45worlds - Magic Marmalade

Magic Marmalade

Send MessageFollowActivity

VIEW PAGE ON » 45cat45spaces

3723 Points / Moderator / Joined 30 Jun 2014 /

England / Kent

Gift this member a subscription: Gift a Subscription

Collection 4426

Wishlist 157

Half record collector... half druid... complete unit.

More human than human.

Comments (45worlds) View All 4949 »

Member	Item		Review/Comment
Magic Marmalade 19 hours ago		DVD The Beatles 1 - Universal	Added temporary image... may need a better one. My disc says mad in EU, so not sure if some were made in US for that market, or if they should be regarded a s separate items.
Magic Marmalade 19 hours ago		Cinema Metoroporisu (Metropolis ) (2001)	Rated 8/10 Somewhere in time and place... ...Although it's difficult to place exactly where and when. It seems equally inspired by older older sci-fi classics, as it seems to have inspired others that came after... ...From the off, this tale of city populated mainly by robots who are eliminated when they step out of their allocated zone, gives very heavy Blade Runner vibes, as does the depiction of a grimy, beaten up, decrepit looking cityscape, albeit through some truly stunning background art, as well as use of the old-time jazz score, interspersed with a more frenetic noodly, avant-garde jazz... It even ends with a head-scratching, yet wonderfully effective use of the Ray Charles song: "I Can't Stop Loving You". And all this seems couched in a broader context of a Fritz Lang Metropolis social commentary and world design, with the grimy futurist industrial layers and zones of social hierarchy, from the highest level, or zone, where some robots intermix with human society, before gradually going deeper underground to progressively more slave robot exclusive levels. There also seems to be a little of the old Sam Spade detective trope in there too. On top, and indeed, even beneath this, there is a lofty human political faction battle for the rule of the city and the world, while down below, a robot uprising threatens at any moment to break out... and through all this, the adopted jealous, and zealous human son of Duke Red, head of one of the political factions, relentlessly hunts down his adoptive father's greatest creation: A Robot designed to save the world, by taking the throne of the city. And although the world depicted is grimy looking, it is also, by turns, lurid, neon, and eye popping to look at.. I can strongly feel The Fifth Element in this regard, both in the vibrant look, but also that weird jazzy score, as well as the general eccentricity and eclecticism of the designs. This is a really bizarre mix of earlier CGI animation, overlayed with traditional animation of a seeming mix of styles, form Tin-Tin-ish basic animation, to more Akira-Manga style, through to Ghibli. It is not exactly pacy, more meandering and bobbing and weaving in the story telling, but it certainly is engrossing, captivating even, and you eventually fall into it's world, and immerse yourself in the mood and vibe. All of which, would have gotten a rating of about a seven from me, but for the last half hour, where it really pays off, tying all those threads together, and raising it's game to a degree where it is bordering on brilliant, worthy of the eight. It's like a Sci-fi smoothie: Little bits of everything chucked in there, blended up, and what comes out, shouldn't really work on it's own, but does. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 20 hours ago		Cinema Planet Terror (Grindhouse Presents: Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror) (2007)	Rated 7/10 The other half of that Grindhouse double feature, along with Tarantino's "Death Proof"... ...I didn't really go much on that one, it being a little too creepy and tedious for me. And while this still is creepy (In light of the whole We----ein / McGowan thing), it is, at least, bags more fun. A great, super gross-out, gory, absurd, ridiculous slapstick-ish zombie action festival, following the best tropes of the old Romero Dawn / Day Of The Dead, and some cool practical effects like in The Thing, and so on. And more a great sequel to From Dusk Till Dawn than it is a companion to Death Proof. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 20 hours ago		DVD The Beatles 1 - Universal	Picked a copy of this up from the charity shop yesterday, and it's quite a difficult one to get a beat on... ... Discogs has two entries answering to this barcode listed as "Unofficial", yet it all looks legit to me, and ebay doesn't seem to have many listings for this individual DVD (Only the box set version with the blue "1" with a "+" next to it). This seems odd to me, given the band and title that it is, as surely there should have been more about? Anyway, having done a couple of variations on a search on internet, one result was for Record Store Day site, so it seems this was a Record Store Day Release from 2015. (Didn't think they did DVDs!) Also, it is given as region: "All", so I think it was internationally available, if only in limited amounts.
Magic Marmalade 17th Nov 2024		Cinema The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)	Rated 8/10 One of those that I'd always put off watching, because it was always around. (If that makes any sense) ...Which is to say, that what with a mountain of movies to be seen, some, I see, seem always to be on TV or turning up on DVD etc. so I get to prioritise others, and never seem to get around to this one, which is perpetually knocked to the back of the queue. So anyway, I finally decided to bite the bullitt... er sorry, I meant bullet (chuckle), and give it a watch. And it turns out it's a brilliant prime slice of ultra-cool McQueen-ery, every bit the equal of Bullitt. Very groovy split-screen late sixties set up credits, with cool jazz score and the immortal "Windmills of your mind" song, which then gives way to the tale of the bored millionaire playboy type (McQueen) who knocks over banks purely for kicks, being hunted by, not only pretty sharp police detective, but also the ultra-sharp, and super seductive bank insurance investigator (Dunaway), who quickly takes up with him, and a tale of cat and mouse ensues. ...But which is the cat, and which the mouse? It's essentially what every super-cool hustle / heist movie since has clearly been inspired by (Ocean's 11, etc.), except this is has more of an effortless cool about it, as well as the sexiest game of chess ever committed to screen. Excellent stuff. ✔︎ Helpful Review?