Tag: movie review

Time Traveller: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time / 時をかける少女 (2010) – Movie Review

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Whoa, what a tear-jerker! Time Traveller: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is the third live-action movie to come out of the novel The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and is actually a sequel to the 1983 movie (I have yet to watch). Which explains why the plot seemed so new to me. I watched the anime a few months ago so when nothing seemed familiar while watching this movie, I was thinking, “Dang, I am really losing my memory!”. Anyways, the story was interesting and the characters were fun, but what was really cool was the 1970s setting. Since my early childhood was during the ’70s, it was pretty neat to see stuff like super-8 film. The acting was really well done and had me on the verge of tears a few times. Yeah, I have a sensitive side too! At any rate, I recommend checking out the movie on Netflix streaming. On a side note, the two main actors, Naka Riisa and Akiyoshi Nakai, have since gotten married and have a baby. Give it a watch!

My rating: 9/10

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Before Sunrise (1995) – Movie Review

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Why did it take me 18 years to see Before Sunrise?! I was absolutely mesmerized by it. The movie starts with the characters placed in a somewhat normal situation, but it becomes kind of magical, and yet totally believable at the same time. And the plot…well, was there a plot? Not really, but the dialog and acting were so great that they carried the movie. It is basically the story of two people meeting and falling in love over the course of one entire day. Simple, right? But there is something different about it. I think it is that the acting/casting really works, and the dialog is both off-the-wall, yet completely human. Julie Delpy is fantastic and Ethan Hawke impressed me as well.

I think I really connected with the story because my experience of moving to Japan and meeting Mariko was had some similarities to the film: I was living in an unfamiliar but fascinating country, and also became completely head over heels in love with Mariko in that first night after we met, and we are about the same ages as the actors in the movie. As you can tell, it’s a very romantic film, but I can really be a sucker for stories like thise, and who doesn’t like being in love? In the movie, Celine says “But isn’t everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?”

I’m looking forward to the sequel “Before Sunset” to arrive from Netflix, and then the third movie “Before Midnight” as well! Highly recommended!

Honey and Clover / ハチミツとクローバー (2006) – Movie Review

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I found Honey and Clover (Japanese movie) at the local library and decided to give it a try since I have heard about the manga, but never really knew anything about it. The description on the back seemed to match the kind of movie I would be interested in: A group of art school students’ lives and the relationships that develop between them. While the characters were interesting and the setting of the story kept my attention, the plot itself was so lacking that I found myself wondering why I was watching the movie. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, but nothing really does. Well, at least nothing that I would make a movie over. The love stories never really develop, the characters don’t grow so much, and I kind of find it difficult to remember how the movie ended, even though I just watched it a few days ago. I’m sure the manga must be good, but the movie just falls flat. Disappointed!