Tag Archives: Slice of Life

The Enchanted Cottage Review

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All right it’s time for a romance film that’s going for more of a wholesome feel. Unfortunately it does make some mistakes along the way like the romance being a rebound which always hurts its potential. It’s a fairly low key film and so it’s not bad or anything like that but it doesn’t succeed in nearly as much as it would have liked. It needed a bit of a rewrite in some areas to really take things to the next level.

The movie starts off with Oliver and his fiancé heading to a small college to prepare for their honey moon. This place is enchanted according to the legends and it should bring them happiness. The fiancé doesn’t love the place but she wants Oliver to be happy and accepts his decision to spend the duration of the trip there. The place is run by a nice old lady and a newcomer named Laura. Laura has had a tough time of thing in life because most people find her looks repulsive which makes everyone seem rather petty to be honest. They can’t just act nice at least? The film desperately wants you to think that Laura looks downright ugly but doesn’t do a particularly good job of it at all. The movie needed some special effects or something.

Well, the plans change when Oliver is called back into active duty. During one of the battles he is mildly scarred in the face and loses the use of one of his arms for a while. His fiancé and family try to console him but he’s too ashamed to see anyone and so he locks himself in the cottage. The only ones allowed to see him are Laura and the home owner. Eventually the fiancé gives up and the family leaves. Oliver then decides he still wants a wife so he goes after Laura and while she is thrilled to finally have a guy, part of her feels like she’s just the consolation prize. Does he actually like her?

So we have come to my biggest problem with the film. In my mind her fears are correct and he practically admits as such. He doesn’t want to be alone and with his scars, he figures that he can never attract all of the beautiful women that he once could. So Laura is basically the best that he can get and Laura really needed to have the strength of will to say no. That’s just really insulting to be honest and romance is something you should never settle for. You’re either first pick or you’re last. There’s no real in between there.

Yes the film does make the case that by the end he really likes her but it’s hard to see how this would have started in the first place. It’s a rather big piece to just shelve for a while isn’t it? Also you feel bad for the original fiancé because she was going to stay by his side. He’s the one who pushed her away and so she really got the short end of the stick here. They were engaged and everything so now she has to go back to square 1 to find herself another guy? That’s really gotta be rough.

The family don’t look great here. They mean well but definitely complain a lot and ultimately make things tougher on Oliver. It would have been nice if at least one of them could have been supportive though. Even if your kid ends up falling in love with someone that you don’t find to be attractive, there’s no reason why your kid should ever know that. Keep those thoughts to yourself and remember that beauty isn’t the only reason to get together with someone. That would be extremely shallow.

There is a supporting character here named John who is blind. That actually works well for Oliver since he doesn’t have to be embarrassed when they talk. They’re actually able to converse naturally and John is a very perceptive guy. He does his best to help during the film even if it doesn’t particularly go well. He’s a nice guy and was a good supporting character.

Finally we have the lead heroine Laura. As mentioned earlier, she has to go through a lot here. The film plays up how ugly everyone thinks she is to a rather crazy degree where men will even back up when they see her. They don’t want to get anywhere near her and so that makes for a super tragic part of the film. Particularly since she tries to avoid these scenarios as much as possible but is basically forced into it later on in the film. She seriously can’t catch a break and that really is sad. So you’re rooting for her but as the older lady mentioned, sometimes you just gotta stay alone. There’s nothing wrong with that and it’s better to be alone than to settle. At least that’s how I see it although I’m sure some would debate that.

The best thing about Laura’s character is that she really takes everything in stride. Sure, she does get upset and sad at times which is completely understandable but she doesn’t take it out on anyone else. Laura does her best to get right back on the saddle and help out around the cottage. That’s the trait of a good main character. The writing is good and the film goes back fast so I had no real technical issues here.

Overall, The Enchanted Cottage is a pleasant film on the surface but I thought the romance was really weak which does end up hurting the rest of the experience. It should have made Oliver less of a jerk the whole time. I actually think they should have made it so that the fiancé and family were treating him poorly. So he got to experience what Laura had to go through all those years and that would have been a great way to link them together. At that point it’s not like he settled for her but that he grew to love her because of how she stayed strong despite all of the trauma. Maybe they could work that in for a reboot. In the meantime you could definitely do better than this film.

Overall 5/10

Fit for Christmas Review

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It’s time for a very classic kind of romantic comedy film and this one really executes on what’s otherwise a fairly simple plot. At the end of the day I’m going to keep on calling this the Hallmark formula and so of course it’s filled with a romantic rebound and a lot of good burns being dished out by both of the main characters. The path that the story follows may be generic but you’ll have a good time as the film slowly takes you there.

The film starts off with Audrey heading back to her old hometown for the first time in a while. She’s on a “break” from her boyfriend after he decided to cancel their wedding at the last second. Well, this gives her more time to re-open her dancing/fitness classes back up and it’s almost Christmas so this’ll be fun. Unfortunately the town is about to get in the middle of a crisis because a giant corporation has decided to move in. They’re going to be building new places, fresh eateries and improving the quality of life in the town by 1 billion percent but it will likely lose that old town vibe as a result. Audrey has decided to stop this at all costs but it’s difficult since most of the people in the town seem to be on board with the idea. Even worse? The guy representing the company is a man named Griffin, one of the most eligible bachelors of all time! She will have to try and resist his looks, charm, and money but can she pull this off when everyone is rooting for them to get together?

Right away one thing I like here is the banter between Griffin and Audrey before they get together. He really embraces the villain role while always taking the high road. She jumps in with a lot of insults and everything right out of the gate while he takes it all in stride and at least acts nice on the outside. He did a good job of bluffing through his lack of Christmas knowledge during her quiz while they were doing the fitness routine and he did manage to make friends with everyone in the town. That’s impressive since they all started out not wanting to like him since he was a part of corporate.

Griffin is clearly very good at his job and it shows. I’m glad that he wasn’t incompetent or anything like that. You could make the case that he was a step ahead throughout the whole film and ultimately the spirit of Christmas is what it took to stop him. He definitely could have stood to be more confident when talking to his father though. That was absolutely his weak point. Particularly since as we see his father is very reasonable the whole time. I think he would have supported Griffin’s change to the plan right from the start and so we didn’t need all of the secrecy or anything like that.

