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Hotaru no haka (1988)
Most powerful anti-war film you will ever see
The movie begins showing a hungry, malnourished, poverty stricken boy suffering a slow, painful death. After he passes away, a janitor comes and strips his belongings from his deceased body, and throws them into an overgrown field. The ghost of a cute, young girl appears and takes the hand of a healthy, clean version of the boy who just passed away. The movie cuts, and we see them taking a train to a better land. It is made obvious right in the beginning that both characters die. This leads some people to say "Well what's the point of watching? We know what happens in the end." That's not the point of the movie. The point of the movie is to show the story of these two young children struggling through difficult lives. While there is hope for a happy ending, we hope that the characters have easy, pain free lives. It's the same idea for us. We all know we will eventually die, but we try to make our lives as easy, and pain free as we can.
This movie breaks the stereotype of "Oh, this movie is animated, so yeah, while it might be moving, it's going to stay within safe confines." This is usually the case because animation is seen as a childish medium, which is why so many kids' movies are animated. While these kids' movies might have moving scenes and teach valuable lessons, as I said earlier, it's going to stay within safe confines. This movie can easily be mentioned in the same breath as other great war movies such as Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, and Full Metal Jacket. It's just a beautiful piece of art that's moving and powerful, but it just happens to be animated.
This movie conveys a very powerful anti-war message without completely shoving the idea down your throat. It tells the non sugar coated story of two young children made homeless and struggling to survive after air raids in World War II. Although the characters are fictional, it's based on the true story of the writer of the graphic novel the movie is based off of; Akiyuki Nosaka. It's obvious that director Isao Takahata resents the war, but he provides a strong anti war message without forty minutes of bloody, gory violence. Believe it or not, there are still children who live this way nowadays, we just don't see it on the news.
Very few movies can make me genuinely care for a character. In this case, you do care for the characters in the movie. You hope for the best for these two innocent children. In most movies nowadays, you see young characters acting much older than they really are. We all know that movie with the four year old character that's sassy, smart, and mature. But in this movie, that's not the case at all. Setsuko acts like a four year old in real life would act, and her role is executed to near perfection. From her motions to her dialogue, you see can see very clearly the four year old in her. As for Seita, his role is executed greatly as well. He makes the mistakes a fourteen year old boy in that situation probably would, his mindset is that of a fourteen year old, his decisions, which are sometimes good and sometimes bad, are that of a fourteen year old. The beautiful thing about this movie is when Seita makes mistakes; you understand it, because you know that everybody makes mistakes because we're human. The character development in this movie is also top notch. We see Seita go from a normal teenager with a positive outlook on life to a poverty stricken teenager with still a positive outlook on life, but now he realizes how much his sister really means to him. We see Setsuko go from a happy, sweet, innocent four year old girl to a confused, poverty stricken, malnourished child.
The next point I would like to touch on is the appearance and the effects for this movie. The animation in this movie is an art, it's stunning. The animation shows the setting in a way that real life movies just can't. From the urban environments to the fields and rivers of the wild, the animation is beautifully done. The next thing is the soundtrack. I don't have much to say about it, but they used music very well. They used music very sparingly and when they did use it, they used it at perfect times.
To me, the theme of this movie is friendship, love, and caring for others. Its love story, but not Hollywood style; members of the opposite sex attracted to each other, looking for love in a romantic sense. In this movie, it's more "brotherly" love. The movie makes you aware of how good your life is compared to some people around the world. It made me aware of my sometimes selfish ways, it made me think about all the times in my life where I had the opportunity to help people, but I didn't. It makes me realize how much I take my sister for granted, and how fleeting life can be. One day, you're just fine, and the next day you can be struggling to survive. Most of all, it made me realize that life can slip away from you any moment, and to live every day like it's you're last.
In conclusion, Grave of the fireflies is a very beautiful movie that succeeds in ways some American war movies simply don't. It teaches you so many valuable lessons. It's one of the most underrated movies of all time. It's one of the few movies that changed my life, and one of the few movies that had me holding back tears at the end. This is a must see movie that will change your life. 10/10 One of the most moving, beautiful movies of all time.
