Forest Of Love (5 Stars)

Netflix Thursday #19

I've been complaining about the poor film selection on Netflix recently, but there are a few good films if you search hard enough. This is one of them, but be warned: it's the exception, not the rule.

"The Forest of Love" is a Netflix original film, directed by Sion Sono, and as far as I know it's the only Netflix original film to score 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Normally I'm critical of high scores on Rotten Tomatoes, because it's a sign for me that a film is boring, but Sion Sono is my favourite director, so there's no way I'd avoid it.

The film starts with innocent teenage naivety before reaching a climax of terror. Six 15-year-old girls want to perform Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". It sounds scandalous that all the roles should be played by girls, but it's necessary because it's a girls school. But where's the line between fiction and reality? Mitsuko (Juliet) falls in love with Eiko (Romeo) in real life, not knowing that Eiko is already in a lesbian relationship with one of the other girls in the play. She's broken-hearted, but tragedy strikes. Eiko is killed in a car accident. Nobody can have her.

The other five girls make a suicide pact. They decide to jump off the school roof together. Mitsuko backs out at the last moment. The other four girls jump. Three girls die, but Taeko survives with severe injuries. Ten years later the two survivors have developed in opposite directions. Taeko has become a slut, sleeping with a different man every day, just because she can. (I don't like the word "slut", but it's the word Taeko uses to describe herself in the film). Mitsuko is a virgin, resisting all attempts that her parents make to find her a good husband. What the two girls have in common is that they both see visions of Eiko, who they only call Romeo.

Time doesn't stand still. There's a serial killer in the forest outside Tokyo. There must be irony in calling it a Forest of Love. A con man is stalking rich young women, trying to marry them to get his hands on their wealth. Is he able to win Mitsuko's heart? And there's a trio of young, ambitious film-makers who recognise the con man's wiles and want to make a film about him.

After finding out that this film has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 100% I checked the score of his other films.

The only other film that scores 100% is his Christmas film, "Love and Peace".

"Himizu" scores 95%, making it his third highest scoring film. It's not in my top films list, but maybe it should be. I need to watch it again.

My favourite film by Sion Sono is "Tag", which scores 92%. That's his fourth highest scoring film.

The four-hour epic "Love Exposure" comes close behind with 91%.

"Antiporno" scores 87%, and it's definitely a film that deserves to be high in my list.

"Cold Fish", currently in 30th place in my top films list, only scores 74%.

Usually I disagree with the opinions of the professional film critics, but they seem to agree with me in their praise of Sion Sono, some films more than others. So maybe the critics aren't all that bad after all. And maybe Netflix does have its benefits.

Marvel 1975.06 - Doctor Strange #8

Doctor Strange #8

Title: Rights of Passage!

Writer: Steve Englehart

Artist: Gene Colan

Villain: Umar, Dormammu, Orini

Regulars: Clea

Doctor Strange has lost his powers, because his magical knowledge was sucked out of him by the Guranthic Guardian. Clea is unwilling to fight with Orini, because he's her father. Clea uses Doctor Strange's Cloak of Levitation to carry them both away.

Clea returns to Orini and asks him to have mercy on her lover. He refuses, but he doesn't stop her when she walks away. Maybe he still has some slight feelings for her.

Even though he no longer has any knowledge of magic, Doctor Strange can still meditate to find wisdom. On his bidding, Clea lets his cloak carry him to the Mindless Ones. She runs towards the Guranthic Guardian. The Mindless Ones follow Doctor Strange as he floats back towards the Guardian. They fire their eye beams upwards at the Guardian. The Guardian's eye beam empties its magical knowledge into Clea.

I have absolutely no idea how this was planned. I understand what happened, but I don't understand how Doctor Strange could have known it would happen. Nevertheless, Clea now has Doctor Strange's mystical powers. Dormammu's minions attack, led by Orini. She drives them back. Orini attacks her, and she retaliates in rage, but Doctor Strange restrains her. He takes his powers back from Clea into himself.

On Earth Dormammu reaches his full size and climbs out onto the surface.

Masha and the Bear 1.9.1 - One Hit Wonder

This episode was first broadcast on 7th October 2012. It's a heart-breaking tale that starts innocently enough with Bear watering his garden.

Suddenly he's interrupted by the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. You already know what it is, don't you?

She-Bear is walking past his house. Is it a coincidence, or is she trying to arouse his attention?

Whatever the reason, Bear is in love.

He grabs his guitar from the house and serenades her with a gentle calypso melody.

She stops to listen. She's never seen Bear acting so strangely before.

But she doesn't like the music. She walks away in disgust.

I've never seen Bear so sad. He heads to his fridge to eat whatever he can find.

He eats and he eats.

Meat, jam, honey, he eats everything in the house. I understand him. When I'm sad, my first reaction is to eat. They call it comfort food, but I can tell you from experience that food doesn't offer comfort. All that you're left with is a tummy ache, which makes you feel even more miserable.

