blrnani Basically, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Although the focus is mainly on the rather disturbed (and I won't say harmless, because in typical American male fashion he readily resorts to violence as a way to resolve his problems) Enoch, the story is driven by Annabel, a vivacious young girl with a sad secret. That they are both good for one another is undeniable, even for Annabel's protective (but not overly so) older sister. I wasn't sure how Hiroshi fitted into this until the end, and that realisation added much to the depth of the film. I won't say any more to avoid spoiling the journey for others.

anis_ky I couldn't get enough of this movie. It's a sad one ofc, as it's about cancer. But it has humor in it and a bit of comedy. A perfect teen romantic movie. I just smiled the whole time watching this. Both characters are so cute and great. Surprisingly, it's not sad. They made the sadness became happy tears, which are great.

Tafiet Charming is the word I could use to describe the effect this movie had on me. It felt so natural and real. I was sucked into that world so easily in a way that I forgot that the two love interests were acting. Mia Wasikowska has managed to worm herself into the top 10 of my favorite actresses & I have only seen 5 movies that she has been in. That's some incredible talent right there. The score of this movie is also fantastic. Just by telling you that it opens up with a Beatles song tells you a lot about it. One of my favorite musicians Sufjan Stevens' songs also feature in this movie. This adds to the natural feeling of the movie as you do not feel as if it's trying to force you into feeling emotions you don't feel. It's subtle that way. The most impressive thing was how they managed to make a sad storyline so beautiful and not a typical sob story. I was smiling at the end and not crying like I had expected. You learn about the characters and understand how this story will end pretty early on in the movie. "It's a story about a terminally ill teenage girl who falls for a boy who likes to attend funerals." Most of the time this would ruin the story for me and turn it into a snooze-fest. However, I did not even once feel that way with this movie. I fell in love Mia's character so easily. The wardrobe she had was perfect for the character of Annie. Her love interest Enoch played by Henry Hopper was great. I am going to watch every movie he appears in from now on because I was impressed. This movie had the formula of a typical romantic drama but could stand on its own, with its charm and adorableness of the characters. I would recommend this to anyone who likes cutesy love stories.

lasttimeisaw A Febiofest screening, nothing signposts that 3 years after multi-Ocsar nominated (including 2 wins) MILK (2008), Gus Van Sant will cook such a cancer-ridden romantic flick grappling with a soul-healing recovery of a parents-bereaved boy after his short relationship with a dying girl although death has been a persistent topic all through his omnibus. The over-simplified structure may impede Gus from a more spacious platform to perform his mastery, and precipitating an out-and-out snub from all sorts of awards consideration and the disastrous box-office turnover is fatal to destroy its investor's confidence, a total domestic grosses of $164,000 versus its $8 million production budget, which is a far cry not only from MILK, but also much lesser than its indie-alike PARANOID PARK ($490,000), signals that only Van Sant's loyal zealots showed their precious appearances in the cinema. Although smaller the scale, the film still holds steady its stunning visual mode, with bountiful layers of spiritual remedies to cure any scarred heart. Plot-wise, there are nothing really popped-out, only the Japanese ghost-friend deployment has its exquisite enchantment and exotic luster, but is far from sheer original, which also coincides the film's suffering from the paucity of a one-of-a-kind uniqueness once one can notice among Van Sant's better works (say, ELEPHANT 2003, GOOD WILL HUNTING 1997, and MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO 1991), the story tends to be more lachrymose while marching on the unavoidable finale.The two leads are basically serviceable, the tenderfoot Henry Hopper, who had just lost his father Dennis Hopper (1936-2010), is inappropriately in time for the role, handsome boys are never amiss in Van Sant's work. By contrast, a burgeoning Mia Wasikowska is the main magnetism on-screen, a product only cannot be stemmed from fiction as it's too ideal to be real. Personally the film pleased me in a gently soothing method, but it is Van Sant in its very comfort zone without challenging too much of himself.