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

First Lieutenant Shunichi Maki of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force is a prestigious F-15 Eagle jet pilot. One night he is scrambled to intercept a UFO but his plane is enveloped in a red light. Maki quits the air force to spend more time with his young son who is ill but is whisked away by a secret military unit when a monster escapes from a laboratory and goes on a killing rampage. It seems that Maki has been infected by something when he encountered the red light in his plane and he may be the only one to stop the monster who assimilates other creatures into it's own body. A solid Ultraman/kaiju movie. This is a different, darker version of Ultraman, with the warrior looking more like the Guyver. Ultraman is as classic and iconic as Godzilla or Astro Boy, perhaps more typically appearing in children's entertainment, versus a mutating demonic space monster which eats people. The effects here are a wild mix of cheap CGI, miniatures, and silly costume design but it works. The final battle between Ultraman and the evil creature is pretty cool. Not the best Ultraman movie I've seen but it's still great and fans of the genre will enjoy it.

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Ultraman: The Next

 Ultraman: The Next 6/10

4 years, 6 months ago

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

A remote jail on an island in the middle of the ocean in run by a sadistic British warden. Prisoners have to face all kinds of public humiliations and tortures while they try to figure out how to escape from there. A brutal prison movie in which inmates try their best not to upset the head warden but if they do they are subjected to various degrading punishment. All of the prisoners are given dog names i.e Old Dog, Thin Dog etc. It's not the kind of place you'd like to end up in however green and pleasant the island may be. The movie is based on a real life penal colony in Singapore. The plot moves along with nothing of note happening until the arrival of a former prisoner turned prison guard who takes delight in humiliating his old 'friends' then all hell breaks loose as the prisoners takes revenge for all that's happened to them. Just when you think that the movie is going to have a somewhat happy ending, there's a twist in the tale and it all ends rather downbeat. Good acting from the cast especially Richard Grosse (the only Westerner in the cast) as the head warden who loves his job a little too well! For a HK Cat III movie there is little blood shown which was disappointing. Overall, a great prison movie that is not well known to Western audiences.

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Jail Of The Return

 Jail Of The Return 6/10

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Piano Forest

 Piano Forest 8/10

4 years, 6 months ago

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

Upon transferring to Moriwaki Elementary and telling the other kids about his talent for piano, Shuuhei Amamiya quickly finds himself as the victim of bully Daigaku Kanehira. Daigaku dares Shuuhei to find and play a cursed piano in the forest, which leads him to meet Kai, who claims to be the owner of the piano and the only one who can play it. Intrigued, Shuuhei follows Kai to the hidden piano in the forest and listens to him play a beautiful medley. Earning the respect of not only Shuuhei but school music teacher Sousuke Ajino as well, Kai now finds himself formally learning how to play the piano. A fantastic anime movie. When I first heard of Piano Forest, I thought it was a bit of an odd concept. I expected something fantasy based, and while there are some nudges in that direction they mainly stem from the imagination of the characters. The movie itself remains rooted in reality. The animation for this movie is excellent. The town and forest backdrops are very well realised, and the characters are nicely depicted as unique individuals. I found both Kai and Shuuhei to be very likeable characters, and the interaction between them is quite realistic. I didn't think I'd like this movie as I can't say I'm a big fan of classical music but the story drew me in and I ended up really enjoying it. A very well made heartwarming movie about friendship and rivalry.

4 years, 6 months ago

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

Wong is a porter for Master Chang, who has been tasked to deliver a secret message to a neighbouring province’s ruler. Chang and Wong are intercepted along the way and Chang is killed and the message stolen. Left for dead, Wong is saved by a local beggar and taught martial arts through the Korean game of janggi (similar to chess). He eventually teams up with Choi and the daughter of the murdered Chang to take down the thief Paeng. A truly awful martial arts comedy movie with the ridiculously named Elton Chong (obviously a joke on Elton John's name) playing a stupid bumbling character who gets beaten up all the time. The so-called comedy in the movie is bottom of the barrel stuff and is not funny at all. Even the martial arts fights aren't that exciting although they do improve by the final 20 mins but by that time I suspect most viewers will have gotten tired of the crap humour and switched off. Not a movie I can really recommend for martial arts movie fans.

