Tag Archives: Drama

Life is Beautiful Review

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It’s time for a film that has a really big tonal shift midway through. The initial half is a rather silly romantic comedy and then the second half brings a lot of nonstop tragedy. It’s definitely a bold approach as very few films can pull off such a stark change. Well this one puts in a pretty big swing so we’ll see how things turned out.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Guido who is a chronic liar who likes to have a lot of fun. He rolls constantly and falls in love with a lady named Dora. Dora already has a fiancé which would make things tricky for most leads but Guido doesn’t care. He figures that stealing her away will be easy enough and continues flirting nonstop in order to get her attention. Eventually she does decide to go with him and they have a kid. Unfortunately the Nazis invade and split them up. Guido has to keep his son safe but also find a way back to his wife. Can he pull this off or are they all already as good as dead?

Now even once the film changes genres, it is safe to say that it still keeps a lot of the chaotic energy that it had before. The movie will still allow Guido to pull off pranks and tricks the likes of which are just hard to picture. For example he ends up intentionally mistranslating everything the German commander was saying and nobody noticed. Then at one point he uses the loud speaker to declare his love for his wife and to let her know he and their kid were okay. Guido was always a man who was good with his words but this is definitely taken to the extreme here.

Throughout the film he does succeed in tricking his kid Giosue into thinking that this is all some kind of training camp/tournament in order to win a tank. Of course even for a kid that’s a bit of a stretch so you either enjoy this craziness thrown in to keep the film from getting too grim dark or you quickly believe that it is going too far and it weakens the film for you. As someone who enjoys some levity, I’d say it works well enough for me although the actual film is still dark enough where it’s not really my cup of tea.

Additionally while the first half is showing how determined Guido is and how he never gives up, I do think it’s a bit dicey on how he steals Dora away from the fiancé. Yeah he didn’t seem like the greatest guy but they liked each other enough to get to that stage. While not as bad as going after someone who is absolutely taken like in marriage, this is close enough where it gets into very dubious territory. So that prevents me from being able to say I was 100% into the romance.

The film also used the humor to punctuate a particularly sad scene for the lead. At one point he recognizes one of the guys at the German camp which was a professor he used to get along with. The guy acts like he is getting ready to help Guido escape and there are quite a few scenes building up to this. However, when the time comes, it turns out that he just wanted help with a riddle. It’s a call back to the riddle solving days from earlier so it was all one big joke but this time Guido isn’t laughing because lives are on the line. It showed that he couldn’t rely on someone that he thought he could and so of course that didn’t go over very well.

Meanwhile the kid was okay but definitely makes a number of mistakes. He is very young so you can say that is to be expected to an extent but man did he put the lead through a lot. Speaking when he shouldn’t, causing attention to be brought to himself, etc. The last thing you want to do is be in the spotlight here. Meanwhile his wife did good at being hidden to the point where she basically vanishes for the whole second half. She kept her head down and waited for the right opportunity.

Ultimately the ending also doesn’t go for as happy a tone as you might expect. Some things go well and some do not, definitely a tough situation all around. Additionally for the supporting characters there is a lot of tragedy as well. Ultimately the silver lining is that the situation does have a resolution so at least the tough period is over. The amount of casualties was just astronomical in the process.

Overall, I wasn’t quite sure if I should format this as a review and if there were enough differences for a score or if it should be treated as a based on real events kind of story. Ultimately I figured there was probably enough here where I’d make it a review. At the end of the day this is definitely not my kind of film but I appreciate the attempt on a very different take on the situation here. In a way it probably works better than if it had been serious the whole time since that would have made the film an even darker watch. The first half just didn’t click well enough with me since I couldn’t root for the romance. If the heroine had been single the whole time then the whole thing would have flowed better but otherwise even the early flirting doesn’t make any sense. You shouldn’t even be entertaining any of that if you’re already dating. Then naturally the second half isn’t exactly an easy watch. The lead does his best to try and minimize how bad the situation is but even he can’t quite reduce that to 0. It’s pretty obvious to the rest of the characters that things are getting worse and worse as the climax approaches.

Overall 4/10

Komi Can’t Communicate Review

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It’s time to look at a series that lasted quite a while. I think just about anyone would be impressed at Komi’s final chapter count even if it was a little slick by having some chapters be only 3 pages each to it could release 3 at once. The overall page count would end up being quite low next to the chapters compared to other titles. Still it was quite the ride. I don’t think it ended up matching the average romance series for several reasons that I will get into but you definitely can’t deny that the series got rather popular for a while there.

The series revolves around a lady named Komi. She is a top student and considered by many to be the most beautiful girl at the school. What none of them realize is that she is incredibly shy to the point where she can’t really say a single word to anybody. There are always a lot of wild reasons for how people don’t realize this and she has a very strong aura that the characters always interpret as Komi being really cool. Well one day a boy named Tadano shows up and he’s as average as can be. Nothing about him stands out. He’s basically the most normal guy ever and he isn’t afraid to walk up to Komi and strike up a conversation. He becomes her first friend and now Komi has a plan to make 100 friends before she graduates. She will confront of social fears head on. Will she manage to make 100 friends in this time frame though?

Obviously making 100 friends is tough. Not even just tough, it’s near impossible when you think about it. Most people only make a few friends in their lifetime, making 100 would make you wonder how loose the person’s definition of a friend is. Typically speaking a friend would be something more than simply a co-worker or acquaintance. A friend is someone you hang out with and chat or do fun activities with. If you consider a friend to just be someone that you get along with then that’s a different story. Now you can throw most of this away within the context of a show since here you can have a lot of friends but it does show what a steep goal Komi has set up for herself. It also means that the series is going to have to introduce a bunch of characters. It certainly does meet that challenge but a lot of the characters don’t get much to do. Effectively each character is generally one trait that becomes the character. Only the main ones are immune to this. I can’t think of any other realistic ways to make 100 characters here without the series being 100 volumes or something like that.

So Komi did its best on this but it does serve as one of the series’ weak points. I would argue that its cast is quite a bit weaker than the average title’s. I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of most of the characters. I like a small handful but even then I wouldn’t say that any character here is great. It means I’m going to be a little less invested in what’s going on compared to another series. If a new chapter came out for this series vs any other ongoing title I was reading, this one would typically be in last. Quite a few of the quirky characters end up being more disturbing or creepy than funny.

The series also goes for more of a drama feel than comedy I’d say. Now I’m not sure if this is technically correct but the series rarely feels all that funny. If i is trying to be a comedy then it’s not really succeeding. I see it more as a slice of life drama that has a lot of romantic plots going on in the background. Usually these titles won’t work quite as well though because I just prefer to be laughing and having a good time throughout. The more a series is cheery and having fun, the more it all works out for me.

