Log: week 47 / 2023
Yonfan delivers his take on Xianzu's traditional story. Yonfan is one of the first directors to represent the LGBTQ+ community in Hong Kong cinema, so it should be no surprise that his version of the story includes a same-sex relationship. It's the stylish and colorful cinematography, the gripping soundtrack, and Rie Miyazawa's utterly enchanting performance that give the film its real power though. It's been ages since I last watched the film, but it managed to win me over for a second time. A little-known gem, by an underrated director.
Not a big fan of this Argento. It's not as outrageous or extravagant as Suspiria, which leaves a somewhat tepid mystery with terrible performances, distracting dubs, and a cheesy soundtrack. 90 minutes would've been more than enough, but somehow this film ended up being stretched beyond the 2-hour mark. The cinematography is somewhat interesting, but it's not very consistent. The actors are terrible, Goblin's soundtrack is ill-fitting and I didn't really care for the giallo elements. I just wasn't invested enough in the investigation, add to that the disappointing stylistic choices, and what's left is an overly long film with too much unrealized potential.Read all
A cute, adorable drama with some clear comedic touches. It's not the most remarkable film, nor the first one to throw in a little animation to liven things up, but the characters are enjoyable, the balance between comedy and drama feels right and the conclusion was very fitting. The lead actress is strong, the animation is quirky (but not very pretty or technically accomplished) and the frankness of the characters is refreshing. Other than that, the film did feel kind of empty, there wasn't too much urgency and there wasn't much that stuck into my brain. Good, entertaining filler though.Read all
A TV project that was restructured into a feature film. The project's roots are very obvious, but thanks to Obayashi's spirited direction it's more than just a shortened TV series. At its core, My Heart Belongs to Daddy is a pretty simple drama, but there were enough quirky ideas to keep me engaged. The image quality is paltry and the drama is rather basic, but Obayashi has some fun tricks up his sleeve. He never takes things too seriously and injects some narrative tricks to keep things interesting. It's far from his best work, but it's easy filler that fits in well with the rest of his oeuvre.Read all
A poor man's Willy's Wonderland. Five Nights at Freddy's is longer, comes with a cheesy (straight-faced) backstory, and fails at being creepy. The only thing that saves this one is a decent enough budget, but that hardly makes up for its shortcomings. It's a little disappointing that a film like this did so well at the box office. The story about Mike, his niece, and his traumatic past is a real bust and takes up way too much time. I wish they'd spent a bit more effort on making the puppets creepier, but that's Blumhouse for you. It's not a terrible film, it's just hard not to compare it to a much better one that was released just two years ago.Read all
Stanley Kubrick's final film is also his best one, but it's not quite the masterpiece I remembered it to be. The mystery isn't as entrancing, some of the scenes could've used a bit of editing and Cruise isn't as good an actor compared to Kidman, which creates a somewhat awkward imbalance. The film could've been at least 45 minutes shorter, without losing much. The cinematography is nice but nothing overwhelming, the soundtrack a little grating and while the performances are strong, Cruise isn't at the top of his game. It's a quality film, with some memorable scenes, but not one of the all-time greats.Read all
Early Somai, which sees him exploring more straightforward drama territory. The film isn't quite as distinctive as some of his other work, but it shows that Somai is a capable director, even when he can't rely on a more flashy premise. More proof that my resolution to further explore Somai's oeuvre was warranted. The pacing is deliberate, the setting quite grim and Somai's choice to register rather than narrate is a solid one. The performances are good too, but the drama is pretty basic and predictable, and the runtime is pretty hefty for a film that holds few surprises. It's a good drama, but it lacks that little extra to distinguish itself.Read all
A bog-standard western, and to make things worse, it has James Stewart in the lead. It's a pretty lethal combination already, made even worse by Anthony Mann's tepid direction. I'm clueless as to why this film became a bona fide classic, but that's not exactly a new feeling for me. Stewart is a wooden actor, completely unfit to play a tough cowboy. The plot is pretty boring, the setting is dreary and I really didn't care much for Lyn's quest. The cinematography and soundtrack are worthless too. I think must rank as one of the worst Westerns I've seen so far.Read all
A film with neo-realistic tendencies, and some hefty Brazilian temperament mixed in. Oh, and there's also a strong religious base, which detracted from the experience for me. The notable cinematography and a few lively scenes prevent the film from being a complete dud, but I simply wasn't too taken with the lead's struggle. The church and its many steps make for an interesting, the stark black-and-white cinematography is above-average and the Capoeira adds a fun touch to the film. The struggles of the poor farmer were a lot less interesting and the more films like this I see, the more this somewhat simplistic rendition of poor vs wealthy starts to bother me. Not great, but it's certainly not all bad.Read all
Annular Eclipse is an ambitious film. It's a small-scale genre effort, so don't expect anything too epic or blockbuster-worthy. Instead, the limited budget went to some functional CG and eye-popping cinematography to create an alluring future. The plot is quite conceptual and somewhat obfuscated to strengthen the mystery aspects of the film, but if you pay attention it shouldn't be too hard to follow. The performances are solid, there are many memorable moments and the build-up towards the conclusion was extremely effective. A neat little gem.