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Kokuriko-zaka Kara, a review by Danae Cassandra

Kokuriko-zaka Kara (From Up On Poppy Hill)
Year of Release: 2011
Directed By: Goro Miyazaki
Starring: Masami Nagasawa, Jun'ichi Okada or Sarah Bolger, Anton Yelchin
Genre: Drama, Romance

Overview:
From the legendary Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and The Secret World of ArriettyMy Thoughts:
This was a beautiful film, with a lovely, sweet feeling to it, combining a bit of nostalgia with a hopeful spirit and thought of the future.  I thought the characters were particularly good - Umi and Shun are pretty well-developed, but even the minor characters have little quirks that make them memorable.

Unlike most of the other films from Studio Ghibli, this is set squarely in the real world - no touches of fantasy here.  It's a sort of everyday life kind of film.  Umi does her chores, goes to school, and misses her father, who was lost at sea.  Shun helps his dad on his boat, goes to school, and works on the school newspaper.  Together with the many of the rest of the student body, they set out to save a beloved old building on their campus.  In their relationship with each other, they discover things about themselves.  It's really a simple little film, sweet, calm and romantic.  The animation and character design are what you expect from Ghibli:  clean and beautiful, with that characteristic Ghibli look.  Nobody does it like they do.

While there's nothing offensive, I'd wait for children to be a bit older to show it to them - little ones wouldn't appreciate it.  Think 9 to 10 and up.  It's also a lovely film for adults - our audience of five included three in the mid 20's, one late 30's and one late 60's.  The dub wasn't bad either, though I'm looking forward to watching it again with subtitles.  Easily recommended for just about anyone.

Bechdel Test:  Pass

Overall:  3.75/5

(From Kokuriko-zaka Kara (From Up On Poppy Hill) on September 27th, 2013)

Rambo, a review by DJ Doena

November, 3rd


Sylvester Stallone    ...    John Rambo
Julie Benz   ...    Sarah
Matthew Marsden   ...    School Boy
Graham McTavish   ...    Lewis
Jake La Botz   ...    Reese
Tim Kang   ...    En-Joo
Paul Schulze   ...    Michael Burnett

Synopsis: In Burma a civil war is causing countless deaths on a daily basis. But John Rambo isn't interested in war anymore. He lives a quiet life in Thailand and doesn't care about the world. But one day christian missionaries want to rent his boat to get into that war zone. And when they don't return he does what he was born to do.

My Opinion: A very bloody movie. Make sure you have a bucket under your TV to catch all the blood that is dripping out of it. But it's also a very honest movie; it does not hide or glorify the truth of battle. After the first, this is the best Rambo movie and it brings the story full circle. I don't think Stallone should make another one. Just like with Rocky he finished the story of the character in a satisfying way and he should leave it at that.

BTW: Check out the body count chart.

(From DJ Doena's movie watchings 2009 on November 5th, 2009)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Bewitched: The First Three Episodes From the First Season (1964/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 76 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:Bewitched
1.01 I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha
Writer: Sol Saks (Writer)
Director: William Asher
Cast: Elizabeth Montgomery (Samantha), Dick York (Darrin Stephens), Agnes Moorehead (Endora), Gene Blakely (Dave), Lindsay Workman (Doctor), Paul Barselow (Bartender), Nancy Kovack (Sheila)

I only have the first three episodes of this series. They were part of a special bundled release of the Will Ferrell "Bewitched" movie. I always more of a fan of Jeannie than Bewitched. So I never really followed this series.
I think it is unreasonable that Darrin asks his wife to never do magic even if they are alone.
This release is a colorized version. I first didn't notice this, until I wondered if the green eyes are Elizabeth Montgomery's natural eye color. Then I saw that the first two seasons were originally black and white. So it could very well have been a side-effect of the colorization process. Otherwise everything looked good considering.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on March 27th, 2011)