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[Apr. 21st, 2008|10:26 am] |
Would you believe that there are three different Caramelldansen videos with Solid Snake in them? I don't know if this is a sign that the world is insane, or that it's amazing.
So is this the season that fangirls took over the anime studios or what? I am going mad trying to keep up with everything. And for some reason I have fallen hard and fast for Nabari no Ou, which must be TPTB's way of mocking me for years of feeling smug about how I mostly avoided sliding into the Naruto pit--I am fairly meh about ninja series in general, but this one managed to stomp right on some of my literary kinks/favorite cool bits right in the first episode. And by episode two there is already a cute girl character who looks like she will actually be useful in a fight!
Also! I watched Noroi, which perked me right up by proving that there are still some decent, scary Asian horror films out there. (Snowblood Apple review here.) The summary of it sounds fairly gimmicky, as it's supposedly the last work of a documentary filmmaker specializing in paranormal occurrences. The movie is his recorded explorations into a series of strange events, at first mixed together with the bits of evidence he picks up--seemingly random clips from a clairvoyant testing, an 'interview' with a (literally) tin-hatted psychic--and then honing in on the source of the mystery as the pieces start to come together.
In many ways it's like a bunch of J-horror films and the Fatal Frame series done Blair Witch style, and perhaps it borrows a little too much from the last in spots--but it works really well, the acting is terrific, and the best scares (i.e., the moments that made me want to give in to the behind-the-sofa response) are the ones that take full advantage of the shakycam/"omg, this is real footage!" conceit, particularly for people who have been left with lingering fears about misbehaving videos from Ringu and Ju-on. Apparently someone put clips of it up on Youtube awhile back, but they're gone now, which is a pity--I wonder if viewing it that way would have added an extra frission of terror?
Fair warning, though: definitely not a film to watch if animal cruelty squicks you.
Unfortunately, this means I must continue to pick through Asian horror films in hopes of finding spiffy ones like this one, instead of just abandoning the genre all together. |
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