DVD Movie Review #171 Boxtrolls

Hello again and welcome to my DVD movie reviews. This time I am covering the movie Box Trolls. In Preparation for Oscar Season I watched this film with a friend and enjoyed it at that time. When I got the opportunity to pick up the Blu Ray for $5 I had to do so. I hope that you enjoy the film as much as I did.

Long ago a group of Box Trolls Stumbled on a baby and adopted him as one of their own. During that time the missing baby resulted in the Box Trolls being blamed for all the evils in the sleepy little town. With that the town exterminator has vowed to take out all the Box trolls in order to earn a place in the coveted white hat society. When his adopted father is Captured the baby now a young boy called "eggs"s must find and rescue his father by befriending a young girl with strong ties to the White hat group.

This film is by the animation studio responsible for films like Coraline and Paranorman. Due to this Box Trolls is a very appropriate Halloween Treat. The animation work that went into this is amazing leaving you fascinated (I suggest checking out the special features on creation to see.) The music is fun and the plot itself is interesting enough to hold your attention. Finally the music and voice acting are provide a welcome accompaniment to the series.

This is a very weak film from these people. I have to wonder if their writing has just deteriorated after the major class that you got with Coraline. The characters are kind of hard to like overall with the lead female almost being unlikable. The biggest issue is that the story was odd but lacked any real depth that would make this a film worthy of the others by this company. It suits for a children's movie but really doesn't stretch to meet the need for full family involvement.

In the end this is a delightful children's movie but it requires a bit of a pull in order to expand to a wider audience. Though if you haven't seen it yet it is worth a rent.

Rating 6/10

DVD Movie Review #168 Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire

It is sad that I was unable to find an official trailer for the series as Krod Mandoon is the real deal. I was looking for entertainment through the BBC and found this little Comedy Central Gem a few years back. I remember watching it with a friend after seeing it advertised in a comic book. I of course had to obtain this when in Walmart it came out on the $4 rack. So sit back and look for another fantasy styled piece of comedy.

Krod is an adventurer leading a band of misfits, a Wizard without magic, a Simple Minded Giant, a former prison lover and a rather agile sex priestess. These are the group that plans on defying the evil overlord. Of course our evil overload has found a deadly artifact that he will use to destroy all forms of resistance. Krod and his crew must go on continued adventures fight terrible monsters and confront the ultimate evil to become the hero.

 People didn't really give this series a major chance. It has a lot of fun comedic moments and interesting characters that make it a fun series to run through. It is not overly long and the series itself has a few very funny moments to it.

DVD Movie Review #170 When Marnie was There

Hello all and welcome to another one of my DVD movie reviews. The last time we visited with Studio Ghibli was when I covered a little film called The Wind Rises. This company has been known for putting out high quality animation for some time and I am still looking to secure a cheap copy of Princess Kaguya and do believe the film was amazing. When I saw this beauty used 50% off of $20 I had to get hold of it for my very own. So without further ado I bring you When Marnie was There.

Anna is an adopted young girl who is getting over the fact that she is adopted. She continues to isolate herself from others and as her depression and anti-social behavior worsens her parents send her to a house in the country to try and recuperate. Things look like they were all lost for our little Anna until she came upon an old house on the marsh. When drawing the picture she spied a strange young blond girl in the window. The two form a fast friendship in the night over the marsh and it but things are oddly strange with Marnie and the oddly magical house. There are secrets to be found and stories to be told.

This film brings what you expect from Ghibli to the table. Vibrant colors, beautiful animation and due to the Disney licensing, spectacular voice work. In addition to the other window dressing the soundtrack is superb leading you into the emotional responses that are required from each scene. The characters are richly crafted and even Anna who is kind of frustrating grows into a more likable character as the story develops. The overall story itself is written very well and tugs on the heart as well as other emotions in the right places. This is a beautiful and haunting tail that should be predictable yet still has enough going to surprise you if you aren't extra savvy.

There are of course a few down sides to the mostly up scale film. The Character of Anna is kind of frustrating and I had a hard time getting to like her. Maybe this is a way to better understand her from an outsider's point of view but at the same time as it takes time to get into the main characters head frustration is not what you want to feel from any film at any time. I think the story, while good may have been a little too sappy and sweet at times. I am still uncertain about this point but it is not enough to ruin the film by any means.

If you have the time please check out this film it is a spectacular event that only studio Ghibli could provide.

Rating: 8/10

DVD Movie Review #169 3rd Rock from the Sun

Today I am reviewing a series that I have  been watching on for a long time. I have watched this series off and on for a long time but have never had the time to watch it from beginning to end. This time with a price tag of $20 I decided to heck with it and obtained the series so I finally went through the 6 season romp around the universe and now you guys can enjoy.

