Log: week 14 / 2023

Sandler and Aniston return for the sequel to their surprise Netflix hit. It's exactly what you could expect from a film like this: more expensive locations and set pieces, but a very similar structure and a clear attempt to copy/paste the appeal of the first film. And it doesn't do too bad of a job, to be honest.

A pretty interesting film that takes a real-life tragedy and plasters a fake narrative on top to guide us through. It sounds a little disrespectful to put it that way, then again it's what films often do when they're based on "true events". Gallenberger does a good job though, which is where this film differs from its peers.

Good, which is much more than I expected from this film. I'm not a terribly big Ghostbusters fan and the all-female version was just a horrendous franchise update. For Afterlife, they stuck closer to what this series is all about: ghostly fun for younger audiences. And who better to take on this mission than Jason Reitman, son of Ivan, who directed the first two films?

I'm not too big on nostalgia, but Mario has been in the background for pretty much my entire life, so I was willing to make an exception and go along with it. Even for nostalgia fodder, this was pretty terrible though. What I got from this film is an American reimagination of the Mario franchise, complete with a deplorable 80s pop soundtrack. My brain just melted when I heard ELO, a-ha, and AC/DC blaring through the speakers.

Jim Jarmusch delivers a surprisingly literal horror comedy. I'm used to him digging around in different genres, but never really delivering on the genre elements. That's a little different here. Jarmusch kept his cast and dry signature, but there's no mistake that The Dead Don't Die is a core zombie comedy.

It's weird to see South Korea doing an archetypical Japanese high school brawler, not in the least because their cinema usually lacks the dedication and focus to pull off such a specialized genre. But here we are. Tae-gyun Kim's film is completely bonkers and over-the-top, sporting the usual school gang brawls, with some pretty capable teachers thrown into the mix. The action is all over the place, the styling is very explicit and there's only one goal: to entertain from start to finish. Not quite as good as more recent franchises, but the two hours fly by, and that's not something I often say about South Korean cinema.

A romcom that does its best to honor its title. There's a thick "everything used to be better" vibe that runs underneath the film, which is used for comedic effect for sure, but the clear love for bygone eras (namely the late 50s/early 60s) betrays a deeper belief in the film's premise. It's not something that gelled with me.

A pivotal release in Sogo (currently Gakuryu) Ishii's career. It's the mother of all Japanese punk films, a feature that would go on to inspire a small but impactful niche. It's not quite as cyber as many of its offspring though, more rooted in punk rock culture, which is exactly why I didn't quite love it as much the second time around.

An odd little Edgar Allen Poe-adjacent whodunit. I'm not quite sure why or how Poe was made a supporting character in this story, it didn't make a whole lot of sense as it could've been anybody else. Then again, it's not a negative either, and lurking behind that odd choice lies a pretty moody whodunit.

The Farrelly brothers have split ways. While Peter is trying to become an Oscar regular, Bobby is sticking to lighter fare. Champions is a pretty run-of-the-mill feel-good sports flick, adapted from a Spanish film. It's not something that will put Bobby's career back on the rails, but it might buy him some time to properly rebrand himself.