Log: week 26 / 2025
Naoto Takenaka is a force to be reckoned with. His career is tremendous, but his directorial work is probably a tad overlooked. 119 is a sweet, cute, and agreeable film sporting a tremendous cast. If you like a sunny drama set in the Japanese countryside, this film is for you, even if it's a bit long. Takenaka himself takes on the lead, with names like Asano, Tsukamoto, and Hibino completing the case, you know this film is stacked. The pacing is slow, nothing much happens, but that's where the appeal lies. It's one of those films that feels like a tiny vacation. Not the best of its kind, but a fine film nonetheless.Read all
A nice enough coming-out story, but apart from being set in a black community, there isn't much that stands out here. The performances are strong, the presentation is fine, and the pacing is slick, but the story has been told so many times before that I wasn't that invested. Adepero Oduye does everything right, and she makes sure that even while the film is a little too predictable, Pariah still has plenty of heart. The shorter runtime prevented unnecessary padding, and there aren't any lulls or ill-fitting scenes or moments. I just needed a bit more than a lesbian teen struggling with her surroundings.Read all
Ki-duk's final film, released after his passing. And it's a good one, though not a film that will win him any new fans. The themes are very familiar, though Call of God is not quite as violent and shocking as the more divisive entries in his oeuvre. The performances are strong, the cinematography is stylish, and the score is fitting. The ending is actually hopeful, which I guess is a nice way to end a career's worth of films that delved into the darker pits of the human soul. And with that, I've seen everything this talented but troubled man had to share with this world.