Unofficial Movies Challenge (Official, November 2020)

[shugs]

screenshot from the criminally underrated Two for the Seesaw, go watch it

Unofficial Challenge
For many of us, iCM has been a godsend. Rather than spending hours trying to work out what to watch from thousands of movies out there, the site provides 208 (and counting) reputable lists to work on. What's more, the site ranks you against other users depending on the number of films you have checked from those 208 Official Lists, and gives you imaginary metal for completing 50, 75, 90 and 100% of any given list. The downside of this is that, since joining iCM, some users (I am certainly guilty of this) have refined their viewing habits to preference to films on 1+ Official lists over those on no lists at all. And on a personal note, this has lad to me amassing a very large number of unwatched films (and recommendations) that I have procrastinated due to their Unofficial status.

This is the Challenge where we aim to reverse that trend and try to encourage everyone to think outside the square and check out all the promising films out there that are currently on no Official lists. As the massive number of films mentioned in last year's Unofficial poll proved, there is a wealth of movies out there that many of us believe to be great, Official Status or not. And this is the month to explore those titles. Who knows what you might find? Maybe something worth nominating for this year's 500<400 poll, next year's DTC exercise or the next World Cup? So go out, explore and report to back to us with what is out there, worthwhile and which we may have missed due to unofficial status.
(stolen from sol, no shame)

Goal
Watch as many Unofficial movies as you can, or want, from November 1st, 2020 to November 30th, 2020 your time.

What is an Unofficial Film?
Must be on zero Official Lists on iCheckMovies at the time that you watch it. If a film turns Official during the month you can only include it if you saw it before it became Official.

Rules
- Feature length (40mins+) narrative, documentary and experimental films are eligible for this Challenge
- Telepics and miniseries (if watched in their entirety) are eligible for this Challenge, but are only worth 1 point
- TV episodes, individual miniseries episodes music videos and short films are not eligible for this Challenge
- Include year of release so I can easily find them on IMDb
- Do not edit your posts to add new watches, just create a new one
- Films must be watched on single speed (not sped-up)
- Films must be watched one at a time (no two screens at once)
- Films must be watched in their entirety in order to be included

Movies watched this challenge
https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/unof ... 020/shugs/

ICM Film Festival
Don't forget to give some love to the movies presented in the ICM Film Festival.

Official Lists

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

No

Non-Official Lists - not all movies are eligible
iCM Forum's Favourite 1000 Unofficial Checks
iCM Forum's 1000<400
TSZDT Top 1001-2000

Participants

Ranking	Participant	Score
1	PUNQ	225
2	flavo5000	144
3	jdidaco	94
4	burneyfan	83
5	blueboybob	70
6	allisoncm	66
7	Onderhond	53
8	frbrown	49
9	maxwelldeux	47
10	cinephage	43
10	sol	43
12	RogerTheMovieManiac88	42
13	weirdboy	40
14	Obgeoff	37
15	VincentPrice	36
16	AB537	34
17	zzzorf	33
18	kongs_speech	30
19	Hunziker	29
19	hurluberlu	29
21	vortexsurfer	28
22	shugs	22
23	ororama	21
24	Melvelet	16
25	blocho	15
25	connordenney	15
27	sebby	8
28	Coryn	4
28	Lilarcor	4
30	Lu-Chin	3
31	OldAle1	1

[Onderhond]

Hah, this challenge should be a breeze.

[beavis]

participants of this challenge please take notice of the ICM Film Festival also happening in November. Loads of still unofficial goodies to be found there!!
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5148

[shugs]

participants of this challenge please take notice of the ICM Film Festival also happening in November. Loads of still unofficial goodies to be found there!!
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5148

Thanks, added to the OP.

[frbrown]

I wasn't planning on watching any shorts, but how come they're not allowed?

[shugs]

I think the idea was to narrow down the number of eligible watches, since a ton of shorts and TV are unofficial. Maybe sol remembers some of the discussions regarding these rules, I wasn't really active back then.

[RogerTheMovieManiac88]

Hi there, shugs! Consider me in, and looking forward to it. I was, though, actually planning to watch a few more Radley Metzger films in November, since I really liked the two I watched while finalising my list for this year's 500 <400 (especially the exquisite, somewhat surreal, delightfully playful 'Barbara Broadcast'!).

