Last Movie You Watched

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Postby movieartman » Tue Oct 07, 2014 12:25 am

That was very unnecessary Ray!

Semi personal rant incoming
I maintain the rock is utterly fantastic, and I liked pearl harbor, have no idea why that's hated the romance was not half as sappy as I had been lead to believe and I like the cast.

Ok... transformers is a hard position for me. When the first one came out I was enthralled with it (I was a sophmore), It was the first film I saw in theaters sense godzilla 2000, (I had developed a aversion to being in theaters, don't ask there is no explanation I just didn't like being in them)
Stealth in 2006 almost got me to break that mold (I'm a life long jet and airforce fan) but transformers did it for me the trailers looked mind blowing I had never ever seen anything with special effects on that scale.
And for a bit I considered it my favorite film, then Iron Man came out, and then the dark knight assumed the position that holds strong to this day.
and looking back on it... I still have fun with the first transformers but the distance in quality between it and the dark knight is untold light years, I fully admit that.
Did it take my man hood no but it might have taken my special effects virginity :lol:

Revenge of the Fallen I like more than most, I think the fallen/Tony Todd is a great villain, the rail gun scene and megaton awakening is badass.
But yeah its well below the first one.
3 & 4 I have not seen
Lockdown in 4 intrigues me a lot as does Kelsey Grammer.


For context sake this is the top of my favorite movie list (it's a long list, and transformers is no longer on it)
1.) The dark knight (2008)
2.) Man of Steel (2013)
3.) Evangelion 2.0 (2009)
4.) John Carpenter's The Thing (1981)
5.) The end of evangelion (1997)
6.) Evangelion 3.0
7.) Alien (1979)
8.) Jaws (1975)


My rating system is the following
6 - THE ABSOLUTE
5 - AMAZING / SUBURB
4 - GREAT
3 - GOOD
2 - OK / MEH
1 - BAD
0.- HORRIBLE

the dark knight is a 6
Mos & Eva 2.0 are a high 5, and 4-8 are solid 5s

I'd give the rock bays best film a 4
Pearl Harbor and transformers a low 3
Revenge of Fallen a 2 maybe semi low 2

The only 0 I can Think of off the top of my head is batman & Robin

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Postby Squigsquasher » Tue Oct 07, 2014 5:33 am

Ray wrote:Am I the only one here who didn't give up his manhood to Michael Bay?

Oh for fuck's sake, give it a rest.
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Postby Oz » Tue Oct 07, 2014 11:54 am

Ryuichi Hiroki’s Vibrator: Despite its name, Vibrator is not a pink film or porn. It refers to the vibration of a cell phone. However, the film is quite intimate in its depiction of the relationship of a truck driver and a bulimic woman in search of herself. The film is particularly interested in the woman who is an internal wreck with a mixture of deep psychological problems that are not only related to her problems with alcohol and eating. The film lays out her thoughts in the open with a number of inner monologues. The lack of contact with others in her life leads her to the point that she impulsively hooks up with a truck driver. Vibrator is certainly one of the most physical and unflinching portrayals of a ravaged female soul. It doesn’t hesitate to depict her many complexes in detail as she begins to break down. However, the film is not without its problems. It isn’t completely balanced. For a film that is so rough and intimate its drama feels a bit cheesy at times. On the other hand, it is also unnecessarily vulgar at times. In the end Vibrator is a very good film that sheds light on a subject that gets often overlooked in other films.

Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises: If The Wind Rises ends up being Miyazaki’s final film, it is certainly an exit that Miyazaki can be proud of. Even though it is notably different from his other films it is not a surprise that Miyazaki ends his career with a film that features more flying than his other films put together. To top it off, it is based on the life of his personal idol, airplane engineer Jiro Hirokoshi. The first major difference to Miyazaki’s other films is in its atmosphere: the film is built around the dreams of its protagonist and they are quite imaginative - even to the point that they could be compared to some of the famous dream sequences from the films of Federico Fellini. One notable factor to the film’s unique atmosphere is Miyazaki’s brilliant idea to cast Anno in the lead role. Anno’s unusual voice and great performance do not only carry the film, but make the film and its protagonist more vivid. The second difference is that Miyazaki has never been as overtly sentimental and melodramatic as he handles the subplot about Horikoshi’s wife who struggled with tuberculosis. The melodrama in the film’s final third is slightly distracting as it is tonally so different from the rest of the film and is put together awkwardly - even though Miyazaki’s magnificent direction more than covers up for the problems. The Wind Rises is very exquisite in its detail: whether it is airplane construction, a reconstruction of the era the film is set in or the wild dreams of the protagonist, Miyazaki’s eye for small details is impeccable. It also extends to the animation quality: The Wind Rises has to be one of the most beautifully animated films I have ever seen. Miyazaki also shows that he can be innovative even at the end of his career as the sound effects used in the film are unlike anything else I have ever heard yet they work brilliantly. The film is clearly a work of passion for its director. He brings up Japan’s problematic history and politics, but lets them loom in the background as the film lays its focus on the protagonist. And the film is much better off that way than it would have been if it had tried to moralize Japan’s war actions.

