Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door (2007)

This is one of those traumatizing movies that you wish you had never seen because you can't get the images out of your head, but at the same time, couldn't tear your eyes away from the horror as it was happening. Warning, not for youth or the easily disturbed.

This majority of this film is told via a flashback of one summer a man named David had in his childhood. David lived in a normal, suburban neighbourhood in the 50's. He was an only child, but got along well with and spent a lot of time with the other boys in his neighbourhood, especially his next door neighbours, a group of boys living with their single mother, Ruth. David's life changed forever the summer that two girls moved into the house next door. Their parents were both killed in a car crash (the younger sister was crippled and required leg braces) and Ruth was their next of kin. The girl's name is Meg and David is taken with her from the moment he lays eyes on her.

David tries to get inconspicuously closer to Meg, but as he spends more time at his neighbour's house, he sees more and more tension between Meg and her Aunt Ruth. At first it's small things like making snide comments about her 'delicate womanhood' or implying that she's a slut. David can tell there is tension, but it just seems uncomfortably out of place, they're just words after all. Things change when one day David comes over and sees Meg's cousins tickling her and one of them touches her breast. The tickling was unwanted, but after the touch Meg shoved the boy to the floor, who then went to tell his mother. Here Ruth starts being physical, but not to Meg. She instead beats Meg's younger sister, who is crippled, as a punishment to Meg. Subtle but severe power struggles such as this continue between Ruth and Meg, Meg having no choice but to succumb to Ruth in order to save her sister. A few days later at an outing, Ruth's boys spot Meg speaking with a police officer who stops by the house to check up on the situation, and here is where it gets a bit uncomfortable. Ruth feels that for her own safety, she must now be much more severe with Meg, which means ordering that Meg be tied up in the basement, hanging from the ceiling. At first, she is just left there, not given enough food, bruises and rope-burns covering her body, but it of course escalates. David watches, horrified, while all of this is going on. He feels that he can't do anything to stop it, that no one would believe him if he were to tell, and yet he doesn't want to abandon Meg. At one point, when she's half destroyed, he sneaks down into the basement and releases her, but instead of running to her freedom, she is caught once again by trying to take her sister away with her. This is where the other half of her gets worked on. Will Meg ever escape? Will David be able to save her? Do you want to know badly enough to risk seeing these images that may never leave you... in the worst sense possible?

I have mixed feelings about this film. It was definitely well done, lets start with that. The acting, cinematography, storytelling; all good. The subject matter however, is really uncomfortable. Throughout the film, the neighbourhood boys are all portrayed as either having these mean tendencies, or not caring enough about another human being to go against the crowd. In fact, excluding David, the boys are all quite taken with the idea of having Meg tied up in the basement, and practically jump over each other to carry out their mother's twisted orders. The other kids from the neighbourhood are no better. There's one scene, the worst one, where a whole bunch of kids come and watch/ help carry out the atrocities done to Meg. Boys and girls come to watch. Ruth is also a really twisted person, which is revealed ever more so as the film progresses. We aren't given much of a back story on her, but it's almost as if she's dead inside and tries kill what light she can see in others. There is physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse in this film. Every so often, I look for psychologically disturbing films. It's something that just morbidly fascinates me, the idea of insanity, or the lengths someone will go to harm someone else, or the motivation behind such actions, or how someone could actually endure something like that. Well on that front this film delivers... too well.

The most disturbing thing about this film is that it's based on a true story. There was a real girl named Silvia Likens who endured some of the same atrocities as were displayed in the film, worse in fact. An American Crime, with Ellen Page, is another film dealing with this case and it retells the story in a way that is closer to the actual events. It is a little more tame in comparison with this, and maybe the go to film if you still want to hear the story without the potential psychological scarring.

If you're in that mood, I recommend this film, but if not... then you probably won't enjoy it, and that might be an understatement.

Stone (2010)

This is a movie about a parole officer whose life is drastically changed, for the worse, because of the manipulations of a convict he's working with, and the convict's wife.

The parole officer's name is Jack, and the film opens with a scene of he and his wife. His wife is obviously feeling distraught and trapped, and threatens to leave him. He runs upstairs after hearing this, picks up their sleeping daughter, and threatens to throw her out of the window is she leaves him. She doesn't obviously, and we fast forward to their golden years, where nothing much seems to have changed. And this is where the story begins.