That also brings me to the art which I would say is more on the sub par side. It’s definitely not holding its own next to the average title. The artist seems to be going for a realistic feel at times that doesn’t translate over very well. It’s a good attempt to be sure but it’s just not working. It can take away from the serious scenes and such. At least it does help mitigate the fanservice though. In general I’d say that the series doesn’t have too much fanservice but it does creep in there from time to time.

You also have several characters who are creeps the whole time and always trying to mess with Komi. For the most part the guys in the series come across as super desperate. The craziest one is a girl though which is a nice twist of fate but of course she only serves to hurt the series so it’s not like the title gains any standing there. At the end of the day you’re not going to be super impressed with the writing and the extremely short chapters can hurt the plot’s progression. That being said, lets take a look at the characters more in depth. I won’t go into all 100 friends as a lot of them don’t really do much but we’ll at least talk about the big ones.

So first up we have Komi of course and she isn’t bad. Now she’s not my kind of character because of how quiet and subdued she is the whole time. I generally prefer when characters are more tough and outgoing. It just works as a better dynamic. Even as Komi improves in this regard by the end of the series, she never quite hits her stride. It is nice to see her open up more and actually talk though. It takes a while for her to defeat her timid nature but it is an absolute victory and that’s something to be proud of. Some people aren’t able to overcome their fears like this.

Komi also does well in not letting Tadano go to one of the other girls although I do think she was a bit too timid when Manbagi was involved for a while there. Fighting over a guy is usually not a great thing to have to do but in this case if she actually wants him then she shouldn’t have encouraged Manbagi at all. The big three-way romance was a large part of the series and in many ways the peak of the title. It was very interesting throughout so I appreciated that even if I was rooting for Manbagi a lot more than Komi.

At the end of the day, Komi confronted her fears and accomplished her goals. She may not have been a particularly interesting main character but she wasn’t a bad one. As for Tadano, being normal and uninteresting is his whole gimmick so it works in an ironic sort of sense. I can’t say I’m a big fan of his either though. He’s okay, nothing particularly wrong with him but the author goes in so hard on the average gimmick that there is no time for him to really break out as a character.

The most interesting part of his character was ultimately the brief relationship with Manbagi. Initially he basically says yes because nobody’s asked him out before and then he was torn on how he should feel. It felt like a pretty realistic storyline because if a girl suddenly asks you out, it might be easy to say yes on the spot. You’re not sure why you would say no and if you’ve never been in a relationship before then it might be a good idea. He ultimately breaks it off after thinking the whole thing through more which was pretty devastating for Manbagi but better sooner than later.

It’s probably the saddest part of the whole series to be honest as the drama was at an all time high there. The series never managed to match this energy later on to the point where the author was basically forced to recycle the plot with a different character for more drama. Manbagi is also forced to rebound with a sports player and that was a plot that wasn’t all that interesting. Still you always knew Tadano would end up with Komi so you shouldn’t let yourself get too ruffled by the ending. You just know that a breakup will always hurt somebody once it happens.

Then there is Najimi who is always an interesting figure in the series. For starters we don’t know if Najimi is a girl or a boy since the character dodges the question every time. It definitely underscores how much of a troll Najimi can be which is pretty fun. Tadano was lucky to have this friend from the start who was always good at breaking the ice. As the series goes on Najimi gets less of a role but that character has so many friends that it seems intentional. In a way Najimi was looking out for Komi and Tadano and once they were totally good, Najimi was able to help everyone else. That’s how I interpret it all at least.

As the series goes on, Komi’s brother Shousuke also gets a bigger role. He’s rather quiet like Komi but not because he’s super timid. He just doesn’t have anything to say and so one girl in his class is always trying to get him to talk and smile. These chapters were pretty fun and I dare say they had a much better dynamic than Komi and Tadano. That could also just be because the storylines were rare though. Small does of something can be really misleading since I might be singing a different tune if it was reversed.

Komi’s whole family is fun though. Her father is also pretty awkward socially and his attempts to bond with Tadano usually get rather rocky. Fortunately Tadano is great at reading people which works out. Then you have Komi’s mother Shuuko who loves gossip and feeling young again. She’s super extroverted and can make anyone feel at home right away. She was a really nice character and it’s always good to have someone who can break the ice.

As for the main rival Manbagi, well I already went into most of her plot earlier. What I like about her is that she is very outgoing and goes for what she wants. She liked Tadano and so she worked up the courage to ask him out. Even when she was really scared and knew it was a longshot, she took the shot. That’s more guts than 99% of the case in this series who all hide behind their personas and issues. That’s why you feel bad for Manbagi because from the start you knew that she was doomed. Sure the author throws her a bone by introducing a new character but that’s still more of a backup pick. It feels like a desperate consolation. Also she gets a new design after the rejection that wasn’t nearly as good so pair that with her reduced screentime and it was a rough finish for her.

We can’t forget about Yamai who was the most unhinged character in the series. She literally kidnaps Tadano at one point and threatens to kidnap him. She attempts to drug Komi multiple times and is always acting perverted. The biggest problem with Yamai is that this is generally played for laughs but it’s taken to such uncomfortable extremes that there is no humor to be had here. You’re actually hoping the characters will properly call her out on this but it just doesn’t happen. Sure Komi might tell her to cut it out but then Yamai is back to her tricks the next day. Definitely a bad character that absolutely holds the series back.

Then we have Hitomi who is Tadano’s little sister. She’s a lot of fun in the subplot as she messes with Komi’s brother. Hitomi has more character to her than Tadano does which helps her scenes work well. I would say she comes the closest to being a true comedic character in the series as well. Her scenes work really well and it’s just always fun to see her in action.

Katai is one of the relatively few male characters with a role here. He ends up being a good friend to Tadano despite all of the numerous misunderstandings that happen throughout the series. He looks really tough but ends up being a good guy during the series. He’s easy to root for because he’s always doing his best no matter what. He’s just socially awkward in his own way, much like the rest of the characters in the series.

Shiroki is a really minor character but she gets a shout-out for being a good friend to Manbagi. She really looked out for the girl and did her best throughout. It’s just nice to get to see another friend group in action outside of the main characters. Kiyoko is one of the weaker friends. She is very serious and has a hard time sharing her feelings. By the end of the series she lightens up a little bit but as far as character gimmicks go her was one of the less interesting ones.

Inaka is your classic country girl. She always overestimates how much people think about that though to the point where she is really sensitive on that area. I suppose it’s easier said than done to ignore that though. It’s something that she eventually makes peace with though. Not a bad character once she has her confidence back. Hafuru is one of the more absurd characters since he always has a baby pacifier in his mouth. He’s just too far gone to root for at this point. When you’re putting in a pacifier like that, there’s just no going back. It’s also not really a gimmick that you can do a lot with so it gets repetitive very quickly.

