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Miki-13
Reviews
Any Given Sunday (1999)
At This Point The Director Attempted an 'Artsy' Sort of Shot
Don't get me wrong here. This movie is definitely worth seeing..but good god save me from the artsy crap that Oliver Stone filled this movie with. I mean really..Shots of lightning arcing from the sky while the Quarterback and the Coach sit at a table eating Gumbo? The Ben Hur chariot sequence? Please! Just show the movie!
Oh..and I don't know about you, but I am really getting sick of the "Let's attach the camera to the shoelaces of the Offensive Tackle and see what kind of shots we can get" school of cinematography. Some of the game sequences are impossible to follow and give you a serious headache.
Still. It's worth the cost of admission. Pacino is the man.
Koishikawa Miki.
Mimi wo sumaseba (1995)
Studio Ghibli. Need I say more?
One of Ghibli's lesser known and more mundane works, Mimi wo Sumaseba is still a masterpiece of modern animation. While not as good and heartwarming as Kiki's Delivery Service, nor as stirring and exciting as Mononoke Hime, this movie stands apart from the others mainly for its many amusing renditions of the song 'Country Roads' sung both in English and Japanese and then made into a weird parody 'Concrete Roads'. In any case, this movie, like much of Ghibli's work, is a love story. Little real action, nothing truly fantastic. Just a sweet and touching love story.
Koishikawa Miki
Shin Kimagure Orenji Rôdo: Soshite, ano natsu no hajimari (1996)
KOR returns to its whimsical roots
Brilliant movie!
For those of you whose hearts were ripped to small shred by the first KOR movie, the second KOR movie is the perfect remedy! Whereas the first movie didn't even mention Kyosuke's ESP powers, the second movie revolves around them. The plot is wonderful and funny. Hikaru fans, this movie is the apology you have been waiting for. Yes, she does get over her obsession with Kyosuke :)
I highly suggest this movie, though I suggest you watch the first movie 'I Want To Return To That Day' first, cause this movie won't make any sense otherwise :)
Koishikawa Miki
Koko wa Gurînuddo (1991)
We Are The No-Brand Heroes!!
Sometimes I think that the Greenwood series may actually be about me and my friends, it is quite eerie the similarities.
Anyway, you will definitely want to check this out. The first four episodes are rampant humour in the classic Koko wa Greenwood style, get to know Mitsuru, Shinobu, Shun, and poor old Hasugawa and watch their rampant antics. The last two episodes are one of the more moving anime love stories I have ever seen. And Hasugawa, the eternal loser, finally wins.
One of the best short Anime series ever. Go out and read the Manga!
Koishikawa Miki
Kimagure orenji rôdo: Ano hi ni kaeritai (1988)
I actually cried.
You know for a series called 'Whimsical Orange Road' the first KOR movie 'I Want To Return To That Day' is downright depressing. The only purpose of this movie is to solve once and for all the romantic triangle of the TV and OAV series, and boy does it do it.
I remember watching this movie for the first time in a crowded auditorium with a bunch of Otaku around me. It got to the climactic moment where Kyosuke is attempting to finally voice his feelings to Madoka and all of us were chanting 'Say it! Say it! Say it!' none of us expecting him to actually do it. And then he said it. We were stunned.
For fans of the series be warned, this movie is very low on the humour and very high on the drama. Not once in this entire film is Kyosuke's ESP even /mentioned/. It is entirely a dramatic movie with a /very/ bittersweet ending.
Hikaru fans may not want to watch at all.
Mamarêdo bôi (1994)
Is love like the bittersweet taste of Marmalade on toast?
This. Anime. RULES!
Well of course it does! I chose to make my IMDB username Koishikawa Miki for a reason, after all. For those who love light romantic comedy (And lots of swirling pastel colours), Marmalade Boy is for you. Thrill to the exploits of Koishikawa Miki, quite possibly the worlds most confused young woman, and Matsuura Yuu who is just too cool for words.
And don't miss the movie either! GASTAMAN!
Koishikawa Miki
Ranma ½: Nettô-hen (1989)
Ranma nosedives!
The first series of 18 episodes is brilliant. It follows the original Manga almost precisely and the animation and voice acting (original japanese) are excellent.
Nettouhen, however, is the second series. It is bad. The voices continue to be wonderful, but the animation quality takes a sharp downturn. Also, they change/alter/skip entirely sections of the original Manga story. Most irritatingly moving a storyline that took place on a Beach into a snow-covered mountain, yet still keeping the overall story the same. Rediculous. %r %r Ranma 1/2: Nettouhen. Skip it. Watch the original series, and read the Manga. %r %r Miki!
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Scary? no. Creepy? Oh god yes.
This wasn't exactly a very scary movie, in my opinion, although it did catch me once or twice. It may have been the audience in the theatre that ruined it for me. It's hard to be scared when the people in the theatre think that the whole thing is really funny, and the man sitting behind you specifically has a laugh like a braying donkey. I am sure that had I been alone I would have been scared senseless. As it is, the movie was damned creepy.
I think the one thing that creeped me out the most was that child at the beginning. The one that one of the people being interviewed is holding, remember her? I want to know if the child was supposed to be saying 'No!' and covering her mother's mouth like that. If so, get that kid into some classes immediately..she was a damned fine actress :)
Anyway, even if it isn't very scary, it is still excellent. A very good piece of independent filmaking.
Koishikawa Miki, The Mustard Girl
Wild Wild West (1999)
Awful Awful Movie.
