12/16: Monthly Recap

This is the last post for the year! 2016 has been a year of...I'm thinking of anything positive to say but I don't think I've had as much headaches as I did this year. It was a good year personally, but environment-wise, it was not. Maybe 2017 should be about staying positive and surviving, and fighting for justice. There's a lot of darkness in the world, and hopefully the goodness of humanity shrines through. 

December has been an average month for movies. This is also the month where I should catch up on this year's releases before movie lists roll out. While I keep a ranked list, I don't think I'll be doing a top films for 2016 list because it wasn't a good movie year for me. I wasn't very passionate about most of the movies I've seen, so it's not ideal to make a list where I only genuinely adore 5 movies I've seen that were released this year. Looking forward to other people's lists, though. With that, here are the movies I've seen this month.

Upcoming Reviews
Rogue One (if I get around to writing it!)

First Time Viewings 

Assassination Classroom: Graduation – This was the sequel to the octopus teacher movie I saw last year. While there’s more of an emotional core here, I liked the fun atmosphere of the first movie better than this one. 

My Love Story – This is another live action adaptation of an anime that I’ve seen. This one basically adapts the first two (or three) episodes so nothing remotely happens. I’m disappointed with this as the whole story was basically reduced to a misunderstanding of the two characters. 

Bean Paste/Sweet Red Bean Paste – It’s neither character nor plot centered, but has a very relaxing atmosphere. The setting revolves around a dorayaki shop (I'm not sure if there’s a direct translation of what a dorayaki is, but it’s two small pancakes with sweet red bean paste filling) and watching them make the dish is kind of soothing. The film is essentially divided into two, but the latter half seemed rushed compared to the first part.

Bakuman – Being a manga artist is hard. Some of the effects were slightly over the top but it made the movie fun. 

Storks - This was much better than I thought. I really liked the montage at the end. 

Your Name - This has been raved out, and it really is a great movie. This is Makoto Shinkai's best work to date. 

A Woman is a Woman - Anna Karina is so beautiful to look out. She's very charismatic, unlike her co-stars who look dull when around her. There were pieces of this film that I liked, but because the storytelling verges on unpredictable, it took me out of the film.
Heathers - 80's/early 90's Winona Ryder is the best. It's a shame that her career didn't pan out as well as her peers.
Wolf Girl and Black Prince - I have a love/hate relationship with the cinematography of this movie. This was shot very well, but I think the cinematography is trying to make up for the lack of content the story has. The movie was amazing to look at, but it's a kind of story that doesn't benefit from that kind of shooting.
Moana - This was funny and amazing, probably my favorite animated film of the year.
A Fish Called Wanda - I'm glad I know almost nothing about the plot because this was confusing in a fun way.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - After endless attempts of trying to finish this, I finally did finish it and liked it. For all of Ferris' intentions, he's not exactly the greatest friend to Cameron, but he's a pretty fun guy.