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Darren (1599 KP) rated 1941 (1979) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Story: 1941 starts in the aftermath of Pearl Harbour, The Japanese are searching for Hollywood for their latest attack, while the army are planning to create a defence on the Californian coastline, Sgt Frank Tree (Aykroyd) leads his men in preparations while pilot Captain Wild Bill Kelso (Belushi) travels the country to support his troops.
The preparations bring us comical happenings which lead to what is going on between the Americans and the impending Japanese.
Thoughts on 1941
Characters – We have so many characters in this film it is hard to pick out the main ones, we will though, Sgt Frank Tree tries to keep peace between his soldiers and not letting them fight with the locals. Ward Douglas is the man that sees it has an honour to host the army for prime location for defence. Captain Wild Bill Kelso is a pilot that enjoys a drink, he heads across country to join the battle. Where we have too many characters it is hard to see which one we are meant to be follow the most.
Performances – The performances are affected by the mass cast because no one gets to show their best skills, we have the comical actors that want to joke, only for them to miss, then the serious actors not hitting their moments either.
Story – The story follows the Americans as they plan for a potential next attack on America from the Japanese in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbour attack. The problem I see with this story, it showing us how we make light of a devastating moment in history with the Pearl Harbour attack and shows how America did panic but didn’t seem to take the events serious, well that is what the film gives us.
Action/Comedy/War – The action plays into the comedy which gets basic laughs but most of the laughs seem to have dated badly and even just give us toilet humour, all with the backdrop of World War II.
Settings – The film puts us in LA for the events of the film which shows how Hollywoodland would react to the impending war.
Scene of the Movie – Plane sex.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too many characters.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the biggest misses of Spielberg’s career, it has too many characters and doesn’t manage to balance out the comedy and action well enough.
Overall: Disappointing throughout.
https://moviesreview101.com/2018/12/05/1941-1979/
The preparations bring us comical happenings which lead to what is going on between the Americans and the impending Japanese.
Thoughts on 1941
Characters – We have so many characters in this film it is hard to pick out the main ones, we will though, Sgt Frank Tree tries to keep peace between his soldiers and not letting them fight with the locals. Ward Douglas is the man that sees it has an honour to host the army for prime location for defence. Captain Wild Bill Kelso is a pilot that enjoys a drink, he heads across country to join the battle. Where we have too many characters it is hard to see which one we are meant to be follow the most.
Performances – The performances are affected by the mass cast because no one gets to show their best skills, we have the comical actors that want to joke, only for them to miss, then the serious actors not hitting their moments either.
Story – The story follows the Americans as they plan for a potential next attack on America from the Japanese in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbour attack. The problem I see with this story, it showing us how we make light of a devastating moment in history with the Pearl Harbour attack and shows how America did panic but didn’t seem to take the events serious, well that is what the film gives us.
Action/Comedy/War – The action plays into the comedy which gets basic laughs but most of the laughs seem to have dated badly and even just give us toilet humour, all with the backdrop of World War II.
Settings – The film puts us in LA for the events of the film which shows how Hollywoodland would react to the impending war.
Scene of the Movie – Plane sex.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too many characters.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the biggest misses of Spielberg’s career, it has too many characters and doesn’t manage to balance out the comedy and action well enough.
Overall: Disappointing throughout.
https://moviesreview101.com/2018/12/05/1941-1979/
Hakuoki: Premium Edition
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Hakuoki: Premium Edition “Hakuoki”, the otome game that gained popularity not only in Japan but...
Debbiereadsbook (1171 KP) rated Fox Tale (Sacred Emblems #0) in Books
Apr 27, 2024
great reading about Japan.
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
Ava is in Japan, writing a travel article. Meeting Chase, with his wonderful tales of Japanese myths and legends, helps her write a different take. But she never expected to meet up with her ex, Rafe, who left her two years ago without a word. Both men are hiking things. Can Ava choose?
I don't read reviews before I read a book, not anymore, but I will read them AFTER I've read said book, but before I write my review for one reason only: did they feel the same about this book as I did.
In this case: nope. They all loved this book and I . . . didn't.
I'm not saying I didn't like this book, I just found it hard work.
It's almost all written from Ava's point of view, in the first person. Rafe gets two very small bits, not even a chapter, in the third. I needed more from Rafe, and Chase, to be fair, to offset Ava.
There is a huge amount of repeated wording. Mostly around how Ava feels and thinks about Chase. "Apart from his silver hair, he looks young" or words to that effect are the most common. It began to get a bit much. "Seven hundred and seventy *something*, next winter" is another. The same things about the fox stories from Japanese lore pop up time and again too.
Apart from that, I liked this book. I couldn't see where it was going, nor how it was getting there, so when it did all go down, I was surprised and I liked the way it all happened.
Although there is the repetition of the lore, I did enjoy reading about the Japanese traditions and myths and legends.
