Log: week 24 / 2024
A compilation film of Jissoji's Ultraman series. That explains some of the shifter-looking monsters, it also explains the excruciating pace of this film. The funniest thing though is that Jissoji is a lauded arthouse director, who also loved doing these ultra-cheesy B-movie projects. Kaiju fans will have a field with this film. The monsters look terrible (men in cheap suits, the eyes in particular are just comical), but the maquettes are pretty fun and the pacing makes sure there's no time to slow down and get bored. It's a bit messy if you've never watched the series, then again, it's not all that complex so Kaiju fans won't have any trouble figuring out what's going on. Amusing, but far from great.Read all
Danish drama about forlorn times. I was unaware of the dark history between Swedish and Danish people, I guess bringing me up to speed is primarily what this film accomplished. The rural drama is a bit too close to our local cinema though, a type of film I despised for ages (and still do if I'm honest). The lead performances are decent, but the setting of the film is excruciatingly dreary and the cinematography does nothing to improve things. The film is also way too long and repetitive, pretty much rehashing the same stereotypes while the plot trudges on. Not great, but within its genre, not the worst I've seen.Read all
Chime feels like an addendum to Foreboding and Before We Vanish, but slightly better because of the shorter runtime and nicer production values. Not that the film is very explicit or maximalist in its presentation, it's very much a less-is-more horror, it just feels a bit more polished and overall detailed . The cinematography is clean, the performances are solid and Kurosawa builds up the tension really well. It's been quite a while since he's released a more straight-forward horror film, but he still has it in him. The ending is a little puzzling, but that's clearly by design. I liked this a lot better than I thought I would, this was one of Kurosawa's better films in ages.Read all
Based on a true story, but that's a bit of a pointless claim when your story is as pedestrian as the one here. It's only recently that I discovered the USA too had its bout of illness-based romance films, The Vow is a pretty good representative of this niche. Thematically that is, because the quality is rather iffy. McAdams and Tatum are decent, it's the rather bland direction and the dull plot that are keeping this film from reaching any of its potential. I didn't care much for their characters, nor the predictable path that they had to cross to reach a predictable ending. This was plain Hollywood nonsense.Read all
A lesser-known Polish war classic. It's a potential cinephile's wet dream, but I wasn't too taken with this WWII drama. It's another dreary vision of war, this time exemplified through the misery of some young children. Grave of the Fireflies this is not though, quite the opposite in fact. The performances aren't that great, with the kids doing little more than trying to look as sad and miserable as possible. The grim black-and-white cinematography felt a bit lazy, the message is anything but subtle and the split into three different stories added very little. Not my kind of film.Read all
Hiroyuki Tanaka's films hold up, that much I've learned. Hard Luck Hero is not his best film, those in the know will also tell you this is a V6 vanity project, but that doesn't mean Tanaku couldn't just make a fun film out of it. Various stories converge, there's running and car chases, some kooky characters, and plenty of quirky plot twists. It also helps that the film is relatively short, so it never outstays its welcome. There are other, better films if you want to crack Tanaka's oeuvre, but this one is still heaps of fun.
Obayashi tells the story of Sada, a mysterious Japanese prostitute. And he does so in a typical Obayashi way. When I first saw the film I wasn't all that versed in (Japanese) cinema, so it stood out. Watching it again, that feeling is not as strong anymore, but it's still a strong and accomplished film. It's a dark story that has been featured in other films, but Obayashi's take is one of the more interesting ones. He manages to keep things relatively light, he makes sure the cinematography and performances are distinct and while the runtime is long, it never feels like the film is overstaying its welcome. It lost some of its appeal over the years, but it's still a very cool film and a must for fans of Obayashi.Read all
A western with noir elements, led by one of my least favorite actors of that time. It's not a combination that bodes well and at this point, I don't think anyone will be surprised that this film didn't do much for me. Apart from the somewhat moodier black-and-white cinematography, it was one big calvary. The drama is well overdone, the setting is unappealing, and the actors fail miserably at their job. The dark and moody cinematography is quite novel in combination with the western setting, I'll give the film that, but in the end, it didn't make that much of a difference. This wasn't for me.Read all
A love letter to maths and humanity. It's a rare film that has a personal connection to me, as my math teacher in high school had a similar drive for maths, both its cold beauty and its warmer, worldly implications. I still love seeing that in this film, my only issue this time is that the drama is a bit too cheesy. There's quite a bit of beauty here, but it's not so much in the technical elements and the drama is too simplistic. A more subtle approach would've made this into an easy favorite, but I still found a lot to enjoy here. Good performances and a genuine love for maths make this a very pleasant film.Read all
Have you ever wondered how amazing it is that movies get made? Well, if you haven't, movie people are adamant about telling you, which is why they keep making movies about it. Shrieking in the Rain is yet another one of those films, with the only real difference that we're making an erotic movie now. The fact that we're on a pinku set helps to differentiate it from a bunch of similar productions, but not enough to make it really stand out. It's a decent enough film with solid performances and some memorable moments, but I'm not the biggest fan of the self-aggrandizing that is so prevalent in this genre.Read all
This was pretty horrible, to the point where it was so incredibly serious and insanely kitsch that it became funny to watch. For about five minutes that is, after that, it was just a long and arduous task to get to the end of it. I can't imagine ever liking something like this, but I'm sure there's an audience for it. The performances are straight-faced (and boy does everyone look very stern and serious here), the sets and costumes look drab and the cinematography is just plain ugly. I didn't care for the plot and setting either, but that wasn't a big surprise. Not my kind of film at all, but I did make it to the end and had a few chuckles at how bad it was.Read all
Hong Kong cinema has bigger problems than mere Chinese censorship unless it runs even deeper than I ever imagined. Hidden in here is a perfectly fine crime/action flick, but you'll have to look past some cringy and overwrought drama to get to it. Kwan seems to believe it adds gravitas to his film, but the opposite is true. Andy Lau doesn't usually take on the role of the bad guy, but he's fit for the job. The rest of the high-profile cast does a solid job too, the action is on point and the film looks slick. But some scenes are just bafflingly terrible (the baby scene jumps out in that regard). If they'd cut out the drama and trim about 30 minutes of nonsense, these could be exceptional genre films, but alas.Read all
So far, I've mostly ignored Sang-soo Hong's work, but he is quite a big name and there aren't that many in the South Korean arthouse scene, so I should get a bit more acquainted with his work. In Water is a more recent (and short) film of his, so it seemed like a good place to continue my journey. The blurry/out-of-focus cinematography is interesting, and the characters and the setting are also pleasant, but other than it's a little too pedestrian for my taste. It didn't bore or annoy me, but I never felt very exhilarated either. It's a perfectly decent drama, with some interesting touches, but nothing too memorable.Read all
Not bad, for a film noir. I've seen a lot of them these past few years and I've quickly come to realize that it's not a genre for me. In principle, there's a lot of room for mood and atmosphere, but practically speaking there are usually just endless dialogues and crummy fight scenes. The lighting is pretty nice and Wise spends quite a bit of time on establishing a gritty atmosphere. That works very well for the first half hour, after that the narrative takes over again and things become less interesting. But the film is relatively short and never dips below a certain base quality. Decent (for a noir).Read all