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Underrated Anime: Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru

By
David Harada
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Sitting at the wayside for most mystery anime, Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru is rarely heard of. With Detective Conan stealing all the mystery spotlight for many years, anything that lasts less than a season tends to fall short. While this may be the case for Sakurako-san, the anime does have its highlights and is well worth watching. If you can get past the repetitive scene where Sakurakouses her “intelligence”, you will have a good time.

Sakurako-san Summary

Upon meeting Sakurako-san, Shoutarou knew that his life would change for better or worse. Sakurako Kujou has a fascinating, yet strange hobby/profession. With an obsession with bones, she is an Osteologist, studier of bones. Although she has a dislike of interpersonal relationships she takes Shoutarou as something like an apprentice. Thanks to this Shoutarou and Sakurako are bound by fate and begin their adventures together. During their adventures, they have a habit of finding human remains as well.

Kadokawa Delivers

Sakurako-san, produced by Kadokawa, delivers in almost every regard. Starting from a compelling episodic plot to artwork that does an anime series proud. With interesting mysteries that aren’t overly complex. Instead, it lends to reality more than other shows. At the same time, the imperfections in its characters are what makes the anime. Sakurako-san despite being considered a beauty shows her flaws through emotions and character interactions. While not everything is completely believable, it brings it that much closer to reality.

Verdict

Sakurako-san is unfortunately 12 episodes long and because of this, it may leave you longing for more. However, in these twelve episodes, you can associate with the characters a fair amount, leaving the viewer satisfied. With this in mind, I highly recommend this to anyone with a bit of free time. Enjoy a bit of a mystery and decent story to boot.

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’47 Meters Down’ Review: The Biggest Surprise Of The Summer Movie Season

By
Dewey Singleton - Film Critic
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Johannes Roberts’ thriller 47 Meters Down uses a simple premise mixed with a frightening yet realistic scenario to create one of the biggest surprises of the summer movie season.

Summary

The film centers around two sisters, Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt). They are on a vacation getaway in Mexico for two very different reasons. Kate is the last minute replacement for Lisa’s boyfriend, and Lisa is trying to forget that her boyfriend just dumped her. Kate doesn’t realize this at first, but Lisa confesses to Kate about 10 minutes into the story that her ex-boyfriend accused her of being too boring. Kate immediately sets out to help Lisa make her ex very jealous. They go out for a night of drinking and inevitably meet up with two hunky Latino men. The party goes on all night long. Over the course of the drinking and dancing, they find out that these men want to take them shark-cage diving (what could go wrong?). Immediately Lisa is against the idea, but Kate wins her over with the promise of great photos that they could post on Facebook (sigh).

47 Meters Down

If Lisa wasn’t scared before, she should have been shaking when she saw the condition of Captain Taylor’s (Matthew Modine) boat. The ship appears to be held together with duct tape and a ton of prayers. Nevertheless, they still end up going through with the dive which at first seems to be going quite well. It quickly turns into a nightmare as the cable attached to the cage snaps in two and the screaming girls descend 47 meters down to the floor of the ocean. Now the girls are faced with the prospects of having been served up to the Great White Sharks below on top of their oxygen running out. Their only hope is that the Coast Guard shows up to rescue them before it is too late.

15599836_mandy-moore-shark-attack-movie-47-meters_4c2d5131_m.jpg (640×347)

What Worked

Screenwriters Ernest Riera and Johannes Roberts didn’t seek to complicate the film’s storyline. They did, however, focus their attention on creating situations where the intensity of the scares was heightened. Instead of simply just having the shark cage snap and the girls plummet below, they made sure the captain had put an obscene amount of chum in the water to attract any number of sharks. Rather than having the girls have plenty of air to last them as they await their rescue, Lisa and Kate were on the brink of their tanks being empty just after the cable snapped. Riera and Roberts are consistently playing on the audience’s deepest fears.

Even though Roberts uses CGI Sharks for the film, the lack of space in the cage creates a sense of claustrophobia for the audience. He shows us sometimes less is more.

