Memories (1997)

good back-story, and good acting

Beautiful, moving film.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Enjoyable but somewhat dated animation from three of anime's leading early exponents. Magnetic Rose is an effective 'Bermuda Triangle' tale; and Stink Bomb neatly covers environmental disaster with a slightly comic tone, but Canon Fodder is the piece that, for me, looks and feels like something different. There are strong notes of Gilliam-esque styling and it left me feeling quite happy to watch another half hour exploring the grim, dystopian lives of the central characters - it feels like the first chapter, or perhaps prologue, of a feature length story of one cog battling against the authoritarian machine. Entertaining stuff for anime fans.

I had long suspected that the American geeky infatuation with Japanese animation (aka Japanimation or anime) stemmed from the same impulses that veered Western Intellectuals into the Eastern Mystical religions. To me, anime was merely the new name for the poorly animated cartoons that proliferated in this country back in the 1960s wave of cartoons that began with such fare as Gigantor the Space Age Robot, Kimba the White Lion, & Speed Racer. By the 80s & 90s the filmic equivalents had spawned such 'classics' like Akira, & Princess Mononoke. I was wrong…. it is heartening to see a film of such daring, even when it fails, getting made & released in Japan, as well frustrating to note that no American animators would dare pick up the gauntlet this film drops- opting instead for numbingly simpleminded Disney fare, which is far more like the watered down Mysticism I expected from this anime film. Instances like this are those times I love being proved wrong. In fact, I only hope my artistic presumptions are more routinely proved wrong. I strongly recommend this DVD to both hardcore anime buffs & mere filmic afficionados. I doubt you will be disappointed.

After seeing Akira it's natural to be curious of what Otomo's produced. This collection of short movies(all more than 20 minutes though) is a fun, action-packed and imaginative reminder why anime is among the best genres, and NOT restricted to kids(or in the case of these shorts, not really for kids at all).The last short of the three is called Cannon Fodder. It features a very cool style unlike normal anime, some neat "camera" tricks and illusions of 3D, and a heavy but playful mood. It's quirky and good but not great.The second short is called Stink Bomb, which is a crazy, fast-paced disaster/action story with a healthy dose of black humour. It's very well made, with insanely detailed tanks, helis, airplanes etc, and lots of explosions. The whole thing is funny and bizarre, and easily a classic.The first of the three shorts, which in my opinion should have been saved to last, is Magnetic Rose. Here the humour of the two others is gone, and we have a very gripping and serious story set in a sci-fi environment. This is more like Otomo's Akira stuff; epic but with great characters. Some scenes are gut-wrenchingly emotional and disturbing. All set to a classic opera score, it is chilling and eerie and grand-scale in a way Hollywood never seems to get right.If you like to watch the occasional anime, this is a very good choice. Don't know how easy it is to get a hold of, but it seems to be very popular at least in Japan.

thats really a gr8 movie to watch. Japanese animation has been fantastic and its incredibly superb story theme. i would sincerely suggest everyone to watch this great animation movie. thanks to Japanese technology of animation that such nice movies exist!! i have watched the movie several times.i have found every time the movie more interesting. u all should definitely watch this movie.its worth watching movies like these.the fighting scenes are really marvelous. the sci-fi concept too is great.