Log: week 41 / 2020

Russell Crowe plays a guy on the brink of insanity. After his wife left and divorced him, the only thing on his mind is revenge. When Rachel and her son Kyle tick him off while driving, he decides to teach the two of them a lesson. With nothing more to live for, his reaction gets pretty extreme.

I usually dislike Crowe, then again I don't think I've ever seen him play the bad guy. He's quite impressive here. The film is simple, but the build-up is solid, the violence is brutal and there were quite a few scenes that pushed me to the edge of my seat (the car chases mostly). Director Borte also seems very comfortable with this genre. This is pure blockbuster material, but perfectly executed.

Alfie is kidnapped by a group of orphans, who were once abused by their caretaker. They need Alfie's powers to keep him at bay, after they'd set him on fire several years ago. Alfie accepts the challenge, but soon finds there's a little more to the story than they are telling her. Of course, all will be revealed.

The setup is a bit long and some of the CG is a bit flaky, but once the film gets going it gets quite intense. There's nothing really original here in terms of horror, but the second half of the film features more than enough blood, kills and demons to make up for the slower first half. Had a lot of fun with this one.

Hubie is the town weirdo, the town being Salem. While Salem is getting ready to celebrate Halloween, an mean killer from a mental hospital nearby escapes and comes back to Salem to set things right. Meanwhile, Hubie is on patrol to keep everyone safe on his least favorite night of the year.

Sandler is being himself again, and he's brought a bucket load of regulars with him. The jokes range from cheap to quite funny, with a couple of well-meant smirks along the way. The pacing is nice, the film looks slick and it was over before I knew it. Not the greatest film in the world, but very easy and enjoyable entertainment.

The premise is basic, with a big jewelry heist forming the main focus of the film. The heist itself is relatively short, with more time spent on introducing the characters and more room to cover the aftermath. It's both a curse and a blessing, but at least it sets the film apart from so many others.

The slightly slower pace takes some pressure away from the actors, who aren't forced to act all cool and mysterious all the time. On the other hand, it takes away from the tension, which dulls things down a bit. The cinematography is unremarkable, the story and characters rather plain, but at least the film felt a bit more natural than many of its peers. Still not a big fan though.

The film puts the spotlight on some local folklore, namely the Getai singers. The Papaya Sisters are a newly formed duo that wants to perform on stage. To realize their dream they seek help from their aunt, a former Getai singer. The Durians (another popular duo) isn't too happy with their quick rise to success, and they're doing everything to stop them in their path.

The Getai music is extremely kitsch, quite garish and unless you're into local pop music, a struggle for the ears. I'm sure every country has its pop scene that has no chance of crossing any borders, when you decide to make a musical out of it though, it's no surprise the rest of the world isn't very keen on picking it up. It's a colorful film, it's also pretty light and fun, but the musical bits make it hard to wholeheartedly enjoy.

Wang Duo Yu is a third rate goalkeeper who dreams of making it big. One day his prayers are answered, when he's about to inherit 30 billion yuan. The only requirement is that he has to spend 1 billion yuan within a month (with some some additional dos and don'ts attached). It doesn't make a lot of sense, but that doesn't really matter as it's simply an excuse for some exuberant spending.

It's a typical Chinese blockbuster, meaning it looks pretty decent and no expenses were spared, but the music is pretty atrocious, the performances are well over-the-top and the film's a bit long. At long there are some decent gags and the atmosphere remains light and breeze in the second half. Not bad.

Peping is a young student who wants to earn an extra buck and signs up for a "special project". He gets more than what he's bargained for when he finds out they're kidnapping a prostitute with the intent of killing her. Peping tries to get out of his assignment, but when that seems impossible he has to make a tough choice between his conscience and the money.

The cinematography is terribly amateurish. The dark scenes in the middle somewhat hide that fact, but even then the camera work is simply atrocious. No doubt Mendoza hoped it would create some kind of voyeur effect, but that was a complete bust. The soundtrack comes off a bit overdone in combination with the images. It's not bad, but you can't make atmosphere with just the music alone. Performances are mediocre too and the pacing is sluggish. The potential was there, but the result isn't much to look at.

