Avatar by Kira Imai

Navigation

All entries contain spoilers, read at your own risk.

Artwork by Tama

11/18/2024

Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

Pure Marvel slop. I liked the first two movies so I'm not sure what happened here. The tone was all over the place and the ending is supposed to be emotional but I felt nothing. It's not even worth my time to type all the problems I had with this movie. Tom Hardy is really starting to look way too haggard, he was hard to look at the whole time which is strange considering I loved him in Fury Road. Wait, that was nearly 10 years ago? Shit.


Bear and I went on a Monday and I had never seen the movie theater so empty before, and the seats were cheap too. We were literally the only ones in the theater. 10/10 experience even if the movie itself wasn't good. We didn't even stay to watch the ending credits scene, but watching Venom dance was cute at least.

11/02/2024

Incident in a Ghostland (2018)

Man, my aunt sure has interesting taste in movies. I went in completely blind and it was an engaging, intense watch but I also never want to watch it again and I would never recommend this movie to anyone. I really wish I could unsee that big man sniffing teenage girl crotches. He reminded me a lot of Debilitas from Haunting Ground.


I related to Beth's maladaptive daydreaming tendencies and the scenes with Beth and her mother together were very touching, but what kind of loving mother would leave her other daughter to be locked up in the basement like that instead of getting her help? I understand the vision they were going for here, but they couldn't sell it to me. It simply felt like any other exploitation film, where the "horror" is women being tortured. The film was further soured for me when I found out that Vera's actor (Taylor Hickson) now has a scar across her face thanks to the director not ensuring the safety of a particular scene.

10/23/2024

Ojamajo Doremi (1999-2000)

Here's yet another anime I wish I had watched back in middle school. I was first introduced to it by the 4Kids dub Magical DoReMi and then later watched a couple of episodes of the original Japanese series, but stopped for whatever reason (maybe it was the sheer number of episodes/seasons?). This anime had so many touching moments that brought me to tears, multiple times. I can't believe little girls anime is making me cry at my age.


Doremi, Aiko, and Hazuki all have their unique backgrounds with a good amount of attention on each and their frienship was very heartwarming. I'm glad Onpu eventually joins the crew and is never depicted as a villain, but simply a girl who makes honest mistakes and learns from them, growing more considerate as a result.


My favorite characters are Hazuki and Seki-sensei! I'm so glad Onpu is there to carry the second half of the show because I couldn't stand Oyajide and I couldn't believe such a perverted character was played for laughs in a kid's show, even if he has been reduced to a blob. I'm now watching the second season and I'm shocked that a serious topic like suicide was brought up by the second episode. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the baby plot at all and I'm not sure how much of it I can stomach, but I really liked the first season (and I'm told the baby stuff gets better) so I'll try to keep watching.

10/17/2024

Look Back (2024)

One of my artist alley peeps recommended this movie and posted showtimes in my city, so I told Bear we had to go since it was only showing for 2 days. If you draw, watch this movie!! It's actually based on a manga by the creator of Chainsaw Man (that I just got as a gift from Bear). The animation style is gorgeous and I love that some of the line work was kept a little rough to resemble a drawing, it made the movements even more soulful.


So many moments were very relatable and I found Fujino's personality a perfect contrast to Kyomoto's hikki tendencies. I really enjoyed seeing their friendship blossom and find success together. Maybe Fujino is a bit selfish and has her own agenda, but there's no way you can do something as intimate as make manga and art together without creating a close bond.


As soon as the big conflict happened between Fujino and Kyomoto happened, I already knew where this was going. One of my personal policies is to never lash out (no matter how angry or betrayed I feel) and say something I might regret to someone I love for this exact reason, you never know if that will end up being the last thing you say to them. Despite Fujino putting her down and discouraging her from moving on from making manga together, Kyomoto never stopped being a fan of Fujino-sensei. When it was revealed Kyomoto kept her autograph this whole time hanging on her door and collected all of her manga volumes, I was instantly in tears. I like to think those two are in that alternative universe together, making collab manga and loving each other for the rest of their lives.

10/12/2024

The Craft (1996)

A friend and I watched this together, not really knowing what the plot entailed other than the obvious. We loved it! It made me yearn for a coven to call my own, so it was heartbreaking to watch the girls completely fall apart. I know the theme here was that they were corrupted by power, but I don't exactly see what's so wrong about Bonnie healing her physical scars and Rochelle getting back at her racist bully. I hated that Sarah and Nancy were pitted against each other with a stupid jock boy thrown in the mix.


