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AKB48Fan rated The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 8/10

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing. An incredible movie and totally different from the original which was in itself fantastic. Visually, this movie is perfect with its breathtaking cinematography and unobtrusive special effects. Many scenes, particularly those showing Walter skateboarding in Iceland, or climbing the Himalayas, were very memorably shot with unique camera range and angles. The story does fall into melodrama, but I did not mind this. Ben Stiller was very good as Walter, capturing his shyness and cluelessness so sensitively. Overall though, this was an entertaining feel-good movie for all you daydreamers out there.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Martial Arts of Shaolin

 Martial Arts of Shaolin 4/10

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

In ancient China, Zhi Ming trains at the legendary Northern Shaolin temple to avenge the death of his father at the hands of a nefarious magistrate. Not one of my favourite Jet Li movies that's for certain. It has a mix of light drama and silly comedy which got rather grating very quickly. The comedy doesn't offer many laughs. The fights are OK but nothing special. The best thing about this movie is the location shooting in mainland China which shows the stunning Forbidden City and there's even a fight on the Great Wall. Whilst Jackie Chan can do comedy and drama quite well, it somehow doesn't suit Jet Li. Thankfully he didn't do many comedy movies and stuck to serious roles. Overall, I thought this was a bit of a misfire and doesn't deserve it's reputation as a classic martial arts movie.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

When Alice Hayashi, the youngest person ever to go into space crashes her shuttle at the North Pole, she is thrown thirty years into the future. But her trip through time is far from accidental. The world is now ruled with an iron fist by Nero and his supercomputer, the SS10X. And because of a common link between her, Nero and the SS10X, Alice may be the future’s only chance for freedom… This was Japan's first ever completely CGI movie and it looks terrible in all honesty. Even now it is horribly outdated. It really feels like a video game story, more specific a role-playing game story on something like Playstation 1. I couldn't get into the story, the world or the characters. The story is a total mess. There was nothing to interest me here. It's a total failure. For fans of CGI history they might want to take a look at this and just 2 years later, the quality of CGI would improve dramatically with 2001's Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. I would say watch that movie instead of this one.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

An American businessman’s family convinces him to buy a Scottish castle and disassemble it to ship it to America brick by brick, where it will be put it back together. The castle though is not the only part of the deal, with it goes the several-hundred year old ghost who haunts it. This is one of those genteel supernatural comedies that Hollywood and Britain were so fond of making back in the day. A lot of its charm comes from the presence of Robert Donat in the cast playing a friendly ghost. Dated shenanigans ensue in this quiet character piece with the story eventually devolving into a commercial struggle between two wealthy Americans for ownership of the ghost. I thought there would be more humour in this movie but it never transpired. In the end it was OK but the movie just didn't turn out the way I was expecting it to be.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan rated The Old Dark House

 The Old Dark House 7/10

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

Seeking shelter from a relentless rainstorm and landslides in a remote region of Wales, five travelers are admitted to a large foreboding old house that belongs to the extremely strange Femm family. The house also holds surprises – and a brutish mute manservant named Morgan. This is the least well known of director James Whale's four horror movies, but don't let that fool you, as this one is just as good as anything else Whale ever made. Despite being nearly 80 years old, The Old Dark House still holds the power to feel like it could have been released yesterday; much like the rest of Whale's horror movies, which are as fresh today as they were the day they were made. This was one of the first haunted house movies ever made, and it works, primarily, for two reasons; the house itself and the cast of characters. Both of these entities are intriguing elements in their own right, and they combine to great effect. The house is, as you might expect, old and dark; and it's a sublime horror setting because of that. It creates a constant sense of malice and through it's dark corridors and many rooms, Whale is able to make the house into a labyrinth where the viewer can believe that anything can happen. Overall, another great movie from James Whale and whilst it's not a classic like Frankenstein, it's definitely well worth tracking down to watch.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Shampoo

