The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Okay so I took some user requests this week and I decided to review a few of them starting with this exquisite anime.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is one of the most emotional and thought provoking stories of time travel ever made. The story focuses on a teenage girl who one day after school finds a mysterious orb that somehow gives her the ability to travel through time. She soon discovers how to master the technique, to literaly gather enough speed and leap through time. Insert Back To The Future DeLorean joke here, and to be honest this movie is actually better than Back To The Future in my opinion because this movie is completely serious, even though it is quite humorous whereas Back To The Future was more of a comedy and adventure time travel film. And that is the strongest point of the movie,  the emotion of the characters and that is what makes it ascend to such great heights of storytelling and human emotion! And I am serious this film has the most realistic crying scene I have ever seen in a movie. It's not the usual "Sexy Cry" where a character sheds a single tear and the rest of their face is motionless, a prime example being Arwen from Lord Of The Rings, no no no you see a character break down and water comes out of every hole on their body and they make sounds like a dying moose, like how real people cry and it's truly heartbreaking to see. And it actually adresses the dilemma of being a time traveller, because the girl uses it for her own selfish reasons and she involuntarily harms others and hurts other people's feelings even though she didn't mean to, and it is explained that really everybody around her are her own little play things that she keeps toying with by constantly time travelling. That is a life changing lesson for anybody, and the film should be applauded for that. It has such beautiful animation that has a lot of depth and detail very much like a Miyazaki movie, the characters are so realistic yet they are animated, the emotion is raw, the time travel really makes you think and feel all sorts of things, it probably will make you cry and it has a twist that you could never see coming. And this is a true fact: the film was not a big commercial success in Japan until word of mouth about how great the movie was spreaded to the point where people were actually willing to stand in the aisle of the theatre to see the movie. They did not care if they had a seat, they just wanted to see the movie. Oh my God! That is amazing! Transformers Dark Of The Moon made like a bajillion more dollars than this film, but I bet no one said that they didn't care if it was a full house, that they would stand in the theatre because they just HAD to see Optimus Prime. And the only real problem with the film is, it is a rare film. Hardly anyone has heard of this movie, and it is damn near impossible to own the movie in North America without slapping down $100 for it, which is a crying shame because it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.

If you care enough to see this movie, you can watch it completely free online. If you Google Just Anime Dubbed and you click on the first website, just go to the movies section and look for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I highly encourage you to see this film even if anime is not your style. So thank you very much for tuning in for this review, I will see you guys and gals tomorrow.

The Expendables 3

This movie is horrible! It's friggin' horrible!

Where do I start with this terrible movie? Everything you enjoyed in the last two Expendables movie are no longer here. The Expendables 2 is the best movie out of all three of them, and to tell you the truth I didn't like the first Expendables movie that much, but I could give it a pass because it was the first movie in the franchise, it's not easy creating a world and creating the characters in that world and just having it's own image and it's own way of doing things. By the second movie, they got it really right! Expendables 2 was glorious, it was awesome! By the end of that movie you were still talking about some of your favorite scenes, but not in this piece of garbage! The story is boring, we get a whole new cast of members of The Expendables that we don't care about, there is hardly any blood in the movie whatsoever unlike Expendables 2 where there was blood and limbs and heads being shot off, this movie barely has a cup of blood to show on screen, the CGI is terrible, I mean terrible in this movie. Before, the CGI was decent and looked semi-realistic but in this movie it looks like it came straight out of a video game from 2003, in fact all of the effects are terrible and shoddy in this movie, and really you know what it is like? It's like a direct to DVD Expendables movie. Those bargain bin movies you see at a video store that are so terrible and cheap you wouldn't think for a second to even look through them. That is this movie! And I am serious here, half the damn movie and I do mean half the damn movie is spent looking for these new assholes to join the team. There are several scenes that just waste your time like there are two scenes, I swear to God that pretty much goes like this...Mel Gibson the villain walks into an art museum looks at a painting, describes how horrible it looks and buys it for $3 million dollars. End of scene. Soon to be followed by, Mel Gibson's character delivering said painting to some nameless woman we never met before and will never see again. End of scene. Waste of time! But oh wait, there's more! In one scene Sylvester Stallone informs the old members of The Expendables that they are getting too old for the job and he breaks up the band, so of course we have to see the old members moaning and moping around for about three minutes before we can finally get back to the story, or what passes for a story. What's the story you might ask? Well The Expendables are hired to take out Mel Gibson's character and we soon discover that he was a member of The Expendables too back in the day (dun dun duuuuuh!!!) but he went rogue and did unspeakable things that the movie never decides to tell us about, and I am serious. I was expecting some sort of flashback scene to explain why the characters get so huffy when he is brought up, it never happens. We don't barely have any backstory to his character, and while it is kinda fun to see Mel Gibson just kinda be Mel Gibson in this movie, and he does make you chuckle in a few scenes but ultimately is forgettable. We get Wesley Snipes and Antonio Banderas in this movie as new members of the team, and Antonio Banderas is so annoying in this movie, all he does is talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and maybe shoot a few guys, and talk. And Wesley Snipes, you know the first time you see him the team busts him out of this prison train and he's got this beard and like this afro, so for the rest of the movie I called him Afro Blade and he does nothing but he did make me laugh a bit. Horrible! This movie is fraking horrible!! Do not watch this movie! It is not worth your time and money! Watch The Expendables 2, do not touch this movie. Even if you are curious do not see this movie! I need a damn drink after all of this...and the funny part was I have never seen this movie before, but I really didn't want to watch or review this movie. I mean at all. I did not want to watch this. I swear I have this sixth sense about movies where I automatically can tell if it's going to be a huge piece of crap, okay, or pretty damn good. This was a huge piece of crap. Stay away from this movie!

