Zíza

A simple and quietly told story about a boy and a cat, and their relationship with each other. The story is narrated by the cat, so be prepared for a cute "animal" voice. It's an unobtrusive, peacefully flowing film with a short running time, so I'd recommend it to anyone who's just in the mood for a "moment of poetry", something unhurried and human – and who doesn't mind cats. A pleasant viewing experience with a slightly sad and melancholic touch. A weaker 4 stars.

I don't like the lead actress, she didn't strike my fancy, so the whole thing is saved for me by MatsuJun and the occasionally well done surroundings. The premise is definitely interesting, well executed, just too much apologizing at times :-) Could have been better, but also considerably worse. Though it was sometimes really quite boring, then again I was quite caught up at times (unfortunately this part wasn’t the majority).

A very enjoyable romantic comedy which never bored for a moment, on the contrary I had a solid good time. The main characters, the supporting characters, the music, the setting. It was all so pleasantly sweet that you end up really glad you met them. I even liked the song that ran during the end credits that was sung by the main character, as well as the one that came after. I don't know. I'm wondering what to criticize, and I can't think of anything. I can’t even believe it. I really enjoyed this film. No matter how cliched the plot, no matter how many plot holes there are here and there, no matter what, I really liked it. I'm surprised at myself. It's not 100%, but it deserves 5 stars from me.

It's a very enjoyably international film, but unfortunately it's torn between being a crime drama or a dark period drama, and maybe that works somewhere, but it didn't quite work for me here. The acting wasn't great, but the worst was the dark shaky camerawork where you couldn't really see what was going on during the scenes with more action. Too long, indecisive, with good and bad scenes. An average 55%.

I'll say up front that I haven't seen any of the Kindaichi Case Files, so I don't know "how it works". A simple story set in Hong Kong, when Wu Chun came on the scene I was excited, but when he started talking the excitement went down because when he spoke in Japanese it was dubbed, and truly: The Japanese are not good at dubbing live-action stuff. For how I was looking forward to a collaboration between so many people from different parts of Asia, it wasn't that great. It annoyed me that the police inspector was listening to a high school kid and telling him everything that happened. He didn't really deserve it. Too long-winded, basically nothing much happened, the perpetrator was predictable, the family reunion was almost a little funny, and the solving of the murders wouldn't sit well with anyone. The only thing I really liked was that metals have a memory and it comes back to them when you heat them up. That was cool. But otherwise, a weak average. Too bad, because there were enough stars. I guess I was expecting a stronger story and only got a weak concoction. Such a disappointment.

Vavča said it, too – the subject matter to be processed is so vast that condensing it into a two-hour film doesn't do it much good. It makes it very difficult for the viewer to find their way to the characters because they don't have enough time to get to know them, to understand their motivations and history. There are hints here and there, but they don't make you (or at least me) root for the characters. Of course the King's brother was a slimeball, so it was easy to root for his failure, his death, but otherwise? Not interested. Obviously there's a big world to conquer, characters who still have something to say, but this is basically just an introduction and a pretty truncated one at that. Given that it's set in China, there's obviously jumping up and down during the fights, to the point of flying, and while the Chinese are good at these movies, the Japanese – at least here – still have some catching up to do. It didn't quite fit. I would have liked to see it go deeper. I would have liked less of a shouting Yamazaki, because he's not very good at that type of character. Basically, his best performance was at the end when he was staring at the sword. I'm not saying he was terrible, though; just that the character didn't really fit him. On the other hand, Yoshizawa Ryo did a good job in a double role. He was perfect as the king. Anyway, anyone who likes Sato Shinsuke's work will be happy here; it's definitely him. The whole film is mediocre – the story, the characters, the fights. But I bet the original subject matter is pretty good.

A nice one-shot from the school setting spiced with bullying, envy, a sense of injustice, but also love and devotion. Gentle, quiet, and slow-paced, but still it doesn't get boring, because each episode is no more than half an hour long. A series with a clear message – despite adversity, you can make it through anything if you find a kindred spirit and good friends. You won't be humbled anymore, you'll find your voice. Even despite the clichés.

Note: Our monsters don't kill children, only annoying adults. A weak 3 stars. Beautiful animation, and in truth a pretty unexpected ending (or rather the finale doesn't disappoint, as it sometimes does), but damn, monsters?! Why? Why?! The synopsis sounds so interesting, so mysterious, and you do feel that mystery for a moment, but even that faint feeling dissolves in the stream of monsters from the second floor. Fewer monsters, more mystery, more interesting characters, a little trouble with a mysterious illness, and King of Thorn would have been immediately more fun, more interesting. P.S.: My roommate fell asleep at this.

Weird movie. Twisted. About people who are broken but keep breaking others. Preferably the most vulnerable ones, because it's easy and because they themselves are pretty vulnerable. But maybe they want to break out of that vicious cycle. Definitely therapy through shock, pain, violence, and sex. It's just that even though the characters were complex, it's hard not to get bored with it. Or maybe it just didn't sit right with me. But even days after watching it, the film still resonates with me...

It's actually a terrible film. It sets up certain expectations right at the beginning, but then demolishes them with awkwardness and scenes you don't want to watch (I admit I had to speed things up a bit towards the end because I just couldn't take it anymore). Yamapi just proved my "impression" here – he's not good at acting anymore, or he just picks roles so stupid that he can't play them. Komatsu Nana and Yamamoto Mizuki were a delight, they're clever girls. Nothing above average, but at least they were entertaining. The story is really shallow, and since the movie is almost two hours long, it was impossible to endure. At times, it seemed like the filmmakers were trying to make it seem more "arty" (like longer shots of the landscape with just the two of them, etc.), but it didn't work and instead felt rather awkward. If I were one of the actors and went to the premiere, I'd probably have collapsed in shame. But otherwise it was quite good, there was a good scene here and there. On the bright side, I didn't find the characters (any of them) exceptionally unbearable; on the contrary, surprisingly for such a genre, they were all quite tolerable (which is basically why I'm giving it a whole star :-D). Why see the film? Perhaps only if you are charmed by Yamapi's bad acting, otherwise a waste of time.