#seriously amazing movie. i think it’s in my top 3 ghibli films

[femmeclefable]

the boy and the heron is a must see. 10/10. two thumbs up. run don’t walk. etc.

[applesauce78gerita]

No one cares

Favorites (these generally are in order, the first being my favorite) -Hetalia- Characters- Germany South Italy North Italy Sweden Prussia Pairings- GerIta Prumano Ameripan AsaKiku SuFin -Pokémon- Characters- Umbreon Sylveon Houndoom Hydreigon Salamence Gyarados Games- HGSS RSE/ GSC (I like them about the same) XY (I love all the games except for DP and SM/USUM. I feel like I have bad taste XD) Types- Dark Dragon Fire Water I'm indifferent to ships in Pokémon. I used to be a huge Pokéshipper, but randomly lost interest as I kind of liked Misty a lot less. -Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Characters- Willow Spike Giles Tara Druscilla Pairings- Willow/ Tara Spuffy (I know, I hate the infamous scene in Seeing Red, but I can't help but like the ship up until that point) Xander/ Anya Giles/ Jenny (;.;) -Favorite Anime (excluding Studio Ghibli; just focusing on series)- Fruits Basket Another Ouran High School Host Club Pokémon: Indigo League (purely nostalgia... It's also one of the few shows that made me cry. That stupid song in Pikachu's Goodbye ;.;) Hetalia (I know, that other post I made contradicts this... I guess I really don't watch as much anime as I thought. I'm drawing a blank. Lol) -Animated Movies (I'm gonna do a top 10 for this instead, that's mostly what I watch)- Princess Mononoke (favorite movie of all time) Spirited Away Toy Story 2 Porco Rosso Kiki's Delivery Service Toy Story The Lion King Pinocchio Mulan Anastasia Confession: I wasn't big on Toy Story 3. I LOVED the ending and thought it was perfect, but most of the stuff leading up to it was... eh, I don't know. I also used to LOVE Finding Nemo, but my nephew kinda ruined it by overplaying it. I did this with Beauty and the Beast to my family when I was a kid. I'm so, so sorry. -Live Action Films- Stand By Me Back to the Future Part 1 (the other 2 were fun, but not as good) The Sixth Sense Shawshank Redemption Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (I enjoy most of the HP films, but I think the first one was really well done. The later films are cut down too much. I almost think it would have been better adapted into a series) Wow, my favorite movies are almost entirely male-dominated. O.O Weird. I very rarely watch live action films, in my defense. -Books- The Book Thief Harry Potter Series (I enjoy the series as a whole. My favorite is HBP with PoF as a close second) The Hunger Games (I'm on the last book now and due to stress haven't been able to get into it. The first one was amazing imo though) Picture Bride (I liked most of the books I had to read in school. This one stood out to me and still comes to mind even though I read it like years ago. I think that says something. It's historical fiction about a Japanese woman living in the U.S. in the 1920s on through WW11) The Things They Carried (had to read in college; it's a memoir about a man drafted into the Vietnam War. I really like all the memoirs I've had to read. I thought they'd be boring, but no, they're actually really interesting. Especially if they're about war or prison) I really need to read more. Idk why I don't. I read a SHIT TON of fanfiction; it takes up so much of my time. Lol. I also for some reason have trouble getting into new things and I guess that's why I read way too much ff and why I was so addicted to The Baby-Sitters Club growing up. Seriously, the BSC took up a third of my childhood. Pokémon was the second third, and Disney was the other third. Okay, I'm done XD. I feel like my tastes kind of suck OR are super duper popular and I have to broaden my horizons. Also literally no one is going to read this. This is mostly for me. I've been feeling really negative lately and I wanted to just post about my favorite things. Oh, and just to add to the things that literally no one cares about, my favorite food is chocolate, my favorite color is black, my favorite season is fall, my favorite animal is the red fox, and my favorite drink is coffee.

[bowtomypointlesswords]

Have you ever had an exact... image for your story? Because I have a distinctive aesthetic for one of mine...

The Magnolia Plot. I haven't spoken on it much, really only put up a couple of character mood boards, but... I've been thinking on it lately.

It's a story with several things: An Oceans 11 style/film noir plot, a dieselpunk world, a PI main character, and a very specific mix of aesthetics.

First: Wes Andersen. If you don't know who he is, Wes Andersen is a movie director. He directed such movies as: Isle of Dogs, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, and The Grand Budapest Hotel to name a few. His style is bright, bold use of color that speaks to each scene, each character and their emotions at any given time. His use of color is... brilliant.

Second: In a similar vein, Pushing Up Daisies. This was a fantastic, cancelled utterly too soon show about a man who could bring people back from the dead but only for a minute. He was a pie maker and helped a private eye and accidentally brought his childhood crush back to life after she died. It's a great big beautiful show about love and loss and was absolutely morbidly funny and it had the same aesthetic beauty of Wes Andersen films. Seriously just look up any screenshot from it and you'll be blow away by just how gorgeous it was. On top of that the story had this fantastic naration to it that reminded me of #3

3: The Series of Unfortunate Events. Both the old movie and the Netflix adaptation had the same gorgeous visuals and aesthetic to them. Like the above they played with color. Morbid humor was also a selling point, but the big part of why The Series of Unfortunate Events was and is so popular was the narration of Lemony Snicket. In the same vein of Douglass Adams the story had a wit and clever use of words, pacing, and liberal use of messing with perceptions. An internal logic of chaos that somehow, in the context of the stories, was perfectly acceptable.

