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I Am From Titov Veles, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are: Macedonia
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Jas sum od Titov Veles (I Am From Titov Veles)
Year of Release: 2007
Directed By: Teona Strugar
Starring: Labina Mitevska, Ana Kostovska, Nikolina Kujaca, Xhevdet Jashari
Genre: Drama

Overview:
Set in the quaint but scarred town of Veles, three sisters long to escape the suffocating environment of their dying community.  Burdened by memories of their late father, each chooses a different path:  Sapho struggles to secure a visa to Greece, Slavica desperately searches for a rich husband, and Afrodita harbors hopes for love and children.  In this contemporary story of urban decay, director Teona Strugar Mitevska blends stark realism with memorable performances to create a vivid landscape of life and longing in post-communist Macedonia.

My Thoughts:
Watching this film, I am reminded of coal country - eastern Kentucky, West Virginia - except instead of coal, here we have a factory that brings jobs and poisons the land and people.  We have a bleak crumbling infrastructure people are desperate to escape from - into dreams, drugs, sex, or to actually grasp the ability to leave for better opportunity.  This was a really well done character study, both of the sisters themselves and the character of the place.  You can feel the despair and the hopelessness roil off the screen.  If that didn't say it - this isn't a happy story, and it doesn't have a happy ending.  But it has something to say about life and living, and that always makes for a film worth seeing.

Bechdel Test:  Pass

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on May 12th, 2014)

The Karate Kid, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: The Karate Kid
Year: 2010
Director: Harald Zwart
Rating: PG
Length: 140 Min.

Stars:
Jaden Smith
Jackie Chan
Taraji P. Henson
Wenwen Han
Rongguang Yu

Plot:
12-year-old Dre Parker could've been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother's latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying - and the feeling is mutual - but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre's feelings make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng. In the land of kung fu, Dre knows only a little karate, and Cheng puts "the karate kid" on the floor with ease. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han, who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.

My Thoughts:
My brother downloaded this movie to watch with Brittany (I don't normally like to do this but he always does it)... since it was a very good copy and I been anxious to see this one I had him send it over to my computer last night. Especially after Brittany giving it a full 5 star rating yesterday.

I don't know what to say about this movie that hasn't already been said. Was a remake needed? No... but we have it so may as well give it a chance. And I am glad I did as I did enjoy it very much. I wouldn't say it is a 5 Star movie... but it is definitely well above average and worth watching. I have seen people complain about Jaden Smith.... and how he is in movies do to his famous father. But even if that is the reason he is there... that don't take away from his talent as I feel he did a fine job. This is the first thing I ever seen him in... but I did enjoy watching him

Sure... the title can put you off... and maybe it would have been better to make it a movie of it's own instead of making it a remake of The Karate Kid. But I can easily look past that and enjoy it for what it is. I thought Jackie Chan as Mr. Han was great. It did seem he played this one a little more seriously. But that is a good thing... the role called for it. If there was a character I didn't care for... I would have to say it was Dre's mother. She seemed a little out there to me personally. But I even liked her too... just my least favorite of the main characters.

Over-all it is a good, entertaining movie that I look forward to eventually add to my collection. hopefully sooner rather then later. I imagine it will get a good special edition treatment. At least I hope so.



(From What Movies I Been Watching on July 21st, 2010)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Season Two (2009/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia Bandai Entertainment (United States) Director: Writing: Length: 350 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 1 Subtitles: English

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Stars:


Plot:
Haruhi continues her search for exciting ways to keep her world from being boring. Unfortunately, for Kyon and the rest of the SOS Brigade, they are forced to go along for the ride. On the night of the Tanabata Star Festival, Kyon is transported back in time by Mikuru Asahina to what may be the source of what led Haruhi to search for aliens, time travelers, and espers.

In the last two weeks of summer vacation, Haruhi leads the brigade on a dizzying list of summer time activities, eventually culminating in the brigade experiencing what they think is deja vu but they're actually re-living the same two weeks of summer over and over again. It's up to Kyon to figure out what's missing to get them out of their endless loop.

As fall rolls around, everyone prepares for the school arts festival, but Haruhi isn't content with their class's survey project. Instead, she hatches her own plan for the SOS Brigade to film and screen their own movie. Step behind the camera to see what went on to create the cinematic "masterpiece" that is The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00.

Extras:

• Audio CD
• Featurettes
• Photo Gallery
• Scene Access
• Textless Opening

I finally came around to buying and watching the second season of this series. I already knew all the storylines covered here from the original novels and the manga adaption. This is still a fun series and a good adaption.
They made a strange experiment here though. In the novel and the manga, the story "Endless Eight" is only a few chapters in each. But they made eight anime episodes out of it. This storyline is about a time-loop covering the same two weeks of summer vacation. The characters mostly aren't aware of this. Here in the anime each episode covers one of the loops (in total there were over 15000!). These episodes show the same thing happening with only slight variations. Though no camera angle and some of the outfits stay the same in each episode. This is a risky move which I cannot imagine another series but this immensly popular series doing it. Added to that, the second season was initially shown in Japan alternating with season one episodes. So people had to wait for two weeks to see a new episode and every time they got an episode which seemed like the one they already had seen. I had the luxury to see all episodes in a row and notice all the variations. But I am guessing if you had to wait weeks in-between episodes, they wouldn't have been that noticable. It's even more evil: in the episodes themselves the episode title is not counted. They always only read "Endless Eight".
The last five episodes cover the novel "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya". Here we get to see how the characters were shooting the movie we got to see in season one.

#	Episode	Rating
01	Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody
02	Endless Eight I
03	Endless Eight II
04	Endless Eight III
05	Endless Eight IV
06	Endless Eight V
07	Endless Eight VI
08	Endless Eight VII
09	Endless Eight VIII
10	The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya I
11	The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya II
12	The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya III
13	The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya IV
14	The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya V

(From Tom's Random Reviews on April 25th, 2011)