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tveron1
Reviews
Sekai no chûshin de, ai o sakebu (2004)
Fantastic....no other word
My Japanese teacher gave me this film out of the blue one day. She often does it, and as I put it in my DVD player i didn't know what it was about. the only thing i knew was its title and this it starred Shibasaki Kou (my favourite since her work in Battle Royale and One Missed Call). My lack of expectations really enhanced the film. I had no idea where it was going, and as such it was all the more shocking to me when it all began to come together. The film is filled to the brim with gripping emotional moments. THe scene on the island, the piano in the gym scene, the wedding photo, the airport and the final scene in Australia (woohoo go Australia *does a little dance*) are all tear inducing (at least for me) I can unabashadly say i wept like a baby for much of this film. And not just little tears, hardcore streaming nose running tears. With the occasional audible sob in it as well. My only gripe is that it was quite long, but u become so engrossed in the story that you don't even realize. The acting is fantastic. THe actors for young Saku and Aki are mind-blowing in their portrayal of the younger lovers. Elder Saku (sadly do not know his name) and Ritsuko (Shibasaki Kou)get less screen time, but in their final moments of the film u get to see both of them and their fantastic skills. Particularly shibasaki. early int he film, she has a moment where she stares for what seems like eternity, and without moving at all begins to cry. It is gut-wrenching film Highly recommended to everyone. EVERYONE.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
...oh my stars and garters...
I have seen an awful lot of movies in my time...and I can honestly say that X-Men is one of the best, if not THE best.
Of course, you'll probably know the plot. A cure has been found for mutants, and while some mutants wish to have it, others are offended by the idea of it (eg: Magneto). So, these mega p-offed mutants band together to start (and hopefully end) a war against humans. More important than this storyline however, is that of the returning Jean Grey (the GORGEOUS Famke Janssen), who, though 'dead' at the end of the last film, has come back, and is wielding some terrifyingly advanced telekinetic power. This little lady packs a decidedly powerful punch. Problem is, she's throwing these punches at everyone :S
While significantly shorter than X2, X3 manages to pack in an awesome amount of action and IMO character. Sure, some characters who people are undoubtedly fans of (Colossus for example) get little screen-time, the leads get what they need to spark emotion. And the action, my goodness gracious, they're utterly jaw-dropping. I can honestly say that this is the only movie where my jaw has ACTUALLY dropped. The scenes of Magneto ravaging the Golden Gate Bridge, and ANY moment when Jean lets loose as Phoenix, is worthy of praise.
Also, as a gay teen, I can really understand the underlying message behind these movies, and the comics themselves. And while the message is a little less subtle this time around, it's just as important.
While some do bag out this movie saying it has 'hackneyed' lines etc, you've got to remember that this is a world where almost everything has been done in the movies...of course the dialogue is gonna sound clichéd...but dialogue is ALWAYS clichéd nowadays :( so deal with it, and watch the great movie that is X-Men 3 :D:D:D:D:D
PS: I wanna say that I am sick and tired of people failing to mention Phoenix in reviews etc....SHE'S THE MAIN BLOODY FOCUS OF THE FILM!!! ...Sorry...I'm a bit cranky :(
Batoru rowaiaru II: Chinkonka (2003)
What's the big?
I really don't see why people hate this movie so much!!! I am a huge fan of the original, it's possibly my all-time favourite movie. And, before watching BRII I was a bit apprehensive, after all the bad-reviews it's gotten (including one I found from a newspaper in Australia, which I was quite shocked to find). But I watched it and I found it to be quite entertaining and emotional. I'm thankful it wasn't just a rehash of the original, because just another classs of people killing each other wouldn't be good. Survivor Shuya Nanahara is now leader of a terrorist group to bring down the government and stop Battle Royale. So, the government creates BRII, where instead of students killing each other, they have to find and kill Nanahara on the island on which he and his terrorist group have hidden. From first reading the plot, I was excited. It sounded really different and exciting, and when I started watching I was very happy. The opening sequence of the two buildings imploding, very reminiscent of 9/11, was powerful, and I found it a good hook and lead on to the opening credits. The action is well spaced. The beginning is nearly all action, with explosions, gun shots, collar detonations and plenty of CGI blood. And towards the end i becomes more emotional, character stuff, and then finishes with a great final battle and a wonderful explosion.
Most of the characters were quite likable, even if you didn't get to know them (although, the guy who played tetsu has this habit of freaky eye-bulging...gross) and I did feel bad for them when their time came (As I knew it would have to). There were several characters I felt especially sorry for, even though they'd gotten very little screen-time. When Kazumi's collar is detonated, the look of terror on her face was gut-wrenching, especially after being pushed away by friends. Later, when one of these 'friends' collars also was activated, I was thinking 'ironic'. The collars also play a much greater role in this version. Instead of the students collars blowing for breaking the rules or entering a danger zone, this time it's connected to the collar of their roster partner, and should one of the pair die, the other's collar would blow to. Watching the landing sequence of all these kids dying for literally no reason except someone ELSE died, is pretty gut-wrenching.