Kaede and Agari are fairly similar although Kaede is definitely a little more outgoing. They’re both fairly nice and quiet as they help Komi out. Nice characters to be sure but they could stand to be a little more aggressive to really stand out here. That would give them a nice boost to really get ahead. It’s better than a negative gimmick which is what Shibuki has to deal with. Basically she sweats a whole lot. No matter what she does, the sweat just keeps on coming. I can definitely sympathize with that since sweating is no fun. Particularly if you’re the only one sweating and everyone else is feeling real cold or normal.

She has a huge complex about that and it’s probably the most realistic form of social anxiety in the series. So you definitely feel bad for Shibuki and she is easy to root for throughout the series. She ends up being paired with Naruse who tends to be very self absorbed. He thinks that everyone loves him even when they aren’t thinking about him at all. Beneath this shell he’s quiet nice though and does look out for hi fellow classmates. His role within the series is definitely a solid one especially once he is able to talk genuinely.

Nakanaka is another fun character. She has fun with the occult and is great at video games so how do you beat that combo? She is a bit on the weird side which is why she doesn’t have many friends but I think if she put in more of an effort she would have a lot of them. She’s just a very nice character who is easy to get along with and also gets very competitive. Likewise Netsuno is also very competitive and gets to fight a lot. She is often outgunned but it’s the thought that counts. These are the characters who are fun to have around since they really push the others forward.

Rei is a fun little character as one of the only relevant kids. She ends up bonding with Komi fairly quick. It’s too bad that she ended up missing out on most of the series because I thought she was rather fun and added a different dynamic than most of the other characters. Emoyama is someone whose gimmick didn’t work all that well though. She basically just uses the word “emo” a lot and her chapters tended to be complete snoozefests. You would just wait for her to leave because she just didn’t really add much to the series.

Then you’ve got all the guys in the delusions group where they imagine dating the various heroines. Those chapters are as painful as they sound and I wish these guys didn’t have to get so much screentime. It’s completely undeserved and I would have liked for Tadano to properly scold them a bit more. He shouldn’t even play along and stay in the discussion, as soon as the topic changes to that he should be out there. You don’t want to even be complicit in that whole thing, all it does is destroy your reputation.

I’d say that’s a good amount of characters to get into. Naturally there are a bunch of others involved like Komi’s final rival who was in love with Tadano and advocated for a threeway wedding. Another example of when Komi and Tadano should have had a harder stance because this girl absolutely doesn’t listen to the word no. Sometimes these quirky personalities just shouldn’t be tolerated but that’s just my two cents. Tadano and Komi have a strong bond but there’s no point in letting others try and test that.

Overall, Komi Can’t Communicate is definitely a series that had a massive cast and a ton of chapters but it is held back by those very same characters. Without comedy or a stronger main romance to root for, there is little replay value to be had here. So the series is not bad by any means but I also can’t see myself ever going back to read it again. It’s just not that kind of series and so that’s why I would put it in the middle. If you think the premise sounds good then you should check it out but it’s not about to wow you or anything like that.

Overall 5/10

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7 Review

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Natsume’s Book of Friends is definitely a pretty impressive adaption but you only had to look at the seasons to know that. It’s pretty much unheard of to get 7 whole seasons and I’m sure we will be getting an 8th some day. It’s a very peaceful franchise where you can watch the episodes at any point. I definitely had a good time with it and while the show isn’t going to knock your socks off, you can always depend on quality writing and good story telling.

If you’re new to the franchise, the general plot is fairly simple. Natsume is a man who can see Yokai and has inherited the “Book of Friends” from his grandmother Reiko. This book contains the names of many Yokai who are effectively forced to do Natsume’s bidding while they are there. He intends to return all of their names back to the Yokai but can only do this when the Yokai is right in front of him. Along the way Natsume helps them all out with their daily problems.

In the first episode we have a Yokai inhabiting the body of a clay form that looks like Nyanko. So a pretty solid way to jump in and a lot of Hijinx play out from there. The yokai itself is one of the calmer ones as it just needs some time and is generally pleasant. Natsume is all too happy to help out while Nyanko is a little grumpy as always. We get a little danger but for the most part this is just a fun little adventure. It’s a pretty solid premiere with a self contained story that worked well.

Following that episode, we have an adventure where somebody is messing up the flower garden every night. Natsume decides to put a stop to this and naturally it turns out to be a bunch of Yokai. They’re trying to take care of a small castle and need the flowers for beauty purposes. Natsume helps them out and ultimately gets to prove that he can be delicate as needed. He really gets to show off his expertise in cleaning. Another low key episode here but I was glad that Natsume got on this right away. He wasn’t about to let anyone mess with his folks.

After that we have our first case with Natori. He and Natsume are helping a guy who is being haunted by scarecrow Yokai. At this point the main factor of interest with these team ups is seeing what will happen with the Book of Friends. By the end Natori is definitely confident that the book is a bad thing and must be taken from Natsumi. Technically I get it because Natsumi is hardly the strongest guy around and is often in lethal danger. He has to be saved on the regular by Nyanko but one day he might be too late. Additionally Natsume’s family will also be in danger but regardless it isn’t likely that Natsume would ever forgive Natori. Natori definitely ends up being one of the most interesting characters as he has to balance this all together.

Natsume is okay but he’s not the most interesting character so you need others to bounce off of him. I still disagree with Natsumi not telling his folks about the book. Additionally Natsume can be too naive and training throughout the show. At least Nyanko always keeps his guard up but then at the same time his big mistake is that he gets drunk on the job and isn’t a very reliable bodyguard. He gets lucky quite often but doesn’t take his job nearly as seriously as he should.

In the 4th episode we have our first really emotional episode. Natsume and Kitamoto pass by an old bookstore where Kitamoto wants to find a book from the old days. He decides to keep visiting this place but is always pressured by the store owner to leave right away. Not a very good feeling for a customer but Kitamoto is not dissuaded. What he doesn’t know is that the girl is a Yokai and Natsume decides not to say anything. I think Natsume was definitely wrong in this one even though the girl said not to say anything. This was the absolute perfect time to finally break the truth to him about the world of supernatural things. So I can’t see this as anything but a massive L tbh. I enjoyed the banter the whole time though and the Yokai was nice. She did a good job of watching after the store.

After that we have a story about a dragon scale falling down onto Earth and Natsume decides to grab it for Chobihigue. It’s okay but this would be the weakest episode up to this point. I still don’t care much for the main Yokai that hang around Natsume. They are just really weak supporting characters all around. Their antics aren’t particularly funny and I don’t find them to be very interesting either. In general Natsume isn’t a funny show anyway, it’s meant to survive on the good stories and these Yokai yet don’t cut it. Even Chobihigue’s big twist doesn’t hit as hard as it should because we just don’t care about that guy.

