Log: week 3 / 2019
A good companion piece for The Autopsy of Jane Doe. It's hardly original, but all the horror cues are meticulously and effectively executed. The setting is amazing, the acting is solid and Kirby Johnson resembles a female Javier Botet. After a mediocre start, the film works itself up towards a great finale.
An American Tail fails because of the big mismatch between the cheery mice and the dark setting they inhabit. Bluth tries to deliver a darker tale, but gets stuck in childish nonsense and unsubtle musical bits. The patriotism here is absurd, the animation is overdone and the plot is boring and predictable. Blah.
A strange, offbeat thriller based on Ryu Murakami's novel by the same name. I never read the source material, but it's obvious that director Pesce made the story his own. A stop-motion-like setting come to life, a couple of oddball characters and plenty of strange events make this into a unique but divisive film.
A decent Shaw Bros film. It stands out because the camera work, lighting and use of color are well above par, sadly the balance between story and martial arts is a little off. The promised revenge lasts only 10 to 15 minutes max, but even though there's an overall lack of action it never gets dull or boring. Nice filler.
Pretty terrible, but not for lack of good ideas. Lighting and set design were decent, but the acting, camera work, soundtrack and editing were all atrocious. It tries to be a moody mindfuck piece, but it ends up bland and boring. Keeyes simply isn't fit to write and direct, which is a shame because this could've been fun.
The novelty value of the Christmas zombie musical concept works for about half a film, after that it becomes clear that the horror just isn't juicy enough and that the songs are a bit too Glee-like. Could've used some extra spice, but it's a rather fun and joyous film regardless. Not bad, but should've been better.
A worthy finale to the trilogy. Low on action, but that shouldn't come as a surprise to those who've seen the previous films (a must). Instead Planet Eater takes a more philosophical route, while still delivering some monumental visuals. It's a most welcome addition to the Gojira franchise, though true fans will beg to differ.
Amusing and effective zombie parody. These type of films have been done to death of course, but containing the disease to children gives Cooties a nice little edge. A strong cast, some nifty ideas and a good sense of humor make this a very fun and entertaining film, though sadly it never achieves greatness.
Nothing too out of the ordinary, but a well-made drama by Peter Farrelly (which in fact is quite special). Even though the subject is rather heavy the film itself is very light-hearted. Mortensen and Ali are both solid, the bond between the two is amusing (though a touch unbelievable). A fun diversion, though far from great.
A very typical Lam film. Ten minutes of censored material, more gruesome than most of its Hong Kong counterparts and set up as a social commentary. But the direction is pretty poor and the film lacks true impact. Lam tried his whole career to balance drama and action but never really found a way to do it well.
Way too simple. Reiterates what most people already know, but with pictures. People in low-wage countries are being exploited, our consumer behavior is destructive and of course Monsanto gets its fair share. What this documentary fails to do though is connect everything in a meaningful, constructive way.
If you've seen other films by Ping He, you know that even though this is a martial arts film, it's not big on action. Instead He takes his time to introduce the characters. The setting and cinematography are fine, the drama and acting not so much. It's a bit of a tortured film, though there are some stand-out moments.