Tag / 1989

by Jaime Rebanal

‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ Review: How Miyazaki Finds Magic in What We Love

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Kiki’s Delivery Service is a film from my childhood that I had not revisited for so long, but to watch this Miyazaki classic in its native language for the first time after having been used to watching the dubbed version provided by Disney for so long only made the whole experience feel almost new to me. But all these years of having not seen Kiki’s Delivery Service have also made me look at the film under a new light; for something about it seems to click with me more as an adult now versus what I saw it to be as a kid. If that’s indicative of anything, it’s everything that one could expect from Hayao Miyazaki, and in a largely wonderful body of work, it’s yet another masterpiece.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Do the Right Thing: Nearly 30 Years Later and it Still and May Always Feel Relevant

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Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing caused an uproar upon its initial release in 1989 because of the fear it would incite race-related riots. In the current political climate, it would be much easier to find films like this being made but that’s only one among many reasons as to why this film works at achieving everything that it sets out for. Watching Do the Right Thingalmost thirty years ever since its release, what catches me is the fact that this film so distinctly feels like it could have been made today and it would still invoke the same reaction that it did back in 1989. This is not a movie that shows itself as one above racism but it is a film that presents an ordinary day in which racial tensions are so prominent, not merely between black and white Americans – because this is not the very limit to which racism can extend itself in our world today. But because it is still so commonly seen under that light, it only makes the impact of Spike Lee’s film all the more clear.

 

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by Jaime Rebanal

The Killer – Review

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No one has ever shot an action movie the way John Woo has done so: if anything were to prove it, then The Killer comes a long way. With a film like The Killer, John Woo takes the action genre and turns it into something with the gracefulness of a poem put into play. But there was always a certain wonder that John Woo had carried when he offered his own spin on the action genre that allowed him to stand out – and it’s not one that is limited to the frenetic nature of his display of gunplay or his symbolic doves, but there’s a greater heart that can be felt and it’s the sort of soul only the best action films would ever carry to the best of their ability. What appears only as an exhilarating action piece at first soon turns out to be something more poignant in the best sense, as expected of John Woo during his early Hong Kong period.

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by Jaime Rebanal

The Little Mermaid – Review

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It was at the point of The Little Mermaid‘s release when Disney had entered a new era for their work, as it kickstarted their Renaissance period. When I was much younger I always remembered The Little Mermaid to be amongst the first few films that I have watched that have formed a budding love of film and after years of having not seen it since, to at least see it still stands strong only makes me smile. I always referred to Ariel as one of my own favourite Disney characters alongside Belle and Mulan (both of whom would be seen under their “Disney Princesses” label) and the sentiment still rings true to this day. It may not be my very favourite of Disney’s animated films but it still ranks amongst the best of the best for what it’s worth.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Tetsuo: The Iron Man – Review

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Many things about Tetsuo: The Iron Man can be said in order to describe the very nature it presents but it can only been seen to be believed. On an extremely low budget, what Shinya Tsukamoto has created in Tetsuo: The Iron Man is something so mind-boggling, almost in a manner that Eraserhead is – for it may best be described as a Japanese equal cranking up the acid to a new level. That there may be one way in order to describe such a film but that won’t even do justice if one were to talk about how frightening the experience can be. Shock horror you may call it, but there’s a reason as to why Tetsuo: The Iron Man is so effective. One may say, as mentioned earlier it is almost like a Japanese equivalent to Eraserhead, but if that cannot sum up what is so insane about it, then that only proves that it must be experienced for oneself. Continue reading →

by Jaime Rebanal

Dead Poets Society – Review

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Something gives me a feeling that I’m only going to be all the more frustrated by what Dead Poets Society has left out as I think of it more. A part of me that loves Peter Weir and Robin Williams is begging for myself to love it, but in turn my experiences with Dead Poets Society become all the more frustrating. There are many good intentions to be found within such a film but in turn I can’t help but say this is possibly, if not, the one Peter Weir film that I like the least. For how wonderful films like The Truman Show or Picnic at Hanging Rock are, this and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World stuck out to me as the most underwhelming entries from his body of work. As it stands, Dead Poets Society is a film that only managed to accomplish half of its goal. Continue reading →