Anastasia review: "Princesses don't marry kitchen boys."

Watched Anastasia again. I always liked this movie. Even though it wasn't Disney it did follow the Disney plot formula, but nevertheless it entertained and had some genuinely lush moments. The memory dance in the beginning is the best song and best animated sequence of the film, though the train ride was nicely designed. Still, I loved that song, "Once Upon A December". Haunting and beautiful. I wish the rest of the songs had been as memorable, especially in the musically lackluster second half. Still, props to the singers. It's not their fault the songwriting wasn't consistantly stirring; they did a fine job with what they could, Anya's singer in particular.

Looking at it now, I have to say that in a few places the mesh between 2-D painting and CGI is rough, but overall it's a well-drawn animated feature. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Zombie!Rasputin as an original villain... anyone can stand around in a dark cloak and sing with an evil voice, but it takes a real warlock to do it when your body parts keep falling off. Nice historical nod there, too. Voice work was decent-- Kelsey Grammar was good, Christopher Loyd was fantastic, Meg Ryan was okay, and John Cusak was as appealing and attractive as a disembodied voice as he is on screen. I don't care if he's 20 years older than me, that man is appealing. His pleasantly soft tone works very well for the more serious moments.

The romantic element here is about as deep as any Disney film, which is to say, only knee-deep. The couple are cute and witty and they bicker, natch. What was both a plus and a minus for me is that I could see them as platonic friends or siblings almost as easily as a couple-- good and bad, that. I think it comes from the fact that I liked both characters individually more than I cared about the romance. Still, I can say that my inner romantic was tickled silly by their overlapping pasts (something very Victor Hugo in that), with the servant boy growing up to be a conman and the princess growing up to be the main subject of his ultimate con. I like the inversion of the "princess" thing at the end as well; it seems reflective of the 20th century and the revolutions therein, where the world has less need of princesses and royalty. It's a false dream, and ultimately the film shoots for a more modest "happy ending".

Death Note 16 - dub

I watched the first 10 episodes in Japanese and the last 6 in English. I like the English one better I think; it's just one of those dubs that works for me. I think it's because Light's English voice sounds younger. He sounds... more like a college student.

I am enjoying this, I have to admit. I only read a few chapters from the manga a long time ago, and I'm mostly unspoiled. I like the premise, but I have to say that while I am enjoying the L v. Light square off and while Misa's character is hilarious, I can't help but feel like this obsession L and Light have with finding/proving/killing each other is slowing down the other possibilities this premise has to offer. I enjoyed Misa's appearance from the start because I find the idea of two Kiras as one of endless possibility. But this obsession/alliance thing only furthers the spiral between L and Light; it doesn't substantially expand on it. At least not yet. I'd rather see another Death Note appear in the hands of someone who's not a Kira fan. Hell, I'd like to see what L might do with one.

This plot feels so... self-limiting. I know that this premise can stretch for a while, but if they don't start getting more ambition and expanding the story beyond the L v. Light showdown, then it won't last. Both characters are so self-conscious that everything inches by and takes days/weeks to do what most people would decide/conclude/act in a third the time. I don't mind if the show is somewhat slow, but I wish it were more ambitious in overall scope. I wish it would take more risks and aim higher. The longer Kira stays focused on his conflict with L, the less time he devotes to larger goals and plans. This is good for L, bad for a bored audience. I want to see what a person with a Death Note can *really* do. If no one takes a risk, the game goes nowhere. The same for the show's writers.

Big fan here, when it comes to film scores

Browsing my music collection of Danny Elfman, and did you know? He wrote the opening tune for The Simpsons. !!! I can never be less than impressed with his music. It's either funny and entertaining or creepy and disturbing or sweepingly beautiful.

edit: and Tales From the Crypt! How does he not have an Oscar yet? HOW? He ought to have gotten one for something.

Death Note 17... very minor spoilers.

It really bugs me that the only female in this cast is an insane Bratz doll come to life. Where are all the women? This whole show is so... male. I usually don't pay attention, but it's incredibly obvious here. Everything about this is masculine, from the simple things like an all-male cast or the lone female as a negative stereotype, to the subtler things, like the way L and Kira think, and the way the author explains things. I don't believe that certain things are strictly masculine or feminine, but the show certainly fits the comon stereotypes of those labels. This show may be daring in its anti-protagonist and anti-antagonist choices and in its casual treatment of murder, but it's not nearly as subvertive as it could be. It's boys playing a boy game against boys, where the only girl gets used as a tool for the male characters' plot advancement.

I know that the cast is cops+Kira and the majority of cops are men, but female police officers do exist and they could do with having a few on this task force. If nothing else, at least to provide a different perspective in analysis. It seems a very basic distinction to make, but it's an important one if you want to have a full view of any situation. They should find themselves a female mathematician or logician, and a female psychologist too. For that matter, this whole team should have more intellectual fields represented than just criminal justice aherents.

I have another thought, too: if L were really as smart as he supposedly is, he'd have an entirely separate investigation team acting and reporting to him, completely unconnected to the police task force. He's too vulnerable and the information/scope too limited with just these people. Plus, he looks like the type to have a control group, like in any social experiment. In some ways he's using Light as a control when it comes to comparing the task force's theories, but that's a double-edged sword considering how suspect he is.

Nobody can build a mega sky-scraper in a few months. Pipe dream, and not a very good one. I hope we're supposed to believe that he bought and refitted it, not built it from the ground up. Even when you're rushing materials and financed by the best, shit like that takes 2 or more years to finish from cement slab to indoor networked security system.