The characters were all written rather well and realistically. The antagonists were not too far gone. At most you could just say that the romance was really rushed the whole time and that’s definitely true. They’re moving way too fast considering that Audrey was really close to marrying the last guy. It’s always been one of my biggest problems with the concept of the rebound. If you were so close to being married to the point where she would have been had he just said yes…then is her love for Griffin really the real deal? If your feelings can change so quickly then I have doubts on just how deep they are. It’s just not how these things work and you’ll have a very hard time convincing me of anything else.

In general though the instant you have to take a “break” in your relationship then it’s as good as over. A break is never needed for the person that you really love. Audrey was on the fence about this longer than she should have been. The other guy seemed decent overall but the fact that he wasn’t ready to commit is a dealbreaker. You just can’t really come back from that, at least not easily. The movie randomly tries throwing in another romance subplot which was more on the weak side though. Particularly since this guy’s wife was dead which was the main reason he didn’t want to get back into the dating scene.

It’s a super valid reason but it’s just brushed aside the whole time with the whole “She’d want you to be happy.” Yeah maybe but sometimes she actually would want her husband to just stay loyal to her, particularly since he’s rather old at this point anyway. I know the phrase is til death do us part but you can sometimes stand to stretch that out until both people are dead you know? You don’t have to just move on like that every time.

Well, romance aside, the rest of the film was a blast though. The fitness scenes were actually pretty good since it does feel like that would give me a good workout. I liked the sets and it was nice seeing the whole town come together. The fact that Griffin was nice to everyone even while working for corporate was great because it makes the ending less cheesy and more realistic. There are no hatchets to be buried or grudges to get past because everyone was on the same page from the start. It’s an extremely refreshing thing to see here.

Overall, Fit for Christmas is a very well made movie. At its core it’s a super enjoyable film and of course that is the most important part for any title by far. You have to be a blast in order to be remembered as a super solid title and this one really holds its own there. It has a lot of replay value and would stand as one of the stronger Hallmark styled films that I’ve seen. I always love good banter and this film definitely delivered with that. So in the end I really have no major complaints with this one and would recommend it. You’re bound to find a lot of scenes that make you smile.

Overall 7/10

Operation Christmas Drop Review

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It’s time for an emotional Christmas story that would do Hallmark proud. It’s a fun movie all around and the pacing is on point so you’re always having a good time. The plot is fairly straight forward and you can see a lot of the story beats coming but the execution is on point. The movie never tries to do too much and mainly focuses on one key plot instead of trying to jam in a ton of them. Less is more in this instance and so that ends up working pretty well.

The film starts with Erica being tasked with her most difficult mission yet. She has to prove why the army should close an air force base so that the funds can be reallocated. Of course this means a lot of people would be losing their jobs which is rough. Additionally the biggest loss would be the Christmas Drop program where the Air Force flies supplies, gifts, and a lot of much needed convenience items to people in the nearby islands who could really use some essentials. They aren’t very well off and so this is one way to help boost morale while helping a lot of people in very real ways. All in all, this is a PR nightmare for Erica as she is basically the bad guy here. She keeps deflecting by saying that she is just following orders but maybe it is time to make a stand. Maybe it is time…to save Christmas!

You would think optically Erica’s boss would like to keep the base to show how benevolent she is but of course in politics you always have a thousand voices yelling at you to different things so at this point and time the pressure is simply higher on the other side. Sometimes that’s really all it boils down to. Erica is certainly ready to submit her report and bury the place at first as well until she gradually sees how it helps out. I have no doubt that some money is likely spent on the program even with all of the donations but the fact that the base went out of its way to try and make this a good deal for everyone does speak volumes. It shows that they are really trying hard to be responsible at all phases of the project.

Andrew is the main guy sticking up for the program and he does a terrific job. He always has the right answers on hand and isn’t intimidated by Erica’s boss. He makes the pitch to her directly as well and you can tell that the guy has put a lot of effort into this program. Even with the romance aside I’d say his pitch would have been fairly convincing to any reporter looking in on the situation. That’s because by every objective metric this is a really good idea. For the cynical onlookers at least it’s good PR, for the people hoping to make a difference in the world this gives them an avenue to do it, and for all of the islanders it obviously helps them out a whole lot since they are in a tough spot.

It’s always good to see the army doing good and using all of their equipment for something like this is great. So yeah Andrew steals the show as the main character here. Meanwhile Erica is solid as well. Obviously she does have to go through a bit of a character arc to end up as the selfless lead she was destined to be but it’s a character arc that is definitely handled well. When it comes time to make a stand, she picks the right side and helps the team out on their mission.

As for the romance in this film, there’s no rebounding going on so I appreciate that. Often times there is a poor ex running around or a character was already with someone and breaks up after making it to the main plot. In this case that doesn’t happen. The romance is still on the weaker side since it’s all moving a little too fast though. Given the stakes here you’d think romance would be the last thing on either of their minds. Andrew has a mission to save after all and letting your feelings interfere with that would be a grave mistake.

It is definitely a bit odd to see a Christmas film taking place by the beach like this but it certainly helps the film stand out. That is also the normal setting for plenty of people so that’s a nice way to see their perspective. Of course if given the choice I would always want a Christmas that’s sub zero temperature with plenty of snow but at the end of the day you should be able to have a good time no matter how hot or cold it is. It’s more about enjoying the day and the festivities than what’s going on outside right? This does mean there aren’t any big montage of holiday foods this time around though but that’s fine.

The writing is on point so even the antagonists aren’t written to be super crazy or anything like that. Everyone has reasons for doing what they are doing and the film does give the main antagonist a good amount of presence. Whenever she walks in you know the characters are going to be stressed. You also can’t blame her for being upset since from her point of view this all does look pretty bad. Imagine walking into the army base to see the person you hired in the middle of a party instead of researching? Bosses tend to have tricky timing like that sometimes.