Next up Matoba appears and I really liked the opening to the episode as we get a mini mystery on if he was punking Natsume about having a Yokai in the bird cage or if he was messing around. The actual story has a focus on Matoba and his team having to face off with a Yokai that is trying to get past the glass traps. I always like Matoba episodes since they focus on the big problems that Natsume is lucky enough to avoid. For the most part, Yokai are very dangerous and while this guy may look like an extremist next to Natsume, he feels like a realist at other points. He is a really good antagonist and one who has a lot of valid points. In a debate he will always beat Natsume but that’s more due to the latter’s inexperience than anything else. I definitely look forward to their inevitable clash over the Book of Friends someday.

Following that up is an episode about a Yokai skeptic. This episode would hit so much harder if Natsume ever actually told people about Yokai though. Since he doesn’t, you don’t have the usual tension here. Fortunately it was a nice Yokai anyway so the whole thing didn’t matter too much but I did like this guy. He seemed reasonable about it without being written to be over the top. I’d probably be skeptical about Yokai myself if I was in the show. I’d need a lot of good old fashioned proof and with the main Yokai guy being intentionally cagey…yeah I wouldn’t suspect a thing.

After that is a pretty interesting episode but it does rely on Nishimura being really slow on the uptake. A Yokai decides to transform into Natsume and visit the guy every night. He gives Nishimura a weird doll finger to hang onto and keeps on coming to check on it. This “Natsume” can barely talk and acts nothing like the real one. Nishimura has a lot of different excuses to himself on why Natsume is so different and so he never actually suspects anything but you feel like he totally should. The whole thing has a happy ending and all plus I enjoyed seeing Nishimura get a bigger role. He may not be the smartest guy around but he’s a good friend.

Then we get our big two part adventure of the season. Natori and Matoba are around as they have to ensure a ceremony goes as planned. If it’s interrupted for any reason then there will be big trouble. So they all have their ways of helping. Natsume wants the pacifist approach, Matoba wants to destroy them all and Natori wants to destroy the bad ones but does try talking a good game about not being too extreme. The episode further shows the gap between the two exorcists as Matoba is clearly a lot stronger and more capable. We already knew this but it’s always fun to have a reminder. Natsume as usual holds them back a bit as he is easily taken out. We do have a good amount of danger here and the ensemble cast really helps to make the episode feel grand. Every season should have a solid two part adventure like this one.

In the second last episode, we get the big emotional episode that should have been the last one. We see how Reiko got her first ever Yokai name and then how she even made a good friend. Unfortunately a big misunderstanding causes them to drift apart which was unfortunate. It’s probably one of the saddest episodes of the series and definitely the saddest one of the season. Reiko may have great powers but she sure went through a whole lot while she was growing up. Not having any friends is already rough in itself and then things never go well when she has the opportunity to make some. The other girl was also sick all the time but really tried hard in order to get better at the various games in order to play against Reiko. It’s easy to get sad about it just remembering the episode.

The final episode goes for a fairly emotional vibe. Natsume helps a origami out so that creature shows him a lot of nice memories. Natsume and the creature bond quickly and it’s a reminder that some Yokai just want a friend and are totally harmless. We get a lot of little cameos and then the season is over. It’s not really a grand finale or anything like that but it does a good job of showing the average tone of the season. So I understand it in terms of being fitting to end the season like that but I would have chosen one of the other episodes to end off on.

The animation is fairly decent as you would expect. Nothing particularly noteworthy but standard is enough for a slice of life title like this. Great animation could possibly help this one jump to the next level but at the same time I understand why you wouldn’t throw a crazy amount of budget at this one. The series doesn’t require a ton of animation and it’s fairly dialogue heavy. So as long as the animation isn’t bad, then the series doesn’t get held back or anything like that.

Likewise the soundtrack isn’t bad. It’s very low key and definitely not the most exciting but it works well enough for what it’s trying to do. I would like the technical aspects to show up one day and really support the writing though. Natsume may be very laidback but you can absolutely still find a way to make the show a little more exciting. This way you’ll attract even more fans and get that higher replay value.

Overall, Natsume’s Book of Friends has a very familiar vibe to it. It’s the kind of show that has remained consistent for its whole run. You always know that you can count on good stories here and that is important. I can easily recommend this to anyone because it’s really inoffensive. You learn a lot of general life lessons about being a good person as well. The characters are all very polite generally and there aren’t too many evil antagonists. So again, feel free to check this one out as a calming experience and you can basically jump in without any context. The series doesn’t seem to be in any rush to actually wrap up the plot so they can keep these stories going for a very long time.

Overall 6/10

Flow Review

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It’s time for an animated film that takes a very different approach compared to the average title. There is no dialogue here as the film follows a bunch of animals who are doing their best to survive as the world is thrown into chaos. It’s a very calm film and while it may not be one that you would watch too often, it’s definitely interesting enough to be a good movie.

The film mainly focuses on a cat that seems a little inexperienced as he wanders through the forest. He runs away from some dogs and is generally leading an ordinary life when suddenly the water levels begin to rise. The planet is changing quickly as the floods gain headway and it looks like all of creation will soon be underwater. The cat will have to team up with these other animals if they are to survive but can they all put aside their differences here? The animal food chain could become an issue.

One thing I really appreciate about the film from the jump is that it doesn’t go out of its way to explain things. That also makes a lot of sense because there are no humans here for exposition. This way you get to really think for yourself on why this is happening. Is some cosmic being trying to wipe out all life on the planet? If this something that just happens every generation on this world? Were the humans extinct first or are they also surviving all of this? By the end you won’t really have any answers and so you get to just think of all the possibilities.

I do like the idea of the humans being wiped out while the animals remain. They should be more resilient in a lot of ways after all but at the same time I wouldn’t say that these animals seem very street smart. Most of them don’t seem to be used to being on their own so much but I guess this kind of event is pretty drastic. As the film goes on we get to see their true characters. Some animals are willing to team up and be good sports while others ultimately decide to turn to their wild side.

In particular the biggest contrast is with the dogs. The main dog is a really nice guy who just wants to help out. He may seem a bit oblivious at times but he has a good heart and this shines through the whole time. Meanwhile his dog friends are not quite as solid and they appear as selfish and scatter brained. It’s not that they are openly antagonistic but they seem to really just be normal dogs who are led by their instincts while the main one was able to move past this to recognize an urgent situation and react appropriately. Naturally he was the standout character here.

The cat was also a lot of fun though. He was really doing a whole lot to try and survive which is tough since he is smaller than just about all of the other animals. He nearly dies on many occasions and ultimately has to live with the knowledge that another flood could come at any time. The cat did make some good friends through the journey though so at least he won’t be all alone anymore.

