In 2004, Lupin the 3rd scholar Chris Meadows took inspiration from a Roger Ebert essay on DVD audio commentaries, and decided to record his own commentary track for Castle of Cagliostro, Hayao Miyazaki's 1979 action-comedy-caper classic. In 2017, he returned once again with a revised and updated version to share with all the fans.
The idea of fan-generated audio commentaries was a hopeful one, but for various reasons never really caught on. The only real example of this model is Rifftrax, a movie commentary website curated by alumni from Mystery Science Theater 3000. YouTube and podcasting are similar in many respects, but the idea of a full-length audio companion to your favorite home videos remain an idea ahead of its time.
Whatever. Meadows performed a minor miracle with his 2004 Cagliostro commentary, and his new 2017 commentary is that much better. It is a must for all fans of Lupin or Miyazaki or movie fans in general.
You can download Meadows' Lupin audio recording on his website, where he also includes a lengthy essay discussing the development of this project, as well as the excellent (and must-have) Discotek Blu-Ray release. I highly recommend that you download your copy...and maybe consider recording a fan commentary track of your own.
P.S. I first received word about this project last summer, but failed (once again) to post the news on Ghibli Blog for many months. I promised Meadows that I would finally publish it tonight. In addition, I also sent him free copies of my ebooks (Zen Arcade, Pop Life, Greatest Hits) as my personal thanks.
1 comment:
I took my chance last year, and saw Cagliostro in a theater. Really worth it, even for the light opening credits animation alone. Could do with less John Lassetter (I cannot stand his passive smugness) or a new sub (not that good).
Will never understand why only show a movie for one day, that is idiotic as HECK.
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