Kamikaze Girls Trailer

Kamikaze Girls (2004)

To quell my excitement somewhat for the upcoming Anaheim AM2 (an anime convention in Anaheim) , I've been watching alot of japanese movies. Only one other movie than "Train Man" has caught my attention. Maybe I will credit it to the amazing baby doll outfits from "Baby, the Stars Shine Bright". Or it could have been the cool cinematography.

Mainly, it caught my attention because it was awesome.

"Kamikaze Girls" involved Momoko and Ichigo. Momoko is a very self-observed, selfish, and manipulative heroine in the movie. Much to her dismay, she becomes uprooted from the ghetto areas of Japan into the quiet countryside. She is taken away from the center of her world, "Baby, the Stars Shine Bright", a clothing store that features lolita couture outfits. Very expensive couture. To finance her fashion obsession. she secretly begins to sell her fathers bootlegged line and meets up with Ichigo, a yakuza obsesses with the line. Ichigo is a very strange yakuza (I think it's a gangster). She's dramatic, aloof, and quick with her fists. But she's loyal and very caring.

So begins the strange and endearing friendship between Momoko and Ichigo. Two girls that are completely different in manner and personality creates a strong bond. The bond becomes tested over and over again as they begin a strange quest to search for a legendary yakuza figurehead. If forget why. I was distracted by the costumes and whimsical fun.

The movie is just fun to watch. Lots of whimsical special effects like flying through the sky and zooming in from space. Pretty shots of slow motion.

I really love the outfits that Momoko wears. I have no courage to wear those outfits but I do admire the outfits. Pretty, poofy, and elaborate. Other than the outfits, there wasn't really a reason to like Momoko for most of the movie. I really dug Ichigo. She was tough yet vulnerable with her clinginess to Momoko which comes strange since Ichigo tries to come off as bad ass and tough. It's not until Ichigo becomes endangered and forces Momoko to put aside her self-absorption and help her out.

And when Momoko defends Ichigo, it is freakin' BADASS!!! I love that scene so much! That made my jaw drop and my heart flutter from excitement.

Some points to look forward to in the movie: girl fights, some fart jokes, pretty dresses, motercycles, some drama, and a whole lotta fun.

This movie isn't going to change your perspective or change the world. This movie will add another movie showcasing the awesome power of female friendships to your list. A friendship with ruffles and studs.

Train Man: Densha Otoko Trailer

Densha Otoka / Train Man (2005)

My finals are over! Whoooooo!!!!!

Now I get to relax and watch as many movies as I want. And I just watched a great movie to kick off my summer.So here i go!

I just freakin' love romantic comedies. Scoff at me as much as you like but I just love a great romance with with lots of laughs. What's even better than a romantic comedy? A romantic comedy that circles around a geek.

"Densha Otoka" highlights the lonely tribulations of a geek. Meet a geek named Densha. He is a painfully and awkwardly shy geek. He spends his days huddling in his IT desk corner, oogling the aisles of anime figurine stores at night. He's hunches as he walk, hair that flops over his eyeglasses, carries a backpack, and wears sneakers. You get the picture.

One night on the train, he sees a girl that catches his eye. She's serene and simply beautiful. He ducks away from her glances until a belligerent drunk harasses her. To the surprise of himself, the passengers, and the pretty girl he stands up the drunk. From there begins the attraction.

Except wait. This is a geek. A geek who can barely even glance at a person let alone, gasp, a girl! What's a geek to do but to lean on his chatroom/website buddies under his screen name: train_man. Lucky for him, he has some kind website buddies because they help him every single step of the way. From calling her up until the crucial moment.


For once, there is a romantic movie about a geek that doesn't make fun of his quirks in a mean-spirited way that Hollywood tends to do. It's not exaggerated or insulting. His geekiness is portrayed as an extension of his defenses to his vulnerable, sweet nature. There are some funny moments, but just like most of the movie, it's cute and sweet.

It was such a a great movie! I seriously never cried from happiness from watching a romantic comedy in a very long time. No joke, I had tears of happiness stinging my eyes. I was clutching my throw pillow as I wiggled from giddiness. All I was thinking was "This. is. so. romantic!!!!"

I just love Densha. Love. Love. Love him!!! He's so painfully shy but he's so cute and sweet. And absolutely romantic in a geeky way!!!!! He goes out of his way to show her his love. One of the first "Awwww" moments came when he asked his website buddies to help get ready for his first date. And he takes every advice to heart. When they advise him to research the restaurant, he not only visits but takes picture of each dish on his phone. They advise him to lose as much of the geekiness appearance as possible so he goes through an intense makeover that spits out a very, very, very, cute Densha! Sigh...

To curb my gushing on Densha, the rest of the movie is just simply sweet and awesome. Every character in the movie is relatable and lovable. You get to know almost every character involved with Densha in the movie. The website buddies become more dimensional and fleshed out. It makes it so more fulfilling as you see how much they care for the success of Densha. How these strangers to him and one another support in his quest for love. Dammit that is awesome.