A Capybara was another one of the main characters and it was nice to see him. These animals already have a strong reputation for getting along with basically every other kind of animal out there so it makes sense that he would be one of the big peace negotiators right from the start. He tends to sleep a lot and take everything in a very calm manner. Definitely the opposite of the Lemur who was panicking and stressed out the whole time. If you’re always stressed in a situation like this then you are definitely going to be in rough shape by the end of it. The Capybara really had the right idea of it here.

Then you have the big bird who looked rather intimidating at first but he was ready to defend the cat as needed. He certainly took some heavy blows from the rest of his clan as a result but he was a good hero. His injury remains throughout the movie which was probably the film’s way of nerfing him since otherwise he would have the easiest time in this situation. The floods are bad to be sure but when you can fly then it opens up the options a whole lot. The others are all relegated to staying on different boats as they go through.

So there is a good amount of danger but the film also balances it well so none of the animals are getting seriously hurt the whole time. The only main death of sorts here is handled in a very stylized way which was good so it wouldn’t really hurt the overall story. You could also make the case that it wasn’t really a death since again you have a lot of interpretive options here.

The animation is solid. It’s not going for a super detailed look and instead looks more arcade/streamlined style which works well here. The characters are all very expressive and the environmental effects are good. I definitely had no real issues here. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side but this is going for a very natural feel. Having some hard rock themes or really hype tracks would likely have felt a little off. It would be worth it of course but I understand why the film wouldn’t have gone in that route.

A cliffhanger would have been cool but again this isn’t really that kind of film. This is one of those movies that you can just enjoy in a relaxing way. There is danger and such but you have a feeling that things will work out along the way. If they ever did come up with more films then I would check them out and this is also the kind of film you could easily recommend to anyone without any reservations.

Overall, Flow is a good movie. I am the kind of guy who likes a good amount of dialogue to really shake things up so that would have given this film a boost but it doesn’t really make any mistakes. I think it takes the concept of a wordless film about as far as it can go. You still get a good sense of the various characters and their personalities while also being able to understand the interesting plot. My view will always be that dialogue would further improve the film but that just wasn’t the artistic vision this time. If you like a good film about animals then I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

Overall 6/10

Mr. Holmes Review

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It’s time for a film about Sherlock Holmes when he was really at the end of his life. This means the film would have to tackle the mystery in a very different way since he can’t be running around and actually fighting himself. No instead he has to solve most of the case in his head. It’s a very different approach. Not a particularly effective one mind you. I did miss the usual Sherlock Holmes style this time. The movie ends up being largely uneventful with a very small cast for most of the run.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Sherlock Holmes who is being taken care of by Mrs. Munro and her son Roger. Roger really likes hanging out with Holmes and learning about bees but Munro is a little less amused as the whole thing. She thinks it might be a bit dangerous, not just for Roger but for Holmes too since he might faint and take a hard fall. Her fears are certainly justified here. Well Holmes is trying to figure out what happened in his final case before retirement. For some reason he can’t think of it, maybe he blocked it out? Well, now he can’t rest until he solves the case.

I would say the part that tripped the film up the most was just how far they decided to age up Holmes. He’s not just old but he’s ancient in this movie. He can barely move at all and is basically dying by this point. A single fall can give him numerous bruises and so that severely limits him. He can basically walk around the house but that’s it. So when I say the case is mainly in his head, it’s really quite literal. Even in the flashbacks he looks old to the point where if you forget that you’re watching a flashback you’d think it was happening in real time.

Holmes does get to use his famous observational skills to pick up on different tricks and also solves a bonus case in the final minutes. I was glad he got a win but there’s still something sad about the whole thing. It’s like he knows that his death is imminent and there’s not a whole lot that he can do about it. In general it’s sad to see any character taken to this extreme, especially when they used to be a fighter. It was fun to have Holmes see his film version at the theaters during the movie.

Considering how Holmes blocked off his memory you can bet that the case doesn’t end super well for him. I won’t go into specifics since that’s the whole point of the climax but I don’t feel like Holmes really made any big mistakes. A big theme within the film is that Holmes is a genius but doesn’t understand people all that well. That may be rue but I don’t think another character would have done much differently at this point. Holmes did take care of the immediate threat and it also made sense to reject the advance since he wasn’t going to be getting involves in any kind of illicit affairs. Sure he could have potentially handled the whole thing with a longer speech and being more verbose in general but this is all hindsight.

You never know how a situation will play out and so I think Holmes is being really harsh to himself throughout the film. Meanwhile Munro is probably the most tragic character here because she’s just trying to provide a good life for her son Roger but a rift is forming between them due to how she treats Holmes. She takes a much more cautious approach than the main character which of course paints her as the bad guy to an extent. She makes her share of mistakes like burning letters meant for Holmes. I can’t really defend that but otherwise her top priority is on protecting Roger and so that’s what she focuses on.

As for Roger, he was a good characters. At times there wasn’t a whole lot to his character but he was really eager to help. He had Sherlock’s back at every point even if it meant keeping secrets. He just needed to be a little older and he would have probably done better in the film. As it is, what happens to him in the film would have been hard to avoid for even trained professionals. When you’re in a moment like that it is easy to panic.

The film’s biggest problem is that it can be rather dull for large chunks of the film. The past case just wasn’t as interesting as it could and should have been. Instead of being the part of the film that really wows you, you are waiting to go back to the present again. I liked hearing Holmes explain the situation by the end as the detective speeches are always fun but it just wasn’t a very captivating case. The presentation in the movie was a whole lot more interesting.

Also while it is normal for characters to start crashing out during stressful times, the disagreements go pretty far. At one point one character tells the other that “You should be dead!!” and it’s a comment that is hard to walk back from after all that. Like you probably can’t easily bury the hatchet on that one. It’ll always be in the back of your head because under duress or not, they clearly meant that. At the end of the day Roger may have tried being Holmes’ friend but that’s about it. He had lots of acquaintances but was ultimately all alone. Even the whole raising bees angle felt like it was him being super lonely. It’s not really the kind of hobby that most people dream about getting into. I know I definitely wouldn’t be able to handle that one because I’m not good with bees as it is.

Overall, Mr. Holmes will have to be one of the weakest Sherlock Holmes films. It’s not bad per say but it does feel like the movie didn’t really know where to go for a large portion of it. It’s really not a detective movie first and foremost. It’s more about vibing and enjoying the great outdoors which can be okay but that works more for a film where the main character can actually be running around and trying things out. Here Holmes can plan things out in his head but that’s just not good enough to be exciting. Check this one out if it’s really early and you want to see what it’s like but the slow paced nature of the movie does severely limit the audience. If the film cannot hook you even slightly while it’s early then that’s game over.

