Tag: Supernatural

Looking at Lockwood and Co from a Realistic Paranormal Investigator’s Perspective

What we see from Lockwood and Co is in how often they fail to understand the needs of a ghost who was once human.

Lockwood and CoNow playing on Netflix

Lockwood and Co has a ghastly problem. They can’t put a stop to the numerous hauntings around London alone. That is, nobody wants to help this supernatural problem-solving agency since they are like the black sheep of the industry. They are not ghostbusters, and nor are they an offshoot organisation similar to the Society for Psychical Research.

In this world wonderfully conceived of by Jonathan Stroud, these ghosts have an agenda. They want to harm the living but I’m wondering if they’re united or just separately acting out. The five books Netflix plans to adapt will show what the plan is. I haven’t read them, but after watching the first season, I feel the need to.

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Studio Laika’s Coraline and Paranorman are Back in Glorious 4K Steelbook Editions! And Future Release News

These collectable Steelbook releases of Coraline and Paranorman are certainly worth the upgrade from a display standpoint.

Studio Laika's Coraline Steelbook Inside CoverAnyone wanting to ditch their Studio Laika Blu-ray collection will find the collectable Steelbook releases of Coraline and Paranorman worth the upgrade. This ultra high-definition release by Shout! Factory have a lot of fantastic artwork to admire. Not only do fans have a beautiful display piece which César Moreno and Kevin Tong crafted that honours the spirit of each film, but also love the expanded Dolby ATMOS soundscape.

In this remastered edition, Dolby Vision is used to enhance the detail. For example, Coraline’s hair is even more defined than I remember, and the colour palette is exquisite. When examining this work up close, all those textures are even more realistic. That’s moreso because of the sets than the characters. In Paranorman, the transparency effects used on the ghosts are more pronounced. Also, I wanted to see if I can notice where the digital effects overlaps with the stop-motion. It’s tough to spot!

In this package, the mini-essay that’s included reminds fans why the movies from this Portland, Oregon studio are special. The talents behind each work put their heart and soul to these animatronics, and to spend years animating a few minutes per day is better explained with the bonus material that’s on the included Blu-ray disc, which is basically the past release. I’m glad that two versions are offered since I can trade in my old discs for some other titles, and I’ll be upgrading my collection for sure!

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Regarding The Winchesters, Four Terrifying Episodes Later…

The bouncing between their courtship of who will become The Winchester family and adventure is nothing new.

The WinchestersSadly, the timing of last week’s The CW’s The Winchesters didn’t celebrate All Hallow’s Eve with a special. Instead, it concerns other ghosts, but they’re not the type to be frightened over. Instead, it’s the trauma. This prequel has a lot of the classic Supernatural direction which I adored before it jumped the shark. Even though the focus is on two young adults trying to figure out what’s going on in their hometown, there’s a greater concern which I’m just waiting for the series to eventually manifest.

The Wild West vibe Dean Winchester instils as that narrator is perfect. He’s on his parents’ lives as though he were there, watching it all unfold. It’s possible Jensen Ackles will fully reprise his role. For now, he’s merely a voice as he reflects on how his mom, Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly), has been the guiding force and the true hunter in this family.

As the pilot episode revealed, she’s motivated to keep on dealing with those monsters that go bump in the night, because her father, also a monster hunter, was trying to figure out what their master agenda is. But after John Winchester (Drake Rodger) comes home to Lawrence, Kansas, to resume a normal life, he gets caught in this conspiracy and decides it’s better to help than hide. He’s a complete neophyte, and it’ll be up to Mary to teach him.

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About The House of the Lost on the Cape, Japanese Folklore and More in this Home Video Review

The House of the Lost on the Cape is not an impressive film title, but it gets to the point.

The House of the Lost on the CapeEleven Arts and Shout! Factory
Available to purchase on Amazon USA

The animated adaptation of Sachiko Kashiwaba’s novel The House of the Lost on the Cape is sweet. Not only does it carefully touch upon recent events in a thoughtful manner, but also brings folklore to life, by revealing what its relationship is to the environment. The themes explored isn’t too different from what Studio Ghibli’s Pon Poko paraded in a town facing ecological devestation. Instead, the harmony is more reminescent from My Neighbour Totoro, and that’s why I took notice.

In this film’s case, the opening act recalls the devestation from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. The people who chose to stay in the Kitsunezaki region are just doing what they can to go on. But from the terror comes a chance for Yui (Mana Ashida) to leave home. She wasn’t happy because of constant family squabbles, and what we learn about this past is not always neatly explained. Sometime afterwards in her wanderings, she befriends another child, Hiyori (Sari Awano)–who lost her parents–and what they discover may well be a chance to learn how to live life to its fullest.

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After Three Thousand Years of Longing, Should That Be, “I’d Do Anything For Love?”

Perhaps Miller is planning on a sequel to answer a rather unusual plot hole in Three Thousand Years of Longing..

Three Thousand Years of LongingI’m no stranger to the djinni narrative when considering my love for One Thousand and One Nights, but as for being as well versed as Dr. Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) in Three Thousand Years of Longing, she has me beat. As a narratologist (an individual who studies tales which impact our perception of culture in the world around us), she knows something that mythologists don’t. This tale is as compelling as Bill Moyers’ interview with Joseph Campbell (Power of Myth), and what’s explored considers why this trope persists to this day. The last work I read was Three Little Wishes, which is a British take on the concept.

In what George Miller deconstructs may well be a Australian verion. He examines the rules for living a fulfilling life over being confined to the mundane. That’s the problem Binnie faces, and when she awakens the Djinni (Idris Elba) in the bottle, what he offers condemns her world view–she knows his kind from literature. And when he tries to rebuff the stereotype, the fun tête-à-tête they have reveals a look of his life and those he’s attempted to make better–if it can be called that. But sadly, he’s been forced to return to the glass container every time.

 

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