Hiroshi Ishikawa’s Petal Dance: Ishikawa’s Petal Dance is a film marked by its minimalism. The film follows three women who go to meet an old friend after a failed suicide attempt. The narrative is very sparse as the film feels more like the audience is allowed to eavesdrop on the discussions of the women who are finding it hard to talk in the tough situation. Ishikawa follows them with long, quiet takes that set the film’s moody atmosphere. He lets the viewer feel the weight of the drama and allows the quiet atmosphere to soak in gradually. The hazy and blueish cinematography and Yoko Kanno’s good soundtrack make the film even heavier and more melancholic. The trip ends up being the source of spiritual refreshment for the characters. Each one of them is shown having some sort of trouble or worry concerning them at the beginning of the film and by the end of the film they reach their own silent epiphanies. With the sparse dialogue Ishikawa manages to build fairly mature and tangible characters although he prefers to simply captures their faces as they try to process their thoughts and emotions. Petal Dance is the right sort of meditative film: it doesn’t go on too long and the writing’s complexity isn’t sacrificed for the atmosphere’s sake.
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Postby Xard » Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:17 pm

View Original PostRay wrote:Am I the only one here who didn't give up his manhood to Michael Bay?


Well you're the only one who keeps talking about him. Stockholm Syndrome? :tongue:

(The Rock is fine action film even if rest of his filmography is rather unbearable garbage)

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Postby Squigsquasher » Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:21 pm

Say, Oz, which Kurosawa film would you recommend watching first? I've heard The Hidden Fortress is one of his all-time classics, and I know 7 Samurai is another of his better known ones. Any recommendations?
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Postby Xard » Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:24 pm

View Original PostSquigsquasher wrote:Say, Oz, which Kurosawa film would you recommend watching first? I've heard The Hidden Fortress is one of his all-time classics, and I know 7 Samurai is another of his better known ones. Any recommendations?


Seven Samurai is obvious place to start. Other good entry picks would be Yojimbo, Hidden Fortress and Throne of Blood. Rashomon too, but that's honestly more of a mindfuck feature than "samurai film" in any straightforward sense.

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Postby Bagheera » Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:26 pm

View Original PostXard wrote:Well you're the only one who keeps talking about him. Stockholm Syndrome? :tongue:

(The Rock is fine action film even if rest of his filmography is rather unbearable garbage)


Sometimes I think I'm the only person in the world who doesn't like The Rock. But then I'm very much not a fan of Nic Cage and bad science bugs me, so I guess it's no surprise.
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Postby Oz » Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:04 pm

View Original PostSquigsquasher wrote:Say, Oz, which Kurosawa film would you recommend watching first? I've heard The Hidden Fortress is one of his all-time classics, and I know 7 Samurai is another of his better known ones. Any recommendations?

Pretty much what Xard said. You can't really go wrong if you pick one of the films he made during the 50's. Seven Samurai and Rashomon are the most famous and influential ones, but Yojimbo and The Hidden Fortress are a lot of fun too. My personal favorite of his films is Ran which he made later in his career (1985), but that may not be a good entry to his filmography even if it's one of the milestones. I recommend picking the film that interests you the most out of the ones named in this topic. For the samurai epic that created the formula for all action epics, pick Seven Samurai. If you want good swordfighting action and straightforward entertainment, pick Yojimbo. If you want a funny and great adventure film, pick The Hidden Fortress. If you want a mindfuck-ish exploration of truth and evil, pick Rashomon. In addition, there's also Ikiru if you are looking for heartfelt tragedy.
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"Often I get the feeling that deep down, your little girl is struggling with your embrace of filmfaggotry and your loldeep fixations, and the conflict that arises from such a contradiction is embodied pretty well in Kureha's character. But obviously it's not any sort of internal conflict that makes the analogy work. It's the pigtails." - Merridian
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Postby Trajan » Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:36 pm

View Original PostSquigsquasher wrote:Say, Oz, which Kurosawa film would you recommend watching first? I've heard The Hidden Fortress is one of his all-time classics, and I know 7 Samurai is another of his better known ones. Any recommendations?


