Absence haunts the streets of Masaya Takahashi's Maebashi City: as absent as the rains are during the apex of summer is the nurturing essence of humanity. Parched of comfort and joy, the inhabitants, so jaded by circumstance and experience, find their ability to thrive has diminished beyond comprehension; instead, fear from just a knock on the door flourishes where little else can. Yet there exists a responsibility to keep up appearances so those whose innocence remains intact are not doomed to follow those same footsteps. Based on Mitsuru Kawabayashi's 1990 novel of the same name, Takahashi's 'Dry Spell' explores the insurmountable hardships of growing older amidst the harsh realities of a world plundering itself of human decency. Thirty years after the novel's publication, its examination of poverty,especially among children,remains as true and as poignant as
Bearing the brunt of a heatwave with zero percent chance of rain, Maeboshi faces a public water shortage. Pools are closed, empty, and locked; one by one the public faucets are being switched off; and even the water department's vehicles dirt remains to set an example. Tasked with shutting off the water supply to those behind on their bills, Shunsaku Iwakiri (Toma Ikuta) commits to his harsh endeavor with bureaucratic civility unmoved by the clients' pleas for more time – only when he routine stops at the single- parent Koide household he becomes lenient to their plight. But when the mother abandons her two young daughters Keiko and Kumiko (Yamazaki Nanami and Yuzuho) for a potential relationship, their already desperate situation deteriorates further and the two girls are left to fend for themselves.When Iwakiri and his colleague Takuji Kida (Hayato Isomura) return to fulfill their obligation, they carry out one more act of generosity before they parch the house of water.

It isn't too long before the sisters are forced into stealing from local convenience stores in order to ensure their meager survival. Meanwhile, Iwakiri is wrestling not only with his conscience but with his wife's separation and taking their child with her in the process. Though Takayashi spends considerable time humanising an uncaring practice and reinforcing its absolute human impact, 'Dry Spell' shines within its subtleties, carefully revealing the internal dilemmas and responsibilities absenteeism has long burdened upon Japanese society. Taking its toll on Keiko, her dual role as both mother and sister to Kumiko long before their abandonment has all but eroded her childhood; she represses her vulnerability from all those around her in as much the same way as the adults with whom she crosses.Through her dedication to her sister and Iwakiri's resolve to reclaim his humanity and his ideals – brought to a head in an underwhelmingly saccharine climax – 'Dry Spell' revels in showing there is more at stake than just water.


Sitting at polar opposites to each other Keiko and Iwakiri have more in common than they would care to acknowledge: their lived experiences have left them in a state of self-disassociation and intrinsically untrusting of those whose innocence has since been corrupted in some form. Here , both Ikuta and Nanami expose their inner truths through their eyes, body language, and facial cues in lieu of dialogue; their nuanced performances not only deter the film from sentimental indulgence but also from any reliance on the score to drive its emotional weight. Perfectly countering Yuzuho and Isomura's youthful naivety the pair unflinchingly don their masks, carrying their burden with but a glance or a pupil dilation to suggest otherwise. Their understated performances feel all too real and admirably underscore the plight of Kawabayashi's source material.

There's nothing quite like jazz. Hitting the right notes in the tiny area between experimentation, chaos, art and cacophonous noise is a tricky thing to do, and the artists that can are held in a regard few other professions can touch. There's an allure to it, a danger in live performances where one false note could send an entire act into disarray. It may be the most pure form of music, depending not on set patterns and structure, but instinct and intuition in every moment. Curious then, that Shinichi Ishizuka's “Blue Giant” manga series was miraculously able to catch the hearts and minds of many with words and images about jazz rather than including the music itself. As a medium, manga is restricted to the expression of the illustration and the truthfulness of the story , but one thing it inherently cannot have is sound to go with it.It's only natural that (following the award-winning success of the now-expansive manga series) “Blue Giant” evolves into its very own anime adaptation to let the sound and vision flow in glorious harmony, and director Yuzuru Tachikawa meets that task with ambition and affection.
In Select Theaters October 8 & 9
A full list of markets will be available at www.BlueGiantMovie.com


“Blue Giant” is the story of Dai Miyamoto (Yuki Yamada, giving a passionate voice performance), a small-town teenager armed with a saxophone and dreams of the big city (and the jazz clubs therein). Practicing in the dead of night and the gently-falling snow gives his pursuit a romantic edge from the outset, and his plucky ambition takes him on a journey to the beating heart of Japanese jazz: Shinjuku City, Tokyo. There, he lands himself on the couch of old friend Shunji Tamada (Amane Okayama) and crosses paths with a fellow savant piano player Yukinori Sawabe (Shotaro Mamiya), and the trio soon form JASS, their very own band to take the nightclubs of Tokyo (and maybe even the world) by storm. What follows is a by-the-numbers but nevertheless emotional tale of stardom,redemption and brotherhood in the face of the tough reality of being an artist in an increasingly artless world.



