Netflix review: The Casketeers

Hello readers! Only 4 days left to Halloween!

If you are still searching for a good series to watch this October, I’m here today to recommend The Casketeers, or Pompe Funebri (Funeral Home) as it’s called in Italian.

The Casketeers (I love this title) is a New Zealand reality tv shows that follow the Tipene family who runs the Tipene funerals in Oakland.

Maybe you think it’s a morbid show, but in fact, it’s really heartwarming and funny too.

Francis Tipene, the boss of the funeral home, is a super funny person, obviously still respectful of his job and his clients.

There are a lot of comedic scenes between him and his wife, or between him and one of his staff members, Fiona. I love Fiona, she’s my favorite because we have a similar character. But it’s a reality show that talks about death, funerals and grief, so please be aware of that. Nothing is shown too explicitly, we only catch glimpses of the deceased, but it will not be suitable for a sensible viewer. It deals a lot with human emotions, and that’s the heart of this show: the love of the Tipene family, the respect for their job, the sadness, the despair caused by a death, the joy of seeing the community embrace and celebrate a life on this planet. I confess I’ve cried nearly for every single episode.

The episodes are in English (with Italian subtitles for us) but they talk a lot in Maori, so it’s really interesting and useful to learn words in Maori, at least for me. Don’t worry, all the Maori words are translated on screen.

On Netflix Italy there are only 2 seasons of this show that has begun in January 2018, but I read online that are currently 4 seasons, the last one deals with the pandemic and the victims of Covid-19.

Have you watched it?

Can’t wait to hear your opinions!

The Cecil Hotel: Netflix + GA documentaries

Hello readers! I’m here today to talk about 2 documentaries I recently view, both of them on the infamous hotel situated in Los Angeles: The Cecil Hotel.

The first is the show on Netflix called Crime Scene: The vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.

I heard about this case from GA (Ghost Adventures), but it was interesting to know more about the vanishing of Elisa Lam.

There are facts, interviews with detectives, employeers of the hotel, and a conclusion that I didn’t like. I wouldn’t talk about it to not spoiler, but it doesn’t sound true for me.

The second series is the special episode of Ghost Adventures that you can watch on Discovery+. I can’t find a trailer on Youtube, sorry, but there’s the complete episode, if you don’t have Discovery+.

I’m a fan of Ghost Adventures for years, and I really liked this episode. When the medium steps in some rooms and gets some intense reactions it really scares me. The Cecil hotel has a sad past and lot of murders and suicide had taken places there. It’s not a Hotel I will be staying in! It has definitely something dark and sinister, even with that beautiful art decò hall.

As for the conclusion of the investigation of the murder of Elisa Lam, my opinion is a blend of the explanations between the two documentaries. If you are interested, on Youtube you can find a lot of paranormal videos about the hotel, and some experts (psychologists, detectives, etc…) talking about the Netflix show and analizing the people inteviewed there.

Please pay attention, as both the documentaries shows scenes of death, suicide, drugs, guns, rape and blood. They aren’t suitable for younger viewers.

Have you seen this shows? What you think about it?

Movie mini Reviews: Your Name; Momo

Original Title: Momo e no Tegami / A letter to Momo

Produced by: Production I. G., Pierrot

Date of release: 2011

My rating: 4/5

Plot:

Clinging to an unfinished letter written by her recently deceased father, young Momo moves with her mother from bustling Tokyo to the remote Japanese island of Shio. Upon their arrival, she begins to explore her new habitat, meeting local children and learning their routines and customs. However, it’s not long before several bizarre occurrences crop up around the previously tranquil island. Orchards are found ransacked, prized trinkets start disappearing and, worst of all, each morning after her mother leaves for work, Momo hears strange mumblings coming from the attic of their home. Annoyed by these creepy goings-on and her mother’s refusal to believe them, Momo embarks on a strange and supernatural adventure to discover the source of the mischief, which leads her to a trio of troublesome imps: the flatulent lizard Kawa, the childlike Mame and their hulking ogre leader Iwa. Momo also learns that her visit to the island is in some way connected to her father’s mysterious letter.