Yojimbo is the film I started out with and the one I'd recommend to anyone who's interested in exploring Kurosawa's filmography. It's probably his most entertaining film and the atmosphere in that movie is positively electric in how deftly it mixes black comedy and drama. I saw it when I was like 13 and I was enthralled from the get-go.

Other good starting points include Rashomon (the first Kurosawa film I showed to my sister, which she loved), High and Low (one of the best crime dramas ever in my opinion, it's almost like Japanese film noir if you're into that genre) and Seven Samurai (my favorite movie of all time, generally considered his magnum opus, and one of the few critically great movies that even general audiences love).

If you like all of those: Ikiru, The Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, and Ran are the ones I'd recommend next.
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Postby Squigsquasher » Thu Oct 09, 2014 5:08 am

Wasn't Throne of Blood the adaptation of Macbeth? I've heard some pretty great things about it, I'll definitely have to check it out.
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Postby Oz » Thu Oct 09, 2014 6:00 am

View Original PostSquigsquasher wrote:Wasn't Throne of Blood the adaptation of Macbeth? I've heard some pretty great things about it, I'll definitely have to check it out.

Yes. There are also other Kurosawa films which are based on Shakespeare's plays. Ran took inspiration from King Lear and The Bad Sleep Well is an adaptation of Hamlet.
"I'd really like to have as much money as you have, Oz" - robersora
"No you wouldn't. Oz's secret is he goes without food to buy that stuff. He hasn't eaten in years." - Brikhaus

"Often I get the feeling that deep down, your little girl is struggling with your embrace of filmfaggotry and your loldeep fixations, and the conflict that arises from such a contradiction is embodied pretty well in Kureha's character. But obviously it's not any sort of internal conflict that makes the analogy work. It's the pigtails." - Merridian
"Oh, Oz, I fear I'm losing my filmfag to the depths of Japanese pop. If only there were more films with Japanese girls in glow-in-the-dark costumes you'd be the David Bordwell of that genre." - Jimbo
"Oz, I think we need to stage an intervention and force you to watch some movies that aren't made in Japan." - Trajan

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Postby robersora » Thu Oct 09, 2014 6:41 pm

Gone Girl
Another great movie by Fincher. Loved how the media connected everything. Much tension, much laughs. Tight storytelling, no boredom. Wouldn't call it my favourite of his immense catalogue though.
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Postby Oz » Thu Oct 09, 2014 9:58 pm

Hiroyuki Okiura’s A Letter to Momo: When I first saw A Letter to Momo I felt it didn’t deserve all the critical praise it had received. After rewatching it I still feel the same. It tells the story of a mother and her daughter trying to get used to their new life on a small island after moving there from Tokyo. Meanwhile both of them are still haunted by the death of the father. On the island the daughter, Momo, comes across mythological creatures only she can see. These creatures act like youkai, the troublemakers of the Japanese mythology, and while they are intended to be frustrating with their pranks, A Letter to Momo’s biggest flaw is how irritating they are. They should be funny and somewhat endearing despite the chaos they cause, but especially in the first half of the film they are unbearable as they only steal and destroy everything. Otherwise everything works very well in the film. The titular letter refers to a letter the dead father never finished, which ties up with everything else as the two protagonists struggle to come to terms with their loss. The film’s drama is very much grounded in reality: when it comes to the portrayal of Momo attemping to get used to the island life and the depiction of parent-child relationships, the film is successful. It is a shame that the creatures push the film so badly off balance at times as it would otherwise be a truly magnificent film.