Admittedly, I didn't care too much for Sarah who was definitely depicted as angelic and perfect on purpose. Maybe I'm just biased because I felt so bad for Nancy and absolutely hated that she is left at a psych ward at the end of the movie. She came from a bad background so it's no wonder she turned out that way! She's just misunderstood (listen... we could have fixed her). Genuinely scary towards the end. Might be another one to add to the favorite movie list!

10/07/2024

Trick 'r Treat (2007)

One of my friends (with the same name!!) loves this movie and I was very excited to finally watch it. Sam is absolutely adorable and I want to hug him and spoil him by filling his bag full of candy. Even without his mask he's still so cute, in a similar way to the Eraserhead baby. I enjoy anthology movies and thought it was really cool how they all tied together at the end, especially since they weren't shown in order of the events happening. This is a movie I'm going to want to watch again every Halloween season. I need my own Sam! Where are my fellow werewolf women at and how can I join the pack?

10/02/2024

Evil Dead Trilogy (1981, 1987, 1992)

In October I wanted to challenge myself and watch 13 new horror movies before the month ended. I was not successful and only watched 5, but at least I got to finally experience Evil Dead! Bear said I would like Ash and he was right... I enjoyed watching him get covered in blood and witnessing his descent into madness greatly.


As we were watching the first movie, I asked if it was actually a dark comedy. I'm glad they leaned into the comedy aspect in the sequels because I was laughing, though it wasn't intentional for the first film. The stop motion sequence at the end was so cool! Very experimental and I loved it. During this time, my internet was having issues for about a week and a half and we couldn't stream anything online. Bear and I ended up making the trip to buy the other two movies physically, where I also picked up a box set of Jackass and Trick 'r Treat.


I like that each movie is very loose in its continuation. With the amount of slapstick, Sam Raimi must really love The Three Stooges or something. 2 was my overall favorite and I actually prefer the original ending for Army of Darkness, which I thought was hilarious and not depressing at all. Finally, I can wear my Earthworm Jim x Evil Dead shirt without being a poser.

09/20/2024

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

Beetlejuice is my favorite movie, so I went into this skeptical but curious, keeping my expectations low. I didn't expect to see Lydia advance into such a vulnerable state but I guess it worked for the sake of the sequel.


I probably wouldn't watch it again anytime soon, but I enjoyed it and glad I got to watch it. I like Jenna Ortega a lot and she's perfectly cast as Lydia's daughter. I also find myself liking Delia more and more as I get older. She's unhinged and owns it, which made me a little sad when they suddenly killed her off. Maybe I'm a little dumb for not realizing it but the twist in the middle actually caught me by surprise (I thought the twist was going to be that Lydia's ex husband was still alive this whole time and that's why she couldn't see him) and was a relief because unwarranted romances always have me rolling my eyes.


The plot with Delores started out promising but ended up completely useless. Did we really need a decoy antagonist? Wasn't it already obvious Rory (who I kept calling Gaston in my head) was just using Lydia? Still, it was satisfying to see his downfall, and Michael Keaton really stole the show. I could have done without that weird number at the end though.


I always found the depiction of the bureaucratic afterlife in Beetlejuice equally interesting and horrifying. On the way home from the movie, our friend remarked that she didn't like how nothing about the afterlife's rules were explanained and I reminded her that the first movie didn't explain anything either, it simply was. Sometimes there's merit to leaving a little mystery.

08/24/2024

Alien (1979)

Can you believe I've never seen the full movie until now? I know, embarrassing! How could I call myself a horror and an H.R. Giger fan? Every time I would catch it on TV over the years, I somehow would only see the ending. Thankfully a few friends and I remedied this by watching it toghether for the first time and now I can confidently say this is another addition to my favorite movie list. The tension was incredible! Every moment had me on edge and the atmosphere is simply unmatched. I know re-releases of movies in theaters are just cash grabs, but I would happily pay to see this one on the big screen. Masterpiece, and I forever love Sigourney Weaver. If you enjoy indie music, I recommend this song that's inspired by the movie.

