep 24
I was just too tired to get this put together yesterday, but because I have a three-day weekend, I can afford to have a little shift in the schedule. Anyway, here's Chapter 6 of RttW. Reviews will either be out later today or tomorrow. I've managed to get a bit of an anime selection for you, so look forward to that. Stay tuned.
Posted by: James
UTC 01:43:45