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A Hatful of Rain Review

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This is one of those movies that is just way too depressing the whole time. The characters make a bunch of mistakes and the movie doesn’t really have much time for fun moments. It’s just a dreary ride from start to finish and I can assure you that this is not a winning formula. You are not going to create the next all time classic this way.

The movie starts with John showing up in town to visit his two kids Johnny and Polo. Things had been a little tough between them but now it can all be normal. Welllll there’s a quick hitch in that plan as John asks Polo for the money back that he lent him. Unfortunately Polo doesn’t have it and won’t say what happened with it which causes a full rift there. John basically doesn’t want to talk to him anymore and only spends all his time praising Johnny. For some reason Johnny doesn’t seem to like his old veteran status brought up at all though and keeps leaving for long blocks of time which is making his wife Celia worried. Is something going on behind the scenes?

Well the big thing is that Johnny is addicted to drugs and so he spent all of Polo’s money on it and he’s still hooked. He suffers from serious withdrawals whenever he is away from the stuff and can’t work up the courage to tell Celia about this. So instead Johnny allows himself to be manipulated by the mob the whole time as he does their bidding for more and more drugs. It’s obviously a losing game here as the more drugs he consumes, the further back he goes. They’re also ramping up the payments and threats so he is really putting his family in danger here. That’s probably the worst part of it since his wife is pregnant so Johnny needs to be worrying about them. The mafia know where he lives so that’s too bad.

I didn’t like Johnny because of all these bad circumstances. It’s a shame that he got addicted during recovery from a bad injury but from there on he needed to talk to people and figure out a way forward. Instead of doing any of that he ended up doubling down over and over again on the wrong things. He had Polo there for support and Polo really did his best but Johnny still didn’t go forward. If he had absolutely no support network then I would have been a lot easier on him but he had several people around who loved him.

As for Polo, he was mostly a good character but unfortunately he crumbles halfway into the film. He basically crashes with Johnny and Celia while he’s down on his luck but Johnny is always away which means he spends a lot of time with Celia. Nothing wrong with that, it’s good to have close family and since they are siblings in law, it makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is that Polo allows himself to fall in love with her and this is where you start groaning as the viewer. Did the film really have to go down this rabbit hole?

I don’t care if she was the greatest super model on the planet, you absolutely can’t fall for her. She’s married and to his own brother which makes this 10X personal. The instant he started feeling any attraction it was really on him to move out. Attraction is about several factors including time and proximity. So the quickest way to get rid of that is to dash out and then getting drunk was hardly an excuse for him to be making a pass at her. So this is where he lost any likability.

Meanwhile I also have to blame Celia on this. For starters she says she noticed that Polo was falling for her for a very long time and didn’t do anything about it. That was probably a good time to bring it up before things got too serious. If she didn’t feel safe then she should let Johnny know when he is around for it. Thing is, the film basically states that she started liking him too which is just terrible. Yeah Johnny wasn’t fulfilling his obligations as a husband so you have to solve that problem but the rebound is absolutely not the way to go.

You can see how toxic the whole thing was. Ironically John was probably the least toxic even though he’s the one who is constantly yelling at everybody. Make no mistake, he’s a bad character as well. He was way too mean spirited towards Polo and saying things that you can’t really take back afterwards. I thought that was pretty awful even if Polo had lost the money. Being upset is one thing but continuing to ram in the point the way John did was overboard. Even by the end he is blaming Polo for what happened to Johnny instead of being supportive.

I think the worst part about all of this is that nothing really happens to the mafia. Yeah some members started getting picked up by the cops but the main ones are still in operation and tormenting more people. Polo pays them off at the end but that just means they’ll be back again with further demands. You never really escape the drug dealers until they’ve gone to jail and that’s why it was crucial that we got a scene for this. The fact that we didn’t was definitely a shame.

The writing for the film wasn’t bad but definitely a little too bleak. At some point you would have expected one of the characters to do something like roping in the cops or taking a stand. Instead there was a ton of fighting going on between all of the characters the whole time and none of them were taking the right step in order to resolve this. We also get some fairly long scenes of Johnny crashing out on the drugs and while that may be realistic, it also didn’t make him look much better. It’s a reminder of how he’s been going through this many times and still hasn’t told his wife yet.

Overall, The main moral of this film is dialogue. If the characters had confided in each other much sooner then the film would have been over in a snap. It’s a good cautionary tale on addiction though. Sometimes it’s something that you can’t beat on your own. Everyone needs help with things at some point. That’s why you have counselors, family, friends, etc. Depending on the situation is who you may end up confiding in but ultimately at the end of the day you are going to have a very hard time if you’re truly a one man show. With that being said, I’d recommend watching a lighter film instead.

