Konterr Brilliant and touching

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

CountZero313 Momoko lives for the designs of the Rococco period, more commonly known as 'the Lolita look' in Japan. Her washed-up chinpira Dad, estranged Mum, and eccentric Gran, added to her fashion sense and inaka existence, make for a lonely, isolated life. And that's just the way she likes it. Unfortunately, change is thrust upon her by the arrival of bike-gang thug Ichigo, brash and violent, and an unlikely friendship is formed.An incongruous female pairing of cutesy twee and ballsy loudmouth has been seen before in 'Nana', but director Testuya Nakashima gives it more verve here. The fast-cutting, schlock violence, and 'big' acting would all gel better in Memories of Matsuko, but their fledgling outing here makes for an amusing, if slightly overlong tale. Anna Tsuchiya is a real talent, displaying a range and maturity here that is the envy of her peers. Nakashima cleverly harnesses that range and ability to an actress who could not be more of a contrast. Fukuda's doe-eyed vacuity signals her limitations, but Nakashima plays to her persona here, letting her do nothing in a role where less is more. Momoko is shallow and thoughtless, and Fukuda nails the role to the floor.The bizarre English title of Kamikaze Girls suggests someone at the international distributors needs a kick up the behind. This is a fun tale of a teenage odd couple sharing a right of passage. It is well written, acted and edited, and entertains for great stretches.

tedg Teens are cinematic, both ways. They take their identities from the patterns they see. So it is very easy to show or reference those identities in film. Plus, kids think in simple arcs, and that helps the mapping of image to idea. Its almost too easy to make a movie that is about how kids hew to stylistic exclusivity and ironically make the film obsessed with the very same stylishness.That's what this one is. This time around it is teen girls, and we're given the two poles: one girl is a frilly girlie candypop and the other is a spitting, scowling James Dean derivative in a "motorcycle" gang. Both are fantastic exaggerations and that exaggeration is most of the fun.The story is all about the stories these girls tell themselves, and incidentally to each other. At the end, we get a rather nicely wrapped bit about explicit fiction. Along the way, we get three stories about clothes, symbols on clothes and validity. The world we see is as magically abstract as their fantasies of it.What's rather interesting here is how sex is excluded, exorcised from the equation. Oh, its referenced and bound with love, but only as the escape from style. The second act is weak. Stick with it.To enhance the experience, I saw this with a DVD of a Suicide Girls "Tour." This business about the hardening of femininity is pretty profound.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

LARSONRD A completely enchanting and engrossing comedy-drama about two 17 year old girls, vastly different from each other (one a self-absorbed dreamer with a love for Rococco period fashion and behavior; the other a rebellious biker chick), who become friends and change each other's lives. The film makes the most of this simple plot line, and it's the compelling personalities of the characters, beautifully overplayed by Kyoko Fukada and Anna Tsuchiya, respectively. The film is told through a color-saturated visualization and stylish direction by Tetsuya Nakashima, who adopts a manic style not unlike that of Jean-Pierre Jeunet in AMELIA or Tom Twyker in RUN LOLA RUN, with jump-cut flashbacks, bizarre cut-aways and edits; the effervescent vitality of Nakashima's direction coupled with the performances of the lead and supporting cast really make this film a fascinating and repeatedly watchable experience. Also of note is a terrific score, which varies from J-Pop to American hard rock and punk, to classical (one fight scene is set to Strauss' Blue Danube) and really sets the film's aural tone and pacing; Yoko Kanno (MEMORIES, ESCALFLOWNE, GHOST IN THE SHELL: STANDALONE COMPLEX, and Nakashima's previous SUMMER TALE) is responsible for the underscore and several of the songs.

Mappyman A Very cute story of two 17 yr olds, both which are completely different from one another, joined by a strange chain of events. The main girl Momoko is comparable to Lizzie McGuire. Cutesy, delicate, and lives like shes a princess in the 1700s. Her father made a living selling generic clothes with multiple expensive name brand labels and winds up getting caught and kicked out to the country with her grandmother. The second girl, comparable to Avril Laviene, a dirtied-up biker gang member finds out about her clothes and even though she cant stand her style, ridicules her, and even head-butts Momoko around, shes helplessly drawn to this little girl. Together they're on a hunt to find an ex-gang member who can sew Ichigos perfect uniform for her gang member's wedding.I loved the movie's fast pace! It was very reminiscent to that of Japanese movie Survive Style 5 and kind of resemblant to Run Lola Run. There's a few segments that are drawn anime style to show past events even quicker and more violent. Its very funny how fast paced the movie runs sometimes but there's slow moments as well that tell the story. The entire movie plays out like a perfectly drawn girls manga, with insanely exaggerated characters, even more crazy outfits, and one male character in particular, 5 foot greaser haircut! Its well worth watching for any anime/manga fan! The music composed by Yoko Kanno fits very well into this movie and has fast and slow paced music for all of the scenes.Its a girl flick at heart but definitely one to see if you're into anime and manga. Very nice surprise ending as well!