Tag Archives: Drama

Drifting Home Review

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It’s time for an anime film with a lot of drama and big events going on. The kids really had to go through a lot here but at the end of the day they pull through and show what real determination can do. It’s a solid film but this is one of the rare times I’ll say that the film went on too long. They start to retread some of the same story beats multiple times and I even think the whole plot of bringing in the veggie people muddied the overall message. Personally the story could have shaved about 30 minutes off and flowed better.

The story starts by introducing us to Kosuke who has a long history with a girl named Natsumi. She had to live at his place for a while when they were kids but then Kosuke’s grandfather died and the two grew really distant. At school they can barely even talk to each other and Natsumi heads to the abandoned projects to be by herself. Those are the old buildings where they used to live and Kosuke’s friends figure it’ll be fun to treat them as haunted houses and go exploring. Kosuke isn’t thrilled about this but he accompanies them and that causes Reina and her friend to give chase. Suddenly the whole building is seemingly carried away and when the kids get up they realize they are all alone at sea. Their home is just drifting along like a boat and there is nothing in sight across all directions. Are they doomed to die out at sea?

Being stuck out at sea while only being a kid is definitely a rough situation and even more so when the characters don’t get along. The premise works really well with the mystery as you wonder how the characters even got to this point. Was it magic that whisked the characters away or is it all a dream like Natsume says? The hunger and fatigue the characters feel certainly seems to be real but perhaps it is all in their heads. For now they have to treat this as real and try to survive.

This is really the main backdrop for Kosuke and Natsumi trying to be friends again. Throughout the movie we slowly start to see more of the flashback of the final incident that caused them to drift apart. It takes a long while to actually see the scene but you do understand where it’s going fairly early on. A lot of the time it does tend to be Kosuke’s fault as he does tend to say things that he doesn’t mean and gets upset quickly. It felt like he went through many attempts of burning the bridge and often it came at little to no provocation.

He isn’t very good at the whole being a good friend thing. Kosuke is good at taking charge and doing what has to be done though. Jumping onto another building to find snacks was a good idea and he does his best with assuming command. Kosuke isn’t very mature most of the time but neither are most of the others since they’re just kids. There will be a lot of moments that make you cringe for sure but without Kosuke the others would have definitely been doomed.

The kid who is the most mature here is definitely Natsumi. While she makes a critical error near the end, for the most part she is the only one really keeping everyone together. She tries to keep the various personalities from destroying each other and absorbs most of the insults. I would have liked her to have fought back a little more though. She’s always being really mature and just internalizing everything but it also means that the other characters tend to consider it open season on her. Particularly Reina who was always picking fights.

Natsumi was definitely going through a whole lot here. Reina is probably the most petty member of the kids though. She is constantly picking fights in part because she is jealous of Natsumi and wants Kosuke all to herself. Reina is all too eager to blame everything on Natsumi for this reason and holds a grudge for a long time. She is fun for the film because that makes the dynamics more interesting but you would absolutely not want her to be on the ship with you.

Juri is her shy friend who is always around. She’s very timid at first but gradually taps into her inner confidence and does better. It was nice to see her taking charge and not just fading away into the background. I don’t think she got enough time to really be too much of a focus for the most part but either way I would say she was a good character. Taishi tended to get himself into trouble but he’s a friendly guy and someone who gets along well with everybody. He may not take things seriously most of the time but that does help to keep morale up.

Finally there is Yusuru who probably gets the biggest shaft out of all the characters. He doesn’t get to have a proper character arc or anything like that. He’s dependable and always around but that’s about it for him. Feels like the film needed an extra person for some of the stunts and that’s why he is around but otherwise the story didn’t have a role set up for him. That’s a shame but at least he wasn’t bad.

There is the mysterious Noppo kid who is constantly hanging around. He’s quiet and doesn’t do or say much until we get deeper into the film and then his role gets bigger. I wasn’t a big fan of his character, he tends to hold them all back a bit and is way too cryptic about everything. He definitely could have told the heroes more and that would have made the situation a lot easier on the rest of them. There wasn’t a good reason for him to hold back.

He’s also responsible for the main subplot that didn’t really add much to the experience. I still say we don’t need the whole veggie thing but I can’t say much more without spoilers. Lets just say the film introduces a whole concept of a bunch of people and this helps in part to explain the mystery of what happened but not in a super satisfying way. This is one of those films where the mystery itself is a lot more compelling than the resolution. It would have made a lot of sense to have had Natsumi be the conduit for taking everyone into the ocean world because she was unable to move on. This would directly be Kosuke’s fault in a lot of ways and that leads into their character arcs.

All these other characters just negate that to a large extent. The film also has a half dozen climaxes where it looks like things are going to end and then it keeps going. I always say that good films should be longer and bad films should be shorter but while this is a good film, it just started to feel its length. Ideally you don’t want a film to feel like it’s super long because by that point it means that some point of the immersion is gone.

Even the drama was a bit repetitive as it felt like Kosuke and Natsumi would make up, only to fall apart again, and then to repeat those steps over and over again. Even the flashbacks started to loop again. It’s a really good story beat of two old friends reuniting but the movie just didn’t seem to know how to stretch the plot on for too long. They didn’t have enough material for it or something like that.

