Anime Review: Devilman Crybaby (Netflix)

Devilman Crybaby
January 5, 2018
Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Written by: Ichirō Ōkouchi
Music by: Kensuke Ushio
Studio: Science Saru
Netflix
Season 1: 10 episodes
Akira's best friend tells him that ancient demons have returned to take back the world from humans and suggests that he unite with a demon. Akira successfully does that, transforming into Devilman, a being with a demon's powers but who retains the soul of a human. This sends Akira into a brutal, degenerate war against evil. With fear of demons gripping the world, humanity devolves into paranoia and violence and Akira sets out to save other demon-human hybrids like himself.

A little background on the Netflix-exclusive Devilman Crybaby anime. Devilman originated as the manga, Demon Lord Dante by Go Nagai. Toei Animation wanted to turn Dante into a television series (anime). But a toned down version. The 39 episode long anime called Devilman ran from July 1972-April 1973. Around the same time as the anime, Nagai created the Devilman manga that was released through Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen* Magazine. It had a dark tone with graphic violence, casual blasphemy, and theme of using evil itself to fight evil.
* Shōnen manga is aimed at boys between the ages of 12 to 18.
Source - wiki

Akira (becomes Devilman), Miki (Akira's best friend, who he secretly loves) and Miko (best friend to Miki)

I love a good horror story and this one was making a lot of noise online. Most people resonding with "What did I just watch?" So, I HAD to see it.

Ryo (mystery) and Akira (Devilman)

I binged all 10 episode (only takes about 3 1/2 hours to do) a few weeks ago and I still haven't gotten over it. It is definitely a tragedy through and through, but on you can't stop watching. If you find yourself thinking "They won't go there." Don't. They go there!

It is exteamly violent, but we are talking demons that eat people. And there is a lot of sex...boobs everywhere! Not something you want to let young kids see. It would cause nightmares for a long time. At this point you are either afraid to watch Devilman Crybaby or running to watch it.

The animation is strange. With weird drawing perspectives sometimes. But don't let that deter you. The series does sag a bit in the middle but those last three episodes will blow you away emotionally. There is a lot of symbolism and metaphores. Some took me days of thinking about the ending to realize. According to the creator, Nagai, it is an anti-war message.

 "There is no justice in war, any war, nor is there any justification for human beings killing one another. Devilman carries a message of warning, as we step toward a bright future." - Nagai ( "Devilman Revelations". devilworld.org. Archived from the original on 2006-06-20.)

If you are looking for something to make you think and kick you in the feels then check this one out.

There were things I thought about lowering my rating for, but the fact that it delivered such a gut punch that I still think about it...it deserves all 5 Sheep.

5 "Devil" Sheep

SharonS

Sheep Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond
Directed by Justin Lin
Screenplay by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung
Produced by Sky Dance/Bad Robot
Paramount Pictures
July 22, 2016

A surprise attack in outer space forces the Enterprise to crash-land on a mysterious world. The assault came from Krall (Idris Elba), a lizard-like dictator who derives his energy by sucking the life out of his victims. Krall needs an ancient and valuable artifact that's aboard the badly damaged starship. Left stranded in a rugged wilderness, Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the crew must now battle a deadly alien race while trying to find a way off their hostile planet.

It has been 966 days (an Easter egg for Star Trek fans-can you guess?) since Kirk has led the crew of the USS Enterprise on its five-year mission. He is questioning why he is doing it and having reached his birthday—a year younger than the age his father died, after docking at a massive space station—the Yorktown—he even approaches a superior over him about maybe giving Spock command of the ship. Instead, she asks him take an alien woman who has a stranded ship in a nebula that no other help can reach. Once through the nebula and at a Class M planet, they are attacked by an overwhelming enemy in what's easily the movie's most visually dazzling sequence. The crew, who has not died, escape in pods and the saucer crashes down on the planet. There, the scattered crew must try to thwart the genocidal aims of Krall.

