My feed

AKB48Fan added 3 items to Destiny... Fate... Dreams - Anime Watched In 2018 list

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

An obscure British kitchen sink drama based on a true story about a family of 14 kids that live in squalor in a run down house in London's slum in the East End that's due to be demolished. When their mother dies and other people try to break the family apart, the kids conspire to be together, no matter who tries to stop them. A good story that I might have had some sympathy for the children if only they weren't bloody annoying. They are rowdy, uncouth and act like wild animals. From shoplifting to grifting, their existence isn't the happiest one as they try to stay together under increasingly oppressive circumstances. The only one of the kids that you feel you want to succeed is the eldest son played by Jack Wild. He does his best to keep them together. Thankfully there is a chink of light for all of the kids near the climax. Eastenders stalwarts June Brown and Anna Wing are only in the movie for a short while. If you enjoy grim and depressing drama then this will be right up your street.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

An updated version of the 1949 classic movie that has the inhabitants of a small Scottish island trying to outwit the Home Guard as they plan to steal bottles of whisky on a ship that has been stranded on rocks. It is supposedly based on a real life incident. Although the movie is quite quirky and has it's moments, I felt it didn't capture the charm that made the original so good although the actors do their best with the script. There is some lovely location shooting but for a movie set in Scotland I've no idea why Irish music was used instead. Gregor Fisher and Eddie Izzard take the top of the bill in this movie and are decent enough in their roles. There is plenty of wry humour to pass the 98 running time. Worth a watch if you enjoy family comedies.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

A town called Sakurada has people that can develop super powers but if you leave the town those powers and the memory of the person disappears. The people with super powers are overseen by an Administrative Bureau who ask them for their help in certain situations. Two rogue super teens decide that the Bureau needs to be taken apart and it's up to 2 other teens in Kei and Misora to try and stop them. Also they want to resurrect a friend of theirs who died 2 years previously but no one in the town has ever managed to do that. This movie sounded interesting with it's tale of people with mysterious powers to change things for the better but somehow it didn't quite click with me. Perhaps it was to do with the dull characters that inhabit the movie and the plodding storyline. The villains aren't threatening enough considering the deadly abilities they have. The story just meanders slowly with hardly any excitement and I felt it went through the motions. There was nothing to grab me and sustain my interest. On saying that I will still watch Part 2 and hope that things will improve but this movie overall was fairly disappointing.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan posted a image

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

This is the remarkable story of the close friendship that happened between Queen Victoria and her Indian spiritual adviser Abdul Karim during the end of her reign. It pictures the Queen being reinvigorated in life thanks to her Munshi who taught her to speak and read Urdi. Unfortunately the Royal household including the Queen's eldest son Bertie are not pleased with what's going on and plot to get rid of Abdul. In 1997, Dame Judi Dench portrayed Queen Victoria in the movie Mrs Brown and 20 years later she returns to the role she made her own. She is excellent as the tired and weary monarch. The burden of being on the throne for so long coupled with loneliness after the death of her beloved husband Prince Albert still bothers her. Ali Fazal is brilliant as Abdul Karim, the man who captivates the Queen and becomes her loyal servant. Kudos also to Eddie Izzard who pulls off a wonderful performance as Bertie. Director Stephen Frears has done a great job with the movie and the cinemtography showing the beautiful Scottish landscape is a joy to behold. Although not a completely historically accurate movie of what really took place, this is still a treat to watch and I really enjoyed it.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan rated Trial and Error

 Trial and Error 6/10

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

Based on a play by John Mortimer, this comedy drama finds Peter Sellers as an inept but well-meaning barrister on his first case in years who has to defend loser Richard Attenborough after he murders his wife. Through a series of flashbacks in which the 2 characters are looking in, the viewer discovers why the wife was murdered (he wanted peace and quiet with his budgies whilst his annoying wife was always cackling and laughing). Over the course of the movie, both men begin to depend on each other. Sellers and Attenborough are brilliant and the chemistry between them is great. The story is interesting and the humour is more witty than a laugh out loud comedy. This is yet another forgotten movie of Sellers that nobody talks about these days.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

Below average comedy set onboard a cruise liner following the misadventures of the Captain and crew. Written by the man who created the 'Doctor In' TV series of the 60's and 70's, you'll have a pretty good idea of the humour you'll find in this movie. Skirt chasing crew-members and young women wearing bikinis are the order of the day. Most of the jokes fall flat on their face and despite having a great cast which includes Donald Sinden and cameos from the likes of John Le Mesurier it never reaches the heights it was supposed to. I was expecting to find myself laughing at some point but I never did and that's the biggest problem with the movie - it just isn't funny enough. Overall it's an awful farce which tries hard to produce gags but fails miserably.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

A salesman's life spirals downwards when his car is stolen. Not one to just rely on the police, he tries to track down the thieves himself and comes up against a ruthless businessman who will stop at nothing to protect his empire. This is probably the first movie I've seen with Peter Sellers as a nasty bastard of a villain. A character you'll hate straight away who loves dishing out pain to those who don't do their job properly. You only have to see his viciousness as he tries to crush Adam Faith's hand with the lid of a piano. It's good to see another side of his acting as he is outstanding here. Richard Todd is also fantastic as the salesman who will not give up until he has discovered his stolen car. He puts everything on the line for the car even his marriage. It culminates in a gritty and brutal fight between Sellers and Todd in a garage workshop. Definitely one of the best British film noir I've seen. Recommended.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan posted a list

Destiny... Fate... Dreams - Anime Watched In 2018 (54 tv items)