The music was pretty solid here. I liked a few of the tunes and the animation isn’t bad. It’s nothing super high end or anything but it works well enough for the film. The technical aspects didn’t hold the film back or anything like that. The writing was good as well and the movie did a good job of having the kids find creative ways to survive. Perhaps some scenes may feel like a stretch for the kids but as long as it means they’re doing something I can be on board with that. The less time they spent panicking, the more time they had to be productive.

Overall, This was a good movie. I’d say that the length hurts the replay value and at the end of the day a bunch of kids will never be the most compelling set of characters. That said, the messages are good and the ending is solid. I always like when a film takes a stance on something instead of trying to have it both ways and so the final line was a great idea. Between that and the photos, the movie wasn’t copping out or anything like that. I’d say to check this movie out. It might even give you a bit of nostalgia for when you would hang out as a kid.

Overall 6/10

The Painted Hills Review

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It’s time for another Lassie film and of course you know that means that the movie won’t be particularly good. Lassie movies tend to fall into the same holes time and time again. You want them to be good but deep down you just know that they won’t be. It’s unfortunate but that’s just how it goes. This one is another particularly weak installment and the whole time you’re waiting for Lassie to show up.

The film opens up with Jonathan and his dog Shep travelling through the mountains and finding a gold vein. They might be rich now! They head back to town to let Martha and her kid Tommy know but unfortunately a guy named Lin hears about it. Lin has always been a decent guy and he convinces Jonathan not to put a claim in just yet so they can make sure of what they’ve got first. Jonathan unfortunately listens to the guy and they head back up. Lin gets crazier and crazier about the gold until he finally murders Jonathan and decides to take it all for himself. He even poisons Shep and tries to bump him off. Will the guy face justice or is it all over for the heroes?

Obviously it’s sad for Jonathan but my main problem with the guy is that the whole thing is so obvious and predictable. How did he not suspect that Lin would do this? Lin was not hiding his greed at all. Not even for a microsecond was the guy staying sane after he saw the gold. He was quick to attack anybody and so Jonathan should have taken care of him sooner. Instead Jonathan talked about the rules of the mountain and how there was an honor code. A lot of good an honor code does you once you’re dead!

He had the foresight to give the kid Tommy the claim so that the government could get involved but still went up the mountain with Lin upon his request? That’s just not a smart move at all and it makes sense that he would be pushed. I’ll be less harsh with the dog Shep for eating the poison but to be honest even he should have known better. Lin is not someone who can be trusted and Shep knows pretty well that Lin is the one who bumped off his owner. This calls for drastic action, not simply going along with all of this. Shep does well in the end but it took a while to take care of Lin.

Tommy also didn’t look particularly good here. He knows for a fact that Lin bumped Jonathan off and tries to escape only to hit his head really hard and get gaslit into basically staying silent and not saying anything for a while. Tommy handled the situation as poorly as possible and it was all pretty disgraceful. I expected much better from the kid but he disappointed me in the end. I know he’s just a kid but we’re talking life or death here, you can’t be letting yourself go down so easily. At the very least he could have said that Lin was trying to murder him and beating him in a more convincing way.

Even punch yourself real quick if that’s what it takes and leave a bruise or something. The other adults were slow to believe him which is annoying but makes sense with Tommy shooting himself in the foot the whole time. As for Lin, well he definitely didn’t cover his tracks well so he shouldn’t have even lasted as long as he did. He’s just lucky that things kept on working out for him but the film can’t say it was so lucky. At the end of the day we had to go through more animal violence here as Lassie is poisoned and shot at.

The dogs always have a really rough time of it and while some of the other Lassie films have been more violent, this one’s still going too far. No reason Shep should have to go through all of this and the film as a whole isn’t super interesting. I’ve seen better films about people being corrupted due to the gold. In this case I wouldn’t even say it is corrupted though as the guy seemed shady from the start. The gold was just his excuse to get really crazy about the whole thing.

The first red flag should have been the whole reason not to put in a claim. He talks about how other people would go to the mountains to dig and ignore the law anyway. Sure that might happen but at least you’ve got the law on your side and by the time other people discover the spot you should have gotten most of the gold anyway. It didn’t feel like a real argument although Jonathan believed it so I suppose there had to be something to it.

The guy was just too trusting. Even with how casual he was about another guy walking over and helping himself to things within the house. Apparently on the mountains it is a tradition where this one guy will show up to cook a good meal and then leave. While Lin’s response was off the rails crazy, I would be a bit weirded out as well if someone was just randomly in my house. Back in the days of everybody carrying guns, I could see this being fatal real quickly as well. You don’t know what’s going on and only have half a second to react after all.

Overall, The Painted Hills is a film I would definitely avoid. None of the characters are smart at all and fall for the easiest traps. Once you are on a horse there’s no way a villain should catch you and yet Tommy manages to find a way. Lin should have been taken out way sooner and needs all the plot armor in the world to stay on top. Not a very good look for him at all. There’s also the whole irony of Lassie not even being in the film since Shep is a descendent. A very odd choice without a doubt. I don’t think the film would have been good either way but it doesn’t help matters.

Overall 3/10

Trading Christmas Review

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It’s time for one of those films about house swapping and I’ve never been crazy about the idea. I just don’t trust people at all so I feel like the instant I do one of these, I would lose some things. Things would mysteriously disappear and I would never see them again. That’s a really scary prospect so I would just be too emotional to go along with it. For the people who Air B&B they’re probably thinking I’m crazy though. It is what it is.