4 years, 6 months ago

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4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to The 2020 TV Show List list

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Ghosts

 Ghosts 8/10

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan rated The Woman in the Rumor

 The Woman in the Rumor 8/10

4 years, 6 months ago

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

After a romantic deception that led her to a suicide attempt, Yukiko returns to her mother's geisha house in Kyoto's Gion district, a widow who has a close relationship with the ambitious young doctor Matoba. The young woman has been in Tokyo studying music, her vision of the world is different and she does not conceive that her mother and the women who work for her earn their living in this way. However, as time goes by, Yukiko will get to know the girls, their personal problems, their melancholy, and the situations they have to face in their daily lives. For it's time, this was a modern study of a mother-daughter relationship set in and around a brothel in Kyoto by famed director Kenji Mizoguchi. The main thrust of the story is the love-triangle between the daughter, mother and the young doctor. Mizoguchi portrays, once again, with great sensitivity and honesty, an era of profound changes in which Japanese society, traditionalist and patriarchal, slowly begins to redefine and reconsider the role of women. He gives the profession of the geisha a typically sympathetic look. Mizoguchi may not overtly complicate the plot, but he does have a deft-hand when it comes to cultivating and creating interesting and wholesome characters. Another fantastic movie from the great man and a good movie to start before watching some of his other works.

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Back to Life

 Back to Life 8/10

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to The 2020 TV Show List list

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to The 2020 TV Show List list

Watched Season 1 - 2016 Watched Season 2 & 3 - 2020

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan rated The Year My Voice Broke (1987)

 The Year My Voice Broke (1987) 8/10

4 years, 6 months ago

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

Set in 1962, a young prepubescent boy Danny in rural Australia watches painfully as his best friend and first love Freya blossoms into womanhood and falls for a thuggish tearaway, changing the lives of everyone involved. This is a solid coming-of-age story capturing the restlessness of a small town, the hidden scandals and suffocating insular community. The movie has an evocative location for a story about Danny's sexual awakening and a secret that's been hidden away about his love Freya's mother. The movie has a strong cast including the likes of Noah Taylor and Ben Mendelsohn in lead roles. Their object of desire is played by Loene Carmen. The cinematography from Geoff Burton is beautiful, capturing the majesty and bleakness of the landscape. For a movie about unrequited first love, the movie explores some dark avenues but keeps many of the revelations vague so as not to overshadow the central relationships. This movie might be a little rough around the edges and occasionally even ponderous but it is well worth watching and doesn't resort to a happy ending that many would probably expect.

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Weathering with You

 Weathering with You 10/10

4 years, 6 months ago

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

High school student Hodaka runs away from his home on an isolated island and moves to Tokyo, but he immediately becomes broke. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds a job as a writer for a shady occult magazine. After he starts his job, the weather has been rainy day after day. In a corner of the crowded and busy city, Hodaka meets a young woman named Hina. Due to certain circumstances, Hina and her younger brother live together, but have a cheerful and sturdy life. Hina also has a certain power: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky. Makoto Shinkai's follow up to the phenomenally successful Your Name is this anime masterpiece. I will go on record in saying it's probably his best yet. It's an incredible movie with a story that is absolutely beautiful. The animation is breathtaking (take a look at the detail in the raindrops falling on the ground), the soundtrack is one of the best I've heard in a movie. It has such a unique story and really brings together the current world with spiritual connections in such a natural way. I loved the characters in the story especially Hina and Hodaka. I was totally captivated throughout the movie and didn't want it to end. One of the best anime movies you'll ever get to see.