4: Holes. Holes. Oh my god the book and the movie were just amazing. Are you recognizing the trend in theme and aesthetic here? A mix of humor to tackle difficult subjects, the whole Kisssin Kate subplot... Just. I can't sing praised for Holes enough. It was a clever, well written book and the best damn book to movie adaptation I've seen. Holes too had some of the same aesthetic choices in it. Despite taking place in the desert, with the kids all wearing orange jumpsuits, there's still a distinct aesthetic choice made in the movie... similar to the above actually. All color is made to stand out. Kissin Kate's lipstick comes to mind. Madame Zironi's purple tones. It's hard to truly explain how the color works so specifically... muted in some places but bright so specific colors stand out even more. It's an aesthetic I adore greatly in case this list hasn't been enough proof of that.

5: Studio Ghibli. Just. Studio Ghibli man. The color, the softness of everything, the gentle sway of blades of grass... just that whole aesthetic is kinda part of the above too, just less pastel and soft... Studio Ghibli movies are soft, beautiful masterworks, who somehow feel like home and adventure all at the same time.

6: Fallout. Fallout has a very nicr 50s aesthetic mixed again with morbid humor and a sense of impending doom. I love the aesthetics of the 50s, the flow of the designs, again the color. The idea of 50s futurism. Of course Fallout is completely post apocalyptic, and The Magnolia Plot is only kinda post apocalyptic, but the aesthetics still fit. Especially with the Film Noir story telling I'm aiming for.

I have no idea how to achieve this for The Magnolia Plot... It's so absurdly specific and yet hard to pin down exactly. I don't even really have a full plot I just have the Aesthetic of it. How the story feels, how I want it to feel... bright, bold, colorful, but holding that morbidity, the dark humor and the strange narrator... I don't know it I just know the story knows it's aesthetic fully. From the moment the MC stepped into my brain she was fully formed and knew exactly who she was, what her look was. I don't know her story, hell I still don't really, but it just struck me how utterly specific it's been in narrowing down the whole image.

I know how the story feels, but the plot... eh, that'll come later. Right now, I'm busy studying the masters of the style I'm hoping to follow.

[davidthetraveler]

top 5 animes (based on looks or what you know of them, since you dont watch anime)

Yeah, I had to stretch this a bit to get five to fill out this list, so I apologize if some of these entries don’t technically count.

5.  Avatar:  The Last Airbender

I know, this is technically Western Animation, but I honestly couldn’t find any others to put on this list, so I figured I’d go ahead and give it the lowest spot to compensate (otherwise it’d be number one).  Besides, considering the great attention to detail both in the look and feel of the show, as well as the excellently executed use of actual Asian culture that both introduces it to western audiences as well as being a solid and respectable representation of said culture, it truly deserves all the fanfare it gets.

Seriously, this show is amazing.  If you haven’t seen it, go watch it now.  I mean, this thing is about as close to anime as you can get without actually crossing that line.

4.  My Hero Academia

I haven’t seen any of this anime, but I’ve heard some pretty decent things about it.  Apparently it’s about kids attending an academy for superheroes, which of course reminds me of Sky High, which I quite liked.  Also others describe it as being like if they built a Hogwarts for Marvel and DC superheroes as kids, which is an intriguing, if also mind-boggling, concept in and of itself.

3.  Hunter X Hunter

This is one of only two true animes that I have spent any real amount of time watching, and while it has the same sorts of things that can be an issue for me as other animes, it does have an interesting premise.

Also, according to my brother, who is as much a fan of anime as I am not, I’m apparently a specialist.

2.  Studio Ghibli

I know, this technically probably doesn’t count as well, but I’ve seen a few of their movies, and they do look amazing.  Not to mention a lot of the issues I have with anime don’t tend to pop up as much in their films.

1.  Pokemon (The first few seasons/series)

This is the one anime that I have any real legitimate attachment to, and it all came about years after they originally aired.  There’s just something about the earlier seasons that I don’t think the most recent ones quite have as much of.  Plus, that’s when Pokemon the Movie 2000 is set, and Lugia has always been my favorite Pokemon.

***********************

If you’d like, you can drop “Top 5″ anything in my inbox and I’ll answer.

[lilacskyent-blog]

Breakfast with The Wicked Lady

Every day we see social media influencers, as well as anyone with a social media account, talk about how fake everything is. They rant about how everything is curated, modified with photoshop or facetune, and how no one is showing who they really are. This stance has always frustrated me because the way we present ourselves on social media is often times the same way we present ourselves in the real world when we want to make a good impression. This idea of trying to be our best selves, or even something as ill-conceived as “fake it ‘till you make it” was not born on social media, it’s something nearly everyone on the world does, while simultaneously craving something real. Michelle, a.k.a thewickedlady is one of the most real influencers I’ve ever encountered. Sitting with her via video chat, I feel immediately at ease because she’s normal. There’s no performance, no hyped up mess, just a really cool girl.

 Where did Wicked Lady come from?