I was just wondering what the thinking was in excluding ''adult movies'' here. I certainly wouldn't post any potentially objectionable screenshots in the thread and I have a genuine cinematic interest in the best of the ''genre''. The prospect of working in a small selection of intriguing films from the 60s, 70s, 80s among my viewing had appealed to me.

[shugs]

Hi there, shugs! Consider me in, and looking forward to it. I was, though, actually planning to watch a few more Radley Metzger films in November, since I really liked the two I watched while finalising my list for this year's 500 <400 (especially the exquisite, somewhat surreal, delightfully playful 'Barbara Broadcast'!).

I was just wondering what the thinking was in excluding ''adult movies'' here. I certainly wouldn't post any potentially objectionable screenshots in the thread and I have a genuine cinematic interest in the best of the ''genre''. The prospect of working in a small selection of intriguing films from the 60s, 70s, 80s among my viewing had appealed to me.

Hmm, it's just a rule copied over from last year's challenge. I'll remove it in case someone wants to watch The Party at Kitty and Stud's , but let's not turn this in a porn challenge.

[RogerTheMovieManiac88]

Hi there, shugs! Consider me in, and looking forward to it. I was, though, actually planning to watch a few more Radley Metzger films in November, since I really liked the two I watched while finalising my list for this year's 500 <400 (especially the exquisite, somewhat surreal, delightfully playful 'Barbara Broadcast'!).

I was just wondering what the thinking was in excluding ''adult movies'' here. I certainly wouldn't post any potentially objectionable screenshots in the thread and I have a genuine cinematic interest in the best of the ''genre''. The prospect of working in a small selection of intriguing films from the 60s, 70s, 80s among my viewing had appealed to me.

Hmm, it's just a rule copied over from last year's challenge. I'll remove it in case someone wants to watch The Party at Kitty and Stud's , but let's not turn this in a porn challenge.

Oh, thank you! I won't go overboard, haha.

[sol]

It starts! First in.

Yeah, it's November over here. Thank you to maxwell for encouraging me to stay up past midnight watching a horror film that could count for this Challenge as well. At least I know who to blame if I feel exhausted tomorrow.

1. The Book of Stone (1969)



Convinced that a stone statue is alive and her only friend, a young girl gets up to mischief that she blames on the statue in this Mexican horror film. Lucy Buj is great as the girl and the film gets some decent suspense and thrills out of her doing odd things like suddenly appearing on a dangerous ledge and pouring salt into pentagrams. The majority of the film, however, is spent on other characters discussing her weird mischief. Chilling ending though.

[sol]

The UnOfficial Story

1. The Book of Stone (1969)

2. Chosen Survivors (1974)



This begins on a deliciously WTF note with "chosen survivors" of a nuclear blast drugged and forcibly taken underground, and the bunker itself is a magnificent feat of art direction. Some killer bats that emerge are also quite freaky with several well done attacks. Meshing the post-apocalyptic stuff and the bat horror together is a weak point of the film, but there is some amusing irony in the shelter being so intricate and yet still vulnerable.

[VincentPrice]

1. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm-2020: 8/10

[outdoorcats]

Do films that are just very new/recent count?

[burneyfan]

I'm in -- I usually watch lots of unofficial films, so it'll just be whatever crosses my screen this month.

01. Znoy a.k.a. Heat -- Shepitko, 1963.

It ain't Wings or The Ascent, but it's still pretty great. Highly recommended for anyone who (like me) loves Shepitko's other films.

[shugs]

Do films that are just very new/recent count?

Yes.

[outdoorcats]

Thanks! I'm in, then.

