Archives for category: DAMN YOU AMERICA

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If you’ve been lucky you may have missed – buried away amongst all the other media hype and internet buzz – the controversy over Disney’s decision to re-record the Ponyo theme tune. I first found out about it over at The Ghibli Blog, and I have to say I was pretty shocked. The original is a cheerful, simple nursery rhyme sung by a child – reminiscent in many ways of the My Neighbour Totoro ending theme – and always makes me smile when I hear it, if for nothing more than it reminds of visiting Japan last year, where it was still being played wherever you went.

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One of the most common misconceptions about us Brits is that we don’t indulge in displays of emotion. It’s not true – in fact it’s a trait limited only to our gangly, socially-inept ruling classes – you know, the ones we would have eradicated if we’d had a proper revolution – and spread around the world by the constant stream of Jane Austen adaptations we shit out and the inexplicable popularity of ’stars’ like Hugh Grant. Anyway. I can assure you right now I am displaying emotions – several in fact – but actually the dominate one is so typically British. It’s disappointment.

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Not that I expected him to win, especially in the year that Academy darlings Pixar released what is arguably their finest work to date, but I have to say I was surprised and disappointed he didn’t even get a nod when the nominations were announced today. It’s especially confusing when only three films where put forward, and one of them was the decidedly average Kung Fu Panda (I haven’t seen Bolt, and can’t honestly say I’m that bothered either).

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You’ve probably heard the news already.

If you haven’t, well…it’s finally happened. After months of Hollywood rumours and speculation, Fox have confirmed that they have greenlit a live action version of Cowboy Bebop with Keanu Reeves taking the lead role of Spike Spiegel.

Not that I’m anti the idea of a live action, high budget version – in fact, it’s something I’ve daydreamed about for years now. Done right it could be a fantastic piece of sci-fi action cinema. But, like probably every other single anime blogger out there, today I’m just a little concerned about that piece of casting.

I was kind of intrigued earlier this week, while reading some of the pre-release hype around Pixar’s new, highly acclaimed CGI flick WALL-E. For those of you that have managed to miss it all, the film is set in a future where humans have been forced to abandon Earth due to pollution and environmental breakdown.

I was intrigued, because in a couple of interviews I read director/writer Andrew Stanton seemed to be going out of his way to play down any environmental message the film might have:

Or at least his writers are. Once again they seem able to sum everything up in just under five minutes:

Updated: link fixed, video working again…

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Just…nothing.

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The Americans are insisting on re-making the greatest British comedy series of all time, Spaced. And not just any American either, but the living, breathing, directing walking turd that is Joseph “McG” McGinty Nichol, the motherfucker responsible for those retarded ‘Charlie’s Angels’ remakes. Oh, and according to that wiki entry, he’s also in the process of further fucking up the already fucked up ‘Terminator’ franchise.