Log: week 47 / 2020

Carrie is finally getting married. It's not the most daring or exciting topic, especially not for a film based on a series about a woman obsessing over finding the perfect man, but what did you expect. From there on out the maker go back in series mode and basically ramble on for a good two and half hours.

The character feels milked and unexciting, the comedy is absolutely terrible, the endless male vs female bickering is tiresome and the runtime is a big joke. Maybe if they'd manage to condense it into 90 minutes, maybe if they'd got some better writer, more familiar with the movie format, who knows. Hard to sit through.

Yoshiyama is on cleanup duty. When she's done cleaning the lab a canister falls and the fumes that get released make her faint. The next day an earthquake hits the town she lives in. But then something weird happens to her, and she travels back a day in time. Knowing what is about to happen, so tries to warn the people she loves.

The Little Girl Who Conquered Time is a very gentle, sweet and loveable little film. The sci-fi elements are minimalistic, the drama is light, performances are good and there's a little pre-finale sequence that gives the film that bit of extra flair it needed. Obayashi was a talented man, I'm happy I still have quite a ways to go.

Agent Keun is sent on an undercover mission. She has to befriend Hoi, son of a retired Triad boss. Hoi is suspected of being in the Triad business himself, but there's no concrete evidence, which Keun has to deliver. He turns out to be a total gentleman though and in no time romantic feelings are starting to develop between the two.

Don't expect anything original from Love Undercover, this is pure genre fluff. But there's chemistry between Miriam Yeung and Daniel Wu, the film's moderately funny and the pacing is decent. It's a perfect time waster and a fun filler once you've gone through all the better films in the genre.

Skip McCoy is a pickpocket who picked the wrong wallet to steal. The woman he stole it from, Candy, had a microfilm tucked in her wallet that she was supposed to give to a communist spy. The FBI and police were on Candy's back, but now that McCoy has the chip he has to deal with all the unwanted attention.

I'm just not a big fan of these classic noirs. The stories are interesting enough, but the execution is usually pretty boring. Bland cinematography, poor performances and static action scenes don't do a lot of justice to the premise. At least these films tend to be rather short, but that's not much of a comfort when there's so little there.

Ya Qing is chosen to deliver an important message, but this gets her mixed up in quite a scheme. Together with two travelers she picks up along the way, she has to unravel the mystery of the Snake Man, an evil presence who has a strong hold on all the neighboring kingdoms.

Performances are mediocre and the overreliance on CG is still there, but the action scenes are looking pretty good, the cinematography is great, pacing and length is also perfect. They're getting close to the Hong Kong scene of the 90s, fingers crossed they can improve just a little more because I've really missed these films.

Charlie suffers from cataplexy, a disease that makes him faint whenever he's exposed to strong emotions. In his case, happiness is the main trigger. It's a very peculiar premise that has some serious consequences, especially for a romcom. Because how do you fall in love with someone when you can't feel happy being around them?

Martin Freeman is perfect for his part. His dry demeanor mixes very well with the slightly darker comedy that Winer chases. The rest of the cast is also on point, the comedy is smart and actually funny, the romance feels effortless and some minor drama gives the film that little extra weight it needs. There's nothing that truly stands out, but it's a very sweet, pleasant and sneaky little film that makes great use of its unique premise.

Eric Bergland's trip to Norway turns out into a real disaster when his body starts to change. Anxiety triggers extreme responses, allowing Eric to set things on fire, spark electricity and even control the weather. Together with a friendly social worker he travels back to the place the changes set in, but the police is on their tails, and they're not very eager to let him just walk around unchecked.

The Norwegian setting leads the gritty color palette and muted soundtrack. The special effects are pretty decent, performances are well above average and the mystery is pretty effective, even though it's pretty obvious where the film is headed. Øvredal created something pretty special, well recommended.

Simon is a very religious man who climbs a pillar to be able to live closer to God. There he spends his days being as devout as possible. The devil isn't really impressed by Simon's actions and with his many disguises he tries to get Simon down from his pillar. This proves a lot harder than expected though.

Simon of the Desert looks scruffy, like some low-budget late 30s/early 40s film. Performances are rather poor, the cinematography is drab and the music is simply horrible. But the mood is light and there are a few laughs that surprised me, as this is a side I hadn't seen from Buñuel before. Not a great film.

