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You're Next (2013)
You're Next (2013)
2013 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
EVERYTHING!!!!! (0 more)
One fucked up family gathering... Hey, who invited the sheep??
Contains spoilers, click to show
When I sing the praises of a movie in it's entirety, people who read my reviews know I think it's amazing.
First things first, let me get the blowing the writer put of the way... Simon Barrett is a God amongst horror writers. He brings you to the edge, makes you think you know what's going on and then drives a stake through you beliefs like Van Helsing...
Your typical home invasion movie turns into a sinister and diabolical insurance scam that deflates the typical nature of this formerly typical plotline... I know, I'm saying typical alot...fuckin bite me.
Adam Wingard is an absolutely kick-ass director who I personally have watched grow in the genre, and who I have come to trust when it comes to picking a film out... Regardless of what people say, had Death Note not been a successful anime series before he took the helm of the movie, it would've been glorified as a work or horror/fantasy art.
Take your (that word again) typical upper class family, stick them in a deserted home for a family get together. Add another horror director, Ti West, and Wingard and Barrett's favorite actors... Joe Swanberg, A.J. Bowen and Amy Seimetz... Dash in some Australian hottie, Sharni Vinson. And add one of the most amazing Scream Queens to ever grace the screen, Barbara Crampton. And chuck in some relative nobodies for fodder and you have the ingredients for a wild ride.
You're Next appeals to me because home invasions happen. It has a reality to it that can be matched by 2008's The Strangers and a more recent addition, Hush.
This movie delivers on all fronts.
The Killers are a band of ex Marines who are contracted but an unlikely source to carry out the deaths of rich mom and dad.
The children in the family are the height of dysfunctional, thus proving money can't buy you sanity.
And the twist in this movie proves that secrets can be hidden well in a script if the proper distractions are in place.
One thing I'd like to add before I end this is the masks work by the Killers are straight creepy. Whoever thought to put them in those is genius. And they made for some great marketing posters and internet spots.
Simple flat white masks that have not scared me to death since I was a child and seen the iconic Michael Myers for the first time.
Barrett and Wingard make movies that are more reality based and that scare the bejesus out of you.
Check out A Horrible Way to Die if you don't believe me. It will not disappoint.
  
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
2019 | Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Robert Rodriguez is not a good director. He isn’t an especially good writer or producer either. This is the guy responsible for four Spy Kids films, that start below average and downgrade exponentially into excruciatingly awful. What he is pretty good at is ideas, and seeing the potential of something visually arresting and exciting. That is what led to the success of Sin City, arguably his best effort to date, because he saw how the comic book creations of Frank Miller could become live action and he made it happen.

Alita: Battle Angel is a similar deal. This time Yukito Kishiro’s early 90s manga creation is the inspiration. With James Cameron as producer, and the considerable talents of Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly and Mahershala Ali onboard, it would have been pretty hard for even Rodriguez to mess this up entirely. Although at times he does seem to try, mostly by doing too much and making certain sections too busy and too confusingly cross-genre, like he is frantically trying to colour within the lines whilst using every felt-tip in the pack. A habit that means every now and again something great happens, but you may have missed it in all the background noise.

Compare this film, that just falls short of qualifying for my Bad Movie Triple Bill list, to Spielberg’s superior yet similarly busy Ready Player One. Both involve high concept future realities that are very tech and AI driven. Both make extensive use of CGI and vivid colour palettes. Both are frenetic and demand an audience pays attention in order to fully appreciate the storyline. The difference is that one zig-zags back and forth in tone and momentum, and one is razor sharp in moving us from one idea to the next on a perfect learning curve towards a satisfying climax and conclusion. Guess which one is which? This is why Spielberg is Spielberg and Rodriguez is… a hack.

That said, Alita as a character and concept is charming, and you do therefore find yourself at least wanting to discover her story. The action scenes are also quite electric, and the visuals are often breath-taking. But the whole is less than the sum of the parts here, and we are left with something that can only really exist in the same box as dozens of admirable sci-fi B-movies aimed at teenagers, such as The Maze Runner, Mortal Engines and The City of Ember. It also continues to prove the point alongside Ghost in the Shell and Speed Racer that Anime / Manga into live action is a very tricky business.

There is definitely an audience out there for this movie, and I dare say at some point I will be tempted to give it another watch. What is definitely worth watching however, is how James Cameron uses this as a stepping stone to perfecting virtual humans on the big screen. I am sure everyone involved learned a lot in that respect, so all is far from lost.
  
