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seanmorkikawa
Reviews
20 Minutes (2023)
It Doesn't Matter about your race, riches, or fame if you have 20 minutes to live!
The Motiff: It Doesn't Matter about your race, riches, or fame if you have 20 minutes to live! That's what the movie's all about as the previous posters have said. Loved this movie. It's beyond explanation. Only people who survived the first false missile warning truly understand what I'm saying. That's what makes this film so special. The filmmaker guy survived it too and then took it to the next level.
Kudos to everyone involved with this excellent production. The twist ending was powerful and awe-inspiring. So many people have told me they left the theater really changed. All I can say is if there's one movie to see in your lifetime, this may be it.
God bless everyone on this!
The Pianist (2002)
Incredible film - jaw-dropping
Incredible and jaw-dropping the Pianist is not a movie made for entertainment. It's either more or less than that and only the viewer can decide. You have to ask yourself sometimes if the main reason films about the holocaust are so popular is because of shock appeal. If a movie depicts these terrifying events well, does that make it a good movie? The Pianist has many scenes showing the brutality that feel almost voyeuristic. Some scenes show Adrien Brody's character looking out the window at these terrible things and you feel as if you're looking out a window, too.
I hope shock appeal isn't the reason this film is liked so much, though. Because this is an amazing story about the will to survive. Music is the character's passion,and throughout his struggles he can only fantasize about playing piano. There is one scene near the end in which he finally gets the opportunity. What follows is a touching moment that transitions from rusty skills warming up to an intense and passionate display of artistic talent. In this moment there is no longer a war going on, no longer the agony of hunger or memories of lost loved ones, just beautiful music. His reputation as a musician and his desire to go on to play again is essentially what keeps him alive. And who says art isn't important?
Adrien Brody is very good in this. Well obviously he is, he just won the Best Actor Oscar. I think he can be compared to Tom Hanks in Cast Away- even in scenes of silence there's just something about the actor's movements and expressions that keeps you engaged.
There's another scene near the end that defines the entire performance, the entire movie for me: After all the trouble Brody went through trying to survive, he is almost killed by the people who would save him. He is wearing a coat that a German officer had given him earlier, and when Russian troops spotted Brody they thought he was German.
The Pianist is certainly a shocking and even depressing film, but like most movies that aspire to provoke thoughts and emotions, the audience takes out of it what they bring in to it. It was through the kindness and compassion of others who helped him, if only because they found themselves inexplicably moved by his music.
Journey to Hell (2022)
I could watch this movie 10000 times and not get tired of it
"Journey to Hell" is a GREAT movie. The acting is seriously good. Some people don't like the end? HOW? How can you not like the end of this movie? It's great, next to the Usual Suspects it has one of the best endings (although it wasn't as surprising as the Usual Suspects) in a movie secular or Christian. I think people should give a little more credit to everyone in this film, even if it talks about Jesus non-stop - I love this - you're either in or out as Jesus said. All these Luke-warm Christians can't stand talking about hell. Well Jesus spoke of hell more than heaven and it's a real place. Well, if you haven't seen this movie, all i have to say is SEE IT.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Breathtaking mixed with boring
For the following minute and a half, you see several pictures of sunrises and savanna landscapes. Like the audience couldn't figure out how to set the scene unless they saw the establishing shot three or four times.
The next eleven minutes are occupied with the grunting monkeys. They fight, see the monolith, fight some more, pommel things with a bone. Supposedly they are prehistoric men whose evolution is being influenced by the monolith's singing. Not that you could tell if you hadn't read the book.
*Finally* we get into space. Only to be subjected to twelve minutes of ships slowly spinning to the Blue Danube Waltz (A pretty quick-tempo-ed waltz as I understand, yet here it feels absolutely agonizing). At last we get some innocuous dialog and rather cryptic exposition about the government not letting people land on the moon. We are left to wonder about this for fourteen more minutes of Blue Danube and spinning ships and neat camera tricks with anti-gravity.