Overall 3/10

3 Women Review

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It’s time for one of those very weird films where everybody is kinda crazy. Unfortunately instead of getting super invested in what’s going on this is the kind of film where you’ll be checking your watch a few times. The story beats don’t really follow very logically and so the movie just doesn’t feel very satisfying. Definitely wasn’t my cup of tea.

The film follows 3 women as you can tell based on the title but one of them barely gets to do anything. So Pinky has just started working at a health recovery type spot for old people. She is fairly timid and has a hard time making friends so she ends up gravitating towards Millie, a girl who is constantly talking. Millie has no problems striking up a conversation with anybody but the thing is, nobody listens to her and nobody even wants to talk to her. People straight up ignore her most of the time and want nothing to do with her. I get the feeling it could be because Millie just seems fake or brings too much drama. Either way Pinky figures this is her chance and grabs the application to become roommates with her. Will this work out?

It’s sort of a worst case scenario for Pinky to be honest. Millie is a bit oblivious to the fact that everyone ignores her although to an extent I think she realizes but is so deep into the act that she can’t give up now. Thing is, she is not interested in talking to Pinky and that’s the one person who will listen to her. So it’s a pretty rough cycle as Millie is super critical of Pinky and basically talks down to her the whole time. If you weren’t sure what a toxic friendship looked like, this would be it. The amount of gaslighting here goes pretty crazy.

For that reason Millie isn’t even remotely likable. She’s just way too desperate for attention even if that means sleeping around and being a bully. This certainly won’t help her attract the right attention either. The tables turn on her in the second half and it’s hard to feel too bad for her. When you have a lead like this then the film is already in a bit of trouble.

As for Pinky, she is also getting herself into this mess. Yes, she is starved for attention but the moment that means trying to get close to someone like Millie who is verbally abusive the whole time, you know you’ve gone too far. Pinky can also be quite nosy like when she was reading Millie’s diary on the sneak. Then after Pinky’s incident, she does a complete 180 and basically starts to act like Millie which means absorbing all of her flaws. By the end of this there was nothing likable about her either.

Finally we have the third woman Willie who draws abstract graffiti onto the ground, walls, and wherever she likes. She’s been pregnant for a while but her husband isn’t the loyal type and so she’s basically on her own. She is chronically depressed the whole time and the end of the film is certainly not kind to her. Her mind is thoroughly broken by the end of the film like everyone else’s so there was really nobody spared. She is really lacking in screentime but gets more involved for the end of the film.

The film definitely gets as edgy as possible with no proper character models in the whole film. Each character is out for herself and only does what will put her ahead. None of them seem to have proper values at all. All of the people partying at the building lobby seem just as bad and even in the workplace nobody seems to care about anything. The movie definitely portrays a very depressing landscape for all of the characters involved.

There aren’t really any happy moments in the film. Even without the terrible ending the movie wasn’t on pace to be anything super good either. It should have leaned into the weird angle a bit more instead of being this odd drama. Like we meet Pinky’s parents and they just seem really weird the whole time. You can definitely see how Pinky would have had a rough upbringing with these two at the helm. Yet the film just disregards them quickly, their weird scenes are just there and then they’re gone.

Instead of being a realistic look at each character having a psychological breakdown, have there be some supernatural moments. Have some ghosts appear, demons possessing the main characters, things like that. That would have absolutely been infinitely more interesting and given the film more of a central focus. This way you aren’t sure how much of what you see on screen is really happening naturally or what is being supernaturally meddled with. Lots of possibilities there without a doubt.

Overall, 3 Women was definitely a pretty terrible film. It messes up on virtually every element from the main characters to the story, to the ending. It missed the main part of just being a fun story. One key change that could have been good would have been to have had Millie and Pinky actually getting along the whole time. Have things be going well, then one day Millie gets upset and yells at Pinky which leads to the accident. It would play up more on Pinky not knowing how to handle the situation as opposed to Millie being a bully the whole time and that being the moment where it went too far. Would have been more realistic but more importantly it would have given us some positive scenes to enjoy before things got all depressing again. That would have been the much better approach if you ask me. Although if the ending was unchanged then I don’t think the film would have had much luck anyway. It definitely crosses the line of being too tragic. Unless you want to watch a film about a depressing town with a lot of depressed people in it, this is a film to avoid.

Overall 1/10

Gridman Universe Review

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Gridman Universe is one of those films that is a great reminder on why crossovers are awesome. It really takes every fun aspect from the two shows and brings them together here. You’ll have tons of easter eggs and every character gets something to do. One of the best scenes in the film is when someone whips out the “Domination” ability because that thing is super overpowered and for a minute you’re wondering if they remembered that some heroes can use it. It’s really a trip down nostalgia lane and the film has a pretty long climax. It’s all just excellent stuff.