Jack is a parole officer about to retire, and his last account is a young punk who calls himself Stone. Stone was convicted for accessory to murder and arson, the victims were his grandparents. Stone is a big talker, and eventually gets his very attractive wife involved to... convince him to let her husband go free. This sounds just like any other con movie, but (and of course anything with Edward Norton in it..) it goes deep than that. Throughout this process, Stone becomes increasingly entranced with this religion supporting the idea that we gain spirituality through our senses, through sounds and the like. There are various buzzing and droning noises throughout the sound scape of the film, and Stone interacts with noise and sound continuously throughout the film. Concepts of noise and silence in the physical world and the relation to the noise and silence within your own self.

Religion and the idea of spiritual connectedness play a large part in this film. Jack attends church every week with his wife (still long-suffering), and yet feels no connection to the faith. He confides to the priest on one occasion that he envies his wife's and daughter's ability to feel connected, but it just seems to get harder and harder for him. He seems to be most bothered by Stone's rising connectivity, which coincides with his further spiritual decline. Jack has never seemed particularly happy with his life, but in his dealings with Stone, it comes to light that not only is he not happy, he is connected to nothing, nothing is important to him. He doesn't care about anything or anyone. Maybe this is why he so easily falls into the 'con' planned by Stone and his wife.

Something else the film deals with is the idea that we're really harsh on people who get convicted for something they've done wrong, and it's not wrong for us to keep the peace, but there are people who do 'bad' things every day, and just aren't caught, or aren't even told that what they're doing is wrong, but they also destroy people's lives.

The movie end with Jack's wife reading some reincarnation theory saying that we all start out as stones, and work our way up the chin of beings until we become human, and we do that to pay for our sins in previous lives. Which ties into the spiritual growth, and maybe even to the ability to process sound on some level.

This was a worthwhile film. It was thought-provoking and gritty. It's not a movie to watch when you're in one of those 'feel good' moods, but it's definitely worth your time.

The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

This is a film from the studio Ghibli, but unlike the other more famous films from that studio (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Ponyo, etc) this one wasn't a Hayao Myazaki production. It does however moderately borrow his style, so it has that appeal. The story is based on the book titled, The Borrowers by Mary Norton, and indeed, the characters share the same names as their novel counterparts.

The story is about a young girl named Arrietty who lives with her mom and dad in a huge house in the countryside. This house is much more large for Arrietty and her parents, because they are all tiny people, about the height of a mouse. Arrietty is a borrower, a small person who lives in a regular bein' (human being) sized house, and borrow things from around the house to survive. If anyone finds out they're there however, they must leave for their own safety.

The story begins when a young human boy comes to the house Arrietty lives in. Sho (or Shawn in the English version), is a terminally sick boy whose mother was raised in that house. He was moved out to the country for the sake of his health, but he's a very lonely boy. Arrietty on the other hand, is ready to go out on her first borrowing mission, but she has some bad luck and Sho sees her! This is a big problem for Arrietty and her family because it means they must now leave the house. Sho of course is delighted that there might be little magical people living in the house and tried to find Arrietty and get close to her. We get to see a little bit of Arrietty's world, Sho's attempts to interact with Arrietty, throw in a suspicious housekeeper who seems to have a burning desire to destroy what she suspects to be little thieves in her house, and that's pretty much the movie.

I'm familiar with this story. I've read the novel and seen the 1997 version of The Borrowers (which I slightly prefer to this representation by the way), so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect and had my own expectations going in. But the film wasn't a disappointment. It was a little slow-moving at times, but the pace was consistent and never did I feel that the story was stagnating. It was more of a charming film than a comedy or drama, more exploratory. I do have to say however, that it was not a top-notch film. Though it used the same style of animation and storytelling as in the Myazaki films, the mood of the film was somewhat stagnant in comparison and lacked that air of magical possibility. In comparison with the 1197 English version, it was a very slow-moving interpretation of the story. The parents are also kind of flat personalities that rely on stereotype rather than demonstration to let you know who they are, and that could be said about almost every character except for Arrietty herself. However, that said, the movie was a nice little film overall and worth a sit through.

Carts of Darkness (2008)

This is a documentary film about homeless men in Northern Vancouver who go around in shopping carts, collecting empty bottles to return. When the movie first opens, we learn that these men ride around at break-neck speeds down hills on these carts, and race each other too. It's described almost as an extreme sport of sorts.

