FANBOYS - Review

Fanboys is set in 1998 and tells the story of a group of friends who take a road trip to the Skywalker Ranch to steal the rough cut of Episode 1 so their friend who has cancer can watch it before he dies.

There was a lot of talk of whether the studio wanted to keep the cancer storyline in the film and just have the movie about stealing the movie. But to be honest, the cancer plot line gave the film a reason and gave the characters the reason to keep going when things just went wrong. It gave the film a lot of heart and warmth that you don't see much in comedies these days.

This is a film for the Star Wars fans out there, and it really shows. There are a number of cameos that will just make you smile (none of which I'm gonna spoil), a hilliarious number of quotes taken from the movies are constantly used, this film was made by a true fanboy and relentlessly so. It's a good film with some great comedy and a touching story.

The cast all around were great, especially the characters Hutch and Windows who are just hillarious together, esepcially around Trekkies. The film also feature Seth Rogan in two roles; for people who don't tend to like him should really give him a chance in the film, he plays a trekkie and also a pimp, so two opposites collide to hillarious results.

If you're a fan of Star Wars, or just good, clean comedy, give this a shot, you won't be dissappointed.

Pros:

• Often hillarious
• A lot of heart in the story
• Great cast and cameos
• Makes Star Wars cool.

Cons:

• Some jokes/cameos might not seem like much to the non-Star Wars fans.

TOKYO SONATA - Review

So, I've decided to do a review a day, so next up is Tokyo Sonata, directed by fan favourite Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who is famed for directed horror/thriller films most of the time.

What makes Tokyo Sonata different from his other films is that it's very...European? It doesn't play like a typical Japanese film by touches of very Japanese issues, which is what makes this film rather special.

The film is about a film that seems ordinary, but like every family, they have their secrets, and follows the lives of the family members and the lives that they live. The father who is fired from work tries to hide that from his family while doing other small jobs, the eldest son join the U.S Army to help 'save the world', the youngest son uses the lunch money he recieves from his mother to secretly learn piano against his fathers wishes, and the mother seems to get bored of her life and tries new things. And the film will follow these stories lines to a final act that you will either love or hate. I fall in the former.

The cinematography here is top notch, it's nothing over the top, but it's not something that you can ignore either, the film just feels right. The pacing is great as you never feel bored or saying to youself "ok...now what?". The film did have an American executive producer, and a western writer, so that might explain why this film does seem slightly westernised in some aspects, but Kurosawa does wonders with the camera that makes the film seem right.

The acting across the board is fantastic, however, the stand out for me would have to be Koizumi, who plays the mother, fans will remeber her from the J-Drama Tokyo Friends, and also having a small role in Sakuran, the review I ran yesterday. Though this isn't just a one man show, the strong acting from everyone helps the film move right along, the father himself is a very likeable, and dislikeable guy; which is something that is pretty hard to pull off for an actor.

The film touches on many aspects of Japanese life, such as unemployment and the embarassement that comes with it; looking for a job and the risks you would take to actually get that job (which has some humourous results in the film), family life is probably the most important role in the film. It tries to show, or hints on what it takes to get a family to work, and the final scene is something that will stay with you for a while after watching if you pay close attention to subtle hints in the film. It also touches on love and loss, and marriage, and the vows that a couple take, there was a point half way through the film where you just feel robbed of something, but in a good way; you try to say to yourself "what could he have done?", but this I won't spoil as you'll need to see it for yourself.

This is a pretty great film, and something that you should all seek out and watch. Oh, and the soundtrack it self is great, right from the very beginning it just captivates you and when the music starts, you won't it to stop.

Pros:

• Great acting and cast
• Super camera work and cinematography
• Thought provoking and quite homourous at times
• Wonderful soundtrack.

Cons:

• Might be too 'westernised' for some.

SAKURAN - Review

So, I've decided that seeing as I am a film student, and love films...I should start writing film reviews! Besides, I have't updated this blog in quite a while, so sod it, I'm gonna be writing movie reviews! This is the first of (possibly not so) many of them.

First review is a Japanese film I've just finished watching called Sakuran, directed by (first time director and a photographer) Mika Ninagawa and starring Anna Tsuchiya in the lead role. It's the story of a girl growing up who goes through many names in a whore house and her rise as an Oiran.

The film is based off the manga series of the same name, created by Moyoco Anno.

Straight from the very first scene, it's clear the director is indeed a photographer, the film never ceases to amaze with it's wonderful colours and cinematographer and beautifully framed shots. There are times when you watch the film and forget what you're watching and just enjoy the colours. This is a great thing about the film, and also what stops it from being anything but average.

When you get passed how wonderful the film looks, the story itself doesn't offer anything but cheap frills and a lot of breasts and naked women. You don't really feel the need to sympathise with the actors or actress' when the dramatic tension rises because you're too busy looking at the smaller details of the cinematography. I never thought I'd say it, but the colours do get distracting. It's just like watching Curse of the Golden Flower all over again.

But that's not to say that the actual acting is bad, on the contrary, the acting is pretty great, Especially Tsuchiya. She plays the role wonderfully and carries the film on her own. The clients she meets and the men she starts to fall for just pass through the frames, but most of the time it doesn't really matter as Tsuchiya does well enough to keep the narrative going. She is also the selling point as well as the cinematography.

The pacing of the film is somewhat uneven at times, and the final act of the film does fall flat, considering how it does end (which I won't spoil, should you wish to seek out the film). It starts off well, and then leads onto a flashback of how Tsuchiya's character is sold into the house, but after that 10 minute flashback, it leaves it there, and we don't know how she started her training or the bumps along the way. Which is fine, as the film runs just under 2 hours, which is a decent enough pace. I haven't read the manga itself, so I'm assuming it's all in there.

A lot of people may want to compare this film to Memoirs of a Geisha, which is a fine comparison, but I have to admit, I do prefer Sakuran over it. One of the reasons being that Memoirs was directed by an American team with a Chinese actress in the lead role of a Japanese character (although, Ziyi Zhang is one of my favourite actress'), so it just felt like a quick cash-in with some big name drops. Sakuran has a great sound track (it's not 'traditional' in the sense that fits in with the period it's set in - see Marie Antoinette if you want an idea), the cinematography is better than Memoirs and the setting is great as it's set mainly in one location, but you never get bored.

All in all, it's a good film to watch if you're a fan of those sort of films, if you're a budding cinematographer, seek it out as you'll learn quite a bit from it. It's also a film for those Japanese cinema fans, or world cinema in general. But for the general audience, you could find something better.

Pros:

• Cinematography is great
• Acting from Tsuchiya is top notch
• Lovely soundtrack

Cons:

• Feels like there's more story than there is
• The final act falls flat
• Bright colours can be a little distracting.