#TheYoungFolks.com

[natehoodreviews]

The Tribeca Film Festival this year has been…weird. Naturally, certain changes were inevitable thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the festival’s scrambled response resulted in an unusual system where only major, triple-A publications were given access to their complete screener library. Everyone else had to make due with a severely truncated selection. Even worse, the films initially offered didn’t always remain available—some distributors got cold feet at the last minute and pulled their films from the festival after they’d been provided to critics. More than one writer found themselves tearing their hair out after learning they wouldn’t be allowed to post reviews they’d written because the films had been officially withdrawn. But still, the festival plowed on. So we have here now presented in alphabetical order ten of the films showing at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

[To read more, click on the link!]

[nodracula]

8.2.21 ‘RUROUNI KENSHIN THE BEGINNING’ KEISHI OHTOMO Review: A star-crossed love drawn in blood Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning is the conclusive prequel that sees director Keishi Ohtomo return in his adaptation of the 1999 iconic OVA Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal. With this last release, The Beginning lays a foundation for Himura Kenshin’s story for the entire series. While this film functions as a prequel to the main Rurouni Kenshin franchise, it’s also a self contained narrative detailing the past of Kenshin, seen here as Battōsai The Manslayer, and is intrinsically tied to the narrative of the film’s co-star, Kasumi Arimura as Tomoe, and her brother Enishi, the antagonist of The Final released earlier in 2021. The Beginning is one of the most beautiful and raw genre films recently released. To declare that the film is a definitive “best anime adaptation” does a disservice to its caliber as a work of cinema. However, as a work adapted from manga and anime, a format often mired with struggle adapting to film, The Beginning is a shining example and one that may even improve upon a most beloved source material. Over the last decade, the Rurouni Kenshin series has been praised for its heightened realism and exaggerated fantastical approach. These elements set them apart from the modern repertoire of Chambara and Jidaigeki costume drama. This, in tandem with action director Kenji Tanigaki, a protégé of Donnie Yen’s since the 90s, creates an innovative marriage of Wuxia, Japanese style swordsmanship and Hong Kong style action. The Beginning, however, is a tonally different film from the rest of the franchise. It keeps the fast, gritty pace of Hong Kong action cinema while balancing Shakespearean drama, feverish action and political intrigue. It prioritizes accessibility without contrivance or need for knowledge in Japanese politics or culture. You also don’t need to know anything about Rurouni Kenshin to view this film as its own isolated tragedy.Set ten years before Rurouni Kenshin: Origins (2012), Himura Kenshin works as a political assassin for the Choshu, a group of Anti-Shogunate revolutionaries, working to overthrow the Shogun and bring upon the Meiji Restoration. An era of brutality and unrest, the visual language of the entire film articulates this with muted earth tones and frigid blues. There is far less vibrancy here compared to the other films, suitable for a world with very little color or levity, conveying Kenshin’s psychology as he becomes entrenched in war. Kenshin appears here as a reaper, donned in black through most of the film, emblematic of his anonymous moniker as Battosai, supported by lead actor Takeru Satoh with a performance that is a dark mirror to his presence as Kenshin in years past. That is until the film’s climax, where he’s cast in white representing atonement, paralleling Tomoe Yukishiro’s appearance, and her influence inciting his transformation into the pacifistic vagrant he would become. Through costuming, art direction, and performance, the film deftly explores the grey area of morality in each of its characters, and much of that color is exhaled by Tomoe, whose mysterious story is slowly unfurled. They present her as a character Kenshin perceives with a pure, phantasmal presence in contrast to the horrors of war around him. Kenshin spends his nights weaving through Kyoto’s underworld, slaughtering figureheads of the Shogunate, as he moves with greater ferocity than we’ve seen before. His only trace is the sheer carnage, striking tableaus, and a leaflet with a symbol that reads “Justification for Execution.” He’s an emotionless husk throughout this civil war, recruited at a young age by Choshu. He remains in a perpetual state of dissociation in light of the death he brings nightly for the sake of peace. As a result, he withdraws from his colleagues in the rebellion and becomes a recluse. Lead actor Takeru Satoh’s depressive, slight figure as Battosai is a phenomenal articulation of the character and his psychology and shows the adeptness he can maintain with the origins of a character he has played on camera for a decade.