[PUNQ]

There's not many challenges that suits my viewing agenda, but this one certainly does as 90% of the films I watch are unofficial ones, so I'll give it a go as I finish 1946 and possibly get started on 1947 or whatever I decide to do after i'm done with '46. Here's what I had time for Day 1:




1. Gas House Kids (1946, Sam Newfield) - 4/10 - FIRST CHECK!
--- The smallest of the Hollywood studios, PRC, wanted their own Dead End Kids/East Sid Kids/Bowery Boys franchise, so they created Gas House Kids (1946) and scooped-up Billy Halop and even Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer, a now grown-up out-on-his-luck Our Gang/Rascals star. Alfalfa looked very out of place with this bunch as well and barely given a line of dialogue. Halop would drop-out after this first entry after being just about the only guy in the gang to get any attention in this movie. As a result the series only lasted three films before being canceled. None of the other "kids" were anyone notable that enhanced the entertainment. It was awkward. However most of the plot seemed to revolve round a returning wounded soldier and come crooks, so the otherwise poor attempt at creating a Kids series was at least a half-decent filler because of what else it had.




2. Criminal Court (1946, Robert Wise) - 5/10
--- Not the greatest or very clever court room murder case, but I found it a smooth experience. Helps having a smooth operator like Tom Conway in the lead. Works as the filler it was supposed to be.




3. Wife Wanted (1946, Phil Karlson) - 5/10
--- Kay Francis's final film! I've seen them all with the exception of Illusion (1929), which is still locked up in a archive somewhere. She was one of the institutions of Hollywood in the 1930s. A very bankable star. The 1940s wasn't as kind to her, but her films were still watchable. Says something that Wife Wanted (1946) was made by Monogram and it was as good as this. She had a standard and always delivered. Never gave the impression she had nothing left to give, so a respectable send-off for Kay. Thankfully she didn't end up like the actress she was playing in this dating scam.




4. Curious George: Go West, Go Wild (2020, Michael LaBash) - 2/10 - FIRST CHECK!
--- Cozy, but it felt like nothing happened.




5. Drømmebyggerne [Dreambuilders] (2020, Kim Hagen Jensen & Tonni Zinck) - 5/10
--- There's only minor adjustment which keeps this from being the emotional story it tries to be. All about how a young girl reacts to her new step-mom and step-sister moving in. And it has some good ideas, and if you're not too spoiled, give this a try. You might appreciate it.




6. Alias Mr. Twilight (1946, John Sturges) - 4/10
--- Had potential as a charming crime story as it involved a grandfather crook, but I never felt it worked in a way that made it entertaining. Not a bad movie, and I'm sure it'll force a smile here and there by Lloyd Corrigan antics, but I'm also sure a more experienced director would have gotten more out of it. Director John Sturges would go on to make some amazing pictures during his lifetime, but this was among the first films he did and the polish simply wasn't there yet.

[Onderhond]

01. 1.5* - The Harvest by John McNaughton (2013)

Poor Samantha Morton and Michael Shannon. Two decent actors with a solid track record, I'm guessing that when they read the script for this film they were expecting quite a bit more. The potential was there for sure and both actors do a decent job, but director McNaughton didn't do them any favors. Andy is a young kid suffering from a heart condition. He's cared for in his own house, as his mother is a doctor and his father is a nurse. When Maryann moves in next door he finally has someone to talk to, but Andy's mother doesn't really appreciate Maryann visiting her son. She shoos her away, but Maryann is willing to give up so easily. The Harvest is a drama that turns thriller in the second half. Performances are nice all round, but that's about it. The cinematography is cheap, the soundtrack a failure and the twists at the end are just laughable. It feels like a made-for-TV film, sloppy and poorly produced shlock sold off as something poor. Very disappointing.

[VincentPrice]

We including re-watches? Just wondering.

2. Fleshpot on 42nd Street-1973: 7/10

Spoiler

1. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm-2020: 8/10

[maxwelldeux]

1. Guns Akimbo (2019)

Jesus fucking christ I need to relax after this film. This film had the soul of an '80s action movie with the sensibilities and style of today. Daniel Radcliffe plays a programmer nerd. He finds a darkweb site that livestreams a gladiator-style deathmatch. He fucks around and tries to troll them. Lo and behold, the site owners track him down, drill guns into his hands, and start him in a deathmatch against Nix (Samara Weaving, of Assassination Nation fame). He has 24 hours to kill her... or be killed. This was just pure adrenaline and awesome. Quick cuts, a SUPER frenetic pace, and constant action consistently upping the level of ridiculous and violence. Fun cyberpunk-ish style to it with some awesome 80s music remixed to and EDM style. Made the homages to the old style while working in the social media culture of today. I loved this.