 Shampoo 7/10

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

George Roundy is a Beverly Hills hairstylist whose uncontrolled libido stands between him and his ambitions. He wants the security of a relationship. He wants to be a hairdressing “star” and open his own salon. But the fact that he beds down with the wife, daughter and mistress of a potential backer doesn’t help. It also does little for his relationship with his current girlfriend. Some say this is Warren Beatty's best movie, I can't agree with that, but not because his acting performnace is bad, but simply because of the fluffy, silly nature of this story about the worries of a womaniser, who sleeps around with every pretty women he can lay his hands on, but is constantly broke at the same time. It's difficult for me to sympathise with such a care free character. It is billed as a comedy but it's not one of those straight out laughs movie. Great acting also from Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn and a young Carrie Fisher as an underage nymphet. The movie is worth watching, but it's nowhere near the classic that many reviewers thought of it back in 1975.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan rated The Forest

 The Forest 3/10

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

A cannibal hermit living in the woods preys on campers and hikers for his food supply. This is another generic run of the mill 'deep in the woods' 1980's slasher complete with ghost kids helping the hikers escape from the cannibal killer. The killer's cuckolded flashback is probably my favorite part of the movie just for being so ridiculous and unintentionally funny. The ghost children were completely laughable and the acting from everyone involved was horrendous. The kills were pretty lackluster too. The movie is neither scary or fun; it simply just exists. And to top it all, the director/writer Don Jones lost his house by financing this garbage! A poor movie.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

A series of teenage gangs struggle against each other in a not-so-distant future. Eventually they united against an evil corporation, as represented by evil CEO Robby Benson who wants to control everything. With a good cast led by John Stockwell and featuring Kim Cattrall and Rae Dawn Chong, you'd think this post apocalyptic Mad Max movie rip-off might be great but unfortunately it's not. It's probably one of the worst movies you'll ever get to see. Some movies are so bad they are fun to watch in a perverse way but this is just dull and boring, although, seeing James Earl Jones (who is wasted in a small role), taking out the baddies with remote control radio Spitfire planes has it's bizarre, surreal moment to be sure! The acting is crap, the action scenes are lame and you'd be hard pressed to find one good thing about this movie. Total rubbish!

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

Two inept gamblers on the run from their debts and a gang of crooks find refuge in a film studio. An absolutely terrible comedy and a painful one to watch. It is badly written and doesn't have a lot of laughs in it. Reg Varney and Norman Rossington don't have great chemistry together and it's blatantly obvious from the beginning. A number of cameos from British TV stars at the time pop up such as Bob Todd (Benny Hill) and the sexy Anoushka Hempel. The only redeeming feature of this movie is seeing the large complex at Pinewood studios. In the end, this is an awful comedy and a waste of 90 mins.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan rated The Pit

 The Pit 6/10

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

Twelve year-old Jamie Benjamin is a solitary misunderstood boy. His classmates pick on him, his neighbours think he’s weird and his parents ignore him. But now Jamie has a secret weapon: deep in the woods he has discovered a deep pit full of man-eating creatures he calls Trogs...and it isn’t long before he gets an idea for getting revenge and feeding the Trogs in the process! This is one pretty odd and certainly enjoyable horror movie. One of it's big pluses is the incredibly weird story for it. Everything, from the creatures in the pit in the forest to the back-story about the kid, all of this is really strange and uncomfortable. However there are some problems with the movie and most of it is to do with the stupid people that somehow don't manage to see a bloody big hole in the ground and fall in. They are either blind, clumsy or dumb enough not to notice it. I was delighted to see Sammy Snyders as the perverted lead character. Most British viewers will recognise him as Tom Sawyer from the classic serial of the 80's - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that was shown on BBC1 during weekday Summer mornings. Despite a stupid ending and a lack of gore (until the final 20 mins that is), I enjoyed this horror.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

Black Jack is a master surgeon who possesses impeccable skills, enabling him to perform operations that are impossible for even the finest surgeons. He now is faced with his most difficult task to date and must challenge the limits of medical science…before it’s too late! The popular character of the unlicensed surgeon Black Jack was created by Osamu Tezuka. He operates outside the law, saving lives through a kind of vigilanteism. He has superhuman skills which fits in nicely with the story in the movie as it revolves around super-humans where suddenly a spate of athletes break multiple world records by enormous degrees at the Olympics. Several years later, though, things take a turn for the worse as those superhumans start dying of horrible diseases every bit as inexplicable as their powers and it's up to Black Jack to save the day. The movie is darker and harder than usual with Black Jack and it is filled with tension and dread. It's not an action-packed adventure, but it is a tightly wound thriller that keeps the plot rolling and the tension rising and leads to a satisfying ending. A really good anime movie.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