This film feels like the Turkish equivalent of the past 15-20 years or Western horror. There's a bit of everything here, but it's mostly just another possession movie. The fact that we're talking Djinns here doesn't add a lot, but at least the setting and the religious angle give it a slightly fresher edge.

There are some decent and effective scenes, but overall the film's at least 45 minutes too long. The story isn't that interesting and the films keeps on going. The scares are also quite cheap, mostly relying on loud noises and flashy editing. It becomes too repetitive and after a while you feel the tension dropping. It's a shame, I think it would've been quite a bit better as a 90-minute film.

That was my main issue with the documentary. It's not Jarecki's fault I watched those other docs first, but The House I Live In didn't tell me anything new. The stories all sounded familiar, the critique is more commonly understood nowadays and I'd seen all the different angles covered elsewhere already.

Still, Jarecki's doc is worth seeing for its pointed direction. A nice mix of interviews, historical footage and critique that is aptly paced, presents its points with great clarity and doesn't feel overly pushy. For people still unaware of how the system works, this is the doc I'd recommend.

Johnson plays a security guy who gets to oversee one of the most hi-tech buildings in the world. Of course, it's a setup and terrorists have to get involved. They take over the tower, use all the fancy tech stuff to their advantage and force Johnson to be the action hero he's supposed to be.

The film is quite spectacular, Johnson is a decent lead and some of the hi-tech stuff helps to spruce up familiar action scenes. It's also extremely cheesy though and if you expect anything remotely serious, you're definitely picking the wrong film. It's solid blockbuster entertainment, but nothing more. They do deserve props for keeping it short.

An uptight Hugh Grant meets a rather unique couple on a cruise. A slightly older man in a wheelchair is very keen on informing him on how he met his younger, quite dashing wife. So keen in fact that he keeps tricking Grant in listening to his story, where he spares no details, not even when it comes to his sexual affairs.

The film is relatively explicit, but Polanski fails terribly at the sensual scenes. It's almost a mockery, I just couldn't discover any explicit winks or nods, so I assume it was meant to be truly steamy. That kills the film, which is a shame as there was quite a lot of positive energy there to make something out of it.

I never really got the appeal of sci-fi mixed with pop band drama in 80s anime, a combination that was popularized by Macross. It doesn't do much for me and it's easily the weakest element of Megazone 23, luckily it's only a small part of the film and the sci-fi/action dominates the narrative.

The plot is pretty decent, but it's the rather detailed art style and solid animation that gives this one an edge over the competition. It's still within the typical OAV range, but the action looks pretty sweet nonetheless. The pacing is good too and the short runtime makes sure the film doesn't overstay its welcome. Nothing too spectacular, but fun. Looking forward to the sequels already.

That in itself is quite an accomplishment, as the series went through a bunch of different directors. Voyage to Danger was lad by Ôsumi, not one of the most notable anime figures, but someone who had a hand in some of the older iterations of Lupin. It's no surprise then that he did a pretty decent job.

The cold war-like plot may not be the most exciting setup, but the animation is a step up from the other 90s Lupin III films I've seen. The rest is just vintage Lupin, with the entire crew present, some crazy action sequences in between and Lupin going about his goofy business. Not a very remarkable film, but good fun.

The town of Salem is a pretty basic suburban community, until a hacker starts leaking people's personal messages and photographs. Everyone's dirty secrets are getting out on the street and the community reacts like every self-respecting community would: with dishonest disgust and fake, aggressive outrage.

Assassination is quite in-your-face. Characters are slightly larger than life, the cinematography is all but subtle, the score is loud and bold. It's a film that feels young and contemporary, which is always a blessing. Things get a bit crazier in the second half, though I don't think Levinson went far enough to call this a true masterpiece, but it was a real blast alright.

Even though it's a film from the late 60s, it looked like some badly preserved film from the 40s. It's not just the image quality that made it hard to look at though, the cinematography is terrible, with horrible editing and poor framing. Add a lifeless soundtrack and middling performances and you're off to a pretty bad start.

