Log: week 41 / 2018
Very stylish thriller with a few fantastical touches and a dash of horror. Performances are strong, the film looks nice and there's a very dense, poisonous atmosphere that keeps the film interesting. If Bernstein could've made it just a little slicker it would've been a masterpiece, but this is definitely a solid effort.
I used to like Tsai's films, but ever since he turned his back on feature films his work has gone downhill. I'm not sure what Tsai hoped to discover here, but unless you like regular folk sitting awkwardly in front of a camera, unsure what to do, then there's very little here. Point in case one interviewee who fell asleep.
Based on the title you might expect some critical commentary on feminism. Don't. This film is merely a pat on the back for a group of feminists. It would've been way more interesting if they'd focused on their accomplishments rather than their ideologies, because it can be quite a chore to wade through the nonsense.
A prison escape flick that isn't very well-balanced. The minimalistic visuals take away from the tension while the overstated soundtrack makes the whole attempt to escape ridiculous at times. The film is slow, the acting is awkward and Becker simply goes through the motions. Quite painful to sit through.
Very plain and run of the mill thriller. Some cheap and underwhelming twists, one-dimensional characters and mediocre performances hamper the fun. The fact that Edgerton fails to add much as a director doesn't help either. The result is a rather tame and boring thriller that gets a little worse with every reveal.
Another solid Uchida film. While few of his films are true masterpieces, Uchida almost always comes with some kind of refreshing angle. The story in Double Mints is intriguing, the acting is solid and so is the cinematography. It's a good film that had no problems holding my attention, but it stopped short of being great.
Typical Allen film. If you've seen a couple, especially the famous ones, you'll know what to expect. A jazzy soundtrack, Allen's neurotic self, tons of dialogue and some sly comedy. He also toys with the plot structure, but that wasn't too interesting, neither were all the obligatory references to established artists. Fun though.
Raw and impressive film that tells the story of Genghis Kahn, up until he moment he united Mongolia and became a part of history. Tadanobu Asano is amazing, Bodrov's direction is solid and the Mongolian scenery does the rest. I'm not a big fan of biographies or historic war cinema, this one is an exception.
Absolutely horrendous. The attempts at comedy are painful, the caricature of Europe is borderline offensive and the music made my ears bleed. It looks like they tried to make a fun, funny and liberating film, but the result is a total atrocity, one of the worst things I've seen in a long time. Never again.
This is what you get when you spend all your budget on a half-decent cinematographer and have no more money left for a proper editor, sound crew and actors. There are flashes of professional film making here, but it's mostly just cheap, laughable and painfully boring. Best to simply avoid this one altogether.
Magical and extravagant mystery drama that feels like a fever dream. Yuki Sakurai has a knack for picking interesting projects, Ken Ninomiya launches himself as a talent. The film looks absolutely stunning, the soundtrack is amazing and the level of creativity is through the roof. My kind of film.
A dramady that has the balance between comedy and drama right, but fails to come up with any true highlights. There's little wrong with this film. Actors are doing well, there are some good jokes and the drama is on point, but it offers little beyond what is already out there. It's nice filler, but little more.
A basic but well made haunted house film. It's not too loud, not too scary and not too gory, but it gets pretty moody and atmospheric during the second half. The acting is also above par for a film like this and the presentation is very solid. It's good Halloween filler, not great but without any obvious weaknesses.