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Flipped (2010)
voice over ruins it
Friend of mine read a review saying this movie reminded the reviewer of a Miyazaki film. Being a Ghibli fan myself, I had to watch it. Lets see: The movie isn't bad. It brings a lot of nostalgia of that bitter-sweet moment we all had as children: our first love. All the happy moments and all the emotional roller-coaster that came with it. My problem are the voice overs. The ENTIRE movie format is based on them. We're already seeing whats happening so we don't need the protagonists explaining it to us. Maybe some small bits would've worked. But not every single step. Not the full time. It gets tedious. If you can bypass that, then the movie isn't too bad.
Twilight (2008)
like giving Barbie a Machine Gun
I'm a grown up and a reasonable man, so I have no problem in understanding when a movie is "for girls, by girls". But using vampires or any other popular character type, you have to respect the basic standards. Vampires don't sparkle in the sun, they die. Vampires have fangs. If I'm seeing a movie about vampires and werewolfs, I want to SEE vampires and werewolfs. (AT LEAST go to the dollar shop and buy some plastic fangs) Sure, girls reading this review might disagree because I'm a man. But how would you feel if someone made a Barbie movie and give Barbie a machine gun??!! Betrayed? Ripped off?? Directors would be killing the very essence of the character. And thats EXACTLY how I feel here. It just doesn't work. And I'm being extremely generous with this review. I could go on an endless rant but I guess the lack of stars speak for itself.
The Condemned (2007)
battle royale rip-off
Nothing new under the sun, nor under the land of the RISING sun. Battle Royale was probably based on Wedlock, and this one was based on Battle Royale itself. Being both a WWE fan and Asian cinema fan, I wouldn't have any problem with that. But similarities felt like a lot more than just coincidences: You can NOT mess with a great and cult movie like Battle Royale and do it wrong: This movie was a Battle Royale RIP-OFF. Basically add 15% of "The Running Man" ,85% of Battle Royale, remove all emotions replace them with action and thats it. I loved old-school WWE and how the rattlesnake Stone Cold Steve Austin drank beer and drove Vince insane every time, when wrestling had attitude (pun intended) and Stone Cold was the master of the middle finger, so you might as well call me a Stone Cold fan. But here, I was disappointed by the acting and the script. . Still an OK movie, but not a "good" one. Nothing new or original. Go with battle royale instead
Disaster Movie (2008)
Movie lives up to its name
what can I say. It truly IS a disaster. My friend was moving out and throwing some old stuff away. Saw her throwing this DVD so I said don't. You NEVER throw a working DVD to the trash bin. Took it home. wow, Little did I knew: This movie is garbage!! Terrible acting, terrible references (some of those movies were actually good, didn't deserve a mockery like this one) The one and only saving grace would be Nicole Parker being a great actress (maybe the only good one on this movie) but the character is terrible anyways, so NO SAVING GRACE!! (well at least they came up with the best title) This movie sucks and went from one trash bin to another (literally)
Avatar (2009)
good, but not THAT good.
why do people enjoy the movie that much?? Went to see it some days ago (yes, on a 3D Cinema. wo-hoo!! Big deal had more fun with 3D movies on Universal Studios, and it was 1995) Avatar is a mix-up between The Smurfs and Pocahontas. 40 minutes of spectaular visual effects, another 30 minutes of "just good" effects. And the rest, nothing. Just a boring, predictable plot. I give this movie 4 stars out of 10 because granted the effects are amazing, but I don't go to watch a movie just for the special effects. No matter how good they are (and they ARE), is still a bad movie if it doesn't have a good plot to back it up. Not a "terrible" movie, but highly overrated.
EuroTrip (2004)
couldn't stop laughing.