Overall, Operation Christmas Drop is a pretty good film. It has a good story with a solid moral and ultimately just spreads good vibes the whole time. It’s the kind of movie where you feel good after having watched it and you can’t say that for just any film. Mix in a lot of fun visuals, songs, and a good cast and you have a winner here. Being fun is one of the main positives I would say for the film and that’s really all that you need. It kept the plot fairly basic and the character cast rather small. It has a very specific focus with the story and doesn’t deviate from that. I had a good time watching it and so I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto Review

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It’s time for an anime that is fairly bonkers and definitely in a good way. This show takes the idea of the perfect student and dials it up to 11. Sakamoto can do no wrong and he makes for a very solid main character. You will probably find yourself identifying with his character and basically going “That’s me for real” the whole time. That’s how moving he is. Yeah the show definitely goes by pretty quickly as a result and each episode has something crazy going on.

For the most part each episode is fairly stand alone but there is a true continuity the whole way through. Past events will be referenced and some episodes do continue. The basic premise though is that there is a student named Sakamoto who is basically perfect. Everyone loves this guy, he aces every kind of class and challenge that gets put in his path. The guy is super agile, powerful, and knowledgeable. Yet the guy has a good amount of humility and will always help others out. The school can use someone like Sakamoto because there are a lot of bullies here and so without him the place would fall into anarchy. Can he make the school a better place or does he have a secret flaw?

The opening song is pretty catchy for the series. It really grabs you and stays fairly memorable. The show itself has a pretty good ost as well with some nice variety in there. I’m not saying it’s the next Naruto of course but yeah this is high quality stuff all the way. The animation is also solid although it’s not a stand out. For a show like this that’s part comedy I imagine they didn’t break the bank in terms of the animation quality. So it looks pretty good but it’s not the top of the line stuff. You wouldn’t likely see it in any best animated moments kind of thread.

Where the show excels is with the humor and writing which is bound to get a few laughs out of you. The situations can just be so out there and absurd that you can’t help but grin a little. You always know that Sakamoto will get some characters out of trouble and it’s just about seeing how he will do it. Sometimes he will do it himself like pretending to be possessed and other times he will manipulate the students into doing the right thing. That’s why Sakamoto is a secret mastermind, he’s always a few steps ahead of the competition.

He has to be up there as one of the best characters in the series and that would probably be true for most people. Even if you don’t tend to like the perfect character trope, Sakamoto is very aware of this and so the show has a lot of fun with it. As a result this portrayal works really well. Sakamoto just makes the world a better place and I only have one negative for his character which is that sometimes he goes too far in sandbagging. Like there’s one episode where he gets blackmailed into buying some sketchy DVDs and another where he ends up being the servant of one of the bullies.

Yes, at no point is he in any serious danger and you know he’s just playing along for fun but it’s still not the best look for the guy. Personally if you ask me, I’d just like to see him stand up for himself there and show them up even if it’s in a subtle way. I’d say he tends to be more passive aggressive in how he handles these moments by being a bit too useful and that’s the gag in those moments but eh…that’s the only time I’m not super impressed with him. His positive moments heavily outweigh the negative ones though which is why he’s still a great character. He’s always got a plan and does his best to stay on top.

His friend Kubota is more of a sad character who gets picked on and isn’t strong enough to fight back. That’s a tough predicament to be in for sure so you do feel bad about that. His role in the show is a lot smaller than I would have guessed though as he doesn’t do much after the initial episodes. He has a running gag about his hair changing a lot but that’s about it. Honestly you forget him as soon as he leaves the screen so we didn’t need more screentime anyway.

Atsushi is one of the main bullies in the show and he gets a big role. Unfortunately he does tend to be one of the more annoying character and takes way more Ls than Ws. This guy gets shown up early and turns over a new leaf but he has very weak willpower which means that he backslides very often. You may think that you can count on him after a point but unfortunately that just isn’t the case. He looks really bad in the climax of the series where he completely loses his mind and the main problem is that it’s due to him being tricked. Now granted he would have looked bad no matter what his excuse was but getting tricked makes it sting extra hard.

The guy just didn’t get consistently better and falling backwards like that is a quick way for me to lose respect for the character. At least the same thing didn’t happen to his two friends but they couldn’t stop him anyway so it didn’t help much. Then you have Sera who likes being the center of attention but of course he can’t compete with Sakamoto. That leads to a lot of jealousy and petty moments for the guy. Unlike Atsushi though, he actually has a consistent character arc and ends up becoming a better person after he is humbled the first time. He has a very unfortunate reoccurring gag about stripping though which does hurt his character. It’s more sad than funny most of the time and you feel bad for him because initially he had such great aspirations for himself. Now he is doomed to just be the comic relief.

Aina is a fun character even if she doesn’t have time to do too much. Basically she likes Sakamoto and aims to seduce him but she finds that it’s not so easy because the guy is always extremely focused. He overpowers all of her techniques and she also has to deal with a lot of people meddling in her affairs. The fight over the Ouija board was a really entertaining moment though and one of the better parts in the series. Talk about high takes, you really had to be careful what answer Aina forced on the group. If the series were longer I imagine she would have had more full episodes but the series is pretty short and mainly each character had to get their moment to shine so there wasn’t much time for general chats.

Megumi is more of a timid character in comparison. While Aina directly goes to Sakamoto to try and get him, Megumi is content to hide and try to take pictures of him in secret. You have to give her points for effort there but ultimately as a character she’s not great. I just tend to prefer the bolder characters and so she’s not going to stack up like that. Even a minor character like Kakuta leaves more of an impact because the gag of him trying to get Sakamoto to be one second late to penalize him is a fun one. The guy just is never able to pull this off.

Shigemi is one of the worst characters here. Her gag is that even though she is the mother of Sakamoto’s friend, she falls for him. His natural charms are simply too powerful and while we all know and understand the gag, it doesn’t make her any less annoying. You’re still shaking your head when she shows up. She only gets one full episode to herself but yeah it’s a bit rough. I think the gag was overplayed right out of the gate.