The dual main characters are Emily and Charles here. For Emily, she was looking forward to spending Christmas with Heather but her ungrateful daughter has decided to go on a date with Jason instead and will be spending the holidays with him. Emily figures that she can fly over to surprise Heather and dashes over only to find out that Heather snuck away to another state without telling her. Not a very nice thing to do here and now what is Emily supposed to do with herself. She’s alone at Christmas?? The horror of it all. That’s when she bumps into Ray, a good friend of the guy she is borrowing the apartment from and a fast romance starts.

From the 3 plots this is probably the one where you are the most sympathetic to the lead. Emily is just trying to spend quality time with her daughter and the whole surprise visit seems like a fun idea. What are the odds Heather would just switch states right? It’s also rough to lose traditions so suddenly and without warning like this. It’s just tough and that’s why you can’t really buy into the romance here because it seems like Ray caught her at a very vulnerable time. Additionally the 180 to Emily suddenly not being interested in traditions and such was pretty rough. It was all so sudden and I guess in the end it’s like nobody wins.

Ray is nice enough but again the romance is all just so fast and contrived. He should have stayed in his lane and not made a pass at someone who is just renting the apartment for a few days. In theory once she left he would never see her again unless they got really serious about each other really quickly which doesn’t seem like such a good idea. You don’t really know the other person at that point.

Then we have the plot with Heather and Jason which is the weakest one. The whole time it seemed to be building up to a choice of regret where Jason just wasn’t a great guy and they were going to break up as she realized that traditions are good. He lets his friends crash in on their date and kept making the worst decisions possible. He wasn’t even interested in watching her old wonderful place movie. Well eventually they head back and it turns out that he’s a decent dude but the whole plot felt like a bit of a wash. It just didn’t have much of a purpose here. I’d say Heather had a purpose, but not so much Jason except to be a red herring here.

Finally we have the plot with Charles and Faith which was easily the most entertaining. So Charles is an author who writes a ton of books and he is trying to have a quiet place to focus. So that kind of works and he has a spot now except that Faith shows up because she was actually trying to surprise Emily which didn’t work out. The problem is that she terrifies Charles so he runs around crying the whole time about how she is distracting him and being a big baby about the whole thing.

There’s a lot of banter here throughout as a result and Faith really does good on her end like with keeping the neighbors out and even making food. I was on her side the whole time because Charles was often panicking about nothing and was also way too defensive about his books. The guy could stand to learn how to accept some constructive criticism. He eventually does but the plot takes a bit longer than it should have. Once again you have a hard time seeing just why the romance would start here. Maybe if Charles had been a bit nicer from the start there could have been a chance.

Of course then there would be less witty banter so I suppose I would miss that part. Charles just thinks too highly of himself and generalizes everyone which Faith calls him out on. At least now his next books will end up being better. The movie did a good job of balancing these 3 films the whole time. It felt like there was way more of a story here than I would have expected otherwise. The movie isn’t even that long and yet it paces everything well so it gets full kudos for that. You don’t feel like any plot got the short end of the stick.

Heather’s certainly has the least amount of screentime but that makes sense because it’s not like her house was one of the ones that was swapped. At most you could say that with more screentime they could have set things up a bit better to establish that she was trying to have it both ways a bit too much with ditching traditions while still following others and that would help her realize that she really wasn’t nice to her mother at all. A good redemption arc would be nice since she was so petty the whole time.

Overall, Trading Christmas definitely doesn’t change my mind on why I wouldn’t want to ever trade houses/apartments even just for a week or so. I would have real security issues but naturally it does make for a very good movie plot. This movie is charming and fun throughout the whole adventure with good writing and pacing the whole time. Often times you can expect maybe 2 main plots at most but 3 in this Christmas adventure was really taking things to the next level and I was really impressed to see it. The bar was set high here without a doubt. If you’re up for a fun Christmas title then you definitely won’t want to miss out on this.

Overall 7/10

Fallen Angel Review

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It’s time for one of those really dramatic Christmas titles. This time around I can safely say that the romance is super weak though to the point of taking a star away. It just doesn’t make sense and it takes so long for the two leads to really get to the same page that the credits start rolling as they make up. Ehhhhh it’s one of those cases where they should have stayed as friends.

The movie introduces us to Terry who had a rough time growing up since his father was super busy and never really had a lot of time for him. Terry had a lot of resentment about this and swore not to make the same mistake when he grew up. That’s not quite how it went though as he is now working in a big company without much downtime and hasn’t even met a girl yet. Well, he is called down to his old home to shut the place down since his father died but his dad had already promised the place to a lady named Katherine who was renting out the place to show her daughter Olivia.

It might be tough going back down memory lane but Terry is ready for this. Then he finds out that Katherine is actually the little girl who visited the place a long time ago when her father struck someone with a car who died and then he wandered off into the forest and died shortly afterwards. The whole thing was so long ago and tragic that she just doesn’t remember and when Terry finds out that her father is still alive, he forbids Terry from mentioning this. Terry is keeping a whole lot of secrets now and then he falls for Katherine. Can he keep up this relationship in the midst of all these secrets?

The obvious answer here should be no. Also, since he is renting out the house I would imagine that having a relationship with a client is a really bad idea. Not really something you should be doing if you have a clear head on your shoulders. Katherine gets really upset at him later on for this and it’s for really good reason. I don’t see how you could keep on going after this because it’s such a big deal. The fact that she was here before isn’t as big a deal to be honest but the dead father thing is massive.