This is where the filmmaker come in. The person making the movie was at one point very into snowboarding, and would seek out extreme situations for the adrenaline, but due to an accident, he has been crippled from the waist down and is now in a wheel chair. In this shopping cart racing, he finds a similarity to the adrenaline he found as a snowboarder, and he tries to get close to these men, to be let into their secret world.

The men in this film go through blue boxes and garbage, loading up their shopping carts with glass and plastic bottles. When their cart is full, they go over to a recycling plant and return the bottles for money. As we eventually find out, this money is then spent primarily on cigarettes and alcohol. Most of these men 'rough it', some sleeping out in the woods or under tree cover, tents, one guy has a trailer. As we learn more about these men, they seem oddly content with their place in the world. There is constant talk of how free they are, how little they have to work, this and that, but at the same time, we are also faced with some carefully hidden discontentment. They seem to all be alcoholics, one of the men speak about having considered suicide, and not being able to stay in a shelter because having to face with other people's problems and addictions as well as your own. These men definitely live for the moment and in the moment, not having more than a couple hundred dollars, if that, to their name at any one time.

When this movie was first described to me, I thought it was a hilarious idea. Homeless men making an extreme sport out of racing shopping carts. When I began watching the movie, I realized that it was less about the shopping cart racing than it was about a creative lifestyle combating homelessness, but by the end, I was somewhat depressed. These men are facing some personal trials, and are trying their best to live normal lives, but can't seem to escape the situation. They don't want any help either. This I can understand though, as was also stated by the filmmaker. Sometimes when you're not at your best, when you're facing a personal trial or feel that you've failed, help from someone else just feels like a reminder of your flaws, or a recognition that you can't take care of yourself. Anyway, an interesting movie. A unique look into a segment of Vancouver's homeless population.

Legends, Icons, and Rebels: Music that changed the world by RobbieRobertson

Iconic musician Robbie Robertson (member of The Band) collaborated with some other people, Jim Guerinot, Jared Levine, and Sebastian Robertson to create this children's non-fiction book about some of the great musicians of the past who have helped to shape modern-day rock and roll.

The book covers a brief summary of 27 artists, including: Stevie Wonder, Chuck Barry, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchel, Patsy Cline, Bob Dylan, and many more. It covers a brief summary of their careers, with a few lesser known facts thrown in, and then on two accompanying CDs, featuring one of their songs.

This is a brilliant book, and I hope it becomes popular. I'm not a huge musical aficionado myself, but I have a broad range of tastes that span both genre and year, but I would say that I'm in a minority of people who regularly listen 'classic' rock and roll or RnB. But these artists in this book, and many more, produce really great music that has not only shaped an age and the music we listen to today, but that is really great to listen to.

That's not to say that today's music is not good. There are several current artists and songs that are good, but to better appreciate their work, you must have a better understanding of the history they draw from and have risen out of. Once you understand where they're coming from, you can understand what they're doing differently, and how they are maybe revolutionary in their own way. The biggest thing of all however is that the music of the past is just really great! Sometimes we're tempted to stop listening to the music of the past because newer music comes out, but the music from the past is still really great. In fact, some of the music from the past is arguably better than some of the modern music on the radio. Some might argue that the... music of lesser quality... or today exists because not many people listen to the better, older music, and have nothing else to compare it to. But that's getting a bit hipster and kind of arrogant, so we won't push too hard in that direction.

This is a coffee table book for kids, so even kids who aren't 'readers' per say will be able to enjoy it, along with the CDs. I really applaud this effort. Definitely look for it, and let it be the doorway to introducing the kids in your life to some really great songs!

The Fairly Odd Parents

This is a cartoon about a boy named Timmy, and how he was lucky enough to obtain a pair of fairy god parents who grant him wishes. Timmy lives the unfortunate life of a 10- year old boy. His parents don't pay him much attention, his babysitter is the spawn of Satan who's only pleasure in life comes from making people's life miserable and making a buck, both of which she achieves when she babysits Timmy. He also receives the hateful attention of his teacher at school who seems to take great pleasure in giving F's, and who is obsessed with the idea that Timmy has fairy god parents that he must discover. Because of how unpleasant his life is, Timmy was granted fairy god parents to make his life better by granting him almost any wish he makes. The only catch is that if anyone discovers his fairy god parents, Timmy will lose them forever.

