On the 11th minute, of the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month...

 ... World War One officially ended. On this day, we now observe Veteran's Day (originally Armistice Day) to honor those who have graced us with their military service. It can be a solemn occasion.

But not here at Shades of Gray.

'Black Paradox' stumbles at the end

Black Paradox (Viz Media, 2022)
Story and Art: Junji Ito
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Four strangers unite around a shared desire to commit suicide and vow to support each other by doing it together. Their attempt goes awry when doppelgangers interfere... and this launches them into a terror-filled journey that could shape not only their destinies but the future of humanity.

"Black Paradox" is a slightly different offering from Junji Ito. While it's got a number of intensely horrific moments, it's mostly a slow-burn work that mixes hints of cosmic horror with urban legends, folk lore, a mounting atmosphere of conspiratorial paranoia, and bits of old-fashioned melodrama. In addition, Ito introduces a cosmology of his own devising and slowly reveals the unique positions the four main characters hold in it... and it all adds up to a thrilling and mysterious ride that keeps growing more intense as the intertwined plotlines of the included stories unfold.

Although "Black Paradox" is told in an episodic format, the episodes become more and more tightly linked as the book progresses. In the end, what emerges is a novel-length tale ala "Remina" but which plays more to Ito's strengths for doing short stories in the way "Sensor" and "Uzumaki" did by having more-or-less standalone episodes linked by an overarching storyline that build toward a single climax.

Unfortunately, as excellent as "Black Paradox" is, it suffers from the same flaw as "Sensor" does: After a spectacular beginning and middle, the end doesn't quite deliver on the promise because it feels rushed and half-baked. The problem is more severe in "Black Paradox", because not only do the last two chapters feel like they are rushed, but there are several important plot elements that remain unexplained, because they are dropped entirely; for example, the doppelgangers mentioned in the teaser summary are never explained. We also needed more development of a couple characters that are introduced during the second half of the book--particularly Dr. Suga--but the rush to wrap things up is so frenetic that there's no room for it. 

So, ultimately, what could have been one of Ito's finest works--and one that might even be rife for a sequel, especially in the light of the dropped plot-threads--is a good and entertaining read, but not great. If it had been more like "Uzumaki" and less like "Sensor", I suspect I would have given it a Ten Rating--there is so much potential set up during the first half of the book that is never fully delivered upon.

If you're a fan of Junji Ito, you won't regret the time spent on "Black Paradox"... but you will find yourself wishing there was more.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Thanksgiving is coming up at the end of the month, and Wonder Woman is getting ready to carve some turkeys!

 

Alice experiences war in Cartoonland

Alice's Little Parade (1926)
Starring: Margie Gay
Director: Walt Disney
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

War breaks out in Cartoonland, and Alice (Gay) leads her animated friends into battle!

I keep hoping that I'll come across an "Alice" film that will show the spark of genius that will, a few years later, would put Walt Disney on the path to building a entertainment empire. However, all I find is proof that his talent was recognizing talent in others and putting that talent to maximum commerical use... but when Disney was helming his own animation projects, they fall short of what was being produced by other animators and studios.

The problems with "Alice's Little Parade" start with the title. It has almost no connection with what happens in this episode. Sure, she parades her troops before they go into battle, but there was more of a parade in the first Alice cartoon than what's in this one. It would have been far better served by a title that invoked what it was about--a war between factions of cartoon characters. (I do realize that the title is a reference to "The Big Parade" (1926), a movie about WWI, but I don't think it serves the cartoon well.)

A more severe problem is the lazy animation. A couple sequences are looped to the point of tedium--the film opens with one of them--and the backgrounds are so sparse that I think that even the Van Beuren animators would feel bad about cashing the paychecks earned creating them.

Finally, although the integration of the live-action footage of the little girl, Alice, was better than in other installments of this series I've watched, there was still very little of it. Compared to the Max Fleischer series that also mixed live-action footage with animation, "Out of the Inkwell", this is a weak effort. Perhaps Disney was constrained by the fact that his live-action performer was a very young child? That might be a sensible theory, as Margie Gay who appears as Alice in this film had already done more than a dozen of them, so maybe it was possible to get a little more elaborate? I will have to specifically look for a few entries toward the end of her 31-episode run to see if that notion holds up.