Tatsushi Omori’s The Whispering of the Gods: The Whispering of the Gods is a confusing film. It is repulsive. In a way it is a typical example of stagey deepfaggotry: it sacrifices convention and storytelling for the sake of thematical exploration with very weird scenes. It is full of sexual abuse, animal cruelty and God knows what else. The story begins as a murderer on the run from the police returns to the Christian seminar he grew up in and was abused by the priests. He unleashes his bottled up rage on the residents and lots of repulsive things occur. One could argue that it deftly portrays how perverse upbringing and childhood trauma corrupt a person and how that corruption keeps building up once the victim grows up, but I’m not sure if the film’s exploration of the theme is worthwhile enough - or whether I want to value the film’s utter nihilism. One can also see some sort of religious thematics in the mix as well, but it is uncertain what the director is after. What is certain that for a debut film Omori has crafted something completely unlike any other film out there and it is an unforgettable experience. What is weird about the film is that none of its profanity feels particularly shocking. It is repulsive, yes, but Omori is smart enough to keep it under control and films it in a clever way. In technical terms the film is a bloody masterpiece: its cinematography and editing are simply godlike. Before I saw the film I had been wondering why this hailed film had taken such a long time to surface anywhere, but now I know why: theaters and festivals had been unwilling to screen the film due to its controversial nature and only thanks to a producer’s creative risk taking the film ever saw the light of the day as he built his own film theater to screen the film for 6 months. Even after reading lots of reviews and pondering on the film for an hour, I am still not sure whether I like the film or not. I think that really sums up my mixed feelings.

Satoshi Kon’s Paprika: Even after Kon’s death Paprika remains his best known film because it introduced him to many new viewers back when it was released. Its depiction of a device that allows its user to enter other people’s dreams was unique and refreshing in a world that had not seen the massive popularity of Christopher Nolan’s Inception. The film still rides the waves of critical acclaim for its creative imagination and otherworldly plot. I remember liking it a lot when I saw the film for the first time, but recently I had become more and more skeptical whether the film is actually good and so I decided to rewatch it. I am sad to admit that my suspicion of the late master’s work turned out to be true. Just like Inception, Paprika is too self-indulgent with its convoluted plot. It gets mixed up with the dream logic at the sacrifice of developing its characters - and when it tries to do something with them it ends up feeling superficial. It is never a good thing when the titular character and the main antagonist remain entirely uncertain as characters. What is Paprika? Why is the antagonist doing what he is doing? The motivations of the characters and the plot turns remain odd even after the credits have rolled. While Kon’s direction is as surreal and visionary as it is in his other films, the awe-inspiring dream sequences and striking animation are not enough to save the film.

Yoshihiro Nakamura’s The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker: Nakamura has become well known as a director who specializes in telling funny stories with incredible strings of events that happen by coincidence. With The Foreign Duck (I have a bone to pick with the translator) he first used his now-familiar formula, but it is more understated and dramatic than his later output, such as Fish Story. A university student moves from Tokyo to Sendai to study at the local university. As he learns his way around the new environment he befriends a group of mysterious characters that drag him into their complicated and mystifying story. The film begins as a pure comedy with the protagonist trying to figure out what is going as the pushy friends keep telling him stories and force him to do weird stuff, including robbing a bookstore in order to get a dictionary. But as he begins to put the pieces together and unveils the truth, Nakamura changes the tone in a brilliant way to make way for serious drama. The tonal change is so drastic that you could even say the two halfs of the film are different movies, but it works surprisingly well. I don’t want to give away too much since the film’s charm lies in its story, but I can say that The Foreign Duck is one of the most pleasing films I’ve seen during the past few months. Even though Bob Dylan’s Blowin in the Wind is such a famous song with its own associations, Nakamura manages to use it well for his own purposes and by the time the end credits roll it is hard to not remember the film while listening to the song.
"I'd really like to have as much money as you have, Oz" - robersora
"No you wouldn't. Oz's secret is he goes without food to buy that stuff. He hasn't eaten in years." - Brikhaus

"Often I get the feeling that deep down, your little girl is struggling with your embrace of filmfaggotry and your loldeep fixations, and the conflict that arises from such a contradiction is embodied pretty well in Kureha's character. But obviously it's not any sort of internal conflict that makes the analogy work. It's the pigtails." - Merridian
"Oh, Oz, I fear I'm losing my filmfag to the depths of Japanese pop. If only there were more films with Japanese girls in glow-in-the-dark costumes you'd be the David Bordwell of that genre." - Jimbo
"Oz, I think we need to stage an intervention and force you to watch some movies that aren't made in Japan." - Trajan

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Postby Mr. Tines » Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:36 pm

Went with friends to see Filmed in Supermarionation, a documentary about the production of Gerry Anderson's puppet shows, from the primitive (Twizzle, Torchy) through a decade of increasing success to the series that seems to have been conceived purely in order to run the company into the ground (The Secret Service).