08/20/2024

Kamen Rider Ryuki (2002-2003)

Big thank you to my friend Z for hosting our watch parties! It was a lot of fun. This was my first KR series. Previously, I had only seen Shin Kamen Rider which I enjoyed, especially the women of the movie, but the main character infuriated me! He was way too pathetic and not in a cute way. To go from that to a full cast of 13 riders and side characters was very refreshing for me, and I'm always a fan of battle royales. Despite the fact that this series has so many riders, it didn't feel overwhelming thanks to the introduction of the riders being spaced out.


The strong point of Ryuki is its characters. I liked most of the main cast and even my least favorite characters were made tolerable thanks to being carried by the rest of the cast or by the grace of having less screentime. The story though, was kind of a mess! There's a lot of unanswered questions and tidbits of lore that get brought up once and then never again, the inclusion of ORE Journal seemed pointless (but I'll forgive this since it gave us two queens, Shimada and Reiko) and I totally think the ending was a cop-out (even if I'm glad no one really had to die). I also was not a fan of the tinnitus simulator multiple times each episode... but I loved the characters and the rider designs so much that it was easy to overlook.


My favorite characters are Asakura, Tezuka, Shinji and Ren (and especially their dynamic together!). We were so robbed of Yui as a female rider. I've been told the movie serves as an alternate ending so I'll have to give it a watch sometime. It was such a wild ride, now we're watching Faiz but I'm not sure if we'll get to finish it and I'm also enjoying it a lot less than Ryuki admittedly.

08/03/2024

X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine (2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2013)

I'm not gonna lie, I mostly watched these movies to oogle at young Hugh Jackman, though I did enjoy them even if they didn't age well. Piotr makes a couple of cameos!! No Russian accent for his single line though, hmph. Out of all of these, I enjoyed X2 the most. During the end of The Wolverine I suddenly realized I had seen the last 10 minutes of this movie before on cable and forgot all about it. I don't really have anything to say except I enjoyed the ride of these movies and Logan sure seems to fall in love easily.

07/28/2024

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Dammit, the mouse got my money again. I really enjoyed it!! There were a crazy amount of references to movies from over a decade ago so it was fun to catch all the Easter eggs, and I laughed a lot. I brought along my Colossus figure and was very satisfied to see him in the movie for a whole 15 seconds.


06/13/2024

Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan (2005)

Watched this with friends! It wasn't good and I wish I had been able to drink during the watch party but it made me laugh a bit. The opening theme is pretty catchy. Dokuro-chan herself is really cute and I'd love to cosplay her.


05/24/2024

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Mad Max is one of my favorite film series so I was pretty excited for this one. Was it as good as Fury Road or The Road Warrior? No, and nothing ever will be, but I appreciated it for what it was. Max is completely absent except for a brief cameo. How does the timeline in this series work anyway? Max was still alive right before everything became a desert wasteland... best not to think about it, I guess.


Seeing Furiosa's origin and her homeland was refreshing and feels like a nice supplement to the previous movie. I loved Chris Hemsworth's morally grey character, he was a lot of fun to watch outside of his usual role as Thor. As for Anya... I think it worked, up until a certain point. The closer it got to present day Furiosa, the harder it was to sell considering she was originally played by Charlize Theron. The size difference sticks out like a sore thumb! At least there was no shortage of explosions. Man, I love seeing things get blown up. I want to see Immortan Joe's origin story next, which apparently is covered in a comic. I'll get to it eventually.

05/16/2024

The Fall Guy (2024)

It was entertaining, cheesy as hell, and just plain goofy. I was marginally interested in the movie from the get-go because the concept seemed interesting, but Ryan Gosling as the lead really sealed the deal for me. I was Made for Lovin' You is still stuck in my head (shout out to Mima's KISS shrine). We tried out a new fancy movie theater for this one and was very impressed with their dinner menu, but was jumpscared by a peeping tom when I went to the restroom. He's in every single stall! WHY!

04/18/2024

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

This was one of the stupidest movies I've ever seen and I loved it. It was pure brainless fun and action, full of tired tropes but still a good time. There were a lot of moments where the everything was just TOO silly or over the top and we'd burst out laughing, especially that one scene that was basically nothing but ape noises for 20 minutes straight.