[frbrown]

1. Marriage of Convenience (1960)
2. City of Shadows (1955)

[maxwelldeux]

When NFL officials retire...

1. Guns Akimbo (2019)

2. Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine (2020)

This is a sketch comedy special on Netflix about the current US zietgeist. It's not a timeless show, but it's perfect for right how. I'd surmise that the further left you lean in US politics, the more you'll like it. So much hilarity. Like the skit where they just acted out the Access Hollywood tape. With Sarah Cooper as Trump and Hellen Mirren as the other weirdo.

[Onderhond]

1. Guns Akimbo (2019)

Jesus fucking christ I need to relax after this film. This film had the soul of an '80s action movie with the sensibilities and style of today. Daniel Radcliffe plays a programmer nerd. He finds a darkweb site that livestreams a gladiator-style deathmatch. He fucks around and tries to troll them. Lo and behold, the site owners track him down, drill guns into his hands, and start him in a deathmatch against Nix (Samara Weaving, of Assassination Nation fame). He has 24 hours to kill her... or be killed. This was just pure adrenaline and awesome. Quick cuts, a SUPER frenetic pace, and constant action consistently upping the level of ridiculous and violence. Fun cyberpunk-ish style to it with some awesome 80s music remixed to and EDM style. Made the homages to the old style while working in the social media culture of today. I loved this.

+ it had Rhys Darby! Always a plus. Loved this when I watched it earlier this year, found it a big step up for Howden.
But ehm, I don't think Weaving was in Assassination Nation. She's from The Babysitter, Ready or Not and Mayhem.

[shugs]

We including re-watches? Just wondering.

2. Fleshpot on 42nd Street-1973: 7/10

Spoiler

1. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm-2020: 8/10

Sure.

[cinephage]

Here's a challenge I can easily participate in...

01. Dementia 13, by Francis Ford Coppola (1963) 5,5/10

The movie suffers from a silly slasher story, but a few moments are nice...

02. Essene, by Frederic Wiseman (1972) 7/10

Wiseman exposes the inner life of a monastic brotherhood... It's interesting to see how human they are, but find ways to solve disputes through their faith and rituals.

03. Road to Salina, by George Lautner (1970) 7/10

This film is flawed in many aspects, but the setting is beautifu, the music is great, and Mimsy Farmer is unforgettable here... Also, this is one of Rita Hayworth's last films.

[vortexsurfer]

1. Troop Zero (Bert & Bertie, 2019) - 6/10
2. Under the Silver Lake (David Robert Mitchell, 2018) - 8/10

[shugs]

1. Vuelven [Tigers Are Not Afraid] (Issa López, 2017) - 7/10

[shugs]

Started a list of all the watched movies this challenge: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/unof ... 020/shugs/
Added it to the OP as well.

[sol]

The UnOfficial Story

1. The Book of Stone (1969)
2. Chosen Survivors (1974)

3. The Devil's Rain (1975)



Devil worship meets the classic western in this odd film about a group of Satanists using a small desert town to do their evil bidding. The exact ins and outs of the plot are often confusing, but the gooey special effects are excellent too, with some freaky body melts in which the victims' skin bubbles as it drops to the ground. Hollowed-out eyes throughout also make for nifty imagery, though the special effects involved there are less impressive (as above).

[burneyfan]

Spoiler

01. Znoy a.k.a. Heat -- Shepitko, 1963.

02. Au royaume des cieux a.k.a. The Sinners -- Duvivier, 1949.

Pressures in a girls' reformatory mount. I've seen quite a bit of unofficial Duvivier in the last few years, and this is one of his best that is still on no list. Some filler, here and there, but many arresting scenes.

03. Out of the Present -- Ujica, 1997.

Documentary of cosmonauts (or mostly cosmonauts) on the Soviet space station Mir; in one section, the space station residents are on Mir in 1991-1992, watching as the Soviet Union collapses.