The movie starts with Yuta still feeling the effects of the Gridman show. At the end of that adventure, Gridman left and so Yuta got his body back. The problem is that it means he didn’t get to really keep the experiences of what happened during the show. He had gotten close to Rikka at the time but in a way it didn’t count and he’s having a hard time approaching her. Things have gotten a bit awkward again and he is also having a hard time contributing to the big school play that they are working on. Well he has no time to worry about that when a Kaiju attacks the city and Gridman returns. Yuta merges with him to fight off the invaders but something feels different about these attacks.

The Kaiju are very real but Akane isn’t around anymore. Who is this new threat? Additionally, the universe appears to be colliding with another one which brings in Yomogi, Yume, and the rest of the new cast of Dynazenon fighters. They don’t know why they’re here either but are ready to help as soon as they get their mechs back. Can Yuta save the world and also express his feelings to Rikka or is that too much to accomplish in such a short time frame?

Yuta’s predicament is definitely a super understandable one because in a way he did lose part of his life there. It’s not easy to reclaim any amount of extra time. I’d say doubly so because it’s not like it was due to a villain or anything like that. There isn’t someone to blame, it just sort of happened and Gridman didn’t do anything bad either. Everyone seemed to really like Yuta during that time so it’s a lot to live up to. The film handles this whole character arc really well. Yuta may not be my favorite character because of how timid he is the whole time but he’s still likable enough.

Meanwhile Rikka’s also in a tough spot here because it’s like she has to get to know Yuta all over again. I’d say she does a good job of putting on a brave face and acting as normal as possible though. She is doing her best to put on a great school play for everyone and keeps good relations with the main characters. Utsumi has a little less to do than the main two but he’s also contributing to the play and doing well. He’s a solid friend who is always there for Yuta when he needs some support.

On the other end, Yomogi is pretty solid. He’s definitely gained confidence since the older days and is way more self assured. He’s quick to notice when someone’s not feeling well and gives Yuta some nice words of encouragement which was definitely nice. He does a great job of holding off the villains at one point and basically does what he can to save the world. Likewise Yume mirrors his confidence and helps Rikka by not beating around the bush either. Yomogi and Yume’s dynamic is definitely pretty solid and they’re long past the point of having any doubts which is great. It would have been nice for them to have gotten a bigger role as the film definitely skews more towards Gridman than Dynazenon but their role was still good.

You may be curious about the big villain, Mad Origin. Well he’s a pretty solid villain. At first I was worried that he was showing up too late and wouldn’t get to do anything but at the end of the day he still did get to have a standout fight and lasted longer than I expected. Naturally that boosted him up the ranks for me quite a bit. He basically wants to destroy everything and you gotta respect that. If not for basically every hero in existence showing up to team together against him, the guy really could have won.

Akane only gets a small role here but it’s definitely a really good one. She was always a fun villain in the first story and she’s still shown to clearly be one of the most powerful fighters here. At this point she shows up whenever she wants to deal out some damage which is a fun role to have. Also the film doesn’t shy away from the twist in the first show that it’s all a fake world that is manipulated from the real world. The characters have had to contend with that, at least the ones who know about it. After all if you found out that you’re fake, what would you do about it? You’re still you after all so on a grand level it shouldn’t matter but that might be easier to tell yourself than to actually believe.

Each show gets to bring their whole supporting cast so as you keep watching you get rewarded for how much you remember each character. Meanwhile the animation here is really excellent as you would expect. The fights really pop out and the colors are very striking. The characters all have very distinct designs and then you’ve also got a really great soundtrack. The domination theme is excellent and then you’ve also got a lot of good general action themes and even a good insert song. The technical aspects were definitely on point here and never faltered. It goes without saying that the story and writing are also very good here.

The movie also did a good job of making up for some previous weaknesses. The two shows did have a bit of a fanservice issue at times and this movie really didn’t have any of that. Maybe a quick moment somewhere but it wasn’t an issue in the film which is great. The movie also came up with a good villain for the end which helped to end things on a high note. It’s really fundamentally sound on every level. The movie is also long enough to give the human characters a chance to catch up and talk a lot outside of the fight scenes. Maybe at most I’d have liked the main two from each show to have gotten to talk a bit longer. I’ll take what I can get though.

Overall, This was definitely a great film. I can’t imagine you will have any real complaints as a fan of either show. The movie went above and beyond to include every possible reference and plot point that it could. There is a lot of great action and also time for character reflection. It also works as an excellent end to the franchise. Naturally I’d love to see more installments in the series but if it ends with this then that’s fine. You can probably watch this even without seeing the shows first but I don’t think you will get the full experience since the big cameos and such won’t hit as hard even if there are enough context clues to figure out what’s going on. Now I suppose I need to wait and see what the next film crossover will be. There are endless possibilities for fun crossovers in anime after all.

