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If you're a manga reader, you know it can be difficult to follow complex stories with monthly issues. For example, the latter half of Attack on Titan must be read in one run to fully appreciate its depth. I think this is precisely why it lost some of its popularity toward the end of the story-it was too complicated, and casual readers couldn't easily follow the storyline.

The same is true for "Tengoku Daimakyo." I've appreciated the mangaka's other works, such as And Yet the Town Moves and other short stories (all interesting and mixtures of humor and mystery). However, I stopped reading Tengoku Daimakyo around 30 chapters in, simply because it took too long for the next chapters to become available.

The show is a godsend. It has incredible illustration, ambiance, and music. It captures the strong chemistry of the two leads, and the story never shies away from confronting the more controversial philosophical questions (e.g., who are you if you are in someone else's body?).

Watching the series within three days allowed me to see connections that I completely failed to see when I first read the manga. Once you understand how the two storylines intertwine, all those minor visual cues carry much more significant emotional weight (e.g., the view of the sky in episodes 8 and 12).

This show is a mental puzzle with answers lying right in front of you (which reminds me a bit of "The Prestige"), and the reveals are done in such elegant ways that you have to devote your full attention to feel its impact.

You can clearly see influences from Satoshi Kon, Akira, and even some of Doraemon.

After finishing season 1, I re-read the manga and found the answer to many outstanding questions, but there are still significant unanswered questions that remain. I am eager to see Season 2, as I believe if the manga concludes in a satisfactory manner, this series will be known as a masterpiece in the history of animation.

I read the books when it first came out. Interesting concept and definitely an interesting read, but not the type of sci-fi novel that I indulge - too much plot devices and not abstract enough to feel the otherworldliness. I compared it to da vinci's code, so I would consider that a compliment.

The show's weakness has been well documented. Extremely shallow modern cast and senseless personal stories that feel like I am watching sex and the city (no offense). The story of the young yeh wenji started strong but I have no way believing she grew into the adult yeh wenji who has zero persuasiveness as a cult leader and one of the most influential scientific figure.

I think the short of it is I detest Netflix and pretty much all of their shows (unfortunately my brother in law works there so I can't avoid the exposure). Netflix was once decent and was a haven for good filmmakers to prosper. It has diminished itself to AI generated mindlessness.

The story of our era.

Timotheé Chalamet had an impressive role in Call Me by Your Name, but it was not until The King the following year that I truly saw the layers of his acting. After watching The King, I compared him to a young Al Pacino - and then he basically flew off my radar since.

I didn't like any of his subsequent roles, including as Paul Atreides in Dune, which is a film I found to be artfully made but, like most other Denis Villeneuve films, lacking something that touches me.

I wasn't going to see Dune 2, except that I did. It was as everyone else said - epic, sweeping, complex, and well-made in all aspects. Having said that, it is Timothée who truly defines this film as a much more complex Paul Atreides, representing both the best and worst of messiah fervor. He reminds me of Henry V in The King, except with more charisma, maturity and a darkness that hides deeper. Everyone else in the film, with perhaps the exception of Zendaya, impresses and matches Timothée's lead.

Now, having read through enough information, I understand that if Messiah is made, that the storyline may entail Paul's downfall. Dune and Dune 2 may not be as significant to the world of cinema as The Godfather Part 1 and Part 2, but Dune: Messiah has the setup to surpass the final chapter of The Godfather.

This time, we may truly witness the epic transformation of a man from hero to god to destroyer, reminiscent of a Greek tragedy, offering a potentially unparalleled exploration of power and its consequences.

Can anything other than human emulates human is a question that has been raised repeatedly. Kafka addressed the boundaries between men and apes in "a report to an academy", while Dick tackled similar issue between men and androids in "do androids dream of electric sheeps". Science-wise, inventing human-like machine remains a tireless pursue, and the unfortunate fate of Nim Chimpsky does not seem adequate to deter human curiosity of ascertaining equals. The Rise of the Planet of the Apes, being clichéd as it is, is nonetheless an honest attempt that addresses this centuries-long question. After all, when conscious entities other than human become more intelligent or human (or humane?) than us (either artificially or naturally), the perceived uniqueness of the human species is implicitly eradicated along with the existence of our so-call god. In the face of cross-species homogeneity, will religious doctrines crample? Or more precisely, when we are as close to god as we might arrogantly believe, will morality still be guided through the divine doctrines? The Apes manages to touch upon these philosophical, theological, scientific and moral questions (however old they are), but more importantly, it once again reminds us the importance of self-identity and the necessity of self-actualization. In that sense, the Apes is a triumph both in style and in substance.

Alrite, I finally drag myself to watch this. My reluctance, of course, is because i think the original is a very good movie that has decent plot and good deal of emotion heavy moments, plus I am never a big fan of Scorsese's works and i really did not think it could top the original.

It turns out i was right, but I had to applaud for this movie. Afterall, it is Scorsese, one is not going to get those beautiful songs play at the background when someone die. It's bleak and cold, and it is a movie of its own.

The only problems i have with this film is Sullivan and the ending. I think the screen writer must be out his mind to make such a complicated character in the original degrade into a stereotypical villain. In IA, Andy Lau is deep, evil, but in the same time, in constant struggle to find his self image. Sullivan is really just lame. I also think the ending lacks the tragic feeling in the original, but hey!, it is exactly Scorsese's style and i respect that.

One other disappointment is leaving out the subtle kind of understanding between the two main characters make the film's depth a bit shallower. After all, the best scene in the original is the one at the audio store where Tony Cheung and Andy Lau first met. Departed just made the line between black and white too clear.

Nevertheless, it is still a great film. DiCaprio deserve nomination for his performance, and even though i am in doubt Scorsese will actually receive one academy award next year, I think this is a better shot compare to GoNY and Aviator. Wellz, i guess i will just make a suggestion for people who watch this film but not the original, grab it. It's the same plot essentially but very different style, and both highly enjoyable

A previous poster described this film as a Taiwanese Godfather, but better. Indeed, this film has a lot similarities to godfather, in which the most notable is the condensation of an entire nation into the life of one single family. Even though I never really come to love other Hou's films, City of Sadness is a flawless epic that truthfully depict an era that is forgotten by most of my generation. I have heard those stories from my paternal grandparents, who are like people portrait in the film, grass root Taiwanese. I have also heard stories from my maternal grandparents, who are the late comers from mainland China. The entire different perspectives surprised me that in such a small nation, mistrust is still profoundly rooted and transmitted via generations. City of Sadness portraits this image so hauntingly and yet with beautiful and quiet transcendence seeing the turmoil through the eyes of the deaf and mute son of the Lin family. Taiwan, the city of sadness, is eternally sorrowful because of its rootlessness, which until today, still runs in my blood.

I have heard a lot ppl criticizing WKW of being artsy. I'd agree with them in a certain degree since WKW definitely is not a director who has a public appeal. However, this does not mean WKW directed anything so different fm human emotion that ppl have hard time understanding it. On the contrary, this is the first film that i think perfectly capture human emotion. Like Camus's Strangers, WKW has always present the world as alienated, but unlike Camus, WKW gives hope in his film. I first watch the time of being wild when i was about 12, I didn't like it. 4 years later, after i thought i watch enough films to make any kind of judgment, i knew this will always be among my top 10 list of all time. Every character in this film is a sole creation of human nature. The pain and happiness are expressed so cleverly in this film that i think when ppl calling this film pretentious, i'd say they just do not understand it. My suggestion is before you watch any of WKW's film, calm yourself down and watch it alone. It will surely open your eyes to how much cinema can do to one's life