Mandy Moore and Claire Holt certainly played their roles well. They aren’t going to win any Oscars for this film, but each had me convinced just how frightened they were.

What Didn’t Work

Matthew Modine is cast as a ship captain and attempts to look the part by growing just the weakest looking beard ever. Not every person who works on a boat has facial hair.

Overall

47 Meters Down isn’t going to compete with the likes of Cars 3 this weekend at the box-office. However, if you were to compare the overall quality of both releases, I’d have to say that 47 Meters Down is a better film. Mandy Moore and Claire Holt’s latest release offers something original to an audience which is not the case with a movie like Cars 3. Not only will 47 Meters Down scare the hell out audiences, but they will also have a good time as well.

 

 

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‘All Eyez On Me’ Review: A Ferocious Performance Is Completely Wasted

By
Dewey Singleton - Film Critic
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Demetrius Shipp Jr. delivers a ferocious performance in the lead role but is hampered by All Eyez On Me‘s disjointed and bloated narrative. 

Summary

All Eyez On Me is an attempt at telling the life story of rapper Tupac Shakur. Director Benny Boon uses Shakur’s incarceration stemming from his posse being charged with raping a young groupie as a narrative device to frame this film’s story. While in prison, Tupac agrees to a series of interviews with a journalist (played by Hill Harper). The reporter covers everything from his mother’s involvement in the Black Panther movement, his dad’s arrest for armed robbery, and his big break with the band Digital Underground. The film goes off in a different direction when Mr. Shakur is released from prison and signs with Death Row Records. We see the influence of Suge Knight on his career as Tupac quickly ascends to the top once again only to see his life tragically ended at the age of 25.

All Eyez On Me

What Worked

Casting Demetrius Shipp as Tupac was absolutely a great decision. He was able to capture the intensity of the young performer and embody the intelligent man that he was. Anytime he was on stage performing or in the midst of creating Tupac’s sound in the studio; I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. His performance was one of the best of the summer. It’s a shame it was wasted on a film this rife with issues.

Jarret Ellis nailed his role of playing Snoop.

Danai Gurira was tremendous as Afeni Shakur. Gurira was able to project strength towards others as she fought for equality and love for her children even when she was deep in the throes of addiction.

What Didn’t Work

This type of project should not have ended up in Director Benny Boom’s hands. While I understand that other directors had quit this project, a biography of such a controversial pop culture icon shouldn’t have fallen in the lap of a director whose best work involved music videos. Boom’s simply not a story teller. He can capture the best in a music performance which is why Shipp’s performance stood out. If you give this film to a Spike Lee, Ryan Cooger, F. Gary Gray, or John Singleton, then the result could have been entirely different.

The film seemed very concerned with covering every single part of Shakur’s life rather than attempting to develop a story for the audience. Writers Eddie Gonzalez, Jeremy Haft, and Steven Bagatourian appeared to craft this narrative by Googling Tupac. Yes, we understand that his mother was a member of the Black Panther party but how did that shape his thinking? We know that going to prison changed Tupac but how did that impact his personal life? The film is extremely thin and plays out more like an episode of Behind the Music than any feature film.

Apparently, Jada Pinkett and Tupac went to the same high school in New York and rather than exploring this relationship they turned into a will they/won’t they narrative. Very melodramatic and nothing more.

Overall

All Eyez On Me is a perfect example of how having the perfect lead doesn’t guarantee a great final product. Having the correct team of director and writers is often what makes or breaks a film. F. Gary Gray didn’t just have scene upon scene of how the members of N.W.A. grew up; he told the story of how racial injustice impacted the crew. Audiences already know who Tupac and N.W.A. are so, please tell us something new. Where’s the untold story? In Straight Outta Compton, we somewhat saw the untold story. In All Eyez On Me, what we got was shameful. The great performances in the film are wasted on a disjointed narrative that wants to tell us everything but fails to do so. Everyone is well aware of what Tupac did during his career but why should I be motivated to spend money on your version of events? The answer is that no one should as All Eyez On Me is a complete waste of time and an insult to Tupac’s legacy.