This is a really fun, imaginative show. The fairies, Cosmo and Wanda, are funny and the scrapes Timmy gets him into are engaging. Timmy makes a lot of small wishes, but the big wishes he makes either changes the life he's living in some way, or the entire world he's living in. Time and time again, Timmy is initially happy with the wish he made, but eventually comes to regret messing with reality, and tries to make everything the way it was before the wish. Teaching that no matter how bad your situation seems, it could always be much worse, and also that you should be careful of what you wish for because you just might get it... and it may not be what you expected.

The show incorporates several side stories into the plot, such as the fairy obsessed teacher trying to out his secret, Vicky and her evilness, an alien from another planet that he interacts with, comic book heroes, etc. and the cool thing they did with this show is to make these side stories recurring. Ordinarily, we may meet a side character just for one or two episodes, and then never hear of them again, but this show keeps all of the smaller story lines continuously running, making the entire show more intricate than it seems on the surface. They have a lot of room to play with (to stop the storyline from stagnating or repeating) and they make good use of it. Also, as a fan of the original Batman tv show, I appreciated the character of Catman, voiced by Adam West.

It's really a fun show to watch. Mostly for children, but an older audience can also find something to enjoy. It makes fun of itself, it's funny, sarcastic, romantic, dramatic, suspenseful, and more. But still for kids. Good show.

Say Anything (1989)

This is one of those movies that no one has seen, or even knows the name of, but everyone knows the famous scene of the movie where John Cusack holds the radio above his head. It is a good movie though, so if you have not seen it, I recommend that you do.

Lloyd Dobbler is an average teenage boy, maybe a bit less than average if truth be told, no foreseeable prospects or future. In his last year of high school, actually, just after convocation, he declares to his friends that he is going to ask out the valedictorian, the smartest girl in school, Diane Court. His friends warn him away from this because he and Diane movie in different social circles, and there's no way she would give him a chance. They also tell him that he's such a nice guy, and they don't want him to get hurt. He of course disregards this advice and calls her up to invite her to a house party. Initially, Diane is not taken with Lloyd, but on a whim, and because she feels like she's studied so hard throughout the year that she has no social life, she decides to go. Things go quite well at the party for Lloyd, and he and Diane start dating. He is obsessed with her, and she seems to like him also, but not as much. Things seems to be going well, until Diane's father gets nervous that Diane's interest in Lloyd will interfere with the overseas scholarship she's won. Her father is also facing a very troubling audit, and he's being accused of money laundering, and Diane is fighting hard to prove her father innocent, and generally dealing with the stress her father is placing on her and the contradicting emotions she feels for Lloyd and her father. She eventually breaks up with Lloyd for her father, and Lloyd is left with the decision to let her go, or to try to win her back. And Diane is faced with choosing between her father and Lloyd. What will happen to them??!

This is a cute movie. One of the things I noted about it right away was that it's a story about true love in a world where true love is rarely found. All of the people in Lloyd's life are either in bad relationships, or were. His sister (played by his real life sister, uncredited) whom he lives with was left with a child by her boyfriend. His parents are non-existent, his best friend is always pining after a guy who cheated on her and broke up with her, and non-essential characters are constantly breaking up or fighting if they're in a relationship, or sadly alone and lamenting the idea of relationships. So Lloyd is fighting everything he knows innately about relationships to follow his heart and pursue Diane and what he believes is true love.

Another theme of the movie seems to be the value of honesty in relationships. The title of the movie is Say Anything, and this is how Diane is. She is supremely honest, both because of personality and because of her self-imposed exile from teenaged drama in favour of her studies. So she hasn't learned to lie to her dad about anything, or bend the truth to make a situation seem to be in her favour, and she doesn't try to manipulate Lloyd in any way either. As the movie progresses, she discovers that she can't always say anything she wants to anyone, because the trust she places in people may not be deserved. Lloyd has the same kind of naiveté about Diane. He completely opens himself to her, but again, does so in ignorance and is then surprised when his love isn't rewarded or returned as he wants it to be. At the same time however, though both of these characters were burned by their honesty and trust, the fact that they both possess those qualities allowed them to connect with each other, because to truly connect with a person, you have to make yourself somewhat vulnerable to them. And in the deepest relationships, you should indeed be able to say anything to the other person and expect them to return that trust and honesty.

There are a lot of 'quotables' in this movie, but one of my favourites are when Lloyd is talking to Diane's father about what he doesn't want to do when he grows up "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that." For a while I felt this way and it always resonated with me. And that kind of encapsulates Lloyd. He's not a cookie cutter high schooler, and he doesn't want to be.