[sol]

The UnOfficial Story

1. The Book of Stone (1969)
2. Chosen Survivors (1974)
3. The Devil's Rain (1975)

4. Darker Than Night (1975)



The opening credits (full of sudden cuts and lots of bright red) are unnerving here, but the overall tale is too slow burn to have such an effect. It is around halfway in before anything especially horrific occurs with the majority of the film spent on the women discussing their new abode and how creepy they find the servant and cat. Once the film warms up, there are a couple of good deaths and mansion interiors but the story still feels lacking.

[VincentPrice]

3. Greyhound-2020: 9/10

Spoiler

1. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm-2020: 8/10
2. Fleshpot on 42nd Street-1973: 7/10

[burneyfan]

Spoiler

01. Znoy a.k.a. Heat -- Shepitko, 1963.
02. Au royaume des cieux a.k.a. The Sinners -- Duvivier, 1949.
03. Out of the Present -- Ujica, 1997.

04. The Wilby Conspiracy -- Nelson, 1975.

Offbeat film, and not in a strong way. Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine are both South Africans under apartheid who must run from the law. A lot of it feels like a serious action film, but there are weird comic moments (especially from Caine) that don't integrate well. Twenty-two years later, Poitier and Caine would collaborate on another film about South African apartheid, in the TV film Mandela and de Klerk (playing those eponymous roles respectively).

[Onderhond]

02. 3.5* - Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight [W Lesie Dzis Nie Zasnie Nikt] by Bartosz M. Kowalski (2020)

A typical film from a fanboy director whose country isn't know for producing horror films. I'm willing to bet Poland hasn't seen too many backwoods horror/slasher films yet, Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight is a conventional ode with just enough of a personal touch to keep it from turning into a lazy copy. A camp for kids who need to detox from their online presence, a trek in the woods, a mutant boy who escapes from his hideout. You've seen it all before, Kowalski adds a couple of minor twists (mostly in the origin story), but in the end it doesn't change much to the core of the film. A fat Polish hillbilly is stalking the woods and killing whoever comes near his home. The film is happy to throw around references to other horror films, but often in a smart way (like the slasher sounds that are mixed into a romantic soundtrack). Kowalski shows a keen awareness of the kind of film he's making and expects the same from his audience. Performances are fine, characters are goofy, the kills are pleasantly brutal and the presentation is slick. A very entertaining film indeed.

Finally some good films

01. 1.5* - The Harvest by John McNaughton (2013)

[PUNQ]

Productive Day 2:




7. The Perfect Marriage (1946, Lewis Allen) - 5/10
--- Neither at the best of their game, but this The Perfect Marriage (1946) between David Niven & Loretta Young does have a bunch small giggles through-out which makes it durable. Fans of the actors will like it.




8. Magnificent Doll (1946, Frank Borzage) - 4/10
--- With it's quality selection of actors and historical presence, Magnificent Doll (1946), about the First Lady, wife of the 4th US President James Madison, Dolly Payne Madison, is certainly a watchable costume drama. Unfortunately it's one of those that doesn't leave much of a mark, except as one of Ginger Rogers least successful films.




9. Two Years Before the Mast (1946, John Farrow) - 6/10
--- It's like Mutiny on the Bounty, except without a heavyweight nasty as the captain. Didn't feel Howard Da Silva gave it enough. He was a cold human being, but lacked the same authority one associate with that abusive part. Alan Ladd was fine, but also not aggressive enough to stand-up to the unjust in a uplifting manner. Therefore Two Years Before the Mast (1946) becomes a lightweight of the Mutinies, but still has quality on its own.




10. Never Say Goodbye (1946, James V. Kern) - 6/10
--- Never takes itself seriously with such things as a Santa fight, and even a Humphrey Bogart voice cameo as Flynn dresses up as a gangster! But this also felt like a lightweight Errol Flynn. Still it does amuse, giving heavy The Awful Truth (1937) vibes at times.




11. My Reputation (1946, Curtis Bernhardt) - 6/10
--- Honestly, it wasn't much of a story. Just a young widow dealing with social stigma of moving on after the death of her husband with family and friends making things difficult for her with a little gossip. Kinda thin considering the star-power of Barbara Stanwyck & George Brent. Doesn't stop it from being a pleasant well-constructed drama that manages to generate a certain feeling and with polished production values. My Reputation (1946) doesn't ruin any reputations. Instead it enhances it by becoming a much stronger experience it had any right to be.