With all this negativity, you might be wondering why I awarded this film a Five-Star rating. Well, it's a very low Five, but it's based mostly on the fact that I found the portrayal of war between animated characters in this film fascinating. Although it's half-baked (like almost everything about the "Alice in Cartoonland"), there's enough here to show how surreal a conflict between beings who can reshape themselves and their environment at will, can be. (I also loved the cartoon animal field hospital; I don't know whether Disney was making a fourth-wall joke about how generic all the animated characters are in this series, but that's how it came across to me, and I thought it was spot-on as a bit of self-deprecating humor.

"Alice's Little Parade" is great, but it's not completely without merit either. I recommend checking it out if you like early animation... and I invite you to use the Comments section if you think I'm off-base with this review. (The version I've embedded is interesting in that it features a recently composed score that was recorded and synched before a live audience, and features partial restoration to the point where it looks much better than most of the surviving Cartoonland installments.)

Musical Monday with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Here's an excellent R&B song, with a music video that's part Rocky/sports documentary spoof, part performance video, and all fun! All-in-all, it's a great way to get the blood flowing for another work week!

Survivor (2021)
Starring: Nathaniel Rateliff, Rachel Matthews, Joey Pope, Luke Mossman, and Charles Martin
Director: Brantley Gutierrez

Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

What's more fun than a barrel full of monkeys?

Le Tonneau des Danaïdes (aka "A Barrel of Danaides" and "Eight Girls in a Barrel) (1900)
Starring: Georges Méliès
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

What's more fun than a barrel of monkeys? A barrel full of women!

I've said previously that the films from pioneering special effects artist and fantasy filmmaker Georges Méliès that are just stage illusions performed and enhanced with in-camera editing. This one falls into that category, but I find it amusing for its reference to relatively obscure characters from Greek myths.

This is also worth watching, because, like pretty much all of Melies' short films, it's better in some ways than modern SFX-driven films. Check it out--it'll only take a couple minutes of your time!

Cubby vs. Pirates (and Bubbles)

Bubbles and Troubles (1933)
Starring: Anonymous Voice Actors (mostly speaking nonsense)
Director: Mannie Davis
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

When his girlfriend is abducted by pirates, only Cubby can save her!

This Cubby adventure came together better than I had anticipated when it opened. What initially feels like it's going to be a boring mess of unconnected, nonsensical gags--in short order, Cubby goes from doing stunts on his bicycle, to performing magic tricks with soap bubbles to being inflated by one of the bubbles and floating away into the sky--ends up coming together in an amusing and creative fashion when the bubbles of the title end up being central to story as it unfolds.

Almost every moment involving the pirates and their ship from the point the captain decides he wants to add Cubby's girlfriend to his treasure hoard is also a lot of fun. The launching of the longboat was especially amusing. I liked these pirates so much that it's a little hard for me judge whether they're defeated a little too easily, or whether I just feel that way because I wanted to see more of them.

As with the majority of Van Beuren's animated shorts, the use of music is the greatest aspect of "Bubbles and Troubles". The music adds tremendously to this film, and I don't know if I've ever quite experienced "The Sailor's Hornpipe" used so perfectly anywhere before.

But don't just take my word for it. Click below, sit back, and enjoy!

Ballerina Security Corp Adds a New Service!

The Ballerina Security Corporation (BS Corp) is proud to announce we now have a surveillance division! Our highly trained operatives stand ready to get the dirt on cheating spouses, to baby-sit the tweens and teens who doesn't want to be baby-sat, or for any other job that requires them to observe and report.

(Some of our agents may still have to work a bit on developing subtly, but, in their defense, we never said we offer covert survelliance.)
 

Take Couple Minutes to See 'Your Time is Up!'

Your Time is Up! (2021)
Starring: Nhan La
Director: Leon Truong
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A young woman (La) has a fateful encounter with Death.

Our month-long Halloween celebration may have come to an end yesterday, but this tidbit of horror felt like it belonged on the Day of the Dead... so the spookiness continues!

According to notes from writer/director Leon Truong, "Your Time is Up!" was made first and foremost as an exercise in creating a film that captured the look and feel of a silent movie. While he wisely didn't attempt to dress up actress Nahn La as if it was 1919, he did reach the stated goal of this project by using lighting and special effects techniques similar to what filmmakers in the silent era had access to and then manipulating the resulting footage digitally in post-production.

It's a Danse Macabre Monday

We continue our celebration of Halloween on this Musical Monday with another amazing video for a version of Camille Saint-Saens immortal "Danse Macabre" that is equally amazing! (It's what the dancing dead could play if they used each other as instruments!)