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Movie Review ~ Flavors of Youth (2018)

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flavors-of-youth

Language watched: English

Rating: 5/5

Netflix Internation Version

From CoMix Wave Films, the creative visionaries behind the international phenomenon Your Name, comes Netflix’s new anime feature film Flavors of Youth. Told in three chapters in three cities, Flavors of Youth explores the simple joys of life through sensual memories and how the beating heart of love cannot be defeated by the flow of time.

This is quite a cute anthology of three different stories about growing up, how time passes us by, and how even if things change, it might be for the worse. There are sad parts of the three stories, and there are uplifting as well. As always, this studio brings you a range of emotions and leaves you satisfied. Life is what you make it, and while you can’t go back into the past, you can shape your own future. I definitely recommend for anyone who enjoyed Your Name or Weathering with You.

Dani

Review of Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic

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black_butler_book_of_the_atlantic

Title: Book of the Atlantic

Series: Black Butler

English Producing Company: Funimation

Funimation/Amazon

Review by: Dani Hoots

Rating: 5/5

Back cover:

Ciel Phantomhive and his demonic butler, Sebastian, are back—but their next case has them treading some rough waters! Aboard the luxury liner Campania, the two investigate an illegal human experiment that involves resurrecting the dead. But the closer they get to the truth, closer they are to their own deaths! Will this be their final case, or will one hell of a butler keep them afloat?

Review:

I got to see this in theater and ordered it ASAP when Funimation finally released it on DVD. In the manga, this is one of my favorite arcs as Elizabeth finally gets her debut of being a badass. I do love how the Black Butler franchise is making movies of Black Butler arcs and I hope they do the German arc and the School arc.

One of my other favorite parts of this movie is the Undertaker. I am behind in the manga (I should go catch up right now…) and want to know what plan the Undertaker has, if he even has a plan.

Best Harry Potter in Berlin, Germany – Yelp

The art in this movie is as beautiful as always and the voice actors did a great job with their roles. Nothing seemed off putting to me, as I have seen in some other anime, and the movie seemed to follow the manga closely from what I remember. It is definitely a movie all Black Butler fans should watch, and if you haven’t watched Black Butler, then watch the first season through the Curry arc, then the Book of Circus, then Book of Murder, then this movie. Ignore the second half of the first season and season two… For your own sake.

Movie Review ~ Star Wars: The Force Awakens

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sw-the-force-awakens

Why I didn’t like the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens.

Okay, to start off, I grew up on reading Star Wars. I love the books, I love the plot that they developed, the character developments and everything. Even after my favorite character died in the books I still understand why it happened and that it was necessary for the story. That being said, most people think I’m bias of why I didn’t like the movie, but here I am going to say why I didn’t like it comparing it to the books, and for the movie by itself.

<<<<<<<WARNING SPOILER ALERT>>>>>>>

Continue reading →

Movie Review ~ Burke and Hare

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burke_and_hare

Burke and Hare (2011)

Country: United Kingdom

Language: English

 

Based on the true story of the murderers Burke and Hare, this movie is an interesting comedy about how these two men (and Hare’s wife) killed people in order to make money by selling the bodies to the medical professors who needed bodies to teach students with. It started out innocent enough, as the first body had actually died by natural circumstances, but the two men got greedy and started killing others.

It is so weird that this is based on a true story. Seriously, how did they thing they would get away with it? Then again, it was the nineteenth century…

The movie itself was rather comical, and Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis did a great job playing the two murderers. There were also some other familiar faces, including Tim Curry and Isla Fisher. The scenery of Edinburgh was great and it made me miss the city.

I give this movie a 4/5, as it was pretty good and interesting, but could have been written a little clearer. I had a hard time understanding the doctors and what exactly they were doing. But if you like historic comedies, do check it out!

Until next time!

Dani

 

Movie Review ~ Kuroshitsuji / Black Butler

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Language: Japanese

Subtitles: English, Chinese

Japan

Set in 2020 in Asia, East and West cultures combine and Phantomhive is run by a young girl who has sold her soul to Sebastian, a devil. People are being mummified and whoever is behind it may be behind Phantomhive’s parents that she swore revenge for. Can she defeat them with her hell of a butler at her side?

This movie is a lot different from the manga/anime, as it’s set in the future. Why they did that, I have no idea. But Sebastian and a lot of aspects mimic those in the manga/anime, like his defeating everyone with cutlery.

