Indie films-games and something anything else inbetween! At IndyFilm Oneblaze we try to highlight Indy creative projects.

The live action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop arrived on Netflix Nov 19 2021. For a fan of the original anime series it was a delight seeing this series make its debut. Everything about the live-action screamed fan service and nostalgia, it felt as though the showrunner and crew simply adored the anime, they even brought back Yoko Kanno to score the series which gave the series it’s flavor. The selection for the cast was a close match with a few changes or adjustments for the real world and time. Spike is played by John Cho, Jet is played by Mustafa Shakir, Faye is played by Daniella Pineda, Julia is played by Elena Satine and Vicious is played by Alex Hassell. We even had John Noble grace the cast.
Sadly we have some die hard fans and also some not so diehard fans who simply hate the cast and several things about this interpretation. For example there is a level of disgust directed at Faye’s live action counterpart, the disgust is projected at the lack of larger than life boo-sums and also that her clothing is not revealing enough. Those are things I those factor have nothing to do with the story element or any story progression.

As an artist and designer I loved the set designs and simply adored the blend of old and new technology which echoed the how the anime presented the world. One big change was the length of the series which was roughly almost an hour long show. Which provided the series with room to breath for each episode and fill in more detail per episode. At the time of this review 10 episodes were released. The finale for the 10 episode had my heart racing and for the fans there is a slight twist which I will not ruin lets just say all the key music from the anime made it in here especially the “Green Bird” track. This was only the first half of the anime just an FYI. Jet’s character sounds so much like the American dubbed voice actor that I had to double take several times.

To conclude I have to give the cast and crew credit for doing a great job.

American Skin.. Where do I start? Sadly there may be spoilers going forward. American Skin is a film about a father trying to adjust after the death of his son a year earlier. The film starts with a car being pulled over by the cops and a small interaction incurs between the officers, the driver and his 14-year-old son. Things escalate very quickly and the child was killed by the officer.

The film is done in a documentary fashion as it tries to build up the events leading to that horrible event.The father is met by a young man that wants to document, the aftermath and events leading up to and after the trial of the officer that killed the child. Things take a turn when the officer is acquitted of all charges.

This all leads to the father taking things into his own hands with several military friends. They easily overtook a precinct and take several officers and civilians hostage. The reason for this was to hold a trial which would determine the officer’s innocence or guilt of killing the child. I will leave it at as you will need to watch the film to fill in the holes I have left.

This is a brilliant film and echos the horror of what most people of colour face daily, when it relates to them or their children. I once held that fear for myself and now I hold that fear for my son and what I would do if the justice system failed. From my perspective, it is simply not just a matter of fairness it is a matter of humanity. Enjoy the film, possibly cry but do try to understand the message.