Overall 8/10

Diamonds Are Forever Review

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It’s time for another James Bond adventure and unfortunately this is one of his weakest. As always it does have a ton of problems like with the fanservice and Bond being a terrible main character but I dare say it falls into the traps even more than the others. It’s fairly close I suppose since the films are known for this but there’s just not enough time to have fun on the proper spy stuff. At least I can take solace in the fact that Bond looks like a chump for most of the film.

The exception is the intro scene as we see Bond systematically murdering everyone who works for Blofeld and getting on his trail. This climaxes with Bond murdering some of the henchmen and even Blofeld himself. Now he is ready for his next mission involving a bunch of diamonds that are being smuggled around the planet. There is something going on here and meanwhile we have two assassins who are murdering anyone who has even come into contact with them. Will Bond be able to stop them?

So lets get the obvious negatives out of the way first. The film is loaded to the brim with fanservice in just about every scene. The whole opening credits have a lot of this as expected and then you’ve got a bunch of different heroines running around here. You figured that Bond might tone things down after he got married but that’s not the case. Instead he is back to his old ways completely. So much for becoming a loyal guy. This is why it’s always hard to root for James Bond.

He’s living the fantasy all right, but that’s usually the villain’s job. Then Bond does look really bad on several occasions. The worst is when he let his guard down around the diamonds and got thrown into a coffin to be cremated. He had to be saved there since he was really about to die. Then later on he is knocked out again after walking into the most obvious trap of all time and is only saved by the villains’ ineptitude. Bond doesn’t feel like an ultimate secret agent with how many times he messes up.

I know that he’s only human and can’t be expected to be perfect but I also expect him to be putting up some real fights. For example at one point Blofeld has him at gun point and tells Bond to walk into a mysterious room. Bond does, where he gets knocked out but why do that? Take your chance and rush at Blofeld because the room would obviously be an instant death otherwise. It’s why in real life if someone tells you to get inside a car at gunpoint you make a break for it. Because going in the car will just be a more painful death or something worse, whereas if you mess up on the run, at least you’ll be dead quickly from the bullet. It’s not guaranteed but your odds are absolutely better.

So Bond loses all of the goodwill that he got during the opening scene which is a shame. At best it can be morbidly humorous to see him flipping the script on some of the ladies who seduce him by having his fun and then just lying afterwards. Why they would actually believe him is something I’m still wondering. They’re all just real desperate I suppose. Also it’s worth noting that Bond was getting absolutely crushed by two ladies in the climax which was another embarrassing moment for him. One of them had a super long wind up to her big attack and he still took the whole thing to the face. Definitely a low moment in his career.

It was fun to see Blofeld getting more of a role here though. His plans may not always be all that great and he is wildly overconfident but after so many films of being in the shadows, it was great to see him take center stage. His body doubles were also pretty fun. The way he goes out is perhaps not the dignified ending people would expect but these villains often do have a way of crumbling as soon as the going gets tough. It’s a tale as old as time.

Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are two villains who get old really fast though. I was actually annoyed at how much screentime they got and how often they kept getting the best of Bond. It’s not even like they’re super tough but Bond just forgets to take anything seriously half the time. We got the whole book-end scene with Bond’s wine knowledge coming into play but you mean to tell me that he was otherwise going to start eating/drinking a meal from room service that he didn’t order? I swear Bond has absolutely no survival sense whatsoever. He gets lucky so many times because he should be dead over 10 times in this film alone. Kidd and Wint just have the charisma of a stick of butter and that weakens the whole assassination plot.

Tiffany is the main heroine out of all the heroines but I can’t say that she’s very good at all. She is ready to help out by the end of the film but also makes a ton of mistakes the whole time and comes off as way too easy. Tiffany shouldn’t be degrading herself to be with a man like Bond that doesn’t even care about her. I won’t fault her for messing up by switching the discs though because from her point of view that actually made a lot of sense. If anything it’s impressive that she was able to switch it out without alerting anybody. She wasn’t so lucky a second time but the attempt was worthwhile.

The fights we do get are pretty fun here. There is a solid amount of action throughout the two hours and some good physical stunts as well. That’s why the Bond films tend to be tragic. The action that we do get is very sound and the plot is engaging if not a little overly convoluted. The diamonds switch hands so often that you start to lose interest after a point. I dare say that the film did as well because it doesn’t really factor into the space laser all that much. I think it may have doubled as a power source or something but yeah it wasn’t super focused.

Overall, This is definitely a James Bond film. It is quite direct about what the appeals of the film are meant to be and unfortunately they haven’t aged well. I like a good ole power fantasy as much as the next guy but Bond is really a different kind of fantasy and it doesn’t make him look particularly likable. The films would eventually improve once we got to the newer ones but this was a real low point in the franchise. You should skip this one as quickly as possible and just go with a different Bond adventure.