If you don’t mind the fact they changed a lot of things, this is actually a really good movie. The subtitles sucked and weren’t that good, but it was understandable. The acting was very good, the camera, and special effects were quite spectacular. I didn’t think Sebastian fighting with forks and knives would look good in live action but they did a wonderful job, along with Mei Rin Lin’s fighting scene.

The plot was straight forward, and it actually closes at the end of the movie, not leaving us hanging like the anime and the manga is still going.

So if you are a fan of Black Butler and don’t mind the change, go for it! But if you are someone who hates when they rip things apart like the new Star Wars movie, then I wouldn’t advise watching it. I give it a 4/5 for being a pretty good movie, but the subtitles need work and they did change up the story a lot.

Until next time

Dani

Movie Review ~ New Orleans Mon Amour

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New Orleans Mon Amour

Language: English

Produced by: Voodoo Production Services

USA

A year after Hurricane Katrina a doctor and young woman run into each other years after their love affair. Henry is trying to get back together with his ex-wife and Hyde is trying to start her life anew, but will they be able to resist each other? Very unlikely.

I downloaded this movie from Amazon due to my interest in New Orleans and because I am a fan of Christopher Eccleston. This movie appeared to be small budget, and I wonder if some of the people telling their tales are actual residents. It is a pretty eye-opening movie, showing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The acting was all right, though Christopher Eccleston did a really good job. I believe he did this movie because of his love for New Orleans. The camera work could have been a little better.

The story was pretty interesting, about love during chaos. These two characters just wanted to help the society, but hurt those closest to them. It could have been written a little better, as it didn’t quite make sense for the guy Hyde was with and his reaction.

All in all, if you like indie films or a fan of New Orleans or Christopher Eccleston, check it out. I give the film a 3.5/5.

Until next time!

Dani

Movie Review ~ Kopfstand

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Kopfstand

German (English Subtitles but my DVD player is broken and can’t turn subtitles on)

Produced in Austria (1981)

I picked up this movie because I am a BIG Christoph Waltz fan. Released in 1981, this was one of Waltz’ first movies, and even back then he was a great actor. Everyone in this movie did a very good job in the movie and I wished that I knew a bit more German to understand everything that was going on.

The movie follows Markus(Waltz) as he gets in a fight with his mother. He is acting out like any young man who hasn’t had much support from his parents. Expecting him of being a criminal, he has him committed and he is thrown into an asylum. He obviously isn’t mentally ill but the doctor is corrupt and keeps him there anyway. Markus escapes a few times but is taken back. He then befriends and elderly lady, who helps him stay sane through all this (as he is being given electroshock therapy and witness an inmate hang himself). New doctors come into the asylum and realize that there is nothing wrong with Markus, but the scars have already left their mark on him.

This movie was very interesting and very touching. It is like a lot of other stories on the subject of asylum and some of the corruption that was going on during the time. It is filmed in black and white, and while I understand it was to make the movie seem more classic and serious, but in some scenes the lighting was too dark to see anything (I mean, we want to see Waltz’s face right?). But it definitely added to the feel of the film.

I unfortunately had some trouble following as I am working on learning German currently. Even so, I could understand what was going on and enjoyed the movie. If you are able to find this online or pick it up on Amazon, it is definitely worth it. (Note: there are English subtitles for the nonUS DVD region movie but my DVD player is broken and I can’t turn subtitles on). 4.5/5

Until next time!

Dani

Movie Review: Housebound

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Housebound (2014)

Origin: New Zealand

Language: English

I haven’t seen too many horror movies but after reading the summary, I thought it sounded pretty good. The story follows a girl who got caught robbing an ATM and is under house arrest for eight months. She hates her old home, where her mom and stepfather reside, and makes is vat first annoyed by them. Her mother then claims the house is haunted. At first she doesn’t believe it but then starts to see and hear weird things. Is there another house guest, and is it of this world, or another?

This a really well done movie, especially with how small of a budget. It was very different and a lot of scenes where you think you know what’s going to happen, it doesn’t, but something even more weird/random happens. It is quite humorous at some points, as it is supposed to be a comedy and horror.

The characters were pretty interesting, and pretty developed. You learn more of why the girl is the way she is, although I wanted to learn more about the father. The ending is pretty funny as well and I definitely enjoyed it.

I also wanted to know more about what the house once was and why exactly they bought the house. There were a few unanswered questions that could have been answered to straighten everything out.

