Author: tiki god

Spirited Away: Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. With Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takashi Naitô. During her family’s move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts. Such a fantastic and fun story of a girl moving to the country and losing her parents to their own poor decisions. The music is of particular appeal to me, there were a few moments it had my full attention. Buy On Amazon!

Only Yesterday: Directed by Isao Takahata. With Miki Imai, Toshirô Yanagiba, Yoko Honna, Michie Terada. A twenty-seven-year-old office worker travels to the countryside while reminiscing about her childhood in Tokyo. As a retrospective of a life, this is a good one, if somewhat hindered by the fact that the lady is only 27 years old and hasn’t really lived her complete life yet. This is best thought of as “what was my life up to now and where will I go now that I know where I’ve been”, but boy I was disappointed that they left so many dangling threads...

The Fantastic Four: First Steps: Directed by Matt Shakman. With Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, the Fantastic Four must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic herald, the Silver Surfer. Now out on 4k/hdr disk, this film still feels like it was written for people having trouble with fertility who find themselves gifted with the blessing of a child, just for that blessing to be threatened by outside horrors. I haven’t experienced the second half of that, but...

A Walk in the Woods: Directed by Ken Kwapis. With Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen. After spending two decades in England, Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) returns to the U.S., where he decides the best way to connect with his homeland is to hike the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends, Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte). It’s a sad movie with some moments of levity, but it still made me sad to watch. Time comes for us all and we need to use it as best we can. Buy On Amazon!

Jurassic World: Rebirth: Directed by Gareth Edwards. With Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend. Five years post-Jurassic World: Dominion (2022), an expedition braves isolated equatorial regions to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric creatures for a groundbreaking medical breakthrough. Hey look, it’s another Jurassic World movie! It’s like the Jurassic Park films, but not restricted to just a single island, now it’s the entire planet that’s being eaten by genetically altered monsters that humanity barely understands. The story is familiar, the action is familiar, the dinosaurs are familiar, and it all works as well as it did the...

Tron: Legacy: Directed by Joseph Kosinski. With Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner. The son of a computer programmer goes looking for his father and ends up inside the digital world that his father designed. He meets his father’s corrupted creation and a unique ally who was born inside the digital world. It’s finally out on 4k/hdr and it’s just a good as I was hoping. That soundtrack is still one of the most emotive soundtracks that I’ve ever heard and the story still makes me cry like a baby. Buy On Amazon!