12. Fiksiki: Bolshoy sekret [The Fixies: Top Secret] (2017, Vasiko Bedoshvili, Andrey Kolpin & Ivan Pshonkin) - 3/10
--- Cute electrical creatures. More for the younger kids demographic. Not much of a story, but it felt like they made an effort putting enough energy into it to entertain my 5-year-old.




13. Octonauts & the Great Barrier Reef (2020, Blair Simmons) - 2/10 - FIRST CHECK!
--- For the youngest. He likes the series, watching it on Youtube from time to time, but he didn't seem to pay attention as much as I had figured for this extended special.




14. Monsieur Beaucaire (1946, George Marshall) - 6/10
--- I had hoped for more laughs, but Bob Hope surely beats Rudolph Valentino as the hunky Duke-double Monsieur Beaucaire (1946)!

Spoiler

1. Gas House Kids (1946, Sam Newfield) - 4/10 - FIRST CHECK!
2. Criminal Court (1946, Robert Wise) - 5/10
3. Wife Wanted (1946, Phil Karlson) - 5/10
4. Curious George: Go West, Go Wild (2020, Michael LaBash) - 2/10 - FIRST CHECK!
5. Drømmebyggerne [Dreambuilders] (2020, Kim Hagen Jensen & Tonni Zinck) - 5/10
6. Alias Mr. Twilight (1946, John Sturges) - 4/10
7. The Perfect Marriage (1946, Lewis Allen) - 5/10
8. Magnificent Doll (1946, Frank Borzage) - 4/10
9. Two Years Before the Mast (1946, John Farrow) - 6/10
10. Never Say Goodbye (1946, James V. Kern) - 6/10
11. My Reputation (1946, Curtis Bernhardt) - 6/10
12. Fiksiki: Bolshoy sekret [The Fixies: Top Secret] (2017, Vasiko Bedoshvili, Andrey Kolpin & Ivan Pshonkin) - 3/10
13. Octonauts & the Great Barrier Reef (2020, Blair Simmons) - 2/10 - FIRST CHECK!
14. Monsieur Beaucaire (1946, George Marshall) - 6/10

[maxwelldeux]

1. Guns Akimbo (2019)

Jesus fucking christ I need to relax after this film. This film had the soul of an '80s action movie with the sensibilities and style of today. Daniel Radcliffe plays a programmer nerd. He finds a darkweb site that livestreams a gladiator-style deathmatch. He fucks around and tries to troll them. Lo and behold, the site owners track him down, drill guns into his hands, and start him in a deathmatch against Nix (Samara Weaving, of Assassination Nation fame). He has 24 hours to kill her... or be killed. This was just pure adrenaline and awesome. Quick cuts, a SUPER frenetic pace, and constant action consistently upping the level of ridiculous and violence. Fun cyberpunk-ish style to it with some awesome 80s music remixed to and EDM style. Made the homages to the old style while working in the social media culture of today. I loved this.

+ it had Rhys Darby! Always a plus. Loved this when I watched it earlier this year, found it a big step up for Howden.
But ehm, I don't think Weaving was in Assassination Nation. She's from The Babysitter, Ready or Not and Mayhem.

Yeah, you're right about Weaving - for some reason, when I saw "The Babysitter" I processed that as "Assassination Nation." But super fun film!

[OldAle1]

1. The Frightened City (John Lemont, 1961)

Very average Brit-noir really notable only for it's cast - Herbert Lom as Waldo, an accountant who occasionally deals with shady characters, until he figures out a financial way to bring various mobs together under his own control, and the just-departed Sean Connery in an early co-starring role as Paddy, a young petty catburglar who ends up doing much dirtier work than he bargained for under Waldo when his partner gets injured and he has to go it alone. Some nice noirish lighting from DP Desmond Dickinson, who had worked on plenty of b/w crime and horror films over the previous few decades, and competently enough done, but there's really nothing of interest here that hasn't been seen a million times, apart maybe from the fight in the medievally-appointed and beweaponed room at the finish. Also Connery just never is convincing as a more hardened character - too smiling, too genial to be a guy who cracks heads and smashes up bars (which we don't really see him doing much, but the narrative implies). Eh, just OK overall.