For me it was a trip down memory lane having started with Torchy back in the day (can't remember if I ever saw Twizzle); and a revelation in seeing quite how much of the art of puppetry they were having to invent in such a comparatively low-tech era. It also struck me quite how close to anime the whole thing was -- using a process of their own devising process whereby the puppet lip-flaps were driven by pre-recorded dialog, rather than having to sync to vague lip-flaps in post-production, for example (a side effect of which was puppets with anime-like candy-apple heads up to and including Thunderbirds, because of the need to fit the mechanism).

And of course, no discussion of the peak era Supermarionation series could be complete without the SFX, from the first sparkler-powered rocket launch in Torchy, through the levels of multiple rolling backdrops (including expensively filmed real cloudscapes), to the inevitable explosions, filmed at ultra-high speeds and played in slo-mo to give the appropriate sense of scale.

The audience did seem to be mostly people on the high side of 50, let alone 40, but if you want to see the behind-the-scenes work of one of the influences for a young Hideaki Anno, look no further.
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Postby Ray » Sat Oct 11, 2014 6:06 pm

October is here, and that means I have an excuse to watch Horror Movies my folks wouldn't let me watch back when I was a wee lad!

EVENT HORIZON (1997)
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Probably WS Andersons only truly great film. Event Horizon is equal Parts Alien and the Exorcist. Wonderful jumpscares, creepy atmosphere, nightmare inducing body horror (that decompression scene made me cringe in my seat).

It's actually refreshing to see a sci fi horror film that actually accepts the existence of a supernatural force. While most other Sci Fi films tend to make the threats their characters face be purely material, Event Horizon plays up the supernatural aspect. While other Sci Fi films such as Alien tend to give the characters and everyone involved a sliver of hope of defeating the monster and surviving, the invisible supernatural forces in Event Horizon are unknowable, uncontrollable, immaterial, manipulative, and by all accounts undefeatable. Escapable, yes. Defeatable? No way.

Thats sort've the issue with Horror movies though, once you've seen the monster, you've usually seen all it has to offer, and it becomes less and less scarier. By keeping the horror invisible, only giving glimpses here and there you leave more to the viewers imagination and in the end nothing is scarier than what the viewer can imagine.

Having said that although it is an entertaining and well done horror movie, it also has some really stupid moments in it. While other Sci Fi films in the same vein (such as Alien) keep their realistic and serious tone throughout, Event Horizon tends to break up the genuine horror and secondary reality with a few out of place moments of overtly cartoony plot conveniences, and really dumb comedy.

But the good in this movie far outweighs the bad. You can tell Sam Neil loves starring in Horror movies, and I'd say after this is probably his best role in any horror movie, playing a scientist who slowly but in the end willingly gives into the madness of demonic possession as Lawrence Fishburne's Captain Miller and his crew try their best to resist the forces beyond their control. Some succeed, some fail, and in the face of such existential horror who can blame them for losing their collective sanity?

I give it a:
7.5/10

Really Good, but flawed.

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Postby Bomby von Bombsville » Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:07 pm

Naked Killer
What the fuck? This is the "cult classic" I've been putting off watching for years? This movie invokes two goddamn syllables:
boooooooooorrrrriiiiiiiiiinnnnggggg
There's a few cool action sequences in the first third of the film and such but then it fell off. I really wanted to see Chingmy Yau kicking the asses of idiot men but there's way too much plot. And the plot sucks. And I'm going to go punch Wong Jing right now. Yeah, I know it was directed by Clarence Fok but Wong wrote and produced it. And he's had it coming for a long, long time. Not even worthy of its well-known "guilty pleasure" status.

Burn in hell, Wong Jing.

As for Clarence Fok, you can just take a time out in the corner.

