Log: week 49 / 2019
Quirky and amusing adventure blockbuster, infused with some welcome comedy. Kasdan's sequel is slightly better than the original reboot, although it's really just more of the same. The actors feel a bit more settled in though and the film is a bit more spectacular than the first, which makes it ideal blockbuster material.
Dry and absurd little comedy that keeps things very small. Poelvoorde and Ludig are amazing, Dupieux's direction is on point and the short running time makes sure the film doesn't overstay its welcome. This is not one of Dupieux's more outrageous efforts, but it's every bit as funny, witty and surprising as his other films.
A very typical, expected Hong Kong police thriller. Films like these are quite rare these days though and director Chi Keung Fung does deliver a very stylish rendition of an established formula. Koo is great, the rest of the cast delivers a pretty solid performance too. Not bad at all, as long as you don't expect anything out of the ordinary.
Basic but entertaining 80s horror anime. Vampire Princess Miyu is rather low on actual animation, but the art style makes it quite moody and atmospheric still. Not quite as good as some of the more high profile entries in the genre (think 3x3 Eyes), but if you like oldskool horror anime it's worth a shot.
A very typical Melissa McCarthy vehicle, with a fair amount of decent jokes, but just as many painful flukes. The traditional pre-finale dip of sentimentally is a bummer, but it was actually quite nice to watch a plain and simple comedy once again. They are getting harder to find these days, so you take what you can get.
A pretty mad mix of action, fantasy and gory, Gothic horror, completely in line with Kawajiri's most famous work. The animation is rich, the styling extremely bold and the pacing furious. This is clearly not for everyone, but if you love yourself some brutal 90s anime, then this is one of the best films out there.
If Cheh Chang is the SB grand master of traditional martial arts, Yuen Chor is his equal when it comes to fantasy/martial arts blends. The Web of Death is an amusing, yet cheesy and somewhat inconspicuous film in his oeuvre. There's a lot of fun to be had here, but apart from the fact that it's "something with spiders", it's not too memorable.
Not a big Illumination fan, but I'm partial to the Dr. Seuss stories. Even without the typical Seuss charm though, this film is overflowing with charming little details, striking animation and a some solid jokes. It has the potential to be the Nightmare before Christmas for a new generation, even though the source material isn't exactly original.
Surprisingly tense and mysterious thriller/horror hybrid. Hauer's character is genius. A true enigma that toys with the protagonist and tricks a naive little kid into becoming one of the top criminals in the area. The mystery behind Hauer's character is never revealed and the tension carries on until the very end. This was top notch filler material.
Honda's final film is another decent entry in the Godzilla franchise, without bringing anything too special or out of the ordinary. There's a lot of sci-fi cheese to brighten things up and the battles between Godzilla, Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus are plentiful, but there's not enough to make it stand out from the many other entries in the franchise.
Film that lives or dies by the audience's appreciation of Masina. I don't stomach the overacting and extreme volumes of classic Italian cinema all that well, so this really didn't do it for me. I'm afraid this goes for most Fellini films I've seen so far, Nights of Cabiria didn't do anything to change that.
A decent, nicely shot and entertaining coming of age drama. It's a little long and Jiang is merely sticking to what's known to been working in the genre, but the acting is fine, the cinematography is solid and the characters are quite fun to hang around with. Not his greatest work, but a good start to his career nonetheless.
It's a little ironic that Scorsese spent so much time digitally de-aging his actor, but forgot to do the same to his actual film. The Irishman feels like a relic of the past, a film that got stuck in the early 90s, just like its director. Not one second does it warrant its 3.5 hour runtime, not one moment did I feel like watching something special of worthwhile.
Pretty standard but amusing blockbuster. A big prototype helicopter is hijacked and stationed above a nuclear plant, with 8 hours of fuel to keep it hanging. The film gets a little too sentimental at times and the plot is quite predictable, but there are some tense scenes and even though the films lasts 2+ hours, it doesn't really get sluggish.
This could've been half-decent if they'd found a better voice actor for Pikachu. Reynolds is insufferable and ruins the entire film, which wasn't all that great to begin with. It's all a little too childish, the acting is generally poor and the plot is rather dumb. The Pokémon universe comes alive quite well, but that's not enough to save this film.