Review of All the Real Girls (2003) by Matt P — 02 Sep 2006

Barefoot Gen - 1983 anime film about the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Think "Grave of the Fireflies" but about a million times more horrific. Having said that the movie is also quite funny.

Open Hearts - Danish film about a couple whose lives are turned upside down when one has an accident and becomes a quadriplegic. Doesn't pull punches, isn't black and white and isn't sentimental in any way. Smells real. Great stuff (cheers Lasse!).

FLCL - This is one of the most delightfully weird, twisted, unique things I've ever seen. Anime series about ... umm ... well robots sprouting from people's heads, vespas, spicy bread and sour fizzy drinks, baseball and using really cool guitars like the 1961 atomic red Gibson SG to smash stuff. It's part surrealist saving-the-earth epic and part coming-of-age story. Great music by Japanese band "the Pillows".

Some FLCL (pronounced "Fooly Cooly") quotes:

[[i]Mamimi is clutching a bag of old bread[/i]].

[color=White][b]Naota[/b]:[/color] My brother, I mean - how much do you like him?

[b]Mamimi[/b]: It's hard.

[b]Naota[/b]: You saw the sign at our bakery, that bread's old.

[b]Mamimi[/b]: ...Watermelon.

[b]Naota[/b]: Huh?

[b]Mamimi[/b]: Or like a panda with a mean face, or like sandals with pressure points drawn on them, or the smell of a blackboard eraser, or a Sunday morning where you wake up and it's raining. Well, I like him more than hard bread.

[[i]Ninamori watches Canti eat curry[/i]].

[b]Eri Ninamori[/b]: Why is that thing eating? What is it anyway?

[b]Kamon Nandaba[/b]: That's just our TV.

[[i]Canti gets up[/i]].

[b]Eri Ninamori[/b]: Why is it walking?

[b]Kamon Nandaba[/b]: Well, uh, it must be a TV-Walkman.

[b]Eri Ninamori[/b]: By Sony?

Production company Gainax apparently spent 26 episodes worth of budget on this 6 episode series. You've never seen anything like it. Honestly.

All the Real Girls - This had something, but it was also missing a lot. I could relate to how the characters talked but not to how they [i]were[/i]. If that makes any sense.

Tokyo Godfathers - More anime. No giant robots though. This is about three bums who find an abandoned baby on the street and attempt to return it to its mother. It's ACE! I don't feel like writing any more so you'll have to take my word for it.