A gang of young outlaw bikers call themselves The Living Dead. They terrorise the population of their small town. After an agreement with the frog demon, if they kill themselves firmly believing in it, they will survive and gain eternal life. Following their leader, they commit suicide one after the other, but things don’t necessarily turn out as expected… A bizarre British horror comedy movie. I found this particular movie far more confusing than amusing, let alone scary; the acting frequently falls very flat, the pacing is alternately self-indulgently slow and far too disconnected for menace. It's laughable seeing the bikers committing various methods of suicide in order to become the undead - one bloke is seen dragging a heavy chain around his ankles in order to drown in a lake! It's a hell of a mess this movie and sad to see the likes of Beryl Reid and even the great Robert Hardy involved. The ending is even more odd with Beryl Reid's character turning into a frog and the bikers turning to stone at a stone circle. If you're into weird movies then give this a go.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

When Kelly and Max, two 13-year olds from widely different social backgrounds, form an unlikely alliance and take off in Max’s father’s Ferrari for an illegal trip to Brighton. On the way they discover more about life and each other than they had bargained for. A little seen Children's Film Unit production and this was their 10th movie. OK, so the adventures of two bored and disillusioned 13-year-olds might be a little far fetched, it is still an interesting story about friendship, discovering themselves and surviving SAS style deep in the Sussex undergrowth. How the pair manage to travel to Brighton in a classic Ferrari and get away from the police is a bit hard to believe though. The acting from the two leads in Max Rennie and Francesca Camillo is excellent. The story boxes itself into a corner by the end, with any resolution left pretty open ended and the credits begin rather abruptly. All in all, this was a pretty cool movie with a nice balance of drama and humour.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Hard Road

 Hard Road 7/10

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan posted a image

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan rated The Scapegoat

 The Scapegoat 7/10

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

An Englishman in France finds he has a double - a French nobleman. He steps into the nobleman's life after he disappears and begins to enjoy his life. This movie based on a novel by Daphne DuMaurier starts out with a clever premise and the promise of intrigue, but soon settles down as a character study marked by good, solid acting. Alec Guinness is the star with a dual role, first as a drab professor with an empty life, and then as the head of a wealthy family who parties, womanises and neglects his family. They meet and decide to switch places. The professor now has a life, but the rich guy vanishes. This movie was something of a departure for Alec Guinness as he gets to show off his considerable acting chops, and there are no comic interludes to be found. The viewer is kept in the dark regarding a solution until the very end. Bette Davis has a small cameo as an ageing Countess. A very enjoyable movie.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Samurai Spy

 Samurai Spy 6/10

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

Years of warfare end in a Japan unified under the Tokugawa shogunate, and samurai spy Sasuke Sarutobi, tired of conflict, longs for peace. When a high-ranking spy named Tatewaki Koriyama defects from the shogun to a rival clan, however, the world of swordsmen is thrown into turmoil. After Sasuke is unwittingly drawn into the conflict, he tracks Tatewaki, while a mysterious, white-hooded figure seems to hunt them both. This isn't what you call a traditional samurai movie and it was the director's intention for it to be this way. It is beautiful to look at and the action sequences are cool but the plot has a lot of elements tied up in it which can be confusing to many viewers. The pace is a tad slow as well. I liked the character of Sasuke and the climatic fight between him and the main villain who dresses as a white ninja is good. Don't come into this thinking it's going to be an all action samurai flick because it is not. If that's what you're after, go and watch something else instead. It's an interesting movie but at the end of the day I can't say it was a classic.

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Shaolin Chastity Kung Fu

 Shaolin Chastity Kung Fu 5/10

4 years, 7 months ago

AKB48Fan posted a image

4 years, 7 months ago