Log: week 43 / 2024
Farhadi became famous after directing A Separation, if you want more quarreling people then About Elly won't disappoint. The first half of the film is relatively light and breezy (though already extremely talkative), after that, the mood completely sinks and what remains is mentally exhausting. The beginning of the film was surprisingly colorful. Not that the drama was incredibly captivating, but it was pleasant enough. After the dramatic twist halfway through the film completely lost me. The characters annoyed me immensely and I was glad the film was finally over. I don't think Farhadi is my type of director.Read all
It's a shame to see Yamada ending up a generic horror director, but such is his fate. Hanako of the Toilet is a popular legend (and adapted quite a few times already), but this reboot doesn't add much to the plot. There's too much time spent on mediocre drama, and not enough on the horror elements. The performances are mediocre, the plot is generic and the horror is predictable. There are some decent scenes and the pacing is solid, but there have been too many similar films already and Yamada does little to nothing to set this one apart from all the others. Japanese horror filler in the purest sense of the words.Read all
By far one of the mushiest, cheesiest films I've ever seen. This film is so feel-good that it made me feel bad. The worst thing is that it goes on and on and on, and it's all just a repetition of the same concept within different periods of Mr Chips' life. Even the drama felt jolly and goofy, which I doubt was the desired result. The performances are dusty, the characters are way too gullible and the transformation of Mr Chips felt forced. It reminded me almost of an older version of Forrest Gump, but even cornier still. At least the film is light and remains light, which makes the whole thing somewhat bearable. It's a film I might remember longer than most, but not for the right reasons.Read all
It's obvious this film only exists because it's a popular franchise that comes with an interested user base. It's certainly not a very good film, but as lazy blockbusters go, it's also not the worst I've seen. And it kept its runtime well under two hours, which is something to be celebrated for this type of film. The performances are bad, they could've done a lot more with the setting and Claptrap is downright annoying. But the pacing is solid, the film doesn't take itself too seriously and there are some goofy, memorable moments. The world could've done without this Borderlands adaptation, but there's still some fun to be had here.Read all