Hooray for summer 'blockbusters'! They give wonderful support to my superiority complex! Anyway, Wild Wild West is just yet another pathetic excuse to pass off sophomoric humor combined with nice visual effects and hope that people will flock to it in droves like they did the equally awful Independence Day and its many drooling idiot cousins that have followed.
Have I mentioned how little amusement I gain from transvestite humor? I mean, please..try a new joke occasionally folks.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
It's Star Wars. That's high praise.
Contrary to what all the naysayers and 'Legions of People Who Hate Anything Popular' say, this movie is really very very good. Jar Jar Binks is not nearly as omnipresent and annoying as some people make him out to be. The Jedi sequences are all very well done, with the Jedi themselves displaying a nice range of Force Abilities that people who have played the Star Wars RolePlaying Game or even Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II will greatly appreciate. I do not understand, however, the people whose main complaint seems to be that it was not dark enough. Come on people, even Empire at its darkest never had any of the graphic violence you seem to be clamoring for.
Very very good movie. See it. Love it. Don't take it too seriously. Good though it may be, it is just a movie.
Miki
Fargo (1996)
zzzzzzzzz....
I am sorry, it may be a 'work of art' as some have suggested here, but Fargo is the most BORING movie I have ever seen. You just can't care about the characters, the plot, anything! The only way my friends and I could continue to watch after the first hour was to MST3K it, shouting comments at our TV screen that at least kept us amused. There was a whole lot of snow..a bunch of really 'meaningful' scenes including snow. Some more snow. Some person who was so pregnant she could hardly walk, but seemed just fine stalking down the rabid killer at the end...oh, and she was in the snow when she did it. Then there was some more snow. I think the snow had a really bad accent, but I cannot be sure, because eventually I couldn't even stand looking at the screen to see who was saying their incredibly banal and annoying lines. Fargo is boring. Fargo is bad. Never watch Fargo, not even to put you to sleep. It just isn't worth it.
Choujikuu Yousai Macross (1982)
kyun kyun! kyun kyun! My boyfriend's a pilot!
I credit SuperDimensional Fortress Macross for emotionally scarring me as a small child. Say what you will about the horrible edit of the evil Carl Macek when he made Robotech, but he did one thing correctly: He left the greatest sequence of any show or movie ever almost entirely intact.
Yes, I am referring to the infamous scene where, having chased the Macross across the system and played a cat and mouse game with it for over a year, Zentraedi Supreme Commander BoDolza gets sick of it and simply destroys the planet Earth. The bombardment was one of the most traumatic things I ever experienced as a child (I was about seven when I saw it) and when I was roughly 17 or so, the only thing I remembered about Macross was that scene. I went to the mall in search of Robotech tapes, and suddenly became introduced to this thing called Anime.
Thank you, Macross. You and your sequels (the good ones at least..Mac II was horrible..Mac Plus is awesome) will always remain dear to my heart.
Miki
The Matrix (1999)
Not for the dumb :)
Oh man, here I am waiting desperately for Star Wars to come out, and am suddenly blindsided by what is very probably the best movie I have seen since "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (which is my favorite movie ever). It is, if taken in its primal essence, an unsurpassed paranoia movie. However, as anyone who plays the game Mage: The Ascension can attest: It was good to see those Virtual Adepts giving those uppity Technocrats a good beat-down! World of Darkness fans, this movie is a must-see. Everyone else, go see it anyway. It is just that good.
Miki
Godzilla (1998)
Jurassic Park 3: Dinosaurs Take Manhatten!
Good gravy this movie was bad! I mean, it was phenomenally bad! When one day, you look through the annals of movie history, and you come across Godzilla(1998) you will say "BAD!" and maybe suffer a hemorrhage remembering how bad it was. Keep that in mind, and be careful when you get older.
But really, I mean, the entire 'baby Godzilla' sequence was directly ripped off of the Velociraptor sequences from Jurassic Park. It couldn't have been more derivative, even using the same 'Dinosaur on slick surface fall down go boom' jokes.
The acting was terrible, the characters were unlikable two dimensional Jackie Drapers with no Puff to give them a new lease on life. The French secret agents were laughable at best. And this is even BEFORE going into the state of our poor beloved lizard.
How dare they call this movie Godzilla? This overgrown Lizard is not our beloved Gojirra, king of the monsters! It actually RUNS AWAY from the military, dodges missiles, and when it actually gets hit with a few missiles, it DIES! The whole POINT of Godzilla wasn't that you couldn't hit it, it was that you didn't have any weapons strong enough to hurt it. Had they called this movie "Mutant Lizard" or "Super Iguana" or even "ID4" this movie would have been better, merely for not defaming the once-great Godzilla.
Miki
Mulan (1998)
Why cute mascots? Marketing!
Mulan was pretty good for a movie from the Evil Empire (although as long as Microsoft is still solvent, Disney is only a distant second as Evil Empires go ;) There were few songs, which I heartily approved of (I hate the songs) and the story was kinda nice. I did have two major problem with it:
1) Why oh why does the main character of the story desperately require a 'Wacky' sidekick? I will admit, the scarecrow riding a panda scene made me laugh, but other than that, Mu-Shu did nothing but make me groan. Robin William as the Genie was funny, after that, and he was the only sidekick actually called for by the movie. Every Disney movie thereafter has had to have one, and it is starting to grate on my nerves.
2) It was too dang short. Nobody said animated movies have to be short! Put another scene in there! Show Mulan and Gen. Shang getting married! It wouldn't have ruined the story! There is no rule against liberated women liking hunky guys! And he was smart and enlightened too! The movie was just too darned short for my tastes..I prefer the Studio Ghibli type of Animated movie, very long and very good..and NO SONGS! (well..usually no songs..)
-Miki