Reviews

So we have GARO KAMI NO KIBA. It's an overall fun movie. As always, the fight choreography is very well done (typical GARO standard). However, the effects seem inferior to those of Goldstorm, which is 2 years older! I'm not sure what happened, maybe some issue with the film's budget, production problems... they're not as polished in some scenes. Of course, it's always good to remember that we're talking about tokusatsu, it's not supposed to be Hollywood-level CGI, but it's good to be at least decent. The direction of the film was okay; Amemiya Keita didn't quite put as much effort into his creation this time. Overall, it's a movie made for fans and lovers of the villain Jinga (lol). It's a cool film.

Leia Mais

Kairo, a Misunderstood Masterpiece

I love this movie so much, and I hate how shit on it is for the weak and vague story. I think what makes it scariest is the fact we have an idea of what's going on and yet not the full story, so we just have to watch as the loneliness destroys the characters.

This kind of horror is my favourite, no jumpscares, but gives me nightmares from how eerie it all is. After a while, I figured out that I'd never get a jumpscare but the music and sound design frightened me more than the ghosts did at times. The random silences followed by loud music and choir singing made me jump ngl.

The visuals of the early 2000s was just perfect for horror movies. It's got that slight grain that makes it feel dated but also very recent and that vintage horror aspect is just perfect.

I do have to criticise the acting, though not amazing or polytonous, it was okay. I feel there were points the characters could have had more emotion, like when Michi walked into Taguchi's house and saw his body, cus it kinda felt like they'd had to retake that one shot so many times the actress got tired.

BUT all that being said, this movie is great. People saying the American "remake" was better but I know y'all are lying, there's a reason why they remade it, because Americans can't appreciate good cinema. xx

Leia Mais

I liked this short film a lot, enough to watch it a second time. It's a story about a teenager who has to decide if he will go along with his "friends" and continue bullying another student or stand up to them and risk becoming an outsider and a victim of bullying himself.
I didn't see the queer subtext, not even on my rewatch. But I can see how it relates to the queer experience of trying to fit in and trying to go unnoticed but never truly fitting in and always feeling scared that your true ("weak") self will be discovered. It's a good film with a good, relatable protagonist.

Leia Mais

Lacked the Emotions

After the whole lot of yourube shorts recommendation of this Film I finally watched it. Its a fun plot with good acting but I feel it might have done better as a Drama wherein the writers could have shown more deeply into the emotions of the main and side characters....i just couldnt feel the presence of side characters and their importance. Also some characters were so annoying like i just fast forwarded at so many points..... I just couldnt feel any emotions building up in me.... neither to laugh or to cry or pure rage....at certain points i did find it Gross though.
Maybe a deeper insight into as to why the main leads changed so much after marriage would have been interesting

Leia Mais

Ce film japonais était dans mes recommandations Youtube, ou plutôt, un montage qui avait été fait sur celui-ci, ce qui me l’a fait découvrir et m’a donné envie de regarder le film. J’ai eu la chance de trouver un endroit où le voir assez rapidement !
...
My Happy Marriage est une romance fantastique très prometteuse, avec ce magnifique film, et avec une histoire qui mérite amplement une suite, voire plusieurs… que je me ferais un plaisir de regarder si cet espoir devient réel !

°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°

Avis Complet:
https://lamagiedeshistoires.wordpress.com/2024/01/30/en-rafale-dramas-films-janvier-2024/

Leia Mais

Full Action Packed Gangsta Film

Why is the villain scary? Because he stays calm. There are very few instances where Jang Chen lost his cool, but the truth is that he collected that anger and exerted that anger while killing his foes.
The film feels even better when we get to know it's a real life story about the gangs back in 2002–03 and how police somehow arrested these vicious MFs. The world building was good and Villain came with nothing but a desire to expand as quickly as possible.
The film's climax was good, action keeps getting better and the final battle just keep you on the edge of the seats.

Leia Mais

the fox...

It was a long movie but I didn't loose any minute of it. For sure it was easier for me to understand than for my companion who does not watch any eastern productions. It was beautiful. So much attention to detail, so much action yet great photos, and awesome moments of the Fox demoness, się was my favourite character, the ending was suprisely like a cut of actikn for me, really unexpected though the scenes were completed and it was a closure, and you better sit still till the end of the lines on your seat as you might miss of more to come. I did not know before that this will be a trilogy. I enjoyed it a lot. It was refreshing.

Leia Mais

30/01/2024

Don't expect this to be full on action or anything other than a story being told with a specific point.

Why is it so easy for some to condemn others for not being so fortunate in life or to treat someone like a lepar because of being the child of a convicted murderer.

It is not okay for teachers to ignore classroom bullying or teens/adults to be so vindictive towards someone for being the daughter or son of a felon.

Furthermore, it is unacceptable not to protect someone being mentally, physically or sexually abused - hell no! Sometimes you need to approach adults that can be trusted or the police because there are some things in life that are way over one's head.

Of course, if no one can be objective or non-judgemental it makes it harder still.

SPOILER ALERT

The female teenage victim in this had no real support with very limited protection so was quite isolated and all alone despite the brief association with the male adolescent (newcomer) and family member at home.

