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AKB48Fan rated The Body Stealers

The Body Stealers 3/10

5 years, 1 month ago

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

British paratroopers on a sky diving exercise suddenly disappear from the sky. Two investigators try to figure out what happened and uncover an alien plot to steal bodies of earthlings by snatching them out of the air. An extremely lacklustre and slow-moving British alien invasion movie. There were quite a few of these low-budget movies coming out around this time but this one is really dull because basically nothing exciting happens during the entire story. For the most part we're stuck with jut-jawed wooden leading man Patrick Allen, following him around as he romances blonde women and barking gruff lines of dialogue at anybody who'll listen. Sean Connery's brother Neil (who really does look like Sean as well) is there to support him. The budget for this movie is so small they even have to borrow the Dalek Saucer Ship from one of the Peter Cushing Dr Who movies! I wish there was something positive to say about this movie but there isn't. No action, no real dearth of imagination, and rarely any special effects make this a sci-fi movie to avoid.

5 years, 1 month ago

AKB48Fan rated Raising the Wind

Raising the Wind 3/10

5 years, 1 month ago

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

Mervyn, Malcolm, Alex, Miranda and Jill are music students at a London music school, the (fictional) London Academy of Music and the Arts. They decide to share a flat to pool their meagre grants and to find a place to practise. They suffer the put-downs of the acerbic Sir Benjamin Boyd, who conducts the student orchestra, and the antics of the other talented but eccentric teachers at the school. Below average Carry-on style comedy. I thought with Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas producing and directing it might have been good but it is awful and devoid of laughs. The only person that's any good is James Robertson Justice who has screen presence as the irascible professor who disguises his real opinions of his students by being offensive. It has a great cast that's wasted on a crap script with Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams, Liz Frazer and Sid James all appearing. Overall this was a pretty big disappointment. The plot doesn't engage but that wouldn't matter if I'd laughed at least once or twice - but I didn't.

5 years, 1 month ago

AKB48Fan rated Beyond the Time Barrier

Beyond the Time Barrier 5/10

5 years, 1 month ago

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

Major Bill Allison flies the X-80 experimental aircraft to sub-orbital spaceflight successfully, though losing radio contact in flight. When Major Allison returns to the airbase it appears abandoned, old and deserted. Mystified, he sees a futuristic city on the horizon and heads toward it. The major is rendered unconscious and captured. He then discovers he has gone forward in time - 60 years in the future where a plaque has more or less wiped out mankind. This movie could have been so much better if it had a bigger budget. Much of the movie is cheesy, and many of the sets are very simple. There's not enough action and too much talking. Darlene Tompkins makes for some nice eye-candy as a mini-skirted mute girl from the future. The highlight of the movie is near the end when Major Allison has successfully come back to the present day and his superiors are shocked that in breaking the time barrier twice he has aged into an old man. This may be no classic of the genre but it does entertain. Fans of low budget sci-fi movies from the 50's/60's might like it.

5 years, 1 month ago

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

An impoverished preacher who brings hope to the Miami projects is offered cash to save his family from eviction. He has no idea his sponsor works for the FBI, and the FBI plans on turning him into a criminal by fueling his revolutionary dreams. I usually enjoy anything by Chris Morris but this movie is a misfire by him. Many will probably watch it because of their enjoyment of Four Lions which was really good but sadly this movie doesn't live up to it. It's got a paper thin plot and a very undeveloped story, the characters are thinly drawn, the laughs are few and far between and it's so far from the satire and sarcasm of Chris Morris at his best. It's not a bad movie but it's not really a very good movie either. I expected more and it didn't really deliver.

5 years, 1 month ago

AKB48Fan added 3 items to their collection

have watched

4/10

have watched

5/10

5/10

5 years, 1 month ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

5 years, 1 month ago

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

Kazuo is an angry young man, especially resentful of the power and snootiness of the rich. But at the same time he's obsessed with Saeko, the daughter of a rich businessman. He tries twice to stop her wedding to a young man from her father's company but fails. Hooking up with a mentally disturbed young prostitute called Canary, the pair steal a car and go on some midadventures together. This is one weird obscure Japanese movie. On watching the first 10 mins you'd think it's just your regular Nikkatsu pinku movie but it's not. It's much more than that and yes, you could call it an art house movie as such due to the photography. As the movie goes on, it gets more strange and surreal and it finishes at a wedding in which 2 "brides" face off and one commits suicide by throwing herself into a window and the broken pane slashes her neck. It's one of those movies where you can hardly believe what you are seeing. Totally bizarre!!

5 years, 1 month ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

have watched

6/10

7/10

5 years, 1 month ago

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

The mighty Long Wu Tian leads a gang of notorious killers known, quite appropriately, as "The Notorious Five of the Dragon Valley." They rape and pillage at their leisure and during one attack leave a pair of children orphans. Years later, Long Wu Tian is after the last 2 techniques in the Mighty Creed book which will make him invincible. The two orphan children who have been separated and are now adults reunite to take down Long Wu Tian. This great Shaw Brothers movie has a female heroine in Ivy Ling Po who could deliver a really solid performance based on the script and hold her own with the boys in martial arts. This fantasy laden movie is one of Ivy's best. I'm not sure if many people will notice this but those with a keen eye will see that some of the stuff pulled by the heroes are very much like Jedi tricks in the Star Wars movies. I wonder if George Lucas was influenced by some of HK movies when he made the original trilogy? There are many great martial arts sequences with some villains having some cool weapons such as a pair of two large rings which can hover in the air like flying saucers. A lot of the fights involve some wire-fu so if you enjoy seeing people flying through the air you'll like this movie. The climax which sees the two orphans take on Long Wu Tian's lackeys, his lieutenants and then the man himself are in for a treat in this extended sequence. The martial arts are very well-choreographed and exciting. All in all, this may not be one of the top Shaw movies, but it’s consistently entertaining and a joy to watch.

