Welcome to Marc's Movie page
(updated October 23rd, 2010)
| The Yuraku (Nara) cinema closed January 31st, 2010, after 68 years. 当館は１９４２年の開館以来６８年間にわたり、皆様の ご厚情をいただいて今日まで地元、奈良の地にて、営業を 続けてまいりましたが近年の大きな状況の変化により ２０１０年１月３１日(日)の営業をもちまして 閉館いたしました。 |
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Click here to see the Warner Mycal cinemas (Japan) homepage |
| DVD バーゲンコーナー / DVD bargains at Amazon Japan ビデオ バーゲンコーナー / Video bargains at Amazon Japan |
To find out more about the movie in English, either visit Amazon.com or  |
Click here for Amazon.co.uk |
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Another Pixar masterpiece. Wonderful graphics and action sequences, and
some tolerably funny lines of dialogue. Not a comedy, but a great
heartwarming story in the tradition of Toy Story and Shrek. Dynamite music
and the director (Brad Bird) also directed another of my and my children's
favourites, "Iron Giant".  |
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A great story by British poet Ted Hughes, made into a charming, delightful
movie by Brad Bird. "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston voices the
mother of the main character, an unusual yet wonderfully apt choice. Some
great lines. This movie is much loved by my movie-loving and acting children.
We own it, which means we've watched probably a hundred times or more. |
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - the third in the series. Darker
and scarier, tho not necessarily better. A pretty satisfying movie, but
my kids (who know the book) found several important differences and were
not convinced they were all really necessary. |
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The Emperor's New Groove - an unusually funny Disney animation. My kids
love it. Watch for the genial Kronk, a handsome jock with very little brain,
but an unusual talent. Jazz queen Eartha Kitt does a superb job of voicing
the evil Yzma, while John Goodman is the friendly peasant Pacha. Boom-baby!!
David Spade, the voice of the Emperor Cuzco ("A llama? He's supposed
to be DEAD!!") is unknown to me, but apparently famous for his acidic
wit. Tom Jones sings a dynamite opening number: "WHAT'S HIS NAME???
CUZCO!"The Japanese title is ラマになった王様 |
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The Matrix Reloaded - #2 in the trilogy. If you're looking for deep philosophy,
forget it, but if you like convincing fight action, cool shades, sexy black
PVC, did I mention the cool shades? you won't be disappointed. |
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Man on the Moon - a quirky, delightful biopic of an unusual performer,
Andy Kaufman, who refused to be pigeonholed in any category. A great movie
with a powerful performance by Jim Carrey, his most impressive that I've
seen. The movie teases, makes you cringe, laugh and cry; an experience
that I imagine matches that of Kaufman live performances. This is a wonderful
movie, and not the usual silly Jim Carrey vehicle at all. Dir. Milos Foreman.
Also stars Danny DeVito & Courtney Love. An insightful article on the
movie is here. |
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Joe versus the Volcano - a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan romantic comedy. A sweet,
intriguing, fairy-tale allegory with some interesting ideas including -
living life fully, taking risks, feeling grateful for life, the meaning
of bravery self-sacrifice and the meaning of love. My favourite line: (Meg
Ryan) "Most people sleep walk through life,but a few are truly aware,
and live in a constant state of awe" |
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Dark Blue World - a stunning 2001 movie about Czech pilots who join the
RAF in WWII. The story of 2 pilots who fall in love with the same Englishwoman,
and how the tension between jealousy and camaraderie tests these men's
mettle. Great dogfight and flying scenes. Dialog is mostly in Czech. (Titled
Tmavomodry svet ) |
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ロード・オブ・ザ・リング Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King. Third in the trilogy. |
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ロード・オブ・ザ・リング Lord of the Rings - the Two Towers. Second in the trilogy. |
| ロード・オブ・ザ・リング Lord of the Rings. First in the trilogy: Fellowship of the Ring. Pretty faithful rendition of Tolkien's work. Stunning New Zealand exteriors and CG. |
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One of the better WWII movies, and a great story. Starring Steve McQueen.
The Great Escape - Special Edition [1963] is available in English only from Amazon UK.
For a more recent film that clearly shows the influence of this movie, see
"Chicken Run". |
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理想の結婚THE IDEAL HUSBAND.