The Star Trek I knew and loved is back, at least about ninety per cent. Simon Pegg (Scotty), with Doug Jung, wrote the screen play. Yes, there are ticks here and there, and still the action we come to expect from action oriented films these days, instead of a cerebral Star Trek old time fans love, but I did enjoy the movie. Director Justin Lin does a good job managing the action. Kirk is no longer that irresponsible fool, but a serious, soul searching man, who wonders if he should even do his star trek. Spock and McCoy are the only characters from the first two movies I liked, as the actors acted like the way DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy had brought heir characters to life. The crew began to feel like family, though the action doesn’t give enough room or time to expand on this aspect. As for the alien bad guy, he is nasty, but not bone chilling evil enough. I like that they used a new bad guy and not someone from before, but he was more cookie cutter warrior type with a grudge.

After the disappointment of Independence Day: Resurgence, at least this a movie I can admit I would go watch again. Is this Star Trek on the level of Trek’s best episodes, “City on the Edge of Forever” or the film, Wrath of Khan, or others like that? Not completely, but it does satisfy.

I give Star Trek Beyond 5 “Live Long and Prosper” 4 sheep

Pamela Kinney

Double Sheep Movie Review: The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

Rating: PG (for action and some rude humor)

Genre: Animation , Comedy

Directed By: Chris Renaud , Yarrow Cheney

Written By: Cinco Paul , Ken Daurio , Brian Lynch

In Theaters: Jul 8, 2016 wide

Runtime: 90 minutes

Studio: Universal Pictures

For their fifth fully-animated feature-film collaboration, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures present The Secret Life of Pets, a comedy about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day. Comedy superstars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart make their animated feature-film debuts in The Secret Life of Pets, which co-stars Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Jenny Slate, Bobby Moynihan, Hannibal Buress and Albert Brooks. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy produce the film directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2), co-directed by Yarrow Cheney and written by Brian Lynch and Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio.

Katie's Review:

Getting 5 crazy bunny sheep

Life of pets is a super fun family Summer time movie, sure to entertain all ages. Anyone who loves pets, loves movies and just loves to laugh you'll have to check this one out asap!

Filled with tons of comedy and touching moments, this sweet film had me from the first few minutes till the final credits. The writers really nailed all the animals personalities and made you fall in love.

Jeni's Review:

I give 5 guinea pigs

I was drawn to the bright colors and the scenery and the personalities of each animal that appeared in this delightful movie. You dont need a kid to go see this movie, its certainly funny and has enough adult humor for those who think youll have to drag a kid along to enjoy this.

As a pet owner, chloe and max reminded me of my cat and dog. Such a cute and funny movie- go enjoy it!

Sheep Movie Review: Horns (2014)

Horns
Directed by: Alexandre Aja
In Theaters: October 31st or available for download on Amazon HERE 
Rated: R
Staring: Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Kelli Garner, Max Minghella
Based on the novel by Joe Hill, Horns is a supernatural thriller driven by fantasy, mystery and romance. The film follows Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe, "Harry Potter" films), the number one suspect for the violent rape and murder of his girlfriend, Merrin (Juno Temple). Hungover from a night of hard drinking, Ig awakens one morning to find horns starting to grow from his own head and soon realizes their power drives people to confess their sins and give in to their most selfish and unspeakable impulses - an effective tool in his quest to discover the true circumstances of his late girlfriend's tragedy and for exacting revenge on her killer.

Sometimes, it's just really hard watching child actors grow up and take on new roles. This is Harry freaking Potter! The Pot-ster, the man who kills he who should not be named. My brother-from-another-wizard-mother! But now he's all grown up, missing his round glasses, having *whispers* s-e-x and growing some damn devil horns.

My feelings about the little wizard aside, the movie overall holds a very dark and twisted undertone. It's evident in everything the movie throws at you, from the soundtrack to the colorful characters. This is a good guy turns evil tale, that's filled with paranormal acid twists and strong sexual situations.

Daniel is growing up and with that comes the distance he wants, I have to applaud him for the effort. This dark tale never really takes off to another level for me, but I see what he's doing and have to support him for it. This kid has continued potential and sustainability, you won't be wondering where he went in years to come.