5 years, 1 month ago

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

Atsuhiro Hiyama is the chief mechanic and an engineer at Supika Racing Factory. He is well regarded by his peers. His younger brother is Naozumi. He is an extremely gifted driver for Supika, but he is also a troublemaker. They continually argue because of Naozumi's reckless racing style. You don't get to see many car racing movies from Japan which is odd given there are many petrol heads in the country. This is a full-throttled movie about speed set in the world of rally car racing. A lot of the movie is centred on Naozumi's fractured relationship with Atsuhiro. Atsuhiro as a mechanic is dedicated to giving his brother the edge in his car but fiercely resents his brother’s egotism and arrogance. The backstory for their relationship is shown in a flashback. A love triangle that ended tragically. This part of the movie didn't really interest me as such. The racing scenes are the highlight with cars zooming, skidding, flying and crashing with adrenaline-pumping impact. Those that love fast cars and racing will enjoy this movie but in the end it didn't do anything for me.

5 years, 1 month ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

have watched

4/10

7/10

5 years, 1 month ago

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

Vineyard owner Marquis Philippe de Montfaucon is asked to return to his chateau after another disappointing season. Although he requested them not to, his wife and children soon join him at the remote rural estate. Every employee there acts mysteriously and even the loyal Philippe all of a sudden seems to keep secrets to his beloved wife Catherine. Intrigued by the strange behaviour of her husband and the odd people wandering around the estate, Catherine starts her own investigation and discovers that Philippe's bloodline always followed bizarre and old pagan rituals (even involving blood sacrifices) in order to save the crops. This movie has the ingredients for a decent shocker. Spooky chateau. Eerie shrouded monk-like figures. Paganism. Black magic. The movie has a sinister feel and several haunting/extremely atmospheric sequences. The themes of witchcraft and devil worship are well used and at the forefront at all times. The siblings played by David Hemmings and Sharon Tate make for a creepy pair. David Niven and Deborah Kerr take the lead roles, and the pair are given excellent support by a young Donald Pleasance. The only area that the movie falls down on really is the writing; as it is often difficult to decipher exactly what is going on, and there is, perhaps, a little too much plot for a movie of this nature. There's still a lot to recommend it though so give it a go.

5 years, 1 month ago

AKB48Fan rated The Anonymous Heroes

The Anonymous Heroes 6/10

5 years, 1 month ago

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

Two vagabond brothers, Meng Kang and Tieh who, in the search for fame and fortune, join in a rebellion against a provincial general. They are recruited by a local rebel leader who promises them a glorious adventure. The rebels plan is to steal a huge cache of new rifles set to be delivered to the barracks of the local army. This Shaw Brothers favourite is another collaboration between the two biggest Shaw Brothers stars of the era, Ti Lung and David Chiang, and director Chang Cheh, Shaw's number one action director. It's a typically action-packed adventure, filled with the brim with the frenetic fight scenes that Shaw are known and loved for, and a movie that's very easy to like. The movie's also got a surprising lightness of touch, with plenty of comedy and humour thrown in along the way, although of course things develop into a deadly serious climax which is inevitably the highlight of the whole movie. It's solid Shaw; not one of the studio's absolute classics, but a thoroughly entertaining movie nonetheless.

5 years, 1 month ago

AKB48Fan rated Her Sketchbook

Her Sketchbook 7/10

5 years, 1 month ago

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

Masami Konuma has not left her home in 5 years. She is interested in otaku things like reading manga and drawing anime. Her father Eisuke has been worried about her and finds her a job that doesn't need much interaction with other people. Her job is debugging games at a gaming company. She also helps with illustrations that Ryotaro Yabe is in charge of. Eventually, her drawings get noticed and she is tasked with illustrating a character. This is a pleasant but relatively ordinary drama about a young woman who has no social skills due to her being a shut-in for years. Mami is an easy character to like, because while she struggles terribly with social situations she continues to put effort into it anyway. Mugi Kadowaki does a great job with a difficult role as Mami. It’s a wonderful subtle and gently powerful performance. The supporting cast are all solid, but no individual really stands out from the crowd. I enjoyed it mostly to see Mami start to come out of her shell as a person and even though you don't see a massive transformation by the end, she's definitely changed a little bit for the better. It’s a rather charming movie I felt.

5 years, 1 month ago

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5 years, 1 month ago

AKB48Fan rated The Angry Dragon

The Angry Dragon 6/10

5 years, 1 month ago

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

A man who just happens to be great at Kung-Fu, is traveling the countryside in the Hong Kong of old. He has to negotiate a treacherous landscape filled with tricksters and tough guys, and fight a lot of battles in hand-to-hand martial arts combat, in order to be reunited with his lost love, a princess who is set to be married to the King of Mongolia. A decent martial arts movie. You won't find anything new in the storyline as these kind of movies have more or less the same plot. In this one, our hero teams up with a bunch of village thieves to tackle the bad guys who are a Japanese fighter, two Mongolian brothers and a tough bloke who carries with him a pair of steel balls! The fighting isn’t the best you’ll ever see but it sure ain’t bad and there’s plenty of it especially during the final 30 mins. A strictly by the numbers martial arts movie in the end.

5 years, 1 month ago

AKB48Fan posted a image