Fun, live action anime adaptation that screams streamlined, Japanese version of Battlestar Galactica (Ronald Moore’s reimagined series, that is): immersive space action and desperate, human drama – even romance – set against an apocalyptic backdrop. The original cartoon series (released in US and Australia as “Star Blazers”) predates both the original BSG and Star Wars, but many of the familiar military SF tropes clearly have been cross-pollinated and honed back and forth across the Pacific over the decades.
Monthly Archives: April 2011
Space Battleship Yamato (2010, dir. Takashi Yamazaki): fun, streamlined, Japanese take on the reimagined Battlestar Galactica
Ip Man (2008, dir. Wilson Yip): one of the few martial arts films worthy of breaking out of its niche
Every few years, a martial arts movie comes along that’s worth watching by mainstream audiences – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) was one, Ip Man (2008) is another. Very loosely based on the life of Bruce Lee’s kung fu teacher, the plot tracks how he, his family, friends and rivals struggled through the Japanese occupation of China in WWII. While Yip Man’s exploits are exaggerated to the level of legend and even sainthood, viewers can still connect with Donnie Yuen’s conflicted martial arts master-protagonist.
The King’s Speech (2010, dir. Tom Hooper): didn’t deserve the Oscar – then again, not all of them do – but it’s enjoyable enough
Light, fluffy feel-good confection that dramatizes the friendship (even ‘bromance?’) of a British king (Colin Firth) and his speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush). Well-scripted with spare comic touches, the movie shines when the two leads share the stage, and in examining the vestiges of still-class-conscious Britain – such as the prejudice of an overweening Archbishop of Canterbury against an un-Oxbridge educated commoner using new controversial techniques – from Australia no less!
WetWareGames 