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Kakurenbo (2005)
Kakurenbo: Beautiful but ....
The graphics are amazing. The characters are well spoken. The storyline... well...
The issue is not the story itself but the lack of structure with such a short film. Had this been the start of a series than perhaps it would make more sense as you would expect to get the rest of the information needed to answer the many questions you are left with in the end throughout the series.
Kakurenbo: Hide and Seek is a story of a young boy who is looking for his sister who went missing playing a game of demonic hide and seek. Why are children playing this game at night and where are their parents? What is the motivation to play it in the first place? For three of the children it was the adventure, for one other it was the need to find his sibling, however, what about the other three? You are not told this nor are you told why children knowingly go and play after hearing of all the children that have gone missing before them.
The ending was not much of a surprise but the very last images in the last scene left you thinking a new game had started. There is no explanation as to why it was starting over nor what happened to the winner that passes on the mask. Did she get to go home? What saves this movie is the beautiful graphics. The story is well told, what there is of one, and it does have a haunting feeling of a story that would be told by a campfire or on Halloween.
I do recommend watching it for yourself but do not have expectations that you are getting a full story as it ends up feeling more like a clip from a full length film that never came to fruition.
Dazzle (1999)
A Better Family Movie
Unlike most of the family movies today this one does not find a need for profanity or hidden innuendos to make it work. It is light hearted and easy to follow for most any age yet has enough comic relief for adults to be entertained from the gnomes. Although there is some bare bottom nudity it is easily explained to children without any concerns (if a fairy grows to human size her clothes no longer fit!). The only aspect that I found unnecessary was the interaction with the teacher.
There are no Oscar winning performances or brilliant morals to this story of a fairy (Chantelle Stander) that loses her memory and is taken in by a widow (Maxwell Caulfield) and his daughter (Charlotte Savage). The story line works very well for anyone that likes fairies and fairy tales, no matter your age.
As family movies go, I would let my grandchildren watch this one.
Chaindance (1991)
Memorable
This movie is one I have watched repeatedly and I feel it is one of Michael Ironside's best works. Take a rough and tumble jail bird and force him to work with a wheel chair bound smart mouth and you have the makings of a great adventure.
It takes you on a roller-coaster of emotions. Though somewhat predictable in spots, more often just when you think you know where the movie was going it changes direction.
I spent years looking for this movie when I was still in Canada and was only able to find it for purchase 2 years ago. It is a shame that this movie was not noticed by more people.