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Tales of Vesperia
Tales of Vesperia
Role-Playing
I finally got done playing Tales Of Vesperia, but I'm not completely done. There's an extra dungeon you can play through at the end of the game if you do a specific side quest during the regular game play through. I've never played a Tales Of game that I didn't like yet and this one was no exception.
 I genuinely liked the main character Yuri because he's not a perfect hero. He isn't purely good, but he's not necessarily evil either. It's a matter of he's had to make the hard decisions that others around him are not willing to make, but in the end he's always stayed true to himself and his ideals. I think a lot of the reason why that scenario worked is because of the story line with Yuri's best friend Flynn. Flynn is the other side of the coin, walking a different path, but ultimately the goal to try and make the world a better place is similar.
 The idea of blastia technology is interesting and they do explain how it came to be and what it is used for as the game and story progress. It also explains the reasons behind how the empire that controls it came to exist which I thought that the developers did a pretty good job of intertwining with the main story line.
 You meet more characters along the way on this adventure and they all have pretty decent back stories. I myself liked Raven's and Judith's in particular. There are of course, the usual skits during game play, but they never get tedious. In fact, some of them are amusing with jokes that are actually funny and add a little more depth to the story and the characters themselves. The anime cut scenes are very well done and great to watch. The musical soundtrack not only is beautiful, but fits well with the various battles and pivotal plot points throughout the story.
 There are one or two boss battles that can be a little frustrating because of certain mystic artes attacks, but once you get through them you feel a sense of accomplishment for having won. Of course, if you get too frustrated you do have the option of changing the difficulty level to easy without being penalized for it which is a nice perk. With a myriad of fun extra side quests like getting cafe costumes for all the characters or the cute disguise costumes for the female characters in your party, you get a pleasant break from level grinding and the main story. Overall, the game is a good time and fun to play. Even level grinding in this particular RPG is enjoyable because of a decent battle system, and beautifully designed scenery and enemies. Now, I'm going to get back to playing this extra dungeon I've won. As for all of you, I suggest you pick up Tales Of Vesperia for the Xbox 360 and give it a try. I am sure you will have as much fun as I did playing it.
  
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Fred (860 KP) rated Baki in TV

Aug 29, 2019  
Baki
Baki
2018 | Action, Animation, Drama
5
7.2 (9 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
Super-violent fighting "action"
I've never seen the original Baki the Grappler series. But on a recommendation from a friend, I decided to watch this one, which is apparently a sequel to the other. Although I feel you don't need to have watched the original, I feel there were a few parts in this one that would have had more meaning if I had seen the original.

Anyway, the story is about 17 year old Baki Hanma. A martial artist, who won an underground tournament, who is now targeted by 5 death-row inmates. Other members of the underground tournament take Baki's side to fight against them. That's pretty much it.

Each character seems to have a unique fighting style or ability & each character has their own special look. But no matter the look, these characters are ugly. I mean real ugly. They may be the most grotesque characters I've ever seen on film. Almost every one has a ridiculously unrealistic over-muscular body. It's as if a 10 year old drew a bodybuilder. Everyone's hands look like balloons, with marbles as knuckles. Everyone's feet look like a rock with tiny grapes as toes. Hideous faces & disturbing eyes. Even Baki, who is supposed to be good looking, looks overly glam. Again, like a 10 year old's drawing. As for the animation, it's not very good. Most of the show is two characters facing each other & talking crap to each other before finally, someone punches or kicks & then it's just a still shot of them hitting the other with a white streak, faking movement. In the cases where we actually see them moving, the animation jarringly switches to the horrible hand-drawn CGI animation that I can't stand.

As I mentioned, each character has their own style of fighting. Whether it's karate or judo or hidden weapons or weapons hidden inside the body, etc... So, there's lots of variety. The show is for mature audiences due to the gore (lots of dismemberment, eye popping, etc...) & nudity. So, no kids, ok?

But here's the main problem I have. I don't care about the characters. I don't care about Baki. In fact, if you pay attention, he's not in most of the series. And when he is, most of the time he doesn't do anything. This show also has one of the most unintentionally hilarious scenes I've ever seen & that his sex scene. He's never had sex before & we get to hear his thoughts. It's almost like the writer never had sex either. I was laughing out loud.

So, why did I watch? Well, so I had a new anime to talk about with my friend. And although I said I don't care about the characters, I still want to see what happens. I would say the show is geared towards men, as there is only one female character & she's played like a stereo-typical damsel in distress. I have 3 episodes left to watch & no sign of a female fighter. I say give it a shot if you want some mindless ass-kicking fluff.
  
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Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, Yuki Morisaki | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The characters, which are well-developed, for the most part. (1 more)
The dishes, which I was surprised to learn have actually been tested before being put into the books.
There is quite a bit of fan-service, which I don't mind, but it's hard to imagine food so good that it causes people's clothing to shred and disappear (only mentally, not actually in front of others). (0 more)
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma (the series)
I have been reading Food Wars since volume 1 came out and now that book 20 has recently been released in the United States, I still enjoy this rather unique food-based manga.