Overall 2/10

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad Review

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It’s time for a bit of an odd film. This one has two story segments to it. The first one I’m not really familiar with but the second is a take on the headless horseman. It’s a fun enough title although I don’t think it ever gets quite interesting enough for me to put it higher. It makes for a quick watch but as with most anthologies, the segments themselves are not long enough to really hook you before they are over with.

The first one introduces us to Mr. Toad who is super irresponsible and he has a very addictive personality. Once he gets into something then he will get complete tunnel vision. He has basically wasted away all of his money and even gets tricked into buying a stolen vehicle which lands him in court. His friends do their best to save his reputation and prove his innocence but the Toad is not helping at all. Can they help him resist these urges or is it just a complete lost cause?

It’s definitely the latter. Obviously this is a comedy through and through but it’s hard to root for the Toad the whole time because of how desperate he is to throw himself in a car and cause more trouble. Even right to the end he’s up to his old antics. So you know maybe being put behind bars will be good for him. Even if the Weasels did mess with him, the Toad is clearly a danger to society and must be stopped.

Then with the second story, we have Ichabod show up to a small town to become the best teacher they’ve ever had. Everyone thinks he is really awesome and the guy certainly enjoys the attention. Well there is one guy who doesn’t like him, Brom. Brom is upset because the girl he likes is quickly falling for Ichabod and so he quickly begins to do everything he can to discredit and humiliate Ichabod. The problem is, the harder he tries, the more his efforts backfire. Can he stop Ichabod or is it game over?

Interestingly it’s not like Ichabod’s a great guy or anything. Right away you can tell that he’s not a very humble chap and he certainly likes money. He seems a bit greedy if anything and so for once you can feel bad for Brom…to an extent. Look at the end of the day if a girl likes someone else then you may want to consider giving up. Even if you convince her, it comes across as a little desperate right? I do think this segment beats the first one though as the story is more compelling. My only issue is that the Headless Horseman doesn’t show up until near the very end of the movie.

You’d have expected him to have had a much grander role instead of just being for the climax. That said, the role is still pretty fun though, he’s not about to lose in a chase and the guy plays for keeps. The very ending hints at a possible happy ending for one character but since it’s only rumors, you could probably interpret it in whichever way you’d prefer the film to have ended. The chase was certainly fun and ended things on a good note.

As for the music across the segments, it was only okay. The songs weren’t really my thing and I wouldn’t say they aged particularly well. They’re not terrible or anything like that but even though they are supposed to be bright and energetic, they come across as trying a bit too hard for me. They end up not being catchy which is the real problem. The animation for the shorts has aged well though. It’s a very expressive style that works well for this kind of movie. The action on screen is very fast paced and fits in with how erratic the characters arc.

I’ll also give the film credit for writing fairly nuanced antagonists that you could root for to an extent. In both stories the main character was hardly a paragon of justice and would take things a bit far enough to where you could see why people didn’t like them. You may still root for them to an extent but perhaps not. In both segments I wasn’t rooting for the main character by the end of it. In the second I wanted the Headless Horseman to take the win and in the first I was rooting for the justice system. You figure usually this wouldn’t be the case because the antagonists would be written very extremely.

So I give the film full kudos there and the writing is on point. The pacing is mainly good but again the whole thing is just way too short to properly flesh out the ideas that are introduced here. A longer runtime would have absolutely gone a long way to making both stories more interesting. Although for the first story it would be difficult since I think you’re either really into the kind of whimsical lead that it had or not. For the second though, you could definitely add more foreshadowing for the horseman and maybe even show him taking out some more fighters along the way. That could have definitely been neat.

Overall, This is definitely a film you won’t really forget but at the same time it’s not like the plot was super detailed or anything like that. It’s all just so random and out of nowhere after all. The live action narration to introduce each story is probably unnecessary but that’s a tiny quibble with the film at best. The movie is very lively with all the music and the fast paced plot but it really needed better characters to balance it out. That said, while you’ll have a better time with most of the other animated films of this era, this is still pretty harmless fun. I have no serious objections against the movie and it is entertaining enough. So I’d say to check this out if you want to look at a fresh story or really like the headless horseman.

Overall 6/10

Scarface Review

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It’s time to look at a film that’s all about gang violence. You’ve got a bunch of people all fighting to be number 1 but of course you’d expect a guy with the codename Scarface to quickly rise to the top. Most of the film is really about him climbing as he goes from being a nobody to one of the most feared names out there. He really gets everything that he wants but you can never keep that level of success for long and so things get dicey for him.