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Sony’s ‘Venom’ Movie Takes Place In Marvel Cinematic Universe; Tom Holland To Cameo?

By
Aric Sweeny
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Monkeys Fighting Robots

Think this whole Spider-Man/MCU/Venom situation couldn’t get any more complicated? Well, think again.

An interview with Amy Pascal, a Sony Executive, and Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President, shows Pascal claiming that all of these recently announced Spider-Man spinoff films take place within the Marvel cinematic universe.

Although we’ve been told the universes will be kept seperate, it looks like that is not the case any longer.

“Those movie will all take place in the world that we’re creating for Peter Parker. I mean, they’ll be adjunct to it; they may be different locations, but it will still all be in the same world and they will be connected to each other as well.”

After being asked about the chance of Tom Holland appearing in a Sony-developed Spidey spinoff, she said:

“[Laughing] There’s always a chance.”

Is this a backdoor way of getting R-rated films in the MCU? Given that a true Venom movie likely needs the mature rating to be done well, this might be the solution.

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James Gunn Shares ‘GotG Vol. 2’ Father’s Day Photo

By
Aric Sweeny
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Monkeys Fighting Robots

To celebrate Father’s Day, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn has shared a photo on Instagram. To understand the implications of the image and caption, one must have seen Gunn’s latest film.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVe_y3AjCqs/?taken-by=jamesgunn&hl=en

“Set to the backdrop of ‘Awesome Mixtape #2,’ Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand.”

GotG Vol. 2 stars Chris Pratt as Star-Lord/Peter Quill, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Kurt Russel as Ego The  Living Planet, Karen Gillian as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, and Sylvester Stallone in a currently unknown role. The film is directed by James Gunn.

The film is still in theaters. Take your Dad to see it before it’s gone!

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A Love Letter To ‘Batman & Robin’ On The 20th Anniversary

By
EJ Moreno
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‘Batman & Robin’ Is The Gayest Superhero Film Of All Time

I’m not here to tell you that Batman & Robin is good. It’s impossible, especially after the director has publicly apologized for making the movie. But I’ve always had a spot in my heart for the campy Joel Schumacher movie.

Seeing it in my youth, the film is just a colorful assault on the eyes with eccentric characters & slapstick humor. Much like the 1960’s Batman, it plays to a child-like wonderment. Comparing the two, you can see many similarities between Adam West and George Clooney’s performances. Even the score & sound effects seem lifted from an episode of the show; the only thing missing are the “POWS!” and “BAMS!”. This is before I found out others thought Batman & Robin was a soulless cash grab or it exists only as a way to further the franchise from Tim Burton’s grim Batman Returns. In the eyes of the ignorant, it’s just harmless fun.

For me, Batman is the most versatile character in fiction. I love the brutal & callous version we see in Batman v Superman and I love the cartoony fun time in this incarnation. My love for this version made more sense when I later found out that Clooney played Bruce Wayne/Batman as a homosexual. Of course! It’s like a super gay bell rang in my head. The gay subtext also helps explain why Batman would keep around the annoying yet hunky Chris O’Donnell’s Robin. Touching on this subject matter is very meta. For decades, some questioned why Bruce Wayne would keep young boys as sidekicks. Batman & Robin took that idea and ran away with it…for better or worse.

“I was in a rubber suit and I had rubber nipples. I could have played Batman straight, but I made him gay.”
–George Clooney to Barbra Walters (2006)

Homoeroticism aside, Batman & Robin also has the two best Batman movie villains that aren’t named The Joker. Batman’s film franchise has a problem with no villain ever coming close to The Joker. The Nolan series is a perfect example but even the three Batman movies in the 1990’s struggle. Matching the legacy of Jack Nicholson’s Joker is hard. That curse broke momentarily with the memorable Mr. Freeze & Poison Ivy. Played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman respectively, the two understood what movie they were starring in and played it for the back row.

Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze is probably one of the most quotable movie characters ever. I won’t credit the screenwriters for much but they did find a variety of cold puns! Portraying Victor Fries in this way feels like another callback to the 60’s as Arnold Schwarzenegger would fit in with Cesar Romero’s Joker and Burgess Meredith’s Penguin. Other than The Terminator, no other Arnold performance sticks in our brains like this.

