Log: week 27 / 2025
Some familiar faces here, with Rena Tanaka, Bo-lin Chen, and Ren Osugi (my reason for watching this film) filling out a pretty impressive roster. The film itself is pretty basic and formulaic, though. Young people traveling back in time and mixing two cultures isn't all that novel, but there is some fun to be had here. The action scenes are decent enough, and Tanaka does a decent enough job at portraying an upbeat and pleasant main character. The plot is generic, and the presentation is somewhat grim. The film is also a bit long, offering little in the way of originality. I expected more from the Taiwanese/Japanese coproduction, but it's not the worst film either.Read all
The film that established Rodriguez as a mad action director. And sure enough, the action scenes are still top-notch. The rest of the film is a bit sketchier though. Luckily, there are plenty of scenes where Rodriguez needs to do little else than make everything look as badass as possible. The performances are a bit iffy (Buscemi being the only notable exception), the plot is simplistic, and the dialogue is borderline cheesy. The film is also a tad too long, but there are plenty of action scenes, and I had a lot of fun revisiting this one. It's just not top-tier anymore, just prime action filler.Read all
The first two films were absolutely charming, but this one is a terrible misfire. I'm not sure what went wrong here, but they turned Peru into some or other animated wonderland, the comedy is a bit too childish, and even Paddington himself gets a little annoying. The charm of the first two films just isn't there. Maybe it's because Paddington fares better in London, maybe it's because I didn't care for the cast of secondary characters, and the animated parts definitely didn't help either. They should've left this franchise alone, but I guess they felt some money was to be made. Let's hope they've learned their lesson.Read all
A fun, well-executed, yet very classic Hong Kong horror film. It's probably because it's been a while since I've watched one of those, the Hong Kong movie industry is pretty much dead these days, but I enjoyed this one quite a bit. The performances are solid, the setting is lovely, and there are some moody scares, though nothing too extreme or novel. The polished cinematography is what raised the film to the next level, but keep your expectations in check, especially if you're tired of Asian horror cinema.