Growing up watching Anime and Sailor Moon, I felt like I related very closely to the character Chibiusa, who is Usagi’s daughter who comes to visit Usagi from the Future. There’s a part in Sailor Moon R, where Chibiusa is convinced she is unloved by her friends and family, and she’s told that she is alone. This puts her in a really dark place and Wise Man turns her into the Wicked Lady. Growing up, I had a hard time finding myself and feeling very alone. I felt really unloved and I was in a dark place. But light was shed on me eventually and I realized that all these negative thoughts were not necessary and I should live my life to the fullest and be happy, and that’s also what helped Chibiusa return to her small lady self.

What got you into modeling?

It really wasn’t my initial plan to get into modeling, but I started when I was 18 and got serious when I was 20. I just started taking pictures when I had my pink hair, and my favorite hair dying brands started working with me. I started taking more pictures with my friends who were photographers and I grew from there. I did not do this on my own, I had a lot of help from my friends who helped me grow as an influencer and as a model and a person. I wouldn’t be anywhere without them.

Despite her modesty, Michelle is an amazing model. From the outfits she puts together to the poses the photographers capture there is pure magic in every image, even the silly ones that may or may not have been accidents. In my own personal modeling career, I pull inspiration from her work, because it’s not only beautiful but also carry an oddly perfect balance of elegance along with badass. Though from what I’ve gathered I’d say greatness with modesty is a fairly accurate way to describe Michelle. She’s absolutely incredible but doesn’t use her energy demanding you to tell her, or even acknowledge it. She’s just herself, just a girl with dreams, goals, and gifts like every other human being.

So along with everything else you have going on, you’re also a college student, what are you studying?

Currently studying Psychology, on route to receiving my bachelors, and eventually my PH.D. PSY.D in Industrial-Organizational Psychology.  Psychology has always been my favorite subject, especially growing up in an unstable home environment, I felt it would be best to learn more about mental health to help myself and my loved ones. People tend to forget that mental health is extremely important in living a healthy, and happy life. But because we can’t physically “cure” mental illness as we do with the common flu, I feel like it’s left unattended, or not taken seriously. We’ve all heard the term, “It’s a phase”, and in some cases, it really isn’t and leaves us more bruised and broken.

Mental health is one of the number one things we’re dealing with in today’s world. From loud, known cases like Kanye West, to the closed-off kids in the back of hundreds of classrooms who are feeling overwhelmed with anxiety, depression, or anything else. However despite overwhelming evidence of this challenge people still act like it doesn’t exist. People poke fun, or minimize the importance of mental health, but scream about mental health every time someone is taken from the world. It needs to be taken seriously, and taken care of.

What is the goal for you?

My main goal is to figure out myself, and create a path for myself in a way that is healthy and happy for my family and I. I don’t want to live a life dependent on money but I do want to live comfortably. In general, I would love to be able to make a difference and help people when they are feeling alone or in the dark. I know at times people feel really hopeless and let down and I want to set a reminder that people feel the same way and we should all be there for each other as a support system. (Enough serious time I also want to be the greatest pokemon master ever YAAAGGAA)

 The minute she makes this joke I break and can’t stop laughing. The fact that she can go from completely serious to completely ridiculous is so comforting. I find myself laughing not only at the joke, but at how nervous I felt when I was preparing for this interview. I’m laughing at myself for being nervous, for worrying that the real person would be different from the person on instagram, or from the Twitch streamer who will randomly stop playing a game and instead let her audience watch her bake cookies at 2am. We’ve become so used to the endless performance of content creators, that seeing someone who, it seems, is completely herself, is honestly disarming at first.

3 Breakfast must haves?

PANCAKES WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS. (All time favorite food), Roasted Potatoes or anything with potatoes, and blueberry muffins!

Describe your perfect day

Honestly, waking up on a rainy day with my significant other and Goku(my cat) . A full 8 hours of sleep.  Not having to worry about drama or struggles. Staying in binge-watching the LOTR/ Hobbit Trilogy, drinking Hot Cocoa, eating everything and anything that I can that has potatoes and corn. (I’m a mess but I'm a SLOOT for Elote). and not having to worry about work/homework assignments in college. I’m a simple lass.

Rave or mosh pit?

Considering I used to go to a lot of concerts and got used to being swiftly kicked in the head in mosh pits, now I would prefer raves mainly because it’s a more loving and sweet environment and it’s a lot more affectionate.

Top 10 songs on your playlist right now?

Sunflower- Post Malone

IDWK - Dvbbs

Girls - The 1975

Kamikaze - MO

Take me As You Please - Story So Far

In Bloom - Neck Deep

From the Outside - Real Friends

Disrespectin’ - 88Rising

Bright Pink Tims - BlackBear

Ocean - Martin Garrix / Khalid

This playlist is available through Google Play on our blog!

 What advice would you give up and coming models to help avoid scam businesses/shady photographers? - Be cautious for red flags, pay attention to their “creative” ideas such as import/lude/ implied. If they don’t allow you to bring a friend during shoots. Check in with others who may have shot with them to get their input with their experience. Also - always meet in a public area and do not shoot with them in a private area. Try to shoot outdoors first, to see how they vibe during the shoot, and FOLLOW YOUR GUT FEELING. If something is off about them, cut the shoot short.

What got you into Twitch streaming and what do you enjoy most about it?

I used to work for a shady ass stream house with 10 other girls, and those girls turned to be the sweetest and most loving girls I’ve met. Although the work itself was garbage, it was the people who worked with me who motivated and inspired me to continue twitch streaming. I met such amazing and wonderful people within that house. <3 I love being able to get personal and talk to my viewers one on one, and I love making them laugh. If you’ve watched my twitch streams, I do dance parties in onesies because I know as much as it makes me look like a fool, it makes my viewers laugh and happy, and that’s all I want for them <3

If you could live in any Studio Ghibli movie which one would you pick?