While the film has heavy religious undertones and some violent scenes, you can appreciate the ending and profound loss that's handed out. Overall, I liked the attempt this movie made. The new takes on devilish people and wicked ways. While blunt acting and lackluster scenes could have been edited out, I was still impressed enough to hand out a decent rating.

Getting 3 'reach out and touch faith' Sheep

KD

Movie Review: Lucy

Lucy

R, 1 hr. 29 min.
Action & Adventure
Directed By: Luc Besson
Written By: Luc Besson
In Theaters: Jul 25, 2014 Wide
Universal Pictures - Official Site
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi, Amr Waked
From La Femme Nikita and The Professional to The Fifth Element, writer/director Luc Besson has created some of the toughest, most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history. Now, Besson directs Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic. (C) Universal

What a waste of money and time. I went to see it with my husband and 13 year old daughter. We were all disappointed especially with the ending. My daughter's first words were "That was stupid" and this if from a kid who loves SyFY originals <G>

Scarlett Johansson does some pretty good acting, but nothing can save the story. Good science fiction can make you believe...I didn't buy into any of it. There are some really cool scenes, but they dumbed down things too much, spoon feeding the audience information so we could understand what was going on. Then there were the cheesy graphics.

I would wait for the rental, but only if you pay $1 otherwise wait for it to premier next year on the SyFy channel.

2  "I want my money back" Sheep

(it gets two sheep for the sexy French cop played by Amr Waked, and Scarlett's performance)

Sharon Stogner

Movie Review: The Lone Ranger and reasons you should see it!

The Lone Ranger
PG-13, 2 hr. 29 min.
Western, Action & Adventure, Kids & Family
Directed By: Gore Verbinski
Written By: Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott, Justin Haythe

Cast:

Johnny Depp ... Tonto
Armie Hammer ... John Reid (Lone Ranger)
William Fichtner ... Butch Cavendish
Tom Wilkinson ... Cole
Ruth Wilson ... Rebecca Reid
Helena Bonham Carter ... Red Harrington
James Badge Dale ... Dan Reid

In Theaters: Jul 3, 2013 Wide
Walt Disney Pictures - Official Site

From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, the filmmaking team behind the blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, comes Disney/ Jerry Bruckheimer Films' "The Lone Ranger," a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice-taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption. (c) Disney

I'm gonna cut to the chase. I loved it. Yes, it is just Jack Sparrow running around in the desert wearing war paint and a crow on his head instead of a tri-corner hat, but newsflash! I LIKED Pirates of the Caribbean and therefore I liked The Lone Ranger, and I won't apologize for being entertained by Disney/action/fluff meant to separate me from my money! The film makers knew Tonto would be compared to Jack and even added a famous Jack Sparrow scene into The Lone Ranger. All you over analyzing critics go watch the next Oscar contender and leave Johnny Depp alone!

she was awesome!

The only expectation I had was it would be pretty much what the trailers promised me. I know nothing about the Lone Ranger canon and have no idea if they mucked it all up. I liked the Native American mystical aspect of the story. When nature gets out of balance cool stuff happens like scary ass carnivorous bunnies, inebriated horses and heart eating bad guys. There are some heavy serious issues touched on, but well timed humor balanced out the levity. There is a lot of cold blooded killing in this movie and a little more realistic representation of life in the wild west. 

The famous Lone Ranger theme song is used near the end of the movie in a big outrageous and campy action scene. It was over the top and meant to be. I felt sad for the Lone Ranger's love interest. She kind of got a crappy deal at the end.

Reasons to see The Lone Ranger

brotherly love

carnivorous rabbits

angry birds

making trades

flying horse

Boom! goes the dynamite

why you wear the mask

why you wear a dead crow on your head

sinister pickles

duck foot violation

outlaw that likes pretty things

masks are freaking sexy!

hubba, hubba!

4 1/2 "spirit walking" Sheep

Sharon Stogner