When Romance Blooms, Blue Thermal Wants to Soar

Where this movie soars is with the obvious romance that’s developing between student and sempai. Blue Thermal is cute in a vintage 50s kind of way.

Blue Thermal Blu-Ray + DVD Slipcover
Available to view on Amazon Prime or to purchase.

Shout! Factory

Adapting any multi-volume manga series to a single film can be tough, and despite some narrative beats that don’t go too deep, Blue Thermal is relatively engaging. The explanation in the home video release offers insight to the changes, and overall, I didn’t mind how the lengthy tale got compressed.

Any story that involves aspiring to fly high and to achieve your dreams will always capture my interest. Although classic works like Macross Zero, Porco Rosso and Nausicaä set the bar, it’s tough to find new material that can live up to that.

Just where this film fits in is somewhere after the top five lists. I love the title song (YouTube link) and can listen to it all day! As for the tale, it’s not about what’s amazing with the sport of gliding. Instead, the movie is about headstrong Tsuru Tamaki (Mayu Hotta) wanting to fit in. This story is about her entering college life. She’s the type who dreams of white picket fences and meeting that cute boy who’ll sweep her off her feet. But being a freshman is tough at Aonagi University. After trying her hand at different clubs, she literally and accidentally lands into a sport she has no familiarity with.

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On Why Leonor Will Never Die on Home Video!

Ramirez Escobar delivers a lot of classic and cheesy 80s action in Leonor Will Never Die. We can see why this “Mom” loves the genre.

Leonor Will Never Die Movie PosterAvailable to order on Amazon USA

Worlds collide, and as for why Leonor Will Never Die is because she simply refuses to give up! This elderly woman (sweetly played by Sheila Francisco) wants to be a screenwriter for those movies she loves watching. She adores action films and did work in the industry long ago.

Although what she writes is for a Filipina audience, her love for the genre is very clear. I’m sure she can be the next Stephen J. Campbell if she wanted to. But her son, Rudi (Bong Cabrera) can’t put up with her. He plans to leave the nest, and little is said about how the other, Ronwaldo (Anthony Falcon), died. In classic ghost story fashion, he can’t move on until he sees the rest of the family is in a good place.

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In this Cinematic Adaptation of School of Magical Animals, It’s OK to Sing-A-long

School of Magical Animals shows that not every German-made fantasy is about the works from the Brothers Grimm.

School of Magical Animals Movie PosterBlue Fox Entertainment
Playing at select cinemas; please check local listings.

The live-action adaptation of Margit Auer‘s School of Magical Animals (Die Schule der magischen Tiere) has a few interesting changes, and the most prominent is the fact this presentation is also a musical. Unless this adaptation does really well in the box office, all that character development I found in this film requires more movies than one to fully realise. Unlike Rowling’s narrative concerning who are the bad guys, the mystery simply involves finding out who is pranking and stealing items from the school.

Aside from a few Easter egg style aesthetics taken from Harry Potter, I can’t help but wonder if Miss Cornfield (Nadja Uhl), a teacher in this institution, is intentionally made up to resemble Rita Skeeter. As for whether she’s a friend or foe to Ida (Emilia Maier), that’s a detail I won’t spoil. The friends she makes–Benni (Leonard Conrads) and Jo (Loris Sichrovsky)–at the school she’s admitted to is special, but not everyone knows it’s a unique institution which helps young ones hone their ability to interact with the supernatural.

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Detailing What’s Missing in Mummies, An Animated Rom-Com

Director Juan Jesús García Galocha could have done more to bring out the romance of what Ancient Egypt represents in Mummies.

Mummies Movie PosterSome Mummies are hard to read, and not all of them experience an easy transition to their afterlife. According to Ancient Egyptian beliefs, their souls first need to get judged and those whose heart is pure get to live on in the Field of Reeds (or the Duat). But for archaeologists looking for evidence of what kind of life they once led, the body they leave behind doesn’t always show if they’re resting in peace.

Here, Thut (Joe Thomas) lost his confidence after a racing mishap and Princess Nefer (Eleanor Tomlinson) isn’t content with her life. She’s almost like Cleopatra (in Space) because she’s fiercely independent and this version didn’t take her life. We meet her as royalty in the undead kingdom, and what’s amusing about how the two are birds of the feather.

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Diving Into Why Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken will be a Fantastic Summer Hit

The details and trailer is now here for DreamWorks Animation’s latest and Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken looks good!

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken Movie PosterStories about coming out of one’s comfort zone is often a winning scenario in storytelling. In Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken what’s presented looks like more than girl coming out of her shell. She will have huge challenges to face and one of them includes dealing with an eternal war between her species and an other.

As the title and trailer suggests, this young woman will have to not only deal with high school problems but also experience her Sweet 16 in a way that could potentially the attention of the world.

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