Kiki’s Delivery Service or Mary and the Witch’s Flower <3

You're very open about mental health and your struggles with it. Was that always something you were open to sharing or was there a moment where you decided to do that?

I used to shut everyone out. I bottled up all of my emotions because I grew up being afraid of them. I was told to keep my head held high and never let my guard down. Showing sadness meant a sign of weakness to me growing up, but it just felt so inhuman to me knowing people feel the same way too and I couldn’t express it. I had a really bad experience back in middle school that completely destroyed me and my mindset. It was all because of social media. It tore me down and turned me into this monster who couldn’t learn to love herself. It stressed me out and brought so much anxiety. I figured, if ever I came back to social media, it would be to help others who felt the way I did. I don’t want anyone to feel like they were alone in life. I get it, suicide hotlines and phone numbers and therapists are provided for those who feel like they want to talk to someone. But in all honesty, it’s hard to find it within myself/yourself to talk to a complete stranger about your problems. It’s better to even talk to someone who you feel like you can trust. As a young adult, I feel like it would be better if I had open arms to those who need it.

 So I have to include at least one question about FBE and I have just one, important question: when they finish filming Try Not to Eat do they give you free rein? NOPE, WE CAN’T EAT JACK SHIT AND IT MAKES ME UPSET BECAUSE IT’S THE ULTIMATE TEASE. ( I love me some honey glazed HAM)

 If you haven’t watched the Try Not To Eat Challenge videos from FBE I highly recommend them. They’re hilarious, and Michelle is in most of them.

 Do you know how dope you are?

God No. I honestly think I’m way too dorky sometimes. I like having this persona on Instagram but being able to be myself and be goofy and fun as well. I don’t like to be serious, I really don’t. But I do have a feisty side when I see something I’m not okay with. I’m not really afraid to snap back if something doesn’t feel right.

Whether she becomes a therapist, psychologist, model, or anything else Michelle is destined for even greater and more amazing heights than she’s already reached. The world could benefit from someone not only as amazing as she is, but as honest and she is. I’m excited to see what’s next for her!

-Strawberry Smirk

[kbrown78]

Top 5 Wednesday

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/118368-top-5-wednesday

Topic: Favorite Road Trip Reads

I personally love road trips. I like traveling to different places and I love reading to pass the time (when I'm not driving). I honestly don't have any preferences for selecting books to read on a road trip because I will read just about anything. Seriously I have a hard time picking summery books. So I mostly picked books that have significant journeys in them in both the physical sense and on an emotional level.

Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers- I absolutely love this book, and I think it would be perfect for a road trip. It's a cute story about found families and traveling through space. The character are all amazing (even the ones you don't like) and every location the crew stops at, and every alien culture feels distinct and well developed, but this book also has a deeper level in some of the themes that it explores, so it's more than just a cutesy space story. Like the idea of being stuck on spaceship sounds a bit scary to me, and the crew does have a few close calls, but I would put aside my fear to be able to go on a journey with this crew.  

2. The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy by Rae Carson: It's no secret that I adore this series, but for some reason I never though of it as a road trip series. However, as I was compiling this list, I began to realize that this book features all the elements of a good story for a road trip. Each book contains a journey that is important to the plot, but also the main character undergoes quite a bit of development within each book. This story can be suspenseful with magic and political intrigue, enemies from within and without, questions about destiny and faith, with a hint of a well written romance. Honestly this series is amazing and a long road trip is the perfect opportunity to just binge read this series.  

3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman: Most of my favorite parts of this story were the road trip scenes. The time Shadow spent in that small town, when he stayed with Mr. Ibis, and all the road side attractions, I really liked because it added a very American atmosphere while still being rooted in mythology from around the world. It also allowed for the introduction of more side character that I tended to enjoy more than Shadow or Mr. Wednesday. It's a quite sort of read that lulls the reader into the journey while adding enough plot points to keep them invested in the outcome of the story.

4. Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle: Another book about self discovery while driving across America. While the themes of the book are great and executed well, they are presented under a different light than most YA contemporaries. Since most of this book takes place after the supposed Rapture, it's a relatable story about a girl as she's coming out her shell during tough times and is searching for answers on the other side of the country. I highly enjoyed this book, but I would only recommend reading this first one.  

5. Mosquitoland by David Arnold: I keep recommending this one for a light read or something to read in the summer, and I remember really liking it when I finished reading it, but I can't remember much about it. This book features a literal journey (from Mississippi to Ohio) and an internal journey of the protagonist Mim as a sort of coming of age as she learns more about herself, her world, and her family. Plus the title and the cover very much has that summery road trip feel to it.

Honorable Movie Mentions: Studio Ghibli films because most are kid friendly and are great movies to help pass the time.

Thank You Everyone

Keep Calm and Keep Reading  

[jmgiovine]

TOP 10: 2019 Most Anticipated Movies

10-. Godzilla: King of Monsters- Michael Dougherty.