Masha is a good little girl, even if she misbehaves a lot. She wants to make Bear happy again. She goes to the cupboard and makes a new guitar, much more modern than Bear's guitar. Wow! She has many talents!

She rocks out in Bear's house, much to his dismay. She's disturbing his eating.

She rocks out in the forest. There's no peace for the animals.

Then she has an idea. She borrows a camcorder from the wolves.

Later that evening Bear is still sad, but there's nothing left to eat.

Masha plugs the camcorder into Bear's television to show him what she's recorded.

Bear is not impressed.

Look at Masha go!

She's surrounded by instruments, but who's going to play them?

Rabbit's on drums.

The wolves are playing the keyboard(s).

And the squirrel is playing the mouth organ. I shan't capitalise his name, because there are a few of them in the forest.

Bear hates it. What's wrong with him? It's a terrific blues rock number.

But suddenly Bear takes interest.

She-Bear is dancing on stage with the band. That's the sort of music she likes.

She carries on dancing until the music stops and Masha takes a bow.

Masha turns the television off and hands Bear a guitar.

They set up their equipment in the garden and play a rocking tune.

She-Bear is walking by, yet again. I'm sure she does it deliberately. She wants to win Bear's attention. But now he's won her attention with his music.

She walks towards Bear. Does she want to dance or throw herself into his arms?

Their eyes meet. Bear's love swells.

Bear breaks into a calypso melody.

She-Bear walks away in disgust. Is that the best he can do?

Bear is left standing with a broken heart and a guitar in his hand. It's all his own fault. He had a chance with She-Bear, and he blew it. Masha turns to the camera and says, "You can't teach an old bear new tricks". There must be a better motto than that. How about "You have to let your hair down to win a she-bear's love"? That's not as catchy. Maybe "You've gotta play good music to get a groupie". I'm open to suggestions.

Word of the Day: TOCK

The word of the day is TOCK. It's 13 days since there was the accompanying TICK. My time in England is passing quickly, second by second. It wouldn't have been a good idea to have the TICK and the TOCK on adjacent days. The words have to look different enough for the bus driver to see that it's today's ticket with a single glance. That means it will be some time before we get a TACK or a TUCK.

You may have noticed that the colour of the bus tickets varies. Don't blame me. They put different coloured rolls in the ticket machines. The word itself varies in strength, depending on the amount of ink left in the ticket printer.

Nicki's hair also changes colour. I don't mind. She looks beautiful with any hair colour.

Marvel 1975.05 - Avengers #135

Avengers #135

Writer: Steve Englehart

Artist: George Tuska

Avengers: Iron Man, Thor, Vision, Hawkeye, Goliath (flashback), Wasp (flashback)

Villain: Ultron (flashback), Mad Thinker (flashback), Quasimodo (flashback), Thanos (flashback)

Regulars: Mantis, Moondragon, Jarvis

Guests: Immortus, Libra, Swordsman (ghost), Human Torch (flashback), Mentor (flashback), Silver Surfer (flashback)

The Avengers and Mantis confront LIbra and the ghostly apparition of the Swordsman in Saigon. Mantis asks for answers, but they're interrupted by the arrival of Moondragon. She tells them of her past. Her name was Heather Douglas. Her parents were killed when Thanos destroyed their car in 1953. Only Heather survived. She was adopted by Mentor of Titan, who took her to his planet and put her in a monastery for training. As she finishes her tale, Immortus arrives.

In the Avengers Mansion Jarvis is bringing food to the Scarlet Witch and Agatha Harkness. He hears a male voice laughing in their room. When he enters, the room is empty.

Continuing the Vision's origin: he sees how Hank Pym aka Goliath creates a robot, Ultron-5. Ultron hypnotises Hank into forgetting him, promising to return and kill him at a future date. Ultron then seeks an android to become his child, so he visits the Mad Thinker, the world's greatest expert on androids. The Thinker offers him the Human Torch's lifeless body as the only android he has available. Ultron repairs the android with the help of Dr. Phineas Horton, the Human Torch's original creator. The reconstructed android, now called the Vision,  has the Torch's memories, making him too noble for Ultron. Ultron finds a recording of Wonder Man's brainwaves in Hank Pym's laboratory, which he uses to reprogram the Vision.

At this point the present day Vision is yanked out of the control of Immortus.

---

Giant-Size Avengers #4

Title: Let all men bring together

Writer: Steve Englehart

Artist: Don Heck

Avengers: Iron Man, Thor, Vision, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Mantis

Villain: Dormammu, Umar, Kang, Space Phantom, Crimson Dynamo, Radioactive Man, Titanium Man, Ultron (flashback)

Regular: Moondragon, Agatha Harkness, Jarvis

Note that I listed Mantis as a regular in my review of Avengers #135 above, but I've now listed her as an Avenger. In Giant-Size Avengers #4 Mantis is finally proclaimed an Avenger. That's a good question to ask in pub quizzes.

