charlie_ishiyama
Joined Aug 2007
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charlie_ishiyama's rating
The story begins with a math genius high school boy Kenji and his secret idol Natsuki going back to her hometown Nagano to celebrate her great grandmother's 90th birthday. One night, Kenji unintentionally helped crack the security code of a second life net community called "OZ" where billions of users communicate and live. Eventually a single password crack in virtual reality caused an enormous disaster to the real world. And young hero and heroin, and heroin's families are united and determined to fight against their overwhelming enemy.
The characters, designed by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, including a young hero and heroin, are all vivid and adorable enough to make me feel that I actually want to be with them and related to the family. Also I think it was a right decision for a casting director not to use popular TV personalities for commercialism because I often witnessed their unexceptionally poor voice acting destroying masterpieces into pieces. Here the voice acting by the experienced actors or actresses enlivened all the characters, especially the great grandmother's affectionate yet dignified voice was just awesome.
The script woven by Satoko Okudera involved me into the story from the beginning to the end. The advanced internet technology and the traditional large family of Japan are cleverly integrated into one cloth, not contradicting to one another. The main plot of the movie is the fiction, however, I read and watch similar types of accidents on the paper or TV now and then. And the fact, I think, added the reality and impact to the story.
In 2006, Mamoru Hosoda proved himself a promising animation director in "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time". This time he proved himself a truly talented story teller who is capable of entertaining anyone regardless of age, gender, or culture. In this movie, he successfully had a virtual network and a real life coexist and interact with each other seamlessly in order to make the 'save-the-world' type main plot as tangible as possible and let it roller-coaster on. The reason why I called this a masterpiece is that this is not a mere roller coaster; he elaborately described the family tie, the growth of youths, and the romance between the young hero and heron, too.
Up until today, the avatars on the internet were just 2D/3D images or computer programs for me. But after the end roll of this movie, I've become aware that he or she actually lives behind avatars and I am "connected" to them in some way through the internet. It is a highly recommended animation film!
The characters, designed by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, including a young hero and heroin, are all vivid and adorable enough to make me feel that I actually want to be with them and related to the family. Also I think it was a right decision for a casting director not to use popular TV personalities for commercialism because I often witnessed their unexceptionally poor voice acting destroying masterpieces into pieces. Here the voice acting by the experienced actors or actresses enlivened all the characters, especially the great grandmother's affectionate yet dignified voice was just awesome.
The script woven by Satoko Okudera involved me into the story from the beginning to the end. The advanced internet technology and the traditional large family of Japan are cleverly integrated into one cloth, not contradicting to one another. The main plot of the movie is the fiction, however, I read and watch similar types of accidents on the paper or TV now and then. And the fact, I think, added the reality and impact to the story.
In 2006, Mamoru Hosoda proved himself a promising animation director in "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time". This time he proved himself a truly talented story teller who is capable of entertaining anyone regardless of age, gender, or culture. In this movie, he successfully had a virtual network and a real life coexist and interact with each other seamlessly in order to make the 'save-the-world' type main plot as tangible as possible and let it roller-coaster on. The reason why I called this a masterpiece is that this is not a mere roller coaster; he elaborately described the family tie, the growth of youths, and the romance between the young hero and heron, too.
Up until today, the avatars on the internet were just 2D/3D images or computer programs for me. But after the end roll of this movie, I've become aware that he or she actually lives behind avatars and I am "connected" to them in some way through the internet. It is a highly recommended animation film!
Basically I go to the theater without any previous knowledge such as user comments, reviews, or trailers simply because they spoil my pleasure and excitement. On the other hand, I refer to some basic information such as ratings, votes, or people in the film in order to judge whether it's a crap or a must-go.
"Star Trek" got 8.4 points out of 10 by 74,479 audiences (June 2009). Demographic breakdown says more than half of viewers rated 9-10, and female viewers, who usually stay away from Sci-fi stuff, rated a bit higher than male counterparts, which could probably mean main character is a pretty boy and there is a romantic subplot.
According to the director's profile, this J.J. Abrams got Emmys, so he had built certain careers on TV dramas. My first impression from his pictures is that he is the son of Henry Kissinger. Jewish? Anyway I've got a hunch that he is a genius nerd type of guy who are crazy about "Star Trek" and good at grabbing the audiences toward the story with thrill and suspense. Anyway it's a must-go.
OK, I watched the Star Trek (2009). Now I skip synopsis or plot as usual; you can get it at IMDb or the official site. I'm gonna touch on my impressions or comments for your reference.
Actually I am not a fervent Trekkiest like Abrams, but I liked it a lot. Main plot is the revenge. The opponents had earthy reasons to attack USS Enterprise and fight against United Federation of Planets. Both main plot and other sub plots made the story involving. This is not a mere good versus evil stuff.