This movie has only one major flaw: people take it too seriously. The European stereotypes are terribly exaggerated so they hit the point of falsity and absurd humor, and people seem to get annoyed and offended by that. But I'm British myself and all I can say is: THATS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE MOVIE!! Its a COMEDY!! and I'm not a huge fan of "American Pie" style movies, but I think EuroTrip was hilarious. Fun plot, good actors, laughed from start to end. Best teen comedy I ever saw. Just relax your head a bit, put the kids to bed and get ready to enjoy some crazy, sexy but mostly FUNNY movie. Just think of it as a stupid teenage sex movie. You take it like that, you enjoy it is a very funny movie. You take it too seriously and "offensive", you loose.
Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Fail. Go with forbidden kingdom instead...
as many other reviewers, I grew up watching DB. Between some good action series (dark angel) and action movies (Fantasic Four) I thought Fox was going to do a good tribute. But no. This movie was terrible. Plot was changed deliberately it had almost nothing to do with the original saga. Fight scenes were good but minor and other than one or two cheap "After Effects" power blasts (won't reduce myself to call those abominations kamehameha or mafuba) the movie failed to impress me. Not only they disprespected us old-school fans, but also a great and very known Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki, who composed a song SPECIALLY for Toriyama and the movie. And guess what? Fox didn't use it!! Well they did, but only in stupid credits that song was fantastic for an action scene. What a joke!! If you want to see a good "live action version" of Dragon Ball, go with "Forbidden Kingdom" (Jackie Chan and Jet Li). Not really based on Dragon ball but on Monkey King (DB too so they have some similarity) This movie just doesn't worth it. Except three hot chicks and a fantastic (altough terribly misused)song by Ayu, there is nothing I can save nor recommend about this movie. Are you a DB fan? You can avoid this. I give it two stars instead of 1 because granted, its still way better than the one china did in 1991. But don't get fooled: both movies suck anyways.
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
not Ghibli's best, but close enough
I'm a huge Ghibli fan and admit this was a great movie and deserved every single prize it won. Had some cute "Ghibli treats" like the Susuwataris (Totoros Dust Bunnies) but overall, and maybe for the first time, I didn't felt the originality Ghibli has everyone used to: Whole concept of being trapped inside a new world and trying to save it before returning to their own reminded me a lot of Neverending Story. Could be coincidence in there, but then you see that Chihiro must protect her identity and name before she forgets it. Exactly the same happened to Bastian. Haku can turn into a flying dragon (although his hair reminds me of Atreyu), Neverending story has Falcor the luck dragon. I read the book and watched the movies as a kid, I see a heavy influence here. Spirited away is a great film, I just didn't saw anything new. Not Ghiblis best. Probably number 3 next to Princess Mononoke and Grave of the fireflies. (I'd give this title 5 stars, you can thank NoFace for the extra ones)
Jû yon sai no haha (2006)
Juno who?
Juno McGuff is a good movie that awares teenage girls and their known ones about dangers and consequences of early pregnancy. A problem that exists on our society so we need movies like this to deliver the message. "Enjoy your youth". But on personal opinion, the movie COULD've been A LITTLE more serious. Plot deserved it. ""Jû yon sai no haha" or as known in English "Mother at 14" ,has the perfect dramatic balance that plot needs for the message to work. Here the girl is 14, and she doesn't only want to HAVE the baby, she wants to KEEP the baby. As twisted as this sound, and of course at first with heavy family opposition, she puts a LOT of thought about being a mother. She's forcing herself to "act grown up" and transforms her into a very mature woman. A 14 years old mature woman.. I can't call the character a "girl". The actress may be young but deserves an Oscar for best actress her mannerisms and seriousness to play the part are breath-taking. No matter if you liked Juno or not, I think Mother at 14 is an important piece to watch to make a comparison between the two of them. Both had their own angle to play with the topic, Japanese and American culture are different and their public is different too. I'm British myself, but if you ask me, Japan way works better.. 10 stars.