I get why it would be hard to show up out of nowhere after so long but the Dad should have appeared and if not, Terry should have still mentioned this. If he wasn’t interested in Katherine romantically then sure he could have decided not to say anything but I would say that by this point it was definitely his obligation. It’s just too serious and personal not to say anything. Then the fact that Terry was about to dash off and everything until at the last second turning around…not his best moment.

As for Katherine, I thought she was okay but also moving too fast on everything. I feel like I would definitely cancel my appointment at the hut if the guy in charge died. I don’t know the new owner enough to trust him so why take the risk? That would be a full refund and I’d just check out another spot. She also got really emotional by the end and I get that the betrayal was rough but it still felt like she could have handled things a little better.

The hospital subplot about the father leaving gifts every year to try and make things better was nice though. There was a common element here about the father of both main characters caring a lot but having a hard time showing it. For Terry it was too late since he died but at least for Katherine she will be able to mend the relationship now and get the family going again. So definitely a happier ending there but again it could have worked better without the romance here.

I gotta give the film credit for trying to give us a true life or death moment in the film though. At one point Terry has to go into the water in order to rescue the boat and we get the serious music as the water rages on. Katherine’s daughter Olivia is blind so she has to try and keep her daughter safe while saving Terry and getting the boat going. It was maybe trying a bit too hard on the film’s part to really get the blood pumping and all but it was a scene I wasn’t really expecting so I give it some credit for that.

Even the whole “Father faking his death” angle was a pretty solid mystery on the film’s part. You may figure it out by the time of the reveal but maybe not, I thought the movie showed good restraint in keeping it from being too obvious. Naturally I will say that faking your death is almost never a good idea and this is another example of that. It may be really hard to show yourself but you’ve really got to take that leap and just get it over with. Once you have a family, it’s selfish to just ditch them like that. Feel free to fake your own death if you’re on your own but otherwise it’s definitely a no go.

Overall, Fallen Angel is a good movie but it needed a little something more to the plot to really make it memorable. Maybe more supporting characters or something back with Terry’s plot like the company calling for him back. That could have added some drama on him being in a rush to get back. The film isn’t super long or anything but even then it felt like there wasn’t a whole lot of story for the film to get through. It’s a good title but doesn’t hold up with most of the other Christmas titles. Check it out if you want some solid drama though.

Overall 6/10

A Season for Miracles Review

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It’s time for one of those Christmas stories that has a wholesome ending but things get rocky for the characters at first. It’s a pretty fun film and it held my attention the whole time. The romance angle may be a bit on the weak side but when you’ve got a quality story at the ready then you can often get past such things. This film also isn’t afraid to tap into the supernatural angle a bit.

The film starts off by showing us that Emilie’s sister has taken another massive L and is being arrested again for drug issues. Emilie prepares to take care of her two nephews as usual but child custody agents show up and demand the kids. They can’t confirm that they can keep the two together either so Emilie decides to flee with them. She shows up to a small town where she is mistaken as the daughter of a rich lady who owns a mansion. Emilie feels uneasy about continuing the deception but the nephews are tired of moving so she stays for a while. The police captain Nathan quickly falls in love with her but also suspects that she isn’t telling him something. What will win out, his mind…or his heart?

Now Emilie isn’t a career criminal like her sister but she definitely does tend to mess up a bit here which is how Nathan gets so suspicious in the first place. When they’re looking through the attic she quickly starts to panic and says she doesn’t want to look at anything. Then not letting her kids buy any food at the market or enrolling them into school. She should at least do these things as a good cover before moving out. If anything she would have probably raised no suspicions had she done this and everything would have been set. Instead, she set off the alarms here.

I’d also say she should have forced the issue and taken her kids out sooner. That would have made more sense because without some supernatural intervention she was doomed here. It wouldn’t be easy to always be living on the run but in theory she just needs to evade the cops one or two more times in different states and they would eventually give up. It would be very difficult to track her down in such a non digital age. The nephews would be upset at first but in a few years they would understand.

While Emilie does have a hard time staying undercover, she is a good character through and through. Part of why she has such a difficult time is because this stuff is not second nature to her. She’s not used to breaking the law or anything like that and is just going this far to protect her family. So I’ve definitely got no issues with her as a character and I also agree with her move of running away because the custody agents clearly didn’t have the kids’ best interests at heart. Yeah they’re just doing their jobs but that’s not really much of a consolation for the kids.

Meanwhile Nathan is a solid character. He had his suspicions and kept at it until he got his answer. He would have solved things much quicker if not for Emilie’s guardian angel watching out for her. You could argue that Nathan overreacted a bit once he finds out the truth and I would agree with that. It’s a rough deception but the circumstances are immediately understandable even if it took him a little while to get to that point. The romance feels a bit rushed and hard to buy as a result but compared to some of the other big Christmas romances it holds up well enough.

As for the guardian angel, she was a nice enough character. She was constantly helping out in small ways and flexing her powers like when she would appear and disappear just to mess with everyone. Without her Emilie would have been doomed so she deserves the MVP role. Perhaps she could have solved the situation a bit easier but I imagine she wanted to eventually get things out in the open so that the humans could solve things themselves. That does make a lot of sense.