Overall 5/10

Punch-Drunk Love Review

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This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

The film introduces us to Barry who has a reasonable job and his life is stable but the guy has nobody to really share it with. He has 7 sisters who are super talkative and outgoing but they are a little too much for him. The guys at work seem okay but you could still say that he doesn’t really have any friends. Well one day a lady shows up who likes him but Barry had been impatient and dialed one of those unethical phone numbers to have an intimate talk with a random person. That was a big mistake as she is now blackmailing him and wants a ton of money or he will be exposed. If this wasn’t bad enough, she has a gang going after him. Can Barry get his life in working order or is it all over for him?

One thing that will stand out right away is how good the main theme is. It’s really catchy and helps the scene to stand out more with the fast paced dialogue. It’s quite fitting and usually music is an area that films have a lot of trouble with so I was definitely glad to see this. The theme plays quite a few times and never gets old. While the movie itself may not be a big hit, at least it does give you something really catchy to remember it by. Other films wish they could pull that off.

Meanwhile the crazy nature of the film is also nice. Little things here and there won’t always make sense as the film intentionally tries to catch your attention with small details. Whether it is characters doing crazy things in the background, the nature of Barry’s business, etc. The whole film thrives on being very weird. It is definitely very successful on that front although I dare say the film could have stood to take itself a little less seriously and then it could have really capitalized on the weirdness.

Naturally the romance is going to be one of the weak links here. On one hand the weakness is part of how weird the whole thing is with the main heroine being rather desperate for Barry for some reason. It’s a very lucky occurrence for Barry so you almost want to root for him but of course turning to the phone number first was a massive mistake. No real way to save him at that point and either way the romance itself would have been way too rushed.

Barry deals with a lot over the course of the film but in a way it doesn’t feel like he really solves the core issues. He may have shut down the villain group that was after him but he still has the crazy 7 sisters who will keep on messing with him and you can bet that this relationship is going to get complicated for him as well. Hopefully he is just able to handle the situation really well but the ending doesn’t ring quite as positively as intended. The best way for Barry to handle this would just be to not take things so seriously. The sisters really like talking so you just let them keep on talking but you don’t really engage with the points unless directly asked. Then from there know that it’s such an info overload that most of the info itself will be lost in the shuffle.

Most of the 7 sisters don’t get to do much but we do get one family scene where you can at least see what the chaos is like. The main one who was trying to set Barry up with a girlfriend in the first place gets the biggest role. She seems nice enough but has no real concept of boundaries or privacy. She will just say whatever she is thinking which can really put Barry in a tough spot at times.

Then with the heroine Lena, you’re sort of waiting for a big twist to happen the whole time but in the end nothing really pops up. I guess you could say she’s just a nice person without any big agendas at play which is cool to see. Romance aside she seemed like a nice person who wasn’t too quick to judge Barry based on second hand information and actually got to know him. She was also fairly clever like with her original car plan. I suppose that could count as a bit of a twist.

The villains here aren’t the most intense ones you’ll meet. They talk tough at first but quickly begin to meet their match. I did like the added sense of danger here though. They really forced Barry to quickly consider the situation and see what he would do next. He was ready during the final confrontation which was a pretty good scene. It beat the actual last meeting scene which was definitely on the anti climactic side. I was expecting a bit more than that even though this is not an action film.

As far as the tone goes, I would still call this part comedy to an extent but it’s definitely not going for a goofy vibe. Funny things happen every now and again but there are also some serious undertones occurring throughout. The movie manages the balance pretty well and I’d say this one could have been better with just getting rid of the phone plot. I’d have had Barry get scammed in a different way that would have made him a little more sympathetic instead. Also the second half is played a bit too linearly compared to the first half. I’d have thrown in some more wrinkles and twists to keep it from being too standard.

Overall, Punch-Drunk Love is a decent film. I’d say it was a bit better than I was expecting. I think I was expecting the film to be a little too try hard in how serious it would get but instead this film found a really good balance which I can appreciate. If you’re interested in a film that definitely gets weird then you should check this out. The movie’s at its best when its just having a good time messing with you as the viewer. You’ll pick up a ton of little moments in the background that really help to amp up the experience. They could really do a sequel to this one if they ever felt like it but I suppose that’s probably not likely.

Overall 5/10

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Review

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It’s time for a western that actually doesn’t have much in the way of gunfights. It’s a very low key film which can be nice as a change of pace but at the same time it gets a little too calm for part of the adventure. There doesn’t seem to be much of a story for a while there until we finally get to the Indiana showing up and causing chaos. For a while there it’s just the characters walking around and counting down the days to retirement. It’s very inoffensive film but one that you’re probably not going to be tempted to re watch. There just isn’t much of an incentive there.

The film starts off with Nathan getting ready for retirement. His final day is arriving this week and he’s definitely ready for it. Nathan has been doing a tremendous job for many years but even the best have an expiration date at some point. Unfortunately it looks like it won’t be a quiet last few days. His boss has the dicey idea of wanting Nathan to guard his wife on the way back. Indians were already spotted on the trail so this is not going to be easy. Then a lady named Olivia will also be on the mission and she has been attracting the attention of two of Nathan’s best officers. This includes the future replacement for Nathan so this new rivalry is not being very productive. Will the platoon be fine without Nathan?

Naturally the romance isn’t particularly good here. Olivia definitely seems to be messing with the guys quite a bit and almost doesn’t seem to care who she will be with. Ultimately she chooses the one with the better future prospects but how strong are her actual feelings? That’s a bit harder to say and it’s why I can’t picture this being a very strong romance. It’s just not going to go over very well in the long term. While Olivia looks bad for being a distraction here, I also have to give a lot of blame to the two officers. When you’re in a serious army position like this you are in charge of the lives of every officer around you.

You can’t suddenly be getting heated into a fist fight when there are external dangers all around. Nathan scolds both officers but it’s a shame that he had to scold them at all. He was clearly disappointed and I don’t blame him. There’s another guy retiring in a few weeks who is a big drunk and while that guy is irresponsible, at least he can fight. We get a fairly lengthy slapstick action scene where he basically takes down an entire division. Now you could also just say that’s anti hype for those guys to all be defeated by one opponent but I do think it’s really meant to show how strong this guy was.

He is really all muscle. So yes with him and Nathan gone the platoon is absolutely finished. I don’t see the soldiers being able to operate at the same high level that they used to be on. Fortunately Nathan did leave things on a good note within the territory so that should buy some time for the army to get stronger and stronger. Then maybe they can win their next confrontation.

But again the biggest problem that the film has is…we don’t really care about the plot. The strife between the Indian factions isn’t super engaging, nor are the action scenes around getting into the camp and staying away. If anything the film may have been better if it just stuck to being a slice of life with Nathan just chatting to people and solving problems. In this version I guess more of the drama would have been around different romance plots and maybe some new subplots.