Next comes four minutes of watching a ship travel over the surface of the moon and dock at a space station. We get a little more exposition in a board room scene that follows. Then we're back outside traveling at a snail's pace over the moon. A second monolith is revealed, again filling our ears with that horrible ringing (I had no idea that was an actual piece of music!). The monolith does its little light show and then the plot jumps forward.
*Seven* minutes of watching the ship to Jupiter travel. By this point in time my brains had turned into mush. Could it be moving any slower? Maybe it's "realistic" to portray it as such, but we still don't need to see five or six different shots of the same thing to grasp the concept of its "realism". Let me tell you about this "realism" thing; I cheered when the secondary astronaut character died. Not because I'm a sadist and like watching people die, but because after five minutes I was just so annoyed at the sound of his darn breathing! I'm supposed to care about this character, feel when he dies! Instead I found myself waiting for blissful silence whatever way it came.
Anyway, now we get to the most interesting part of the film-the part with HAL. Forget Dave the stick-of-wood protagonist. The real star of the show is that coldly impersonal, chillingly villainous, ruthlessly merciless bad guy of a computer. He's great. And the "Open the pod bay doors" sequence is wonderful. But it's too short. And it's not long before the director once again lapses into too-long goings on.
The Lion King (1994)
Courage
The cell-shaded 2D animation of the wide range of animals combines easily with the matte painted backgrounds which add visual depth and beautiful scenery in likes of waterholes, mountain ranges, lush forests and waterfalls. The foreground and background blend seamlessly and the world of The Lion King is endlessly alive and breathing even with its limited selection of camera movements. It's at once more inviting than the relatively sterile 3D environments of some more modern Disney works (Big Hero 6 comes to mind). The film's soundtrack is similarly impressive. Elton John and Tim Rice combine to bring five original songs that still draw applause, recognition and sing-a-longs even two decades later. The opening Zulu choral vocals of The Circle of Life are powerful and evocative, while the animated choreography that combines with I Just Can't Wait to Be King makes for a jaunty upbeat tune. Hans Zimmer's score goes from strength to strength, drawing upon traditional African choral themes and percussion which resonates during the film's emotional moments.
The voice acting is unique and enduring. The booming bass tones of James Earl Jones makes for a imposing father figure in Mufusa, in contrast to Jeremy Irons' Scar, rich with haughty disdain for his pride-mates. A fun filled exile in the middle of the film is characterised by that of the jovial Timon and Pumbaa, while young Simba's voice grows into the deeper tones of Matthew Broderick, during an excellent and colour filled montage over Hakuna Matata. The three hyena cronies of Scar are also distinct despite their ugly cloned appearances, boasting the voice work of Whoopi Goldberg, Marin and Cummings as the overly enthusiastic, sassy and hot-headed henchmen.
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
Good Japanese film
In the sense that this film lacks the themes so common in his other work: humans vs nature, large scale battles being the prime examples. All for the better I say, as it allows him to create something truly unique and stunning. The story revolves around Chihiro, a young girl who, on the way to her new house, stumbles into an abandoned amusement park and is soon transported into a magical world of spirits, gods and human-frog hybrids.
The animation is stunning. Miyazaki truly sees animation as an artform. Many stand out scenes contain no dialogue at all, and are merely animated images creating surreal effects: Chihiro in the lift with the Radish spirit, Chihiro running through the flowers, and the final train ride, where our young protagonist takes a mysterious train journey across a sea, with her spirit friend, No Face. Nothing much happens, it's just simple, colourful, oddly unsettling, and lingers long after the film ends.
The characters are also perfect, and add to strange storyline. There's Kamaji, the multi limbed boiler room operator, Yubaba, the evil witch, and her massive baby child. No Face is a peculiar spirit who turns feral when Chihiro is not around, and finally, Haku, a boy spirit, who shares an emotional scene with Chihiro towards the end of the film.