Maruyama was a more entertaining character and that’s considering the fact that he ended up being more annoying at times because of how that was the episode where Sakamoto was working for him the whole time which was hard to watch. Still, the gag of being scared because of how talented Sakamoto was at least worked a lot better as a gag and could hold up its own episode there. The episode being solid is always the important part. Like i wasn’t a big fan of any of the kids but their episode about not crossing the line was still fun. It showed that Sakamoto would make time even to hang out with some kids.

Then we have Hayabusa who is another great character that you could rank near the top. He may be the head honcho of the bullies but he seems like a standup guy. He has a solid honor code and lets his people do whatever they want. He seems to just want to have a good time and for nobody to get seriously hurt. He even sticks up for Sakamoto when the going gets tough. This guy is the real deal and definitely someone that you want on your side. His episode where he tries to survive a fancy restaurant experience was also a very noble one.

Trust me that’s a rough spot because a lot of that fancy food doesn’t even taste good. He did it all to support his father which was really nice of him. Now at the end of the day you should stick up for yourself and make sure not to get yourself into a jam like that but his heart was in the right place. He did want to make things better all around so it’s hard to fault him for that.

Finally we have Fukase who is the big villain here. The head honcho, the big cheese. He does a good job of ending the season off with a bang. Now this is one plot where I wasn’t crazy about the resolution though because I was just expecting more. The gag itself is funny to an extent but the fast redemption arc just didn’t feel earned. This guy caused a whole lot of trouble after all and while it’s great that he will be a better person now, I wanted more of a true fight. This guy felt like he could be on Sakamoto’s level with all of the tough talk so I just needed to see that in action.

In the end he was more of a strategic fighter which is cool too but seeing someone give Sakamoto a run for his money would have been fun. Maybe next time I suppose. The ending itself was still pretty fun as an emotional climax and a solid name drop. I was thinking it would have been cool to have seen Sakamoto join a new school or something. My theory was that he was like an alien or something sent to make the school a better place. I found out about a darker theory after finishing the show which makes a lot of sense though in which case you can see why they went with this ending.

Overall, This was a really fun show. It’s a full on comedy title that really makes use of the absurd humor style. It can sometimes be tough for a show to get going right away with the humor but this one pulled it off. It was important to start fast too considering that it’s not like this one has 50 episodes to burn. A lot of comedy titles need a second genre to work as well but this one just went all in and it turned out well. I’d say the replay value is fairly strong as well since there are so many gags per episode. Throw in a solid main character and a pretty decent cast overall and you’re set. Outside of the episode with the Mom chasing Sakamoto, all of the other episodes were pretty solid as well. I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a good time. Even if you’re not typically a comedy fan, I’d say to give this one a chance because it’s very accessible.

Overall 7/10

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Review

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It’s time to look at the sequel to the original Cardcaptors series. It accomplished something that is usually very tricky to pull off which is that it’s simply a whole lot better. In my mind it’s not even close as this one had a better villain, higher stakes, and better emotional moments. The series is still fairly low key so I’m not saying it’s a great title or anything but I had a good time with it. I imagine it also works even better when you’re binging it because you can get to all of the story beats quickly. At its core this is a series that is very peaceful and has a lot of wholesome moments. The ending is solid enough and while you may have preferred a more explosive climax, the series delivers when it counts.

So the series starts off with something odd happening. All of Sakura’s cards end up being depowered and turning back to normal. This is rather concerning but what is even more concerning is the fact that Sakura is having some odd dreams about someone in a cloak. Well, Sakura doesn’t scare easily so she goes about her business and then one day her school gets a new transfer student named Akiho. She looks a lot like Sakura and is also very kind and timid. They may as well be twins and Akiho’s guardian is a nice man named Kaito. He exudes a powerful presence but hey that just means that this guy is legit. For some reason Syaoran has started to keep some secrets from Sakura though, will this cause some friction to develop?

I will say straight from the start it is annoying that Syaoran is keeping secrets like this. Seriously he and Sakura have been through so much already. He should be telling her everything that he can. Yes, there are certain things he is physically unable to tell her because of a spell so I’m not counting those of course. No, I’m talking about the secrets that he does know about and chooses not to tell her anyway. Sakura is cool with this because she’s super understanding and will forgive anything but it’s a bad look for him.

Syaoran ends up getting wrecked quite a lot in this series because he can’t really keep up with the power levels at this point. It is nice to see him act a bit in the climax but for most of the story expect him to stay on the sidelines. That’s also true for most of the supporting characters but that’s mainly expected since that’s usually what they do. At this point they’re there for the school scenes but aren’t really intervening in the plot too much. The series is long enough where those scenes do add up but I do think the cast is one of the weak points of the series. There aren’t many characters that I love. There are some solid ones but not a ton of them.

The character doing the heavy lifting here is absolutely Kaito. This guy is absolutely excellent and really controls the plot. I looked forward to seeing him every week because as long as he was around I knew that things would move forward. His goals are also very noble. He is the antagonist but he’s not trying to murder everyone or anything like that. He’s trying to make life better for one person in particular and is willing to do whatever it takes to help her out. That’s what I like to see in a solid villain. I would even say he is more of an anti hero to be honest.

Basically he fought off an entire council of super wizards to protect Akiho and then he also risked his eternal soul in addition to his life in order to save her. It’s all incredibly impressive stuff. Stuff that you wouldn’t see from the average villain trying to mess up everyone’s day. Clamp has had their share of evil villains too of course so it can happen but I was cool with having a more heroic focus this time around. Self sacrifice is always a great character trait to have and I also liked how powerful he was.

Kaito spent his life trying to be as powerful as possible and learning spells to help Akiho. The fact that he reached such a high level is a testament to his dedication. The two of them had a really strong bond the whole time. Although he really saw Akiho as more of a close friend while she was hoping for more, that’s how it goes sometimes. Akiho is a solid character but she’s too young to really know what is going on. In part that’s due to Kaito though because he really wanted her to be able to lead an ordinary, quiet life. So he succeeded completely in that part.