[Onderhond]

03. 2.0* - Wedding Bells for the Otaku? [Demo, Kekkon Shitai! ~BL Mangaka no Kojirase~] by Chimura Toshimitsu (2017)

From the outside, Japan appears to be a comic and animation paradise. Take a closer look at their local cinema though and every film about otaku/mangaka casts them as asocial weirdos and outcasts. Wedding Bells for the Otaku continues that tradition, making this a pretty typical nerdy romcom. Haruko is a BL (Boys Love) mangaka in her thirties. She's pretty good at her job, but she doesn't really have a social life. Afraid she'll spend the rest of her life alone, she asks Kiriko, her friend and professional partner, for help. Dating is hard though and after a couple of flukes Haruko is willing to give up. Chiaki Kuriyama and Hinako Sano are gifted actresses, but director Toshimitsu doesn't do them any favors. Wedding Bells for the Otaku is a TV film that never shows any ambition to go beyond its format. The presentation is poor, the comedy is derivative and the plot predictable. Disappointing.

Finally some good films

01. 1.5* - The Harvest by John McNaughton (2013)
02. 3.5* - Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight [W Lesie Dzis Nie Zasnie Nikt] by Bartosz M. Kowalski (2020)

[flavo5000]

1. 37 (2014)
Sappy garbage.


2. Ninja Demon's Massacre (1988)
GODFREY HOOOOOOOO!!!! Ho gets all cold war paranoia. Also a ninja fight with a dude in his skivvies.


3. Las luchadoras contra el médico asesino a.k.a. Doctor of Doom (1963)
Fun stuff. Needed less wrestling though.


4. Yao shou du shi a.k.a. Wicked City (1992)
Batshit insane live action adaptation of the well-known future noir anime


5. Dangerously Close (1987)
Youth gone really wild


6. Santo contra los zombies a.k.a. Santos vs the Zombies (1982)
Fun stuff. Needed less wrestling though.


7. Man in the Vault (1956)
Eh...


8. Las luchadoras contra la momia a.k.a. Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy (1964)
Fun stuff. Needed less wrestling though.

Spoiler

1. 37 (2014)
2. Ninja Demon's Massacre (1988)
3. Las luchadoras contra el médico asesino a.k.a. Doctor of Doom (1963)
4. Yao shou du shi a.k.a. Wicked City (1992)
5. Dangerously Close (1987)
6. Santo contra los zombies a.k.a. Santos vs the Zombies (1982)
7. Man in the Vault (1956)
8. Las luchadoras contra la momia a.k.a. Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy (1964)

[flavo5000]

03. 2.0* - Wedding Bells for the Otaku? [Demo, Kekkon Shitai! ~BL Mangaka no Kojirase~] by Chimura Toshimitsu (2017)

From the outside, Japan appears to be a comic and animation paradise. Take a closer look at their local cinema though and every film about otaku/mangaka casts them as asocial weirdos and outcasts. Wedding Bells for the Otaku continues that tradition, making this a pretty typical nerdy romcom. Haruko is a BL (Boys Love) mangaka in her thirties. She's pretty good at her job, but she doesn't really have a social life. Afraid she'll spend the rest of her life alone, she asks Kiriko, her friend and professional partner, for help. Dating is hard though and after a couple of flukes Haruko is willing to give up. Chiaki Kuriyama and Hinako Sano are gifted actresses, but director Toshimitsu doesn't do them any favors. Wedding Bells for the Otaku is a TV film that never shows any ambition to go beyond its format. The presentation is poor, the comedy is derivative and the plot predictable. Disappointing.

Finally some good films

01. 1.5* - The Harvest by John McNaughton (2013)
02. 3.5* - Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight [W Lesie Dzis Nie Zasnie Nikt] by Bartosz M. Kowalski (2020)

Yea, I don't think most people realize than anime and manga are probably more popular in the west than in Japan for age groups older than teens.