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babybirdie22
Reviews
Sukeban deka: Kôdo nêmu = Asamiya Saki (2006)
Unrelenting Silliness
If camp is your thing, and you don't mind character actors whose characters are never fully explained, and you want the FLASH and BANG, then this is the movie for you. Total tongue-and-cheek piece of work, especially the costumes (just seeing the main character's final costume is worth the price of the film!).
Grown-ups and teens are treated as distinct species here, and the film handles the theme of teen loneliness and alienation with lots of humor. But it's a little long, and sometimes the film focuses on quirks and gimmicks at the expense of plot--I know, I know, it's camp, but even camp needs a plot!
Was tun, wenn's brennt? (2001)
A film for anarchists and wannabe anarchists
What a fantastic film! The opening sequence alone is a dazzler, and the whole premise of how to handle one's youthful indiscretions (and how others should handle them) is very well played out indeed. This film is a visual delight, and the fact that you can understand the various characters' metamorphoses, both in the gap of time missed and in the film itself, easily complements the brilliant cinematography.
The protagonists were a group of young anarchists with a film camera that have all morphed into various dimmer, adult versions of themselves. It's that camera work that gets them in trouble and reunites this group.
The timing is fast, the dialogue crisp, and the characters dynamic, humorous, and touching. At first I was a bit disappointed with the ending. Seemed too Hollywood. But in retrospect, I realized that Hollywood would never have allowed such an ending.
Let it burn!
Mind the Gap (2004)
Best Narrative Feature at SXSW!
You come to care for the lives of a disparate and disperse handful of unfulfilled characters (whether they know it or not), and on their journeys, physical and emotional, their lives intersect in unusual ways. A very tight story, top-notch acting, a beautiful film. I cared for each character and even cried for two of them. Best child actor I've seen in years, too. One plot shift, however, shook my suspension of disbelief, hence the 9 and not the 10. Otherwise a seamless film.