All in all, I give it a 4.5/5. It was pretty funny, but could have more info of the past and how the house was ‘haunted’.

Movie Review: Ring of Curse / Gomennasai (2001)

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Ring of Curse / Gomennasai

Japanese with English subtitles

This Japanese movie follows a girl named Yuka who, along with other girls in class, starts to bully a strange girl in their class named Kurohane. Yuki didn’t feel bad since she was jealous of Kurohane’s writing skills and wanted to beat her in a contest for the drama. To find out, Kurohane didn’t write a screen play, but actually a novel that left the girl who stole and read it dead. More deaths happen after people read her notebook and Yuka figures out that Kurohane is behind it. Kurohane explains why she started killing people and why she is learning how to curse write. The rest of the movie deals with the curse and how Yuka must stop it

The story also goes into Kurohane’s past even more and tells what she wrote in her diary. I found it to be kind of strange that she told part of the story, then we hear the rest through the diary.

Plot-wise, I found this story be quite fascinating. A girl can write curses and whoever reads them will die. Based on an mobile story years before, I think that it was great that the pop group Buono! wanted to create it in a film because it spoke to them so much. It is one of those horror movies that makes you kind of nervous and glad you can’t read Japanese because you don’t want to be cursed too (though I wonder if Buono! made it into a movie as well so they didn’t get cursed). It was more about plot than it was about special effects.

This movie was rather creepy in the concept, but the sound and video lens were lacking. Although I really don’t care about special effects that much, the lighting, sound, and film angles did bother me as they didn’t make it feel like a horror movie. If they invested in it a little more, I think this could have been a lot scarier. The creepiest part was when Kurohane tells her story, as the lighting changed and was the only time they used it to their advantage (not sure if it was on purpose though). And they really needed to get rid of the high-pitch sound, it was really annoying.

The acting was okay. Some actresses could have been a little better at acting, but for the most part they were pretty good.

I give the movie a 3.5/5. The plot was good and creepy in concept, but the filming and sound could have been better to make it a lot more scary.

P.S., if you are a person who gets chain letters and is paranoid the chain letter will curse them if they don’t forward the letter, probably shouldn’t watch this movie…

Dani

Movie Review: Iron Sky (Director Cut)

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I have to be honest, this is one of my favorite movies. It is a great parody directed by Timo Vuorensola. There are so many little jokes that they will leave you laughing (like when the main character James Washington pointed at one of the Nazis and said ‘who are you supposed to be, Prince Harry?’). The movie was originally made released in Finland, then actually released through Walt Disney in the States (of which I did not know until now).

They did a great job researching Nazi culture, predicting what the future would be like if they went to the moon, and what Earth would be like in the future if they had to face this problem. I did, however, want to learn more about what they ate and such, how they were able to travel to the moon without anyone noticing, but it’s not relevant to the story as it is a parody.

The plot itself was pretty believable, as the President of the United States has sent people to the moon to help her ratings in the next election and once they are there, they find the Nazi moon camp as they are mining Helium-3. James Washington gets captured and has to take them to the Earth for another phone computer to power their large space ship, that is after they turn him into an Aryan. Meanwhile Renate is an Earth specialist who sneaks aboard to see the Earth she thinks she knows so much about.

On Earth they find that things have changed a lot.

They kidnap the President’s assistant, Vivian, so that they can talk to her and declare war (or, as Renate thinks, bring peace and kindness as she has been brainwashed on the moon). Vivian takes them to the President, making them appear as campaign troop leaders and use Renate’s brainwashed message about peace. They use the same ideas for their campaign. Meanwhile the Nazis on the moon are preparing for war.

When they get the computer back to the moon, the Nazis declare attack on the Earth and every country is trying to figure out whose ships they are. They each act like they don’t have their own militarized spaceships but actually all space craft revolving the Earth has been militarized. An all-out war breaks out between the Earth and moon.

This movie is very well done and actually is in German when on the moon and English when they are in America (I loved that!). It’s refreshing to have a movie that tries to keep the language true to who is talking.

BTW, the fact that they had Vivian reenact the Hitler youtube video parody that has been subtitled so many times was amazing. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go here)

One of the problems I did have in this movie was that they had sound in space. Pet peeve, really… That’s why Firefly was amazing! But other than that, I enjoy this movie very much! 5/5!

Also, there is a sequel being made, check it out here!

Until next time!

Dani Hoots