Log: week 1 / 2020

Prime Lupin entertainment. Some fun thieving scenes, a couple of hilarious car chases and enough wacky comedy to keep the film from getting too serious. The story is pretty basic, then again a film like this doesn't really call for much complexity. Light, fun and surprisingly well animated, just the things I want from a Lupin film.

A reflection on death. Or at least, that seems what Thamrongrattanarit was aiming for, but there's very little meat here and apart from some hit & miss experiments in form the film really hasn't that much to offer. In the end it felt a little empty and pointless, which is clearly not what they director was going for.

Vintage Kawajiri. A weird mix of sci-fi, fantasy and horror, draped on top of a noirish premise. The two parts are a little disconnected and the whole feels a little rushed, but there are some pretty kick-ass action scenes and monster designs on display here. Not the easiest film to track down, but if you like Kawajiri's work it comes well recommended.

There's a lot of flag-waving and chest-thumping going on here, but look past that and you'll find a decent anthology celebrating the achievements of the little people, helmed by some of China's prime directors. It was a little too sentimental and overdone in places, but it wasn't as terrible as I had initially feared it would be.

Interesting film. It looks very moody and atmospheric, the soundtrack is pretty cool, the editing is on point and the premise is intriguing enough. But somehow the whole isn't quite as good as the sum of its individual parts. The film isn't as intense or captivating as it hopes to be, which is a shame because films like these are quite hard to come by. Still, worth checking out.

A little dark and a little grim, but underneath all that this is a very capable absurdist comedy. Not quite out there and some of the better films in the genre, but definitely worth a gamble. It's not like this niche is overflowing with options right now. Well acted, funny and quite unpredictable, this one is a lot of fun.

Fun little martial arts/fantasy film that gets bogged down by overabundant, mediocre CG. If you need CG to wok some vegetables, you're clearly doing something wrong. The rest of it is pretty fun though. Some nice battles, impressive vistas and an economic running time. Not a genre stand-out, but pretty decent filler nonetheless.