The hero, Yukihira Soma, has been raised as the only child of a single father who runs a diner called Yukihira. One day, his father tells Soma that he has enrolled him in a culinary school and that he will be off helping friends for a while. Soma doesn't think much of this idea, but goes to take the test for Totsuki Teahouse Culinary Academy and settles into Polaris Dormitory, and so the story begins.

Soma has quirks, and lots of them. You know he's getting serious when he whips his headband off his wrist and dons it and his apron (which I've not figured out yet where he keeps that). He has no end of confidence, and often says the first thing that comes to his mind, which gets him in trouble a lot of the time. He's determined to be the top student at the academy so that he can beat his dad eventually in a food competition, of which he's lost several during his childhood. Despite this, he is eager to learn new things and never gives up. He is loyal to his friends and has a strong sense of justice.

Totsuki Teahouse Culinary Academy isn't exactly the most normal school anyway. It is a fact that over 90% or more of the students either get expelled, fail out, or drop out, and the idea behind the academy is that most of the students are there merely to "polish" the students who make it through the final year of high school. It is run not only by Dean Nakiri, but by the Council of Ten, who are the top ten students at the school. Disputes between the students are settled by Shokugeki, which have very strict rules.

I think my favorite story arc is the one with the Fall Classic (books 6-13), where 100 selected first year high school students compete to see who is the best. The winners usually go on to become part of the Council of Ten. Many things happen in this arc, from Soma and Megumi (a girl from Polaris, who learns a lot about cooking and confidence from Soma) learning about curry and spices, to Soma's dad coming for a visit, to a copycat chef who wins other students' favorite cutlery from them in Shokugeki, to the surprise finish of the Classic under the light of the full moon.

I would definitely recommend this manga series if you enjoyed other food series such as Yakitate!! Japan. It's a lot of fun and drama all wrapped up in a tasty bow. The manga series is still on-going, with an anime which has just entered its third season.
  
Interesting premise (3 more)
Tatsuya
Mystery surrounding the Shiba siblings
Most of the side-characters
Information dumps (3 more)
General editing mistakes
Miyuki
Lack of male characters (that aren’t antagonists)
The Setup
The Irregular at Magic High School
Book by Tsutomu Sato
Review by Rip Major

The Irregular at Magic High School is about siblings Tatsuya and Miyuki and their experiences at First High. The school is split into two main groups, the Blooms, who are gifted with the ability to use and control magic, and Weeds, who can use magic, but aren’t as strong with it as the Blooms are. Miyuki, who is a prodigy with magic and has the brains to back it up, is placed with the Blooms. Tatsuya, on the other hand, is not as gifted with magic, so he is placed with the Weeds.


The plot is pretty anime-standard. Boy and girl go to a new school and participate in shenanigans. The majority of the book follows the day to day misadventures of Tatsuya and Miyuki as they deal with the fact that, while they are extremely close, they are essentially in different hierarchical classes. This culminates in Miyuki joining the Student Council and Tatsuya joining the Disciplinary Committee, even though both are reluctant about the whole thing.


Tatsuya is a very interesting character because he is constantly annoyed by his classmates and their shenanigans, most of which he gets drawn into. He seems like the type of character that would prefer to be in the background and be left to his own devices, but his status as main character simply won’t let him. It is actually quite amusing to read his inner monologue while things happen to and around him. He is actually quite smart, being able to work on CADs (the in-universe way to cast magic) with exceptional skill and speed. He is also a skilled martial artist, apparently knowing ninjutsu, or something similar. Additionally, he also has a very mechanical way of thinking, which includes shutting down parts of himself that would ordinarily be considered normal. For instance, there is a scene where he realizes his older classmate is arousing him, and he shuts it down. Basically, in a book where the POV changes often and usually without meaning, Tatsuya is a very interesting character to be in the head of.


Unfortunately, Miyuki isn’t nearly as interesting as her brother. She is beautiful, smart, and gifted; all of which makes her a little too perfect for me to really connect with. Her major flaw is that she has an unusual and uncomfortable obsession with her brother. Also, she just feels a lot flatter than most of the side characters. And I officially have nothing else to say about her.


In all honesty, most of what I found interesting about this book was certain aspects of Sato’s world-building, specifically the pseudo-science/magic marriage and how it is explained. I also like how mysterious the history of the siblings is. Very little about their relationships with their parents is revealed, or why they are living alone in their apartment. In fact, other than the basic setup of the plot and characteristics of the two, not much else is explored in this book. I am curious to see if the next book will reveal more.