Kiki's Delivery Service

Hey loyal followers I know it's been months since my last post but I was in the processes of moving to a different state and a new home so I had a lot on my plate. Now I'm settled in and back to blogging so I'll continue with the film I promised would be next...

Welcome to what is a first for me: blogging about an animated film. Being a fan of all things film, I especially enjoy movies of the animated genre because I have discovered that no matter a person's age these types of movies bring people together. The movie I will be taking about is a type of animation I have developed quite a love for though not really a type but the country from which originates is the most beautiful I have ever seen: Japan. I have learned to enjoy plenty of Japanese anime since I have gotten older but the animation that has come out of this country that I enjoy the most has been brought to us by Studio Ghibli. In the past I have stated that I have only three favorite directors but I am now correcting myself: I have four favorites and Hayao Miyazaki is my number four. When it comes to animation directing, Miyazaki really is a genius and I enjoy his films immensely including today's film: Kiki's Delivery Service.

In Japan this film was released in 1989 and the English dubbed version was released in 1998 with an all-star voice cast that includes Kirsten Dunst, Janeane Garofalo, Debbie Reynolds, Matthew Lawrence and the late Phil Hartman. I have never tackled how to rate voice acting when I usually talk about a film's cast but we will get to that later first of course as always...

What's The Plot?
Kiki is not any average 13 year old growing up in Japan (face it are any Japanese teens normal in anime?) she just happens to be a witch. She fits the stereotype of flying on a broom and having a black cat but even her cat isn't ordinary as he can talk and Jiji always has something sarcastic to say. Since she has now reached the age when witches can live on their own for a year, Kiki leaves her small village and heads of to the bigger cities of Japan.

Reaching the seaport town of Koriko, it seems our little witch is not any different than other 13 year old girls her age as she must deal with her own insecurities and other adolescent worries such as popularity and acceptance among her peers and dealing with boys or one boy in particular named Tombo who is obsessed with flying and gets on Kiki's last nerve from time to time. To support herself, Kiki starts working at a local bakery run by the very pregnant but pleasant Osono and her silent husband and uses her ability to fly to start delivering baked goods throughout the city (but you probably already knew that from the title right?) Being on her own and far from home, can Kiki keep up her studies to be the best witch she can be or will the pressure of wanting to just be a normal teenage girl end up affecting her magic?

It's a relatively simple plot found in most anime geared towards girls but Kiki's Delivery Service is also enjoyable for a male audience thanks to characters like Tombo and of course in the English dub, Jiji voiced by Phil Hartman. Qualities that bring in the audience not based on gender are of course the beautiful animation of not just the people but the backgrounds of the town of Koriko. Miyazaki and his animation team visited Stockholm, Sweden to give the town more of an eastern European look which the book (yes this was based on a book and adapted by Hayao Miyazaki himself) is set outside of Japan in a non-described or named European town. You can see the influence Stockholm the animators as the town does have that old world look to it but also combines the beauty of Japan and even 1950s or 1960s America.

Now I have watched Kiki's Delivery Service with the Japanese language track and enjoyed it but when it comes to discussing the characters I will be using the English actors since that is the version more people will probably watch or have seen that come across this blog post. Kirsten Dunst voices Kiki and I think she does a pretty good job because she does have a very young and energetic voice and I have always loved Kirsten Dunst because she handles drama and comedy quite well. Being about 15-16 when she voiced Kiki, Kirsten Dunst was still a teenager and I think that helps being closer to the character's age to bring out the real emotions that girls in their teen years can relate to. Janeane Garofalo voices the character Ursula, a young painter that Kiki meets and well I enjoy her very much because unless you know who it is you are pleasantly surprised by how mature and calm you can find her voice when you don't picture the Queen of Snark behind it.