The plot isn't very interesting either. Though the title references romance, director Favio is more interested in some poorly construed drama and the usual marital problems. There are also a few badly realized crime elements, which fail to make things better. A very disappointing effort across the board.

It's not even a very original film, though the first half hour offers a nice variation on the familiar formula. A guy wakes up to a city-wide pandemic, with the world outside being overrun by zombies. He lives alone in a flat and manages to survive by shutting himself off from the world. With nothing to do and food running out, he needs to plan his next move.

There's enough variation, the zombies look decent and the pacing is alright. Performances are good too and even though the film offers nothing new, director Cho manages to build up the necessary tension. Maybe not the most memorable horror film ever made, but pretty solid filler.

Cheng Yong needs money to keep custody over his kid, so he becomes a medicine smuggler. He travels to India and makes a deal with a local supplier. What he didn't anticipate was the need for this particular medicine. His business is a goldmine, but the government is onto him and wants to put a stop to the smuggling.

The first half of the film is pretty amusing. While the relevance of its themes is clear enough, the film isn't too pushy about it. That flips around during the second part, where the drama begins to feel a bit overdone and the heroism becomes slightly annoying. Not bad, but it would've been a lot better if the film had been a bit more consistent.

The film puts a fantasy spin on progeria, the disease where your body ages quicker than it is supposed to. Jack is a boy that suffers from such an affliction, by the time he is 10 years old he looks like a regular 40-year-old man. This makes him an outcast in school, until one of his classmates discovers Jack's mature appearance can come in handy.

The part is a perfect match for Williams, still I can't stand the way he acts. There are some notable cameos (Drescher, Cosby and Lopez), but none of them left a big impression. The film is terribly cheesy, the drama is unbearable, the ending simply stupefying. Poor Coppola, I hope he at least made a buck or two from this film.

The story revolves around Mika, the younger sister of the deceased Chizuko. Mika has always lived in the shadow of her older sis and had a hard time growing up. Until one day, when her sister comes back from the dead to rescue her from a perv. From then on she keeps seeing Chizuko whenever she's struggling.

There's a little visual weirdness that is definitely appreciated and the film fares best when Ôbayashi keeps it light and breezy. It gets a bit too dramatic near the end and a little editing to get it closer to the 120-minute mark would've done the film some good, but overall this was a pretty warm, quirky and agreeable film.

The plot is pretty simple. Aliens are visiting our planet and making a grand entrance. Conveniently, they look exactly like regular people, and they speak our language. They come with a warning, telling us to stop fighting among ourselves. If not, they'll step in and take matters into their own hands.

The beginning and end of the film are quite cute, the middle part on the other hand is too dull and stretched out. The moralistic story is pretty childish, performances are weak and the film's too serious for its own good. Would've liked this a lot better if Wise had gone all in on the camp, sadly that wasn't in the cards.

After sitting through this four hour registration of the festival, I'm pretty certain I was right. The music alone would've driven me right back home, the people present would've sealed the deal. There's just too much wishy-washy hippie stuff for someone like me and there's really no escaping it here.

There are relatively few interviews, most of this documentary is spent watching and listening to the performances. That's nice if 60s rock is your thing, but it's a genre I feel nothing for. I'm sure that people longing back for those days will have a blast with the film, I will never ever come close to it again.

As with most of these disaster films, I like the setup better than the actual disaster. Donaldson does a good job with that. He doesn't drag things out, still he takes time to create a feeling of unease. The second half is entirely dedicated to the eruption, which was a little less impressive than I remembered.

The best thing about this film is that it stayed below the 110-minute mark. The pacing is slick, the genre payoffs are decent and even though it gets a bit too cheesy, the film never stays too long at one single point for it to become a problem. Not exactly great cinema, but a pleasant film nonetheless.

When all is said and done, this is little more than a basic possession horror. Some local South-Italian folklore was added to spruce things up, but it's simply not distinctive enough to set it apart from its peers. Especially not when the drama supporting the horror is textbook material.

Performances are decent and the setting is absolutely lovely. The setup is quite effective too, but once it's clear where this film is headed it quickly loses its appeal. The horror elements are rather dull and are dragged out. It's reminiscent of modern Spanish horror cinema, but the quality comes nowhere near.

