Princess Mononoke - I saw it on video over Labor Day weekend, and it is wonderful. It is an anime movie about the struggles of man and nature. Now, I've never really gotten into Japanese anime or anything, but I had to watch this movie after the great stuff that I heard about it. I was not disappointed. The animation is completely engrossing. The music is fantastic, and of course the story is superb. In a way, the story is unique because there is not the traditional "good vs. evil" motif, but rather the audience will find it difficult to identify characters as being "bad" because it seems all of the characters have good reason for their actions.
Princess Mononoke was the top-grossing film of all-time in Japan until some disgrace of a movie beat it. The English dubbing of the movie is done with many notable actors and actresses, namely Claire Danes (My So Called Life; Romeo and Juliet) as San, Minnie Driver as Eboshi, Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) as Moro, Billy Bob Thornton as Jigo, and Jada Pinkett-Smith as Toki.
Fans of anime will love Princess Mononoke, but also anyone who enjoys a good epic story will not be disappointed. I highly recommend this movie that is worthy enough to be called a film. [09.04.2000]
[Addendum] I saw the movie again shortly after this review, and I have to say that it was even better the second time (possibly bc the first time I saw it we started it at midnight). Anyway, my mind was a little more coherent, and I got a lot more understanding (and meaning) from the story this time. Princess Mononoke is a great, great movie! [09.10.2000]
(in no particular order)- Face/Off
- Forrest Gump
- Star Wars
- The Empire Strikes Back
- The Return of the Jedi
- Independence Day
- Pulp Fiction
- Transformers: The MovieI'll add to this list as I think of some more. I know I'm missing some.
Right now, I seem to have a particular fascination with gaming music. I've played lots of RPG's on the Super Nintendo, some of which are just full of great music! I have lots of mp3's from The Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy VI. I found the music in Majesty (a game a friend of mine has) to be catchy so I also managed to find the mp3 of the Majesty theme.
My current infatuation is a song from Chrono Cross loosely translated as "The Scars Left by Time," by Yasunori Mitsuda. This man is a genius who does lots of music for SquareSoft games include the Chrono Series and Xenogears. From what I've heard the entire Chrono Cross soundtrack is great! This particular song has Irish sounding themes and an ending that just leaves you wanting more. I swear I get the chills whenever I hear this song! Also, anyone fortunate enough to see the commercial will recognize this song as it is hard to forget. And just bc I love this song so much, I'm going to offer a link to the mp3 here.
Download "Scars Left by Time" by Yasunori Mitsuda! (2.28 MB)
Sorry, apparently Fortunecity no longer allows mp3's on their server. I can't say enough about how much I love FC!If you're wondering, yes I do listen to "normal" music. I enjoy almost all genres of music except country (bleh!). From Mozart to Nirvana, from Master P to Blessid Union of Souls, I'm there. I have quite a collection of "classical" CD's (I love the fact that they're so cheap!)
Even if you're not a fan of classical music, I recommend "Classical Cartoons," a CD of classical music made famous from cartoons performed by the London Symphony Orchestra! You'll be surprised how many of these songs you'll recognize! When you hear "The Barber of Seville," you will literally be picturing that episode with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. Then there are other favorites like "Ride of the Valkyries" (aka "Kill the Wabbit!"), the song that they always play in the mornings of cartoons ("Morning" by Grieg), and the song that they play during thunderstorms in cartoons (from "William Tell Overture"). [09.04.2000]
[Addendum] I'm sure no one's gonna go out and buy the CD just cuz I said it's good. But anyway, I got mine from "The Sound Shop" for like $4. [09.10.2000]
Oh wait. I'm sorry that's not "normal" music. I kinda got side-tracked there. From more contemporary music, my favorites are Blessid Union of Souls, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Master P to name a few.
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