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The Americans (2013)
Too overrated
This show's totally unbelievable, no way it deserves the high rating it has. Soviet spies, back in the day, were suppose to be the best in the world you know? I mean they were able to steal the technology for nuclear weapons pretty much as soon the US finished the Manhattan project. No country has ever had an espionage coup that big. I've read the KGB even had one of their guys working as the HEAD of FBI counter intelligence right up to the nineties! But in this show the Soviet spies are like trigger happy morons. These people, they kill their own agents at the drop of a hat. They shoot people on the street in broad daylight. Blow up cars, houses, kill police, FBI agents. Why is it real life Soviet spies were undetected for long? Its because they DIDN'T do all that stuff. Good god the spies on the show are even worse than James Bond.
In the mole episode, apparently all it took for the Soviets kill their own US ambassador was for someone to ask for him by name (in an "so obvious its stupid" manner). If that actually worked in real life, you might as well just keep doing that and Soviets would of killed off all their top officials on their own. No need for the cold war at all. The Soviets know the Americans know they're looking for the mole. After three desperate calls trying to finger the ambassador by name, any person with a brain would realise its a heavy handed attempt to pin him as the mole. That makes it less likely not more. Not to mention the guy they're trying to pin it on, is the head US ambassador. You could not pick a more unlikely guy in the entire embassy. They know the mole is someone IN the embassy, its perfectly reasonable someone was setting him up.
But instead of conducting a through investigation, like questioning everyone's where abouts, who had access to the room, etc. (Or even relay false info to narrow the suspects down) They just ship the ambassador guy back to be shot. (And no randomly tortured the rockstar spies who bought them the intel in the first place does not count as an investigation).
Another thing I didn't like is how the two main characters are total sluts. They're more like prostitute than spies. The even more unbelievable thing is that it actually worked. Lol. For some reason, instead of sweet nothings you'd say to your lover, the targets always to blab out top secret information as soon as their pants come off.
In another episode I remember the wife actually start hating the husband for sleeping with his old flame. Are you serious? What a hypocrite. Both of them had been sleeping around like gigolos, for god knows how many years, and suddenly she wants to jeopardize their entire relationship just because the guy got together with his ex. Ergg.
I'm mostly through season 1 but I can barely stand it. Unlikable douchebag characters, stupid writing... or maybe its just the writers want to paint the Soviets in a bad light? I donno. But for anyone who's ever read a real spy novel, these guys might as well be Dr Evil in a James Bond movie, totally unrealisitic.
Bekushiru: 2077 Nihon sakoku (2007)
Braindead plot
Horrible movie, the plot is so stupid beyond imagining. So I'm not gonna even try to here.
Well the plot is like this evil corporation has already took control of the entire country of Japan. But instead of using the country to develop some mega super weapon like what everyone thought it was doing and be generally bad ass, it instead decides to:
a) Wipe out its own country's total population b) Wipe out all its own infrastructure c) Restrict itself to to a tiny tiny island where its easily destroyed d) Fire or kill all its employees until there's only a few dozen security guards and one android of dubious loyalty.
And you wonder why they failed. Christ even James Bond villains have more brains than this!
Ga-rei: Zero (2008)
Poor
I think the first episode ending was a wonderful hook. The second episode drew you in more. But Ga-Rei Zero, despite strong action scenes, and great leads fails, and really, fails utterly because it doesn't remain true to it's characters.
As the back story develops after episode 2 the bond between Yomi and Kagura receives a full accounting, and it is the rather well developed main characters and wonderful interaction between them and also the members of their team that made these several episodes captivating. I was less impressed throughout the story with the monster designs and I found all the Clan family heads less than believable - they were there for the plot's sake.
What happens to Yomi, to make her change? The drastic change, I assumed, was akin to being turned into a vampire - that is, the evil Yomi was possessed, so she was not responsible for her actions. When the Bane stone, a rather poorly defined object of 'pure supernatural energy'makes it appearance I guessed it had something to do with it.
So Yomi, the adopted, loved, in love, daughter of a powerful clan head, a loyal, honored member of an organization that battles those who would release the 'foulness of death'upon the world then has a very bad day. And before she is turned to the dark side, she commits an act completely out of character, she kills someone. (This scene has another thing wrong with it - the person she kills, had just escaped the thralls of the Bane stone, but seemingly lost all memory of it, yet earlier when this had happened to her she was in shock because of her actions.) Yomi would not have done this act.
Sigh, but she did, and then the primary antagonist (PA) shows up and the next thing you know she's in a coma for 2 months, suspected of heinous crimes, and when she wakes up, probably permanently physically disabled, seemingly doubted by her (ex)-fiancee and Kagura (who both commit actions I found highly unlikely that upset Yomi). So she's alone and lo and behold, the PA again shows up, heals her ailing body with the bane stone offers it to her and sigh, she takes it. The Yomi I had come to know would have been filled with remorse at her killing someone, she would have used some very nasty Japanese words, the PA would have left her, a broken proud warrior.
But the screenwriter probably had the ending in mine when he started writing this series, but fell in love with Yomi while creating the character, and made her much more.
But if the Bane stone can take possession of your soul, and force you to commit evil acts, which it seemingly does, when sigh Yomi has become evil, there are really only 2 possible choices for the story. Either Yomi has the ability to overcome the lurid presence of the Bane Stone, and the focus should be on her internal conflict using her powerful will to at least have a chance at redemption (which still might have included her sacrificing herself). Both drama and tragedy can come out of this - it is a good choice but melodrama won out. Additionally, this could have been Kagura battling the 'banality of evil'' that Yomi had become but also, you know, trying to get that glowing stone out of her and maybe big sis would come back! But melodrama won out.
Samâ uôzu (2009)
Thumb up!
