Waiting in the dark / Kurai tokoro de machiawase (Japan, 2006)

Waiting in the dark by director Daisuke Tengan is one of those hidden pearls that has been lifted to the surface!

This movie, which is very slowly paced and with little talking in fact, shows what true beauty is about. A world that seems to be cruel, a world that doesn’t contain any light to see. In such a world we meet two young adults. A girl, who got blinded after an accident and a boy who is a half Chinese who can’t seem to make friends and is accused of murder.
Those two people, together with a friend of the girl, are the stars of the movie. Sometimes you are in awe with a film but it seems difficult to find that one thing that makes it so special. This is one of those films, the acting of Rena Tanaka and Bo-Lin Chen which is just terrific, the cinematography is stunning, the story which catches every emotion and the beautiful and intense music lift this movie to great heights!

A brilliant story about two young adults who believe there is no place for them in this world.

Vanished / Oyayubi sagashi (Japan, 2006)

The story about a group of kids playing a game called ‘Oyayubi sagashi’. A game where souls will be transported to a mysterious room. In this room there is a thumb to find, the one who finds it has the ability to make a wish. Yumiko disappears during this game. Is she still trapped in this room? 8 Years later the same people will play the game again, nothing seems to happen but slowly they begin to disappear one at the time.
A horror film that could best be described like a film with a pretty interesting story which never really convinces. It just doesn’t get exciting too much, maybe it’s because the pacing seems to be a bit slow for such kind of film, though in fact its story becomes more interesting at the story evolves the ending is not really satisfying. This film is also impersonal, the acting keeps you at a distance and this influences the fact that it is never getting really scary. Ayumi Ito managed to do a good job, she acted well in my eyes!
Again we look at some scenes where a mysterious hand appears on a shoulder…. I think I have seen it before in Ju-on.

The Cat returns / Neko no ongaeshi (Japan, 2002)

Another production of the famous Ghibli studio!

This time it isn't on a grand scale like Miyazaki's Spirited away or Howl's moving castle but Hiroyuki Morita has kind of it's own style, which created an interesting anime!

The cat returns is a film a bout a girl who rescues a cat and this isn't going unnoticed. The king of the cats wants to thank her for this, cause the rescued cat seems to be his son! She will be taken to the cat kingdom to marry the prince, but is this girl, Haru, wanting to become a cat for the rest of her life? I already see some cat-ears growing!!

Well I guess you should have noticed, maybe there is not too much depth in this story but that is fine because we deal with a film which is very humorous. Some scenes will really make you laugh and together with the good animation (do we expect different from a Ghibli production?) and sweet story it is a very enjoyable film to watch!

When you want to see a fat cat skydiving, and wallcarrying-cats falling like domino stones you sure should not miss this one!