He didn’t count on her still being worried about him though but there’s not much that he could have done about that. No matter how expert he was in using his abilities, it would still show a little from time to time and when it comes to Kaito, Akiho would be fairly observant in that area.

The manga also has a little fun with the time travel like when the series literally rewinds a few chapters because Kaito used his powers. This happens more than once and it’s a lot of fun. It shows just how advanced his abilities are. Of course eventually that won’t work on a true powerhouse like Sakura. Another thing I liked about this sequel is that it treated Sakura with a lot of respect. This makes sense because at this point in the series she should absolutely be stronger than most of the people who show up. Sakura has been fighting for much longer than them and she has mastered the cards. So seeing her defy time stop and overpower fate was great.

Of course this series isn’t about action like that but when it happens I am always glad to see it. That’s when the series is at its best and of course the general plot with Kaito. Where it tends to be less engaging is in the slice of life stuff which of course is rough since that’s the majority. Again it goes back to the characters because I’ve read tons of Shojo at this point and they always tend to be more engaging. From rom-coms like Love-Com to the more dramatic ones like Arisa, you get hooked on the story. For Cardcaptor, it just feels like a lot of the dialogue is fluff. Like the characters talking about a picnic or a nice dress to wear. It’s all just so down to earth that it goes too far into not being very entertaining the whole time.

I would really love to see the series go full on action. There are enough fighters at this point where that could happen and Kaito could easily take on just about anyone in the verse. It’s a dream of course but it would be really nice. Clamp has shown in the past that they can absolutely do a battle series when they really want to. It would make things more eventful for sure. After all this series is over 10 volumes and yet if you cut out the fluff/filler you could probably adapt the whole thing in 4 volumes. That may be a slight exaggeration but at least to me that makes sense based on how much you don’t actually need to get involved with. It does make for a much shorter review than most titles of this size would be as well since there’s not a whole lot to discuss.

Really the bulk of the discussion points are about Kaito and I’ve already went into that. He was an amazing character with a great goal and I was supporting him the whole time. I know you could say a flaw of his is that he tries to do everything himself without asking for help but it is completely understandable. He’s the one with time manipulation abilities after all and putting anyone else into the mix could put them in some serious danger. So it’s just not that strange that he’s a solo act even with everyone telling him to calm down all the time. He knows what he is doing so they need to let him cook.

I will say that Sakura has had some noticeable character development since the original series which isn’t something that you can say for everyone. She is a little bolder and more outspoken now. She did confront Syaoran when she needed too and also stood her ground with Kaito. She’s still very humble but was ready to fight and knew the length of her abilities when going up against the villains. I’d still like Sakura to eventually get more aggressive but it can’t be denied that she has improved which is always great to see.

The artwork here is definitely pretty solid. At times Sakura and Akiho look so similar that you can mix them up but given that this is actually a story beat in-universe I can let it slide. It’s clearly intentional after all. It’s always easy to read through the chapters and everything is very detailed.

Overall, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is a good sequel. I do think it could have stood to be a little more exciting of course but ultimately it was a fun ride. I had a good time at least and while it would not be my highest recommendation to someone, I wouldn’t tell anyone to avoid it or anything like that. You should prepare for a very slow burn though. It lasted a lot longer than I remember and that’s in part because nothing really happens most of the time. The strong art and intriguing plot carry it but in between those moments there is a lot of emptyness. It still has wholesome messages that are fun for everyone and the whole Kaito plot is really written well. The final twists involving some names are a bit underwhelming and dare I say pointless but till the series had a good run. If we ever get another sequel it’ll be interesting to see what happens there.

Overall 6/10

Bright Eyes Review

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It’s time for a film that mainly has a very wholesome feel to it but at the same time is a little darker once you actually think about it. I’d say the film goes a bit too far in that area and has enough scenes that just aren’t very fun. The main heroine isn’t really able to hold her ground as the lead either being only a kid and so the film doesn’t go quite as far as it could have. The film ultimately had a lot of room for improvement.

The movie starts off with introducing us to Shirley who lives with her mother in the house of a really rich family that is very mean to the two of them. Mary works as a maid there and so Anita treats her with constant contempt. Shirley’s father died a while back but the Air Force fighters all look after her and help Mary with that task. One of them in particular, Loop really wants to make sure to keep her safe. He suspects that Anita’s family aren’t the nicest but Mary doesn’t complain and he doesn’t really push the envelope there. However, a custody battle over Shirley begins and so he is forced to throw his hat in the ring because if Shirley was forced to join the family he knows they would not treat her properly. Can he claim victory?

Mary is a solid character here who is really just trying to make ends meet and she has done a pretty good job. She puts up with as much disrespect as she needs to in order to get money and look out for Shirley. That’s why it’s rough the way her character arc goes because she was really doing her best and thing still did not go her way at all. I thought the film was really harsh to her because everything went wrong. She lost her husband early on and then another tragedy happens to her.

Then we have Shirley who is okay but she’s very young here so it’s not like there is much for her to do. She is always fairly cheery and takes things in stride. You won’t really see her crying or getting too upset no matter what happens. I’d still say her road isn’t a very happy one even if she doesn’t fully realize what is happening. It would have been nice if she could have spoken up more about Joy, the rich kid who was always being a bully. I know Shirley is a nice person but nothing wrong with calling out the bully and putting her in her place. Shirley may not have had the homefield advantage so the fallout might not be great but I doubt she would really be thinking about that.

Anita and Wellington are fairly cartoonish with how mean they are to Shirley. I’d also say as a result they really aren’t smart at all either. Basically they pretend to be nice to Uncle Ned in order to get their inheritance and yet they do everything possible to make him upset? He says to be nice to Shirley and they basically don’t change their attitudes at all. She keep on allowing their daughter Joy to terrorize Ned and generally be a pain the whole time as well. You just feel like they should have been putting up a much better effort to stay on his good side considering the stakes here. I would say their efforts were pretty awful all around.

