Diversions to entertain you
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is the finale of strange trilogy. It started in 2010, had a sequel in 2014, and finishes with this last installment. Amazingly, they allowed the characters to grow up and older –from a teenager to a young man in these films. I don’t know if they were following the 9 year arc, but it still ended up being an interesting way to tell this story.
3 of 5 stars.
I have read the manga back when it came in the floppy and reversed comic version available at your local comic shop in the 90s. It was actually titled, “Battle Angel Alita.” It’s been 20 years and it has finally made it onto the screen as Alita: Battle Angel.
At first, I wasn’t going to watch it, but you know what I just had to. I mean twenty years!!
Robert Rodriguez directed this in conjunction with a long gestating James Cameron script. Cameron was attached to this all through the twenty years. He even modeled his television show heroine in Dark Angel as a proto-Alita. Cameron must’ve really loved the manga. Personally, I found it okay, but I was young in the ways of manga reading at the time. Plus, it went into the weeds and the releases were few and far between before I could pass judgement.
A bit of Rodriguez leaked out. It came in the form of some cheesy love bit that felt like it was from Spy Kidz. It felt contrived, but all movies are love stories in the end. But the film redeemed itself by being rather good and not being a bad anime/manga adapation.
I’m hoping for the sequel.
3 of 5 stars.
I was curious about this movie, Happy Death Day 2U, because I read a review that said it was interesting. Hopefully, if you read my review, you find the film interesting, and you too will decide to watch it. But don’t blame me, if you don’t like it. My reviews are short and don’t cover the film just my reaction to it.
That being said, I went to see this on the first weekend. Then the theatre couldn’t figure out how to put the hard drive into the projector. I was disappointed, so I got my money back.
But I finally caught it the second weekend. It was okay.
The first one was more a thriller than a horror movie. This one was more a science fiction film than a horror movie. They all have some comedy to them. Don’t be surprised that it makes you laugh rather than scared.
I would watch it again — on TBS next year.
3 of 5 stars.
Koe no Kotachi or A Silent Voice is an anime from 2016. It had the unfortunate luck to be released in the same summer as the anime blockbuster, Your Name.
At that time, I was more excited to see A Silent Voice. It came from Kyoto Animation, one of my favorite anime studios — see my exuberant reviews for K-ON! or Haruhi. Also, I had read the entirety of the manga in one weekend. It is a great and very much recommended read. These things made me look forward to it.
Yet, the US distributor really mucked up the release in America. It came out for a week in LA and NY to make it eligible for the Academy Awards. It didn’t get a wide release until later, but in the short window. When I was aware that it was playing, I missed the local show by a day. I was not going to miss out. The BluRay is taking a while to be released. Maybe this spring.
A Silent Voice is about bullying and redemption. Liking yourself and hating yourself. It will make you cry. It will make you kyun. Smile. The manga made me want to know more about their future. I still want to know more.
4 of 5 stars.
O, forgot to tell you on the last Nogizaka post. You are able to watch in the US without the need of a VPN to Japan because, Sony Music, in their infinite wisdom, has unblocked Nogizaka videos from the US. They should’ve done this sooner, but it’s all good. When they come to America in 2019, at least you’ll now know who they are. Just don’t snake my tix!
(08.10.18)EDIT: Put the short version on as now you can buy the dang CD.
Last night, we saw The Day After Tomorrow. Just because it is saddled with a ridiculous title doesn’t mean that it is a terrible movie. Like all summer movies, it has a few nits to pick, but overall a rather enjoyable movie. Hmm? Enjoyable? That’s weird because I usually give movies the ambivalent “s’okay” meaning, “Watch it if you must, but I told you so if it sucks.”
I would say the same about The Day After Tomorrow, but it was stupid fun and deserves your money. Cold weather is the new bad guy. Our damsel in distress outruns that wintery blast. Super cooled are freezing things instantly. And everything is CG. What is there not to like about the flick? Watch it if you must, but I told you so that you’re gonna have a fun time.
4 of 5 stars.
So, last Thursday I saw Van Helsing (You murderer!). Not a very good movie, because it had the barest of plots. Most of the story was in support of the action, and the action was all cliched as if the director (also the writer!) needed to cram all action movie scenes into the movie. Aliens – we got vampire eggs! Fast and the Furious – nothing faster than Transylvania horses! Dracula! Wolfman! I was waiting for them to throw in the creature from the black lagoon.
The overall tone of Van Helsing was to be campy. Too bad no one told Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale.
2 of 5 stars.
