Reviews Written by Thomas
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May 1, 2003
Captured a moment
Starfish captured a dreamy, hazy moment near the end of the Eighties, fusing Television style guitar textures, REM style folk-punk pop, and 60s psychedelia (The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Nick Drake, etc.). Starfish combined all of this with the minimalistic melodic atmospheres that U2 and Brian Eno laid claim to with Joshua Tree. Where U2 had the urgency of The Who, The Church had more of the meandering, childlike quality of Pink Floyd and Syd Barret. Every song on Starfish sounds inspired and well-crafted; and the whole is cohesive, even with three lead vocalists - a rare feat for most bands of the Eighties. The closing song, Hotel Womb, is a hazy Summer daydream of a song that suggested mysterious and fruitful things to come. What followed were only a few truly transcendant moments(Metropolis,Priest=Aura) but like Cocteau Twins, or The Cure, The Church seemed to fall out of step with the aggressive direction that alternative music took in the Early Nineties, and it caused them to lose their balance. However, with Hologram of Baal, they not only found their stride again, they also produced an album that was as beautiful and consistent as Starfish, and more effortless sounding. ... -
May 1, 2003
Buried secrets
I love every song on this album. The mood is consistent, the recordings have a live feeling, the songs are tightly composed, the melodies are haunting, the lyrics are darkly surreal and bohemian, and the album has an effortless feel about it. The music evokes moods of changing seasons, strange weather, buried secrets to be uncovered, shadowy histories, and meandering travelers. How did this one get overlooked? Blurred Crusade, Seance,Remote Luxury, Starfish, and Priest=Aura are among my favorites, but I like Hologram of Baal best. ... -
August 10, 2002
Here at last!
I was 11 years old in 1981, and this movie was one of my favorites of that time. There were no Playstations, Nintendos, X boxes, or CGI effects. Instead, we had Dungeons and Dragons, Atari, and Ray Harryhausen. Clash of the Titans represents my pre-adolescent longings for action and adventure, and I'm so glad to have it digitally restored on DVD. ... -
February 22, 2002
A Medieval Fantasy Classic!
Everything is tastefully executed: suspense, editing, script, casting, acting, scenery, music, effects, and costumes. I love the props: Richardson's staff, the amulet, the Dragonslayer javelin, the shield. Even the dragon itself is very convincing for a pre-CGI effect, and it gets a good dose of screen time. This film ranks with 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Dark Crystal' as a fantasy classic. Why isn't it on DVD? ... -
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
by John Cameron Mitchell | VideoPrice: $12.54 to $24.99 Compare PricesSeptember 16, 2001
Loved it!
Great songs ("The Origin of Love") reminiscent of British glam circa 1972 (references to Bowie, Iggy, and Lou), touching animation sequences, convincing and brilliant performances by actors/actresses, this film kept me alternately laughing hysterically and tearing up. This could be my favorite rock musical so far, with it's celebration of diversity, unity, subversity, and the search for solidarity within our own hearts. ... -
The Island at the Top of the World (1974)
by Robert Stevenson | VideoPrice: $7.93 to $15.99 Compare PricesJuly 28, 2001
Where the whales go to die!
0 of 1 Yahoo! Users found this review helpful An airship sailing through canyons of ice, an ancient map inscribed on a piece of whale bone, a lost arctic island hidden in a cloud and inhabited by Vikings, an induit named Oomiak, a massive mountaintop temple of Thor, a perilous journey through a burbling volcano, a crater that leads to a cave of ice, a giant whirlpool that empties into an misty graveyard of whales, an ice float boat with whale ribs as oars, an attack by killer whales... I saw this film when I was 4 (1974) and these images have maintained mystery and power in my imagination ever since. Most of the film's atmosphere is cold, dark, misty, and foreboding, but incredibly enchanting. ... -
July 17, 2001
A classic for all ages!
Great themes: let go of all your baggage and find out what's most important to you, life isn't fair, and nothing is quite what it seems. Henson, Oz, Froud, Lucas, and Bowie -- how could this be anything less than brilliant? Kids are totally captivated by this movie, even more than 15 years after its release. That is a filmmaking accomplishment! Henson and Oz's puppeteering is an artform that is timeless. ... -
July 17, 2001
They haven't failed me yet... Miette
1 of 1 Yahoo! Users found this review helpful It seems to inhabit the same nondescript world as Delicatessan: dark, rainy, decaying, brutal, and full of humor. The sci-fi element explores themes of dreaming, mechanized sensory perception, cloning, and genetic engineering. The props, sets, and mattes are elaborately disturbing. Best of all are the comedic cause-and-effect sequences (the teardrop that stops the ship, stealing the safebox, the nightmare that roams the city). One of my favorite films. ... -
July 17, 2001
A true jewel of the Roaring 20s!
Along with Nosferatu, Caligari, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, this is among the greatest of silent-horror masterpieces. This film is filled with secret doors, chambers, catacombs, shadows, candlelight and torches, masks, and hidden voices. The chandelier scene has great suspense. The opera house rooftop scene is heartbreaking, despite how creepy Lon Chaney's Phantom is. It even has a terrific chase scene at the end. ...
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Tolkien with a lava lamp
Pros: Great landscapes and 70's soundtrack
Cons: Tolkien rip-off
Bakshi was quoted in the May 2004 Entertainment Weekly as saying, "I get lots of e-mail that says emotionally speaking, I was closer to Tolkien, as great as I hear the other films were in effects... I'm not down on Peter Jackson. I'm sure he did a good job.. but I haven't seen his films. I don't see where it would do me any good... The Lord of the Rings ain't my life. It's Tolkien's life. It's just not that important to me anymore."
In the interview featurette included with the Wizards DVD, Bakshi never once mentions LOTR. Come on now, Bakshi. LOTR was once your life, at least between 1975-1977. The story and theme parallels between Wizards and LOTR is so obvious, it's embarrassing. Instead of a ring, there's the "dream machine" which is TV/media (I actually like that idea, but Tolkien already alluded to it with the Palantirs). Instead of a "bad blood" feud of Dwarves vs. Elves, it's Faeries vs. Elves. There's even a Shelob-like sequence in a cave, for crying out loud. I could go on forever. There's very little original material here where narrative, plot, and theme are concerned.
On the positive side, Bakshi is one of the most inventive animators ever with a style somewhere between Crumb, Terry Gilliam, and Dr. Seuss. I absolutely love his landscapes, the rotoscoping technique (which is very retro, but also very eery), and the use of film footage as backdrops. The seventies soundtrack brings a smile to my face, despite being dated and locked in a time capsule (wah-wah guitar and flange rule.)
This movie is definitely not a "family movie," though Bakshi seems to think it is. It does, however, deserve to be a classic of low-budget adult animation, along the ranks of others like Pink Floyd's "The Wall," Laloux's "Fantastic Planet," or "Vampire Hunter D." ...