Log: week 51 / 2022

Christmas cult in the making. Favreau's Elf is quickly becoming a Christmas staple, and it's easy to see why. It's a rather simple film that broadly sticks to conventions, except for the spirited performance by Will Ferrell which never quite fits the Christmas theme, yet is all the funnier because of it.

A messy Hong Kong sci-fi. It's nice to see they're trying something new, I'm just not sure whether jumping face-first into an expensive genre like this was the right way to go about it, certainly not when the HK movie industry is still struggling. There's definitely some appeal here, but China did it better with The Wandering Earth.

Alex van Warmerdam's 10th film comes with an appropriate title. It's another head-scratcher that starts off like any other normal film but takes a sharp turn halfway through and leaves you behind more than a little puzzled. This is perfectly fine of course, as long as you're not hoping to get any definite answers.

Hark remakes his own fantastical martial arts brawler two decades later. It's a pretty successful remake, capturing the spirit of the first film, only updated to the standard of its time. That doesn't make it a great film, in fact, there's quite a lot that doesn't work, but the sheer energy and boldness of the production is what made this a worthwhile watch.

A quirky comedy about a couple that wonders if their relationship isn't too dull. It's a little fragmented (almost structured like a road movie) and there aren't too many excessively funny moments, but the comedy is consistent and the lighthearted mood carries through from start to finish.

A decent but somewhat standard action/sci-fi OAV. The first half leans more into its crime/noir elements, but the film gradually becomes more action-oriented and the finale offers some pretty bad-ass mecha mayhem. With just 50 minutes on the counter though, there's not a lot of time to do justice to it all.

Visconti isn't the worst of the classic Italian directors, but he's not a real stand-out either. Senso is the weakest of his films I've seen so far, so drenched in melodrama and kitsch that the 2-hour runtime felt at least twice as long. Quite a difficult film to sit through if you don't care about the drama and the romance.

An elongated TV special. There are some good and fun ideas tucked away in here, but the execution is a tad dim. It's a little too obvious this film originated from the bowels of a TV channel, it all just looks a bit too amateurish and DIY. If you're looking for a festive horror/comedy, you could do a lot worse though.

An odd little France/Hong Kong collaboration. Red Nights is a film that scores with its cinematography but loses it on score and editing. The potential was there to be a bona fide modern genre bender cult classic, only it never feels like the directors have full control over their film. Still, if you're looking for something a little different, it's a solid choice.

Sang-il Lee returns with another heartwrenching drama. Never one to let his audiences off easy, Lee adapts a story where a (seemingly) pedophilic relationship is begging for the audience's sympathy. People who believe ethics are clear-cut and are unwilling to explore beyond the socially acceptable would do well to skip this film, others will find a beautifully shot, superbly acted, and well-constructed film that doesn't shy away from broad gestures, but ultimately poses some very delicate and smart questions. The Wandering Moon is a challenging film, but that's hardly a negative.

A funny little crime comedy. In the beginning, you may be forgiven for thinking Rolling follows a more dramatic route, but it quickly dawns that we're dealing with a drier form of comedy here, hiding behind a light crime story. I really appreciated the film's quirkiness, but it was just a little too fleeting to make a big impression.

China's never-ending stream of tomb-raiding films continues. This oddly titled entry may stand out because of its name, but that's just about it really. It's a very standard, generic entry in the genre that does deliver what you'd expect from it but fails to go the extra mile. Pretty decent streamer filler, in other words, the kind that China has in abundance.

A Russian film with a French (Nouvelle Vague) vibe. It's not the most common combination and doesn't quite work either, but at least it's quite a big step up from other Russian (attempts at) comedy I've seen. There's a cultural looseness missing in order to get that genuine 60s French feel, but at least the cinematography was on point.

A pretty generic romcom, entirely in line with my expectations. Clooney is fun (but he's getting really old for this), and Roberts was never really young enough. It's a good thing they found a superb location and two pleasant (though somewhat dull) kids to handle the romantic part of this film.

A pretty straightforward sequel. If you liked the first part, this is a very easy recommendation. If you didn't care for it, then it's better to just skip part 2. I'm mostly disappointed that they didn't manage to crank up the animation quality, as that was by far the weakest element of the first episode. Luckily the film does have some other perks.