I like Dougherty. I love Trick ‘r’ Treat and I think Krampus is better than most people give it credit for. I like his vision towards monsters, and that’s pretty much enough for me to get me hyped for this upcoming Godzilla sequel, even if it will be an evident lack of practical effects in this titanic blockbuster film. Most important of all, I believe the Gareth Edwards remake of 2014 is highly underappreciated and Kong: Skull Island is as good as a blockbuster-kaiju-popcorn flick could be, so yeah, I’m pretty much excited to see what this film has to offer in addition to this baby-shared universe. For instance, the rivals look amazing: King Ghidorah, Mothra and the already confirmed Rodan all have great updated design, and even if the film has this over saturation of cast, the presence of Charles Dance and the return of Ken Watanabe assures me I’ll be enjoying the “human” part of this sequel.

9-. The Missing Link- Chris Butler.

Laika has grown to become one of my favorite animation studios. Coraline was the perfect start, and Paranorman is an underappreciated little gem that is up to become a Halloween classic. Boxtrolls is just too weird for me not to like it and damn Kubo: And the Two Strings is a marvel. Now, I have to admit, this installment doesn’t look potentially epic or outstanding, in fact, I bet it’ll one of the studio’s smallest in every way, since it looks heavily simplistic, but the trailer Is fancy and funny enough for me to expect another enjoyable little stop-motion flick. The cast itself looks great: Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson, Zoe Saldana, Zack Galifianakis, Timothy Olyphant, Stephen Fry. Man, do Laika know who to voice-cast, huh? Yeah, again, it doesn’t look like a potential Kubo, but damn if I won’t give it the benefit of doubt just for being this particular studio, or how I like to refer to it: the American Ghibli.

8-. The Lion King- Jon Favreau.

How do you manage to beat a classic? Short answer: you don’t. Will Favreau’s remake of the classic Disney animated flick will beat it? Well, I don’t think so… but there are plenty of reasons for me to be excited for this upcoming live-action take of my favorite animated film of all times. For instance, the trailer looks visually astonishing, and the voice cast is A+ stars, purely: Donald Glover, Beyonce, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Seth Rogen, God even James Earl Jones will be reprising his role as Mufasa. Yeah, there’s almost cero chance for this to overcome the original, but thing is, it doesn’t have to, as long as the essence be respected and the movie works as its own, I’m pretty much on board. Besides, Favreau delivered The Jungle Book, once of the best remakes ever made, so I don’t know, I have to expect something not as good, but good enough on its own.

7-. Glass- M. Night Shyamalan.

Boy, did I never expect Split to be as good as it is. Much less, to be part of a universe that connects itself with my favorite Shyamalan film, Unbreakable. Shyamalan has a certain reputation, given the fact that I’ve only truly loved two of his films: The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Yeah, stakes are high on this one, being a sequel-crossover of the later flick, Split demonstrated to be a strong (although phony) horror-thriller, blessed mostly by McAvoy performance(S) among Anya Taylor-Joy, who’s also reprising her role in this one and mainly will be the main connection between films. Yeah, I cannot wait to see McAvoy among Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis in the same film, especially given the style I already enjoy from Shyamalan in his “Superhero takes”. Hopefully it won’t disappoint, but given my impression towards the trailer I get to rest easier.

6-. IT: Chapter 2- Andy Muschietti.

IT: Chapter One was a film I was totally prepared to hate. Seriously, the original tv-miniseries is a cheesy product of the early 90s, and given the fact that Tim Curry was its only good element, the remake (or re-interpretation) of King’s universally beloved novel was something to be careful with. Fortunately, Andy Muschietti scared the hell out of us with his 2017 horror hit. There are plenty of elements to love out of his entry, but I gotta say, the kids, boy those kids nailed and got me in a corner, since I love their chemistry and their performances altogether. Admitting, first things first, it’ll be hard for good old Muschietti to craft a film as good as the first was, considering that the kid’s will be all grown up. Fortunately, we’ll have a great cast to compensate the absence of the little losers, being James McAvoy the lead role along Jessica Chastain. Oh, and Bill Skarsgård will be reprising the role of the frightening Pennywise so, yeah, we’re all good to expect a worthy follow up.

5-. John Wick 3: Parabellum- Chad Stahelski.

You don’t mess with good old Mr. Wick. I love these two films, and each one grew better; the second is one of my favorite action flicks of all times. Combining the best out of the stylized over-the-top action techniques from the 80s with a great environment and an amazing setting, along the presence of Ian McShane, Laurence Fishbourne and, of course, Keanu Reeves in what it has to be one of the best comebacks for an actor after years of self-exile. John Wick is everything I love from the genre, and surely I’m already pumped with this third installment in what I hope could become one of my favorite trilogies ever. After all, the promise of “the biggest killing count” is not to take it so easy, isn’t it?

4-. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden Kingdom- Dean DeBlois.

Speaking of potential favorite trilogies of all times, I underestimated the first HTTYD when it came out in 2010, and surely ever since I saw it for the first time I became instantly a fan. The second one hit and, as expected, I loved it, and the steaks rose into higher levels for the third one, and now that we have an official release date, my body is shaking. Dean DeBlois created a series of films that reached a deep spot in my heart, and I was amazed how much substance and quality these past two films had, so the promise on this one to be even better comes instantly. Hopefully it will be, or even if it’s as good as the first two, yeah, I can live with that, but I won’t lie, I really wish this can move me even more. I wish for the conclusion of Hipo and Toothless reach a worthy and satisfying ending, but better yet, a heartwarming-epic one.

3-. Star Wars Episode IX- J.J.Abrams.