There are some difficult topics here: death of a spouse, suicide, mental health issues and readers do need to be aware. Things are not how they seem, however, but the warning still needs to be made.
This is the first I've read of this author, and I always ask myself, will I read more? Not at this time. I won't say no to reading something else at a later date though.
3 good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Ava is in Japan, writing a travel article. Meeting Chase, with his wonderful tales of Japanese myths and legends, helps her write a different take. But she never expected to meet up with her ex, Rafe, who left her two years ago without a word. Both men are hiking things. Can Ava choose?
I don't read reviews before I read a book, not anymore, but I will read them AFTER I've read said book, but before I write my review for one reason only: did they feel the same about this book as I did.
In this case: nope. They all loved this book and I . . . didn't.
I'm not saying I didn't like this book, I just found it hard work.
It's almost all written from Ava's point of view, in the first person. Rafe gets two very small bits, not even a chapter, in the third. I needed more from Rafe, and Chase, to be fair, to offset Ava.
There is a huge amount of repeated wording. Mostly around how Ava feels and thinks about Chase. "Apart from his silver hair, he looks young" or words to that effect are the most common. It began to get a bit much. "Seven hundred and seventy *something*, next winter" is another. The same things about the fox stories from Japanese lore pop up time and again too.
Apart from that, I liked this book. I couldn't see where it was going, nor how it was getting there, so when it did all go down, I was surprised and I liked the way it all happened.
Although there is the repetition of the lore, I did enjoy reading about the Japanese traditions and myths and legends.
There are some difficult topics here: death of a spouse, suicide, mental health issues and readers do need to be aware. Things are not how they seem, however, but the warning still needs to be made.
This is the first I've read of this author, and I always ask myself, will I read more? Not at this time. I won't say no to reading something else at a later date though.
3 good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Global Tide - Weather Forecast for Marine Sports
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Yakuza Moon: The True Story of a Gangster's Daughter
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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Magnificent Seven (1960) in Movies
Apr 4, 2019
Classic western only misses out on a 10 because it's not quite as good as the Kurosawa version. Mexican peasants in improbably clean clothes (the Mexican government insisted) hire a septet of gunmen to defend them from marauding bandits; Bernstein's famous theme gets played a lot. I mean, A LOT.
Enduringly and deservedly popular, both as a piece of entertainment and a source of discussions down the pub (Horst Bucholz and Brad Dexter are the names everyone struggles to remember). Loses some of the subtlety and depth of characterisation from the original Japanese version, but also scores by building up the character of the bandit leader (Wallach). Possibly not the greatest western ever, but still iconic and immensely influential. One for the ages.
Enduringly and deservedly popular, both as a piece of entertainment and a source of discussions down the pub (Horst Bucholz and Brad Dexter are the names everyone struggles to remember). Loses some of the subtlety and depth of characterisation from the original Japanese version, but also scores by building up the character of the bandit leader (Wallach). Possibly not the greatest western ever, but still iconic and immensely influential. One for the ages.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Rampage (2018) in Movies
Jan 20, 2019 (Updated Jan 20, 2019)
Riotously silly computer game adaptation, as magic DNA jollop falls out of the sky and turns animals into giant, aggressive monsters; one of them happens to be genial Dwayne Johnson's pet gorilla, so there's bound to be trouble.
One of those films where everyone is in on the joke - doesn't bear much resemblance to the original game, but works pretty well as a piece of nonsense anyway. Johnson is a reassuring presence in the middle of it all, and the film does a surprisingly good job of catching some of the essence of the classic Japanese monster movies which obviously inspired it. Probably not going to win any of the major Oscars but still good fun while it's in front of you.
One of those films where everyone is in on the joke - doesn't bear much resemblance to the original game, but works pretty well as a piece of nonsense anyway. Johnson is a reassuring presence in the middle of it all, and the film does a surprisingly good job of catching some of the essence of the classic Japanese monster movies which obviously inspired it. Probably not going to win any of the major Oscars but still good fun while it's in front of you.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Dark Waters (2019) in Movies
Mar 6, 2020
Not another remake of the Japanese movie about haunted plumbing, but a based-on-fact drama about a lawyer's long and gruelling battle to expose the truth about the contamination of the environment by synthetic long-chain fluorocarbons (the non-stick part of non-stick saucepans to you and me).
A very worthy and impassioned film about a serious and important topic, led well by Mark Ruffalo, with good support from a strong cast. On the other hand, it does come across as just a little bit dour, and the nature of the story doesn't necessarily lend itself to a conventional narrative structure. The kind of film that I'm glad gets made, but I still find it admirable more than genuinely likeable or enjoyable.
A very worthy and impassioned film about a serious and important topic, led well by Mark Ruffalo, with good support from a strong cast. On the other hand, it does come across as just a little bit dour, and the nature of the story doesn't necessarily lend itself to a conventional narrative structure. The kind of film that I'm glad gets made, but I still find it admirable more than genuinely likeable or enjoyable.