Andromedia (1998)
acting could be better, but worth a look anyways
funny how people call this a Matrix rip-off.. Japanese culture played with the idea some years before Matrix was even CREATED. (Ghost in the shell, 1995, Andromedia, 1998. Matrix: 1999) American culture did as well someone mentioned Tron ? Around 1980s I think? .. The idea has been going around for some time there. is no rip-off. I think it was a good, well thought movie. Specially for their times the cyberpunk/thriller, romance combination worked great. True some of the actresses could be a bit better, but SPEED is a Japanese pop group not actresses. I think they did a good job and this is a must see for all oriental cinema fanatics.
Jisatsu sâkuru (2001)
Are you connected with yourself?
This kind of movies might be low-budget ,so visual effects can look a bit cheesy from time to time: (There is one scene where if you focus long enough you can even spot crew members throwing buckets of fake blood on the background. Guess we could call that one a blooper) But does all that make it a bad movie? No, not at all!! We're talking about a serious movie here. a very, VERY good drama/horror one. I still don't know what is going on inside Japanese directors mind regarding their perception of youth. (Fukasaku, Hideaki Anno, now Sion Sono) but I find it intriguing yet fascinating how they can turn real life problems (like suicides on this case) into instant classics. This is an emotional, reflective movie and I recommend it 100%. 10 stars.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
anime fan heaven
Well I reviewed this title on my website some years ago, here I paste my original review because I think this movie deserves it: This movie is like watching a Live-Action Japanese animation. And no, I'm not just talking about the animated sequence by Production I.G (Ghost int eh Shell). I'm talking about the ENTIRE movie. I strongly recommend Kill Bill to everyone, both movies but mostly volume 1 and mostly to anime lovers. Besides the samurai feeling and the Japanese animation tribute, there are many reasons why an otaku may enjoy this:
1) Character names: Curious little detail. Tarantino is taking some names right from a well known Japanese Video game company called SNK. First, when the movie is about to begin and the credits are rolling, we see one of the producers "Goro Daemon" (Goro Daemon is a character from the popular video game King of Fighters) Then at the movie we have "Hattori Hanzo" (Ninja from the "Samurai Shodown" video games)
2) Uma Thurman's yellow outfit is obviously a tribute to Bruce Lee. Great way to honour a Kung-Fu legend if you ask me, very well done.
3) Gogo Yubari: Teenage schoolgirls with powerful weapons that become fierceless warriors? Come on, THAT was invented by Japanese animators. Name any manga or anime you want, you'll have at least one of those girls. Tarantino you earned an A+ (btw, Tarantino contacted Chiaki Kuriyama for the role after watching her at battle royale, cult cinema film)
4) Sword fights, positions, movements, Samurai honour. A visual delight for people that enjoy watching traditional samurai movies and animes like Rurouni Kenshin 5)The blood and "violence": If you like Gore (Perfect Blue, Genocyber) You'd like Kill Bill. Blood in the movie looks fake enough not to become disgusting, but at the same time real enough not to become ridiculous. Perfect balance.
So as you can all see, I really liked this movie and think that no otaku should miss it. I love Japanese culture and I'm an Uma Thurman fan. Luckily, Tarantino is fan of both things as well so this movie just rocks.
Not an anime fan?? don't care. Watch it anyways, this movie is so fantastic that it has a little bit for everyone. One of my favourite films, if not THE favourite one. Don't miss it!!
Die unendliche Geschichte III: Rettung aus Phantasien (1994)
neverending reputation? Ended!!
Neverending story 1 was my favourite movie as a kid. But a lot came while growing up and in the process, I confess I completely missed parts 2 and 3. Now I discovered them by chance and was really curious.. OK, part 2 is not bad but failed to impress me as the first one. Part 3, for god sake what a disappointment. Why did they even bother? Why is Rockbiter so small? What happened to Atreyu? even the known characters as Falcor are completely changed (Lucky Dragon? More like "GRUMPY dragon" here) Also the book cover is green? What happened to the normal red cover? They TRIED to respect the original story, but they failed. Miserably. As a kid I imagined Fantasia as this wonderful imaginary world, full of dreams and illusion. Thanks to this movie, my image of Fantasia has been reduced to Rockbiter buying an electric guitar and joining a Rock band and also Childlike Empress using Aurin for her shopping sprees. Don't ask, just don't watch it. If you want to keep your childhood memories intact, stay at Neverending story 2. Story ends there anyways, this was completely unnecessary. Avoid.