Or go all the way in the other direction and add in a ton of gunfights. That could have also been a good option here. This is a long film that feels long and that’s usually a problem. The pacing could have definitely been a lot better and we probably needed at least one more standout character. It felt like the main character had to basically hold the series by himself which is really not advisable. You need more characters in general.

Or if you can’t add to the cast, add more scenes for both of the guys that the heroine liked. For the most part their whole character personalities revolve around her rather than doing their own thing. Give them each a subplot of their own. Maybe one of them starts questioning Nathan more and more and actually gets it right a few times. Then the other one is getting to be a better and better shooter and wants to convince the captain to reassign him to a gunner role. Not sure if that was a thing back then but just an example. We need more reasons to care about the story and this would be a good way to do it. Maybe even have the Indians show up earlier and one of them used to work in the army or something. By this point I’m starting to change the entire movie so these are just foods for thought.

Overall, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a film that doesn’t put as much importance on the ribbon as you might expect. This is still Nathan’s story all the way. I do think the title does a good job of preparing you for a lack of action though. If it was called the big battle of the west or something then that would probably have gotten people excited for a bunch of fights only to be disappointed afterwards. The movie takes great care to avoid making any mistakes, it just forgot to really focus on the strengths. Well, like I said you should check this one out if you like a very calm experience. Just expect it to be extremely calm.

Overall 6/10

Ordinary Angels

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It’s time for one of those inspiring films based on a true story. As I always say it’s nice to watch ones where I’m not familiar with the actual events because then it’s all new territory for me. I get to just enjoy the story and see what happens. It’s a good story and of course you’re looking forward to the happy ending because if it went sideways then things would have really been ugly. That said, the characters are all dealing with a lot of flaws and trauma of their own so there aren’t very many perfect characters. They go quite far with this so it’s not exactly a happy go lucky film the whole time.

The movie starts by introducing us to Ed who has had a tough time of things. He lost his wife at a young age and has had to take care of both his daughters by himself. This is not easy and it has also broken him financially as his youngest daughter Michelle is extremely sick and needs constant doctor visits. Ed is someone who is very good with his hands and works a laborious job but it hasn’t exactly given him the down time to get his life back in order. He has no insurance, no real connections, and so the debts continue to get higher and higher. Fortunately a lady named Sharon hears about this and decides to help out. They may be strangers to her but she wants to make a difference and as the film goes on we learn more about her personal life as to why that is.

So right away I will say that my biggest issue was with Ed for the most part. Sharon does a whole lot to help him out, literally raising thousands of dollars early on to get him out of a jam. I can understand Ed silently resenting this to an extent because he wants to be able to take care of his kids on his own and I get that. The main problem is that he doesn’t really hide this at al and doesn’t treat her well even after she helps out so much. I think the worst of it is after Sharon makes a personal visit to the hospital and gets their board of directors to stop Michelle’s entire bill. Keep in mind that this bill was around half a million dollars.

That’s a bill that would have been impossible to ever get out from and while Ed thanks her, he goes back to being upset at her almost right after. It was really excessive. He was finally justified near the end of the film when after yelling at her some more, Sharon went back to her alcoholic ways and passed out when she was supposed to be watching the kids. That was really bad of course and so she should stay away from that point. Ed finally had a good reason to be upset at her but this was late in the film and even then he pushed her to it.

Ed is fundamentally a good guy trying to help his kids but I do think the movie fumbled a bit in playing it up this strongly. Meanwhile for Sharon she has her share of setbacks as well like when she continues to drink even while lying to her best friend. It can definitely be hard to beat any addiction and drinking is definitely one of the strong ones. That said, she still does her best to keep on helping out. She doesn’t get much closure with her son but you can’t win every battle. At least she does have the satisfaction of knowing that she was able to directly save a life now. I imagine that would be a strong component to help prevent her from getting into drinking again.

We get a pretty intense climax towards the end of the film as well as the characters are rushing to get through a snowstorm in order to get to the hospital. The storms get real intense as the film goes on and it’s a reminder of how strong the weather is. Even nowadays there are plenty of storms that people don’t dare to try and cross because they can completely wreck even the strongest of planes. The fact that somebody actually showed up to help after the TV broadcast was great. There was a really strong sense of unity here. When you see all of the negative headlines online it can be easy to be completely jaded on the whole idea of community spirit but it definitely still happens in some places. I imagine it might be tougher in a big metropolitan city but that’s why it’s good to at least know your neighbors. Build some relationships so everybody helps each other out and that definitely goes a long way. Who knows you could end up helping to save someone’s life someday.

Finally it was also refreshing to finally have a film about helping each other out without any big ulterior motives. It wasn’t because Sharon fell in love with Ed or anything like that. She just really wanted to help out and this was her chance to do something that wasn’t done for her when she was going through a tough time. Of course since it’s based on a true story that’s probably why it played out this way since I’m sure otherwise it would have gone down the Hollywood angle but this way just makes a lot more sense. There are plenty of reasons to help someone out without needing there to be romantic love in some way.

Overall, Ordinary Angels is a good movie about team spirit and how one person can make a difference. Perhaps you can’t do quite as much as what Sharon pulled off here but everyone has a lot of opportunities to do what they can to really help out. There will always be reasons that pop up as to why you might not want to help but the opportunities are still there. If you’re ready for a happy ending then you should check this one out. Like I said before it’s not fully happy so you need to prepare for the drama and trials but at least you know it’s heading towards a satisfying conclusion so that’s always a load off. I’m sure one day it’ll backfire and I’ll watch a film about a true event that has a sad ending but hopefully that day is really far off from the present.

Teenagers from Outer Space Review

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It’s time for a film about an alien invasion and it’s definitely treated as a fairly casual affair. Humanity was absolutely not ready for these alien invaders, not that they usually are. It’s a movie that has aged well and provides good entertainment the whole time. The pacing is not bad and we largely avoid the big romance thanks to the film’s ending. All in all I don’t have many issues with this film as it turned up when it counted.

The movie starts with a few aliens landing on the planet Earth. They all look like humans but they are certainly not the same species. The most ruthless member of the group is Thor who wants to use this planet as a breeding ground for their giant monsters. Derek protests as soon as he sees that there are intelligent life on the planet and so he runs into town to warn people. Thor lets him escape only because it turns out that Derek is the son of their high leader. So they need to take him alive. Will Derek be able to spread the message with the planet or is he already too late?

The tough part for Derek here is the fact that he doesn’t really know anything about the planet. So he’s having to learn a whole lot of things on the fly. He meets a girl named Betty and her kind Grandpa but it’s hard to convince them of the urgency of his mission. This changes when Thor shows up and begins blasting. His disintegration ray can destroy anything that it hits. Derek will have to find a way to disarm him and fast before the whole town is obliterated.