As the movie begins, we get to see that Scarface is good at his job right away. He does whatever the boss needs from him whether it be bouncing or shooting folks. We also see his weakness right away which is that he is very aggressive and wants to keep moving upwards. While the boss is happy to settle for the territory that he has now, Scarface wants everything. He just keeps on picking fights and shooting more people until he has more and more power. Eventually the cops will catch him right?

Well a big part of the film is about how the cops basically had their hands tied the whole time. They want to get Scarface and they know he’s guilty but there’s nothing that’ll stick. The witnesses quickly become blind and no there’s nobody to let them prosecute the guy. It makes sense because when the mafia had this much power, they could easily get some retribution on the witness. It’s one of the big problems with the justice system that you even see nowadays. Not in the national headlines or the big cases but on a local level people can be afraid to report a crime because that information isn’t always private. In other cases it may also be that it will become obvious who snitched when the cops showed up.

You do feel like there should be a way around that when you know the guy is guilty but that gets into a whole debate on admissible proof and everything. Generally I think all proof should be admissible but that’s another topic. All villains have a weakness and Scarface’s ends up being the ladies. He likes Poppy who was the girlfriend of his boss but Scarface eventually took over. He started disrespecting the guy publicly and moving up so she quickly went to him. You sort of wonder why he would want to be with her at all when she clearly didn’t like him at all until he got rich. Do you really want a fake girlfriend like that?

Well I guess he was desperate enough and in the end that didn’t help matters. It causes him to to have to show off and get even more status the whole time. Meanwhile his sister also wants to live a glamorous life and so the more that Scarface tries to shelter her, the more she acts out and gets even more provocative. Obviously Scarface was in the wrong here as well so he was really a full on villain everywhere. It’s one thing to want her to be careful and not mix in with the gangsters but it’s another to basically tell her to stay home all day and even get physical when she doesn’t listen.

It makes Scarface look terrible and it’s a hard plot to understand because of how extreme he was. Honestly it would have been a satisfying ending if she was the one to take him out but ultimately she falters. I guess the film didn’t want her to have to sink to that level but I thought that ending would have been rather poetic the whole time. It would have been pretty justified with everything that she had been through. Yeah, going with one of Scarface’s pals was a bad move but he was going to have that reaction with anybody.

With all these crooks running around, you’re definitely rooting for the cops to get their win later on. It takes a while for them to be able to do anything here but they were written really well. I particularly liked he detective who would walk in and call Scarface out. Even outnumbered the guy was as confident as could be and said he wasn’t afraid of Scarface. He also wasn’t taking any disrespect and really landed a solid punch on the guy at the barber shop.

It’s naturally going to be frustrating to not be able to take the villains down on sight so you definitely feel that the whole time. The movie conveys this well and with the quality writing the whole time, you are definitely engaged with what’s going on. The pacing is good and the film has a solid climax. There is definitely a good amount of action going on here and the whole thing has aged well.

At most I would have just liked to have seen the enemy gang a little more. They really don’t get to do much at all and get taken out with incredible ease. Showing them taking more of Scarface’s allies down would have been good to establish why the previous boss didn’t want to mess with them. Based on the events of the film, it seems like Scarface was correct in expanding the territory and picking this fight. The enemies were definitely not ready for them even if there was some collateral damage.

Overall, Scarface is a pretty interesting movie. While none of the main characters are likable since they’re all crooks, it does show you what a dangerous lifestyle it all is. When you live by the gun you are very likely to die by it as well. You also can’t go to the cops when you’re in trouble either so then you have to try and find some friends you can trust. And that list will be getting smaller and smaller as the days go on. It’s just not the kind of business where you can even afford to trust anybody after all. When you watch it, you’ll definitely appreciate how you don’t have to worry about the mafia as often anymore.

Overall 7/10

Juror #2 Review

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It’s time for a classic courtroom drama and I’m always a big fan of those. We get to really see a lot of the jury duty process and the film avoids having any flashy subplots to distract from the main story. This is really about what the jury thinks happened and we get to see both sides of the case as made out by the defense and prosecution. The film lets you think about their cases for a little while before showing you what happened here which I thought was a really good move.

The case is as follows, one night James and his girlfriend Kendall were having another one of their fights. Apparently they have a long history of fights that got really intense and this time Kendall stormed off to head home in the middle of a heavy rainstorm. It’s a fairly long walk back and this was in the dead of night through the highway which isn’t a really safe spot. The next morning they found her dead in the wilderness with injuries suggesting a physical blow. James was taken in as the sole suspect and the prosecution is making the case that he murdered her. Meanwhile the defense doesn’t believe this happened and so that’s where the case starts.