The Final (2010)
Deeper insight into bullying
Let me start off by saying that the horror genre is not my cup of tea. I almost never watch it unless at a friend's house late at night and even then I'm a little bit reluctant. But today, I was scrolling through Netflix with nothing to watch. I finally gave in and saw what movies were in the horror section. After doing a little snooping around in that section, I found The Final. The reason it stood out to me is because it's a revenge movie against bullies, which is cliché, but I've never heard of one so violent. So I had to check it out. I was not disappointed.
The first thing I'd like to address is the acting. Other critics are giving it negative feedback, but I didn't see any flaws in it. There are some characters who could've been played a little better, but besides that, the acting was pretty good for a low-budget film. Emily (Lindsay Seidel) stands out to me acting wise. As far as bad acting, I thought Justin Arnold could've played Bradley better, but again, for a low- budget film, other than some small kinks, the acting was pretty good. This movie is more psychological horror-wise. Unlike most horror movies nowadays, it's not a constant blood and gore fest. Where they go light on the blood and gore they replace with dialogue that is well crafted. That's something in particular I love about this movie, instead of showing the blood and gore, they make you imagine it, which I think is much more powerful than showing it itself.
Let's face it, if you've been bullied, you've thought about the things that happen in this movie. You've probably never contemplated doing it, but I guarantee anybody who's been bullied has thought about these scenarios. Does that make them psychos? No, it's our actions that make us who we are, not are thoughts. Back on topic though, I've read reviews that said this film advocated this kind of behavior, but I disagree. I think it's more of an insight of what can happen when the bullied are pushed too far. While it's over the top, it gets the point across effectively.
The only weak link in this movie for me is the sub plot. I read in another review "...the subplot is so shakily executed by the young actor it threatens to implode the tension." Agreed. But it's not only the acting that takes away from it. I just found it boring in general. I found myself thinking "Alright, when can we get back to the house." But, it didn't take away from the main plot. It was bearable. I'll never look at bullying the same way again. I've been bullied, and regrettably, I've been the bully. I've never realized the psychological effect it can have. While it is a movie, and the scenario in this movie is not exactly realistic, it can happen other forms (for example: Colombine).
Overall, this movie was eye opening. Good acting, good horror effects, not the best wardrobe or subplot, but that doesn't take away from the movie. 7/10 overall.
Gravity (2013)
Great potential ruined by poor script
Walking into Gravity last night, I was expecting a deep, scientific, philosophical masterpiece of a film. That's what all the critics were saying. To say I was disappointed is a grave understatement. This movie had the potential to be great, but the script in particular ruined it.
The first thing that stands out to me is the lack of characterization. Apart from the short conversation about Ryan's family in the beginning, we are given no insight about the characters lives on earth. Did Matt have a family? Did Ryan have any close friends? We'll never know. The lack of characterization made me neutral about the characters, and that neutral quickly turned to negative for Ryan after five minutes of her panting and wheezing and wasting her oxygen like a goofball. Matt, however, wasn't so bad. I stayed neutral with him. George Clooney gave a solid performance for him.
Another thing that bothers me about this movie is the number of scientific inaccuracies. I can understand if you get five or six subtle, small scientific facts wrong, but in this movie, they got a few major scientific facts wrong. For example, satellites don't orbit at the same altitude; so therefore, one satellite exploding wouldn't cause a chain reaction. Another example is the fact that you wouldn't see satellite debris flying at hypersonic speeds coming right at you.
This film also has a lack of realism. When Ryan is adrift in space, and only has about six percent left in her oxygen tank, why is she panicking and breathing so rapidly? Surely she would've been taught ways to calm herself and slow down her breathing. *SPOILER When Matt is right on deaths door, he makes witty remarks. Nobody on this planet would be so laid back and calm staring right into the face of that horrible death. *SPOILER OVER. Also, when Matt was goofing off and wasting his engine flying around while Ryan fixed the satellite, you know NASA wouldn't tolerate such an obscenity. And the fact that Ryan's in space after only six months of training. Those are just a couple examples but there are much, much more.
The main thing that takes away from this movie is the incredibly thin and cliché script. The characters literally spoon feed you the theme of this film: "Don't give up, keep pushing" through their dialogue. The scenes in this movie are incredibly simple, they try to go from point a too point b without going into any extra detail about the characters, the events, etc. For example, why did Russia launch that missile? It's almost as if a high school student woke up one day and said "Let's haphazardly write a space movie!"