The death count in this film can be surprisingly large at times. There are a whole lot of deaths left and right here Thor basically gets to do whatever he wants to the place. It takes a long time to bring him down and even then the heroes fumble the bag by not taking his weapon or anything like that. Thor lasts way longer than he should because the heroes insist on using kid gloves with him. This is a matter of life or death, you really need to take him out. At one point he is totally unconscious after being shot a few times and nobody capitalizes on this. Very sloppy behavior without a doubt.

Thor does make for a decent villain the whole time though. He’s very confident in himself and is always pressing forward. The guy comes off as being insane right from the jump so you’re not sure how he got such a high ranking position but the possibilities around it are so endless that there isn’t much point in really pondering it. That’s just how this alien group goes. The climax of the film gets quite explosive and definitely doesn’t leave many loose ends for a sequel. Unfortunately this also means that the giant monster himself doesn’t get to appear or do much at all throughout the film. I was looking forward to seeing more of him since the design was really hype. It had a lot of potential but ultimately the budget just wasn’t there to support the film and that is really a shame. Having a giant monster stepping on all of the buildings would have definitely raised the danger level by quite a bit.

We at least know that it was pretty strong though. If not for the pesky disintegrator ray then it might have really had a shot. I regret to inform you that a dog does die in the film though. Early on the villains use the ray on the dog Sparky which was definitely a big mistake. Fortunately the whole scene is pretty fast and you instantly turn to bones which is better than most methods of death. Still unfortunately but that’s the reason why the film didn’t immediately get a negative score or anything like that. It could have definitely been curtains otherwise.

I have to give Betty’s grandpa some respect in this film as well. At first I figured he wouldn’t be doing much of anything here as the guy was really showing his age but in the end he stayed strong. He wouldn’t say where Betty and the others were even under threat of death. He kept on riding around with the crew the whole time and never gave up. That’s the kind of determination you like to see here. He had a lot of energy and in general all of the townsfolk were pretty good. None of them were just going to turn tail and run or give up without a fight. This is the true meaning of unity.

As expected the writing is pretty good here. The script is solid and the pacing is really good. The movie never drags on and you can feel the danger lurking around every corner. At most the only weak part would be when Derek first arrives in town and doesn’t know that the other aliens stuck around. So he doesn’t have a lot of urgency as he rents a room and puts of telling Betty about the dog. The film also narrowly avoided the love triangle since it was looking dicey with Betty and the reporter plus Derek for a while there. That could have docked some points but the characters made the logical move here this time by focusing on the end of the world threat and not getting side tracked. That was a welcome surprise.

Now this is a very old film so even as an alien invasion film you should not be thinking about this in terms of a lot of explosions or anything like that. This is a slow burner through and through and you can almost think of it like a slasher aimed at kids. You have the seemingly invincible villain who slowly approaches each town goer as he obliterates them from existence. He takes no hostages and has absolutely no mercy. The guy just keeps on going and going with no plans to stop. It’s the part of the film that leaves you feeling a bit sad because none of those characters expected that they would die today.

Overall, Teenagers from Outer Space may be very different than what you would have expected based on the title but it’s a pretty good film. I wouldn’t say it has any obvious weaknesses at all. I had a good time with it and the film even has a decent sense of humor at times. If you like these retro films then I would say to definitely check this one out. It’s really got every classic B creature element in here along with the creature itself even if that’s more of an afterthought.

Overall 7/10

Rudy

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Imagine you’re getting ready to win a big Football season when all of a sudden a kid walks up to you and calls himself Rudy. You’re probably going to be a little confused and worried all at the same time because you life’s never going to be the same. Well that’s what happened in this film based on a true story. Rudy really turned the whole Notre Dame story on its head and he did so with ease!

The movie introduces us to Rudy who has always liked College Football. His family are really into it as well and so Rudy says that one day he will join the team. The problem is that he’s rather small and doesn’t have a very athletic build. He usually isn’t able to keep up with the other kids and this has been true even once he grew up. He’s now 22 and still hasn’t achieved his dreams. Well, he decides to head to school and give it a shot but does he really have what it takes to win?

Naturally it’s all a longshot, I’m sure many people tried exactly what he did and got turned away at the door. Ultimately you need perfect timing and a lot of heart to pull this off. So you’re rooting for Rudy and are glad that it worked out but you can definitely see why the coaches would be skeptical. Each Football game requires a lot of concentration and talent. All it takes is one wrong loss to start a streak of losses so you don’t want to mess with the flow. The film does a good job of showing just how unassuming Rudy is but of course the catch to that is that at the same time he just doesn’t feel like he’s Football ready.

It’s an uplifting story regardless as you are glad things worked out well for him. Socially it was tough as well as his family was rather hard on him the whole time and then he found himself single for a good part of the journey. He also had to try and be someone’s wingman in order to get the tips he needed to succeed at school. That’s a rough setup I have to admit because the whole thing is already a red flag for anyone he approaches. Why would you go out with someone who isn’t confident enough to ask them out himself? Fortunately the friend gets braver by the end of the film as well.

It would have been nice to have gotten more Football screentime though. I know this is Rudy’s story and since he didn’t take the field until the very end that would have been tough but seeing more Football action would have been great. That is some of the best stuff after all. We do get to see Rudy training though as he gets destroyed on the field a whole lot but never gives up. Now that is true dedication. He always had the heart for this even if he didn’t have the talent.

There was a nice employee at the field who also pointed out how things were looking up either way. Rudy got a great education thanks to this which is more than most people can really say. A lot of the time you have to choose between education or sports but in this case he got both so he will be pretty well set for after his very brief career ended. It takes him a while to really appreciate this though.

The movie tends to be on the unassuming side so don’t expect a grand soundtrack, dynamic camera angles, or any big splash type scenes that stand out. Instead this is all about the journey and it’s a well written one. The movie is fairly long but feels fast as you’re watching it. Because of how direct the film is, there isn’t a whole lot to say about it though. You more or less know what’s going to happen from the overall vibes that the film has but the execution doesn’t leave you with any problems.

If they ever did a sequel, maybe we could see what Rudy got up to after his career was over. I imagine it would essentially be a slice of life film but with this crew I think it would work out. It would still be interesting enough and at the end of the day that’s why writing is so important. Any film could and should be entertaining if it’s handled right and this would probably be one of my best go to examples. Because on paper you might think it sounds a bit boring but it’s good quality nonetheless.

Overall, Rudy is a fun film to watch. I would say there isn’t a whole lot to it next to other biographical films. You don’t have a ton of tragedies happening to the main character and the actual payoff is very fast. That said, it’s fun to watch a light film like this. Sometimes you don’t need all of the extra stuff. Just give me an entertaining film with a good story and I’m set. This film had both of those aspects so I felt pretty good on this end. If you like Football or enjoy a good story then I’d say to check this one out.