Seeing my girl Mothra was such a huge treat though!! She looked very radiant and cute and not even the girl with the perpetually worried expression could damper my excitement. My friend and I kept making dumb comments and jokes about how we wanted to date Kong. After the movie, she said she wanted to make a fancam of him but it turns out, it already exists!

01/24/2024

Gurren Lagann The Movie: Childhood's End and The Lights in the Sky are Stars (2009)

The entire series gets condensed into these two movies!! We watched them both dubbed, a week apart from each other. The first movie covers the first 8 episodes of the anime and the second one covers the rest. Fanservice is eye-roll incuding but whatever, Kamina is still cute and definitely would have been on my husbando list if I had watched the anime when I was a teenager. I liked Viral a lot more this time around. The final fight in the second movie is CRAZY and so, so beautifully animated!! I need an attitude more like everyone here. Humanity is doomed you say? We're still going to try to save it anyway! I see how this show influenced Bear so much, heh...

It was kind of hilarious to see Simon go from being a twink to JACKED in a matter of seconds thanks to the power of spiral energy. I think he went Super Saiyan. That scene with everyone paralyzed by seeing the endless possibilities in front of them really resonated with me... Simon's ending was so sad though! He got the glory, saved humanity and all of the other spiral beings in the universe and just... runs away to be a vagrant for the rest of his days? I guess I'd leave too after the humilation of my fiancé dissolving into nothingness in front of everyone at the wedding. At least he has Buta with him.

01/17/2024

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)

Chicken Run was a movie I watched plenty of times as a kid on VHS and I've been a longtime fan of Wallace and Gromit too! Kind of random a sequel came out 23 years later, but I enjoyed it nontheless. Ginger and Rocky have a kid named Molly, safe on the island they inhabited after escaping the farm, but she wants to know what's beyond the island! Instead of telling her daughter the truth about why she shouldn't leave the island, she doubles down on the typical adult "because I told you so" excuse and surprise surprise, Molly does the opposite of what she's told! Surprise Pikachu face. Mrs. Tweedy is back and got a yassified makeover, her VA reprised her role but not Ginger for some reason. It wasn't groundbreaking, but I am glad it got made and I definitely liked it a lot better than Early Man.

01/09/2024

Golden Boy (1995)

I went into this one mostly blind aside from a couple of infamous clips, not knowing it's basically an ecchi and harem anime. The English dub combined with the grotesquely exaggerated expressions was hilarious, but even at 6 episodes it tends to drag on. The girl crazy protagonist, Kintarou, sports a new job every episode but eventually gets kicked out for being a toilet-obsessed freak or beaten to a pulp, or both. After he's gone, the main woman of each episode realize that wait, Kintarou was actually a great guy and fall in love with him! Rinse and repeat. It made me laugh for a couple of hours at least.

01/05/2024

The Iron Claw (2023)

I'm a (casual) pro wrestling fan, but I went into this movie not really knowing about the Von Erich brothers. It's based on their true story, but it's very dramatized and leaves out a lot, like how there was actually a sixth Von Erich brother. If you think the film is tragic, the reality of their story is even darker... The guy who played Ric Flair was terrible and there was an MJF cameo I totally missed. The ending of the movie is a real tearjerker. It may not be accurate to what happened in real life but I enjoyed it as a movie overall and think Zac Efron did a good job with his role. There's a Dark Side of the Ring episode on the Von Erichs which I plan on watching later.

01/02/2024

Pokémon Concierge (2023)

Pokémon AND stop motion animation? Count me in! Haru is a young woman who has recently been going through a tough time. Her boyfriend breaks up with her, things aren't so going well for her at work, and she keeps stepping in gum while wearing her favorite shoes! She decides to make a change and takes a new job at the Pokémon resort. She has one task in her new role as a concierge: making sure the Pokémon are having a good time!

Haru struggles with the lack of structure at her job at first (seriously, Haru?! You've got my dream job!) but quickly warms up to it and befriends a Psyduck roaming the area. I knew it being stop motion would severely limit the amount of Pokémon they could show, but I was really impressed with all the little details they packed in. And between you and me, the last episode totally made me cry at the end (my allergies allowed me to hide it thankfully, lol).

My only complaint is that it's only four episodes long, I was hoping it would be as long as the original Rilakkuma and Kaoru, but I know stop motion production is very slow. Season 2, please!