ColossalCon conquers Sandusky, June 2-5

Don't dare call them mere cartoons. To its cultish fandom, this medium is known as "anime." Their creators, like Hayo Miyazaki, Yatoshi Kon and Osamu Tezuka, are considered geniuses on the level of Chuck Jones and Walt Disney. Movies like SPIRITED AWAY and AKIRA and series such as Cowboy Bepop and Ranma 1/2 are considered classic achievements. And their dedicated/demented fans go by the Japanese term "otaku."  

These people take their anime seriously. For example...When was the last time you saw crowds participating in Bugs Bunny lookalike contests? Or ruthlessly competing in Popeye trivia? Or paying big money for rare LILO & STITCH material, downloaded from the internet off bootleg Far East laserdiscs and edited and translated by obsessed fans in home computers?  

DragonBall Z: Battle of Gods (now on video)

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Anything left of interest in the movie theaters in the dreadful year of 2014? While I'm sure some of you are looking forward to the WW2 nonfiction drama UNBROKEN as a holiday release, the latest mind-bender from Christopher Nolan INTERSTELLAR and, I guess, CARS 3: CARS SAVE CHRISTMAS (Pixar sure has fallen, if you ask me), I recently got my abused eyes on the 105-minute import from Japan, DRAGONBALL Z: BATTLE OF GODS, released here direct to video.

I will not pretend to be anything of a follower of the long-running Dragonball franchise, which encompasses comics, videogames, TV shows and, of course, movies - both theatrical features in the Far East such as this one and made-for-video specials. In fact, starting with BATTLE OF GODS may be optimum, as I can't simply see where this addictive franchise can go from here.

Repost: Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind (September 12th and 14th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[NAUSICAA IN THE VALLEY OF THE WIND screens Thursday September 12th at 8:35 pm and Saturday September 14th at 5:15 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

I had semi-serious intent to go to the multiplex and review a new release for you all, but…smeg! What a rotten selection last weekend! Just about everything new has been getting genuinely terrible writeups. No kidding, in a movie marketplace like this, INNOCENCE OF MUSLIMS would probably get a wide release, had only the filmmakers had the foresight to make it in Real3D. Fortunately, as part of its Hayo Miyazaki series, the Cleveland Cinematheque is bravely looking backward.

Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind (September 22nd and 23rd at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[NAUSICA IN THE VALLEY OF THE WIND screens Saturday September 22nd at 9:20 pm and Sunday September 23rd at 6:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

I had semi-serious intent to go to the multiplex and review a new release for you all, but…smeg! What a rotten selection last weekend! Just about everything new has been getting genuinely terrible writeups. No kidding, in a movie marketplace like this, INNOCENCE OF MUSLIMS would probably get a wide release, had only the filmmakers had the foresight to make it in Real3D. Fortunately, as part of its Hayo Miyazaki series, the Cleveland Cinematheque is bravely looking backward.