The film also squeezes in a courtroom scene which was a really nice touch. I can’t say I was expecting that and while it may not have been particularly long, it got the situation across well. Mix that in with a solid climax and we’re all set. Not every character gets a happy ending as Emilie’s sister is still in jail but it does seem like she wasn’t about to turn over a new leaf. In this case she was too far gone with the drugs but maybe in a sequel she could make a comeback. I’ll at least give her credits for not betraying her kids or sister when the cops tried to interrogate her. I mean it wasn’t much of an interrogation but she confirmed that she wouldn’t play ball.

Overall, A Season for Miracles is a pretty fun film. It’s got a good story and the characters are fun. I would also say that the supporting cast was better than expected. I liked the neighbors and the lawyer in training also did a good job in helping her out. It was nice to see the whole community side with the heroine even after only knowing her for a little while. Shows what a tightknit community they had there and everybody was just generally pleasant. That’s one thing I always appreciate about these Christmas titles which is that the communities are really strong and wholesome. Helps maintain that really friendly atmosphere. Mix in the usual good writing and pacing and I definitely have no complaints with the film and would recommend checking it out. At most the kids might annoy you a bit but that’ll happen in any film where they are present.

Overall 7/10

Ringing Bell Review

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It’s time for Ringing Bell, a film that wasn’t really on my radar so that always makes for an interesting watch. The story itself is very direct and the cast is small but at the end of the day it’s all about how you use them. Will the characters take the film to new heights or will they be average at best? Well in this film I can say that the characters are reasonable but the movie does make a few mistakes that keeps it from going further.

First up we have Chirin as a little lamb being watched over by his mother and the rest of the flock. Chirin isn’t very strong or fast but makes up for this with pure optimism. He is always believing in a better tomorrow and doesn’t back down. Well, one day his mother is murdered by a wolf and he laments how unfair life is. He decides to follow the wolf and learn how to become one. Then once he is strong enough, Chirin will destroy the Wolf. Will things really go to plan though?

I have a hard time with this plot in general because deciding to follow the one who murdered your mother is just a bit crazy. Sure this is a plot that has happened with other characters as well but it has to be handled super delicately in order to work out. I didn’t think this one was convincing enough. Chirin’s mother was destroyed so suddenly and without mercy that I wouldn’t imagine any mercy. Additionally, she had always been kind to him so this was a really good relationship that was taken away. Chirin should instead be feeling endless anger and craving for revenge the whole time. That would make a lot more sense.

Now I can acknowledge that this might be the quickest way to attaining strength so Chirin deciding to use the Wolf could work slightly under that mindset. It should still be ultra reluctant though and so in the end when Chirin actually seemed torn on this, it doesn’t work. No matter what time they spent together later on, the Wolf should be his ultimate antagonist. There should be no true bond here. If the film was going to go down this route, they should have made Chirin’s mother meaner so that would explain why he was a bit more mixed. Like on one hand she is still his mother and on the other hand he could have been getting bullied so part of him would appreciate the wolf. Would still have to be handled carefully of course but it could work.

Instead Chirin really started to become like the Wolf which was a shame. I did enjoy the fact that he got more confident and had a really good character design though. The film just needed to focus on his not losing his humanity, or lambity as it were. The final scene where the other lambs are afraid of him made for a pretty solid ending though. It made sense even if it does fall into the slightly annoying trope of the characters being saved but somehow not knowing how to distinguish the good guy from the villain.

As for the Wolf, no complaints here. He made for a really good villain. The guy was a strong fighter and while he couldn’t bring himself to destroy a cub, he was merciless in taking down his prey. As a wolf that’s just what he does, it’s the circle of life and all. So I bear no grudges with that guy and he lasted pretty long into the film. You could even make the case that he could have won in the climax but held back a bit which would make sense.

So we’ve got a solid story here but of course there is a decent amount of animal violence like with Chirin’s mom and the bear that gets taken down. It doesn’t help that the animation is really quite solid and has aged very well. The colors are very dramatic and you feel the intensity in all of the actions. The animation is really quite impressive and makes up for the soundtrack being more on the generic side. It may not have worked well due to the main characters being animals but otherwise any action film would be glad to have this level of animation. It really supports the fights quite well.

The opening half also takes a big longer than you would have expected in a pacing sense. The mom doesn’t get bumped off for quite a while even though you know that is the main purpose of the title. It’s a key point of the plot so in that sense the film would have been better off to have shortened that portion of the film to extend the time with the wolf. Perhaps if we saw less of Chirin’s bond with his mother then the film would have flowed a bit better or at least made it less difficult to believe.

If the film had all been like the first half and it was just a very wholesome kind of movie then I think that actually could have worked out better as well. It’s not like we have a whole lot of films about lambs in general and Chirin learning about the cruel outside world while still being protected could have been really good. At the very least I would have had no problems with that, it would have certainly avoided the animal violence parts.

Overall, Ringing Bell would have done well to replace the characters with robots. At the end of the day there was just too much damage here and it ends up suffering the same fate that most animal films do. You just can’t have as great a time as possible when the characters are all animals and you don’t want to see them get hurt. It puts you in a rough spot as the viewer and so I wouldn’t be able to recommend this film. You’re better off watching something a little more wholesome like Air Bud.

Overall 4/10

Lucky Christmas Review

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Lucky Christmas is one of those really wholesome movies that is definitely fun to watch and has pretty good writing. The only weakness is the romance as a whole and at this point it’s probably safe to say that this isn’t super surprising. That’s just how it goes sometimes. I’d say the movie still succeeds despite this, the humor is on point and the plot is interesting. It’s also the kind of scenario you could picture happening in real life.

