Change Your Image
Fudge-Coloured-Anubis
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood (2019)
Tarantino had an 'off' day with this one
When this came out I was excited to see it, knowing that Tarantino always delivers something original, edgy and memorable. I was very disappointed to find that was not the case here.
I'm not sure how I managed to stay focused for around three hours with so little definable plot, but I was determined to stick with it, thinking there'd be some sort of dramatic pay-off as it developed, but there really wasn't, it just continued to tread water excruciatingly.
What we got was hours of Brad Pitt meandering all over the place (looking almost as bored as I was) and when he finally encounters the murderous Manson followers (at which point the film was briefly in danger of becoming potentially interesting after two long hours) it very quickly fizzles out into a weak imitation of the kind of twist ending that worked so much more effectively for Inglorious Basterds. Here it just feels poinlessly contrived and an unsatisfying conclusion to such a long film (most of which did nothing to even build to this climax, which I'd previously assumed would play a much greater role in the plot, had one existed).
What the film does well is convey the setting and period in style, and Tarantino is a master of this (the film is often described as his love letter to the 60s). It's just a shame he does so little else with it as the usual witty dialogue, action and memorable characters are all sorely missed here. A sad case of style over substance.
This film promised much but delivered very little. Some seem to rate it highly regardless, I just don't understand why. I wanted to like this film and had really hoped for another slice of Tarantino brilliance, but I just didn't get it.
Space Sentinels (1977)
Deserves to be better appreciated
The Space Sentinels was a fun series which sadly only had a 13 episode run, a great pity as the episodes show plenty of imagination and the characters were a likable and for their time progressively diverse cast that I for one would have been happy to have seen more of. The series always felt like it had run for longer in the UK as most of the episodes were repeated a few times during the late 1970s.
The artwork is fine and generally richly coloured, and while people tend to get rather snooty about Filmation's work owing to their tendency to recycle their animation footage (albeit with whatever tweaking is required) this does lend their shows a consistency of style and character design (I've watched series by other studios where a perceptible change of artists jarringly makes familiar characters appear less so. Filmation doesn't have that problem at least).
The team comprises a trio of teenagers chosen from different parts of the world by a benign alien force and given super-powers to guard and help the rest of humanity. Astrea leads the team and has the power to transform into any creature she wishes. Hercules is a muscular blond Samson-type with super strength while the more slightly built Mercury has a more humorous edge and the ability of super speed. All three use belts which give them the ability of flight and normally reside in their space ship, hidden away inside a defunct volcano! They are watched over by Sentinel One, a huge holographic computerized head (representative of the alien force that empowered them and an impressively rendered visual). Maintenance robot MO is also on hand for lighter moments of interaction and comic relief.
The stories naturally belong mainly in the sci-fi / fantasy realm though occasionally featured antagonists from mythology and literature (Egyptian god Anubis, Norse god Loki and Jules Verne's Captain Nemo). The setting fluctuated between Earth and outer space with each episode having quite a distinct feel and theme, it was thus a shame we never got more of them.
This was perhaps my first ever favourite show as a young child in the late 1970s. The diverse casting of African, Asian and European main leads was a welcome change from other shows and progressive for its time, though this wasn't something we really thought about back then as we just accepted and liked the characters for who they were.
The release of the series on DVD was most welcome and enabled me to reconnect with all those cherished childhood memories of watching this show. The release features another series called Freedom Force (which I don't recall ever seeing) which also features Hercules from the Sentinels (though with a different voice actor and character) and slightly unfairly gets equal prominence on the DVD packaging despite only consisting of 5 episodes.
In summary, the Space Sentinels was a fun series that deserved a longer run and seems to have been almost forgotten in the US. Thanks to its more generous repeat airings in the UK it is perhaps better remembered by my generation here. Re-watching episodes from the series always makes me smile with nostalgia and gratitude that we had such fun and engaging shows when I was young.
Space Sentinels: The Return of Anubis (1977)
A vivid childhood memory
I loved this series as a child and remembered many of the stories years later owing to it being repeated a few times in the UK.
The Return of Anubis was one of the episodes I remembered best of all (despite only initially seeing it once when I was around 4 years old) as while I had an embryonic appreciation of what a visually interesting culture Ancient Egypt was this was my very first introduction to the god Anubis, and I thought he was a really cool looking character!
The mixture of sci-fi fantasy and ancient cultures always intrigued and made for some interesting visuals and plot points here (the eponymous jackal-headed antagonist, pyramid-shaped spaceships, archaeologists getting transformed into Egyptian style wall paintings and our heroine Astraea getting temporarily imprisoned by mummy-bandages!). Such details add fun to the episode and helped spark my interest in the ancient culture.
The story itself is fairly lightweight (this is a 70s children's show) but works nicely and the theme of a misunderstood and initially unwelcome alien visitor also plays out well (quite how the ancients apparently managed to turn Anubis to stone for a few millennia is rather glossed over, given that he was rather more powerful and advanced than them, but I'll let that pass for the sake of keeping the story moving!).
This is one I happily re-watch for its nostalgia and fun visuals, though having become a bit of an Egyptomaniac over the years since first seeing this (and thanks in a small part to seeing this at an early, impressionable age) I admit a degree of bias! ;-)