Day 72 ccontinued - Love Me (American/British/Ukrainian)

"Love Me is a character-drive narrative that follows desperate men on their quest for love through the modern 'mail-order bride' industry in Ukraine. The film highlights the complete process of finding a partner in a foreign land, showing the Western male and Ukrainian female perspectives."

A very interesting documentary about a world that starting to get accepted in the mainstream society. The style of documentary could have been better but I enjoyed seeing the perspective of the girls and the men they chose. There are a lot of things that you have to think about when you decide to start an online relationship that will eventually become a real life romance. This documentary shows the upside and downside of doing this. Its quite interesting and I recommend it to people that enjoy this kind of documentary and are open minded.

Day 72 - Altar (British)

"A young family move to an isolated estate that the wife has been hired to restore, only to discover that the previous owner is reputed to have murdered his wife."

A very terrible horror film, theres not much to say but to never watch this movie. It lost my interest in the beginning, I tried my best but really couldn't get into this movie for some reason. The script was horrible and the overall feel of the film was weak.

1/5

Day 71 continued - Centurion (British)

 

"A splinter group of Roman soldiers fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is decimated in a devastating guerrilla attack."

 

A very weak historical film that has many holes and boring action scenes. The script had a lot to say but I felt like it could have been better. Some of the story simply didn't make sense and felt rushed. There was explanation for many things which causes us to be left hanging even after the end of the film. I suggest you skip this film unless its a slow night.

 

1.5/5

Day 71 - Brotherhood of Blades (Chinese)

 

"The film is set in 1627, towards the end of the Ming dynasty, when a young emperor decides to end the influence of all-powerful eunuch Wei (Chin Shi-chieh) and purge his supporters.Caught in the midst of the intrigue are three lowly cash-strapped warriors from the Imperial Assassins, the secret police, who are given orders to find and kill Wei"

 

The action scenes are the only talented part in the film the rest could be thrown away. There were no feelings of true brotherhood amongst the three main characters. The women were even worse, you could tell their job was to basically be dolls that look good. They were very beautiful but it truly felt like the director/script held them back. The script was very weak, I really wonder why this movie was even made. The story doesn't even reveal everything, so there are holes. Some of the characters are unbelievable which causes the viewer to lose interest. I suggest it to fans of Wuxia.

Day 70 continued - The Wind Rises (Japanese)



"A look at the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II."

Absolutely a one in a kind movie that no one really saw coming. Hayao Miyazaki leaves the world with a true stunner that is so similar but so different from anything else he has ever done. Before I start I would like to say there is no Anti-American emotion or scenes present in this film.
        Now I will this say the animation is truly wonderful, the world is beautiful and the characters are remarkable. No one else in this world has been able to make a film as wonderful as Hayao Miyazaki. From the hand drawn animation which is a dying craft that should be brought back to the colors of the world. He makes these wonderful words that have a basis in fiction and reality that makes it so believable. All of this is present in The Wind Rises, if you see the movie you will understand why he chose to make a movie like this. You will understand him more than ever, as I think this is a very personal film in a way. Often when I looked at Jiro I saw Hayao Miyazaki, the two lookalike and really stand for the same things.
Disney did a great job in finding the right people to do the voice work and were able to match the characters quite well. There is romance, war, adventure, dreams, and harsh reality in the film. Miyazaki doesn't leave anything out, I feel like this movie can't really be expressed in words. I suggest everyone go out and watch the film now. There is just so much we could all learn from this film that we can absorb into our own lives.
The Wind Rises is about a man named Jiro who wants to design airplanes that are meant for flight not war but the sad reality is whatever he designs will be used for war. There's a wonderful question in the film "Would you like to live in a world with or without pyramids?" meaning would you like to live with or without Airplanes knowing full well the airplanes you design will be used in wars. This is quite powerful as we can adapt the question to whatever we do thus it gets personal.
The love story between Jiro and Naoko is so wonderfully real. There's nothing fabricated, it was a love affair that probably actually happened during the time. So its a real love story in more ways than one, its really such a beautiful experience. Even Jiro's love of design is truly inspiring, he's passionate about what he does and not a lot of people in this generation are. So it really spoke to me as a designer myself, that we all need to stay alive and live with life.
I suggest this film to everyone from fans of Ghibli, animation fans, designers, movie lovers, women, men, and most importantly humans.

"I just wanted to make something beautiful"

5/5

 

 

Little info

 

Jiro is a combination of Tatsuo Hori who wrote the original story of the Wind Rises and Jiro Horikoshi the inventor of the Zero airplane

 

After the screening of the film, it was the first time Hayao Miyazaki cried during a screening of one of his movies

Day 70 - Keep on Keepin' on (Documentary)

" A documentary that follows jazz legend Clark Terry over four years to document the mentorship between Terry and 23-year-old blind piano prodigy Justin Kauflin as the young man prepares to compete in an elite, international competition."

The documentary is great not because of the direction but because of the emotion present in the film. I greatly enjoyed it, the emotion was real and it was something that not a lot of people can capture on camera. I enjoyed some of the direction but I thought it could have been better. I understand that it must have been hard because you are dealing with something who might not be able to film all day. The documentary is split in its time, it tells you the history of Clark Terry, Justin Kaufin then the history of their time together. It is truly remarkable experience to have seen this documentary it inspired me and made me smile. At the end I think I could relate to Clark Terry's emotion, he wanted to stay longer so he could help more people like Justin, Miles Davis, and Quincy Jones. I suggest this documentary to anyone that likes jazz or wants to see some real emotion in a documentary.

4/5

 

little info

 

Clark Terry mentored Miles Davis and Quincy Jones (Quincy was his first student)

Justin was signed by Quincy Jones

Clark Terry was the first black band member at CBS

 



Day 69 continued - Big Hero 6 (American)

 

"The special bond that develops between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes."

 

Such an amazing film! It was so enjoyable, I loved the design of the world and characters. I loved how familiar the design was because I have been to San Francisco, so to see an altered form of the city is pretty cool. This movie proves to me that American animation is starting to really made a big comeback in making better movies. The characters were great and really relatable which helps us connect to the film. Its great that they didn't show us that the characters had a perfect life, they didn't Hiro and his older brother were orphans living with their aunt. I loved this a lot, as a lot of us do not live with our parents either they died, abandoned, or simply couldn't take of us. So I think this film can speak to a lot of people who come from a home like this. The relationships are remarkable, especially being an older brother I could relate to Hiro's big brother Tadashi. Plus being multiracial and Hiro being bi-racial is was a bit easier to relate to him. This movie is really something special, I will suggest this film to everyone that loves animation.

 

4/5

 

little info

Hiro is the first bi-racial main character in a Disney film

The idea of blending San Fransisco and Tokyo was sparked by advice given by John Lasseter