Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine / 2006 / 101minutes



-Main cast
Abigail Breslin as Olieve Hoover
Greg Kinnear as Richard Hoover
Paul Dano as Dwayne
Alan Arkin as Grandpa Edwin Hoover
Toni Collette as Sheryl Hoover
Steve Carell as Frank Ginberg

-Plot
Olieve is 7 year old girl, and her family is little strange.

Olieve: 7 year old girl.Her dream is winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest. (It’s a beauty contest.)
Dwayne: Olieve’s brother. He wants to be a pilot. He is fanatic of Nietzsche, has vowed not to talk until his dream comes true. He doesn’t talk with his family at all.
Edwin: Olieve’s grandpa. He was expelled from institution for old people and is heroin addict. He is Olieve’s coach, and is coaching Olieve in her contest.
Richard: Olieve’s father. He introduce self-improvement technique using 9 steps to reach, but it doesn’t work well. He said Olieve “Be winner”, but actually he is completely loser.
Shery: Olieve’s mother. She is a heavy smoker. She tries to keep her family happy, but exhausts herself by working as mother.
Frank: Olieve’s uncle. He is homosexual and Proust scholor, and tried to commit suicide when he was rejected by his boyfriend. So he has to be guarded by his family, so he lives with them.

One day, Olieve gets a chance to join Little Miss Sunshine in Redondo Beach, California. Her family travel from Albuquerque, New Mexico riding very old mini bus.

-My comments
This movie is about “family”. It makes us think about our own family. I think there wasn’t perfect family doesn’t have any problem.
My favorite actor in this movie is Paul Dano as Dwayne (Olieve’s brother). Dwayne has vowed not to talk until his dream comes true. I guess the performance without any lines is very difficult.
I don’t know whether the ending is happy or not. So I’m not sure you like it. But try it!

thank you sooo much for your reading and comments! :)

JAPANESE MOVIES

Most of my friends like English movies. I began to watch English movie after entering the university. Until I’ve entered this university, I rarely watched it. Now I like English movie, but I still like Japanese movie! So I’ll introduce you JAPANESE movies.




First, my favorite actor is Sasaki Kuranosuke. He appears in 20世紀少年, ぼくたちと駐在さんの700日戦争, 誰も守ってくれない and 間宮兄弟. The great of them all is ぼくたちと駐在さんの700日戦争. It’s story about high school students. I’ve never watched it without crying.





Second, film directors whom I like are Mitani Kouki and Kudo Kankuro. Their works are みんなのいえ, ラジオの時間, THE 有頂天ホテル, ザ・マジックアワー (Mitani) & 木更津キャッツアイ, なくもんか (Kudo). These are basically comedy, but it’s not just comedy. They have some sort of message. That’s why I like them.





Third, I wanna recommend you to watch 容疑者Xの献身 and パコダテ人.
I guess everyone who read my blog knows 容疑者Xの献身. When I was in the 3rd grade in junior high school, I bought and read the original novel of this movie. It made me think about “LOVE” (I still don’t know what it is exactly.) and I was touched by it. And in the first year of high school, I watched it with my friends. And I cried!! I think Tsutsumi Shinichi’s performance in it is extraordinary great! I can lend you both of the novel and the DVD.
And I guess パコダテ人 isn’t famous. Do you know it? Miyazaki Aoi appears in it and she is soooo cute! I’m sure that all the boys who watch it fall in love with her.





Finally, the latest movies I watched are ちょんまげぷりん and SP.
ちょんまげぷりん sounds funny or weird but it’s really good one. Nishikido Ryo and Tomosaka Rie appear in it. I watched it in theater with my sister. This movie moved me, and I cried hard without hesitate.
And, I think everyone knows about SP. And I love Okada Junichi. Everything includes all action scenes is never a stunt person. Do you believe it?!

Thank you for reading. Tell me your favorite JAPANESE movie.

Sister Act

Sister Act / 1992 / 100 minutes



-Main cast
Whoopi Goldberg as Deloris Van Cartier / Sister Mary Clarence
Maggie Smith as Reverend Mother
Kathy Najimy as Sister Mary Patrick
Wendy Makkena as Sister Mary Robert
Mary Wickes as Sister Mary Lazarus
Harvey Keitel as Vince LaRocca

-Plot
Deloris is a singer in Las Vegas. Her boy friend is Vince who is gang. He won’t divorce his wife and Deloris breaks up with him. Shortly after that she witnesses Vince committing murder. She have to hide from Vince. She asks police for help. They search the place which Vince couldn’t find Deloris. That is convent! She is disappointed because she have to pretend to be a nun. But she soon makes friends with the nuns. One day, she goes out in the night with other nuns. As its punishment, she was ordered to join the choir. This choir is really bad. So she decided to change them. The choir gets better little by little. But it brings problems to Deloris.

-My comments
My friend recommended this movie to me long time ago. Finally, I watched it! I like it so much!! This movie came out 18 years ago. I’m sure it moved us all through the ages. Especially I like the scene which the choir’s members are singing. The last scene is wonderful. I like Mary Robert’s singing voice!! It’s awesome!!
I watched “Sister Act 2”. This is also good one. If you like “Sister Act”, I recommend you to watch “Sister Act 2”. In “Sister Act 2”, the main characters are not nuns but students.
I think “Oh happy day” is famous song in this movie. You can watch and listen on You Tube. If you don’t have enough time to watch this movie, I want you to just listen to this song! I love it!

GO TO YouTube!!　↓↓
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gOngg2y0jc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wilBK-zuZLk

Readers! Thank you for reading this blog! and thank you sooooo much for writing comments! I really enjoy reading your comments!

