Chatverock Takes itself way too seriously

2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Mabel Munoz Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Paul Magne Haakonsen Being a fan of Eihi Shiina, I sat down to watch this movie, despite her having a small role in the movie.The concept of the movie is sort of alright, but I found it very hard to immerse myself into the movie and really get into it. There was just something boring looming over the movie.Usually Japan pumps out good movies, but this one sort of comes up short. Sure there was some alright scenes in the movie, but the overall experience was sort of a let down.I didn't even finish it, I gave up about three-fifths through the movie. It was just that uninspiring.

ebiros2 Sky High is a occult sci-fi starring Yumiko Shaku. She is murdered on the day of her wedding by Tatsuya Kudo (Takao Oosawa) and Rei Miwa (Kanae Uotani). Kudo and Miwa is collecting six hearts from women who used to be the keeper of gate of death to bring back Kudo's fiancé back to life. She reaches the gate of death and its keeper Izuko (Eihi Shiina) gives her three choices: To be reborn as human again, Roam as a ghost, or avenge death to anyone they choose. She's given 12 days to roam the earth before she makes her mind up, so she goes back and tries to stop the killing by Kudo (in spiritual form). Her fiancé Kohei Kanzaki (Shosuke Tanihara) is a detective, and is trying to find who killed his fiancé. He meets Sayuri Endo (Aya Okamoto), and Kazuo Kishi (Hiromasa Taniguchi) who are reporters and camera man working for a magazine. Kishi is psychic and can see Mina (Yumiko Shaku) and conveys her message to Kudo. Kudo first is skeptical, but later believes what Kishi is saying, and together they go off to stop Kudo.Yumiko Shaku can play a part of ordinary intellectual woman, but she excels in playing a lead in sci-fi movie. This one is no exception, and she plays her rather unlikely part in a cool and convincing fashion.Shosuke Tanihara kept on reminding me of Leon Lai of Hong Kong cinema. The two really looks alike.Yumi Kikuchi plays the part of a medium who can exorcise spirits and understands the working of an underworld. She knows what Kudo is up to and helps Kanzaki plan a counter attack on Kudo.Based on a comic by Tsutomu Takahashi, this movie is an offshoot of a TV series that ran for two seasons between 2003 and 2004 in Japan. Yumiko Shaku plays the role of Izuko in the TV series as well.

suchenwi What a fantastic romance fantasy horror thriller! At my age of 52, I actually like it when a film proceeds not always at full speed, but lingers on one detail or another.My biggest enjoyment was to see Franz Schubert's String Quartet in D minor (D.810), with variations on Death and the Maiden, being played at the concert hall - until dripping blood interrupted it... ("Orpheus and Eurydice" could also have been a well-fitting soundtrack).Anatomically, a hole in the middle of the breast did not make sense to me - when you reach in there, spine and ribcage will block your way. But it's just a fantasy story, and quite enjoyable as such - and a big box of eye candy (take the curved corridor with reflecting walls as just one example).I find it a good, strong movie which I can well recommend. If you love Stargate, you also find a touch of that in Sky High :^) Also, the last split-second (Mina points her sword at you and says "Go!") raises memories of the famous shoot-at-audience scene from Great Train Robbery (1903).

suttercane Let me get this out of the way now. I am a huge Ryuhei Kitamura fan. I think I have now seen all of his movies (Heat After Dark, Down To Hell, Versus, Azumi, Aragami, Alive...... and even Battlefield Baseball, which he sort of had a hand in), and though enjoyed them all, I found Sky High to be one of his best. This definitely sits in my top 3, with Versus and Azumi.Anyone familiar with Kitamura's films will recognize his style immediately. Fantastic cinematography, digitally assisted effects, hyperkenetic fights, and story lines that at best can be described as complicated. He seems to weave a mythology into most of his work, and it all seems very new and interesting.In any case, Sky High really got to me because the world he spins here has really defined rules, and they are played to the best of their limits. We know that the death of one character will cause a chain reaction in both the living and spirit world, and that was really intriguing.The film has flaws, to be sure. It's a little long, and sometimes you can predict what's coming next, but it's still very good. This is the kind of movie that looks good enough to have a very wide theatrical release (except for the demon at the end, what was with that?) and do well once word of mouth got around.Anyway, highly recommended viewing. Can't wait to see what Kitumura will do with Godzilla: Final Wars.