The duality of Kenshin and his fictionalized dissociative personality disorder has never been more prevalent than it is in The Beginning. As he wields a sword like a frenzied demon in the streets of Kyoto, his disposition subsequently softens and mellows into a domestic life with Tomoe following a pivotal midpoint. Satoh and Arimuras’ delicate chemistry is conveyed through their lingering gazes and body language, elevated by a gorgeous, meditative atmosphere that permeates the film’s rich sense of place and artistry. Kenshin and Tomoe are extensions of one another in how love and hate are two sides of the same coin: Kenshin is consumed only by death, and Tomoe, lamenting a lost love through an obsessive desire for revenge. It leaves them as two shattered souls, once idealistic, now living in ghostly, broken hearted contradiction. It’s a tragic, tender dynamic that fills the air with a sadness so profound, and is juxtaposed with the frenetic and crisp choreography that maneuvers like bloody poetry. The film’s climax that results from this story is a stunning cinematic foil to the third act of The Final. Where the duel between Enishi and Kenshin pulls out all the stops in what you’d come to expect from the last act to a Rurouni Kenshin film, the climax to The Beginning is a near silent contrast. It’s the bitter torment and deterioration of Battōsai The Manslayer, dehumanizing him until his only remaining senses are the touch of snow on his skin and the lingering smell of blood. The choreography in this final sequence takes a minimalist approach to increase the weight of its emotional impact. Instead of being comparable to traditional manga and anime, these sequences emulate the works of Akira Kurosawa and the Chambara genre. This finale evokes a similarity to the choreography of Rashōmon, where two vulnerable men desperately cling to life while attempting to slay one another, without grace or dexterity, but clamoring for survival. It’s a brilliant, necessary deviation from the climaxes of the films that came before it. Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning is a harrowingly gorgeous film about an ephemeral love splintered by the times. It’s one that can be experienced isolated or in the context of the other films in the series, and its themes are conveyed beautifully in either case. As the ten year culmination in a series of films that ultimately discloses everything about Rurouni Kenshin, not only is it of supreme, self-contained caliber in its own right, it further illuminates the quality and narrative retroactively to this film’s predecessors. Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning is now streaming on Netflix worldwide.  Written for TheYoungFolks.com ー  ‘Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning’ review: A star-crossed love drawn in blood

[huttson-blog]

NYAFF Opening Night Review: ‘Samurai Marathon’ races towards confusion — The Young Folks

Read more at The Young Folks

— by Nathanael Hood: The New York Asian Film Festival returns for its eighteenth year, kicking off its annual celebration of some of the strangest, weirdest, and most eclectic filmmaking throughout Asia. The opening night film was the North American premiere of Bernard Rose’s Samurai Marathon which debuted earlier this February in Japan…

Image courtesy of NYAFF

June…

[jeremyleerennerdotcom]

“[renner] finally gets the character he’s deserved to play all along. cory embodies everything that makes an iconic action hero. he’s reserved and charming while harboring deep emotional pain underneath. while certainly pleasant and affable, if crossed, he turns into an almost god-like force of nature destroying everything in his path”

 - michael fairbanks at theyoungfolks.com on wind river

[macman521]

Good read on Arrow treatment of Black Canary.

[renee-walker]

Daryl will remain in the Kingdom for sanctuary, hopefully getting the message across to Ezekiel (and presumably find Carol).

Aaron Neuwirth, theyoungfolks.com, 2.13.17 [x]

[mklopez]

Supernatural: 5 Reasons To Be Excited For Season 13 Katey Stoetzel, theyoungfolks.com

Though some say Supernatural has runs its course, it’s time for the show to turn thirteen. (I am not one of those “some” — season eleven remains my favorite season of the latter half of Supernatural, …

[urockradio]

From the Record Crate: Queens of the Stone Age - "Songs for the Deaf" | The Young Folks

From the Record Crate: Queens of the Stone Age – "Songs for the Deaf" | The Young Folks

{$inline_image} U-Rock Newspaper

theyoungfolks.com – It’s no secret among the socially unlucky that Queens of the Stone Age have roots in a certain microsubgenre known as “desert rock.” The term has never really worked for me; maybe especially when it …

Tweeted by @cotcip https://twitter.com/cotcip/status/901874335627046912
 {$excerpt:n} Source: U-Rock Newspaper

[rangga0411]

via Berita Hari Ini http://ift.tt/2wmaAHc

Haloo kengkawan! Kalo ngebahas soal film paling buruk, agak beban juga sih ya, tapi gw menulis ini berdasarkan sumber yang jelas. Mungkin film terburuk ini juga ditulis berdasarkan beberapa opini penikmati film, kritikus dan para sineas film. Kira-kira kenapa dianggap paling buruk ya? Kuy kita simak saja bersama-sama!

Yoga Hosers

Sumber: theyoungfolks.com

Yoga Hosers adalah jenis film yang cocok lo tonton ketika di akhir pekan bareng temen-temen. Tapi, dibanding dengan karya Kevin Smith yang dulu mempesona seperti Clerks dan Dogma, film ini dianggap yang terburuk. Yoga Hosers merupakan film humoris, tapi tanpa penonton. Artinya, film ini dibuat comedy, tapi penonton tidak tau di menit ke berapa mereka harus tertawa.

