Well, seeing as how my life has one very happy coincidence that payday and video release day both happen on the same day every week…Tuesdays are my usual day to go out and get movies. Picked up quite the trio today, too. Here’s the scoop:
Princess Mononoke: A very impressive anime film that was released in Japan in ’97, and just hit the U.S. this year. I’ve never been very big into anime — I enjoy it, but there’s very little of it that I pick up — but even without seeing it, the unanimous good reviews that Mononoke got were enough to get me to add it to my collection. I just got done watching it, and was quite impressed — a good choice for my third anime DVD. Breathtaking animation, a very well-written story, and if you choose the English dub, a great translation by none other than Neil Gaiman. Well worth it, I’d say.
The Cell: Okay, okay, so if you take the time to really study it, it’s not that great of a movie — a contrived and predictable plot, with acting that occasionally has a tendency to push the limits of medocrity. However, for someone like me who’s always been fascinated with movie effects and visual work that veers towards the darker side (H.R. Giger and Dali are two of my favorite artists) and good audio mixing, this movie is an absolute treat to watch. Visually astounding every time you enter the dreamscapes of the characters, and an aural experience that is as much a treat for the ears as the visuals are for the eyes. Now, if only that much creativity had been put into the plot….
Se7en: While David Fincher is one of my favorite contemporary directors (he’s the director of Se7en, The Game, and Fight Club), I’d yet to pick up this movie, as the only edition out until today was a early “flipper” disc — the movie broke in the middle, and you had to flip the DVD to the second side to finish the movie. Well, thank goodness for New Line, because today marked the release of an incredibly extensive 2-disc special edition of Se7en — disc 1 for the movie and four commentary tracks, and disc 2 for a ton of supplementary material. This one will take hours and hours for me to go through — just the kind of release I like!
So, that’s it for this week. Between those three, and working my way through season 2 of the X-Files, I’ve got enough to keep me a couch potato for days lined up. Too bad I’ve got this silly thing called a job to get in the way…ah, well — since it’s the job that lets me indulge my movie collection, I guess I shouldn’t whine too much, eh?