Log: week 14 / 2024
Moon Garden is a dark and majestic fantasy film. Think of a modern-day rework of Alice in Wonderland, part Jeunet's City of Lost Children meets Winans' Ink, there's even a little Tetsuo in there. While this is obviously a low-budget affair, the craft is amazing, and the level of creativity matches it perfectly. The premise is simple but effective, and once the lead character gets trapped in the fantasy world it becomes a journey to remember. Moon Garden is a film tailored to my taste, a maximalist piece of wonder.
A lighter film from Kitamura. It's another manga adaptation (though I think it's unrelated to Kitamura's Sky High), with the fantasy elements taking a back seat to the drama. In that sense, the film reminded me more of Kore-Eda's After Life, just expect a slightly glossier version of the same setup. The mix of drama and fantasy works well, Kitamura is skilled enough to handle a film like this and the cast is pretty damn strong. The second half gets a bit too sentimental though and the runtime is excessive, even for a Japanese film. There's quite a lot to like here, but the potential was there to be even better.Read all
I went in with low expectations and got exactly what I imagined upfront. This is a cheesy, overly sentimental, illness-driven teen romance. It tried so hard to make me feel and care, that it ended up making me indifferent to the plight of the two lead characters. Not what you want from this type of film. It's been a staple of Japanese romance for almost two decades now, this US take on the genre isn't adding anything new to it. There's a dumb twist, lots of cringy dialogue, and two leads who lack chemistry. And while the film is also way too long, it's still an easy watch. Not the worst of its kind, but I didn't care for it.Read all
Ye Lou with a more traditional film. I saw this rather early on in my exploration of Asian cinema, which explains why back then this setting felt pretty novel. With so many contemporary Chinese films harking back to that exact point in time, I wasn't quite as enamored with Purple Butterfly the second time around. Le goes for a noirish take on the genre. There's lots of rain, many a dark alley, and plenty of shady deals. The cinematography is proper, the performances are solid and the score is pleasant, but there are many similar films out there and Purple Butterfly doesn't do quite enough to set itself apart. It's a good film, just not the masterpiece I once thought it to be.Read all
Not the most novel horror film, but the execution is stylish. There's been a resurgence of religious horror films, Immaculate fits in with the rest of them quite nicely. The difference is that this is more of a mood piece. It's a good thing though it shifts gears near the end, so it's not just a slow burn from start to finish. The first half of the film is pretty subdued, with a lot of attention going to the setting and Sweeney's character. Once the setup is clear, the film morphs into a more graphic kind of horror, though it's never all that gory or extreme. Mohan keeps things stylish while avoiding any less-is-less pitfalls. A fine horror film.Read all
It's been a long time since I watched this one. Back then I was still getting acquainted with arthouse cinema, which meant this type of cinema was pretty new to me. Looking at it now, it's a tad too lethargic for my taste, and the film isn't quite stylized enough to fully make up for that. There are some interesting stylistic touches, but H Story is slow cinema about cinema, and that's not entirely my thing. The performances are solid and there are some interesting moments. It's certainly not a bad film either, just not the little gem I once thought it was. If you like arthouse and you care for the classics, it's a must-see though.Read all
Hitchcock with a lot of cheese. This film is built around Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, probably even more so around the luxurious location. The French Riviera is the real star of this otherwise tepid mix or romance and mystery. If you want crummy accents and forced banter, look no further. There's no real chemistry between Grant and Kelly, and the ugly colors don't do justice to the stupendously beautiful setting. What remains is a film that fails as mystery as well as a romance. I didn't even care about the resolution of the plot, I was just glad this Hitchcock was finally over. At least the film doesn't take itself too seriously, its only saving grace.Read all
An indie horror that tries very hard to be moody and mysterious, but doesn't quite get there in the end. Some tepid performances and a rather predictable soundtrack keep the film from reaching greater heights. That said, the setup is relatively original and the mystery is executed well. A film like this needs a strong principal actor, sadly that's not the case here. The synth soundtrack isn't the greatest either and the cinematography could've used a little polish, but there are some interesting touches left and right and the short runtime makes sure the film doesn't overstay its welcome. The potential is there, the execution needed to be better.Read all
Dunshu, not Dunjia. And who knows where the first film is? Chinese fantasy cinema is an absolute mess right now, but if you don't care too much about franchises, and you're capable of letting go of structure and sense, there's a lot of fun to be had with these films. Case in point, Dunshu 2. Plot be damned though, this is a mad fantasy spectacle. The pacing is incredible, the CG is functional (and somewhat better than usual) and the action scenes are fun. There's nothing too original here, it's the usual folklore creatures and demons trying to best the humans, but it's a lot of fun if you like this kind of thing.Read all
The second Gundam compilation film. They're very handy for catching up with the plot of a series, on the other hand, there's a reason why I'm not big on series. It's not a bad way to get a little background on the Gundam franchise and there are some fun scenes here, but it's TV material, and that's not what I want from a film. The art style is a little limited, though the animation during the action scenes is pretty decent. The story is a bit too melodramatic, and the film doesn't flow all that well, but that's when you get when you cram 15 episodes into two hours. Still, it beats watching 15 episodes of Gundam, so it wasn't all bad.Read all
A true sci-fi classic. I'd never seen the film before, but I was aware of the twist at the end. Not that it matters a lot, this film is more of a police procedural set in a dystopian version of the future (which is already the past now, as the film is set in 2022). Somewhat entertaining, but not very good. The performances are pretty bad and the world-building could've used a bit more care. That said, the story is pretty amusing, the pacing is okay and the finale delivers. It's easy to say why this became a cult favorite, but it's hardly a timeless classic. Still, slightly better than I expected it to be.Read all
Oldskool superhero movies are oldskool. There's a lot of cheese here, especially for people who never watched these films when they were younger. It's difficult to compare them to modern-day superhero films, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily worse. It doesn't mean they're a lot better either. The effects are terrible, the characters are pretty dumb and the plot is rather lazy, but at least there's some charm that isn't dependent on gaudy CG. A handful of moments keep this film from being a complete disaster, but it's tough getting any real enjoyment out of these films when the genre has evolved so much over time.Read all