A lot of the evidence is against James from the start with how he’s a drunk and has a long history of fighting with her. It seems like things would get abusive although we see several different versions of each scene based on who is telling the story so it can be hard to say exactly what did or did not happen. Regardless, it’s clear that he wasn’t the best guy around which doesn’t make him look great in the jury’s eyes. They all immediately think he’s guilty except for Justin who thinks this is all moving too fast. He wants James to get a fair trial.

Regardless of if James is guilty or not, Justin is certainly right about the others not taking this seriously enough. It’s a shame but jury duty has become something that everyone dreads and they all try to get away from the job. As a result you sometimes have a jury that just doesn’t care about what is going on and they want to leave as soon as possible. I know the point is to trust an impartial jury of 12 of your peers but honestly I’m not sure I would trust them at all. Best thing to do is make sure you never commit a crime or go anywhere near where a crime is going on but sometimes things are out of your control and so you just need to really hope that you get a good jury.

The movie really makes sure to have one of the more annoying set of jurors here so you can really sympathize with Justin’s struggles here. One of the ladies there is constantly trying to pick fights and just wants to go home to her kids. You can bet that every time they all try to start talking about the case she will be throwing out strawman arguments. Then you’ve got another guy with a massive chip on his shoulder who basically says he will be voting guilty no matter what and doesn’t care what evidence comes out. The accused was part of a gang at one point and so the juror believes that he is still guilty no matter what.

The film doesn’t hide that James has made a lot of mistakes here but of course at the end of the day you’re just here to judge on a crime, not the rest of his life history. The older jurors tend to be the most reasonable ones like the ex detective who is ready to look into things and the old lady who always tries to hear people out. There is also a doctor in training who helps them analyze the injury. The film shows how everyone is able to contribute something different to the conversation based on their lived experiences. It probably won’t go so neatly in practice but it’s a fun idea.

That said, as the film goes on you begin to like Justin less and less. Early on in the film he begins to suspect something and this turns his attitude upside down. He ends up being a very selfish person, someone who prioritizes himself when the going gets tough. To an extent that’s fine, it’s human nature after all. But he takes it really far because we are talking about a man’s life here. For murder you’re either going to get death or life in prison and so you have to actually give your best while you’re in the courtroom.

Justin tries to rationalize things a whole lot but at the end of the day his words ring hollow. His attempt at a philosophical argument just shows how desperate he is. So yeah by the end I didn’t like him. His wife Allison also didn’t look very good for most of the film but I’ll cut her a little slack due to the fact that she’s pregnant. That can really mess with your hormones and emotions the whole time after all. Would have been nice if she could have been more supportive and giving Justin some good advice but it is what it is.

Meanwhile Faith was the main prosecutor here and so she was the one trying to push for a guilty sentence. The problem is that she also had selfish reasons for doing so because getting such a conviction would grant her a promotion. Her conscience starts to really ring loudly as the film goes on and several characters let her know of the big mistake she is making. Ultimately she does make the right decisions so I’ll give her credit here even if it took a lot of prodding. Eric gets a lot of points for trying his best the whole time and not losing faith in the justice system. Like he says, it’s not perfect but it’s what they have to work with.

Like I still don’t buy into the whole thing about not being able to look up information about the case on your own. I feel like that would be super beneficial in a lot of situations. I understand the logic behind why the rule was made in the first place but the positives against it are just too strong if you ask me.

Overall, This was definitely a great film and it had a really satisfying ending. You’re definitely glad to see the justice going on. At the end of the day it can be a bit of a sad film since justice doesn’t change what happened earlier but at least you can walk away knowing that you did something and made a difference. That’s something that nobody else can take away from you. All that being said, I’d still rather not be called on my next summons, it’s much more fun to watch than to participate.

Overall 8/10

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

A Haunting in Venice Review

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I remember when the trailer for this film first came out. The idea of a horror mystery was a pretty interesting one since Poirot is usually very down to Earth. I suppose the catch is that you know there will be a logical explanation like in Scooby Doo but it would be fun to try and piece together what was happening the whole time. The movie does a good job of giving you hints as the adventure goes on. That said, you feel like the horror stuff is a bit of a distraction from the mystery and ends up weaking the experience.

The main character as always is Poirot here and the guy has retired from the spotlight after the last cases. He just wants to eat his pastries in peace but this is all broken when an old associate of his shows up and says that she wants Poirot to come to Venice. There are some spooky things going on within a haunted house there and she aims to write another book. This one will be about how even Poirot got stumped (Or her fictional detective stand in anyway) since she believes it’s all real. Poirot is not convinced and heads over to discredit the whole thing. Will he be able to find the proof in time?

As always you have a bunch of suspects here and everybody is running around causing chaos. I’d be with Poirot in this case as I definitely wouldn’t trust the medium. It’s like with hypnotists where I just roll my eyes at the whole thing. Yes, people can be hypnotized but it takes time and effort, you can’t just do it in a matter of minutes. Well when someone gets murdered Poirot is forced to lock the place down. He must find the killer, whether it be a person or a specter. The victim craves justice and Poirot will obtain this…or die trying! Does he have what it takes?