4 years, 6 months ago

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

After a traffic accident, Kaylie is in coma for months. Her doctors want to try a new procedure on her: to regain her consciousness, they stimulate her brain with neural patterns of a woman who just died. It works, and Kaylie seems to be OK again. However in her dreams, she lives the last day of her saviour and realises that she’s been killed! Together with her husband she tries to find out what happened. A glossy looking but ultimately a very slow and ponderous thriller. The main problem with the movie is that the plot is just too thin. The story is very straightforward, is predictable, and lacks any twists or surprises. There are lots of nice footage of San Francisco in the movie. There is also a lot of unnecessary character development; the viewer learns all about the lead couple and their son and the grandmother but these details are all irrelevant to the plot. A lot of the cast looks like they're sleepwalking through it all especially Tony Curtis as a doctor. Many viewers may feel they need their brainwaves revived after sitting through this one!!

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

4 years, 6 months ago

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

The great hypnotist Professor Montserrat has developed a technique for controlling the minds, and sharing the sensations, of his subjects. He and his wife Estelle test the technique on Mike Roscoe, and enjoy ‘being’ the younger man. But Estelle soon grows to love the power of controlling Roscoe, and the vicarious pleasures that provides. How far will she go, and can the Professor restrain her in time? This movie is a unique pre-slasher oddity. It's about mind control, perhaps tying into the swinging 60's vibe of youth and drugs. It has a psycho old woman wanting to relive youthful desires and that's quite interesting. Michael Reeves, who died tragically young, was clearly a talented director. There's some tense set pieces and a gloriously hallucinatory mind control sequence. That said, this movie is a little rough around the edges and some stylish moments come across as cheap. Good acting from the cast which has Boris Karloff and Ian Oglivy. It's a strange little horror movie and a bit too slow for my liking. I'm sure there are many who will appreciate it though.

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Curtains

 Curtains 5/10

4 years, 6 months ago

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

Six beautiful actresses auditioning for a movie role at a remote mansion are targeted by a mysterious masked murderer. This is an average Canadian slasher movie at best which is infamous for a grisly ice skating scene. It resembles a thriller at times. There is a lot of hammy acting throughout and that is an understatement, but a good job is done, particularly by Samantha Eggar. The ending though is complete bollocks. It is ultimately a flawed horror movie. It can be seen as a bit of a missed opportunity, as it feels like a much better movie is trapped inside somewhere. In the end, slasher fans might be interested in this movie but don't expect this to be a classic in the genre.

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Peter Kay's Car Share

 Peter Kay's Car Share 10/10

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to The 2020 TV Show List list

Watched Series 1 & 2 & Specials - 2020

4 years, 6 months ago

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

In a small American town, a diabolical carnival arrives, granting wishes for the townsfolk, but twisted as only the esteemed Mr. Dark can make them. Can two young boys overcome the worst the devil himself can deal out? Based on the Ray Bradbury book of the same name, this is a Disney live-action kids horror movie. It's quite surprising how dark Disney made this movie to be. The movie is quite frightening, even for adults, much less impressionable children. That being said, I enjoyed every minute of it. Most great kids movies have an element of danger to them, and this is about as dangerous as they get and it's pretty artfully done as well, with the hallucinatory carousel and the climactic fun-house mirror scenes as stand-outs. Disney-philes and horror buffs alike should not pass this one up.

4 years, 6 months ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

4 years, 6 months ago

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

A mercenary with a three-bladed sword rediscovers his royal heritage when he is recruited to help a princess foil a brutal tyrant and a powerful sorcerer’s plans to conquer the land. This movie started out very strong but loses steam steadily throughout the rest of the running time; going completely downhill towards the middle, with a slight pick up in the very end. This movie is the perfect kind of cheese, full of bad wigs, bad acting, a three-bladed-sword with the ability to shoot two of the blades as projectiles, gore, a snake-like monster for a villain and enough of an illusion of being a fantasy movie with kingdoms, quests and royal families. In a sense, it's a true blend of science fiction and fantasy. All in all, a pretty fun piece of fantasy fluff if you like this sort of thing.

4 years, 6 months ago