Asagi and Kuryu are two public prosecutors who used to have a thing. They've since parted ways, but a mysterious accident puts them back together again. It's a tough case though, as the crime happened right next to the embassy of Neustria (a nondescript European country that looks like a mix between Germany and France).

A star-studded cast and a very agreeable first hour set the bar for Hero, but Suzuki can't quite keep it up. The film start slacking during the second part, the comedy slips to the background and the investigation becomes more prominent. Not a bad film though, but Suzuki should've been a little smarter with the balance.

A mortuary disguised as a whore house is the primary setting of Bordello of Blood. Some money-hungry priests revived Lilith, an age-old vampire, and recruited her into their business. She runs the whorehouse where unsuspecting clients find their untimely death. A private investigator is put on the case after Katherine's brother goes missing, it doesn't take him long before he finds out about the hidden bordello.

The setup of the film is a little awkward, the crypt keeper's part doesn't make much sense at all, but you can't have a Tales of the Crypt film without him. Performances are also quite horrible and the comedy is very limited, but there's enough cheese to make it entertaining and the short runtime certainly helps. Not a great film, not the worst horror film either.

The film starts with Valentine and her marriage with Jules. From there on out, it's just an enumeration of children, marriages and deaths. There's virtually no dialogue, a voice-over gives us the necessary details and Hung serves us short scenes of all the key moments in this long lineage of people.

It sounds incredibly dull and for some people it will no doubt be, but it's certainly not as dry as it sounds. The cinematography is lush, the soundtrack soothing and Hung still has an eye for small gestures and expression that are more pronounced than any dialogue ever could be. It's really a very poetic, symphonic film, people wanting a more narrative experience should probably look elsewhere.

Faye is a Hollywood actress on the brink of a breakthrough. Fate strikes when her eye surgery goes wrong, and she turns blind. She has a hard time adapting to her new life, but finds support in a mute friend. What she doesn't realize is that she also attracted the attention of a stalker, a nasty guy who comes and goes as he pleases (not quite unlike Flanagan's Hush).

The masked stalker looks pretty cool, the use of color and lighting are also quite notable. The camera work is a little off though and the performances are quite poor. But it's the soundtrack that feels really out of place. There's a real disconnect with the visuals, which underlines Walz isn't working within his comfort zone. Even so, there are some pretty decent scares and some genuinely creepy scenes, the execution just isn't all there.

It's an interesting look at Paris as it was almost a century ago. Cavalcanti gives a little context here and there (saying he prefers to portray reality rather than give an idealized view of the city), but it's mostly just his camera focusing on people and cityscapes throughout various moments in the day.

I can't say I was really impressed with Cavalcanti's style, as he gets a bit too cheesy/artistic(closeups of flower and such). The somewhat iffy soundtrack didn't really help either, though I did like the overall concept of the film. No doubt a milestone, it's a shame the form itself was a bit off-putting.

John Matrix is an old army guy who retired to take care of his daughter. Of course, he gets a visit of one of his old army pals, who tells him his old squad is getting decimated. Not much later Matrix gets a visit himself. The terrorists kidnap his daughter and want Matrix to do a job for them.

I didn't expect much in the way of acting and direction, with Schwarzenegger in the lead you know what you get. I was more surprised that the action was mostly absent, it isn't until the final 15 minutes that things really start moving. There are some cheesy one-liners and some stilted fights in the first part of the film, but they are just embarrassing. A rather dull film, for nostalgia and irony fans only.

Bob and his friends organize the Buddy Games on a yearly basis. It's an Olympics for bro-certified tomfoolery. It's great fun, until things run out of control, and each of them goes his own way. Five years later, it's time for a reunion. The gang gets back together and the games are back on.

Josh Duhamel may be the man running this project, it's a vintage Nick Swardson comedy. He steals every scene he's in, the film really is a textbook example of his crude and often obscene sense of humor. Sure enough not everyone is going to appreciate this, but there are some fun scenes, the film is refreshingly light and it doesn't outstay its welcome. Not bad, but somewhat forgettable.

Wiseman follows a crew of doctors and nurses tending to patients who are nearing the end of their lives. Tough conversations with the patients and their family members are documented in full, debriefs and more practical meetings between the staff weren't off limits for Wiseman either. He alternates between the two for nearly six hours.

