I think my love for the anime mahou shoujo series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, may extend past this summer and til the end of the year. I’ve begun to watch the other new series to premiere in the last 12 months over in Japan, but this particular one has stuck itself in my head in a good way. It’s why whenever I find a great AMV done using the series I end up loving it. So, the last “AMV of the Day” is another Puella Mago Madoka Magica production.
This one is appropriately titled, “Mahou Shoujo Requiem”, and is paired with the ethereal and hypnotic song “Cosmic Love” by the group Florence + The Machine. Even the title of the song is quite appropriate as it highlights the cosmic aspect of the anime series the video is using.
The video’s creator is one “tehninjarox” and this creator also made the previous “AMV of the Day” entry (“A Prelude to Dreams”). The editing work in this latest AMV was exceptionally well done with scene transitions coming in fast and clear with each percussive beat of the song. I also like the fact that following the cosmic theme of the song there’s many images of Kyubey in the video. Can’t have a cosmic and requiem-themed AMV of this series and not Kyubey show up.
So, far this AMV of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica series one of the best one I’ve seen though not the best. The next one I plan to post in the future is the best one but not by much.
Also known as the Death Wheelers. This is one of those trailer that can pretty much speak for itself. (Though I will point out that co-star George Sanders committed suicide shortly after filming completed.)
Not surprisingly, this movie was directed by Ted V. Mikels. What makes this trailer memorable (for me) is the blandly cheerful narration. I don’t know who that is providing the narration but you hear his voice a lot as you explore the world of grindhouse trailers.
Made in the Philippines (as were many exploitation films in the 60s and 70s — I always expect to hear someone say, “Made in the Philippines — where life is cheap!” whenever I watch one of these trailers), The Twilight People is best remembered for featuring Pam Grier as the Panther Woman. I love how the trailers for Filipino exploitation films always seem to promise us that we’re in for “blood…blood…and more blood!” like some nightmarish 1950s feminine hygiene film.
“Do you think we killed niiiiiiine people for nuthin, maaaaan?” This trailer plays like one of the many “fake” grindhouse trailers that every toadsucker on Youtube is making nowadays. (And, by the way, that trend is getting increasingly obnoxious as it’s obvious that a lot of these trailers are being made by jerks who have never even seen a genuine grindhouse film.) However, Cop Killers is a real film and this is a real trailer. Every time I go down to Half-Price books, I come across the DVD for this movie. They want $9.00 for it. And every time, I end up grabbing this DVD, planning on buying it, just to then come across a movie or book that I want more. So, I haven’t seen Cop Killers yet but I’m sure that eventually, I’ll break down and get it.
Feel bad for all those cops getting killed Cop Killers? Don’t worry, the fraternity of blue meanies got their revenge in plenty of other films, including this 1978 Italian film. Convoy Busters was directed by Ruggero Deodat0 (of Cannibal Holocaust and House On The Edge of the Park fame) and is also known as Cop on Fire. (Apparently, it was retitled to take advantage of the international success of Sam Peckinpah’s Convoy.)
This is the (very) American trailer for Lucio Fulci’s Murder To The Tune of Seven Black Notes. This film is actually one of Fulci’s more subtle and interesting films and, considering that it’s a Fulci film without zombies or a huge amount of gore — it has a surprisingly large number of fans (including Quentin Tarantino). At the time of its release, however, it failed at the box office and so hurt Fulci’s reputation that the producers of Zombi 2 were able to hire him cheap whereas previously, they wouldn’t have been able to afford him. Hence, it can be argued that the success of Zombi 2 was directly the result of the failure of The Psychic. (That’s what we call the circle of life.)
Through the Shattered Lens 