Ned was actually a decent character at least. He was actively trying to make things better for Shirley and clearly cared the whole time. It’s really rough not being able to walk on your own since even in a wheelchair his options were limited. I imagine he would have left the family a lot sooner otherwise. The ending is satisfying since you were rooting for him a lot. Loop also did good. The guy was maybe a little more bitter than expected with Adele but it all worked out. I don’t blame him for being upset when she ran off so perhaps getting together again should have been out of the question but otherwise you do need to keep it together for Shirley considering the stakes at play.

For Adele we never got a ton of details on her past and why her relationship with Loop didn’t work out. I was expecting some kind of big reveal/twist on why she left but I guess from the context we have, it was just her making a really big mistake. Ultimately the movie’s ending is good but what holds it back is how it could be a bit mean spirited like I mentioned earlier and the film wasn’t always very entertaining. The songs were definitely really weak here with the main one really not landing in particular. I don’t think Shirley makes for a very good main character either so there isn’t a whole lot of replay value in this one.

Overall, There just isn’t a whole lot of reason to watch this one. It’s not a very bad movie or anything like that but it can be boring at times and I would have handled the plot in a different way. The writing wasn’t always very good and not having great songs hurts as well. I wouldn’t call it a happy movie in the end even if the film tries to really jump forward and not worry about the specifics the whole time. I think you could do better for Christmas films and so for this time I would say to skip this one and check out something else like Jingle All The Way.

Overall 4/10

Going My Way Review

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Time for another festive film as we get closer to Christmas. This one has a solid message and a good character cast but ends up being held back just a little bit by not having enough fun. I think the movie ends up spreading itself a bit too thin with such a large cast and so at times you just wish they would stick to one story beat for a little longer instead of all the jumping around. It makes the film start to get a little boring at times but ultimately it sticks the landing well enough.

The movie starts off with a new guy entering the neighborhood. He is to work at the local church under Father Fitzgibbon but doesn’t have the best first impression as he gets framed for a ball crashing through the window and then gets yelled at by an annoying neighbor. Still, Chuck is eager to help the church out even if it seems like Fitzgibbon is ready to throw him away. What Chuck hasn’t let him in on is that he’s actually the head honcho now as he was sent to save the church. He just doesn’t want to embarrass Fitzgibbon so Chuck pretends that he works for him. It’s definitely a nice thing to do even if it does mean that his mission will be a little more difficult now. Can he save everyone?

I would really describe this film as Chuck going around town and trying to solve everyone’s problems. You have the kids getting into a lot of trouble all the time, a girl who is trying to be an aspiring talent and a guy and his father who completely disagree on everything. That’s just for starters. As the new guy on the block Chuck doesn’t have a ton of credibility yet so he will need to quickly show them why they should listen to him and get their lives back on track. All while trying not to but heads with Fitzgibbon too much.

With his debates with the older pastor, I do think Chuck could have explained himself a little more at times. Like when he walked into their first meeting in pajamas. It’s played off as a comical moment but I do think Fitzgibbon was justified in feeling like Chuck wasn’t taking this seriously. That’s absolutely how it appeared at least since he doesn’t have the privilege of seeing the events as we did. Then you have Chuck having fun golfing and such. He would really appear to not be serious at all initially.

Now Fitz does get to see Chuck doing a lot of good as the film goes on. I just think he was actually rather reasonable in his reactions. Fitz absolutely means well even if he can be a little old fashioned and once the two start teaming up things go a lot better. That’s where the heart of the film comes in as it’s about keeping an open mind and trying new things. Sometimes you do need a new approach to an old problem, particularly if the current tactics weren’t working. A lot of people were in quite the predicament under Fitzgibbon’s leadership and while it’s not like he was directly responsible for that, he would not have been able to solve the situations without Chuck.

Meanwhile while Chuck doesn’t communicate enough, he is good at his job. He takes some risks and ultimately bonds with the people really quickly. You need to be very personable when you’re working at a Church after all since you won’t convert any hearts if nobody likes you. His friend Timmy maybe goes a bit too far in how laidback he is though. You don’t really see him doing much work at all but hey I suppose we can’t see what he’s doing off camera. You should be able to have a job where you can relax and have a good time so long as you are still doing your work when it comes time to produce. The ending of the film has a cliffhanger that could have made for an interesting dynamic even if it may have been like a bit of a retread.

So the main plot is solid, but like I said the film can get a little uneventful sometimes with the other plots. For example the romance plot with Carol and Ted. Basically they end up getting married real quick and really rub it in Ted’s father’s face. You’re supposed to be rooting for them but they did come across as a bit rude there even if it was meant to be in good fun. He ultimately has no choice but to accept it since they’re married but then Ted is heading off to the army so they are going to be separated for a while as is. It’s a happy ending as they at least made the relationship official which is good but you just don’t really care about what is going on in this plot. We could have used that for more screentime comparing how the two pastors handle things differently in church.

Give us more scenes with the actual sermons and trying to raise money instead. As it is we already had the romance plot of sorts with the main character running into a lady that he used to be involved with back in the day. Of course he has turned from all such things now but it’s nice that they still have a friendship going. In a way this film does feel like a combination of a lot of experiences that you could picture really happening at the Church but at the same time it maybe goes a little too realistically at times so the film doesn’t have that hook.

Overall, The film plays it fairly safe and I have no significant issues with it. It’s probably not a film that I would ever really feel the need to rewatch but the writing is good and the character cast is solid on the whole so you could do a lot worse. It’s a good film, I just feel like it could have been a very good film. Throw in a little more humor and let us see more of the debates between the lead and Fitz. Based on the premise that’s more or less what I was expecting but it felt like there just weren’t as many of those scenes as I thought there would be.

Overall 6/10

Christmas at the Drive-In Review

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It’s time for our next wholesome Christmas adventure! This time we’re bringing in the Drive-In theater to the mix which is a fun little element to make this one more unique. Ultimately it succeeds on all of the classic Christmas elements you would want to see here. Definitely no real negatives to say about this film and so you’ll have a fun time from start to finish.

