Emperor [Blu-ray]

Great historical war drama
"Emperor" (2013 release; 98 min.) brings the true story of how General/Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces MacArthur (played here by Tommy Lee Jones) was sent to Japan following Japan's surrender to end WWII, to assess which top ranking officials from Japan, including possibly Emperor Hirohito, should be brought to justice and stand trial. MacArthur enlistens the help of General Fellers (played by Matthew Fox) for the actual investigations, focusing on the Emperor, the Prime Minister and a few other top Ministers. The problem is that Washington demands a conclusion in only 10 days. The movie's script (based on the book 'His Majesty's Salvation' by Shiro Okamoto) intertwines the political and military aspects with a romantic involvement by Fellers with a Japanese woman whom he gets to know in the 1930s in the US, but who eventually returns to Japan without telling Fellers. Fellers is determined to find her now that he is back in Japan. Will Fellers find his former flame? Will...

Thought-Provoking Historical Drama
At the conclusion of the War in the Pacific ("V J Day," for those of us old enough to remember), the Allied forces had a dilemma: Should the Emperor of Japan (the Emperor of the Chrysanthemum Throne) be tried (and hung) for war crimes? Few of us gave it a moment's consideration at the time, but here is a thought-provoking drama that examines the issue.

It stars:
* Tommy Lee Jones ("Lincoln") as General Douglas MacArthur, tasked with reconstructing Japan, writing a constitution and restoring the economy. (Plus MacArthur really wants to run for President of the United States.) Is Jones getting all the good parts lately, or does he just make his parts seem that good?
* Matthew Fox ("Alex Cross") as General Bonner Fellers, the guy who understands that if Emperor Hirohito is hung, an insurrection will be inevitable and the war will NOT be over. Fox does great suppressed rage. Watch for it!
* Eriko Hatsune ("Norwegian Wood") as Aya, the sweetheart Fellers met...

Masatoshi Nakamura
I saw emperor shortly after it was released. I went to see it not only because I am interested in Japanese culture and history, but because I wanted to see the renowned Japanese actor and singer Masatoshi Nakamura in one of his rare appearances in an, American movie. He had a small part in it, but in my opinion he did a wonderful job. He had about a 5 minute speech which was quite powerful and moving. Mr. Nakamura has a long list of accomplishments and is very well known in Japan, so I am very happy that he had the opportunity to play an important role in an American movie.

Overall I think the movie was very well done. I would recommend it to anyone especially those who are interested in American and/or Japanese history.

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Days of Darkness

a tasty treat
I can honestly say that i had no real hope for this film. Most of the horror films to come out in recent history have been... disappointing. So, i started this movie with no expectations other than turning it off after the first ten to fifteen minuets.

what i found was something fairly original, calling itself on most of the cliches that it couldn't avoid and doing everything in it's power to overcome its' obvious budgetary restraints.

for fans of zombie films, this should be a real breath of fresh air, done in the style of a Romero film.

Bad, very, very bad.
This is by far one of the worst movies I have seen in a really really long time. Wow, I can not believe that something like this has even received any good comments. Horrible dialogue, poor character developement, and shotty effects. I think we did the same level of quality movie when I was in high school. In short, it's 85 minutes and $15.00 I'll never get back.

Painful to watch, but in the end is not that bad
Ok, so if you are looking for a zombie movie to watch just to watch, don't grab this one, Dawn of the Dead (orig or remake) is my favorite. I watch zombie movies cause i like them and eventually want to make them. This one is one you can learn from. They are in an isolated location the whole time, no big sets or lots of extras. Its done cheap and effective. Yea the story is shoddy, the acting even worse, the fight scenes are comical, the dialogue is crap. But educational wise its interesting. The lighting is good considering where they are filming. In "Zombie Night" they were in a warehouse of some sort and the lighting was done horribly. This one had a good location but the way they had the perimeter set up was totally unbelievable. The cause of the outbreak was ok, i mean its a zombie movie. And what prevents it is cool, simple. Again, I watch zombie movies to see what has been done, I liked this one for its simplicity; the story, acting, and dialogue needed work.

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Saw IV (Widescreen Edition)

"My work will continue"....
I could always sympathize with John Kramer(jigsaw) on some level because i watched my mother die from cancer. he has easily become my favorite character in the genre. seeing this installment just shows even more, the man was a genius. twisted as he may have been.

this movie focuses on the events in the aftermath of Saw III and Jigsaw's past. We see more of what drove him to the point he was at, and we get to see his first game.

the main storyline is about Detective Riggs trying to find Detective Matthews from Saw II. its now been 6 months since his disappearance. i dont want to give anymore info away, b/c realization is half the fun with this series. ill just say it goes back and forth between Riggs situation and looks into Jigsaw's past.

The overall story is by far the most interesting in my opinion, even if only for the better look into John's past. not that the rest of the movie falls short, this is possibly the most engaging in the series. the...

you think its over just because im dead?
I could always sympathize with John Kramer(jigsaw) on some level because i watched my mother die from cancer. he has easily become my favorite character in the genre. seeing this installment just shows even more, the man was a genius. twisted as he may have been.

this movie focuses on the events in the aftermath of Saw III and Jigsaw's past. We see more of what drove him to the point he was at, and we get to see his first game.

the main storyline is about Detective Riggs trying to find Detective Matthews from Saw II. its now been 6 months since his disappearance. i dont want to give anymore info away, b/c realization is half the fun with this series. ill just say it goes back and forth between Riggs situation and looks into Jigsaw's past.

The overall story is by far the most interesting in my opinion, even if only for the better look into John's past. not that the rest of the movie falls short, this is possibly the most engaging in the series. the...

awesome addition to the series
SAW IV was a great addition to an already amazing series. it fits in nicely with the rest of the series and adds a whole new story line... this new story line (which i wont say) is revealed at the end and was very unexpected. i was shocked that they were able to come up with such a great twist.. the plot may be confusing to some but true saw fans will understand. this is deff a movie that you need to see more then once take in all the info given

the plot of saw 4 has Rigg(saw 2 & 3) as the main character. Rigg wakes up to a tape and instructions from jigsaw. Rigg is forced to get over his obcession with trying to save everyone. he must learn to let people make their own decisions and save themselves.

the traps are very interesting and gruesome. Jigsaw's life is also explained more in this film. we learn his past and why he became what he did.. we also see his first trap.

everyone should see this movie and add it to their saw movie collection

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