What “Blue Giant” lacks in its originality, it makes up for in pure power. Sometimes, there's nothing more comforting than a rising star story, filled with the highs of unlikely success and the lows of brutal rejection. “Blue Giant”'s long-standing editor (known only as NUMBER 8) knows this and adapts Ishizuka's original text into a screenplay that has a familiar rhythm, hitting its beats exactly the way it needs to please any crowd. However, it must be said that anyone who doesn 't have a lump in their throat or a racing heartbeat by the triumphant finale is probably dead. A strong subplot involves Shunji's sudden interest in learning how to drum, and despite lagging behind in his musical abilities in comparison to his friends, there's a beautiful underdog quality to his character and a genuine affection with how his friends treat him.The strength of the core relationships is what makes “Blue Giant” compelling from scene to scene, and if it simply relied on its striking visual style to fill two hours, it would be a hollow experience. Yet as it stands, it is a feast for the eyes, ears and heart.

This mockumentary is by, for, and about hardcore theater geeks, but for a while anyway, it's a show that's infectious enough to entertain casual fans. There's an energy that says, ``Let's do it.'' For despite the intense audition montage and clever phrase turns that propel the first act, ``Theatre Camp'' ultimately drags into the middle, before picking itself back up for the grand finale. . The film is based on a 2020 short created by directors Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman with co-writers Ben Platt and Noah Galvin, and the tensions of expanding the concept into a full-length feature I can feel it. Ultimately, the film completely abandons the faux-documentary structure, making it seem unnecessary in the first place.

The filmmakers' love for this material, this setting, and each other is clear
 They are all close friends who have grown up and worked together for years. Is that the image of cute kids performing on stage at the beginning of the movie? That was long before Gordon and Pratt became famous for their roles in TV's "The Bear" and the musical "Dear Evan Hansen," respectively. Galvin also starred in Broadway's "Dear Evan Hansen" and is engaged to Pratt. Gordon and Galvin both had important supporting roles in Olivia Wilde's "Booksmart." Lieberman is the only one of the four not to have appeared on screen, but she has been friends with Pratt since high school and directed some of his music videos.It's clear how much they love their world of hamster, sociopathic children who thrive within a tribe in this idyllic location hours from New York. Because they themselves have lived in this world. However, their execution does not always match the power of their emotions.

"Theatre Camp" gets off to a promising start with Pratt and Gordon co-starring as Amos and Rebecca Diane, former campers with dreams of stardom who now return year after year as counselors. AdirondaACTS (an interesting idea in itself) is a collection of dilapidated cabins that have long since improved but are still filled with youthful cheer each summer. But this year, with founder Joanne (played by Amy Sedaris in a frustratingly brief appearance) in a coma following a "Bye Bye Birdie"-related seizure, acting coach Amos and music teacher Rebecca Diane are running the entire operation. must be directed. Joan's aspiring financier son, Troy (Jimmy Tatro), appears and tries to impose his will on Joan, but the precocious theater kids quickly see through his deception and reject him.
However, the show must go on. It's very entertaining for a while, but its growth is inconsistent. Some of the kids are extremely talented, especially Bailey Bonnick, Luke Islam, and Alexander Bello. It would have been nice to get to know them a little more than just watching them belt out show tunes and emotes with depth beyond their years. In fact, they're far more interesting than the adult characters, with the exception of Galvin's Glenn, a master of his craft with a secret. Alan Kim, the young star of ``Minari,'' is a bit involved in the role of an aspiring agent who wears a suit and spends all day on the phone, embodying both the humor and flaws of ``Theatre Camp.'' It's interestingly specific, but also woefully underdeveloped. This also applies to the presence of Ayo Edebiri, who is very good alongside Gordon in “The Bear”. Her character appears here under questionable circumstances that are hardly explored enough in the film. Advertisement Beneath the excitement that permeated the preparations for "Joan, Still," the original season-ending musical honoring the founder of Adirondack ACTS, the camp was on the brink of foreclosure, and a wealthy children's camp nearby There is a potential threat that is aimed at that. Expand to their land. That might make for a cheeky '80s-style class-struggle comedy, but it never does.

The problem here is that we don't get much of what Theater Camp does, from the loving send-off of serious thespians in Waiting for Guffman to the blissful insularity of Wet. That's what I've seen, and what I've seen done better. Hot summer in America. ” Additionally, Todd Graff wrote and directed his 2003 indie film “Camp,” which is similar to this one, starring a young Anna Kendrick and Robin DeJesus. Advertisement Still, there are enough moments here sprinkled with big laughs. Some of the lyrics in the original song are hilariously awful. Experiments exploring children's past lives are surprisingly strange. And some of the strong advice counselors give to eager young people is completely inappropriate. You may not leave humming a song, but you will leave with a smile on your face.