The Expendables 2

Re-watching this again, I have to say it's leaps and bounds better than the first.



I'm serious, everything that was good in the first Expendables is even better in the second one. The dialogue is better and is even funnier than the first, we get to know the characters better and even see some new additions to the team, the action is just all around better and that is very evident from the very first action scene, cause in the first movie it was really just a standoff for some hostages but in the second one it's a straight up rescue mission and it is so much bigger and more flashy and exciting. So the story of The Expendables 2 is that Bruce Willis contacts Sylvester Stallone and company to retrieve a mysterious object from a shot down plane in Albania, the team soon gathers together including their two new members of the team played by Liam Hemsworth and Nan Yu to retrieve secret data and return it back to the U.S. government before it falls into the wrong hands. But our heroes soon come face to face with the villain of the movie, whose name is Vilain....I am so not kidding it's only one letter away from spelling villain played by Guile himself from Street Fighter The Movie, Jean-Claude Van Damme who I got to say is an interesting choice for the villain of this movie and I'm not sure why but he's just a joy to watch. And just like in Street Fighter I can barely understand what he is saying, like I understand Christian Bale's Batman better than this guy. His accent is what does it, it sounds ger-russian-nese but it's still pretty cool to see him in the movie. So the chase is on to stop Vilain from using the secret data to cause chaos in the world. I think the reason why I enjoy this movie better than the first is because of the better dialogue and the new characters we get to see in action, even though the dialogue is very tongue and cheek sometimes, like there's this scene where Arnold Schwarzenegger tells Terry Crews to give him his gun and Terry Crews says, "If I don't get this back your ass is terminated." and it's dialogue like that which makes he movie a bit more fun, but we don't only get to see Arnold throw down and shoot em' up, we even get the most badass dude in existence to help out our heroes, Chuck Norris. And yeah he kicks the most ass in this movie, he's one handing this big machine gun tearing through guys left and right, he takes out a friggin' tank and he even says one of the Chuck Norris facts about how a king cobra bit him and after 5 days of pain the cobra died. Best part of the movie but another fantastic part of the movie is Dolph Lundgren and he is my favorite character in the entire film, cause he is super smart like he can make a bomb out of just a few ingredients, and he keeps hitting on the girl who tags along on the mission with him, he's totally awesome. So yeah, this movie was a hell of a lot better than the first, and I think the best part of The Expendables movies are the continuity is loose, like it's not necessary to watch the first movie to get the second movie so you can just skip the first movie and go straight for the second movie. This is The Expendables movie you have to see if you want to watch the franchise, so I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did, and I will see you guys and gals tomorrow when we wrap up the trilogy.

The Expendables

What better way to start the month of July and build up to our Independence Day than to review a trilogy of hardcore action movies starring the biggest names of the action hero genre?



So The expendables is a true love letter to action films both old and new, starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren among many others as mercenaries hired by the U.S. government to take out a dictator. This plot could not get any more action hero if it tried. But it's a damn good movie with a lot of it's own merits, mainly the acting, the characters, and of course the action scenes. Now let's be honest here, this is not a great film as far as action movies go but it's a cut above the rest only because of the stars of the movie. If you have ever seen an action film from the 1980's onward, chances are you know who these people are and what their reputation is in the film industry. And even I have to admit it's pretty friggin' cool to see all these action movie stars kick some ass even if some of them are getting up there in the years, they still got it! And it is built entirely around the characters, their actions, their personalities, their past, all of it only contributes to the movie, and it shows they are not a perfect team, they bicker, they fight each other, but in the end they are still a team and give a damn about each other. And you really get the sense of that which makes them even more enjoyable. The acting is good, the directing shows you exactly what you need to see, the dialogue between the characters is really the best part of the movie in my humble opinion but the action is well choreographed and they are not afraid to show blood and violence, the characters are interesting enough so you don't just write them off as typical action movie heroes, the music for lack of a better word has that honky-tonk rock tone to it and it's pretty cool, the plot is pretty basic but you really can't be expecting Shakespeare in an action movie called The Expendables. Yeah it is just kind of a dumb action guy flick but it does have more to it than what you expect and I'm sure you will find it very enjoyable and interesting to watch nevertheless, especially if you are a big fan of action movies and action movie stars both old and new. I quite enjoyed The Expendables, and I hope you do too.



