DVD Collectors Online

Memories of Matsuko, a review by dfmorgan

Memories of Matsuko

Year: 2006
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima
Cast: Miki Nakatani, Eita
Overview: When the body of a female tramp is found in the park, her nephew, Shou, is called upon to clean out her abandoned apartment. He unwittingly embarks on a surprising journey through the extraordinary life of his aunt, Matsuko, a starry-eyed female searching for her prince.

A collision of visually stunning hues and Bob Fosse-like musical set-pieces, this Amelie-esque fairytale gracefully glides through the decades from the 50s to the 80s. Miki Nakatani displays an award winning performance as Matsuko, engaging the audience with her touching portrayal of life.

Watched: 20th Feb. 2011
My Thoughts: An interesting film. Sho (Eita) is ask to clear out the apartment belonging to his recently deceased aunt Matsuko (Miki Nakatani), an aunt he never knew he had. In clearing the rubbish he comes across items from her past and meets some of her acquaintances. This leads him to discover details about her life where she appeared to stumble from one disastrous relationship to another. One very nice misty-eyed touch was the ending which recalled a line much earlier in the film.

My Rating: An interesting 4- -



(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on February 20th, 2011)

Due Date, a review by Danae Cassandra

Due Date
2010, USA

Problems at the airport trap expectant father Peter into riding cross-country with aspiring actor Ethan, whom he doesn't know ... and who he is the exact opposite of.

I'm not completely opposed to comedy, but I'm picky about it, so normally I wouldn't have looked twice at this film.  The entire reason I picked this up is Robert Downey Jr.  Because he's awesome.  This has been compared a lot to Planes, Trains and Automobiles, which I haven't seen and never had any intrest in, and the big advert on the front is that it's from the director of Old School and The Hangover, which again, haven't seen, have no interest in.  But Downey is awesome, so I'll watch anything he's in.

Perhaps surprisingly, I enjoyed this movie.  There was some crude humor, though not as much as I feared.  There was one moment that really didn't work for me, when Ethan laughs after Peter has told him about his father leaving him.  The whole bit with the guy in the wheelchair also seemed way overdone and unrealistic to me - not that a guy in a wheelchair could do what he did, but just that the situation seemed unrealistic.  

Tossing that aside, both of those moments are early in the film.  The movie got better as it progressed, and I got involved with it, with the characters, with their journey.  I was pleased that it wasn't just crude humor, that there were some genuinely touching moments, that you came to understand and care about these two people - despite Peter being a stuck-up rude prick and Ethan being a clueless ditzy stoner.

So, despite some stuff at the start of the film that felt rather forced, Due Date turned out to be a better movie than I thought it would be and I enjoyed it.

Overall: 2.75/5

(From Danae's reviews on April 9th, 2011)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

Happy Days - Season 1

All The Way
Potsie sets Richie up with a girl known to have a reputation. Richie doesn't get far with her but leads Fonzie and others to believe he did.



Poodle skirts... jukeboxes... cars with soaring tail fins... and rockin' and rollin' all week long.
Those Happy Days are here again! Join one of America's best-loved TV families - the Cunninghams - in the premiere season of this top-rated television series. Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard), "Potsie" Weber (Anson Williams), Ralph Malph (Donny Most) and "The Fonz" (Henry Winkler) head a brilliant comedic cast in this nostalgic, smash-hit TV sitcom. Arnold's Drive-In is their local hangout and meeting place, and lots of hilarious, memorable and classic adventures are the result.

Nostalgic look back to a series every kid used to watch after school. Pilot works as an introduction to the whole cast, with Richies brother in evidence although I had forgotten he was actually ever in it. Also couldn't remember at the time all the annoying canned laughter, it must have just gone past without my noticing in my innocent teenage years!
Joanie is still just a little kid, and part of the gang is Chuck, another cast member I had totally fogotten about. The Fonz is not one of the leads at this stage, and there are less laughs than I remember from later series.
Not sure what happened to the likes of Potsie and Ralph after Happy Days, they don't show up in any more of my collection, and of course success came tumbling in for Ron Howard and in a smaller scale Henry Winkler.
True escapism.
 

(From My PILOT Marathon on September 23rd, 2009)