The movie starts with Holly buying her lottery ticket as always and at this point it’s really just a habit. She doesn’t actually think she’s going to win or anything like that. So she goes about her day and doesn’t properly lock up her ticket in a safe or anything like that. She just leaves it in her car. Meanwhile Mike and his irresponsible friend are hanging out and Mike gets super drunk so his friend drives him home. The friend isn’t the smartest guy in the batch so he ends up stealing a nearby car to drive Mike home and that happens to be Holly’s. So he finds the winning lottery ticket and figures he could be rich but of course the ticket is in Holly’s name. Is there a way to trick her into giving up some of the money? Meanwhile Mike wants to make things right and give her back the ticket but he isn’t sure how to do that without looking suspicious. In the meantime he may as well romance her up a bit.

Right away you can see how we’re rooting against Mike and his friend. Mike does take a whole lot of the blame here since he should have come clean right from the jump. There were many opportunities to give the ticket back if he was being serious about this like sneaking it into her house, leaving it in an envelope addressed to her, etc. He just made excuse after excuse and then it’s doubly bad since he is trying to have a relationship with her as well. That means the whole thing is deceitful from the jump and so the romance really shouldn’t hold. Surely being betrayed on such a personal level would completely doom any chances of being together right?

Well, in a fair and just world that would certainly be the case but unfortunately it’s just not so simple in this film. Holly ultimately doesn’t mind and after a fight they’re back together but it’s ultra cheesy so the romance plot is the part that you will have to endure if you are to still enjoy the movie. It just doesn’t make any sense at all and neither does Mike’s still being friends with the guy. You can have an acquaintance who is annoying like if you work with them or something but a close friend who is this bad just shouldn’t be in your circles. It makes you look bad as well.

Just look at the first scene of the film where Mike’s friend causes them to burn down a house. Mike is also to blame since he wasn’t exactly stopping things and when the boss gets mad, Mike has the audacity to actually be defensive about the whole situation. That was another moment where I couldn’t be on his side. Not only could people have been seriously hurt but the whole thing was meaningless. There was no point to his actions and so he comes off as being completely immature which I would say is fully accurate here. He is not a mature person in the slightest and should have gotten told off along with his friend.

As for Holly, aside from being way too forgiving she is a decent character. I understand not paying attention to every lottery ticket after a while as you probably just start to assume that you will lose by default. I’d make the case that then you shouldn’t be wasting the money to buy tickets though. Even though most are only a dollar or so, it really adds up over time. Imagine putting that towards stocks or something instead. That would be a much better use of your time without a doubt.

Now this is a comedy so you don’t want to go too hard on the characters but I do think that at least Mike’s friend should have faced some jail time in the end. He stole a car, stole the lotto ticket, then he also handled Holly’s things carelessly like when he tosses all of her stuff into the ground without a second thought. He just didn’t seem like a good person at all especially with how insistent he was on keeping the money. You feel like he needed to learn some kind of lesson even after things worked out. It all felt a little too easy in the grand scheme of things.

Ah well, obviously this is more of a feel good movie and so things are looked at through an optimistic lens. It’s not a bad thing per say but it can be a bit annoying. On the plus side, the writing and pacing as pretty good as you’d expect for a film like this. It does maintain a cheery atmosphere and it’s always fun to daydream about winning the lottery. The vibes are good all the way through and I don’t really have any other complaints with the film. Now the ending is quite hilarious though and not in the way the film thought it would be.

The characters have until midnight in order to cash in the ticket so they dash over to the place but then when the clock hits 11:59, they decide to start making out instead of going into the store. Rookie mistake!!! I was dying inside because I knew they didn’t make it in time and so the money went to waste. You could argue that it’s probably the most tragic ending to a film that you will ever see in your life.

Overall, Lucky Christmas is a pretty good film. I will always remember it for the ending because no matter what the writers may say afterwards, it’s clear that the heroes were too late. They fumbled the bag right up until the end and there was no way out of their predicament. The movie may not have always been realistic but it was definitely a fun ride and so I would recommend this title. Who wouldn’t want to have a lucky Christmas right? 2025 may just be starting up now but it’s never too late to watch a good Christmas flick.

Overall 7/10

One Man’s Way

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I have to admit that I’m not very familiar with the book about positive thinking but apparently it was a big enough deal where the author got a movie so that’s petty neat. I do tend to agree with positive thinking, it’s a good way to go and it’s easy to implement. I remember one of the classic steps they say online is to make sure you never start a sentence with “but” “however” or other statements that immediately show you’re going on the other side. Instead you passively address the idea and start the counter claim. That’s also considering if you even need to debate the idea at all. Generally I just take everything in stride and go from there but everyone takes these things are their own pace.

The movie introduces us to Norman who is sure that he never wants to be a pastor when he grows up. He gets teased about it a lot at school and so he’s gotten used to thinking that it is all a drag. When he grows up though, he is able to talk someone into saving her life by taking a risk and realizes that preaching actually is his calling. He is first placed in a smaller church that has seen some turnover recently. This is his chance to really make a difference and he’s nervous but it ends up going well. This is also where he meets the girl that he ends up marrying and this prepares him for the big time. Will he be able to survive in the largest church in America though? Additionally, he aims to write a book about positive thinking but it is controversial.

