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Ocean Waves, a review by dfmorgan

Title: Ocean Waves
Original Title: Umi Ga Kikoeru
Year: 1993
Director: Tomomichi Mochizuki
Rating: PG
Length: 72 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: Japanese: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Nobuo Tobita
Toshihiko Seki
Yoko Sakamoto
Yuri Amano
Kae Araki

Plot:
Rarely seen outside of its native Japan and never before released within the U.K, Ocean Waves (also known as Umi Ga Kikoeru and I Can Hear The Sea) is one of Studio Ghibli's most obscure and sought after titles. Directed by Tomomi Mochizuki (Princess Nine) and based upon author, essayist and playwright Saeko Himuro's most popular, best selling novel, Ocean Waves is one of the most poignant and unsung masterpieces within Studio Ghibli's legendary creative output. Wonderfully detailed and incredibly subtle, there are very few films in the histroy of animation that have managed to capture so well the joys and drama of adolescence and teenage alienation.

Kochi is your average coastal town on the sleepy, idyllic island of Shikoku and young Taku is definitely your average high school student. But soon his quiet life will be turned upside down with the arrival of Rikako: a beautiful, female student recently transferred fromTokyo. By the end of term Taku will have learnt a valuable lesson in love and friendship.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers


I only watched and reviewed this in February so my thoughts are still much the same. At heart a sweet and gentle love triangle. Taku and Yutaka have been friends since starting high school. Yutaka as the class representative is asked to show a transfer student, Rikako, around. Rikako has transferred in from Tokyo following her mothers separation from her father. Taku realises that his friend has feelings for Rikako but tries to not get involved. However fate has other plans and stirs things up until the friendship starts to strain. As a short film there isn't a lot of character development and some bits of the storyline appear rushed. It is obviously not a Miyazaki film as most scenes featuring trees, plants, fields, the sea are static images but then again it was also a low budget film.

A bit of background as, like Only Yesterday, this film has not been released in the US. Apparently, as a made for TV film, Disney decided not to accept this as part of the overall Studio Ghibli catalogue it wished to promote. Optimum Releasing, from the UK, had the opportunity to take this film in 2009 and did so. They released the film to DVD in its original Japanese language with subtitles as part of their Ponyo promotion in early 2010.

Overall still an enjoyable film but I'll drop the 4 rating down to 3 now that I've watched this following other Studio Ghibli titles

Dave

(From dfmorgan's Studio Ghibli Marathon on July 7th, 2010)

The Longest Yard, a review by addicted2dvd

The Longest Yard: Lockdown Edition (1974/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Paramount Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Robert Aldrich Writing: Tracy Keenan Wynn (Screenwriter), Albert S. Ruddy (Original Material By) Length: 121 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English

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Stars:
Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewe
Eddie Albert as Warden Hazen
Ed Lauter as Captain Knauer
Michael Conrad as Nate Scarboro
James Hampton as Caretaker

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Feature Trailers
• Bonus Trailers
• Featurettes
• Closed Captioned

Scavenger Hunt 101
Task #11.

Watch a movie that takes place in Florida I enjoyed this one. It was a lot a fun and had a few familar faces in it as well. Had some real characters for players and of course a real asshole of a warden. One thing I never could stand is a man that don't know how to keep his word. Film has plenty of laughs in it. Well worth the time put in to watch it.


(From August Marathon: Letterboxd Scavangerhunt on August 2nd, 2023)

"Friends" Marathon, a review by Rogmeister

I started this marathon as part of my "What Rogmeister's Been Watching" thread...but have now decided I want to go ahead and do this as a regular review of the full series so I'm copying here what I wrote there and will then continue my Friends marathon here.  I've started watching from the beginning, of course, and am curious how long it'll take me to get through all 10 seasons.



"The Pilot" and "The One With The Sonogram At The End".

My Thoughts: I don't feel I need to do too much set-up...everyone knows "Friends", right?  It was a sitcom that lasted a full decade telling us the romances and escapades of brothers Monica & Ross Gellar, Chandler Bing, Joey Tribiani, Phoebe Buffay and Rachel Green.  The first episode has five of the six gathered (as usual) at Central Perk when an old friend of Monica's, Rachel, comes in wearing a wedding gown.  She has run out on her wedding and winds up as Monica's new roommate and (at first) becomes a waitress at Central Perk.  There's more back story which we'll find out about in future episodes.

One thing that's a bit surprising when you go back to these earlier episodes is how thin everyone was, especially Joey.  He was a nice-looking slender Italian...he would beef up a bit in later episodes.  You wonder how a starving actor could look so well fed...lucky for him he lives across the hall from Monica who is a chef.  In the second episode, we meet Barry (the groom who Rachel ran out on) and Carol, Ross' ex-wife who left him because she decided she was a lesbian.  In later episodes, Carol would be played by Jane Sibbett, but a different actress plays her in this early episode.  Everyone is pretty well defined in these early episodes...flighty Phoebe, wise-cracking Chandler, woman-crazy Joey, etc.  I've seen every episode multiple times but it's still a show I enjoy seeing again whenever I have the opportunity.  I always preferred this to NBC's other hot comedy of the time, Seinfeld...and the main reason is that, unlike the Seinfeld cast, the characters here were imminently likable.  Heck, I wouldn't mind if they were my friends.

The One With The Thumb--A lot of little things going on in this episode...Monica's new beau Alan (who everyone loves) might be considered the main storyline....Chandler starts smoking again, and Phoebe gets a soda with a human thumb in it..."...and on the way over here, I stepped in gum.  What is up with the universe?"  I noticed Gunther in the background at Central Perk but at this point, I don't think he's gotten any lines yet.

The One With George Stephanopoulos--Rachel gets her first paycheck which prompts this funny line..."Who's Fica?  And why's he gettin' all my money?"  The girls get together for a pizza party while the guys go to a hockey game where Ross gets injured when a flying puck hits him in the face.

At this point in the series, nothing too serious is going on...it's basically a few small events with a lot of sharp witty dialogue going back and forth.  I think I started watching this show because of Courtney Cox...but the quality of the show kept me tuning in.

The One With The East German Laundry Detergent--In this one, we see how the friends pair off and spend an evening.  Ross and Rachel do laundry together in which Ross brings the title object..."It's Uberweiss!  It's German, it's extra tough..."  This is the episode where Ross and Rachel share their first kiss, after which Ross immediately hits his head on a dryer door.  Another first...we meet Janice, Chandler's shrill-voiced on and off-again girlfriend.  Here he breaks up with her right after she gives him Bullwinkle socks.  What, is he mad?  A fun episode.

The One With The Butt--In this episode, we get to see Joey at work...first we see him in a play, a musical about Freud...hey, Joey has the lead role...and he sings!  Then we get to meet Joey's new agent Estelle.  Joey gets a part in an Al Pacino movie...he gets to be his butt double!  Chandler meets a stunning  young woman at the play...the only problem is she's married...and has a boyfriend.  But she and Chandler start going out anyway!  Oh yes, Joey gets fired because his butt overacts...we also get a  look at how compulsive Monica is.  Yes, all the friends have some weird quirk or another...

(From "Friends" Marathon on July 12th, 2009)