The film starts off by introducing us to Sadie who was a very impressive lawyer back in the day but she has decided to hang up her career in order to move back home and become a teacher. She is quite fulfilled in this role but then runs into her ex-boyfriend Holden. There’s a lot of history between these two as Holden stood her up on their last date and so their relationship fell apart. It’s been many years but the reunion is not under happy circumstances as Holden wants to destroy the Drive-In theater. Sadie is resolved to save it though and so the town is giving her until Christmas to prove that it can still be a hit. If not, then it will be destroyed to pave the way for new jobs. As Holden technically owns the Drive-In, he is forced to assist her as a good faith effort but his heart’s not really in it. Can Sadie pull this off?

Now as soon as they said Holden and Sadie used to be together you knew that things were going to get a little dicey for them. Holden’s excuse is that he saw Sadie cheating on him back in the day so that’s why he didn’t approach her and so the two of them are still single to this day. You can probably guess what kinds of misunderstandings are going on here. You’d think both characters would be a little too busy following their interests for romance at this late time but hey that’s how it goes I suppose.

I was glad that the film brought in more of an emphasis on baking and showing off different Christmas snacks because I’ve missed that from some of the recent movies that I’ve seen. The sugar cookies looked like fun as well as the chocolate drink. It’s definitely the time of the year to eat as much as you can and just have a good time with it. The Christmas decorations and backgrounds are also handled really well. The town looks like it would be a fun place to hang out and the Drive-In looks nice. Now that’s not really something I’d be all that tempted to do because being in a car just feels a bit too confining, I’d probably prefer to stand outside and watch but with the cold temperatures outside the average civilian would probably need the heater.

The writing is on point here. While the story may be somewhat predictable, I always say that it’s all about the execution. Just because you know how a story will end doesn’t mean that it’s bad. You shouldn’t always try to subvert everyone’s expectations after all as sometimes the expected ending is the right one to go with. The pacing is good and the film really goes by quickly. The main cast is also quite small here. You have the main two of course who do a good job. Holden may not have been very enthusiastic at first but he’s a good guy and gradually started putting in more and more of an effort. He even spent a ton of money on this project which was impressive.

Sadie of course was doing her best from the start and it’s great that she was looking out for the town the whole time. Losing the drive-in would have been rough even if granted, I think the town would have ultimately been okay. She also does her best to help someone in fighting a legal battle. I appreciated Kendra as a solid antagonist who sympathized with Holden’s plight but had the highest obligation to her shareholders. She was going to get a profit out of this no matter what and that’s the attitude you have to have when you’re in charge. It’s nothing personal after all, just business.

Then you have Bobby who was another antagonist. I mean from his perspective Holden is the trailer since the two had long since signed the contract. That said, he does play a dirty trick in bribing the council so the guy ultimately does not have the moral high ground at all. He really should have kept to playing fair all the way til the end. It’s always good to have a true antagonist to spice things up though so that was fun. He was an entertaining character all the way through to the end.

At the end of the day this film spreads a good message about friendship and uniting the people with a common cause. You don’t really see this kind of experience as much in the big city but in a small town where everyone knows each other you like to think that everyone would have each other’s back for a situation like this.

Overall, This was a pretty fun film. As always what I like to see in a Christmas film is a solid message and good vibes all throughout. The ending should always leave you feeling happy and fulfilled which this movie pulls off. You definitely feel good watching it and it properly captures the Christmas spirit. I would definitely recommend checking it out and having a good time with this film. It should get you in the mood to celebrate as we are getting very close to the end of the year right now!

Overall 7/10

A Very Merry Toy Store Review

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The poster’s a bit of a missed opportunity here if you ask me. The plot involves the two toy store owners reluctantly teaming up and while we all know how it will end, I feel like the poster should at least be playing up the battle a little bit right? Try and trick the audience into thinking that this will be the next big fight. That would have made a lot more sense if you ask me. Ah well, you can’t win them all but the film itself is still very solid.

The movie starts with introducing us to Connie and Will who both own fairly successful toy stores. There is a lot of bad blood between them, mainly from Connie’s side. The reason for this is due to a long family grudge when Will’s ancestor ended up making his own store right down the block from Connie’s after a dispute involving the name. Connie never forgave Will for this so she goes for as many cheap shots as possible. Well, one day Roy moves into town and he’s the owner of a massive corporate toy shop. He’s here to completely change the game and upset the hierarchy of the toy environment. He has a massive amount of money to throw around so Connie and Will may have to team up to stop him. Will even that be enough though?

I always love the classic team up trope. It’s one of the greatest in the business particularly when it’s very reluctant and you have the hero and villain bickering the whole time. Granted there isn’t really a villain from the duo although Connie comes the closest. Throughout the film you never get the vibe that Will actually dislikes her while Connie clearly has nothing but contempt for the guy. He’s always trying to help while Connie keeps on throwing insults and trying to make the whole thing harder on both of them. It takes her an extremely long time to get past this as she really took the family grudge personally while Randy was mainly pretty cool about it the whole time.

He also tended to get the best lines so he was a really fun character all the way through. I liked the Looney Tunes references and the guy was always game for any plan. He was just really enthusiastic and had a ton of energy. Now granted he does fold to corporate rather quick but in the end it’s a fairly practical move once the tide was turning. Meanwhile Connie could be really stubborn but she still pulled her own weight and did good. The reluctant team up doesn’t work as well if both people are excited about it so by being the debbie downer she helped to keep things in perspective and offer a contrast the whole time.

This film also had a fairly large cast for this kind of Christmas adventure. Usually you don’t expect a lot of characters, just the main 2, the boyfriend who loses out at the start and then the villain. Here we have quite a few side characters, some who could have been cut out to be honest. For example we have a subplot about a guy named Joe who gets a crush on Pam so he lies to her about needing to learn the piano and they hit it off. It’s a plot that doesn’t really add anything to the film except another romance so this could have really been cut out.

Then we have a whole subplot about someone stealing items from the toy store and the heroes are trying to find out who this is. The plot ultimately plays a role by the ending but the thief could have really been cut out. In fact I would argue the thief was probably the weakest character here as her motivations weren’t all that solid and that plot got old real quickly. It just didn’t really work.