Matthew Lawrence as Tombo is cute and somewhat annoying which means as an actor Matthew is doing his job and like Kirsten he has a young and energetic voice which fits the character. Matthew was about 17-18 voicing Tombo so also still a teenager and not too much of a stretch to relate to the character just through the actor's voice. Debbie Reynolds voices another character, one of Kiki's customers, and voice acting superstar Tress MacNeille provides the voice for Osono. Saving him for last, I absolutely love Phil Hartman as Jiji with his normal quick-wit, sarcastic style that was smarmy when needed to be but still smooth and charming in a loveable kind of way. His voice over on Kiki's Delivery Service was his last movie role before his untimely and tragic death and I won't spoil it for you but when you don't get to hear his voice anymore it is truly a very sad moment if you were truly a fan of his acting.

We still miss you, Mr. Hartman

I could talk more in depth about Kiki's Delivery Service but I feel I would spoil it for you and when it comes to animated films, you need to see them and hear the voice acting to truly enjoy it. I hope you give Kiki's Delivery Service a chance and if not still try to check out as much Studio Ghibli or Hayao Miyazaki films you chance upon. It should be worth noting that I may be bringing up more of these films anyway so why not try and beat me to the punch maybe?

 Kiki's Delivery Service Trailer

NEXT BLOG: We leave behind animation but we still maintain a world of fantasy and talk about a film from my childhood that I wish to share with you all: The Polar Bear King

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer

Original Movie Poster

If you have come back then obviously you either really like my blog or you have never seen I Know What You Did Last Summer and came to check out me talking about its sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Now I'm not used to talking about films and then directly talking about their sequels after so you are going to have to bear with me here on many spoilers as for the next many blogs I will be doing the same thing.

Freddie And Jennifer return with some new blood...

Now this film was released one year after the original and only two (or technically three characters) return so there you go for spoilers right now and just so you know I will not be talking about the last of this trilogy the film titled lamely I Will Always Know What You Did Last Summer just because it has nothing to do with any of the characters we have talked about or will talk about. If you were expecting that I am so sorry but you will just have to discover that film on your own as I have never seen nor will I ever see it. Now that I have gotten all of that out of the way let's discuss the plot to I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.

Our Story Continues As Follows:
Julie James is back up at college still plagued by the terror that was Ben Willis, a fisherman who she and her friends Ray, Barry and Helen accidentally hit with their car on The 4th of July weekend two years ago. They thought he was dead but he survived the foursome dumping him in the ocean and he came back for revenge killing Barry and Helen. Disappearing the night he tried to kill Julie and Ray, now presumed to be really dead, the memory still haunts Julie despite the best efforts of her roommate Karla Wilson, her boyfriend Tyrell Martin and new college friend Will Benson.

J. Love back as Julie James

Julie has even distanced herself from her former love Ray who still remains a townie down in Southport, North Carolina even though he still loves Julie and is even thinking about proposing to her. When Karla wins a trip to a Caribbean resort via a radio contest, Julie invites Ray to go to make up for being so evasive but he says he might not be able to make it because of work and Julie heads off with Karla, Ty and Will not knowing that Ray is planning to surprise her instead by showing up unannounced with his engagement ring in tow.

Karla And Julie waiting for their ride to the Bahamas

Arriving in the Bahamas, our new foursome finds that they have arrived at the beginning of storm season which means all of the other guests are heading back for the mainland and they will be the only people there besides a small group of the resort's staff. Despite this news, the four college students decide to make the most of their trip and it seems some sparks are developing between Julie and Will. The good times abruptly end when Julie's past comes back with a vengeance and bodies of the hotel staff start popping up and she now knows that Ben Willis is back to finish what he started. Being cut off from the mainland and with storms about to come to the island, can Julie and her new friends escape their angry, hook wielding fisherman killer? Will Ray be able to get there in time to save the girl he loves?

