Comedy Style

Sometimes you will be talking to a person and then they say a thing that is odd or weird and you chuckle. That person has what is known as "Comedy Style" to scientists and other smartos. Comedy Style isn't easy to come by because it demands a careful balance of muscles and seratonin, but sometimes a person who has Comedy Style can come up and have a show or a special and say a dozen odd or weird things in a row that make you laugh or even chortle. In these tough economic times America needs Comedy Style more than ever, and those lucky individuals who possess it should be revered as the Patriots they are.


RATING: 91%

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle is an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki loosely based on a novel by Diana Wynne Jones. I'm not sure if I would classify it as "anime," exactly--the character style is distinctly Japanese, but the setting is European and the "physics of representation" are more consistent and realistic than in the mainstream manga-influenced anime you see on T.V. In any event, the characters and story are superb, the magic and fantasy elements are economical and wonderfully familiar-yet-strange, and the music is good too. It's nice to see a children's movie that contains no trace of Hollywood's signature media self-referentiality and movie star hype. Best of all, there's no Rascal fucking Flatts or Bare Naked Ladies in the soundtrack.

RATING: 90%

(Image from www.xjaymanx.com.)