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 4 items to Destiny... Fate... Dreams - Anime Watched In 2018 list

7 years ago

AKB48Fan rated Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend

 Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend 7/10

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to TV Shows Watched In 2018 list

7 years ago

AKB48Fan posted a image

7 years ago

AKB48Fan rated Being Charlie (2015)

 Being Charlie (2015) 4/10

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

Charlie is a young drug addict who decides to escape from his recovery clinic and hitches a ride back home where his parents promptly puts him back in rehab. He starts to fall back into his old habits once more. It's up to Charlie whether he wants to eventually land in jail or try and turn his life around. A rather predictable tale with thoroughly unlikable characters. Yes, there is a good message in the movie that nobody can expect others to turn round your life, in the end it's up to yourself to embrace the change and dig yourself out of a hole. Nick Robinson is believable as the defiant and sarcastic Charlie Mills but I just couldn't warm up to him at all. Even Nick's drugged up love interest Eva is dull. The only person with any real personality in the movie is Charlie's friend Adam. So in the end I couldn't have cared less for Charlie's predicament and wasn't too impressed with the movie.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan rated The Piper

 The Piper 7/10

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

Loosely based on the fairy tale of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, the story finds a father and ill son travelling to Seoul through the mountains of Korea after the end of Korean War chancing upon a remote village. They find that the village is hiding a dark secret and that rats with a taste for blood have infested the place. Promising to get rid of them with his trusty pipe, he does manage to do that and seal them inside a cave but the village chief and his son persuade the villagers to turn against them and drive the two out. The father decides to extract his own brand of revenge on those that have wronged him. A very good and eerie supernatural tale which transplants the fairy tale to post-war Korea. There's also some social commentary about the darkness of human beings where mob rule and cruelty come to the fore. The theme of people blindly following their leader also is played out in the movie. Writer and director Kim Gwang-tae skilfully ratches up the tension from the start and gives the story an uneasy atmosphere. It fulfills it's horror quota during the final third which is quite gory. Even though it may be slow moving during the first hour, it definitely delivers during the second half as the viewer senses a growing menace taking shape. If you know how the Brothers Grimm Pied Piper fairy tale ends, you'll have a good idea where this movie is heading for. Suffice to say, I really liked this movie and it's a fantastic debut from Kim Gwang-tae. Do check it out.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

I wasn't expecting much from this thinking it might be a crappy remake of a classic but it turned out to be a great fun movie. Four different teenagers are given detention and once there they discover an old video game named Jumanji. They plug the game system in and are sucked into the world of Jumanji, primarily in a jungle where they must return a green jewel into an enormous stone Jaguar statue. This movie is a little bit different from the original with a slight variation to the game itself even though the goal is exactly the same. What makes this so enjoyable is the actors playing against their types through the means of real-world to video game body switching i.e The Rock is more or less a scared nerd and Jack Black plays his character like a teenage girl. It's really funny to watch and there are plenty of laughs throughout the movie. All of the cast are fantastic and have a chance to shine. The action scenes are done well and achieve the level of excitement that they are going for. This movie certainly exceeded my expectation with a few nods to the original. Just a great movie for all the family to enjoy.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

Izumi is a teenage homeless person having been cast out by his parents. He survives by mugging innocent women of their money at night. He flees the city where he is wanted by the cops to the mountains of Miyazaki where he helps an old woman who has injured herself by falling off her scooter. He is offered a place to stay at the kind woman's place and is content with being a lazy layabout doing nothing all day and plotting to steal her money. A gruff elderly man forces Izumi to go and help him in hunting for truffles and herbs in the mountainside. During this time where the small village welcomes him with open arms as they think he is the old woman's grandson, Izumi begins to experience guilty feelings about his past actions and wonders whether it is for the best if he gives himself up to the police. What a great movie about redemption this is with stunning cinematography of the rural Miyazaki countryside/mountains. It is heartwarming to see the change in the lead character's attitude as he transforms from the sneaky and opportunistic thief at first to a hardworking young man who is happy to help out at a village festival thanks to the people around him. Kento Hayashi is excellent as Izumi backed up by the always reliable Katsuhiko Watabiki and the rest of the elderly cast. The 110 mins running time went quickly by and there was never a dull moment in the story. I definitely recommend this great drama if you get a chance to check it out.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan posted a image

7 years ago

AKB48Fan rated Mix Me a Person

 Mix Me a Person 7/10

7 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to Movies Watched In 2018 - To Infinity & Beyond! list

A young man is accused of murdering a policeman and is condemned to die by hanging. A female psychiatrist is convinced after hearing his story that he is innocent and is determined to find the real killer. An interesting movie with many twists and turns before a good ending. Adam Faith plays the condemned man and as expected sings the movie's theme song and an English version of La Bamba. This is probably one of his better roles in a movie. Alongside him is Anne Baxter who won't give up in trying to prove his innocence even though nobody else thinks so. I liked how her character went up against a justice system that seems too rigid and unhelpful. This isn't one of Donald Sinden's best roles as a barrister and the same can be said of Anthony Booth who is quite poor acting wise. Carole Anne Ford who a year later would be cast as Dr Who's first companion shines as the bar owner of La Paloma. The plot gets rather exciting near the end as Baxter's character finally uncovers who is behind the policeman's murder and it involves Irish gun runners. I enjoyed this movie even though it seems to have been largely forgotten over the years.

7 years ago

AKB48Fan posted a list

TV Shows Watched In 2018 (28 tv items)

7 years ago