Since the book’s controversy is the big part lets address that right away. Basically the skeptics felt like he was putting too much power in the person. The book talks about how you and God can do anything and so some felt he was putting God in the position of being a being that takes orders. Someone to use rather than to worship. His main point was more so about believing that God can do anything as is in the scriptures. So it comes down to how you interpret the lines. Ultimately I thought what Norman was conveying was fairly clear so I didn’t have a problem with it.

In the same way that you won’t get everything you pray for, a miracle isn’t something you can command into being. Often times you won’t get the outcome that you are hoping for but there is nothing wrong with the initial ask. You then just have to keep on living and move on to the next thing. That’s just how these things work and if you do read the book under the notion that you can somehow control God then you’re going to be in for a rough spot.

Towards the end of the film we see a miracle which rekindles Norman’s faith and steels his resolve that he made the right move. It was definitely a good moment and you’re glad that things ended well. That said, things could just have easily gone the other way and it’s important to not be too held up by the outcome. Otherwise when things don’t go well you may blame God and that’s a problem you set up for yourself. If he did answer every single prayer and request then the world would be in chaos as a lot of them directly oppose each other and not every wish is a good one. So you just have to be grateful for the miracles that you do get to experience.

Meanwhile the romance plot initially is a bit on the rougher side. Norman really wants to date Ruth and so he follows her around and chases after her for a while. He figures there’s nothing wrong with the chase so long as there is a glimmer of hope. I would take a much weaker stance on his since after the second or third rejection that seemed like a closed book but ultimately she said yes so it worked out. From then on she was a strong supporter the whole way and was instrumental in helping get the book published.

It’s always nice seeing teamwork in these things so even if I had a hard time buying the romance initially, these are based on events that really happened so that’s just how it goes. The film does pretty well to balance out a lot of the origin story while also keeping in some events from once Norman got super popular. The opening half is definitely the focus though I’d say and we really see a lot of his character.

Starting out as the pastor to an already established church has to be super stressful. You’re just not sure if they will take to your style of preaching or not and you have to show up every week and get to know everybody. The atmosphere can get real thick real fast. Then once he was on a roll, having to move to another state is like restarting the adventure. To be clear he didn’t have to move but it’s one of those promotional opportunities that seems like it would be really hard to turn down. Little did he know that all of the battles would really start from there.

The writing is on point and I did enjoy the quick debates. I would have liked a more prolonged debate about the book though where each character sits down to make their points. It’s usually fast though but I understand since on Youtube the debates can be 2-3 hours but in a movie you obviously can’t spend that amount of time. Like 15 minutes would have been good though and would have strengthened some scenes like the older pastor expressing why he didn’t like the book. There wasn’t enough time to really flesh that out.

Overall, One Man’s Way is a pretty solid movie. It definitely shows how there will always be a lot of obstacles in your path no matter what route you take. Being a well loved pastor would make things a bit easier you’d think but Norman is attacked a whole lot once he gets big. That’s just going to happen though, everyone faces their trials. He ends up doing well the whole time and for my two cents, I think the book seems to be a good thing. The main issue ends up being around reader comprehension I’d say and while the critiques can be fair to an extent, his book wouldn’t rank in the top 500 in terms of controversial ones for me because at least it is positive. I’d say to check the movie out if you aren’t familiar with this guy.

The Hoodlum Priest

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It’s time for one of those intense films based on a true story. Dealing with criminals can always be a difficult balance of going hard but also leaving room for redemption. Naturally it depends on the crime itself and the scenarios around it. Well this story is about one priest who decides to make a difference here but his methods are very controversial. Will you take his side by the end of the movie or will you agree with his critics? That’s the big question here.

The movie starts out with a guy asking Charles for help in setting up a big robbery. He just met a guy named Billy who recently got out of prison and figures this could be a good setup. Charles tells him that this is a mistake because Billy isn’t experienced enough and then after that it is revealed that Charles is a priest. The intro is pretty solid because with the dramatic music and sound effects, you are introduced to Charles as a villain. Then as the film goes on, you see exactly what is going on here. It turns out that he actually uses his position as a way to get close to people who are either criminals or who used to be in order to talk them out of it.

The approach isn’t 100% though. As Charles even admits, he can’t stop every crime. Some criminals are going to go through with their plans no matter what and at that point all he can really do is just try to mitigate the damage. The most controversial part is that he won’t report the crime ahead of time so it still happens and then trouble starts. I understand the logic of why he doesn’t step in, because if a plan leak even once then his influence will be gone. It’s a tough policy no matter what side of the fence you’re on though because at the end of the day a crime is a crime.

I think he could be a little too soft on the criminals like in the final scenes with the shootout but ultimately the film does go to great lengths to show his compassion. At no point does Charles ever forget that they are all people just like him and bad decisions just ended up putting them on the wrong path. Not all criminals are equal after all, context matters a whole lot in a crime. Some crimes are completely indefensible and I would argue committing them inherently means that the person is already too far gone. Other more mild crimes like theft are still bad but it’s easy to see how you could redeem someone from it.

All that is to say that the film takes a very fair approach to this. I didn’t feel like they slanted it too far in Charles’ favor or anything like that. They just gave you all of the facts and let you come to terms with it on your own. It’s a nice way to do it and it gives me the impression that the rest of the film was portrayed fairly as well. Aside from Charles and his battle with all the critics, the main subplot was about Billy. Billy tries to get back to earning an honest living but it isn’t easy as his direct supervisor doesn’t like him from the start. Then when there is a theft, Billy is automatically assumed to be the one who did it. We never learn who truly stole the merchandise but the important part is that Billy was blamed.

