The Wind of Amnesia (1993)

aka A Wind Named Amnesia (1993)

Dir. Kazuo Yamazaki

A peculiar wind blows across the world, erasing mankind's memories. It's like nature hit a reset switch: people forget how to speak; parents forget their children, and vice versa; drivers forget how to drive; doctors forget how to heal, etc. The knowledge in books remains, but no one knows how to read. With even basic life skills lost, how will humanity survive? And more to the point, do they even deserve to?

But like every post-apocalyptic scenario in fiction, not everyone is affected. A memory-wiped youth named Wataru meets one such individual and learns from him. Thereafter, Wataru journeys across America looking for something that honours his mentor / friend.

I'm a big fan of stories that encourage us to question what makes cultures tick, and by extension examine humanity's true worth. E.g., with a clean slate, can we do things better? With religion dead, will our unconscious fears cause us to invent it again? Post-apoc settings are a tremendous framework for that kind of thing.

Supernatural: Season 06 (2011)

Supernatural: Season 06 (2011)

22 episodes, approx 42 mins each.

As mentioned in the Season 05 post, series creator Eric Kripke stepped down as showrunner after the show's fifth year. His successor was Sera Gamble, a long-time writer, story editor, and respected producer of the show. Her history with the Winchesters goes in her favour, but Season 06 is, on balance, a weak continuation.

Each of the three primaries have their role to play in the main story arcs, with each one impacting the others by varying degrees that are equal parts useful and / or contrived.

Without going into spoiler territory, the arcs revolve around a radical change in Sam's personality, Castiel's new plan, and problems for Dean in his newly found 'apple-pie' life.

Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki (2016)

Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki (2016)

Dir. Kaku Arakawa

A TV documentary about Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. It begins with an announcement of retirement from a man not suited to retirement, and then shows what he does afterwards, which is go back to work.

Among other things, it explores the making of his short film Boro the Caterpillar (2018), including his openness and frustrations of using CGI during the creative process. The handheld camerawork feels amateurish, resembling something shot on a phone, intended for YouTube more than TV,  but over time (and probably more by accident than design) it captures something close and personal, thanks mostly to being present during moments of insight from its subject: an artisan with a lifetime of true experience.

I feel that what we get is merely a lucky glimpse of a larger, unseen whole, but it's still worthwhile viewing for anyone interested in how an animation studio of Ghibli's calibre does things.

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)

Dir. Russ Meyer

A trio of hell-raising go-go dancers out for thrills in the California desert end up with dollar signs in their eyes and blood on their hands.

Russ Meyer was a filmmaker and photographer who loved his subject. A large portion of the scenes in which the hourglass-figured women appear is structured and framed to accentuate their feminine dominance; it has more low angle shots than a Japanese kaijū movie. Faster, Pussycat also benefits from having a ton of cheesy but extremely quotable lines of dialogue.

The acting isn't the kind that wins mainstream awards, but that's to be expected. Nevertheless, Tura Satana's performance as the leader of the fast-car loving threesome gives the film a vigour that many similar budgeted movies lack.