 

Original title: Kimi no na wa  /  Your Name

Produced by: Comix Wave films

Date of release: 2016

My rating: 2.75/5

Plot:

From director Makoto Shinkai, the innovative mind behind Voices of a Distant Star and 5 Centimeters Per Second, comes a beautiful masterpiece about time, the thread of fate, and the hearts of two young souls. The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High-schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and more importantly, an imprint. When a dazzling comet lights up the night’s sky, something shifts, and they seek each other out wanting something more – a chance to finally meet. But try as they might, something more daunting than distance prevents them. Is the string of fate between Mitsuha and Taki strong enough to bring them together, or will forces outside their control leave them forever separated?

 

Reviews:

I watched these two movies recently, so I decided to do a mash-up review. As you can see from my rating, I’ve loved A Letter to Momo, and I like it Your Name, but not so much.

But Your Name is famous, and Momo is totally underrated.

Let me explain: the great strength of A Letter to Momo is the story, the animation and visual effects are more classics. It’s a story who I can relate much more than Your Name, there is a lot of emotions going through, from the sadness of the beginning, when Momo’s father died, to the anger for the troubles due to the demons, and finally to the fun and the friendship between the three demons and Momo.

It’s a little too long however, but the ending is really emotional and satisfying.

The strength of Your Name is visual: the plot is a little too romantic and “weird” to me, even if I had appreciated the plot twist. But oh my… the scenes of the night sky, with the cometh, the classic Japanese village with their summer festival and traditions, in contrast with Taki’s life in a modern city. Every scene is a masterpiece, with the colours, the music, the particular shot. You really a big TV with a high resolution to better see this movie!

I appreciated both of this movies, and I will recommend both: A Letter to Momo if you want a “classic” movie full of human emotions and Japanese mythology; Your Name if you prefer a more romantic story with a touch of angst.

Both of the movies are available on Netflix.

Netflix Movie Review: Errementari

Title: Errementari, The Blacksmith and the Devil.

Director: Paul Urkijo Alijo

Cast: Kandido Uranga, Eneko Sagardoy, Uma Bracaglia

Release Date: 12 October 2018

Genres: fantasy, horror, retelling

Rating: 5/5

Trigger Warning: it’s a horror, so death, Satan, suicide, blood, visions of Hell and Demons.

Plot:

Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil is a re-telling of an ancient fable about a Blacksmith who finds himself battling the Devil. In this story, the Blacksmith has captured the Devil and lives a life of hermit-like seclusion away from the prying eyes of the townsfolk. All is going well until a desperate little girl, Usue, accidentally stumbles across the devil and unknowingly releases him. It is then left to the Blacksmith to reclaim his bounty, but this is easier said than done as he also finds himself at the end of a lynch mob that have come searching for the missing Usue.

Review spoiler free:

You know you have found a good horror movie when you and your dad, who sacrifices himself every time this blogger want to watch a horror movie, at the end of the movie, turn to the other and say simultaneously: that was awesome!!

Errementari is a retelling of a fable, is located in Spain and is written in Basque (but they translated it in italian!): after the artistic prologue we are introduced in a world dark and gloomy, devastated by the war. And we first meet The Blacksmith.

Then we skip 8 years, and we found Usue, a little girl living in the same village as The Blacksmith, and a mysterious stranger who is searching the Blacksmith. But nobody in the village wants to enter the property of the Blacksmith, because it seems an old, crazy and nasty man.

The scene, dark as usual for a Netflix movie, are fascinating: the old village with a forest deep and strange, with twisted trees and fog; the property and the house of The Blacksmith, completely covered with cross; the church of the village, with demons statues.

It’s the perfect setting for Halloween! I’ve loved it!

That was me during the entire movie.

 

 

The plot: I hate when for the first 20/30 minutes of a horror movie nothing happens. But Errementari doesn’t fail, and every minute of the movie is interesting, or sad, or funny. Yes, you hear me right: there are a lot of scenes so funny, and let me say it, it’s all because of Sartael, the demon.

The characters: Sartael is the best. I want a fan club for him. And I want to protect Usue and The Blacksmith, because remember if “Not all tales always have a happy ending”, you can’t judge a person by their appereance.

I want to applaud the make up artist: as a cosplayer I’m so impressed by their work.

As always with a positive review, I’m not sure if this is a “professional” or “convincing” review, but I just want to say this: this is an original movie so well done, with a lot of emotions, perfect for Halloween, and it became one of my favorite horror movie of all the time.