Review of My neighbor Totoro

      Diving into Studio Gibley, Hayao Miyazaki creates a world we should live in rather than one we occupy. A film with no villains. No fight scenes. No evil adults. No fighting between two kids. No scary monsters. No darkness before the dawn. A world that is benign.  A world where if  you meet a strange towering creature in the forest you curl up on it's tummy and have a nap.        
The movie tells the story of two young sisters Satsuki and Mei Kusakabe.  As the story open their father is driving them to the new house, near avast forest. Their mother, who is sick, has been moved to the hospital in their district.  When they move in, something peculiar happens.  when they let light into the glue, they get just a glimpse of little black fuzzy dots scaring to safety. "Probably just dust bunnies", says their father but there is an old nanny who has been hired to look after them, and she confides that they are "soot sprights" , which like abandoned houses and will pack up and leave once they hear the sound of laughter.  A few days pass by. Mei is playing in the yard, when she spots a small creature, no bigger than a kitten. After fallowing the creature for a bit,  it becomes aware of her presents and try's to give her the slip. After tracking it down again, Mei fallows it through a tunnel in the bushes then down a hole in a great big tree. When she gets to the bottom, she finds the great spirt Totoro, sleeping peacefully in its bed.  

This is an absolutely fanominal movie, from the beautiful watercolor backgrounds to fascinating story line, this is a masterpiece.  But it would not have one it's worldwide audience just because of it's warm heart. It is also rich with him and comedy in the way it observes the two remarkable convincing, life like little girls ( I speak of their personalities, not there appearance).  It Is awe- inspiring in the scenes involving Totoro, and chanting in the scenes with the cat bus. It is also a little sad, a little scary, a little surprising in just a little informative, just like life itself. If you haven't watched this movie already, I highly recommend it.

Review of Inglorious Bastards

     I know I have been on kind of a Tarantino binge but i figured that this movie was to good to postpone. The story starts in Nazi-occupied France early in the war, when the cruel, droll, Nazi Col. Hans Landa arrives on a dairy where he believes that the farmer (Denis Menochet) is hiding Jews. He is right, and after a long drawn out, suspenseful conversation, all hell breaks lose. A young woman named Shosanna (Melina Laurent) manages to escape the chaos and flee with her life. It is for this scene, and his performance throughout the movie, that shows why Christopher Waltz deserved all the praise he received from his character. He brings to life a character unlike any Nazi I have seen portrayed in a film: evil, sardonic, ironic, brilliant, and absolutely absurd.  Here is the link if you would like to watch the opening scene yourself  The Jew Hunter
                                              

     The hero of this story is Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) a hard-talking Southern boy who is the leader of the "Bastards" and wants each of them to bring back 100 Nazi scalps.                                           
The  "Bastards" themselves are a rag-tag group of Nazi killing machines dropped behind the enemy line. For years Aldo and his group have improbably survives in France, massacring and striking fear in the hearts of Nazis everywhere. Yet still manage to turn up in formal dinner ware in a moments notice. And who can forget Pitt's version of an Italian accent, which sounds about as authentic as Taco Bell's "Mexican food" tastes.

     I really like this movie, from the way it was shot, to the way QT brings the characters to life, making them so enjoyable to watch interact. Of cores tho its Tarantino, so you know there will be no shortage of violence, profanity, and absolute brutality.  I also really like this movie because QT provides WWII with a much-needed alternative ending. For once those Nazi bastards get what was coming to them. 

                   

Review of Kill Bill Vol.2

     Quinton Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol.2 is exuberant celebration of movie making. Coasting with heedless joy from one audacious chapter to another, working as a satire, working as a drama, working as irony, working as pure action. I would dare to say that Tarantino's fallow up to Kill Bill surpasses the original, being not so much a sequel as more of a continuation/backstory to Kill Bill Vol.1. The movie opens with The Bride (Uma Thurman) aka Beatrix Kiddo, behind the wheel of a car, explaining her mission; to kill Bill. As the movie progresses, you see the timeline jump from past to present, then back again. Giving a reminder and an explanation to the current events happening in the movie. It's almost like showing you a finished project, then going back and giving you all the gritty little details on how they made it, except way more interesting.
                                           
   
     Flashbacks remind us that the Bride, groom and entire wedding party were targeted by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad in a massacre at the Two Pines Wedding Chapel. Bill was responsible-- Bill who she confronts in the front porch of the chapel for a conversation that suggest the complexity and weirdness of their relationship. Bill is played by David Carradine, in a performance that shows that somehow the Bride and Bill had a real relationship, despite the preposterous details surrounding it.
                                                                               

     The Bride of course survives, waking up after a long coma. Swearing revenge on all those who wronged her, leading to long extended martial arts, sword swinging, fist to fist fight scenes, that are all extremely fun to watch.
                                          
     This is an all around great movie and I highly recommend it to anyone...Anyone 14 and up that is. 