For sure you will see Poirot panicking a whole lot more than usual. He’s super jumpy and falls for quite a few of the jump scares. There is even one really embarrassing moment where his head is shoved into one of those apple bobs and he can’t get out. The fact that he nearly died there is crazy. The film made the mistake of showing us the hold for the apples earlier and it was a small stand. He could have at least kicked it out of the way even if he couldn’t somehow find his footing and get up. Honestly, not falling seems like it would be harder than falling in this case.

So he looks pretty bad for most of this I gotta say. Sherlock Holmes would have handled the situation many times better. The fact that the film has an explanation for it doesn’t fully absolve Poirot either. He just felt off his game in this one and to an extent you needed that in order for the plot to proceed. Usually things probably wouldn’t have gone to this level although I expect we’d still have a number of victims since that happens every time.

The visuals are really sharp as always. Venice is certainly no somewhere I’d ever want to live because that much water really doesn’t call to me but it still looks nice. The mansion was on point too and the various jump scares are handled well. Some are perhaps a little too obvious and you can see them coming a mile away, but it’s still nice to see because it’s just so foreign for a Poirot film.

Now lets talk about the suspects. First you have the twins Nicholas and Desdemona who have been working for the medium. They want to get to the United States and so that’s a pretty good motive to start bumping people off. They need money and they need it fast! Desdemona is a fun character in particular as she isn’t afraid to be throwing punches and slapping people. Get in her way and you may be doomed! Not as much to say on Nicholas but he’s fun enough. Both of them seem very loyal once you have won their trust but whether you are on their side or not is the real question.

Then we have the kid Leopold who claims to be able to talk to spirits. He’s one of those kids who seems to have all the answers but you also wonder if he may just be bluffing. He’s definitely the most annoying character though. They say that thinking you know everything can be worse than not knowing anything and this is one of those cases. He causes a whole lot of problems. Perhaps he is actually the one going around murdering everybody.

Next up is Joyce who claims to be able to talk with spirits and has built a whole business around it. When Poirot tries to call her out, she flips the situation back on him. She destroys him verbally and even puts on a mask and cloak before he can react. It’s clear that she has the upper hand at all times here so perhaps this is all personal and she is the ultimate villain of nightmares. You definitely can’t discount the possibility.

Ariadne is Poirot’s old contact and as an author maybe she needed to murder someone in order to get the plot going. She’s a very experienced player in these things so it is definitely possible that she lost her humanity at some point. Sometimes it just happens and since she knows Poirot so well, it could help her in deceiving him.

Rowena is the mother of the girl who died (Alice) and it’s because of her that everyone is assembled here in the first place. She wants to know which ghosts are haunting the halls and if Alice has anything to do with it. Perhaps losing her daughter has made her want to lash out at everybody. Perhaps she is the one who took her daughter out. You can’t really count anybody out.

There is Alice’s fiancé Maxime who is a big time chef. The guy called things off but perhaps that wasn’t the full story and he needed her out of the way. He’s a bit of an enigma and is always ready for a fight so the heroes have to watch out for him. Even if he’s not the guilty party, it’s possible that he will lash out here.

There is the doctor Leslie who suffers from some serious trauma and doesn’t always seem stable. It’s certainly possible that something happened which put him down the wrong path. I will also say this is where characters can look a bit too similar as he gets in a fight with one of the other characters and it’s hard to tell them apart mid fight. The film could have really stood to make the characters all stand out a bit better.

Finally you have the housekeeper Olga. The housekeeper is often a suspect in these things but she seems nice enough upon first glance. As you can see, there are a ton of suspects here and the problem with the horror stuff is that they can’t all be fleshed out as well as they could have been in a standard case. You also start to pay more attention to the scares than the actual mystery so even the final explanation at the end isn’t as gripping as it could have been.

All this is to say that compared to the average mystery I had a good amount of issues with it. That said, as a stand alone title it is still good and beats the average horror flick. I’m not all that into horror after all so in this way the mystery aspect of the film helped to elevate the horror parts. It was able to reach heights that it wouldn’t have otherwise been able to attain. The pacing is good and the film does keep your attention without a doubt.

Overall, The actual mystery takes a backseat to all the jump scares and horror shenanigans. That’s more or less what you would expect so I’m not saying that’s a terrible move or anything but I do think the film could have stood to focus on the mystery a bit more. The best parts of the film are when Poirot is interviewing everybody after all. Give me more of that and less scares and you would have the classic experience. It is a change of pace though and if you’ve seen the rest of the films then you should check this one out as well.

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