Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

NEON POLTERGEIST WHY?..You don't make endings like these. It's unfair, It's not healthy for any Viewer. It's just plain weird. First of. everyone is overacting. The tamaki guy Always says the wrong thing. He just plodder along like a braindead. The Girls sickness, the overacting, the Japanese cuteness.. alright I get it! if it's done with some authentic feelings in the mix. Aoi Miyazaki looks like she really could act under the right direction. I did like the moving in part.. I like that sort of lovestory buildup. But it never gets there.I don't know what to Think of this film.. A Little spoiler: What kind friends doesn't send you letters from your long lost love? They can't be ordinary humans, maybe cyborgs. Why do they prevent him from meeting the girl of his Dreams and let him explain to her how much they love each other? Even though she's sick I bet your ass she wants to spend rest of her time with him.. sigh..Nobody does that. nobody Thinks like that. If this really had happened to me, I would have blown my head straight off. No kidding,..that's how cruel this soap opera ending is. Remember the Movie 5 centimeters per second.. This is much much more Surreal.

cappucino_frappucino Heavenly Forest is by far the sweetest love movie I have seen in a long time. I'm a movie buff especially in this genre. Every moment has it's nostalgic feeling into it, the transition from one phase to the other blends well and never did lose it's hype. Although, the movie doesn't draw tension as much as compared with other Romance movies but it is meant to be in that way so it portrays meaningful happiness instead of sob tearjerker that drives the audience downhill.Although this movie has strong influence on Japanese cultures (dialects, humbleness etc.) but that's what keeps it at it's sweet and delicate momentum.There is nothing lacking in this movie, as it is sweet in every sensible way it displays. This is the kind of movie that Hollywood could never provide.Modestly Warm and Delicatively Meaningful.

sitenoise I was a bit surprised by the sometimes frank and honest dialog coming from Aoi Miyazaki's character in what for the most part is a very family friendly bit of Japanese young love/first love cinema. But it is appropriate for her character, a set-to-mature-at-any-moment young woman deficient in some necessary growth hormones needed to push her over the edge (that when triggered by a first kiss could ultimately be her ... undoing) and seems trapped in young adolescence. It's a very cute and cute-funny, and really sad, sad, film. Miyazaki teeters the edge between coy and seductive so well it made me dizzy ... with delight. I could, however, understand her pouty lipped attempts at cuteness turning some folks off. She does slip out of it each time very quickly, though. That's part of her charm, I guess.The film is beautifully photographed. The 'heavenly' forest is fairy-tale gorgeous, as are the three young actors we spend time with. The story is engaging too, clearly a novel-adapted one.

kcla This is one of those light movies that is so charming and enjoyable you can't even begrudge its slightly sappy ending. Hiroshi Tamaki stars as Segawa Makoto, a university student who shies away from people because of an unknown illness. He's interested in photography and one day while taking pictures in the woods he runs into Satonaka Shizuru, a quirky waif and classmate, adorably played by Aoi Miyazaki. The normally shy Makoto feels strangely relaxed with the energetic Shizuru, and the two form a friendship. Complications arise from Shizuru being not-so-secretly in love with the oblivious Segawa, who's instead in love with another classmate, the beautiful Miyuki, as well as Shizuru's illness.Both leads are good, though frankly this is a movie which they don't really have to do much besides act cute. Still I have to praise Aoi Miyazaki, who stole the movie. I'll be honest, I'm one of those grinches who usually can't stand the relentlessly cute and cheerful, squeaky-voiced female protagonists popular in Asian romances. But Aoi Miyazaki completely charmed me with her exuberant performance, which seemed natural despite its childishness. It took me a little while to get used to Hiroshi's Tamaki's performance, I felt he overplayed the awkwardness of his character in the beginning. But he and Miyazaki have a really nice and easygoing chemistry, and they form a realistic couple you want to root for. Supporting characters aren't annoying (if you've watched Asian dramas, you'll know what I mean).Thinking back, I'm struck by how perfectly balanced the cuteness and unforced emotion was in the movie. Too many romantic dramedies tend to overdo the former, in my opinion, and sacrifice the latter to get a tear, by setting up melodrama. Not to say that this movie doesn't do that. The ending is the cliché melodramatic ending we've see again and again in Asian romances. Yet it works because the movie has engendered so much good will along the way and it shows just enough restraint.The cinematography is adequate. I feel it didn't quite utilize the full beauty of the title forest(there was perhaps a little too much light in the scenes). That perhaps speaks for the movie as a whole. It's a little too fluffy to be substantial, there have been more original and sensitive versions of its basic plot line. But I recommend it, mostly because of the performance of the female lead.