He has competition for chewing up the scenery because Uma Thurman lives comfortably in the Poison Ivy skin. I often cite Thurman as one of the first drag queens that I remember. She encapsulates this campy style of acting that I can only compare to Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest. Every word Poison Ivy utters comes with Mae West attitude. She also looks straight from the animated series. Nothing about her performance feels wrong.

Batman & Robin
(Uma Thurman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jeep Swenson)

Getting to look at this film as an adult brings the same joy as it did 20 years ago. Being on countless “worst movies ever” lists makes it a prime candidate to be a cult classic. And that’s exactly what happened! Somewhere along the way, this insane Joel Schumacher movie found a fanbase. Gaining a cult following helps a movie live on forever in infamy.

Everything feels intentional in Batman & Robin. While cast & crew have apologized to disappointed fans, they knowingly made those decisions. And why should they be sorry? No one could know Warner Bros would put the franchise on an 8-year hiatus. They set out to make the campiest Batman ever and succeeded.

Like I said at the start, my intention wasn’t to sell Batman & Robin as something it wasn’t. The goal is to simply show there is a vocal minority who actually enjoy this film. Everyone deserves a little love on their 20th birthday!

It may not be the Batman and Robin of your youth but it was mine. I’ll never apologize for loving this masterclass in camp. And if you can’t find anything to praise about this movie…just remember that without this fiery crash, you’d have no Nolan Batman.

Let me know your feelings about 1997’s Batman & Robin in the comments below!

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Book Review: Brad Ricca’s ‘Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures Of Jerry Siegel And Joe Shuster – The Creators Of Superman’

By
Anthony Caruso
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Monkeys Fighting Robots

Once I planned on reviewing books telling the histories of both Wonder Woman and Batman, along with their respective creators, I knew that I would have to do another to round off this series by reviewing a novel covering the last member of DC’s trinity and the two men who created him. While Jill Lepore’s The Secret History of Wonder Woman had a tendency to read like a history textbook, which covered the time period in which William Moulton Marston lived, and Glen Weldon’s The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture reads like a detailed timeline of Batman’s evolution and the resulting factions of fandoms that sprung up in response to the character over the years, Brad Ricca’s Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster – The Creators of Superman strikes the perfect balance between establishing a historical context, telling complete author biographies, and laying out a timeline of the Man of Steel’s development through the years.

Continue
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Check Out This New ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Poster

By
Aric Sweeny
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Monkeys Fighting Robots

Artist Matt Ferguson has shared his official Spider-Man: Homecoming poster. It features your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, along with Iron Man and the
Avengers tower. Check it out below.

Spider-Man: Homecoming poster“A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.”

Are you looking forward to the film? How do you feel about the poster? Comment below, let us know!

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Ryan Reynolds Releases First Look At ‘Deadpool 2’ Filming

By
Kieran McLean
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It looks like we’ll be getting to see the iconic X-Mansion (and maybe a few X-Men) in Deadpool 2. Ryan Reynolds created what can only be described as the best marketing campaign of all time with Deadpool, and it looks like he’s gonna try it again with the sequel. Reynolds just revealed that Deadpool 2 has officially started principal photography, releasing an awesome behind-the-scenes image of himself back in the costume.

Also Read: Josh Brolin Cast as Cable in ‘Deadpool 2’

Check out the image below:

Deadpool 2

Deadpool 2 will be directed by David Leitch, with Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, and Stefan Kapičić all returning from the first movie. The film will introduce new cast members Josh Brolin, Zazie Beetz, Jack Kesy, and Shioli Kutsuna. 

Deadpool will land to theaters on June 1, 2018! 

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‘Attack on Titan’ Season 3 Confirmed For 2018

By
Aric Sweeny
-
Monkeys Fighting Robots

Attack on Titan is getting a third season

The anime’s official Twitter account confirmed it today, after it was announced in a live broadcast.

No other details are known.

Are you excited for the next season of Attack on Titan? Sound off in the comments below.

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