Beginners
I remember seeing the trailer for this when it was first coming out and thinking that it looked like it would be a good movie. The only problem is that it's just an in the "boring guy meets cute girl and learns to enjoy life or some other shit" genre. I will say this: there were more than a handful of parts of this movie that I liked, and the parts I liked I really liked a lot. Especially the dog and Melanie Laurent, who I'd kind of like to make out with but that's beside the point. The point is that the lead character, played by Ewan McGregor, is one helluva boring sad sack, and I have no idea how Melanie Laurent's character was instantly attracted to him other than the fact that he's Ewan McGregor and he's handsome. But does handsome really make up for that much boring? I guess maybe she liked his dog, too. That being said, his voice over portions talking about life and sadness and stuff were pretty cool, so that could be his redeeming factor as a human being.

So yeah, I guess I rate this movie "average-ish" because I liked the dog and Melanie Laurent and the voice over. His dad was pretty cool, too. Come to think of it, maybe I'll rate this movie as slightly above average then.

Godzilla, King of All Monsters
My friends and I were expecting to see the original unedited Gojira by Ishiro Honda but then this came on, with some American journalist named Steve Martin inserted of the actual Japanese cast. I mean, they were in it too, but they were significantly cut out in favor of the not-that-Steve Martin-you're-thinking-of-Steve Martin. Surprisingly enough, the film is still enjoyable in its edited form, but the ending lacked the emotional impact it would have had if three of the characters in a triangulated relationship had been more fully fleshed-out, which I imagine they were in the original. I don't know, because I haven't seen the original. I wish I had before I saw this.

Still pretty decent overall, though I really just want to watch the original now.
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Postby Dataprime » Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:15 pm

View Original PostBomby von Bombsville wrote:
though I really just want to watch the original now.

Do it! It's soo much better than the "American" version.

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Postby Oz » Sat Oct 11, 2014 10:05 pm

Satoshi Kon’s Tokyo Godfathers: Tokyo Godfathers is the ultimate Christmas movie. In it a homeless trio find an abandoned baby among the trash on Christmas Eve and decide to find the baby’s parents. The plot synopsis sounds quite heavy for a Christmas film. Even more so, all of the characters from broken families wrought by drinking and gambling problems among other sad flaws. Yet Kon’s masterful take on the heavy subjects makes the film into an inspiring experience that is fitting for Christmas. The film does not romanticize its depiction of the homeless life, but it treats them with respect. It is full of hope for the suffering characters that struggle for happiness in the desolate world. The characters are the film’s charm: the main characters belong to Kon’s most colorful and unforgettable characters, which says quite a lot considering the director’s rich films. The banter of the trio is very funny and well-written. In fact, the whole film is very funny, but it never screws around like it would have in the hands of a less capable director.

Tatsushi Omori’s The Ravine of Goodbye: A mother kills her son. The media are scrounging around the family’s home. The mother claims that a neighbor was involved. The media uncover that the neighbour was involved in a gang rape incident as a high school student. Thus begins the film’s unflinching investigation into the consequences of a rape crime and media frenzy. It is not pleased with just documenting how the lives of both the perpetrator and the victim go from bad to worse (which is covered very quickly), it is instead more interested in how the two feel for each other and how the perpetator wants to atone for his crime. If Omori’s The Whispering of the Gods lacked humanity, this one has enough of it to share with other films. What The Whispering of the Gods missed was a script that I could accept. Otherwise it was the work of a debuting visionary who was already in control of his craft. The Ravine of Goodbye shows that he has matured a lot as the film is a thematically multilayered and dramatically ravishing masterpiece that delivers its drama with chilling conviction and ambiguous emotion. I can already tell that this movie won’t leave me alone for a while. And that is always a sign of a genuine masterpiece.

Yosuke Fujita’s Fine, Totally Fine: Fine Totally Fine is an oddball comedy that revolves mostly around two friends: the bookstore owner’s childish slacker son who dreams of creating his own haunted house and a genuine Mr Nice Guy who is struggling to get a girlfriend so badly that his middleaged co-workers are working together to find one. Once they come across a clumsy and shy woman who stalks a homeless lady and paints pictures of her, both of them fall for her and start to fight over her. I guess it goes to tell a lot about the film’s relaxed and quirky nature that it takes more than half of the film’s running time to connect the three characters. And even then the story doesn’t really go anywhere and the characters do not really develop. Instead the film likes to delve in its dry, manner-of-face style of humor that might attract only a small niche. Nevertheless it’s a pleasant comedy that allows the viewer to take one’s mind off other things and enjoy its freely floating story. For better or worse, there is not much more to the film than that.

