Categories
Debaser Film

Days of Thunder

The one thing I can’t really tell is whether the racing here is realistic or not, since I don’t understand much about NASCAR racing — but the way the cars bump and grind in this movie does feel farfetched. But hey, it’s still a pretty fun and silly ride, reeks of late 80s-style moviemaking (the machismo, the heavy Tony Scott color saturation), and all in all, I can’t say I disliked revisiting it — and I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I watched it since its original release.

Categories
Anime On Something

On Anime: Summer 2020 Season

I never got around to posting about what shows I checked out during this latest TV season, but I did do a Twitter thread about it, that I figure I’ll adapt as a post here. It’s getting more and more difficult to do a “start of season” post these days though, as a lot of these series that I’m watching are coming via Netflix, which just releases them whenever they feel like it.

Japan Sinks 2020

Japan Sinks 2020 is one of those new Netflix series, and having watched it all I can say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. The opening credits sequence is a delight, and I really loved the pacing and overall mood of the show. Basically, a huge earthquake hits Japan, and it explores the aftermath. This was directed by Masaaki Yuasa, and it then got me to go and get caught up on all of the movies and series that’s he’s been producing in recent years, that I’ve been chronicling in this Twitter thread.

Based on the first episode, Deca-Dence takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting where humans are holding up in a moving fortress, to defend against the appearance of giant (and not so giant) monsters. My feeling was that I could go either way on this one, with the first episode being decent, and I was planning on giving it 1-2 more episodes. Well, I bounced off quickly, as I didn’t like the swerve it took in episode 2 (it’s a virtual game that weird cartoony bots/creatures are playing).

Dorohedoro

Dorohedoro aired in Japan late last year, but popped up on Netflix recently. I’ve watched the first few episodes and like it. It’s set in a weird post-apocalyptic world with forms of magic that deforms some people. I like the animation style — and it’s gory as fuck.

Great Pretender

Great Pretender gets bonus points for its Lupin-like opening theme song. It’s about a Japanese grifter who in the first arc (of five episodes) finds himself in LA. It’s a very Lupin-like mix of humour and action, which is right up my alley (considering how big a fan I am of Lupin in general). I’m more than halfway through this first season, and I know that there are more episodes coming later this year. Again, it’s one of those Netflix series.

The only other series I wanted to watch this season was the return of The Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited, which was put on hiatus last season after only two episodes due to COVID. I like this show (it’s still airing new episodes), and episode 4 was especially fun.

Categories
Books On Something

On Books: Pure Invention

I read it back in July, but I really need to highlight here just how much I enjoyed reading my old friend Matt Alt‘s fantastic deep-dive into Japanese pop culture of the decades following the end of the WW2. Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World is a ridiculously good read, and I found myself reading it in a couple of days because I couldn’t put it down. Each chapter focuses on a different topic (karaoke, anime, the Walkman, Hello Kitty, etc.), and it’s so satisfying to really dig into every single one of them in so much detail. I was expecting to enjoy more the chapters that touch on the 80s and later, but the context that you get from learning about what happened during those early post-war years — like the production of tin toys — was just so fascinating.

This is what you call a real page-turner, and sure, I’m of course partial to all things Japan and pop culture, but I can’t imagine someone not enjoying this.

Categories
Debaser Film

Total Recall (1990)

Not only is this my favorite Schwarzenegger movie (at least, I’m pretty sure it is), but it was also one of my favorite movies from around that time. Even now, it’s still so much fun to watch, and it’s great to see that the practical effects still look so cool — sure, they don’t come off as realistic anymore, but there’s something really satisfying about them, that you just don’t get from the early days of CG (which I guess I’ll be hitting when I start re-watching films from later in the 90s). I’ll admit that I even liked the 2012 remake, but it’s definitely in no way better than the original.