There is not much I can say but… damn, I really do want to see how this concludes. No, I’m not a part of the fandom that trashes everything created by Disney-Lucasfilms and no, I didn’t hate The Last Jedi. The former was one of my favorite 2017 films, and I’ll be damned if I don’t say I anticipate the hell out of Episode IX, also considering Abram’s return. I get the decisions made and I get the changes, and I’m open for some of the same, but definitely the task is even bigger now that the Skywalker franchise is coming to an end. Will Kylo Ren remain in the dark? Will Rey be able to fight him and restore the balance without submitting to the dark as well? Will Luke train her as a Force-ghost? What the hell are they going to do with Leia’s character? I need answers! There are no Trailers, no official Title and no footage yet, so yeah, it’ll be a long wait for a glimpse of anything, but in the meantime I’ll prepare and I’ll keep enjoying my favorite franchise of all time with enough hype and anticipation. God bless you, J.J., and hopefully you’ll do the Lord’s work.

2-. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood- Quentin Tarantino.

Quentin Tarantino has to be one of my favorite recent directors out there. The guy plans to retire after his 10th film, being this one the 9th so, yeah, one more to go after this. The story is a fanfic of Hollywood in the sixties, but taking a darker approach than usual by adding the presence of the late Charles Manson. As always, the project is intriguing and the presence of plenty of familiar faces for the director’s filmography, such as DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Damian Lewis, Tim Roth, Kurt Russell, Michael Madsen, gosh, I’m just naming a few. Certainly this upcoming film has caused plenty of controversy, and until we see any Trailers there’s not much to anticipate than Tarantino’s classic old-school retro-style, with tons of black humor and his typical pop-cultural scripts. Yeah, I’m always down for some Tarantino until the guy decides to stop doing what he loves the most.

1-. Avengers 4- Joe & Anthony Russo.

Oh boy, this is it. The end of the part we started this on. The conclusion of the last 10 years of build up over a universe that took its time and made us fall in love with. The Avengers against the threat that beat them in the previous film, their ultimate foe: Thanos, but this time, its all or nothing. The stakes are incredibly high and the chances are all against them, but considering this will be 3 hours long and even more heartbreaking-according to the Russo’s, this will be a rollercoaster of a ride for us fans, for all that matters, for better or worse.

Special Mentions:

- The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

- X-men Dark Phoenix.

- Captain Marvel

-Zombieland 2.

- The New Mutants.

[tigerlover16-uk]

Anime I need to watch (April 2017 Update)

Wow, has it been a month already? Okay then, time to give my thoughts on the anime I’ve seen this month and then update my list accordingly. A LOT more to go through this time since I’ve been on a bit of a movie binge

Okay, first off I’ve just finished the Dark Tournament Saga of Yu Yu Hakusho, so I’m up to episode 67 out of 112. I got through it a bit slower than I thought because other stuff kept coming up. I’ll still give more of my thoughts on the show when I’m done, but I’ll say I really liked this saga. It was very well written, had some great fight scenes, and the story and character development were very compelling. If I have any complaints it’s that the saga sometimes felt like it dragged on a lot, it did feel like it took forever to get through even without the breaks I took. Also, Genkai suddenly showing up alive out of nowhere at the end of episode 66 was stupid and nonsensical and it better get a good explanation, because right now this just seems so forced and unnecessary.

In between that though, I also got the DVD for the series The Devil is a Part Timer in the post, so I took a day off to binge watch all 13 episodes.

The Christian part of me wonders if I should really be watching a show starring Satan as the main character and portraying him as actually not that bad a guy. But then again, the geek in my is just shrugging my shoulders and having fun with such a ridiculous premise as the devil working in a McDonalds parody. Weird feeling in the back of my head aside though, the show was pretty fun and charming. The characters were likeable, the humour was fine and overall it was just an enjoyable show through and through.

It’s not perfect, the second to last episode felt pretty underwhelming, and the final episode while not bad didn’t really feel like a final episode, though that epilogue was nice. And yeah, this feels like a story that was meant to go on longer than it did, but it’s been four years and no second season so I’m guessing we’re not getting any more of it in anime form. I guess I could give the light novels or manga a try, but it always irks me whenever I get into a show only to find out it was ended sooner than it should have been. But apart from that, I didn’t have any big problems. It’s a good show. Not amazing, but it was fun and a pleasant way to kill some time, and sometimes that’s all I need. Not much else I can think to say and I have a lot else to talk about.

Like I mentioned in my last update, I got the DVD for the movie Only Yesterday, one of the few Studio Ghibli films I haven’t seen yet, which only got dubbed fairly recently. So I watched it at the start of the month aaaaaaaannnd... it wasn’t for me.

Now before anyone comments, Only Yesterday wasn’t a bad movie. I get what they were going for with it, being a series of events from someone’s life and to paint a picture about what sort of person the main character grew up to be as she’s trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. I can definitely appreciate the value of what the film was going for... but, the whole thing was just too disjointed and not always that interesting for me to get all that invested. Looking back, I kinda find it hard to find the words to describe this movie and how I feel about it, it was certainly a unique experience for me I’ll give it that and I don’t regret watching it, but unlike all the other Studio Ghibli films I’ve seen I don’t really see any reason to come back to this one. It’s not even that I don’t like grounded slice of life stuff, Whisper of the Heart is easily in my top 3 Ghibli films. I can’t say Only Yesterday was bad, because it really doesn’t feel like a bad film, but it’s not something I care to watch again.