Azumi (2003)
mastering a sword is not an art, its a way of life
since Kill Bill 1 I never saw such a wonderful sword choreography. But it wasn't just for the honour, the pride and the respect that I feel for the Asian samurai culture that I liked this movie, it was the plot. A very interesting plot that really caught my attention. The movie tells us the story of a young girl called Azumi. While still a little girl, Azumi's mom died in an accident, so together with 9 other kids, she was adopted and raised by a retired samurai.
The 10 children were raised as samurais, learning all the secrets of mastering a sword so they could complete a secret mission that their "father" never wanted to tell them. But now, the 10 kids have become teenagers, its time to reveal the mission: Destroy all the powerful feudal people that could create gigantic wars, just to obtain a little power. So thats when Azumi and the guys found out: They were NOT being raised as samurais, they were being raised as murderers. Will they do the mission? Are they ready for the mission? They'll have to past a test, a horrifying test to see which of them are ready and which of them are not. If they pass the test, they have two targets to kill. The first one will be a piece of cake, the second one won't be that easy...
"Azumi" movie is based on a manga by the same name. I never had the chance to read the manga, but I really recommend this movie. A movie where murderers are not cold-hearted serial killers. They are just teenagers, feeling guilty by every step they take and by every person they kill. Just normal teens trying to accept (and avoid) their destinies.
Stacy (2001)
touching, gore masterpiece
cheesy effects? yes, probably a low budget movie. Does that mean the movie turns ridiculously funny as some critic say? No, it doesn't. The effects are good enough to work, and the plot is really catchy it will bring some tears to your eyes, from beginning to end.
Lets suppose you have a daughter, she turns 16 or something and she dies. Now in front of you, you have a brainless zombie coming closer and closer. She doesn't remember who she was, the only thing she knows, is that she wants your blood. She wants to byte you, she wants to eat you. I mean OK, you could kill the zombie in self-defence... But can you do that?? I mean that zombie was your daughter once. How could you do it? Could you really kill her? Would you have the heart? Thats what the movie is all about. The suffering, the pain, the constant guilt of parents and friends having to destroy their loved ones in self-defence. And also the constant worries of girls that are still alive, knowing that sooner or later their time will come too.
I think this movie is very serious and its a true gore. As gore as Genocyber or Evil Dead. And if someone takes it as a joke, then I guess they're not human.
If you have the chance to see it, I'm serious: Don't miss it!!
High School Musical (2006)
not Billy Elliot, but worth a look
well, I'm a guy, 27 years old. I don't usually watch this kind of movies, but I was a little sick of seeing the trailer on the TV like every 20 minutes. So dunno, I've seen Disney animations, I like music, OK, lets give it a shot.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I can't call it a "great" movie, but I liked it, it was way better than I expected. The choreographs in general were very nice, but I had some problems with the voices.. OK so the blond girl and her brother are great performers, I'm pretty sure they're singers on real life... But about Troy and Gabriella (sorry dunno the actors real names), I'm not really convinced. Troys voice was a lil too nasal, and it didn't sound natural. It was either computerised or playback. Same with Gabriella, she had a wonderful sweet voice, I loved it, but it didn't sound like her real voice as well. Well dunno what else to say, I mean with real voices or not, all the choreographs and songs were really good (specially the "keep your head in the game", I enjoyed that a lot) And all actors are excellent, so yeah I think its a good family movie. I mean is something you can enjoy no matter if you're 5, 20 or 70.