Perfect Blue: Awaken from a Dream (2018)

Perfect Blue: Awaken from a Dream (2018)

Author: Yoshikazu Takeuchi | Translator: Nathan A. Collins | Page Count: 196

'The screen glowed in monochrome static, the snow-like pattern punctuated by pulsing flashes in the signal, each flash accompanied by an abrasive noise like a cicada's call.'

The blurb on the back cover describes it as a 'sequel' to Yoshikazu Takeuchi's Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis (2018), but it isn't that at all. And unlike CM, it's not a novel, but rather three separate short stories, similarly set in the pop-idol world.

I didn't enjoy the previous novel, but I'd foolishly bought Awaken from a Dream before reading the other, so I read it too, but with much lower expectations than I had for CM. I won't go into detail about each one because it would require giving the collection more time than I feel it warrants.

Takeuchi's basic template for a story is as follows:

Killdozer (1974)

Killdozer (1974)

Dir. Jerry London

On a remote beach near the coast of Africa six men clear a site in preparation for an airstrip build, but then cheapo FX = "funny looking rock" = Killdozer!

It's so damned stupid. The machine's top speed is, I don't know, about 12 kmph? A lame duck could outrun it, but still it manages to catch up to, and mow over, some manly men. It bides its time until the men are off guard. It then thunders trundles into the camp, belching black smoke as it goes, kills and retreats to hide in the grass. It's over twenty feet long, bright yellow and it hides in tall grass! Jebus!

Nevertheless, amazingly, it's not as bad as the name implies and I was genuinely entertained by it all. The characters are stock types, like a poor man's disaster movie, but the acting is better than a lot of the crap horror films that I've turned off in my time.

Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis (2018)

Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis (2018)

Author: Yoshikazu Takeuchi | Translator: Nathan A. Collins | Page Count: 216

'I'm coming to meet you. I promise I'll come to you soon. I'll come to you, and I'll save you.'

Kirigoe Mima is a Japanese pop-idol. Three years in the business makes her a veteran, but her popularity, and therefore her career, is at something of an impasse. With so many hopeful idols (i.e. potential rivals) on the way up, Mima explores new avenues.

Her manager believes that moving away from her innocent image is the answer. He suggests that Mima explore paths that are more daring and seductive.

But not all members of the dedicated fan base that the pop-idol phenomenon attracts are accepting of their idols' life choices. For a small number of them, sometimes 'dedication' can cross a line and become 'obsession'. One fan in particular believes Mima ought to stay the same forever. He makes it his duty to ensure that she does just that; and if she refuses his selfless help, then it follows that it's his duty to punish her for her wicked betrayal, too.

Coma (2005)

Coma (2005)

Dirs: Various | 5 episodes, approx 55 minutes each.

A South Korean miniseries set mostly inside a hospital that's almost completely abandoned, having recently been marked for closure.

A young professional woman named Yoon Young (Lee Se Eun) is sent into the hospital to check insurance criteria are being met by the few remaining staff members, all of whom are suspiciously reticent about why there's a single female patient still in the ward. The patient, Lee So Hee (Cha Soo Yun), is in a coma, unable to speak for herself.

Investigating why So Hee is there and why she's in a comatose state opens a door to a horror/mystery that leads to a dramatic and creepy conclusion. If you have a morbid fear of hospitals, you may want to avoid watching.

The Osterman Weekend (1983)

The Osterman Weekend (1983)

Dir. Sam Peckinpah

A government agency seeks to use one man to catch a group of other men in a political game of cat and mouse. Or is it cat and cat? Maybe it's mouse and mouse?

It's an adaptation of a 1972 Robert Ludlum novel of the same name, so there are the usual scenes of important men getting nervous over dodgy dealings and a twisty-turny ending. It makes you aware that not everyone sees friendship in the same way, and may even stir you to question if the people who claim to be your friends really are when they aren't beside you.