Tune in tomorrow where we review the second installation of The Expendables trilogy, and I hope to God it stays a trilogy.

Heat

I'm sorry that I was late, kinda busy yesterday and Heat is an almost 3 hour movie. I got through most of it but not all.

So Heat is one of the best crime drama movies ever put to celluloid directed by Michael Mann, and anything to do with Michael Mann and bank robberies is no bad thing! The story is that a team of expert bank robbers led by Robert De Niro steal millions of dollars in bonds, and a detective played by Al Pacino has to take him down. The whole movie centers around these characters actions and emotions, and it feels completely real, even though Al Pacino chews the scenery a little bit but that only makes it more enjoyable. And yeah, this is the movie with the greatest running firefight ever recorded on film, I'm serious. It goes on for like 10 minutes, there's no music all you hear is gunfire, and the weird thing is it's not even at the finale of the movie, it's about halfway through. But that's not even the best scene of the movie. The real best scene is when Robert De Niro and Al Pacino sit down in a cafe and talk to each other. And the reason why it is a big deal is because it's the hero and the villain sitting down, drinking coffee and talking about why they do what they do. I can't think of a single movie where the hero and villain sit down, have a drink, and just talk to each other. It has never been done, and it's very well written, very well acted, and is just so damn good. The ending is thrilling and yet touching, and is the perfect way to end this amazing film. If you are a fan of bank robberies, complex characters, amazing directing, brilliant writing, and are just a fan of crime dramas then Heat is for you.

And that ends this week of movie reviews. Join me next week when we look at some true love letters to the action hero franchise.

Stand Up Guys

I hope to God when I get old I'm as badass as these guys. They're just awesome!

Yes, another Christopher Walken movie. I love the guy, he is the man! So the plot of Stand Up Guys is Al Pacino's character has just been released from prison after twenty something years, and he wants to get his old gang back together for one last gig. His best friend Doc played by Christopher Walken tells him that the last member of the gang played by Alan Arkin has been ill and placed in a retirement home so they got to go bust him out and have some fun. I don't know why but I love movies where old people go on these adventures or misadventures and they just have fun. And that is what this movie is, fun. You have a blast watching these old friends just do stuff together and kinda get into trouble. Something about it is very endearing and pleasant. And I am serious, they are the coolest old people you will ever meet. I want to do everything they do in this movie when I get old, hang out with my friends, go dancing with pretty girls, have breakfast at like 3 AM in the morning, kick some serious ass, drive around in a muscle car, all that good stuff. And the movie ends exactly the way you want it, I was so damn happy at how the movie ended. It even has emotional moments in it, and you feel what the characters feel. Bottom line, go see this movie. If you like these sort of fun, action, adventure stories with older people, I think you will very much enjoy Stand Up Guys. I aspire to be a stand up guy, and I hope some of you will too.

Seven Psychopaths

You know I really think that people who love American Psycho are going to really enjoy this film.

Seven Psychopaths is a comedy at heart, but I think very much like American Psycho you have to be a psychopath or at least someone who's not right in the head to enjoy some of the humor. I love this movie, it's very different from your normal movie which is it's strong point. It centers around a writer and his two friends who dognap a psychopath's shih tzu and they have to sort out their little problem before they all get killed. The performances in this movie are awesome, anything with Christopher Walken in it is no bad thing, in fact it's an amazing thing, and yet surprisingly Christopher Walken doesn't steal the show, it's Sam Rockwell. The humor is dark at times but it's mostly just dialogue between the characters and how their personalities bounce off of each other. It has a lot of heart and emotion in it, and I got to tell you the first time I watched it, I bawled my eyes out at one scene it was so heartbreaking, just the music and the characters in the scene....it got to me. But it also has serious moments in it and even thought provoking moments at times. It's just such a great and quirky little film that will most certainly entertain you and hopefully it will be a film you will want to see again and again. I know it is for me, so if you ever get the chance to see it by all means do. It's worth your time, it's worth your money. You'll enjoy the characters, you'll enjoy the story, you will enjoy Seven Psychopaths. I promise on my life.