Image from IMDB.

Toru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.(IMDB)

*WARNING*
This review contains minor spoilers. 

This film adaptation left me with mixed feelings. For the most part, it stuck with the story told in the book. What bothered me the most though, was how much it left out. This movie is over two hours long and instead of using that time to focus on the connection between Toru and Naoko (and Reiko) the majority of it was wasted on "filler" moments and the sex aspects of the story. Storm Trooper was almost completely eliminated and pretty much just shows up as a cameo for those who read the book. Reiko's role was shrunk immensely until the final part of the story. This film sucked out all of the emotion and heart from the book.
As for the actors/actresses, I think they did a great job. The majority of the cast looked pretty much how I envisioned them while reading the book (especially Storm Trooper), with the exception of Kiko Mizuhara as Midori. Her performance is good, it was just one of those cases where a. the actor does not meet the visual I had in my head and b. I associate the actor with another character too strongly and it is distracting. Overall, if you love the book, I would say skip the film. If you haven't read the book though...you might like it, but I'm willing to bet you would like the book better anyway.

Rating: 5.5/6
Buy/Stream: Amazon, Tubi TV (free), iTunes, Youtube

Image from Goodreads.

Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.(Goodreads)

First, I just want to mention that I made the mistake of reading this and NOT writing down all my thoughts or a review until a month later. Therefore, this review is without a doubt nowhere near as detailed as it should be.
Secondly, I am totally in love with the way Murakami writes. I know I'm reading a translation, but each of his books I have read has this similar flowy/spaceyness to it that just makes it so easy for me to find myself lost in his stories.
Norwegian Wood tackles mental illness in a way that is realistic instead of romantic (like the movie does, unfortunately). Suicides are mentioned, but they never really become the focus, instead just presented as something that sadly happens. The world doesn't stop, it keeps going. The story shows us multiple ways that people deal with this type of tragedy, grieving before being able to move on and the additional tragedy of becoming stuck, unable to continue. I really appreciated how this was dealt with in the book. Something I did find confusing though, was all the comments on the way Toru talks. Nothing he said seemed weird to me, but that may have been something that was lost in translation. He definitely comes off as a very lost young man for the majority of the book and I loved how his moment of "growing up" was done.

Rating: 4/5
Buy: Amazon, Find Book Prices (compares prices from several different online stores)

Follow Haruki Murakami: Official US Site, Facebook

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.*

I absolutely loved the use of the 80's color palette and the mix of 80's new wave songs with covers. Atomic Blonde quickly draws you in to the story, but fails to keep the energy going due to some slow pacing issues. Several scenes are definitely a little longer than they needed to be, which led to me tuning out several times while watching it. This is shame, because the story is actually very intriguing.

Rating:7.5/10
Buy/Stream: Amazon, Youtube

Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there’s Lenny, her mom’s boyfriend—they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer.

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.*

Annihilation is a beautiful and suspenseful sci fi/horror art film that requires multiple views in order to fully appreciate it. Many of the scenes that take place in the Shimmer look like art installations, which is great, but (for me at least), it does become a bit of a distraction. I found myself paying more attention to what was on the screen than to the story itself. It is definitely a weird little movie that is not for everyone, but I enjoyed it.

Rating: 7/10
Buy/Stream: Youtube, Amazon