'Sound! Euphonium' Is a Charming Concert Band Drama

Sound! Euphonium (also known as Hibike! Euphonium) is a 13-episode anime series that details the drama and development behind Kitauji High School’s concert band.  There are plenty of characters, but the story focuses on freshman Kumiko Oumae.  She has been playing the euphonium for seven years; however, she’s not necessarily masterful of playing the instrument nor dedicated to it.  But through the progress of the story, she gains new...

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Bruce Timm’s ‘Justice League: Gods and Monsters’ Is a Terrific Reinvention of the Justice League

Justice League: Gods and Monsters is the third of the three DC direct-to-video animated features scheduled for 2015.  On the other hand, the number of Marvel direct-to-video animated features released this year is… zip!  Seriously, I grow more disappointed with each DC animated movie being released without any Marvel response.  I understand that Marvel is already making serious money in the big screen that they can consider the direct-to-video...

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'Scooby Doo! And KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery' Feels Like an Episode of 'The New Scooby Doo Movies'

Scooby Doo is an icon, and beloved through generations.  A consistent stream of modern cartoons as well as re-runs of old ones ensure that.  But the surprise to me is that producers apparently find KISS still relevant or appealing enough to warrant a crossover with Scooby Doo.  Seriously, is KISS really the kind of thing you want to introduce to a younger audience?Anyway, in the direct-to-video animated movie Scooby Doo! and KISS:...

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'The Death Of "Superman Lives": What Happened?' Makes Me Wish 'Superman Lives' Was Made

Back in the mid to late 90’s, a Superman movie starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Tim Burton was undergoing development.  “Superman Lives” is what would have been the title.  It was scheduled for a 1998 release date – and then 1999 – but Warner Bros. decided to pull the plug while ongoing production.  Forward years later into the Internet Age, Superman Lives somewhat gained an “urban legend” status, and the general perception...

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Yep, 'Kill Me, Heal Me' Indeed Killed DID Better than 'Hyde, Jekyll, Me'

When I wrote about Hyde, Jekyll, Me last month, I mentioned about its curious case with another network’s drama series, Kill Me, Heal Me, which not only aired at the same timeslot as Hyde, Jekyll, Me, but also has the same premise – a chaebol(South Korean term for family-controlled conglomerate) man suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or multiple personality disorder because of a traumatic experience in his childhood.  I also...

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A Cool Plot Twist Can't Save 'Insurgent' from Being as Mediocre as Expected

Insurgent (its full, more boring name is The Divergent Series: Insurgent) is the sequel to last year’s Divergent, a movie about a dystopian society set in post-apocalyptic Chicago wherein people are divided into five factions depending on their inherent traits and personalities.  To be honest, I’m already tired of movie adaptations of YA novels that are mere attempts to replicate the success of Twilight (being the worst kind) or The Hunger Games...

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'Ant-Man' Gives the Marvel Cinematic Universe a Tiny Hero with Giant Contributions

Stepping down from the epic scale of its previous two offerings – Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron – Marvel’s newest movie is Ant-Man, the studio’s first solo superhero origin movie since 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.  However, Ant-Man’s heist element, sense of fun, captivating cast performances, and dynamic storytelling elevates it from being merely a typical superhero origin movie.  And as far as being...

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"The Rogue Cut" Is An Enjoyable But Unessential Supplement to 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'

I like director’s cut/extended versions of movies.  Yes, half of the time, the director’s cut merely pads the movie and doesn’t add substance.  However, the other half of the time, a director’s cut allows a movie to make more sense, have more thrills, and have more depth.  The best example of an extended version doing some considerable enhancement was on the Lord of the Rings, and I personally like the alternate ending version of I...

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'Ted 2' Reminds Me That I'm Not Really a Fan of Seth McFarlane's Humor

Though I occasionally watched Family Guy and find Stewie Griffen an interesting character, I’ve never been a fan of the show nor of Seth McFarlane.  Yes, some of McFarlane’s jokes were funny.  But in every five jokes delivered, only one made me burst out laughing, one induces just a chuckle, two I find distasteful, and one was quite unfunny.  However, I enjoyed the first Ted movie.  I considered it as the most hilarious movie...

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In 'Home', Half-Expecting A "Bazinga!" to Happen Can't Be Helped

Throughout this movie, I was involuntary half-expecting that the expression “Bazinga!” was going to be uttered in this movie.  Well, the word wasn’t expressed.  But it still felt like that this movie – for better and worse – is one big “Bazinga!” happening.  It’s just quite hard separating Sheldon Cooper from the character Oh.  Actor Jim Parsons really has a distinguishable voice, which has already been thoroughly associated with...

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'Spring' Is an Enchanting Genre-Bending Love Story

Spring is a delightfully bizarre romantic film with science fiction and horror elements about a directionless young man named Evan who takes an unplanned trip to Italy where he meets and falls in love with a young geneticist named Louise.  Louise is intelligent, beautiful, and warm – seemingly the perfect woman in Evan’s eyes.  But as their relationship deepens, Evan learns that, not only is Louise way out of his league, but she keeps a...

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Top 10 Fictional Thieves

Stealing is always wrong.  But in the context of fiction, talented and cool thieves appeal to us greatly.  We are won over by their calculated planning, amazing skill sets, graceful athleticism, and inherent charm.  So we root for them and the success of their endeavors.For this list, it’s not enough for a character to be just identified as a “thief.”  He or she should also have spent significant time being a thief during the...

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'Advantageous' Could Be the Most Thought-Provoking Movie of 2015

Advantageous was originally a 2013 short film that has been expanded into this full-length feature film.  This movie premiered in Sundance earlier this 2015, and is currently being distributed by Netflix.  It is probably the most thought-provoking science fiction movie I’ve seen this year so far.  And considering the fact that I’ve already seen Ex Machina, that’s saying something.The film’s setting is on a near-future that is seemingly...

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Chain of Thoughts: Most Interesting Details (So Far) About the 'All-New, All-Different' Marvel Universe

Based on the information from the previews that Marvel has officially released, as well as from the recent leaks of the titles shipping in October, we now have a general idea on what the new, post-Secret Wars Marvel Universe will look like.  And I’m really looking forward to it.  Personally, I’m enjoying this Secret Wars mega-event so far, but I really can’t wait for the new status quo to arrive.  Here are what intrigues and/or excites...

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