After that I think the next anime movie I saw was Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys, one of two Advanced series Pokémon movies I missed out on. This one I liked more... but it was just okay. Really, I don’t know what else to say about it. The story was okay, Noah was a good character but everyone else was just okay. The action and visuals were okay, barring some conspicuous cgi. Deoxys and Raquaza were okay. Really, it just like one of the more average Pokémon movies I’ve seen. I’m still glad I saw it, but I remember as a kid hearing about it from people and knowing a Pokémon I really loved like Rayquaza was in it, I guess I always thought that it was something bigger and more interesting than it was. Ah well, that happens.

Hmm. Two meh movies in a row. Let’s spice that up with another Ghibli film. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, which was much more up my alley. I love the art style of the movie, it worked perfectly well for an adaption of this Japanese folk story and just really stands out among most other anime movies I’ve seen. I liked the characters and the story, while there were a few questionable parts here or there, was pretty good, and I did feel sad by the time things came to an end. It wasn’t really the best Studio Ghibli film I’ve seen, but it certainly did a lot more for me than Only Yesterday.

Okay, I think the next film I saw was Akira. And that was... um... ... what the heck WAS it?

Seriously, I still don’t completely understand what I watched. I’ve heard this movie was adapted from a pretty long manga that wasn’t even finished when the movie was released, and that a lot of stuff had to be condensed... it shows.

I’ll say that the visuals were great and when I understood well enough what was going on, the movie certainly had plenty of good moments. But it feels like there were a lot of scenes or moments haphazardly slashed out of the film at various points that would have made the story feel more coherent. I could understand the gist of what was going on after giving things some thought and seeing the whole film, but the story and various characters feel underdeveloped or just not explained well enough at times, it was hard for me to get invested and just enjoy the movie. It wasn’t a bad experience necessarily, but I think this is one classic that’s really not for me. I think I’ll try to read the manga at some point, but I honestly didn’t quite get the film. And this is coming from someone who was able to mostly follow Evangelion.

And after that bit of weird grittiness, I watched another Pokémon movie. Pokémon Heroes. This was honestly the only original series Pokémon movie I had never seen before the cast change, since I just never got around to it for some reason. And I gotta say, I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t as great and epic or had as much depth as stuff like Spell of the Unown or Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, but it was a really charming movie with some genuinely touching and sad moments. It was well animated, the villains didn’t have a lot of depth but they were more fun to watch than a lot of movie villains. Latios and Latias were pretty interesting, and Ash was at his best here. The whole thing with Ash possibly getting kissed by Latias at the end is a little weird, but hey, it wasn’t as creepy as say that kiss scene from Sonic 06, and this wouldn’t be the first time the anime has had a Pokémon crush on Ash. Ain’t that right, Bayleef? Apart from that though, this was a fun movie and I’d gladly come back to it sometime soon.

Wish I could say the same for the next Pokémon movie, Hoopa and the Clash of Ages... boy that felt hollow.

You know, I don’t really mind that the movie didn’t have a strong story. If they wanted to make a movie that was all about spectacle and showing off as many legendary pokemon in a big battle as possible, I’m all for that. There’s nothing wrong with a dumb movie, as long as it’s something fun. But honestly, the plot was so thin and unengaging, that when it got to the clash of legends, everything just felt kind of... bland. Like, there were good moments, but overall the fight just felt empty and not as spectacular as a battle of this scale should be. There was no sense of scale or tension, it was just... meh. There were a lot of interesting ideas for a story here, but everything felt underdeveloped and that it would have made more sense as a long arc of the show.

And then there were plenty of stupid things in the movie, worst of which being that literal deus ex machina of a climax. I’ll give Pokémon the First Movie this credit, it had a lot of dumb moments, but the movie at least felt interesting and enjoyable. This... ehh, I just couldn’t find it all that satisfying. And I really wanted to enjoy it. Honestly it’s not often I finish a movie feeling pretty empty, but here you go.

Thankfully I did have time for one more Pokémon movie, Jirachi Wish maker, the last Advanced generation movie I hadn’t seen. And luckily it was decent. Nothing great, more around Destiny Deoxys level quality. In that it was really average and a little slow at parts, but it had plenty of good moments to it and it was overall charming, which felt like a needed breath of fresh air considering I watched it immediately after Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (Came in the post together). But this post is going on pretty long so I can’t go into much more detail.

And then the last film I watched was The Last: Naruto the movie.

(Deep breaths).

I have a lot of mixed feelings about Naruto these days. I discovered the series when it was still airing on Jetix in my country (Back when Jetix was still a thing), and I quickly grew to love it. For a long time it became my favourite show of all time, even briefly eclipsing Dragon Ball Z as my favourite anime (Given time and retrospect and watching Dragon Ball and Z again, no, they’re still my favourite, but back then that’s how I felt). I really loved the series and I kept up with every update on the story, and despite not enjoying a lot of the stuff with Sasuke after the fight with Itachi I enjoyed everything in the manga right through the Invasion of Pain story arc... and then things gradually started slipping off the rails for me.