I've let this movie percolate in my brain for a couple of days before writing this review, just because I wasn't sure if my immediate reaction of "holy crap, that was awesome!" was justified. After a few days of rumination -- it is. It totally is.
First things first -- the story. Though I don't generally like to discuss a movie's plot in my review (you can read the plot summary this site provides if you want to know that), I do feel like it's necessary to talk about what this site's summary doesn't cover, which is the wonderful family dynamic that plays throughout all of this. Yes there are a few embarrassing moments at the beginning of the movie when Kenji is first introduced to Natsuki's sprawling family, but the movie quickly moves past that and delves into wonderful scenes of familial intimacy and the everyday life of these wacky characters. It's kind of refreshing and a lot of fun, and that fun tone is what I most took away from the movie after it was over, and what made me feel like I wanted to watch it again right after it was over.
The rest of the actual story is rather complicated, and becomes increasingly so the further along the movie goes. It is perhaps a little overlong, but the more time we get to spend with these characters the better, so I didn't mind that the story started stretching a little bit towards the end. There's also a weird baseball metaphor going on throughout the entire movie (meant to underscore the challenges being faced by the family) that doesn't quite work, but it's a small element of a fairly busy movie whose elements generally tend to gel together very well.
The animation is excellent. The scenes in Oz are wonderful, and the action scenes inside Oz are breathtaking (especially the fight scenes between King Kazma and Love Machine). The real world is just as lovingly animated, and though the character designs aren't particularly original, they're still obviously lovingly crafted.
Those characters, as I've already said, are a ton of fun. The central characters in the movie, especially -- Natsuki, Kenji, and Kazuma -- are well-drawn and entertaining, and all get their moments to shine. Kenji, the main character, is one the least annoying extremely-shy-boys I've ever seen in an anime, possibly because he has more going on than just that. He's also a math genius, an interesting trait that both makes him unique and gives him a reason for sticking around in the movie. Natsuki is a good strong female lead, and although she does seem to disappear for a good chunk of the movie in the middle half, she comes back with a vengeance for the exciting finale. Special mention should also be made of the grandmother of the Jinnouichi clan (Natsuki's family), who is a strong and extremely kickass 90-year-old. She serves as the heart and soul of the movie, and is easily one of the best aspects of the entire film.
The rest of the characters are well-drawn (in more ways than one, har har) and given unique personalities to a certain extent, especially a new character introduced partway through who ends up being extremely important to the plot. It's a tribute to the skill of the writing here that many of these characters get their moment to shine throughout.
The music in the film is really excellent. "King Kazma's Theme" is especially great, but many of the tracks are gorgeous and evoke spectacularly well the very particular mood of the film. The sound effects are less memorable, but do their job. I listened to the English Dub and greatly enjoyed the voice acting as well, but forgot to sample the Japanese voice cast to see if it was comparable -- I have no doubt it was, but I don't know for sure. Either way you choose to listen, you'll likely be listening to a great dub.
All in all, this is a really tremendous movie. There's rarely a dull moment, and a few weird character and plot decisions aside, the film flows beautifully. It also has a great tone, able to flit from idiosyncratically happy to tremendously emotional on a dime, and the high stakes that keep getting raised throughout make for relatively fast pace (fast enough you'll be surprised that it's already over, anyway). I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this great film, and highly recommend it.
Deddo ribusu (2004)
Film that wastes your life, ruins your appetite and endangers your personal hygiene
I really don't understand how anyone can like this movie. I thought it was absolutely disgusting.
This animation is just so sick and wrong on so many levels. There's practically no story or character building behind any of its characters, all the characters look like freaky mutant versions of Sponge Bob characters. There's even a penis character that squirts liquids (don't ask). There's excessive use of violence and torture that seemed to be used for cheap shock value. Or perhaps violence for violence's sake is what they had in mind?
The protagonists are unlikable as they come, as the story begins with them killing innocent people on the street to stealing their stuff. No other motivations beyond that other than imply its "fun".
The music consists of repetitive techno beats and that's it.
The animation looks like its drawn by angry 3rd graders or mental patients. There's massive frame skips that make it jerk around worst than the later Evangelion episodes.
In my mind watching this film is like the anime version of been raped, mentally raped. Been so violated that it makes you sick. And the people who liked this film are like the weird people in prison who gets raped then turns around and says they enjoyed the experience.
I just don't get it.
Idiocracy (2006)
A Poignant Piece of Social Commentary
Living in the modern world of our American Corporatocracy, very few controversial directors take the necessary stance of filming such a socio-political view for a wide audience. Mike Judge breaks the stagnant mold of pop culture and the homo-erotic bias of Hollywood to direct this amazing feature... with magnificent results.
Even the research gone into the psychology of his characters speak volumes. The way it explores the many subtle nuisances of consumerism present even in our modern culture is beyond compare. The viewer take note: this film ventures into the darkness of mankind and the very heart of Corporate America, and does not hold back to what is regarded as a believable and an adroit masterpiece.
Mike Judge's awe inspiring direction makes Stanley Kubrick look like Uwe Boll. When I finished this film, I couldn't speak for three weeks. The first thing I said when my voice finally recovered from an overload of beauty and majesty was, "Oh, sweet, glorious enlightenment of my soul." See this film.
My Little Pony: The Princess Promenade (2006)
Soulblinding
To hear about it is to want, to see it to experience heaven. I saw this piece of treasure in my local store and finally I had the chance to experience it for myself.
Words cannot express my love for this piece of mind-rending perfection, to see such heroic endeavor, such blissful significance and poignant mastery that the mountains trembled. Rivers changed course and oceans shifted, reshaping the divide of continents, forging the destiny of a thousand generations of evolution. The cherebim, witnessing this beauteous cataclysm, rent their garments and wept tears of gold...
At last I was a born again pony.