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Dusk789

Australia

Dusk789

Australia
Completed
A Tender Place
1 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
Completed 2
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 8.5
Wow…

Despite its length, slow pace, and abundance of lingering shots and scenes, this movie is endlessly compelling. Not once through the three hour and twenty minute runtime did it ever feel boring or pointless, every scene had a purpose, and in that sense I would call this a perfect movie.

My appreciation for it kept on growing and growing as it went on, leading to a very thought provoking and haunting open ending.

A hidden gem, criminally underwatched, definitely something I will be thinking about for a long time.
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Completed
Soil
0 people found this review helpful
4 days ago
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
Well, that was confusing. An adaptation of Atsushi Kaneko's manga of the same name (which I have not read fully), this series was a wild ride which answered pretty much none of the questions it posed. There were a few good ideas, especially in the first and last episode, but you probably won't get much out of it unless you are a fan of the manga or enjoy obscure and bizarre Japanese media.

Aside from the fact that nothing made sense, sometimes the main characters were very annoying and felt too much like caricatures for me to get invested in them. Based on the bits of the manga I read, it seems like they are written the same there, but in the translation to live action their quirks became more irritating.

The highlights were the visuals and the directing, you can clearly notice Takashi Shimizu's influence.

You can watch the series on Youtube here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHf7uUgr1SxKeDcRv-80CqzbiGZBwM7pU

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Completed
Why Don't You Play In Hell?
0 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
Beautiful...

A love letter to movies, never a dull moment. Very light hearted but hits when it needs to, a very easy movie to enjoy and its nice seeing another more lighthearted movie from Sono after well, everything else...

The acting was great all around but Shinichi Tsutsumi especially kills it, he is an actor I wish got more recognition in the West.

An easy and fun recommendation which devolves into a slightly unsatisfying and overly goofy bloodbath by the end, but I really love the final scene. The poster is very emblematic of the movie. Interesting ending as well.

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Completed
Tokyo Sonata
0 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
A very compelling family drama with some hard hitting commentary until it goes off the rails at the introduction of Koji Yakusho's character. The events that followed felt out of character for a certain character and Yakusho's acting, while comedic and entertaining, felt like overacting and out of place.

Great ending though.
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Completed
Occult no Mori e Yokoso
0 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
This is absolutely wild, an entertaining ride with excellently choreographed action which brings together various parts of Shiraishi-san's previous movies including ectoplasmic worms, Shohei Uno (again), NEO from Cult, an alternate reality Ichikawa, and of course Shiraishi-san himself, who gets humiliated the whole miniseries. Like a combination of Cult, A Record of Sweet Murder, and Senritsu Kaiki File 06.

Shohei Uno was my favourite part of the miniseries, playing basically a knockoff Hideo Suzuki from I am a Hero if he was cooler.

Worth a watch if you are a fan of Shiraishi-san, but if you haven't I would say watching some of his other movies beforehand would boost your enjoyment a lot.

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Completed
Tag
0 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
I'm not sure wtf I just watched, I think that was one of the most confusing movies I've watched recently. A lot to unpack, a lot of wtf moments and a few genuinely pretty interesting and symbolic moments. Delivers the message with the subtlety of a nuclear bomb but also somehow leaves me dazed and confused as to what exactly the whole message was. The parts I did get though I thought were presented in an interesting way.

Legendary opening sequence, the whole movie was very well directed, good job @Sono, and CGI was used very well and seamlessly. The music was good if a bit repetitive at times, but it didn't detract from the movie. Packs so much into 85 minutes, the runtime flies by. Worth a watch if you are ok with Sono's craziness, sometimes gruesome imagery, and a really confusing story.

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Completed
Swallowtail Butterfly
0 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.0
Absolutely beautiful, amazing cinematography amplifies detailed set design in some of the best world-building I've seen recently. Compelling and powerful.

Very well written dialogue both poetic and containing interesting and powerful social commentary, all enhancing the excellent worldbuilding. The movie does a great job at selling you on both the world and the characters, and you get sucked into their struggles and endeared to them very fast. It juggles various tones very well, switching from somber and melancholic to absurdly and darkly comedic or warm and homely without feeling trying or unearned. Keeps you engaged and I could never predict where it would go next. Great ending as well. Amazing soundtrack too, not quite as good as Lily Chou-Chou's but another amazing album, both when used in the movie and as standalone music.

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Completed
Suicide Circle
0 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 10
Rewatch Value 7.0

Are you connected to yourself?

Less reliant on shock value than I was expecting, not as thought provoking as its prequel, focusing more on social commentary instead of the individual, some really good dialogue and an interesting mystery. Some really great parts, especially towards the end, and fantastic use of music. I feel like it comes close to approaching the topic almost too artistically for its own good, but I would say it is well executed.
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Completed
Strange Circus
0 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 3.0
Story 1.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 2.0
The most bleak, disturbing, and depraved movie I've seen I think, definitely the most from Sono. I don't see how he can make anything more fucked up than this tbh. Makes you feel a little gross after watching it. Doesn't really handle the subject matter with the appropriate care, Issei Ishida's performance particularly bothering me towards the end. Because of this, I don't think I can recommend it to people especially anyone who has had similar experiences to the characters.