Another thing is that the quality of computer graphics of universe and star ships was superb. Especially when I saw the full-scale USS Enterprise, I found adrenaline rushed through my body. As for people, I found the young Kirk, Spok and other crews as lively and humane as the original ones. I really look forward to watching the sequel and meeting them.
Unless you've got a big TV set at home just like me, I recommend that you go to the theater and enjoy this master piece at a big screen.
"Star Trek" got 8.4 points out of 10 by 74,479 audiences (June 2009). Demographic breakdown says more than half of viewers rated 9-10, and female viewers, who usually stay away from Sci-fi stuff, rated a bit higher than male counterparts, which could probably mean main character is a pretty boy and there is a romantic subplot.
According to the director's profile, this J.J. Abrams got Emmys, so he had built certain careers on TV dramas. My first impression from his pictures is that he is the son of Henry Kissinger. Jewish? Anyway I've got a hunch that he is a genius nerd type of guy who are crazy about "Star Trek" and good at grabbing the audiences toward the story with thrill and suspense. Anyway it's a must-go.
OK, I watched the Star Trek (2009). Now I skip synopsis or plot as usual; you can get it at IMDb or the official site. I'm gonna touch on my impressions or comments for your reference.
Actually I am not a fervent Trekkiest like Abrams, but I liked it a lot. Main plot is the revenge. The opponents had earthy reasons to attack USS Enterprise and fight against United Federation of Planets. Both main plot and other sub plots made the story involving. This is not a mere good versus evil stuff.
Another thing is that the quality of computer graphics of universe and star ships was superb. Especially when I saw the full-scale USS Enterprise, I found adrenaline rushed through my body. As for people, I found the young Kirk, Spok and other crews as lively and humane as the original ones. I really look forward to watching the sequel and meeting them.
Unless you've got a big TV set at home just like me, I recommend that you go to the theater and enjoy this master piece at a big screen.
Basically I go to the theater without any previous knowledge such as user comments, reviews, or trailers simply because they spoil my pleasure and excitement. On the other hand, I refer to some basic information such as ratings, votes, or people in the film in order to judge whether it's a crap or a must-go.
"The Reader" got 7.7 points out of 10 by 28789 audiences (June 2009). Thinking about Winslet's Oscar, the number of votes seemed kind of small to me but demographic breakdown says 65% of audiences, regardless of age and gender, rated 8 or greater. As for the people in the film, I liked Winslet on "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004), Daldry's directing on "Billy Elliot" (2000). Right, I think it's a must-go for me.
OK. I watched the "The Reader". Now let me just skip synopsis or plot here; you can get it at IMDb or the official site, right? I will touch on my impressions or comments for your reference. Actually I wrote paper on "Holocaust" at college but I really learned how horrible it was from the movies, not a textbook. "Life Is Beautiful" (1999) , "The Pianist" (2002), etc.
For me, this is the first time to see a movie which described the viewpoint of perpetrators, not of the victims. So I thought the story seemed new and unique to me. Also the best reward of this movie was Winslet's outstanding performance. If I could borrow a quote from Eastwood, Winslet "Just stood there and spoke the truth", and she made her acting real.
On the other hand, I felt that the movie could have been much better with less naked scenes or love affair and with more depictions of reading and mental interactions between Hanna (Winslet) and her lovely kid. I expected hope for life, not despair, would come to Hanna as a result of her redemption, you know. To be honest, I was not fully satisfied with the ending. If you are eager to watch Winslet's acting AND her voluptuous body, I guess it's worth watching at a big screen.
"The Reader" got 7.7 points out of 10 by 28789 audiences (June 2009). Thinking about Winslet's Oscar, the number of votes seemed kind of small to me but demographic breakdown says 65% of audiences, regardless of age and gender, rated 8 or greater. As for the people in the film, I liked Winslet on "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004), Daldry's directing on "Billy Elliot" (2000). Right, I think it's a must-go for me.
OK. I watched the "The Reader". Now let me just skip synopsis or plot here; you can get it at IMDb or the official site, right? I will touch on my impressions or comments for your reference. Actually I wrote paper on "Holocaust" at college but I really learned how horrible it was from the movies, not a textbook. "Life Is Beautiful" (1999) , "The Pianist" (2002), etc.
For me, this is the first time to see a movie which described the viewpoint of perpetrators, not of the victims. So I thought the story seemed new and unique to me. Also the best reward of this movie was Winslet's outstanding performance. If I could borrow a quote from Eastwood, Winslet "Just stood there and spoke the truth", and she made her acting real.
On the other hand, I felt that the movie could have been much better with less naked scenes or love affair and with more depictions of reading and mental interactions between Hanna (Winslet) and her lovely kid. I expected hope for life, not despair, would come to Hanna as a result of her redemption, you know. To be honest, I was not fully satisfied with the ending. If you are eager to watch Winslet's acting AND her voluptuous body, I guess it's worth watching at a big screen.