I do understand why some people don't like it. It does have some stereo-typical characters and moments, and this class' teacher is nowhere near as good as Kitano from the original. And as someone on an IMDb board mentioned, Shuya did look like a Jedi... But I think its advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and I think it's one of the better movies I've seen.
King Kong (1933)
why in god's name is this so popular?
If this same film were made today, it would be racist, sexists and very VERY crappy. I understand in its day the technical aspects were astounding. But, seeing it now, and then seeing PJacksons remake, i cannot help but feel that the original was...far below sub-par. Although I wasn't perturbed by the crapperiffic effects, the fight scenes seemed incredibly labored, and done just to impress. Kong's fighting of the T-Rex was interesting, but got old fast, and his playing with it's broken jaw was cute for a moment, but got quite boring quite fast. And the complete absurdity of Kong's snap decision to start chomping on ppl was enough to make me snort with laughter.
And, last, while I love Fay Wray, Ann to me was a disappointment. I'd been brought up with the impression that her character loved Kong, only to discover that had been added in the first remake. I liked the idea that a woman could love (note: not fall IN love) such an untameable beast that she knew killed people. But her constant screaming and hatred for Kong disappointed me immensely.
I understand that for the time it was good, but watching it now, it's just not worth it.
Happy Tree Friends: Volume 1: First Blood (2002)
hilarious
I have a warped sense of humor, and this is the perfect series of shorts for me. It's about nothing really. A whole community of cute little animated animals, such as Cuddles the bunny, live out their lives as best as they can. However, in each episode, some kind of horrible mayhem ensues, which generally features a large amount of blood and gore. Some of the deaths are incredibly intricate, and all are laugh out loud hilarious. It truly is one of those rare gems of plain hilarity that in no way attempts a plot or satire. It just relies on the ability to make people laugh by having really cute animals have their faces swiped off, or have skunk's eyes come out of their heads and then dangle from their optic nerve. It truly is for a select group of people (cough- teenagers cough). But that doesn't mean that if u're not a teenager u cannot enjoy it. If u like animated animals dying, like Itchy & Scratchy times ten, this is 4 u.
Lost (2004)
Hyped.
I remember seeing the ads for this in January, here in Aus, and it looked so cool. Like Jurassic Park, and I love that movie. When I watched the first two eps, I thought it was everything I hoped it would be. A cool plane crash, nice sets, decent acting, pretty explosions, and a big scary monster. But, a few episodes in I started to realise just how boring it is. Half of the episodes are them saying stupid things which the writers claim is 'character' development. But it's boring. Some eps have no action at all. And when there is action it's five seconds long and turns out to be nothing. They also say that the show's about the character's secrets, but half the time it doesn't explain what the secret is. It leaves u hanging so much and it pisses u off. And it's not that I can't handle character development, I love that, but they way they do it is so dumb. And on to the 'monster'. I reckon there's been two eps with the monster in it, and those were the only good ones. It's fine that we don't know what the monster is, but not being able to see any portion of it is annoying. And the characters are so dumb while handling it. In the first ep, three characters are attacked by it, and yet they don't see a tiny little bit of it. Honestly, they so should be able too. On a whole, this whole TV show is one big hyped up thing of crap. Avoid it. If you want something with secrets etc. watch Desperate Housewives.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
Buffy's the ultimate in drama, for everyone.
BUffy is the best show ever. Acting from the cast is always top. From the beginning you cared for Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) Xander (Nicholas Brendon) Willow (Alyson Hannigan) Giles (Anthony Head) and to a lesser extent, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter). And eventually, you felt for the newbies, Oz, Anya, Spike, Dawn, Tara, Faith (for a time). There's too much to summarize in the plot department. Buffy's a vampire slayer, she lives on the mouth of hell, Giles is her Watcher, she has friends who help, and along the way she falls in and out of love, while preventing at least eight apocalypses. The action is generally top of the line. Sarah Michelle is an awesome butt-kicking babe, and other cast members, like Eliza Dushku and David Boreanaz are good too. Special effects are pretty good for a TV show. Of course, they screw up sometimes, like in the season 1 finale Prophecy. But the best part of Buffy is the total raw emotion, grief, and occasional 'terror'. When main characters bite the dust, it's not abnormal for one to cry, myself doing so on several occasions. For good episode's, try Welcome to the Hellmouth, Passion, The Harvest, Prophecy Girl, Becoming Pt 1 + 2, Graduation Day 1+2, Hush, Halloween and What's My Line 1+2, and those are only from seasons 1-4. Buffy is just awesome. If you don't like her, you're already on my enemies list. Duh duh duh.