Freddie Prinze Jr. returns as Ray Bronson

Pretty basic sequel plot and as always leaving you with only a taste of it since you pretty much know that Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. are back as Julie James and Ray Bronson respectively. I'm not about to tell you who else survives and who dies but I can tell you a little bit about the new characters and what I think of the actors who portray them. Brandy Norwood or pop star Brandy as you know her plays Karla Wilson, our strong, independent, sassy African-American best bud of Julie. I love Brandy as Karla because she brings so much to the movie and since they killed off Sarah Michelle Gellar's Helen in the first film, you need another strong woman in the cast. Karla is more like Julie was in the first film to balance out Julie being the haunted girl with the secret past because when Julie is scared Karla is strong and when Julie is strong Karla is still scared but she gets past that just as Helen did in the first film.

Brandy as Karla Wilson

Mehki Phifer as Tyrell "Ty" Martin is just a blast in this film as the wisecracking, completely horny boyfriend of Karla and even though he is hilarious he is also a no nonsense guy when it counts. I have seen Mehki Phifer pull of some serious acting in the movie "O" and as Doctor Gregory Pratt on ER so he does a great job pulling off the same here with a mix between drama and comedy and for a horror film it is not easy because you can come off as cheesy or dull if it is not done right. I think Ty is supposed to be the Barry of the group this time around since Ryan Phillipe was killed off in the first film but Ty is a little more likeable than Barry and he only starts to be an ass a little later in the film than from the very beginning as Barry seemed to be but that is only my opinion of course.

Mehki Phifer as Tyrell (Ty) Martin

Matthew Settle plays Will Benson, a new character who seems to be smitten with Julie James, and I wish I could say more about his acting but I can't as this is the only thing I have ever seen him in. He is handsome, an all around nice guy kind of character in this film, but that is pretty much all I can say. If I had more work to compare his role in this film to I might have more to say about Matthew Settle as and actor but I honestly can't. Aside from our main cast, there are supporting characters and the cast is pretty okay. Jack Black has an uncredited role as Titus, the white stoner pool boy who thinks he is Bob Marley, and he gets in a few laughs. (try to guess whether he makes it or not?) Muse Watson of course returns as killer fisherman Ben Willis and he does okay for what little screen time he gets not killing people and we even get to learn more backstory about his character which is kind of nice.

Matthew Settle as Will Benson with Brandy & Mehki Phifer

Sexy actress Jennifer Esposito who played Stacey on Spin City with Michael J. Fox plays a sarcastic bartender named Nancy and I like her ball-busting, witty attitude enough that she deserves a mention and the final actor of note is Jeffrey Combs. If you don't know who Jeffrey Combs is and are a horror fan like me, you need to be re-schooled in classic horror real quick and go rent The Frighteners and Re-Animator if you really want to see Combs in all his gory glory. If you aren't into horror (as much as me I mean) but you have a love for Star Trek you may recognize Combs as well from the Deep Space Nine part of that franchise. In any case, Combs is great as the hotel manager Mr. Brookes, playing the same kind of sarcastic, smarmy asshole he is so great at playing as always.

Jennifer Esposito as Nancy with Brandy & J. Love Hewitt

If you are wondering why I didn't talk about Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. and their characters of Julie and Ray it is because I already talked about them in the blog about I Know What You Did Last Summer. Both of them are still great actors but their characters are pretty much the same as they were in the first film just a little bit more troubled and slightly harder emotional wise but they still get in likeable, funny moments and few smiles here and there that continue to make me like the characters. What more can you say without repeating yourself?

Julie And Karla get Ben's message

So is it a good sequel? Yes I believe it is. Is it better than the first film? It's about the same in tone but there are more characters that grab my interest than in the first one so I would have to say it's only slightly better but not by much. Is it worth watching? There are worse movie sequels out there but I Still Know What You Did Last Summer isn't one of them.

 I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (Teaser)

Next Blog: We tackle a different horror film trilogy and now that it is the time for horror being close to Halloween I hope you will join me as we take a look at an obscure little treat called Ginger Snaps.