X-Men: Apocalyse

Sumber: theyoungfolks.com

Film X-Men Apocalyse adalah jenis film paling buruk yang pernah dibuat, ibarat kata, lu harus benci sama apa yang lu suka. Di waktu yang juga tidak tepat, mereka membuat Deadpool di tiga bulan sebelumnya. Sementara, Bryan Singer berhasil dalam filmnya yang berjudul Days of Future Past. Sangat disayangkan ketika melihat aktor kelas James Mcavoy, Michael Fassbender, dan Oscar Isaac diseret ke cerita yang membosankan. Satu-satunya orang yang peduli dengan sedikit penonton hanya Jennifer Lawrence.

Dirty Grandpa

Sumber: theyoungfolks.com

Kalo dilihat dari judulnya Dirty Granpa, intinya hanya satu: kotor. Film ini bercerita tentang sebuah road-trip komedi yang dibintangi Zac Efron dan Robert DeNiro  yang diisi dengan off-brand, ofensif, komentar menghina, seksisme, homofobia dan rasisme yang merajalela. Duh, ngeri sih ya.

Independence Day 2

Sumber: theyoungfolks.com

Rasanya seperti sudah cukup membuat film blockbuster, seakan men-cap semua film sekuel hanya bersemangat di awal dan mulai terasa basi. Setelah sukses dengan film pertama, Roland Emmerich jatuh tenggelam di dasar kedalaman pembuatan film. Sekarang, dia telah mencapai titik di mana setiap studio menghapus lisensi yang memungkinkan dia untuk membuat film.

Suicide Squad

Sumber: theyoungfolks.com

David Ayer, Penulis dan Sutradara film Suicide Squad seharusnya tau betul tentang ide cerita dan premis dari Suicide Squad. Will Smith sebagai Deadshot terlalu canda, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje tidak seram sebagai pembunuh Croc, Harley Quinn tertangkap di tangan roh jahat komik, sementara Jared Leto sama sekali tidak terlihat menyeramkan sebagai Joker. Menurut gw pribadi agak kasian sih sama Jared Leto—yang—ternyata scene-nya sedikit banget dan banyak dipotong. Padahal sebelumnya, film garapan DC ini amat menggembar-gemborkan seorang Joker.

قالب وردپرس

[natehoodreviews]

Former Olympian Alexi Pappas has all the makings of a great actress, if only someone could get her to stop acting. Throughout her new film Olympic Dreams, directed by long-time partner Jeremy Teicher, she’s perpetually on the edge of a nervous breakdown, her eyes rheumy, her face trembling, her voice cracking as she veers closer and closer to the precipice. She plays Penelope, a painfully introverted cross-country skier at the 2018 Winter Olympics at Pyeongchang who faces an existential crisis when her team places near last in their event on one of the first days of competition. Left with almost two weeks to stew in her own misery, she falls into a deep depression, desperate to find new direction after flunking out of the one thing she’s spent her life preparing for. Pappas can’t be faulted for the verisimilitude of her performance—she obviously channels many of the emotions she must’ve felt when she placed seventeenth in the Women’s 10km at the 2016 Summer Olympics at Rio. The issue is that there’s precious little ebb and flow to her character arc; it feels like she’s perpetually channeling Gena Rowlands in the last act of a Cassavetes film. There are several moments—particularly a scene where she admires the medal of a winning athlete and reacts to her taking it back like a nervous mother being gently separated from her newborn preemie—where you throw up your hands and say that it’s just too much.

To read the rest of this piece, click on the link!

Published on TheYoungFolks.com

[figureskate-en]

Movie Review: ‘Tokyo Tribe’

#Figureskate #YosukeTakeuchi [theyoungfolks.com]In his immaculate dining room the corpulent, cannibalistic Lord Buppa (Riki Takeuchi) holds court. By his side, his son Nkoi (Yôsuke Kubozuka) greedily surveys the “new arrivals;” young women pulled off the street. Some will end up on the table before ...

[jculture-en]

Movie Review: ‘Tokyo Tribe’

#Figureskate #YosukeTakeuchi [theyoungfolks.com]In his immaculate dining room the corpulent, cannibalistic Lord Buppa (Riki Takeuchi) holds court. By his side, his son Nkoi (Yôsuke Kubozuka) greedily surveys the “new arrivals;” young women pulled off the street. Some will end up on the table before …

[an-honest-puck]

Consider this a love letter to the superhero I look up to the most: Captain America.

http://theyoungfolks.com/film/captain-america-doesnt-need-to-be-a-jerk-to-be-interesting/30491

(P.s. Bonus points to the author of the piece, who did a wonderful job of explaining why Cap “doesn’t need to be a jerk to be interesting” and basically putting into words why I love him so much.)

[rekorsi-blog]

"It’s the rare film that is able to combine love, optimism, and realism so well... ...10/10." Yeah, this is the fantastic MUDBOUND movie with Jason Clarke. ☺

[bunraku-en]

Slamdance ’17 Movie Review: Kuro

#bunraku [theyoungfolks.com]Stressed by his new house-guest, Mr. Ono literally tries to make himself disappear by wrapping himself in black tape, mimicking Bunraku puppeteers who dressed in all black so they would appear invisible on blackened stages. Both Romi and Milou start ...