Log: week 7 / 2025
Herzog's take on the famous vampire story. Having just recently seen Eggers' version, this was a rather tough watch. The story is very similar of course, but Herzog's Nosferatu isn't half as atmospheric and moody. Dracula himself looks utterly ridiculous and the cinematography is quite drab and uninviting. The score is probably the film's biggest asset. The story is basic but that's a given, it's that the film simply didn't look the part. Kinski and Adjani are subpar and safe a few scenes there really wasn't much here to hold my undivided attention. Not one of Herzog's best, but still an improvement over the original.Read all
Song Story: Cinema Fighters Project
Song Story is a 12-short anthology split into two different releases. Each of the stories is based on Japanese pop songs, which means the directors had the liberty of making something a bit more creative. And that's exactly what they did. The quality of the shorts is relatively stable, but they are different enough from one another and none of them felt lazy or uninspired. Isamu Hirabayashi had the most abstract of the six shorts and display, which is why it's my uncontested favorite of the bunch, but all of the films here added something substantial to the film. A fun discovery.
A decent Chinese animation, though not quite up to par with its live-action peers. These historical epics are quite common in Chinese cinema and the directorial duo struggles to make their case why animation would be a better fit for them. That said, it's still an entertaining film if you like this kind of thing. The art style is a little plain and the story isn't exactly surprising either, but the Chinese setting allows for some beautiful views and there are some shorter scenes with more traditional art styles that add a bit of variation. I enjoyed myself but wasn't wowed or astounded, in the way some other recent Chinese animations managed to.Read all
I don't think I've ever seen a setup of a joke that took so long. If you're still not convinced by the qualities of this film 30 minutes in, no worries. The best is yet to come. This is a vintage Beat Takeshi film, silly to the bone yet incredibly hilarious. I just wish the second part had lasted longer than it did. Kitano is as funny as ever, Omori and Asano are a cute couple too. The first half is dry and underwhelming, but it's like that with good reason. The second half is where all the comedy resides, and Kitano is having a field day here. My expectations were limited considering Kitano's past few films, but this is a return to form. Great fun.Read all
The concept is nice enough, but this production clearly struggled with budget and skills. The film looks cheap as if it was a selection of game footage from one of the older consoles. The renders look cheap, the effects are bland and the character models are horrendous. It screams amateur production. The story isn't that great either and the writing is cheesy, but the pacing is solid and if you're looking for space action the film certainly delivers. it's not enough to save this film, but it did keep me somewhat engaged throughout. The graphics and dub were too painful to properly enjoy the film though.Read all
A decent enough drama that links five different stories to a single store where the various main characters cross paths. It's a cute setup and each of the stories is pleasant enough, but the film isn't quite distinctive enough to leave a strong impression the second time around. It's just decent filler. Keitel and Whitaker are the stand-outs here, but the entire cast is solid. The pacing is slow but enjoyable, the characters are charming and the structure of the plot is inviting. It's just that the overall presentation is tepid and unexciting. It wasn't a terrible film to revisit, but it's not as great as I remembered.Read all
Slow cinema pur sang. Nothing much happens in this film. The lead character wanders around a remote rural village, connects with a local, and after a while, they part ways again. There are no deep conversations, no strong life lessons, and no overt drama. This is for the people who love movies that help them unwind. I didn't mind the film, but I need a more polished, stylized take to be blown away by it. The 4:3 aspect ratio is annoying, the soundtrack is too subtle and some of the shots were a bit too generic for me. The Japanese countryside is nice though and the connection between the two characters felt genuine enough. Good, but not great.Read all
I remember watching this Ye Lou in theaters some 20 years ago. It was my first film of his on the big screen, so likely that clouded my judgment a little. Not that it's a bad film, but it doesn't stand up to his best work, and looking back at it now I feel it's leaning too much toward the rural Chinese arthouse films that still dominate the screens here. The performances are nice and Yu Hong's journey feels thorough, but the cinematography is rather drab and there's a bit too much misery for a single film. Especially one that royally crossed the two-hour mark. It was a rather disappointing rewatch, but even Lou's lesser films are still worth a go.Read all
It's not that director Alex Visani lacks the talent for horror, there are in fact some very dark and moody scenes here. But all of that instantly disappears when the actors come into play. There's an insane gap in quality between the scenes with and without actors, making it almost like watching two different movies. There are some scenes here I liked a lot, but they are too few and far between. The performances are atrocious and Visani seemed ill-equipped to cover them up. Give the man a proper cast and a more skilled team to handle the technical elements and he might be able to create something exceptional. This wasn't it though.Read all
I was hoping for a bit more. This felt like the spawn of Ghost in the Shell and Renaissance, but it doesn't come close to either movie/franchise. There are some fun ideas here and with more efficient world building it might've worked, I just couldn't look past the rather lackluster presentation of it all. From the dry art style to the dull score and lifeless dub, the film seems to do its best to be as uninviting as possible. The potential was there I think, with a bit more skill and effort this could've turned into something great, but most of it falls flat by the end of the film. I'm a little disappointed, but there's still enough core genre appeal there for fans of hard sci-fi.Read all
Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants
Hark Tsui's latest is another fun action epic. Despite having moved to China (like most of his Hong Kong peers) he is one of the few who has managed to bring some Hong Kong with him. The action scenes in particular reminded me of 90s Hong Kong martial arts cinema, which is not a bad thing at all. The only thing I'm not convinced about is that stretching these action flicks to 2+ hours is making them more epic. There's a bit too much filler here, especially around the halfway point. Other than that this was a capable film with fun cameos, memorable characters, and impressive action scenes.Read all
A film carried by Michael Caine. Without him, this probably wouldn't be half as interesting, his ease and flair are what make Alfie watchable. Caine breaking the fourth wall is a nice touch too, but it's not the first film to do this and I've seen better executions. Could've been shorter though. The comedy bits are amusing, the drama is a little less interesting. It's also unavoidable that the film slowly tilts towards the latter in the second half, which makes the runtime an extra burden. Still, I expected much worse. Not quite as stuffy as other UK films from that era, but it's not exactly dashing cinema.Read all
Just more of the same, and that isn't good enough. The first Moana was decent, but for the most part, it stuck to familiar patterns. In this sequel, there's even less room for surprises and you're getting a repeat of the first film with a few new characters and a slightly different story. The songs are terrible, the new characters aren't much fun and the old ones aren't fun enough for another 100 minutes of adventuring. The setting is nice and it's cool to see less obvious cultural elements in a Disney film, but this sequel was pretty unnecessary. Not a film I will be remembering for long.Read all