Based on Oscar Wilde's play. A beautifully made period piece replete with Wilde witticisms, directed by Oliver Parker ("Othello" 1995, "Importance of
Being Earnest" 2002), and starring Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver ("Good Will Hunting") and Rupert Everett. |
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シュレック Shrek - hilarious in parts. Great for kids and adults. Mike Myers does the voice for an intelligent "thing from the swamp" (Shrek)
who goes on a mission to rescue Princess Fiona, accompanied by Donkey (Eddie Murphy). Great songs. |
 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Click on the title left to see the Warner Brothers trailer. My kids read the stories in Japanese and I read to them in English (not at the same time!). They loved the first movie and can't wait for the next one. Neither can I. |
| Great Expectations. The 1934 Carl Laemmle production of Charles Dickens'great novel. B/W, one of the early talkies. Director, Stuart Walker | |
| GREAT EXPECTATIONS 大いなる遺産 |
Great Expectations. David Lean's 1947 classic, starring John Mills with a very young Alec Guinness. Still considered the best adaptation by many. |
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Ioan Gruufudd, Justine Waddell and Charlotte Rampling star in this UK made-for-TV adaptation. The video is a boxed set. Movie lasts 3 hours. Director, Julian Jarrold, 1999.Read more about it at the IMDB. And a review of it here. |
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Great Expectations. A Disney version (God helps us!), tho quite well received apparently. Jean Simmons, who played the young Estella in the 1946 version, plays Miss Havisham, while Anthony Hopkins is Magwitch. Director, Kevin Connor, 1989. |
| Great Expectations (BBC version) | Made in 1999. No more details available at the moment. |
| Shaolin Soccer (Hong Kong English title), Kung Fu Soccer (US title), or "Siu lam juk kau". 少林サッカー. A 2001 Hong Kong movie about a down-and-out Shaolin (Kung Fu) practitioner (Stephen Chow) eagerly seeking a chance to tell the world about the wonders of Kung Fu, who meets a down-and-out soccer coach (Man Tat Ng as Golden Leg Fung) eager for a second chance. They collect a rag-bag collection of ex-Kung-Fu braves and battle their way to the All-China final. The closer the time came to fulfilling my promise to my 9-yr-old son to take him to see this, the more misgivings I had. But we both enjoyed it! A kung-fu movie that never takes itself too seriously, and some dynamite CGs and special effects (and a Bruce Lee goalkeeper lookalike!). The story owes some debts to "Major League" and "The Replacements", and to more kung-fu movies you can shake a nun-chaku at, but always tongue firmly in cheek, which for me saves this movie. (After thrashing various teams with their array of supernatural kung-fu tricks, they come up against an equally skilled girls team: "What the hell is that?" says captain Sing, "wire action?!!") The exposition is too long and obvious, but once the team gets its act together the movie really picks up. Not sophisticated humour. Solid performances from writer/director and leading man Stephen Chow, bad guy Yin Tse, and love-interest Vicki Zhao; they carry the other clowns. A good review of it is here. | |
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Waking Ned, ウエイキアップネッド or in the US "Waking Ned Devine". I enjoyed this immensely. Beautiful Irish countryside, great acting from Ian Bannen ("Hope and Glory") who sadly died in a car accident near Loch Ness, Scotland barely a year after this movie, and David Kelly (I last saw him in an episode of Fawlty Towers!), and a story reminiscent of Local Hero. The ending when the black sheep of the village... but I won't spoil it. |
| Nothing To Lose ナッシング・トゥ・ルーズ The review at amazon.com sums up my impressions. I enjoyed it, thanks to Martin Lawrence's irrepressible spirits, Tim Robbin's fine acting (the opening scene is memorable), and director Steve Oedekerk ("親指ウォーズ THUMB WARS, "親指タイタニック THUMBTANIC"). | |
オ・ブラザー O Brother, Where Art Thou? |
A hilarious movie by the Coen brothers, starring a very funny George Clooney and the brilliant John Turturro. Combines "The Three Stooges" with "The Odyssey". Lovely sepia-tinted photography and knock-out "American roots" music. If you like the music, check out blues genius Chris Thomas King who plays the black man at the crossroads. Amazon Japan only sell the video version of this movie, but you can buy the DVD at Discstation (Nagoya, Japan). |
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リトル・ダンサー Billy Elliot |
A young boy in a tough Northern England mining town prefers ballet to the boxing lessons his Dad wants him to take. With the connivance of the tough but sympathetic ballet teacher (Julie Walters), this is Billy's secret, until his family finds out; then all hell breaks lose. A fine "coming-of-age" movie which poses difficult questions through Billy: he likes dancing, and his best friend likes cross-dressing, and also likes Billy. Is Billy gay? How does the truth fare in a macho environment? The dancing is great. |
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ムーラン・ルージュ ― Moulin Rouge |
A visual feast and stunning spectacle. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman sing in this lavishly creative story by Baz Luhrmann (Strictly Ballroom, Romeo and Juliet). |
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恋愛小説家 As Good as it Gets |
A manic obsessive-depressive novelist (Jack Nicholson) who has made his fortune writing about love yet who does not love anyone, is suddenly forced into generosity when the only waitress who can tolerate him (Helen Hunt) is forced to quit work to look after her sick son. Finding he quite likes the experience, he tries again when his gay neighbour (Greg Kinnear "We Were Soldiers /ワンス・アンド・フォーエバー", "Nurse Betty / ベティ・サイズモア", "You've got mail / ユー・ガット・メール") is hospitalized and loses his apartment. Great performances from Nicholson, Hunt, and Kinnear. My favourite line: "As long as you keep yourselves zipped up around me, I don't give a rat's crap where you shove your show... Are we done being neighbours for now?" |
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ゲット・ショーティ GET SHORTY |
A very funny Hollywood satire about loan-shark Chili Palmer (John Travolta) who goes to LA to catch a reluctant debtor and ends up in the movie business! Also stars Gene Hackmann, Danny DeVito, Rene Russo and Delroy Lindo. Worth watching many times. |
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恋はデジャ・ブ Groundhog Day |
Bill Murray in a great romantic comedy. Cynical, egotistic, friendless TV weatherman goes to Punxsatawnie for the Groundhog Day ceremony, and finds himself condemned to live the same day over and over again. Andie McDowell is surpisingly good. The Japanese DVD does not contain the "Weight of Time" documentary, or Harold Ramis' commentary. Also no English subtitles. Pathetic really. Buy the English DVD from Amazon UK. |
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5 taxi drivers in 5 cities around the northern hemisphere, in 1 night. 5 stories, some hilarious, some tragic, some both. Roberto Bellini's my favourite: unwittingly murdering a priest with his salacious stories, then trying to get rid of the body! Unforgettable music by Tom Waites. Go here for IMDB details. |
| Miyazaki's award-winning animation, "Spirited Away". My kids and I adored this one. |
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