One thing that alot of other reviewers point out is that this movie plays out the romantic comedy sans sex. So many american hollywood movies seem to believe that to make a romantic comedy valid, it must have level of sexual escapades. Which I do enjoy, don't get me wrong. But sometimes it's nice just to focus on the romance.

I'll say it once, I'll say it again. If you want a great, romantic partner, date a geek. They know how to appreciate a woman.

And yes, I do speak from experience. ;)

YouTube How To Marry A Millionaire Original Trailer 1953 2

i found a better trailer!

How to Marry A Millionaire (1953)

Due to a frustrating shut down of the Blogger website, my post for the movie that I had written days ago was erased. It's taken me several days to get over my annoyance and frustration to rewrite this blog. Again.

The time is night for finals and the frantic scurrying sounds of studying has commenced.In order to prevent myself from going brain dead, I try to give myself some time to relax and watch some movies on my endless DVD queue.

Now, I've had this movie for a very, very long time in my queue. I will make it no secret that I am not a fan of Marilyn Monroe. She was featured so prominently on the DVD cover(It irks me how she's on the cover when some of the movies don't feature her the lead actress) that I was reluctant to give it chance. Luckily through a lack of a desire to watch anything, I came to watch the movie.

I loved it.

Not because of Monroe. Oh far from it. It was because of Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable. Ok, mostly Bacall. I loved her character, I loved her stubbornness, I loved her voice! Damn I am sucker for those actresses with deep voices that say high brow sentences ending with "Dawlin'" after puffing a smoke. Yeah, I know almost all of these actresses smoke (I hate smoking. Yup, it's a contradiction) and ended up with these husky voices. Bacall is seen puffing on some cigarettes on screen.

The plot for "How To Marry A Millionaire" is simply explained in the title. Three beautiful women use their beauty and most of their senses in nabbing themselves a rich husband. Schatze (played by Bacall) is the ringleader of the trio. She comes up with the ideas, the standards, and even the money to live on as they wait to ensnare their millionaire. Pola (played by Monroe) plays a ditz (surprise,surprise) who stumbles around blind as she's convinced that no man would date her if she wore her glasses. Then there's Loco who is so attractive that she can practically make any man buy her things such as groceries and what not. Their tactics and ideas on how to ensnare a millionaire is off and based on stereotypical ideas. What kind of men they end up with may not be shocking, but how they ended up with their matches is pretty entertaining.

This premise is nothing new. Even now we have reality shows based off of girls trying to nab millionaires. The desire has roots has far as the age old story of Cinderella. Where Cinderella wanted a prince, the modern cosmopolitan girl wants a millionaire. And if he's a prince too, will huzzah! (congrats to you princess middleton). Hell even I have participated in such fantasies. And before any male begins to roll their eyes, let me just list out why:

1. a millionaire offers the idea of sustained financial security
2. a millionaire is assumed to be raised on archaic forms of manners and etiquette.
3. a millionaire(with the exception of heirs) are believed to be hardworking and ambitious.

Buh buh, I must give out the cons:

1. a millionaire is always busy. He got achieved this status by putting everything second, namely relationships
2. such forms of manners and etiqutte would most likely end up alienating those that are not familiar with such customs
3. pre nups.

But namely, the fantasy is just a fantasy. In the US, anyone can be a millionaire. Be it through fortune, business, or luck. A millionaire could also be a jackass, abusive, or even worse. The point is, and the movie makes a small nod to this, a millionaire is just a person. They may not fit into the public mold but that's because their a person and every persons different.

This idea is strongly held with Schatzie and her journey. She continually turned her nose at a guy merely because of the way he dressed. According to her standards, since the guy never wore a necktie, means he is not a distinguished millionaire (which he is). She goes off and pursues them, even up to the point where she is about to take a dive and marry one of them. Somehow through her journey, she begins to think about love and life and ultimately makes her decision.

It is a predictable movie but I still enjoyed watching it nonetheless. The less Monroe was in it, the more I enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy the mini concert in the beginning of the movie. A small orchestra starts off with the movie and launches into a song. I don't think the song lent anything to the movie since I am not familiar with it all. The only thing I can guess is from the trailer (which is long, uninteresting, and lame) that they were trying to show how cool the movie was since it was in Cinemascope. I have no idea what that means.

The one thing I did love about the movie was that it was another story about girls coming together to achieve a goal. So many dumb movies show women as catty and two faced. Which we are, I won't lie. But we do have our treasured friendships and comrades. Friendship wasn't a prominent theme in the movie but the chemistry was so awesome that it didn't matter.

So my friends, go off and try to find your millionaires. I hope you learn that money is not what's important. It's happiness and companionship. It makes living more enjoyable with someone to share it with. An empty mansion will only store echoes.

The People I've Slept With Official Trailer