The newcomer did try to be friends, did have a few fights on her behalf, but he let her down when she needed him the most. If he was capable of taking on the high school bullies - what was one adult male? And then to sit on that incident and not report anything plus the church scene. I get he was young and wasn't to blame, but him not turning up that day and then ignoring her alienated that poor girl even more and likely drove it home in her mind just how alone she really was in the world.

I have read a few other comments to do with her last scene where some believe she died whereas others went with her running away somewhere.

What do I think happened?

I reckon she went somewhere to die because of the despair she felt, no one having her back, the trauma and everything being so overwhelming. The only thing she could trust or hold onto that brought a bit of happiness into her dismal life was the black goat and it most definitely wouldn't have been enough to save her nor was it hers to keep.

This movie is worth a watch!

Leia Mais

How to write a review on a 3-minute short movie? Make it short as well and hopefully meet the MDL word requirement. She Brought Colour into My World pushed the boundaries of censorship with this story of love and friendship between two women.

A lovely young woman resides in a world of stony black and white. The new neighbor has just returned from studying abroad wearing an ethereal white dress. Dressed in beautiful clothes both traditional and Western, the two neighbors meet and have an instant rapport and the young woman's world is filled with color. The woman in white regales her with stories from outside the walls and gives her a gift. They explore the city, dance and hold hands. In 3 minutes a whole relationship blossoms free from censorship or at least for a while and a choice must be made. Stay in the world of color or return as before to cold stone.

I enjoyed this short film that pushed the boundaries with its open subtext and told how love can bring color into our lives and just as easily take it away.

29 January 2024

Leia Mais

Not quite there...

This one was suggested by a friend who is more into occidental movies. I had my fear as it looked more occidental than Korean. Director is canadian and yes, you can tell she's been living way longer in Canada than in Korea. So the movie is put toghether more like an american indie movie than a korean one.

Story had potential, but it has many gaps and silences that are considered to be aesthetic in western indie movies. The long silence scenes with dull scenery do not add to this equation. Not even the soundtrack. I respect some japanese movies where they do sort of the same, but theirs are poetry somehow.

There is only one meaninful scene between main characters but it takes less than 5 minutes. I actually fall sleep before that as the pace was really slooooow. Oscar nominations? I'm way over the pedo academy awards.

Leia Mais

No courage

this began quite well and promised positive development then after half way and the focus on the divorce settlement went completely down hill ruined by Nagisa's character： maybe the intention was to show his magnanimous character so everyone would live happily ever after、 actually for me it showed his real character as completely selfish and self indulgent not to say narcissistic、 that is if we look at the history of the story： first he abandons Shun then appears from the blue and with the child of his marriage ! expecting to be taken back years later〜this may just be credible if we assume Shun could not surrender his love but it says nothing good about Nagisa's character but、 then having settled Sora in a happy household we have the unbelievable denouement in the divorce court： the mother cannot give up her career gets drunk and Sora is picked up on a busy road maybe just avoiding accident it is exposed in the court but then Nagisa who all the first part of the movie shows as a deeply caring father apparently has a dramatic attack of remorse towards his wife based on having taken care of Sora without giving her a fair share in Sora's upbringing！ this is literally incredible nonsense of a story 、of course the reason for that situation was not his selfishness but hers wanting to pursue a career、 so his ：magnanimous： gesture giving up Sora is both stupid and selfish because he is not thinking of the vulnerable child but the ineffectual wife and maybe it's also self-hating if ーwhich the arguments in the court case heavily portrayed ーhe accepts the homophobic premise that a gay family is weird unconventional and will make it difficult for Sora to grow up。 sorry but if this was part of his motivation ー which I think if we think deeply about it the denouement　implies ーit is just an exercise in reinforcing discrimination when the movie could have shown a positive outcome of a happy family based on a gay relationship。 I cannot avoid the suspicion also that it suits Nagisa's selfish character very well to be relieved of the burden of looking after his child to indulge in a "straight gay" relationship [if I may underline with oxymoron]。as noted above the denouement is also based on the completely ridiculous idea his wife would undergo a transformation into a loving and caring mother when she realises Sora is doing badly in her first weeks back with her： completely unrealistic we are not told what happened about the career demands they have magically disappeared it seems with no idea how she will now support herself and her child、 this just does not happen in real life only saints undergo overnight character and personality changes。 in short the whole movie falls apart in a confusion of contradictions and unrealistic impossibilities when it had the chance to make a real contribution to showing a positive picture of a gay family overcoming social discrimination〜 why show acceptance of the relationship by the very conservative village people and then having their support break up the family?? it does not make sense unless lacking the courage to live and work out a happy life as a gay family as part of the society ー courage lacked by Nagisa because I note it was Shun having the courage to declare his love before the villagers but Nagisa who ultimately broke up their family。of course a more positive outcome does not mean taking Sora completely away from her mother but giving her the happiest safest background to grow up in、 but then given the selfish character of Nagisa as ultimately confirmed by the outcome perhaps he could not after all have done that、 but the turnaround completely contradicted the more positive first two thirds of the movie。 I do not know if the writer thought this was some clever artistic twist in the story but it was a complete failure of artistic touch as well as a sell-out reinforcing the homophobia LGBTQ people must still continue to fight against even in western society and still more in Japanese。

Leia Mais