Though this is a lesser known 80's flick, it's just as good as 16 Candles or Pretty in Pink and all of those. The characters are real and endearing, and it's refreshing to have a romance movie not just be about romance, because it never is in real life. It's a great movie, and you should watch it if you haven't yet done so.

Better Off Ted

This is a hilariously sarcastic show about the lack of morality in big business. It's about a guy named Ted who works in the research department for a huge corporation that does everything. The show looks at the struggle between big business objectives, and human morality... and how the two sometimes have trouble connecting. It plays with the idea that 'there is no right or wrong in business, only success or failure'.

It's a situational comedy, so each episode deals with some issue that may have moral weight, like race, or family, the value of an employee as a person, and the episode will centre around a product that the company wants to test. For example, in the first episode the company wants to test whether the technology for cryogenic freezing is ready for human testing, so they decide to freeze one of the scientists who work in the lab. They go ahead and freeze him, but then three days later an accident in moving causes him to thaw out and he thereafter makes this piercing howl unconsciously. Ted's boss then wants to fire him, but also doesn't want him to sue the company for freezing him. There's also another funny bit where Ted tells the scientists to created an office chair out of this very uncomfortable material. They're able to do it, but it's a very uncomfortable chair to sit in, and they discover that discomfort actually helps with productivity because people are too uncomfortable to daydream or waste time at work. Each episode has a funny invention that, though maybe making the corporation more successful, is actually worse for humanity/ the environment/ etc.

The two women in Ted's life are his boss, Veronica, and Linda, one of the testers who sometimes plays the role of the 'conscience' of the company to Ted. He has complicated relationships with both of these women. Veronica is hilarious. She completely embodies the morality of the company and seems to have to human emotion or sense of moral right and wrong. She is one of the aspects of the show that makes it worth the watch. The two scientists are also funny. They have an almost husband and wife relationship in that they're always bickering and fighting, but need each other to be successful. They're too academic to really fit into the business world, and so are almost as funny as Veronica in their failure to connect with 'humanity'.

The show was cancelled, with only two seasons made... but don't let that fool you if this has slipped under your radar. It is hilarious, and worth the watch.

Imitation of Life (1934)

This story is about two mothers who make a fortune together, and their relationship with their daughters. The story opens with a white mother, Bea, dressing her daughter Jesse, when the phone rings and she goes downstairs to answer it. Upon hanging up, she sees a matronly black woman, Delilah, at the door who is answering an ad for a live in maid. Bea hadn't put an ad in the paper however, but before sending the woman on her way, she discovers that Delilah has a young daughter, Peola, and because she refuses to abandon her, is having difficulty finding a job. Bea agrees to take her on without pay so that Delilah and Peola have a place to stay. Bea has taken over her late husband's syrup selling business, and goes out every day to try selling it. One day, Delilah is making pancakes from Bea before she goes out to work, and Bea really likes the pancake recipe. Delilah tells her that it's a family secret, but shares it with Bea. That very same day, Bea goes out and rents a storefront... to set up a pancake house. The business is successful, but not booming, until one day a homeless looking man walks into the store and Bea offers him some pancakes on the house. He then suggests to her that if she wants to make it big, she should take the route that Coke took and bottle it... or box it, the mix that is, and sell the flour to people. Bea loves the idea and even makes a smiling picture of Delilah the company logo, calling it Aunt Delilah (Aunt Jemima much?). And so begins the story.

The business continues and they make a lot of money (mostly Bea, as Delilah doesn't seem to get the concept of making money... why would the black character not want to continue living a subservient life when she could be a millionaire? Great writing here), but as the girls grow older, problems arise. Peola struggles the most in this film with her relation to race. As she is light enough to be taken for a white girl, she scorns any evidence of her black history... namely her mother. She wants to try to move as far away from the idea as she can and often tries to blend in with other white people and succeeds, until her mother comes into the picture. We do not see as much dissension with Jesse (because of course the white girl would be sweet and obedient), until Bea's beau comes into the picture. Jesse quickly develops a crush on him, leaving Bea with the difficult decision of which of them she will choose.

