jimbecker1956

I'm not a film critic but I am a big documentary fan and lived through the Beatles and John Lennon's life. (I'm 63). I learned a lot I didn't know from this documentary, mostly about John and Yoko's relationship and how she was really his muse. To be honest I mostly thought of her as the strange woman who howled unintelligibly and broke up the Beatles. But there's so much more to the story. This is a film about music, love, social change, war, art and the media (and a lot more!). I would say there are a few too many talking head interviews but none of them are superfluous and they all add to the story and commentary. Just wish I could have seen more of John and Yoko (there's a lot but the film alludes to thousands of hours of film). Mostly I was left inspired by their creativity and willingness to take on the critics and the media and blaze their own path. Their idealism and vision was so beautiful and yet the world is an even darker place today. Yet we can always Imagine and that gives hope.

I enjoyed the first season of 30 degrees but had low expectations for season 2 as it was filmed 3 years after the first. But the creators really kicked it up a notch in terms of intensity, real emotions and characters you care about. Season 1 turned out to be more of a prelude and the characters, while interesting, never really seemed more than caricatures. In Season 2 their stories come alive and there is real drama and plenty of tears and laughter. I have to say that after watching each episode I said to myself (and my friends) "Wow". I don't know why it got so much better, if the writers changed or that they took the 3 years to really think through where they wanted the show to go. Either way, this is an example of why European television is so good. They find a way to integrate character development with social and moral issues and beautiful scenery in a truly unique way. All I can say is stick with it, I don't think you will regret it.

This is a well-done gangster film, suspenseful, never-boring and convincingly acted. At first the story seemed very confusing and I thought I wouldn't be able to figure it out. But soon it becomes (mostly) clear that this is a power struggle between rival gangs and rivals within the gangs. I lived in Japan for 4 years and while I never had any dealings with the yakuza, everything in the film seems convincing and in character with Japanese culture. As for the title of this review, the film is also incredibly bloody. There were 3 or 4 scenes when I had to cover my eyes, I just couldn't watch. I'm not big on horror films or violence in general but I'm also not a prude. In contrast to movies like Kill Bill where the violence is almost cartoonish, this film's violence seems very realistic which makes it hard-to-watch. It's not a reason not to see the film: in fact in some ways the violence serves to make the film more powerful. But if you just hate violence or can't stand seeing some blood, then this is not the film for you . As for me, I very much enjoyed it.