Unfortunately he takes it pretty badly and ends up doubling down which just makes the situation a whole lot worse. The climax really ends up being Billy’s fault, things had really been looking up to. It ultimately was a difficult situation and did show why Charles’ idea of the halfway house had merit. Giving people more tools to re integrate into society and also just people to talk to could go a long way. It’s a pretty solid concept and while it would be difficult to implement, at least he got it off the ground.

I didn’t think the ending of the film was all that good though. It would have been better to have just had a big time skip with the house in operation or ending right before the final scene. Having the drunk show up and all the craziness just felt like a super odd ending. I don’t think the halfway house itself was super controversial so the movie could have just gone with a more upbeat ending instead.

Since the film doesn’t have much time for subplots, I will say that the romance tends to be rather weak here. There wasn’t really a need to add a romance plot for Billy. I suppose if that was in the records then they wanted to set it up but it’s another example of a romance that just felt way too fast without any real reason for starting. I can’t critique it too hard though because if that’s how it happened in real life then that’s just how it went.

Overall, This was a pretty interesting story. I certainly didn’t know much about how the half way houses formed and Charles made for a very interesting priest. It must have been really tough to have been scrutinized so much and with everyone against him as well. Definitely not an easy spot but he didn’t falter and kept on making his arguments to the end. While I may not have agreed with him on everything, it is clear that he was trying to do the right thing. If you’re unfamiliar with the history of these events then it’s definitely a good one to check out. It really goes into detail here.

All Mine to Give Review

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It’s time for another emotional film that takes place around Christmas. The film doesn’t hold back with the body count and everything going on here. At the end of the day it takes a little too long to get going and the kids aren’t the most interesting characters out there. This one won’t be reaching the top of your bucket list to be sure but it is a fairly unique film.

The film starts off with Robert and Mamie arriving in America where they aim to start their new lives together. They are really on their own right now but aim to have a big family. Everything starts out pretty well as they have a lot of kids but they also start to get sick. Back then there were less medicines and antidotes so things are not looking good. Will they be able to recover from this or is their big America trip about to turn tragic? Time is not on their side so they really need to watch out here!

One thing you’ll notice right away is that the intro takes a really long time here. The film is mainly supposed to be centered around the kids but I dare say you get around halfway into the film before that actually ends up being the case. A lot of time is spent on Robert and Mamie getting used to the area which isn’t necessarily bad but since you know it won’t last, the film feels like it misplaced where the focus should be. If you ask me, they should have bumped off the parents a lot easier to really get into the heart of the story. At the same time, the first half is definitely better than the second so maybe it would have hurt things anyway.

Aside from how they get upset at each other a little too easily, Robert and Mamie were solid main characters. They did their best in a tough situation and kept on working. It’s definitely not easy to take care of a family and build a house from scratch but with the help of some nice neighbors, they did all right for themselves. The old setting may not really be my thing but it’s all written fairly well. The characters are good as well so I don’t have any big issues there.

That said, the reason the second half doesn’t work is the film gets a little too dreary. So now you’ve got a bunch of kids who are going to be taken to an orphanage where they will all be split up unless the oldest son Robbie can find a place for them. It’s definitely not an easy mission as he is also pretty young but he does his best to find a bunch of homes. It’s really fortunate that he knew a lot of the neighbors and friends over the years. It’s not something that would really be possible nowadays since people don’t know each other nearly as well except in a few areas that may still be close knit like this.

With the exception of one old lady who was constantly mean to Mamie, everyone else basically ended up being suitable candidates for the kids. Robbie may have overlooked the doctor for his age when that would have been a good pick, but otherwise he handled the situation well. The fact that the town was tempted to split them all up right before Christmas definitely made them seem very unreasonable though. How would that even be considered as a possibility? The adults would surely be able to supervise and help make sure they don’t freeze to death in the cabin without taking such a drastic step.

They made the right decision in the end which is what counts though. Just would have been nice if they were more supportive and could have helped Robbie, even discreetly. The ones who each took up a kid to stay in their residences were there when it counted though so they get some credit. Meanwhile from all of the kids, Robbie was easily the most mature and the others would have been in trouble without him. He did a really good job and if anything you wish the ending had been happier for him.

The film ends really suddenly so it’s hard to say exactly how happy or sad the ending is but I took it in more of a sad way. He basically took the martyr approach of helping everyone else out and making sure they were okay while not really doing anything for himself. So that last climb through the snow just feels like more of a defeated moment instead of a triumphant ending. That would have been a good time to show someone from the town arriving to help him out. A little more cheer in general would have been good to make this more of a fun watch. There’s no getting around all of the tragedies here based on the story but you absolutely could still try to deliver the story in a more optimistic point of view.

Overall, All Mine to Give is a film about staying strong no matter how tough the circumstances get. It makes for a good message but not a really fun film. At the end of the day you have to try and accomplish both goals and this one was unable to do so. The kids mean well but they’re just not all that interesting and so you aren’t as invested in the film as you would be if the adults were the main characters the whole time. More scenes like Robert beating up his boss would help make the film more compelling because it shows just how much effort he had to put in for the family to be accepted. Robert was a strong man who wasn’t about to be pushed around and he gave every task his best right up until the end.

Overall 4/10