At the end of Avengers #135 the Vision was pulled out of the past into the present. It's not 100% clear who did this. It was probably the Scarlet Witch, but it could also have been Mother Nature. He arrives at the Earth's core and sees the Scarlet Witch held prisoner by Dormammu. It was Dormammu's laughter that Jarvis heard in Avengers #135. Dormammu's minions attack the Vision, but he defends himself by using the Human Torch's powers of absorbing heat to recharge his solar blasts.

Dormammu has hypnotic control over the Scarlet Witch, due to her new involvement with witchcraft. He makes her attack the Vision, who's unable to resist her magic spells. The Vision falls unconscious at her feet, and the shock causes her to regain her own will. She cools the lava that has been giving Dormammu his strength. Dormammu surrenders. She makes him promise never to attack the Earth again. He makes the promise, but at the same time he thinks to himself that he has no intention of keeping it. So much for the honour that he claimed to have in last month's Doctor Strange #7.

The Vision and the Scarlet Witch return to Avengers Mansion. He proposes to her, and she accepts.

In Saigon the ghostly Swordsman reveals that he's a Cotati using the form of the Swordsman to speak to Mantis and the others. I'm not sure how this works. Is it telepathy which merely makes them think they see him? I don't know.

The Swordsman says that the similarity between the histories of Mantis and Moondragon is no coincidence. Both were guided by the Cotati from afar. Libra was the only one who suspected anything. The Cotati were preparing two women in case one of them failed in her training or died. Both have succeeded, both are suitable to become the Celestial Madonna, but Mantis has been chosen as the perfect woman.

Mantis' destiny as the Celestial Madonna is to marry one of the trees in the garden, the oldest of the Cotati on Earth. The Swordsman's body in front of her is being used by the tree to speak to her. I hope it all makes sense now. I understand it. Almost.

Hawkeye tells Iron Man and Thor that he's spotted something suspicious. The Titanic Three (Crimson Dynamo, Radioactive Man and Titanium Man) are lying unconscious a short distance away. Iron Man wakes the Crimson Dynamo, who tells him that Kang attacked them. 

The three Avengers separate to look for Kang. Thor finds and defeats Kang. Iron Man finds and defeats Kang. Hawkeye also finds and defeats Kang, though not as easily as the other two. They're confused when they bring the three unconscious Kangs together. 

A fourth Kang appears in a spaceship. He says that as a time traveller it was easy for him to arrive from different points in the future. I need to get my head around that. It must have consequences. The newly arrived Kang uses a beam to pull Mantis up into his ship. The Avengers want to stop him, but Immortus tells them not to. While everyone was distracted by Kang's spaceship, he exchanged Mantis with the Space Phantom, who's able to send anyone to Limbo and take his form. Immortus, as the ruler of Limbo, was able to manipulate this change.

Before the wedding takes place, Mantis is made an Avenger. Finally!

And the wedding takes place. It's the Wedding of the Century. I wish Don Heck had made it a full page picture. It would have been beautiful.

The two couples depart on their respective honeymoons. And they all live happily ever after. Or at least, until next month's issue!

Masha and the Bear 1.8.3 - No Trespassing

This episode was first broadcast on 16th September 2010.

Masha is out catching butterflies while Bear and Rabbit are working in the garden. I'm sure you can spot Rabbit, can't you?

Bear is wondering what to plant in his garden. How about horseradish?

Rabbit has a better suggestion. Better for Rabbit, at least.

So they get to work.

A few days pass, and Rabbit measures the carrots.

They're already 20 centimeters. That's a lot, isn't it? It depends on what you're used to.

Bear wants more. He wants big carrots that he can be proud of.

At night Bear dreams about giant carrots.

But Rabbit isn't that patient. He's in the garden swallowing the carrots, 20 centimeters at a time.

Bear wakes up and chases Rabbit away. He guards the carrots for the rest of the night.

Or maybe not. In the morning Masha finds him asleep in the garden, and the carrots are gone.

Bear plants more carrots.

He asks Masha to guard the carrots for him.

At first she refuses, but then he gives her a soldier's hat. It's every girl's dream to be in the Russian army.

Rabbit sneaks in again, planning to steal all the carrots at once. But what's that poking him in the back?

"Hands up, naughty Rabbit!"

She chases Rabbit through the garden and the house. It's a sight too horrible for words. When Bear wakes up from his afternoon nap he finds everything in ruins. He fires Masha as his guard.

At night Rabbit returns to gather carrots.

But there's a terrifying scarecrow.

Not just one, there are three!

And even more! Rabbit won't be coming back any time soon. Bear will soon find out whether the carrots will grow bigger than 20 centimeters. But you and I will never know the answer, because it's

The End.