Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I write to you from the midst of a spring cleaning embodying mind, body, and home, as dusting and vacuuming are accompanied by a renewed commitment to a regular exercise regimen. I know, I know, I say this every spring, but I really mean it this time! And don’t worry, this alleged commitment to self-care hasn’t gotten in the way of vegetating in front of various media objects. I’m actually over halfway through Dennou Coil at this point, and though the start was a bit slow, I’m at last fully engaged with its rogue-data-as-folklore episodic conceits, as well as its quiet lament for the death of neighborhoods that facilitate such idyllic childhoods. It’s got both Patlabor The Movie and Rainbow Fireflies vibes, and that is a very good place to be. Anyway, I’ll have more composed thoughts on Dennou Coil once I’ve finished. For now, let’s charge through a fresh collection of feature films!
Tag Archives: Film
Spring 2023 – Week 2 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! Today I am typing this up in my running shorts, as spring has finally decided to grace us with its presence, and bless us with something more hospitable than sub-fifty temperatures. As much as I am loath to admit that every doctor and gym teacher I’ve ever had was right, it is undeniable that regular jogging improves how I feel both physically and mentally, and so I’ll soon be off rambling my way around the neighborhood. But before that, I’ve got a fresh collection of films for you all, with this week’s selections offering an even split of horror and martial arts cinema. Look, I know I’m predictable, but after a long day in the anime mines I frequently just want to sit back and watch something terrible happen to somebody else. Let’s see what we’ve got!
Spring 2023 – Week 1 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week we’re greeting the spring anime season, and wouldn’t you know it, there’s actually a couple shows I’m interested in checking out. Both Tengokyu Daimakyou and Hell’s Paradise look pretty interesting, and from last season I’ve still gotta catch up on Tsurune and Vinland Saga. Having concluded Dragon Ball (don’t worry, we’re covering that today), I’m also continuing my personal journey through missing classics with Dennou Coil, a show I’ve been meaning to get to literally since I first plotted out my key anime gaps almost a decade ago. And yet, among all the tumult of fresh anime and anime gone by, I still managed to fit in a fresh stack of feature films. You ready? Let’s do this. It’s time for the Week in Review!
Winter 2023 – Week 13 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’ve got a motley collection of films for you all, ranging from pulpy scifi spectacles to a mid-century classic, and even a buddy film starring a dog. It’s been a fairly busy week both in films and elsewhere, as I managed to munch through two of my ambitious backlog projects last week, thereby dragging myself a few inches closer to being genuinely current on my current projects. It’s still a distant dream, but I’m nonetheless proud of my progress so far this year, and can’t wait to share more of these big articles with all of you. Anyway, enough patting myself on the back, let’s break down some films!
Winter 2023 – Week 12 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am at last feeling optimistic about spring’s theoretically imminent arrival; in fact, I’m actually sitting here typing this in my running shorts, waiting for the thermometer to inch its way up into the fifties. I know I really should get a gym membership or something for the winter months, but it’s just hard to beat the convenience of stepping outside my door and jogging off in whichever way I choose. Anyway, I’ve finally written up some of those recent anime I’ve been yammering about, so today you all get some thoughts on Outlaw Star and Berserk in addition to our usual cinematic ramblings. Our assault on classic anime shows no sign of stopping, either; we’re currently charging through Dragon Ball at breakneck speed, which has been both a delight in its own right, and also a welcome education in the roots of modern shonen convention. More to say on that later, but for now, let’s run down the features of the week!
Winter 2023 – Week 11 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I hope you’re all doing well and acting suitably wary on this Ides of March, whether you’ve attracted the enmity of the Roman senate or not. Personally, I’m feeling close to the opposite of perforated with treacherous daggers: work on articles has been proceeding smoothly, our movie screenings have been largely rewarding, and my house is continuing to munch through episodes of supplemental anime in between the feature films. With Berserk now concluded, we’ve been charging full-time through Dragon Ball, and I’m thinking I’ll next add Dennou Coil into the mix. Catching up on One Piece was truly a game changer; where I once would have taken months to get through one of these personal enrichment projects, I can now happily sit down and watch through ten episodes without fidgeting. I’ll have more collected thoughts on these supplementary anime soon, but for now, let’s break down some feature films!
Thunderbolt Fantasy: Bewitching Melody of the West
It is always a delight to return to Thunderbolt Fantasy. The production’s puppet theatrics are genuinely entrancing, and Gen Urobuchi is to my mind one of the greatest writers to ever work in anime. His stories of mankind rallying against brutal architectures of despair, be they oppressive governments or supernatural phenomenon, are always brimming with thoughtful arguments, hard-tested themes, and engaging characters. But as a show like Thunderbolt Fantasy demonstrates, Urobuchi is also perfectly comfortable outside of those questions of human nature and utilitarianism, weaving thrilling tales of swordsmen and wizards that are also enriched by his intelligence and wit.
Winter 2023 – Week 10 in Review
Hey folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am frustrated to admit that spring still offers no sign of its allegedly imminent arrival, but I’ve been making do the best I can, and putting all this time inside to work on various media projects. Admittedly, one of those projects was just “play the shit out of Pokémon Violet,” but I’ve also been dedicating myself to several more reputable endeavors. Alongside our usual film viewings, we’ve also started on two more anime projects: the original Dragon Ball, as well as the ‘97 adaptation of Berserk. Both have been engaging in their own ways, though Berserk’s unrelentingly grim tone has made for necessarily staggered viewing. Fortunately, what Berserk lacks in cheer is more than made up for by Dragon Ball, which has so far proved itself to be just as joyful and significantly more horny than I remember. Anyway, I’ll likely have more to say about those journeys once I’m further in, but for now let’s run down the week’s feature films!
Winter 2023 – Week 9 in Review
Hey folks, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. I hope you’re all staying warm through these interminable winter days, and am happy to report I’ve got a sturdy pile of film reflections ready for your perusal. I’ve also been continuing my journey through anime of the past; after subjecting my housemates to eighty episodes of Tomino, I figured it was time to call for suggestions from the crowd, and thus Outlaw Star served as our latest anime endeavor. I last saw Outlaw Star in episodic fragments after school on Toonami, so it was quite a blast of nostalgia to return to its crew, and even more satisfying to realize Outlaw Star is just a damn good time. I’ll probably rustle up some composed thoughts on the show soon, but for now, let’s run through a fresh selection of feature films!
Winter 2023 – Week 7 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. I hope everyone’s been having a reasonably agreeable week so far; as for myself, I am happy to report that after a couple yanks on the chain, my dormant DnD campaign has leapt back into action, with our second post-break session proving one of the most exciting of the campaign so far. My intent was to create a Seven Samurai-style quest wherein the players fortify and then defend a village against bandits, and things went off swimmingly – the players clearly felt invested in their various defensive arrangements, my attempt to define separate front and rear battlefields succeeded without issue, and the session ended with players brimming with future ideas for their characters, which is always a heartening sign. We also went for five and a half goddamn hours, so apparently my dungeon mastering stamina has not suffered greatly from my time away from the board. But don’t let all this ecstatic table talk mislead you into thinking I’ve neglected my cinematic duties! I’ve got a pile of gooey features for you all, so let’s not waste any more time, and get right into the week’s selections.