DVD Collectors Online

5 Centimeters Per Second, a review by Danae Cassandra

Byosoku Go Senchimetoru  (5 Centimeters Per Second)
Year of Release: 2007
Starring:  Kenji Mizuhashi, Yoshimi Kondou, Satomi Hanamura
Directed By: Makoto Shinkai
Genre:  Romance, Drama

Overview:
The modern-day anime classic and brainchild of rising star Makoto Shinkai, 5 Centimeters Per Second, presented to you as never before. Witness the story of Takaki, a young man on a journey from Tokyo to reunite with his childhood best friend, Akari. Feel his emotions superimposed on the gorgeous, heavily researched and impressively animated backdrops of Japan, as he travels by train to see her. Join Takaki on a voyage into three interconnected tales of love and lost innocence that span the minutes and months of their lives. 5 Centimeters Per Second, the speed at which cherry blossoms fall from the trees, reminiscent of the pace of life as our lives intermingle.

My Thoughts:
I picked this up because I had enjoyed two other films from Makoto Shinkai, The Place Promised in Our Early Days and Voices of a Distant Star, and this is a very worthy companion to those two.  It's a great little film.

This is a beautiful, romantic film that reminded me why I love anime. It's a wistful, nostalgic memory of first love and the bittersweet joy it can bring in hanging on to it. It's warm and melancholy, as only the best memories are, the ones that matter, that mean something.

The story is very simple - it's about young love and the memory of that love and the distance that time creates between people. What the film is really about is the emotions of the characters, and in that it excels. You feel these people. You understand them. They are real.

It's also a film with exquisitely drawn animation. This is a grade-A+ beautiful film, perhaps one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Even if nostalgic romance doesn't appeal, if you like animation you should give this film a look just for the art, it's that good. Good? Wrong word. Great. Stupendous. Flawless.

Highly recommended.

Bechdel Test:  Fail

Overall:  4/5

(From 5 Centimeters Per Second on July 28th, 2013)

Beauty and the Beast (2017), a review by addicted2dvd

Beauty and the Beast (2017/United States) Buena Vista Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Bill Condon Writing: Stephen Chbosky (Screenwriter), Evan Spiliotopoulos (Screenwriter), Linda Woolverton (Original Material By) Length: 129 min. Video: Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 7.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Stars:
Emma Watson (1990) as Belle
Dan Stevens as Beast
Luke Evans as Gaston
Josh Gad as LeFou
Kevin Kline (1947) as Maurice

Plot:
The story and characters you know and love come to spectacular life in the live-action adaptation of Disney's animated classic Beauty and the Beast, a cinematic event celebrating one of the most beloved tales ever told.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Bonus Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Digital Copy
• Disney Song Selection

I found this one to be a good film but I personally prefer the animated feature more. I remember when this first came out that I read how a lot of people didn't like Emma Watson's singing voice. While she isn't the best I ever heard I really didn't have a problem with her. I liked how they did the beast but it seemed to me the rest of the CGI was a bit off. Over all a decent film to waste a couple hours with.



(From 2018 Challenge: Box Office TOP 100 FILMS OF ALL-TIME (Domestic Gross) on March 14th, 2018)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Sugar Rush: Series One (2005/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia (United Kingdom) Length: 239 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:Sugar Rush
1.01 Episode 1
Writer: Katie Baxendale (Writer), Julie Burchill (Original Material By)
Director: Sean Grundy
Cast: Olivia Hallinan (Kim), Lenora Crichlow (Sugar), Richard Lumsden (Nathan), Sara Stewart (Stella), Kurtis O'Brien (Matt), Matthew Vaughn (Dave), Daniel Coonan (David), Neil Jackson (Dale), Andrew Garfield (Tom), Adam Deacon (Darren)

This is a series I enjoyed watching. The first episode sets up the series well. You can find my review here.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on July 27th, 2012)