Masayuki Suo’s I Just Didn’t Do It: In Japan, groping in trains is a widely discussed crime. Nowadays if a woman says she was groped, then the man is pretty much convicted, regardless of whether he actually did it or not - not to mention that evidence is actually unnecessary for that outcome. This system has led to the point that it is possible for innocent men to be trapped by the system. In veteran director Masayuki Suo’s I Just Didn’t Do It, a man is false accused of groping a high school student. He denies it and ends up in an exhausting row of interrogations, jail visits and trial sessions. Suo portrays the trial process in close detail: the film is full of dialogue-heavy scenes that expose how the judicial system works in Japan and especially points out the flaws in it. What Suo wants to be discussed is how the system is geared towards a conviction instead of making sure that justice is served. It considers the defendant a guilty person unless proven otherwise, which is very different from figuring out whether the defendant is guilty or not. Suo criticizes the system with the power and firmness of a veteran director. The irony of the system becomes even greater as the actual perpetrators are let out easily and quickly to live on their lives if they admit right away. The film portrays how the system all the way from the police to the judges bully the innocent protagonist for a year. I Just Didn’t Do It is a very devastating and determined masterpiece that wants to get its message through, but it never succumbs to using cheap tricks or melodrama to achieve it.

Naoko Ogigami’s Rent-a-cat: In Rent-a-cat, a young cat lady spends her days with her army of cats, renting them to lonesome people she deems worthy of receiving a cat. Essentially the film takes a peek into the lives of 4 characters who rent cats to change their own lives. Ogigami excels in making comedies of eccentric characters and Rent-a-cat is not much different of her usual output. The film handles its bizarre characters with silly seriousness and isn’t afraid of going over-the-top with exaggerations. While Ogigami is not covering any new ground, she knows how to keep the style firmly under control. Mikako Ichikawa’s lead performance is also good, which is not surprising considering that she has crafted her career out of playing similar characters in quirky comedies. After the storylines of the 4 characters are over, the heroine herself gets a life lesson and thus end the sweet, little story. Which was perhaps a little too sweet.
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Postby soul.assassin » Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:47 pm

Masayuki Suo’s I Just Didn’t Do It: In Japan, groping in trains is a widely discussed crime. Nowadays if a woman says she was groped, then the man is pretty much convicted, regardless of whether he actually did it or not - not to mention that evidence is actually unnecessary for that outcome. This system has led to the point that it is possible for innocent men to be trapped by the system. In veteran director Masayuki Suo’s I Just Didn’t Do It, a man is false accused of groping a high school student. He denies it and ends up in an exhausting row of interrogations, jail visits and trial sessions. Suo portrays the trial process in close detail: the film is full of dialogue-heavy scenes that expose how the judicial system works in Japan and especially points out the flaws in it. What Suo wants to be discussed is how the system is geared towards a conviction instead of making sure that justice is served. It considers the defendant a guilty person unless proven otherwise, which is very different from figuring out whether the defendant is guilty or not. Suo criticizes the system with the power and firmness of a veteran director. The irony of the system becomes even greater as the actual perpetrators are let out easily and quickly to live on their lives if they admit right away. The film portrays how the system all the way from the police to the judges bully the innocent protagonist for a year. I Just Didn’t Do It is a very devastating and determined masterpiece that wants to get its message through, but it never succumbs to using cheap tricks or melodrama to achieve it.


This could be worthwhile to watch, for all I know is that the current justice system there has some of the highest conviction rates of any country; the state prosecutors really do slam-dunk the cases straight in to keep the rate high.

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Postby Squigsquasher » Sun Oct 12, 2014 1:08 pm

Dracula Untold: Saw this at the cinema, did not regret it. Interesting take on the Dracula myth, and an actually decent attempt at portraying a vampire as a sympathetic individual.

VERDICT: Bloody good stuff.

Godzilla (1954): Even after 60 years, this film remains a superb work of fiction and a grim reminder of the destructive power of WMDs. I honestly enjoyed this a lot more than the 2014 version- whilst Godzilla 2014 was basically an action movie with Big G in it, the original has a surprising amount of depth to it- I'd say it's a shining example of how to make an anti-war movie. It's doubly poignant considering it was made only 9 years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

On the technical side of things it was great too. At times it looked a bit dated, but on the whole the effects were incredible, especially for the time. Godzilla himself had a real sense of mass to him, and that roar...

So yeah. Brilliant movie.

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