Grant once again plays a manchild with exceptional charm. This time he even has an entire philosophy ready, explaining why he's willfully going through life without any attachments (and worries). All goes well until he meets Marcus, a young kid who's having a rough time at home and in school.

The film has a couple of funny moments and there's chemistry between Hoult and Grant, but it all feels very by the numbers. Collette and Weisz fail to make an impression, the plot is pretty cheesy and there's just a little too much drama for a comfortable comedy. Not terrible, but far from great.

The story revolves around a bald female monk fighting off ghosts (and turning gold once in a while). I admit that sounds pleasantly bonkers, but in the end this is really just a plain old ghost story with way too much padding and only a handful of scenes that deliver the goods.

The films begins promising, with some hopping ghosts and a couple of other ghostly appearances, but the middle part is just dreadful. The cinematography is dull, performances are bad and there are even some musical scenes to sift through. The ending picks up again, but it's just too little to be any good.

The story is nothing special. Five Hong Kong policemen vanish off the radar, after which a cat and mouse game starts between a gang of criminals and the HK police force, with some internal struggles to boot. It's a classic setup, but not much more is needed to keep a film like this entertaining.

It's all about the execution, which is where actors like Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung come in handy. The cinematography is pretty stylish, the few action scenes are explosive and things get pretty tense in the run up to the finale. Just don't expect a big action spectacle, Cold War is a more subdued and low-key crime thriller. Good stuff.

The story is pretty bland. A group of bounty hunters is chasing a gang of outlaws, but when the leader of the bounty hunters kills Pauline's husband she vows to take revenge. She hires a mute gunslinger, who in his turn starts chasing the group of bounty hunters. It doesn't take long before guns start firing away.

Kinski's presence is a plus and Morricone's score is surprisingly decent, but it's the snowy landscapes and the mountains that make the biggest difference here. A very nice change of scenery for a western and one that gives this film a lot more atmosphere. It's a shame I couldn't care for the rest. The cinematography is horrible and the seriousness misplaced.

The story revolves around Adams, who supposedly shot a police officer in cold blood when he came up to him to check his car. The more you find out about the story, the more it seems law enforcers were looking for a scapegoat rather than the true culprit. No surprises there then.

There's a lot of talking heads here, which makes this a pretty static documentary. Reenactments aren't always an improvement, but they can help to visualize the story. The case itself is interesting enough, but one I've heard so many times before that it lacks the shock it would've had if I'd seen it 30 years ago. Not bad, but just not that remarkable anymore.

The story hasn't really changed (and is still a bit too convoluted). When Yuri returns from her sister's funeral, she goes to a reunion to inform her sister's classmates. Once there she's mistaken for her sister, and she finds herself incapable of telling the truth. When she meets her sister's first love, things get a bit complicated.

Performances are good, with a stand-out parts for Takako Matsu and Suzu Hirose, and a fun cameo from Hideaki Anno. The film looks pristine, with some trademark Iwai shots, the soundtrack is comfy and on point. It's just that the story gets in the way of the atmosphere sometimes, which messes up the pacing.

An American couple wakes up in their bedroom, clueless about what happened the night before. When they want to take the ferry they discover their passports are gone, so they're unable to leave the island. The man finds a two-hour-long video on his camera which confuses them even more. The video shows him killing his wife, even though she's sitting right beside him.

The folklore isn't quite as intruiging, performances are mediocre (Luke Hemsworth is by far the least talented of the brothers) and the horror feels somewhat predictable. The setting is nice though and Bousman makes good use of it, but apart from some gory moments Death of Me lacks bite.

Back in the Habit plays like a Dangerous Minds avant-la-lettre. Goldberg is called back by the nuns in order to help them with a bunch of unruly children. The school's about to close and only a standout performance in the statewide choir competition can save their future. It's not a very original setup, but it does the job.

The actors seem to feel more at ease the second time around, there are some fun cameos (a young Lauryn Hill and Jennifer Love Hewitt), the pacing is decent and the feel-good scenes do their job. It's not first grade cinema and it's all rather predictable, but this could've been a lot worse.