Tag: junji ito

“The Enigma of Amigara Fault” by Junji Ito (2001)

Gah fuck, he did it again. A short story about finding one’s place.

South Park: The Stick of Truth dev. Obsidian Entertainment (2014)

I usually read up on the criticism after the fact, and this one’s near universal response was, “But it’s good?” Obsidian reportedly went through some kinda hell to get this one done and their RPG prowess shines right through. That and the South Park creators’ efforts to jam it full of fan service makes for something that should’ve been bad or so offensive that it’s unplayable, but they balanced the kids’ adventure stuff with the jokes about anal probes and aborted fetuses surprisingly well.

Dune dir. David Lynch (1984)

I heard an interesting take on Lynch’s career up this point. He’d been an all-star director with a string of hits, and he was (perhaps rightfully) concerned that this would be his first bump in the road. I think it makes for an interesting entry in his filmography, though I reckon that’s hindsight for ya. It’s a wild sci-fi story that clearly packs in more than a movie’s worth of events. It’s fun to see some future collaborators from his weirder works show up in this first big one.

Nosferatu the Vampyre dir. Werner Herzog (1979)

This was my first Herzog outside of Grizzly Man and his snarling appearance on The Mandalorian. It’s a tender look at a lonely monster’s quest for something to make immortality tolerable. Ponderous both in the portrayal and intent, and the deviations from Bram Stoker’s original make it especially fascinating. Also, Herzog wanted to murder the star?

Blacula dir. William Crain (1972)

This may be where I start to see a theme in the season’s vampire fare. Like Herzog’s Nosferatu, Crain’s Blacula is shown to be a lonesome creature burdened with a curse they didn’t ask for. The advertising makes it out to be some kind of exploitation movie about the white man’s fear of black men coming in taking their women, but it’s actually done with more care than you’d expect. Some scenes are still straight up terrible and age poorly, but overall it’s worth knowing as a snapshot of movies in that period.

“The Enigma of Amigara Fault” by Junji Ito (2001)

Gah fuck, he did it again. A short story about finding one’s place.

South Park: The Stick of Truth dev. Obsidian Entertainment (2014)

I usually read up on the criticism after the fact, and this one’s near universal response was, “But it’s good?” Obsidian reportedly went through some kinda hell to get this one done and their RPG prowess shines right through. That and the South Park creators’ efforts to jam it full of fan service makes for something that should’ve been bad or so offensive that it’s unplayable, but they balanced the kids’ adventure stuff with the jokes about anal probes and aborted fetuses surprisingly well.

Dune dir. David Lynch (1984)

I heard an interesting take on Lynch’s career up this point. He’d been an all-star director with a string of hits, and he was (perhaps rightfully) concerned that this would be his first bump in the road. I think it makes for an interesting entry in his filmography, though I reckon that’s hindsight for ya. It’s a wild sci-fi story that clearly packs in more than a movie’s worth of events. It’s fun to see some future collaborators from his weirder works show up in this first big one.

Nosferatu the Vampyre dir. Werner Herzog (1979)

This was my first Herzog outside of Grizzly Man and his snarling appearance on The Mandalorian. It’s a tender look at a lonely monster’s quest for something to make immortality tolerable. Ponderous both in the portrayal and intent, and the deviations from Bram Stoker’s original make it especially fascinating. Also, Herzog wanted to murder the star?

Blacula dir. William Crain (1972)

This may be where I start to see a theme in the season’s vampire fare. Like Herzog’s Nosferatu, Crain’s Blacula is shown to be a lonesome creature burdened with a curse they didn’t ask for. The advertising makes it out to be some kind of exploitation movie about the white man’s fear of black men coming in taking their women, but it’s actually done with more care than you’d expect. Some scenes are still straight up terrible and age poorly, but overall it’s worth knowing as a snapshot of movies in that period.