Log: week 9 / 2019

A dark, brooding and malicious thriller that is reminiscent of David Fincher's work. I prefer Amenábar as a director though, the atmosphere is just that little heavier and tangible. Well acted, nicely written and tense from start to finish, though a little slow and a bit too predictable here and there. Not bad at all.

Simple alien invasion flick that doesn't really want to pick a favorite genre. There's a little horror, a bit of action, some sci-fi and even a dash of drama, sadly the film turns out to be a master of none. It's not bad either, just a little too plain and predictable. Not the most horrible timewaster out there, but nothing more.

A very naive and fluffy Hong Kong classic. Which wouldn't be so bad if the films wasn't so terribly slow and uneventful. The drama is shallow, the cinematography functional, the pacing dreadful. The few musical bits that are present just drag things out even more. Not a fan of these Grace Chang musicals.

A pretty raw and straightforward crime/action film. Cops turning on each other, gun fights and a soulless twist at the end. It's nothing new, but Ayer executes it with enough gritty flair for it to work. It's a pretty simple genre film, but if you're in the mood for some crude yet entertaining cop action this is not a bad option.

A pretty decent parody. The jokes can be a little too on the nose and the writing is at times a bit too simpe, but Rebel Wilson effortlessly makes up for that. It's not an exceptional film, but it's a very fun and easy watch and there are a couple of scenes that elevate it to a slightly above average comedy. Nice.

Cashback established Ellis as a talent for the future. A fun, quirky and original take on romance, with lots of visual panache, a solid cast and a couple of standout scenes that are sure to become classics. While some of the jokes are a little borderline, the film never slips into questionable territory. Great stuff.

A fun Ip Man spin-off. Yuen always was a better action choreographer than he was a director though, and it shows. Not serious enough to be a great crime flick, not fun enough to be a great martial arts epic. It's definitely not a bad film, there's a lot of fun to be had, but it lacks the refinement of a bona fide masterpiece.

Escape rooms are hot property for horror films, Robitel's attempt ups the stakes. With serious nods to Saw and Cube, this film aspires to be something more than simple B-filler. It's a fun and ambitious film, though the ending could've been more adventurous. Entertaining and by far the best escape room film yet.

Sports drama that can't escape the cringe of an oldskool American director adapting another nation's cultural highlight. Invictus is like most of Eastwood's films. Professionally made, but quite stale, boring and way too sentimental for its own good. Freeman and Damon are okay, the rest of the film not so much.

Big ouch. Sami and van Beek both direct and star in this train wreck of a comedy. The comedy falls flat, the chemistry between them is completely absent and the plot is mind-numbingly dumb. There are a few random scenes that did manage to draw a laugh, but they are few and far between. Not very good, this one.

Hong Kong drama that feels like a predecessor to the Taiwanese new wave or the films of Zhangke Jia. The romance isn't too interesting, the acting is mediocre and the film-in-film plot doesn't to it any favours either. I can see why this is considered a classic amongst some, but it's not a film I'd care to watch again.

The start of Ming-liang Tsai's career. Like his other TV work, there are small glimpses of the style that would bring him international recognition, but they are hidden in very mediocre TV drama. These films are hardly worth the trouble, unless you're a completist like me and you just want to watch all of Tsai's films.

Without having seen the series, it takes a while to figure out who's who in this feature adaptation. The Akira Toriyama influences are obvious, though the franchise is more than just a simple knock-off. The first half hour is a little tough to get through, but once the action starts there's some proper fun to be had.

I don't care much for the work of John Ford, I don't care much for westerns. No surprise then that Stagecoach really didn't do much for me. There are some decent moments when the action dies down a little, but the typical cowboys and Indians nonsense is something I just can't get myself to like.

Probably the best one in the series so far. Not so much because of the way all the plotlines of the previous entries connect, but the action feels top of its class, the finale in particular is some adrenaline inducing madness. You should know what to expect by now, but Lin definitely improved on the previous films.

Like most modern Chinese spectacles, this one is a little too reliant on CG, but the adventure itself is amusing enough and there are some fun twists throughout that keep things interesting. A nice follow-up to the first film, though it's clear China is still struggling to keep its CG use in check. Decent blockbuster material.

A rather tepid sequel to Soderbergh's amusing trilogy. It's not even the forced female perspective that's hurting this one, it's flimsy and unadventurous writing combined with poor direction. The cast is decent, but none of them is good enough to actually save this film. Not a total disaster, but worse than its predecessors.