Our family Soloman is really an alien exploratory party sent to do a mission in order to learn as much about what it is to be human. With the series revolving around experiencing everything from an inexperienced eye this series shows the evolution of our alien family over the next 6 years as the series goes on. It has a variety of cameos including the Big Giant Head played by William Shatner. So we enjoy the series from beginning to end with luck the mission will be fun for all.

I personally really enjoyed this series. It had a lot of interesting parallels with some of the series of its time like Sienfeld with the Characters being more self centered but in this case greatly more likable. The story progressed very well dealing with aging of the characters evolution of relationships and deepening of the story line with colorful characters such as The Big Giant Head and the evil alien played by John Cleese. This series left much to be enjoyed throughout its 6 season romp with an odd enjoyably continued joke that somehow always found something new to make us laugh all the more. This series was a fun romp from beginning to end.

 There are a few short comings when one thinks about adaptability. The main character and his love interest a fairly despicable people and Dick gets quite annoying at times making it harder to enjoy the episodes. The ending is probably what I have the most issue with. I won't put in any major spoilers but I do feel that it was quite abrupt and left a few things hanging. I feel that it was a quick tie up that they were not expecting. For a series that managed to make the same gag mostly fresh again and again for 6 years I expected better from this.

In the end if you like fun and quirky comedies I feel 3rd rock is a series that is fun to pick up and put down an nearly any time. If you are a person that tends to watch things in large chunks it can annoy but for the most part  for the price this is worth having in your collection.

Rating 7/10

DVD Movie Review #167 Off Campus

We are back with another of my great DVD movie reviews. This time I am covering the X-Strike Series “Off Campus”. I am only covering season one as this is the only one available on DVD. For those unfamiliar with the Video Game Retro fun that is X-Strike Visit them at x-strikestudios.com. I have all of the films they have thus far on DVD and decided as I am a fan of the show to revisit this series.

Off campus is a series that chronicles the adventures of the X-Strike crew not long after their original apartment went up in flames. They manage to find an apartment near a college campus and must pose as college students in order to keep the awesome low rates. During this time they must deal with strange and mysterious Neighbors, odd adventures and the evils of the internet.

This series has a lot for the retro gamer ort those who grew up with retro games. It has a ton of inside jokes such as getting stuck in a basement while one person must hold on to a brick to break people out one at a time. The effects or terrible but as with all X-Strike projects they are so in a fun campy way that makes the company so fun to roll through. The music is nice in its Retro fashion concluding the odd skaish theme played throughout.

This is something that does appeal to a limited audience. If you haven’t played on an old game system you are not going to get most of the jokes that they are doing here. The acting and effects are pretty poor and while this is endearing to most of the audience a new audience may find this abrasive.

This is a fun return look at the catalog of X-Strike Studios. To many it is a fun and enjoyable ride while to others this may be something more forgettable.

Rating 6/10

DVD Movie Review #166 Chobits

Hello all and welcome to my DVD and movie review. I have enjoyed some series that are staples of the anime genre. This is one of those harem types that one needs to have in the collection. I had this before on what I felt were official region one DVDs but realized now that they are in region 0 and I am trying not to have knock offs in my collection. When Funimation re-released this on blue ray a few years back I had to jump on board. Now I have watched it again and have a different opinion.

So we enter the world of an average college hopefull moving to Tokyo to start his cramming. In this future the majority of computers are replaced by humanoid computers called Persacoms. Our hero discovers one such simply disguarded in the trash the good hearted yet simple minded Chi. As he makes friends and potential love interests our hero learns more and more about society and its involvement with technology both healthy and pathological.

 I had thought to myself in the past "oh my another harem anime" and it does set up like one. You have your kind hearted protagonist and your cast of potential female lovers all showing a potential interest. This starts out on par but then it gets much deeper. Many of the backstories from the characters were very well done and by the end you don't feel cheated or that the story ended way too soon. There were a few such as the story of the baker that were almost profound in their nature. The writing here takes what could have been yet another in a long line of harems and turned it into something that hasn't been repeated till the movie "Her".  The animation and the voice acting are well done giving you crisp visuals worthy of the blue ray treatment. This is overall a quality experience.

I do have a few issues with this series. One of course is the art style which like fruits basket leaves you wondering who is who at some times as the character models look alike. They also start working on a few story elements such as the mysterious two Persacoms at the end with only a limited answer as to what happened to the supposed ultimate computer program that Chi ran at the end.

In the end this is a quality experience that is well worth the watch. It is flawed but then again who isn't when it comes to a series. If you like harems and you like a good story this is a series worth the watch

Rating: 7/10