Castle in the Sky

Castle in the Sky ~ When I first saw this movie way back in the late 1980s at Philadelphia's Roxy Screening Room, It was called Laputa: Castle in the Sky. As it's been passed around from different distribution companies with vaious translations and dubs, it's also been known as Island in the Sky, City in the Sky, and Laputa: The Flying Island. I know that I searched for a copy for decades, and was thrilled when Disney finally released it as part of their Studio Ghibli line in 1998. It is my favorite of those films, and my favorite by Hayao Miyazaki, who wrote, directed, and produced it.

The film focuses on a young girl and her new friend running from fascist government spies and military, as well as air pirates, as all pursue a mythical city in the sky called Laputa. As it turns out, she is the long lost princess of Laputa and only her pendant can find the city and release its secrets, which include, not only a treasure, but also a weapon of mass destruction. The legends are pulled from not only Jonathan Swift's book "Gulliver's Travels" but also the Hindu epic "The Ramayana" as well with its Indra's arrow.

The characters are wonderfully Miyazaki originals, coming across like a weird hybrid of both Max Fleisher and "Speed Racer." There is some terrific design work that both conjures a Welsh mining town that Miyazaki once visited, his love of airplanes (as evidenced in The Wind Rises), and a firm foundation in all things steampink. The Goliath and Tiger Moth airships, and the amazing flaptors of Dola's air pirates are excellent examples of that.

I love the chase sequences, and the battling airships. This is a steampunk pulp fan's wet dream, high adventure at its finest. The characters are fun, you can love them, you can hate them, and most of all root for them and fear for them. There are characters in live action 'real' movies that are not as three dimensional as these folks. The Disney dub boasts a voice cast that includes Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek, Mandy Patinkin, Andy Dick, and absolutely stellar performances by Cloris Leachman as Dola and Mark Hamill as the evil Muska.

I love this film, and it's easily in my top ten or twenty favorite films of all time. If you like anime, or adventure, or steampunk - this is absolutely must see, but really I think everyone will enjoy Castle in the Sky.

Oh Sookie

A whole 'nother world of fan fiction... Snoop Dogg professes his feelings for Sookie Stackhouse...

True Blood: Beautifully Broken

There is so much going on, so many plots, subplots and plot twists happening all at once. "True Blood" is the perfect melding of the modern quick cut drama like "The Sopranos" and old school soap opera camp craziness of "Dark Shadows" with just a touch of "Twin Peaks." Yeah, it’s that good.

Our main cliffhanger from last week has Bill going custerfluck crazy on those werewolves, eviscerating them. Yeah, vampires are definitely superior to werewolves in this world – and almost in answer to this revelation, we learn that the wolf pack actually serves the Vampire King of Mississippi, who has plans for Bill.

Our other cliffhanger thankfully ends with Tara not taking her own life, but leads to some great acting by Rutina Wesley and Nelsan Ellis as Tara and Lafayette. There are actually more than a few spotlight performances in this episode. Debra Ann Woll’s Jessica also gets some good stage time. Surprisingly, Eric and Sookie, who are in a real life relationship as Alexander Skarsgard and Anna Paquin, manage very little passion or emotion in their scenes together.

The episode’s title bears out in the various plots, showing the broken relationships in this large web of characters, whether it’s Sam trying to find his family, Lafayette and Tara sticking together, or Jason and Sookie finally making amends – it is all broken.

We learn the nature of the werewolves. They are not just any werewolves. The silliness of that line alone had me giggling. And they’re not just Nazi werewolves either. Yeah, I know. I’m still giggling. There were lots of lines like that in this episode, as well as a cameo by Christine, and it made an otherwise uneventful episode better. From the unintentional one-liners from Eric to the intentional ones from Jason to the various ways to devour blood Bill is presented with – "Beautifully Broken" was a lot of fun.

So until next time... make sure you know where all the bodies in your crawlspace are...

True Blood Primer

Sex and blood, blood and sex. This is the core and attraction of the vampire, and it’s been the driving power of HBO’s "True Blood" which premieres its third season tonight. Like most HBO dramas, the series is propelled by intriguing plot twists, compelling characters and a breed of soap opera that has folks coming back again and again. Whatever it is that HBO has, I wish they would bottle it and sell it to the other networks, because nothing they have even approaches what HBO produces on a consistent basis.

But back to the sex and blood. "True Blood" is loosely based on the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries books by Charlaine Harris, and created and produced for television by Alan Ball, late of "Six Feet Under." As with other book-to-cable shows, like "Dexter" for instance, it has developed its own style and continuity. This is a good thing, as even readers of the books don’t know what might happen next. It keeps everyone on their toes.

For those of you who came in late, Anna Paquin plays Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress who can hear people’s thoughts and is in love with Bill Compton, played by Stephen Moyer. Bill’s a vampire. Vampires have recently 'come out of the coffin' per se to live among the humans now that a new beverage called 'Tru Blood' exists that mimics the nutritional qualities of human blood. This makes humans not so much prey any more.

When the vampires come out we learn that they have secret societies and governments that have been around for ages, and also that they are not the only supernatural creatures that exist. We have seen shape-shifters and something called a maenad. We have been promised werewolves in this third season.

The series revolves around not only Sookie and Bill, but all of their friends and family in the town of Bon Temps, just like any intricate soap opera would, and the fun rolls from there. Enjoy!

True Blood is Back

The much anticipated return of HBO’s series based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, “True Blood” debuted its second season starter tonight, and it did not disappoint. When it began last year the flurry of excitement was brought on not just by those who knew the books, but also by HBO’s brilliant viral promotion “Blood Copy.” This time, the excitement is brought on by the pure quality of the first season.

Cliffhangers are tied up immediately, or at least the one that kept most of us losing our minds – that wasn’t Lafayette in the back of the Sheriff’s car. For the rest I’ll leave you guessing, or at least those of you who haven’t seen it yet. And for those of you who haven’t even seen “True Blood” yet – what are you waiting for? Fans of contemporary vampires this is for you, and also fans of the old school – like “Dark Shadows,” this is right up your alley. The first season is on DVD, get on the ball!


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