This was a good film... if somewhat racist, but remember that this is the 1930's. Delilah is portrayed as the sweet hearted, but not so bright woman who only knows and wants servitude for herself. Her daughter Peola is nothing like her mother and, maybe because of that, is always causing grief with her own apparent selfishness. That is not to say that she is shown in a negative way, but not much sympathy is given to her for wanting more for herself than the discrimination and blind hatred faced by black people in those times. Also, this film tries to position Bea as having this heart of gold for having a soft spot for Delilah and taking her and Peola in, but she shows little concern or care for them and their plights for most of the film. She will be around and make appropriate facial expressions, but doesn't actually comfort either of the two when they face hardship. I don't know if this was the way the part was played or if the actress just felt this way and didn't properly disguise it, but there is an air of inherent superiority in Bea's dealings with Delilah. Even at the beginning of the film when she invites Delilah in and eventually allows her to stay, I got the sense that she didn't like her and wanted her to go. In commonplace interactions, Bea is somewhat distant and slightly patronizing with Delilah, and then when she's doing something 'charitable' she over acts it. It's actually quite fascinating to watch. Then there is also the fact in the plot that Bea essentially stole Delilah's secret pancake recipe and exploited it for her own profit, and then even made Delilah clean the store, cook the pancakes for the customers, and be the face of the product, all for the honour of working as her maid and nanny. Needless to say this would be in the lineup of interesting film to watch if one were to try piecing together the history of white/ black relations.

Aside from the politics however, I found the film to be enjoyable. It falls flat when compared to the 1959 remake, but is still a worthwhile watch.

Apparently this was the trailer targeting the black audience of the day

Nights into Dreams

This is a 1996 game for the Sega Saturn game console. The premise for the game is that two kids, Clair Sinclair and Elliot Edwards, have nightmares when they go to sleep. Claire wants to sing and Elliot wants to play basketball, but their dreams turn to nightmares. Nights, a being who lives in the dream world, goes through their dreams to find these red bubbles that represent courage, and when you get through all of the levels, you eventually get to Wiseman, the ultimate bad guy, and have to try to defeat him to allow their dreams to come true.

To begin playing, you must choose either Claire or Elliot, and then using Nights, you travel through their dreams trying to get a high enough score to progress to the next level before the alarm clock wakes you up. There are seven levels in total with a mini boss after each level. As Nights you have to fly from left to right across the level, but other than that your movement is pretty much free, and you can gain points by executing several different acrobatic movements or loops while you get your points.

The game was really well received. A hand-held version came out and a sequel was made for the Wii in 2007. Also, a mini comic book series was released where Claire and Elliot meet up in the real world to save Nights. I really enjoyed playing it, and still do. It's colourful, imaginative, and creative. Even though it's a side scrolling game, so you can only move left to right, there is still a bit of freedom. There are a few secret passageways to find and a couple of shortcuts. All in all, one of my preferred games from childhood.

RDG: Red Data Girl

This is a short, anime, only one season of 12 episodes, but it has an interesting concept. The anime is based on a book series and a manga.

The story is about a very reserved girl who lives in a mountain shrine with her guardians and has been sheltered and protected for her entire life. She feels that there is nothing special about her, and indeed, the only thing we know about her to be different is that technology shorts out or even breaks when she touches it. She has been told however that she is a very important person, a princess, and must be protected at all costs. The story begins with her act of cutting her extremely long hair to make bangs for herself... a seeming act of rebellion as magical strength is sometimes linked to ones hair, and this act is the first step in her taking a very small step toward self actualization. Or at least affirming that she is able to do something by her own will. The next change is that an old childhood acquaintance re-enters her life, and she is told that this boy (who has never been nice to her and seems disgusted by the fact that he must do what he is told) is her servant and will be enrolling in her school to protect her.

The plot progresses, and these two interact with each other (reluctantly) and meet new people with magical ability, throughout all of which she discovers that her body is to house a very powerful spirit and grows in magical ability herself. She very slowly comes out of her shell and begins to make personal relationships, and more actively begins to interact with her magical abilities and with the spirit world.

This was an unsatisfying anime to watch. Not because it wasn't good, because it was; the characters, narrative, and take on the fantasy genre were all very compelling. It was just too short. The characters developed too slowly for the length of the show, as did the plot, and by the last episode I felt as though I was at the inciting moment of the plot... where the true story should now begin. The story ends before any of the characters resolve any personal tensions, before the relationship between the heroine and the spirit possessing her was explored and we understood the boundary between the two, or if in fact they were two people at all, and what would happen to the heroine's spirit if they aren't. We aren't even told in any great detail the significance of this 'very powerful' spirit, and the ramifications of her presence or lack there of in our world. It ended at the beginning basically. The book series might go into more detail, bu the anime is highly unsatisfying.