Then we have the comic relief character Randy who can barely think straight. The poor guy was racking up Ls the entire film but at least I appreciate that he was rather confident. He would always blame everything on everyone else which is impressive. Randy’s not the kind of guy who will end up taking responsibility for anything and that’s probably sounding like the most back handed complement ever but it makes the jokes work a bit better. When you have a character who is dumb as bricks it will either be really funny or really cringe. This ended up being more on the funny side.

We can’t forget about our villain Roy though. Now here was a really fun villain who kept the heroes on their toes the whole time. I loved how smug he was throughout and I felt like he won the verbal battles constantly. The heroes would try to get one step ahead of him and he would always counter. He used every dirty trick in the book and for the most part you just had no clue how anybody was going to stop him. That’s the kind of villain you need. He really helped elevate the whole experience and in part it’s also because he was treated seriously the whole time. He wasn’t some comic relief villain to be mopped up by the heroes or some random who never stood a chance. No, this guy was a big CEO of a major company and he acted the part.

His best scene was probably when he was in the board room as everyone was telling him what a great position the company was in. He was clearly on cloud 9 at that moment because he had flat out won. He had beaten the odds and that was it. Now naturally you can guess that things would ultimately not go very well but the film was a very satisfying watch. The writing was good and the character cast was very solid. You really can’t go wrong with this title.

Overall, This is one of the stronger Christmas films that I’ve watched. I really enjoyed all of the banter and fighting going on. The film may have been a little overstuffed at times as these subplots took time away from the main battles that you wanted to see but it still succeeded more often than not. The Toy Stores made for a good backdrop and it was fun to see each side keep trying to outdo each other whether it was in handing out free pancakes or hiring a professional singer. Both sides just did not want to lose and you need to have that energy in order to come out on top.

Overall 7/10

The Great Rupert Review

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The Great Rupert is a fun film even if Rupert himself doesn’t appear as much as you would expect him too. He’s certainly a big part of the plot with how much influence he has the whole time but at the same time you just were expecting him to do more. Still, it’s a quality film with fun characters who may make a ton of mistakes but never harsh the vibe that the movie is going for.

The movie starts off with an old man having to let go of his pet squirrel for a while. Rupert may have been a true show stopper with his dancing abilities but it was time to go their separate ways. Rupert ends up crashing at the home of a stingy landlord named Frank. Well, Frank’s family have a decent amount of money but never get to spend it. Even when Frank ends up striking it rich with an investment that he made, he insists on storing all of his money at the house instead of the bank. He is making a clean $1500 a week now but what he doesn’t know is that Rupert is throwing the money down to the new tenants, Louie and his family. Louie has been poor for a while but now he can use this money to invest in a bunch of people and spread the wealth. Is he perhaps spreading himself too thin though?

All right so lets jump into the positives. I like Louie’s can do attitude the whole time. No matter how bad things get, the guy always has a smile and a lot of energy. He clearly enjoys life a whole lot and will always do his best to help others. He can sometimes pull a fast one on people like when making a deal for the Christmas tree but he always ends up helping others to balance the scales. He’s the kind of guy you could easily become friends with although on the flip side, he’s very irresponsible. The fact that he used up all of the money the family had on more than one occasion is inexcusable.

There is a fine line between helping a bunch of people out and just letting them take advantage of you. By not having enough money to support his family I have to say that he fell into the latter. You must always have some money on hand for your family because if not then you have let them down. There’s just no way around it. Likewise his wife should have done better in holding onto that money as well. She believed that it came from her praying to God so wouldn’t you want to make sure it was all properly used and not wasted? That would be blasphemy of the highest order at all and yet she was willing to keep on asking for more and more money. It felt rather shameless even if the whole family was in on it.

Rosalinda was my least favorite member of the family though. The money seemed to go to her head in a very bad way where it’s like she got corrupted right away. The film surprisingly didn’t play this angle up very much but even Pete mentions how she’s different now. She starts flirting with a producer and manipulates him so that she can get Pete’s song on the radio but in the meantime her plan is basically to date this guy. Poor Pete has to take a back seat without any explanation as to what’s going on. She ends up being really lucky that he’s still interested by the end. I didn’t think that plot was handled very well at all.

Pete ends up looking really bad as well with how much he takes the whole film. He should have been standing up for himself and everything instead of just watching and feeling sorry for himself. He sticks up for her by getting fired but even then while it’s supposed to be a great moment, it didn’t feel earned. It’s not even like the guy spreading rumors was being all that drastic.

While Pete’s investment later on ends up paying off, I wouldn’t even say he was in the right there. Frank usually would have been right when he told his son that this was a very foolish move to make. Being lucky or being right in the end doesn’t suddenly mean that you made the correct decision after all. Like things ended really badly for Frank but that was just bad luck. It doesn’t mean that hiding his money was the wrong play. He is certainly too stingy though. There’s not much point to having a lot of money if you decide to never use it until you get old. Like why even bother by that point? You’ll be so old that you can’t do all of the fun stuff you could have when you were young.

So yeah even from the review you can see how I haven’t really talked about Rupert at all. He’s the vehicle for getting the funds transferred but otherwise doesn’t really do anything. I do think the effects for him were pretty good though and the scenes were always fun. I’d probably have just renamed the movie though since the focus was really on the main characters. Ultimately the pacing was really quick and the writing was good so I really did have a good time with this one. The ending may not have been ultra happy in some respects like losing the house but the final seconds make up for this with a ton of good news coming in. I can’t recall any other film where there were so many positive twists in the last seconds like that. So it definitely helped perk up the ending quite a bit.

Overall, The Great Rupert is a really fun film. In some respects you could say it’s a fairly basic title without many twists and turns but that works well as a slice of life. Ultimately for a film like this you need a solid cast and this movie delivers all the way. I can’t say I was really familiar with the film before watching it so if like me you didn’t know about it, I’d definitely say to check it out. It’s a fun story and the fantasy of one day waking up to a bunch of money is always a fun one. Hopefully you wouldn’t squander it the way that Louie did though. When you get money like that, the first step is figuring out how to make it grow or at the very least hanging onto it!

Overall 7/10