HCF Review - Time Sink

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (1983)

Time travel stories involving high school students are not a new concept; whether it’s something like the more well known animated version of this same story released in 2006, or a certain 1985 Robert Zemeckis movie. Katsuyuki Motohiro’s 2005 comedy Summer Time Machine Blues is a great example of this concept; using something well known as the basis for a largely frivolous tale in which paradoxes and clichés are played for laughs. Of course this 1983 drama from Obayashi pre-dates all of these takes on the idea that naive and short-sighted kids make for poor time travellers. Does it take the whole thing to some unexpected and original places, or is it simply a missed opportunity to do something creative and exciting?

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HCF Review - Summer Holiday

THE ISLAND CLOSEST TO HEAVEN (1984)

With its sweeping romantic music and seaside storybook atmosphere, Obayashi’s adaptation of a ‘warm-hearted tale’ might seem a far cry from some of his other projects, but it’s still a film about nostalgia in its own way. For the most part the whole thing is a coming-of-age drama without much of the director’s typical style and the few unreal moments included are very subtle. It’s kind of a road trip and it’s kind of a melodrama, with hints of fairytale and a whole lot of travelogue. But do any of these individual parts make up a broader and more compelling whole? It really depends on what you’re after in terms of world cinema appeal; and your tolerance for meandering lackadaisical storylines about naive teenagers.

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Horror Bites - Henry's Pact

TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER (1976)

So here were are, at the end. In many ways the later years of the Hammer Horror cycle are a fascinating time in the studio's history. On the one hand they clearly wanted to have fun and play it fast and loose with established ideas... so the results are things like Captain Kronos. If only there were more movies released in that vein. On the other hand the pressure was now on to compete with The Exorcist and everything that followed once genre expectations were forever changed... which meant no fun was allowed. Evil children were in and period pieces were out. Which would be less of a problem if this particular story of blood rituals and sinister cults made more sense.

Scorecard

NOVEMBER

FILM OF THE MONTH: Summer Time Machine Blues ☆☆☆☆

Review Roundup - Exposition of Doom

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (2023)

It's hard to admit it but in life most things come and go, often never to return. The past will only ever be part of long term memories that should be reminisced about occasionally, but never obsessed over. Remember when Indiana Jones was in a rollicking adventure series during the heyday of Spielberg, Lucas, Williams, and Ford? It's still one of the best trilogies of all time, with perhaps some of the best action and music ever done for the big screen. But you can never go back to that era and re-experience it. Trying to live in the past will only make you miserable and bitter, which is why it's hard to be upset that this sequel exists. It's no good at all but in the end it was never going to be.