The movie itself was very well made, I'd say from a moviemaking standpoint (not writing) it's Sono's most polished I've seen so far. The set design was fantastic, the movie was shot very beautifully at times with some really creative visual ideas and a lot of visual symbolism. The writing was also good, the plot and mystery unfurled very well, and by the end the reveals are satisfying yet still thought-provoking, although I had some gripes with how Yuji was written as it progressed. The non-linear narrative was handled well and never became convoluted. I really liked Masumi Miyazaki's performance at the end, reminded me of Mitsuru Fukikoshi as Shamoto in Cold Fish, which is one of my favourite performances.

This guy's thumbnail sums up my reaction to the movie: i.ytimg.com/vi/ycrneYdtqJ0/hqdefault.jpg

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Completed
Senritsu Kaiki World Kowasugi!
0 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 8.5
This review may contain spoilers
Needed more Kudo. He was far too sidelined and all the best, most compelling, most interesting, and most entertaining parts of the Senritsu Kaiki series are focused on him (with the exception of Final Chapter).

Has a lot of interesting implications for the lore, multiverse, and the series going forward, kinda mad they ended on such a cliffhanger though. I hope we don't have to wait another 8 years for the next episode. Didn't expect to be watching a giant floating fetus eating a rapist alive but here we are. Lacks the dread some of the earlier entries was able to instil and also isn't quite as batshit as some of the others, the next entry seems promising though. Some really good moments but I felt like I couldn't care about the new characters introduced as much as I could in previous episodes.

Love to see the gang back together though, all the actors and actresses killed it, awesome to see Kudo, Ichikawa, and Tashiro (I mean it's not like we exactly saw Tashiro) back together.

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9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 10
After the madness of Final Chapter, Kudo, Ichikawa, and Tashiro (and the Kudo method, thankfully) are back and better than ever.

For me, this is a perfect Senritsu Kaiki File! episode without the really wild stuff, but still plenty of craziness. Kudo was right, this already feels like a massive step up from the original and already great Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi! series, this really is Super. Funny, charming, endlessly enjoyable, even a bit scary near the start, but overall a really wild and batshit ride that captures the essence of what makes the series amazing.

This series is my favourite comfort movie series and this entry really fits that description. Very excited to see where this new arc goes.

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9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
Very compelling opening 40 minutes which slows down and loses steam as the episode progresses. Still fun as always and a big step up from File 02 of the original Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi! series. Some really wild stuff happens in this one. Not as interesting as File 08 but a serviceable entry and sadly the last one for seven years.
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Completed
Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi: Final Chapter
0 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 10

The End of Evangelion of found footage

Beautiful ending for a great series. Man this goes places.

(Review written after watching the entire series):
This series is well and truly one of my favourite pieces of media ever and by far my favourite piece of horror media. Endlessly comforting, scary, ambitious, batshit crazy, endearing and likeable, disturbing, and infinitely intriguing. The universe Shiraishi-san has built is so complex and interesting it has been over a decade since it started and somehow it still becomes more intricate with every entry.

Jin Kudo is one of my favourite characters ever, partially thanks to the amazing performance by Shigeo Osako, but let's not forget the rest of the fantastic cast, Chika Kuboyama's Ichikawa and Shiraishi-san's Tashiro. It wouldn't be the same without any of them. Due to some circumstances that happened while making my way through this series, it is pretty personal to me as well, and solidified itself as my favourite piece of comfort media.

Thank you, Kudo-san. Thank you, Ichikawa-san. Thank you, Tashiro-san. Thank you, Shiraishi-san. You have created, in my eyes, a masterpiece, very close to my heart, and I will forever be grateful for it. Please release File 11 soon though, I don't want to wait too long.

Well...
It's over. But we will meet in a new world. This is just the beginning. We'll see you later. Thank you very much.

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9 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 10
Absolutely wild, its crazy where this series went, you'd never expect it based on the first three. The vfx is very goofy but it has its charm.

Huge for the lore and Kudo's character, definitely not the most terrifying movie in history but has some of the best moments in the series and found footage in general from what I've seen so far. The climax has one of my favourite scenes I've seen in a movie. Kudo method is back and maybe gone too far...
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Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
Not as good as the toilet ghost one but easily the second best in the series, I really like the direction it's going in. Kudo method came back ? I hope to see more of it in the next ones. Great exorcism scenes and more really wild visuals in the climax reminiscent of the previous one.

The camerawork and the acting in the whole series is really good, the acting is really believable and you forget they are acting.
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