Not un-worth the watch though. In what they do show you, the character development is well done, and the interactions with the other world and with various magical abilities are well thought out and the basis for a very good show. If this show was one or two more seasons long, it has the potential to be one of the better animes... but it doesn't go far enough. So I would still recommend it to be watched in appreciation of the story, but prepare for the unsatisfying ending.

No Country For Old Men (2007)

When I first heard of this movie, and when I first began watching it, it seemed like it would be a long, boring movie about men walking around. Well it was long, but boring not so much. What I came to realize is that, from my perspective, this is like the new form of western.

It almost has the same elements as The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but re-imagined. There is The Good, in the form of an aging sheriff, The Bad, in the form of a psychopathic serial killer, and The Ugly, represented by some ne'er-do-well scavenger just looking to cash in.

The Sheriff Ed Tom, begins this story by explaining the title of the film. He says that he wonders how the 'Old Timers' would have reacted to the things people do today. How even the bad things done back in the day were done with a stronger sense of right and wrong, that there were more principles, the some sheriffs didn't even carry guns (for my purposes, compare The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly to this movie). And to compound this point, the good-hearted sheriff in this movie seems to be left in the dust by the bad and the ugly. He can't seem to keep up with or understand them, almost as if they were from different worlds.

The Ugly, Llewelyn, is a scavenger by nature. He wanders around the desert looking for anything that will help him survive. The inciting moment in this story is when he stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong, and he tracks down the money. He is then sends his wife off to her mother, to protect her, and then goes on the run from whoever will be chasing after him to get this money.

Little does Llewelyn know, what's chasing him is a psychopathic serial killer, who would play the role of The Bad in my comparison. This is a man of many morals, but none of them inspiring him to do good. He ruthlessly tracks down the money, killing a slew of people randomly along the way. He's oddly principled though. For example, several times throughout the film he puts a person's life in the hands of fate, and will make them call a coin. If they pick the right side, he lets them live, but if not... then no. There is no ill emotion in his actions however. He acts almost as though he's following some supernatural instruction, and is almost disconnected from what he's doing.

The movie is about one man running from another man, and a third man bringing up the rear trying to find one or both of the first two, and yet, none of these three characters ever actually come face to face with each other. It's kind of slow-paced and there is a lack of dialogue at times, but it is a thoughtful film. There is a battle of wits at play here. Llewelyn and the man hunting him are always trying to stay one step ahead of the other, trying to guess the other man's next move, for if (or when) they interact, it's a fight to the death. The sheriff bringing up the rear plays the role of bearing witness more than he interacts with these men on the intellectual battlefield, but at the beginning of the film, even he shows some powers of deduction as he surveys the deadly drug deal. His mentality is spent more in presenting to the audience the idea that times have changed. Even though it isn't the most action-packed movie ever made, it still is intense once you get into it. It's suspenseful and interesting, but more for the ideas it presents rather than for the 'action'. Maybe the reason this movie gets the 'slow' label is because people think that it will be an action movie, and are then disappointed by the lack of 'action'. If you get past that though, there's something here to be appreciated that is making an important statement. Pretty good.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)

This anime is of the 'magical girl' genre, but unlike Sailor Moon or Cardcaptors or Shugo Chara, it's a bit darker.

For those who may be unfamiliar with this type of story, the magical girl genre involves stories about girls (usually ordinary girl next door type of girls) who are contacted by some magical being, and are given the choice to accept magical powers. They are then obligated to use these powers to combat evil magic already in the world, or to complete some task with their magic.

In this story, the girl's name is Madoka, and she is a sweet, good- hearted girl. She doesn't have anything that distinguishes her from any other girl... in fact, she may be lacking in several areas in comparison. Everything changes for her however, when a new exchange student transfers into her class. The girl stares at Madoka, who oddly enough had had a dream about her the previous night. The girl warns Madoka that if she values her friends and family, she should not make any changes to herself. Madoka of course finds this odd, but disregards it. Later that day, she hears a voice in her head calling out for help. The voice belongs to this cat-like creature, who the new transfer student is apparently trying to kill. Madoka and her friend are then exposed to the hidden world of witches and magical girls. The cat-like creature, named Kyubey, explains that he has the power to grant a chosen girl any one wish in the entire world. But in exchange for that wish, the girl must agree to become a magical girl, and devote her life to hunting down 'witches' or evil spirits that are the cause of many unexplained evils in the world. Madoka and her friend Sayaka are both chosen by Kyubey, and try to learn more about this world, to see if any wish they might make would be worth giving up their freedom, and maybe their lives. However, the transfer student is adamantly against Madoka becoming a magical girl, and does everything in her power to prevent this. Kyubey said that Madoka would be the more powerful magical girl who had ever existed to this point if she were to choose to turn. Is the new girl afraid of her power? Is there anything Madoka would wish for that would compensate for what she might lose? Why is someone as insignificant as Madoka so important in what seems to be the fate of the world?