Review of Kill Bill Vol.1

     Tarantino's blood filled, splatter-fest, Kill Bill follows the Bride (Uma Thurman) on her quest for vengeance after being left for dead on her wedding day by her former assassin squad, The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. The very first scene of this movie opens with Bill killing all of the other members of her bridal party, except the Bride. Seeing the true devastation in the Bride's emotion sets up a perfect motive for revenge in true Tarantino fashion. As the movie progresses you can see the pure skill and fury of the bride, as she slays her former teammates one by one, at one point taking on the Crazy 88s, a band of high trained mercenaries hired by O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) one of the brides former squad members.       

  Tarantino is truly on his A-game with Kill Bill. With brilliant fight choreography, amazing cinematography, and captivating characters it is a work of art and a brilliant piece to watch unfold.

     I love this movie. Not just because of the blood and violence (although that is always a plus), I love this movie because of everything else in it: from the way it was shot, down the to the costumes donned by the characters. Tarantino goes into depth to give a backstory to each character, making each fight scene even more riveting. All together this is just one hell of a movie and I 100% recommend watching it if your in the mood for a gritty action revenge thriller, with just a dash of comedy thrown into the mix.

Review of American Hero

     American Hero follows Melvin, (Stephan Dorff) a man with the ability to move objects with his mind, on a journey to try and redeem himself after spending pretty much the entirety of his life partying, doing drugs, having sex and making poor decisions. After suffering a major heart attack he decides to get his life back on track to fight for the right to see his son and start to use his powers to do good and help people instead of harming them. Helping Melvin is his life long friend Lucille,(Eddie Griffin) a veteran who was hit in the lower spine by a sniper's round in the Iraqi war causing him to lose his ability to walk. As the story progresses you start to see the good Melvin, the side of him that wants to make a difference, the side of him that just wants to be a good father and not just the druggie, alcoholic f*ck up that everyone else sees in him.  This is a very heartwarming movie, as much as it is a superhero movie. It goes to show that you can turn your life around and make a difference even if no one else thinks you can.

     I really like this movie because of the unique humor it brings to the typical superhero/action/ comedy movie.  Another really cool thing about this movie, is that it is shot as if  they are making a live documentary of his life, with cameras and crew fallowing him throughout the movie.  This movie definitely has some problems though; for one, there really isn't any flow, and it's more like segments mishmash together to create one movie. As well as the fact that Melvin's telekinetic ability is downplayed to more of a party trick then a superpower,  which I think is BS. This isn't the best movie and won't be winning any awards but I personally like the characters and the message behind it.

Review of Lucifer

     In the beginning... The Angle Lucifer was cast out of Heaven and condemned to rule Hell for all eternity, until he decided to take a vacation... The show fallows Lucifer (Tom Ellis) taking a permanent vacation to L.A. to help humanity with its miseries through his experiences and telepathic ability to bring peoples deepest desires and thoughts out of them. While meeting a girl at Lucifer's night club (The Lux) he gets involved in a shooting that subsequently ends in the death of the girl. Trying to seek out the man who killed her, leads Lucifer to becoming a LAPD consultant who tries to punish people for their crimes through law and justice. Along side Lucifer is LAPD officer Chole Decker, a former actress turned detective who wanted to be taken more seriously fallowing a topless scene in one of her previous movies; Mazikeen, Lucifer's loyal servant who is accompanying him on his vacation; and plenty more colorful characters that are introduced throughout the episodes but usually only stick around for an episode or two.

     I like this show because the plot actually fallows Lucifer, instede of having him as a side character or a villain, and it gives you a look into the Devil's life. Tom Ellis's portrail of the Devil brings a whole new light to the typical image of Satan. Full of witty one-liners, carefree antics, and plenty of sexual humor, Ellis portrays all of this, while not forgetting the unforgivable darkness that lies behind the nice exterior. This show has pretty much got it all, yet it still has its problems. Each episode is new in its own way, but it fallows the same pattern of events over and over and ends up being kind of predictable. As a whole, this show is pretty damn great in my opinion, and I definitely recommend it.

Review of Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life

     Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving life fallows Cooper Barrett (Jack Cutmore-Sott) fresh out of collage and ready to start his life. If you don't already know the show, watch this trailer before I continue thttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBDwbyH31OQ So now that you have a general understanding of the show, lets continue. Accompanying Cooper on his crazy antics is his best friend Niel Fissley (Charlie Saxton) a computer geek, searching for love; Berry Sandel (James Earl) a very flamboyant, lovable jackass, who doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word "don't do that"; Kelly Bishop (Meagan Rath)  Cooper's neighbor and semi-love interest, who has a fiery temper and a thing for older men; and Josh Barrett, Cooper's older more successful, lawyer brother, who is always there to bail them out of trouble when times get tough. 

What I like about this show is that brings action as well as comedy into-play, but without going crazy over the top, like jumping from building to building. And instead, more focuses on how real life people would react to dangerous and crazy situations, like running away screaming or something like that. Some problems with this show is how it is so fast paced and seems to need to drop a joke every 30 seconds and doesn't give you much time to breath. As well as the fact that a lot of the actors just seem to be spouting off dialogue like they are reading it off a scrip, instead of making it seem like they are coming up with it themselves. All in all I like this show,  its quirky, edgy, and brings a newish approach your typical TV show. I don't 100% recommend it tho because it just might not be your type of TV show.