The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada / 2006 / 109 minutes



-Main cast
Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs
Emily Blunt as Emily
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly
Stanley Tucci as Nigel
Adrian Grenier as Nate

-Plot
Andy Sachs is plain girl and she isn’t careless of her appearance. She wants to become a journalist. However, she is employed by company which publishes very popular fashion magazine “RUNWAY”.
She works as second assistant of editor Miranda Priestly. She is very cruel editor in chief. Her former assistant couldn’t endure her hard work and was fired. Andy confuses about her cruel boss. But the stylist Nigel helps her a lot. Thanks for his help Andrea changes not only her appearance but also her attitude. She change from simple style into a more fashionable and elegant style. This change is good for her job, however, affects the relationship with her boyfriend Nate, friend and family.

-My comments
It’s the first time for me to watch this movie. I like it so much!!
Andy doesn’t give up about her boss’ cruel demand. I think Andy is very lucky because she is helped by her coworker. Without Nigel’s help, she couldn’t endure her hard work. After I watch it, I think I want to watch it again.I bought DVD!
I didn’t know Anne Hathaway until I’ve watched it. But I think she is very good actress! She is in The Princess Diaries (I wrote about it on this blog.), Get Smart (I’ll write about it on my blog.), Rachel Getting Married, Bride Wars, Alice in Wonderland. I’ve watched these movies (except Alice in Wonderland) on WOWOW. Thank you, my friend WOWOW! XD

50 First Dates

50 First Dates / 2004 / 99 minutes



-Main cast
Adam Sandler as Henry Roth
Drew Barrymore as Lucy Whitmore

-Plot
Henry Roth is a veterinarian in Hawaii. One day, he meets Lucy Whitmore who is an art teacher in the café. They have great time and promise meet the next morning in the café. The next day, Henry speaks to Lucy, but she says she doesn’t know him. He feels awkward. The café owner explains Lucy. She suffers from amnesia because of an accident. She can’t convert short term memories into long-term memories. So she doesn’t have memory between the day of the accident and the present. For her, everyday is October 13, 2002, it’s day of accident and also her father’s birthday. Her farther Marlin and brother Doug act the activities of October 13, 2002 every day.
So Henry meets her everyday and speaks to her. Lucy’s family and Henry think they can’t tell a lie to her forever. They decide to tell the truth to her.

-My comments
I don’t like love story movies and I don’t watch it much, but I like it so much!! It’s a romantic comedy. I don’t like some parts of comedy in this movie, but it makes me feel good after I watch it.
Her amnesia is so sad. The scene Lucy realizes she suffers from amnesia is sooooo sad! I can’t stop crying. I’m sure this scene makes you cry so easily. This movie is not too long, so you can enjoy it a lot. I bought DVD. :D
If you have boy/girlfriend, I recommend you to watch it with him/her. Unfortunately I can't! haha :P

17again

17again / 2009 / 105 minutes



-Main cast
Zac Efron as Mike O’Dnell (17 years old)
Matthew Perry as Mike O’Dnell (37 years old)
Thomas Lennon as Ned Gold
Michelle Trachtenberg as Maggie O’Dnell

-Plot
Mike O’Dnell is top basketball player at the Hayden High School. He may win a scholarship. However, his girlfriend Scarlet tells him about her pregnancy before the starting of the final game which college scouts check him out. After he heard about it, he decides not to play the game, but to marry her.
20 years later, Mike is 37 years old. He always complains to his wife that he lost his big chance because of their marriage. His wife Scarlet decided to divorce him, and he lost not only his home but also his whole family. So he stays at his friend Ned’s house. At that time, he is unfortunately fired! He feels so sad, and he remembers his high school days. He visits the Hayden High School. At there the janitor speaks to him and asks if he wants to get back to days of 17 years old. And he says “YES”.
One night while driving, Mike sees the janitor jump into the river from the bridge. He tries to help him and jump into river. Finally he can’t find him, but he is covered with mud. Then, he goes back to Ned’s home. During taking shower, he looks the mirror and discovers he is 17 again!! He decides to take a big chance again for getting back the life he lost.

-My comments
I don’t know about this movie at all. And I’m not a fan of Zac Efron. But I really like it! It’s funny that Mike (17 years old) talks with his friend (actually, they are his son and daughter!). Mike goes back to the past for getting big chance again. However, thanks to getting back to 17, he fixes his relationship with his family. I especially like the last scene. This movie is funny and heartwarming one.
If you are a big fan of Zac Efron, you’ll like this movie very much!! Even if you are not a fan of him like me, you’ll like this story.

The Princess Diaries

The Princess Diaries / 2001 / 115 minutes



-Main cast
Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse Renaldi
Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis
Sandra Oh as Vice Principal Gupta
Hector Elizondo as Joe

-Plot
Mia is awkward but cheerful 15-year-old girl. She is brought up by her single mother. She has spent time as ordinary teenager until she finds out that she is the princess of Genovia which is small European country (actually, Genovia is fictional country). She cannot believe she is princess, but she is heard her dead father who she has never met was the crown prince of Genovia.
Her grandmother insists that Mia takes training for being the princess. She have to decide a choice of remaining being high school student or succeeding the throne.

-My comments
Because I love Anne Hathaway, I choose this movie. It’s a one of best Disney movie for me. Mia is so cheerful girl and makes others around her happy. And I like specially friendship between Mia and Lilly.
This movie is based the novel whose title of the first volume published in 2000. But it is different from the movie. So I want to try it.
I watched also “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement”. Its ending isn’t same as I thought, but I like it so much!! If you like the first Princess Diaries, you will like it.



And Chris Pine is appearing in this movie. I didn’t know about him before I watched it, but “Chris Pine as Nicholas” is very cool and handsome!