To give credit where credit is due, the special effects and CGI were breathtaking. It's a shame it was wasted on such a mediocre movie. Unfortunately, special effects cannot carry a film, and you get used to it after about 10 minutes of staring at earth in the background.
Overall, this movie is pretty mediocre. Poor script, annoying characters, a lack of realism, and scientific inaccuracies. The only good thing about this film was the special effects and CGI. It had so much potential that was unfortunately butchered by a simple, thin script. 4/10
American Beauty (1999)
Philosophical and Thought Provoking
American Beauty (1999) is a film about Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a suburban father slipping deeper and deeper into depression, struggling to deal with his bitch-on-wheels wife and a daughter that hates him. When he meets his daughter's attractive friend, that sparks a mid life crisis, and he decides to turn his life around. The plot sounds trite when you describe it; A man going through a mid life crisis dealing with family issues, lusting after his daughters sex kitten teenage friend. The characters are all cliché; the midlife crisis dad, his bitch-on-wheels wife, his sassy teenage daughter that hates her parents, the homophobic military man next door, and the promiscuous high school girl. We've all seen those characters in movies before. What amazes me about this film is how they brought all these characters together and produced a philosophical movie that makes you think about society. "My wife and daughter think I'm this chronic loser." Lester complains, and they see him like that for good reason. "Just look at me, jerking off in the shower, that's the high point of my day, it only goes downhill from here" Lester comments as we see a visual of a body blurred by the glass door of a shower, facing away from camera as his arm moves up and down. When you see his infatuation with his daughters friend, Angela (Mena Suvari) you find it amusing and somewhat comical. You see how he acts during his midlife crises, what he says and his actions are also very amusing, and you wish you could get away with doing stuff like that. Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening) is a real estate saleswoman who is obsessed with the idea of success. "That's my wife, Carolyn. You see the way her pruning shears match her gardening clogs? That's not a coincidence" Lester remarks introducing her in the beginning of the movie. Carolyn has an obsession of her own, her public image. Jane Burnham (Thora Birch) is the stereotypical teenage girl, sassy, parent-hating, and insecure. She's the opposite of her friend Angela. She's solemn, non-promiscuous, and she's not attractive in the way our society defines it. "I need a father who's a role model, not some nerdy geek boy who's going to spray his pants every time I have a girlfriend over." She remarks to her boyfriend Ricky. She's embarrassed by his dad, and the way he lusts after Angela. Most people that review this movie see her as a bad person, but as a fellow teenager, I can empathize with her. To me, the most thought provoking and intriguing character is Ricky Fits (Wes Bentley), the strange boy next door who video tapes all of his life experiences and sells drugs. Ricky seems to find beauty in everything he sees, and seems strange from the outside. When you look into his family though, and you see his abusive, homophobic, marine father and his defeated mother, you realize what's going on behind closed doors. This movie has so many different lessons about society. First of all, the tagline, "Look Closer" is a lesson in itself. If you just look at everybody without paying attention to detail, you won't notice anything wrong, but if you look closer, you realize that everybody is in some way or another, trying to fit in. It also taught me that if you look close enough, you can find beauty in everything. For example, the plastic bag scene where Ricky films a plastic bag floating in the wind for fifteen minutes. While people may say "It's just a plastic bag, what so beautiful about that." To which I would say that beauty is subjective; what one person finds beautiful might be repulsive to another person. This movie also beautifully illustrates the disillusionment phenomenon we all have experienced, which is when you realize something is not as good as it once seemed. It also taught me to not judge a book by its cover. From the outside, the Burnham's look like the perfect family, but behind that bright red door, it's a totally different story. This is one of those movies that if you get it, you'll love it but if you don't, you'll hate it. If you come in to it watching with an open mind, all you need to do is sit back and watch, and be amazed by its beauty. If you want a philosophical drama movie that will make you think about the society we live in, then this is the movie for you. If you're going to watch a movie, I encourage you to watch it with an open mind. This movie taught me many valuable lessons about society, all while being entertaining and funny at times. 10/10