A bitter villain tries to undermine Valentine's Day.
Well, the puppets have personality, even if they're not up to Muppets level crafting. I really wish they hadn't given the villain human arms (in sleeves and gloves, to make them seem like part of her), as the positioning always made them look dislocated. And there are shots with over half a dozen puppets active and moving at the same time, so points for effort. The plot is schmaltzy, but knows it,…
A woman in recovery from a tragedy is gaslit by her sister-in-law and the SIL's daughter.
Obayashi's visual playfulness is out in strong display here, from shots framed to resemble picture-book pages to injecting a comical element into a lethal fall by having the victim's limbs fold up like origami. Distorting someone's image by showing them through a mirror or a piece of curved glass is another technique he gets good mileage out of, without overdoing it (the same can't…
A movie to teach us that it's possible to regret the absence of magical fighting kangaroos.
