Dennis D. McDonald (ddmcd@ddmcd.com) consults from Alexandria Virginia. His services include writing & research, proposal development, and project management.

Mamoru Oshii's AVALON

Mamoru Oshii's AVALON

Dennis D. McDonald
Animated, Japanese, One of a Kind, Oshii, Science Fiction

Movie review by Dennis D. McDonald

Bullet points about AVALON:

  • VERY cool
  • incredible visual style
  • methodically plotted
  • beautifully acted
  • excellent integration of music and images
  • beautiful design and artwork
  • loved how the “ghost” danced along and out of the wall
  • use of color in first portion of film is nothing short of miraculous - watch Ash cooking dinner
  • intellectually stimulating
  • episodic action sequences ROCK
  • lots of guns
  • slow in parts
  • beautiful attention to detail
  • Japanese and Polish together work better than you think
  • note how Ash only smiles at her dog
  • dreamlike trolley sequences reminiscent of monorail sequences in FAHRENHEIT 451
  • semi-graphical user interfaces differentiated from WINDOWS and AQUA
  • the menus on this DVD (from Hong Kong?) are even harder to use than the recent DUNE!
  • terrific use of subwoofer and surround effects
  • ending somewhat of a let-down - more was expected
  • would love to see it in a theater - fat chance.
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