There's an unusual car chase and a few scattered moments where Peckinpah piqued my interest technically, but despite a strong cast his cinematic swansong isn't as memorable as much of what preceded it.

Death Note: Films (2006-08)

Death Note (2006)

Dir. Shûsuke Kaneko

The Death Note is a notebook that causes the death of anyone whose name is written on one of its pages. Any fool can use it, but it takes a sharp mind to exploit it fully; such a mind belongs to college student Light Yagami.

The film isn't as good as the original manga or the 37-episode anime series that preceded it, but for a TV production it does okay.

The shorter running time means it lacks the depth or complexity inherent in the source, but the biggest problem is with the Shinigami (Death God). Ryuk could've been amazing, but he's rendered in a cartoonish CGI that doesn't fit with the realistic aesthetic of the rest of the film. The argument that he's supposed to appear otherworldly won’t change my mind about that.

The first film is the first half of the story only, ending with a cliff-hanger that gets resolved in its sequel, The Last Name (see below).

The Dead Zone (1983)

The Dead Zone (1983)

Dir. David Cronenberg

After Videodrome (1983) people probably expected another surreal and icky feature from Cronenberg, but instead he gave us an adaptation of a 1979 Stephen King novel called The Dead Zone. It's a not a horror, but nor is it a straightforward drama; it's more of an eerie thriller with a supernatural slant.

Christopher Walken stars as a schoolteacher named Johnny Smith. Johnny is a nice guy; if Fate had allowed him to continue along his preferred path then he'd probably have got married, fathered two or three kids, remained a teacher for the next thirty years before retiring and spending his remaining autumns raking leaves off his perfect lawn, or something equally as mundane. Maybe he'd even use his knowledge of literature to write a book, something academic that would continue his legacy of teaching into the next generation? But Fate didn't allow any of that to happen. Fate introduced Johnny to Tragedy and his life thereafter is drastically changed.

Scanners Trilogy (1981-92)

Scanners (1981)

Dir. David Cronenberg

The eponymous individuals are able to kill with just a thought, and the film wastes no time in showing us one of them in action.

When a powerful corporation that wishes to control the Scanners no longer can, they need the help of a Scanner to stop the others. Yay for dramatic irony! It's kind of like needing your glasses to find your glasses, with the added danger that your glasses can telepathically kill you any time they like.

Patrick McGoohan is excellent as the fatherly psychopharmacist; Michael Ironside is unquestionably good as a menace; but, I'm sorry to say, while Stephen Lack did okay as a lost soul, he didn't have the acting experience at the time to make the inner conflict of the lead role hit as hard as it needed to.

If you're familiar with Cronenberg's early works, such as Stereo (1969) and Crimes of the Future (1970), you'll recognise trace elements of their structure in the film's settings and concerns, helped along by a budget that frees the production from being tied to an institute environment.

The Brood (1979)

The Brood (1979)

Dir. David Cronenberg

A film that explores the manifestations of human rage and the violent impact it has on society, in particular the family unit.

Nothing about the story is conventional, even if on the surface it might seem to be.

It’s a candid blend of autobiographical realism and fantastical psychological horror that turns the intimate into something terrifyingly perverse, as only David Cronenberg can.

Professional drunk Oliver Reed is perfectly cast as a doctor who dabbles in some rather odd therapy techniques. His primary subject, Samantha Eggar, gives a performance that will shock and repulse most viewers.

I shudder to think how Rule 34 might apply.

John Carpenter: Films: Part I (1974-79)

Dark Star (1974)
Dir. John Carpenter

Unless you're a hopelessly dedicated John Carpenter fan, then you'll likely want to stay far away from Dark Star. It's his low budget student film expanded to feature-length.

It's pretty terrible, really, but it's also interesting for a number of reasons. Most notably the script was co-written with Dan O'Bannon and plays like a prototype of his later success, Ridley Scott's Alien (1979).

Also, the music has that cheap and creepy Carpenter vibe. I love Carpenter's music.