Diagonaldi Very well executed

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

tedg I don't know why I bother with Hollywood when there are so many rich projects like this hiding in corners. The problem of course is finding them. The most significant benefit I get from writing IMDb comments is that readers lead me to them. That happened in this case.If you are an ordinary viewer , you probably won't like this. Its yet another dip into high school angst, overly long and structurally a bit too cute.I think you'll have to train yourself to watch films lucidly, but if you do, this will be quite effective. You will fall into it and really be influenced, much more viscerally than say "There Will be Blood," where there is no path for us to enter the world we watch.The matter of this concerns teen alienation, particularly through how we/they take things that happen and weave them into whatever simple, grand narrative is available — usually through commercial pathways. Its a simple chord to strike, but one we all know, both from when we were that age, and from how we live now, which is only a half degree separated.You'll encounter death, teen prostitution, rape. Gang dynamics involving intense humiliation. Clueless adults of course. Sexual drives and identity vacuums of course, but subordinated to the more overwhelming urge to be part of a cosmic story. Usually, we ignore this in film, because sex and role are inherently more cinematic. Less true, but easier to show as true.Its the multiply nested structure that makes it work. The scenes are presented non- linearly. The overriding narrative is not what we see, but a collection of instant messages exchanged among the characters we see. These evoke the images we see, perhaps not as they happened, but as they are recalled. There's an overarching cosmos that these text messages reference, an abstract, perfect world of ethereal dynamics conveyed through a goddess, a girl singer. The slightest nuance from, the smallest bit of news about, the slightest rumor concerning this singer provides ledges for a life, for a whole gaggle of lives bumping up against each other.In the center of this thing, you have a radical departure. All of a sudden, instead of the camera anchored in the test messages, we have a camera rooted in reality. Its literally footage from video cameras from the core teen boys as they go on an exotic vacation to Okinawa. Naturally, the four spindly 14-15 year olds are guided by four of the most appealing older girls in memory. Its colorful, jerky. Full of life, a real, embodied life that by its appearance makes all the rest of the thing seem incredibly sad in its artificiality.Someone knew what they were doing when they put this together. Someone deep and true and of the kind we need more of if we are to make it through. Or do I hang my life on commercially available narrative too?Heh.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Aaron Roselo I watched All About Lily Chou-Chou on about the end of my high school life and I must say that I was moved with the entire story and Shunji Iwai's brilliance.First off, the music was excellent - Salyu (or Lily) has this ethereal voice that haunts me every time the movie comes into mind, strengthening the entire atmosphere of the movie.It also shows the usual Japanese high school dimension of bullying which is very common, but the movie just shows a more intense depth to it.What makes the movie tick for me I guess would be that the main character (Yuuichi) although predominantly a shy and quiet boy, he developed through the various circumstances and thus leads to the end (which I will not spoil.) I can say that the pace of the movie is just enough to make you feel the emotions the characters portray given minimalistic dialogue and instead replaced by revolving BBS messages and lush green scenery.I give it a 10 out of 10 for everything - cinematography, plot, music. A movie that's so superb like this should be watched by everyone.

ArtWendeley I admittedly liked the camera and some of the pictures in the movie but other than that All about Lily Chou Chou had little to offer for me. Another story about bullying mixed with another story about some mysterious force (Ether, there's a long list of movies and video games from Japan with similar topics). The movie has a length of almost 2 1/2 hours, but even though I like lengthy movies and long-shot scenes which are often used in Japanese cinema, I got the impression the the time was almost utterly wasted in Iwai's allegedly "intelligent" movie. I don't want to complain too much about how the same topics are being used again and again, but at least try to bring in some new points of view and add some thoughts.From a very subjective point of view I'd also like to state that all that arrogant talk about "Lily Chou Chou" from the chat room annoyed the living hell out of me. And Iwai-san, you shouldn't have mentioned the Beatles.This movie could've been brilliant, but considering the incredible story flaws it's hardly average and I'd definitely suggest to expect as little as possible if you're already familiar with Japanese cinema. I could imagine though that it is very intriguing if you haven't seen any Japanese movie before.

layla ramsay I have been living in Japan for a couple of years, but have just recently begun to take an interest in Japanese movies. I have never watched a western movie and been left staring at the screen as the credits roll, unable to move for at least 5 minutes, which is how i seem to find myself at the end of every Japanese movie i have watched.... The latest was All About Lily Chou Chou. The best one yet. The story is so true to life, especially in Japan, and i liked how it showed how completely useless adults can be for teenagers going through that high school "phase" battling with life and their own emotions and insecurities, and dealing with the true nastiness of the kids they are surrounded by every day. The soundtrack (!!!) played a huge part in making this movie what it is, and i'm pretty sure i will be listening to it for years to come. I was hooked right at the beginning. Cinematography was also out of this world, some of the simplest of scenes were just so beautiful. Admittedly, the story is quite hard to follow at times, but i really can't hold that against it, because it did all make sense to me in the end... and if anything it gives you an excuse to watch it over and over again! All i can say is if your looking for some light entertainment this movie is probably not for you. But for those of you looking for something a bit deeper, get your tissues, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!