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Cirque du Soleil: Dralion (2001)
All in all, a good show (Warning: Spoilers)
Unlike Quidam, which revolved around a girl escaping into another world, Dralion really has no plot. Of course, most people go to a Cirque du Soleil show to see the incredible acrobatics, and Dralion does not disappoint. This is a sampling of some of the acts. (These are not listed in any particular order.)
Single handbalancing(3 1/2 stars): The lighting was great, I loved the music in the background (Erik Karol has such an awesome voice, more on that later.),but whoever did the editing and/or shooting for that act needs to be dragged out into the street and shot. It is worse than any MTV music video (Assuming they still show music videos. Flash! We're looking at the girl's face. Flash! Her hand! Flash! A small child in the audience! For the rest of the show, they (camera people) manage to control themselves, but it seems in this act they got a little trigger happy.
Juggling (4 1/2 stars): Nearly every review I've come across, good or bad, has loudly praised this act. Their praise is not unfounded. Viktor Kee 's dance moves provide a new spin on a traditional act. You will be amazed as he deftly handles seven balls at once. The only flaw is the background music.After such songs as "Let me Fall" and "Alegria" which stuck in your head long after the show, "Kee Momma" is bland and generic. It's about as memorable as a trip to the 7-Eleven.
Teeterboard (5 stars): One of the best acts in the show! A group of impossibly strong girls come out and perform feats of acrobatics involving (Of course) a teeterboard. This act is normally an all-male act simply because of the strength required to pull off this act. However, Cirque du Soleil took it a step further and made the act an all-women one. One of the more curious things about this act is that none of the performers look extraordinarily strong. They are rather small and of slim build. If you were to see them out in public, you would never guess they were a part of this show. A word of caution, keep your tylenol handy; this act is probably the most charley horse inducing acts in the show. You will wince and clutch yourself in pain when you see some of the stuff those girls do. (One such pain inducer is when a girl flies through the air, lands in a chair that is balanced on the shoulders of another girl, who is standing on the shoulders of a girl balanced rather precariously on stilts.) You have been warned.
Double Trapeze (3 stars): This is by far one of the most disappointing acts in the entire show. The only reason why I didn't go lower than 3 stars was because it wasn't mediocre enough. It dwells on that middle ground between excellent and just plain painful. Normally under most circumstances, I am an absolute sucker for aerial acts. There is something about watching people soar through the air and just barely being caught by the porters. The problem with this act is not really the performers; They're capable and they get the job done. The problem with this act is that the crucial sense of danger is missing. The flyers have cords about their waists. Now while I don't want them to fall to their death or anything like that, the sight of those cords completely kills the sense of danger.
Ballet on Lights (4 1/2 stars): Ballet on lights is an entirely new act to Cirque du Soleil. In this act, five girls dance en pointe on light bulbs. This is a wonderful act with good music, perfect lighting, and graceful performers. However what keeps this act from getting the perfect 5 stars is its length. The act ends just as it apparently was getting warmed up. I heard somewhere that a live performance of Dralion is two hours long. This video is an hour and a half, leading me to wonder if maybe some of this act was cut out.
Aerial Contortion in Silk (5 stars +): This act pegs out the star meter. It is completely and totally critic proof. The act begins with the haunting "Miracula Eternalis" sung by Erik Karol. During this song, male and female couples perform a beautiful ballet in which the females soar above their male partners. The way the lighting is set up makes the performers almost appear to be ghosts. Finally, the silk fabric descends and the beautiful act involving a male and female couple begins. Words cannot truly express the beauty of this act, so I'll quit now.
Music (4 1/2 stars): What makes this show memorable is the vocal work of Erik Karol and Agnes (I really wish I knew her last name). While they may not be on par with Francesca Gagnon or Mathieu Lavoie, their voices balance out nicely with the eclectic score. Karol's voice is a real surprise. Possessing a countertenor voice, he can sing in a usually high register for someone of the male sex. (That's him singing the song "Stella Errans" during the single handbalancing.) Agnes puts in a good performance, but it is Karol who is the real star.
Overall (4 stars): Despite its flaws , Dralion is a good watch. I wouldn't advise watching it with small children since the show drags at times, but for the older set it is fine viewing. It's certainly a lot better than some of the dreck they're releasing these days.
Sailor Moon (1995)
Silly Fun! (Warning: Contains Spoilers!)
I have a love-hate relationship. If it weren't for the dub, I probably would not have ever been exposed to the cartoon that is Sailor Moon. Since I don't know were to get fansubs, the dubbed cartoon and the internet are my only ways of gaining information on the show. I admit, I am a Sailor Moon purist and do wish they'd aimed for an older audience instead of going for the Y7 crowd. Perhaps had it been geared towards teenagers, things like lesbian relationships and violence would have been less shocking. Already with the dubbing, twisted little things have sneaked through. (Hey Moonies, remember DIC's euphemism for breasts?)Male characters were changed to women ("Oh no we can't have gays! We musn't have gays in our show). As you can tell by the above comment, one of the biggest changes is the one I find the most unnecessary. Come on DIC, we are going to meet gay people in our life. You aren't protecting us from anything.
Of course, some even more bizarre things, things that DIC had probably not planned for. Why is Serena, a middle school student, dating someone who is in college? Last time I checked there were laws against this sort of thing. I suppose I can let them slide on this one; dubbing out Serena and Darien's relationship would have completely destroyed the show. Here's another one: Why does Molly, a Japanese schoolgirl, have one of the most ear-splitting Brooklyn accents around? Of course among the most bizarre changes would be those to Fisheye, Haruka (Amara), and Mirchiru (Michelle). In Japan, Fisheye was a gay cross-dressing male whose peferred victims (He is a villain) were little boys. These sort of things don't go well in a country that is predominantly WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. So they dubbed him into a female with a voice so high-pitched it might be able to beat out Molly's for the most annoying voice on the show. After first hearing that voice my thoughts were "Are they trying to prove something?" and "Who the heck does it's (I can't tell he's male or female, so I will refer to him/her as an it) voice and where can I find them? I will end this review on one note: It may sound like I hate Sailor Moon with every cell in my being, but I don't. I love the show; I has somewhat of a camp value to it. I admit even though I'm beyond the target audience they had in mine, I love watching it and will continue to watch it.
Keywords to remember Moonie: Sailor Moon Fan Purist: Someone who wishes that, in the dub, they had not changed anything about the show Puritans: Those who have a problem with anything vaguely offensive P.S. To all those puritans, who complained about the characters unrealistic figures, we have a better sense of reality than you think.
Digimon: The Movie (2000)
Gouge your eyes out, amputate your arms, have a cyanide cocktail, but whatever you do don't see this movie!
I went to see this movie with somewhat high hopes. The television show's pretty good and I figured maybe the movie won't be so bad.
I was dead wrong. It is basically Pokemon with computer lingo. Both have assorted neon technicolour monsters that shoot fireballs lightening, etc.
The kids, who once had an inkling of personality, are transformed into stereotypical single celled personalities. (The leader, the rebel, the kid, the rich kid, the possible love interest, etc.) The movie lurches forward, jumping clumsily from eight years ago to four years to the present, to a conclusion so predictable that any five-year-old could see coming. My advice, see one of the first two Batman flicks. They're a better example of taking a poplar medium and transferring it to a completely different one.