Movie Review: The Little Death

The little death is a movie about love, sex and relationships.  It is also one of the funniest, most awkward, tender, (slightly) romantic, and painful movies I've seen this year.  The movie is essentially about several couples and how they deal with sex and all its quirks -- perfect watching for this Valentine's day (or excuse to watch anyway).  I'm sure anyone who's been in a relationship (though mostly of the longer term sort, not much by way of one-night stands here), can relate with the characters.

The movie is not about sexy stuff or nudity (I don't think anyone got naked at all), so if you're expecting that, well, you know what the Internet is for.  What the movie deals with are several sorts of fetishes -- being aroused by seeing someone cry, or sleep for example, and how the characters go about getting off, whether telling their partners straight up, or in a more roundabout manner.

This is very much worth the watch -- wait for the part with the deaf guy and the phone sex line, though it's at the end of the movie, it had me and the GF laughing so hard we had to stop the movie for a bit just to recover.

Verdict: 4/5 recommended! Some people might find it offensive, though everything's tastefully done.

TL;DR:
+ Funny
+ Awkward
+ You can watch it with your mother
+/- You might or might not want to watch it with your GF/BF

Details:

Release Date: September 25, 2014 (Australia)

Genre: Comedy, Sex, Relationships

Running Time: 95 Mins based on IMDB

Notable Stars: I totally don't know any of them since they're Aussies.

Seen On: My 23" Monitor

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2785032/

Movie Review: Mortdecai

I never particularly liked watching Johnny Depp films, although they are quite fun to watch.  His brand of acting is just not something I appreciate much.  We went to watch Mortdecai by virtue of the process of elimination (the choice sort, not the biological function).  I wasn't particularly thrilled by how this movie was being marketed as well, as it was being compared to Austin Powers (basically the pinnacle of modern day comedic cinema, as far as I'm concerned).  In the end, I was glad we chose to see this film though.

Mortdecai is an art dealer.  Due to circumstances involving art and national security, he was drafted to take part in recovering a priceless painting.  While Johnny Depp is his usual Johnny Depp self (that is, a character actor playing a character actor extraordinaire playing his part in a character actor driven movie), and did his best English Aristo, I enjoyed the supporting cast so much more:

1. Gwynneth Paltrow, Mortdecai's wife, being pretty and smart
2. Ewan McGregor, because I'm a fan
3. Paul Bettany - because he just stole the show, and because I'm a fan

I'm not quite sure why this movie got such low reviews in Rotten Tomatoes: are my tastes that far from the norm? Is Johnny Depp too quirky for his own good?  Do modern day, mass market comedies require copious amounts of jokes relating to bodily functions and homosexuality?  Perhaps.  

The local distributor did not do this movie any favours by marketing it the way they did, either, but, I could not blame them as, well, I'm not quite sure who else would enjoy watching this (GF certainly did, it was her choice, go my duckling!).  As it is, if you do plan on watching this, I think you should do so within the week (locally), as I doubt it'd show beyond Tuesday. We actually could not book a ticket straight off as there weren't enough people watching it (needed at least 5 other people). And it was a Saturday night to boot.

So, in the end, go watch this movie if:

1. You like Johnny Depp
2. You like Spy-ish Parody
3. You like something lowbrow without resorting to fart jokes

Verdict: 4/5

TL;DR:

+ Johnny Depp

+ Supporting Cast

++ Paul Bettany

++ Funny without being dumb, or too dumb

Details:

Release Date: January 21, 2015

Genre: Comedy, Heist?, Johnny Depp

Running Time: 106 Mins based on IMDB

Notable Stars: Johnny Depp, Gwynneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany

Seen On: Fisher Mall, the Cinema with restrooms inside

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3045616/

Anime Review: No Game No Life

No Game No Life (NGNL for short) is an battle Anime series.  Sora and Shiro are siblings who specialise in all types of games.  They get sucked into a world where gaming is everything: from settling scores to serving as a proxy for wars between nations.  They eventually serve as humanity's representatives against other races in humanity's attempts at climbing up the racial rankings.

Sora and Shiro use their superior gaming skills to challenge and eventually triumph against their numerous foes.  Melodrama and humour are omnipresent through the series, with anime trope after trope being parodied.  Non-anime fans might find this series a bit hard to follow, especially if you're not a Japanese speaker, but I found myself enjoying the series immensely, particularly the juvenile humour.

And yes, there are a lot of ecchi (perverted) humour present in the series: Sora is your stereotypical virgin otaku, and there is a lot of fanservice going on. Stephanie Dola is a perpetual target, as well as serving as a butt of many jokes.

I love the art and character design here, reminding me of the Monogatari series with its highly stylised art.  Animation quality doesn't falter either, with no obvious reduction in art quality.

I recommend this series if you like watching anime/Japanese comedy.  If you've been watching anime for the past few years, this series parodies a lot of them and is enjoyable as such.  I'm just hoping that we'd see a few more seasons of this Anime since it stops midway, with no news on whether it will be renewed.

Verdict: Recommended 4/5

TL;DR:
++ A lot of funny moments in this anime
-/+ A lot of the humour depends on familiarity of anime tropes and series
+ Attractive art and animation quality
+ Interesting secondary characters, I like Stephanie Dola :)

Details:
Genre: Combat Anime
Episodes: 12
Aired: April to June, 2014