While I understand the reason to limit the editing, six hours really is a bit excessive. The choice to shoot in black and white also feels a little cheap. There's quite a bit of repetition as the doctors spend their time explaining the situation to their clients to the best of their abilities, but I lost interest after a while. It's a shame, as the subject itself was pretty interesting and the form worked very well.

Bond takes on a more personal assignment. He's being challenged by Scaramanga, a man who kills for pleasure. Locating him won't be so easy, but it doesn't take too long before Bond has a good lead on where he can find him. His journey will eventually take him to Thailand, where he also has to take Hai Fat, a wealthy businessman.

Moore looks a lot more comfortable playing Bond, Hamilton directs as if it was the last Bond he'd ever make (and it was), the villains are fun, the different locations keep it interesting and the camp levels spike through the roof. Even the relatively long runtime wasn't a bother, with so much going on. Good fun.

After Alia's sister Abel is killed by a ghost, she applies to work in an orphanage. There she meets Nadia, a girl who also has an opened third eye (i.e. she can see ghosts). Together they seek out the ghost that's been pestering Nadia at the orphanage, when they find her though they're unprepared for the great secret they're about to uncover.

The setting is spectacular and Soraya creates some moody horror moments. The problem with his films is that they are simply too long. There's nothing original here and two hours is too much for the material at hand. If he could just cut 20 to 30 minutes, I'm sure he'd end up a lot closer to the horror masterpiece he's dying to make.

Vanguard is an elite security company. When one of their clients is kidnapped, they put their best team on the case. It takes them to Africa and the Middle-East, where they have to deal with a wealthy criminal. He needs their client as he's the only one who knows the location of a great stash of gold.

Performances are all over the place (lots of English dialogue by non-native speakers), the CG is pretty shabby and some of the stunts are absolutely ridiculous. It's a shame, because the hand-to-hand combat looked pretty impressive. It's obvious Tong wasn't fully in control of his film, could've been a lot better if he hadn't tried to make it so flashy.

The film follows the demise of the Moriyama family, a notable and wealthy house. Ihee, the head of the family, is worried about his legacy, as none of his sons seem worthy to follow in his footsteps. He gets suspicious when Toru (his second son) weasels his way back into their lives and starts asking questions about his family's wealth.

The stark black & white cinematography is interesting, so is the way Jissôji plays with the soundtrack, but the pacing is quite slow and by itself the styling isn't remarkable enough to carry the film. There's definitely beauty here and Jissôji shows he's a talented director, but it's not quite enough to justify the runtime and the pacing.

Jewell is a bit of an outcast, an aspiring law enforcer who takes his job a little too serious. Until one fateful day when he discovers a bomb package and urges people to leave a concert, saving many lives in the process. Jewell is declared a hero, but it doesn't take long before the FBI begins to suspect Jewell planted the bomb himself.

The cast is quite something, but it's the relatively unknown Hauser as Jewell who impresses the most. The story is quite predictable and Eastwood neatly sticks to genre conventions, while making sure to stay away from excessive sentiment and too much overt patriotism. Not a great cinematic masterpiece, but solid nonetheless.

Murnau adapts Goethe's Faust, the tale of a righteous man who gets challenged by the devil in order to see whether he could succumb to the evil side. The devil sends a plague to the village where Faust lives, hoping to destroy his faith in God. At first, he seems to be succeeding, but then Faust finds a book that can help him summon the devil.

The first and final 30 minutes are really something else, but the middle part is quite cheesy. Murnau struggles with the stark switch in styles and the somewhat tepid romance that makes up the middle half really doesn't help. It's a shame, because there are some impressive scenes here. Just not enough to keep me glued to the screen for the entire runtime.

Two befriended couples break up at the same time. The men go back to enjoying their bachelor life, while the women pine and wonder what to do next with their lives. After that short rebound phase, they all have to face reality, and they begin to question whether breaking up was really such a good idea.

There's a classic male/female dynamic and the plot really isn't that original (though kudos for the surprisingly mature ending), but performances are solid, the cinematography looks polished and throughout the film the characters did grow on me. No future classic, but I can see why this most so many people in China.