As I said before, this is a darker manifestation of the magical girl genre. There is a very real possibility of death with every battle the girls may face, and indeed we witness several deaths. A couple, quite significant to the plot. The girls are fighting against these monsters, but they are also fighting against themselves for territory. If a girl kills a witch, she gets to cleanse her source of magic with what is left over from the witch, and if the girl doesn't do this, something bad may happen to her. As the story progresses, we find out that being a magical girl is not at all a fun thing, that a lot of sacrifice and heartbreak and loneliness results from the wish they make. We also learn that there may be more to the contract with Kyubey then we might have been initially told. The show deals with the idea of 'good deeds', and how much of yourself you would be willing to give for the benefit of someone else, without getting anything in return. It makes you wonder, is there anything you would want enough to sacrifice your life for, or at least your livelihood? Just how valuable are the relationships in your life? What would you give to keep them, or let them go? Just how much do you actually care about others? And more interestingly, what do you consider about yourself to be human? Your body?

An interesting, if not somber, show. The animation was interesting as well. The anime was very detailed at some points, but the scenes with the witches played around with animation styles. Another interesting thing about this show is that the main character of this 'magical girl' show, is for the most part, the only main character who is not a magical girl. It re-imagines the genre, and positions it for an older audience, who maybe grew up with the more traditional magical girl shows. It takes a little while to get into, but it brings a new level of complexity to the genre. It's only 12 episodes long and can be seen online.

Deathbed: The Bed That Eats (1977)

This is a gem, in the worst sense possible. If you were to get together with a group of friends, got very drunk, and wanted to watch something absolutely horrible that would make you all laugh, this might be on the list.

The premise of the movie is that a bed in an abandoned mansion is possessed by a demon spirit, and eats whatever or whoever it comes in contact with. The mansion is abandoned because the bed ate everyone in the house, and potentially everyone in the local area. Before you get your hopes up for hilarity, the bed cannot move on its own. It doesn't talk either. The only way that we the audience are able to understand what's going on with the bed it through the voice on the narrator, one of the bed's victims who did not completely die and is not trapped behind a drawing he made of the bed. The story takes off when three women come up to the house from the country to 'get away', and they come across this abandoned house, which is of course the logical place to spend the night. Slowly, the bed claims them one by one, but there is a problem with one of the girls, who, as the narrator tells us, remind the bed of its creation. Yes really. Eventually, the ghostly narrator tells the girl from behind the drawing, to create some ritual that will hopefully destroy the bed. Will anyone survive its evil comfort!?

This movie was so bad. First of all, the narrator has this very morose, almost bored British voice that clearly exists only to give the bed's 'thoughts' a voice. Throughout the movie, the narrator has a one-sided conversation with no one about what the bed is thinking, feeling, and doing. It crosses the line of ridiculous. The actors are all very bad. They don't get into character at all and are stiff and awkward, just saying lines rather than actually acting them.

The very worst of all is the bed though. It makes these awkward crunching and slurping noise when it's eating, or swallowing noises when it drinks. The way it eats people is to slowly have them sink down into the sheets, which apparently open up into some void, represented by this yellow foam. We then get to see whatever it's eaten in this liquidy, yellow limbo where they disintegrate in what we can only assume is a bed's equivalent to stomach acid. At the beginning of the movie (one of the worst parts) a young couple comes into the mansion to... have some fun, and the brought a picnic. While they're kissing, the bed sneakily takes their food and eats it... but then returns the left overs to the top of the bed. So an apple sinks into the bed, an apple core comes back up. A bucket of chicken sinks down, the bucket comes back up with chicken bones. But the bed seems to not be consistent, because it later eats things that are not even food and doesn't seem to mind.

I would not really recommend that you watch this alone. Not because it's a horror movie... but because if you don't have someone to laugh with, you will probably get bored about half way through. If that far.