I won’t give you a full detailed account of my personal history and how I felt about the series as things went on, but I kept up with news on the story and checked in on the manga right up until it ended, and from the conclusion to the Kage summit arc right to the end, soooo much stupid and bad stuff happened that just left me confused, annoyed, baffled and angry that Naruto honestly just turned into a chore and then a big disappointment, and I was only following updated on it because I was too invested to not want to see how it ended. I legitimately don’t think I’ve ever been angrier at a plot twist than I was with the whole Kaguya is the big evil mastermind reveal than I have been with any other reveal outside of One More Day. It got to the point that while it ended, even though things I wanted desperately to see for the longest time like Naruto becoming Hokage and getting together with Hinata ended up happening, I just wasn’t satisfied and in fact all I could feel was empty and upset that the second half of the series had turned out so badly.

The final third of Naruto was honestly the most frustrating experience I’ve had with any piece of media I’ve ever loved outside of maybe a lot of the nonsense Marvel’s been pulling like OMD and HYDRA Cap. I’ve been feeling melancholy about the whole thing for years, just feeling down and empty and wishing things had turned out better. I never even saw The Last despite it sounding like the story I’d been wanting to see.

Recently I’ve been feeling more and more nostalgic for it, especially between the whole announcements of it’s follow up Boruto and the Shippuden anime FINALLY coming to an end. So, I recently ordered up the DVD, and yesterday I watched The Last: Naruto the Movie for the first time.

And for all the ups and downs and mixed feelings, all the bitter feelings I’ve had over Naruto... I enjoyed the movie. It wasn’t perfect, but it was beautifully animated, had some great fight, the story was good, and as someone who considered NaruHina their number 1 OTP for years, to the point it’s actually what got me to start reading fanfiction, the movie was really touching. It was satisfying seeing Naruto and Hinata finally getting together, and that final scene especially was just beautiful.

I won’t go into full detail, because if I feel like it I might do a sort of review on the movie at some point, but I’m very glad I watched it. After the last several years, it felt like the closure I never really got with this series. I can’t force myself to sit through or enjoy a lot of the stuff towards the tail end of Naruto, but for what it’s worth, looking back... I’m still glad I got into it. I’m glad for all the fond memories I have of the franchise. I’m glad for all the good in Naruto, and all the good times I’ve had being a fan. I’m glad that Naruto got to fulfil his dream and earn the happy ending he so very much deserved, and got to be with a woman who truly loves him. And... I’m glad for The Last. That it exists, and that I finally watched it.

Honestly, I think now I want to go back and watch some of the series when it was good, for old times sake. And when the DVD for Boruto comes out in June on Amazon, I think I’ll watch that movie too. Who knows, if I like that maybe I’ll check out the anime or manga follow up too. Less likely, but who knows, I’m feeling nostalgic now.

I may not be able to call Naruto my favourite show anymore. And I won’t call the second half of Part II of the manga and Shippuden good. But I think now enough time has passed that the bitterness I’ve been feeling over the series has finally faded, and I can be happy to still call myself a fan of Naruto. It’s not perfect, it should have ended up better in the later stages. But when it was good, it was something magical to me, and I choose to remember it for all the joy it brought to me.

So, to close it out... thanks Kishimoto. Thank you for all the times your series brightened up my life. Good luck with whatever you do next.

Well, I guess that’s all I really needed to say for now. This was a... fairly productive month for me. Hopefully next month will be even more so. Until then, I’ll just leave things at the updated list. I’m just gonna go finish Yu Yu Hakusho now. As always, if anyone has any recommendations for anime I haven’t listed here, please send them my way.

One Punch Man (Seen four episodes a while back, looks good)

Mobile Suit Gundam

Outlaw Star

Cowboy Bebop

Digimon Frontier

Digimon Data Squad

Digimon Fusion

Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s

Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal

Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V

Sailor Moon (Watched the entire first season and was about halfway through season 2. Should really get back to watching the full series) Sailor Moon Crystal

Yu Yu Hakusho (Up to episode 67)

Ranma 1 ½

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (2012-onwards series)

Hunter x Hunter (2011)

Fullmetal Alchemist

One Piece

Astro Boy (Any series. I just want to be able to say I’ve watched something from this franchise).

Kill La Kill

Gurren Lagann

Fairy Tail (What? Why’re you looking at me like that? I like cheesy stuff like this, alright!)

Little Witch Academia

Tenchi Muyo!

Death Note

Yuri On Ice

Fist of the North Star

Soul Eater

Code Geass

Food Wars: Shokugeki No Soma (I watched about 9 episode, need to catch up)

Your Lie in April

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Mob Psycho 100

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Phoenix Wright anime

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

Movies:

Your Name

Garden of Words

Paprika

Tokyo Godfathers

The Boy and the Beast

5 Centimeters per second

Millenium Actress

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro

The Digimon Adventure Tri Movies

Yu-Gi-Oh: Bonds Beyond Time

Yu-Gi-Oh: The Dark Side of Dimensions

Pokémon the movie: Black and White.

Pokémon: Genesect and the Legend awakened

Pokémon: Kyurem vs the sword of justice

Pokémon: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction

Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel

Pokémon: I Choose You

Ghost In The Shell

Memories

Perfect Blue

Naruto: Ninja clash in the Land of Snow

Naruto: Legend of the Stone of Gelel

Naruto: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom

Naruto Shippuden The Movie

Naruto Shuppuden: Bonds

Naruto Shippuden: The Will of Fire

Naruto Shippuden: The Lost Tower

Naruto Shippuden: Blood Prison

Naruto: Road to Ninja

Boruto Movie