Log: week 50 / 2020

Brandy is a typical nerd who spent all her time studying in order to get the best possible grades. When her high school life is over, she has zero experience with boys, which is setting her up for a dire time in college. She turns her quest to get deflowered into a school project and doesn't back down from using her friends to finish her assignments.

Having actors like Plaza and Hader there definitely helps with the comedy, the supporting cast is also pretty cool (with fun cameos of Andy Samberg, Donald Glover and Nolan Gould). The rest is all pretty basic stuff. Light fluff, occassionally funny and nicely paced, but nothing too memorable or out of the ordinary.

The film follows Gareth de Wijk, aka Trasher, the man behind the PRSPCT label. It details how he evolved from punk and drum 'n bass to the crossbreed/hardcore sound that now defines the label. Some of its most prominent resident artists get a little screen time, and we follow how they prepare for their big 15 years of PRSPCT celebration.

The short runtime makes it difficult to really delve into things, but it's nice to learn about the faces behind the label, its rebellious origins and the drive/love for the scene. On the other hand, the "one big happy family" narrative isn't all that original and their claims to fame are pretty standard too. Still, I'm happy this was made, informative and fun.

As Yu Quan notices an old fisherman being attacked by a rude official, he jumps in and inadvertently kills the fisherman's assailant. The district officials chase Yu Quan, but with the help of the fisherman's daughter he manages to escape. To commemorate her good deed and their eternal friendship, Yu Quan gifts her a butterfly chalice.

What's nice about these older Shaw Bros film is that they're not all studio work, which generally makes for better-looking films. Chang's potential for action already shines through, but that's only a small part of the film. I'm not a big fan of Chinese opera and that really stands in the way of enjoying The Butterfly Chalice. Still, it's interesting to see how Chang got started.

The film is split in two distinct parts. One is set in an old, rural and homely hospital, the other in a very modern, urban hospital facility. There seems to be an overlap in characters, stories and events, with each setting having a slightly different effect on the scenes that play out. That's just not the premise, that's the entire plot right there.

Weerasethakul is all about mood and whenever there's a soundtrack present he nails it. The score is amazing and works well with the slow, meandering visuals, but whenever the music fades away, so does the atmosphere. The cinematography feels too unpolished to carry the film by itself, which is my biggest complaint. The plot and characters aren't very interesting either, then again that's not really what Weerasethakul's films are about. There are some very strong and captivating scene here, it just isn't very consistent.

Wao is a new recruit in Chung's team. She's young and inexperienced, but she's also eager to learn and has a way to get luck on her side. Wao is spoiled by her teammates and before long Chung's team gets a bad reputation. So much in fact that another police team introduces a mole in order to document their misbehavior.

It's not that Miriam Yeung was a miscast, but Fiona Sit brings some much-needed spark to the franchise. The comedy is still pretty mediocre and the story really isn't anything to write home about, but the atmosphere is light and the pacing is solid. Not a great film, but it's pretty decent filler.

Bailey, a former private detective, switches jobs and opens a garage. He can't escape his criminal past though and not long after his former boss (Sterling) summons him. He was robbed by his girlfriend, who immediately bailed. Bailey has to trace the money and get Sterling's girlfriend back.

As always, the first part is promising, but then the endless conversations start and things slow down to a crawl. Performances are mediocre, the plot is far from interesting and some meager twists and turns can't turn things around. The stark black and white cinematography is a plus, but it's not enough to make a big difference.

Chaplin plays a convict who just escaped from prison. He arrives in a small, God-loving town, people there mistake him for a pastor. Because he has nowhere else to go, he decides to play along, but he really has no experience and of course it doesn't take long before he starts messing up.

I'm not a big slapstick fan to begin with, but there's just something about Chaplin that irks me. I don't think he's funny at all, the jokes are dire, the film is slow and feels like a selection of random sketches and there's way too much repetition. It's simply unpleasant from start to finish.

Kuen is still enjoying her promotion when she's given a new assignment. She needs to protect a VIP and give her a tour of Hong Kong. The assignment goes horribly wrong that and Kuen nearly gets her kicked off the force. It's the beginning of another undercover mission in which Kuen's future husband gets a part too.

The main cast is there again, director Joe Ma also returns. Other than that this comes off like a simple cash-in. The story is plain, the direction feels rushed and the comedy is subpar. The tone is light and the pacing is decent so it's definitely an easy watch, there just isn't much quality to turn it into something more.

Andrei is somewhat of a recluse who lives together with his aunt. When his pal Tsenin finally gets Andrei to go out with him, he meets Kadmina and the two immediately hit it off. When three months later word reaches Andrei that Kadmina has come to pass, his love turns into obsession.

The most remarkable thing about After Death is how composed and calm it is. There's no rushed editing, no extreme acting and no rattling soundtrack, instead we get a well-constructed drama that build up towards a tragic ending. It's one of the few silents I've seen that actually got me to care about its characters, though sadly Bauer can't quite keep it together during the finale. An interesting discovery nonetheless.

Iwao is a deadbeat who still lives with his parents. He has a crummy job in a pachinko parlor, and he has no outlook on finding a proper soulmate. One day he decides to pack up and go to the Philippines to buy himself a wife. When he returns, his father is deceased and his mother isn't too pleased with Iwao's choices in life.

Performances are strong, the film looks rather polished and even though it's quite long, it never really drags. The main reason is that director Yoshida keeps jumping between comedy, crime and drama, which makes it difficult to see where it is all leading. The film comes quite close to greatness, but stops short of making it all the way.

Gary is a nobody who just wanders about. One day he runs into Jack, a minor criminal who steals a car in order to travels the back roads of Australia. Gary joins him, on the way several other hitchhikers join them on their journey. And so we're watching a road trip that doesn't lead anywhere interesting.

Performances are poor, the dialogues are trivial and the characters are invariable irritating. I don't think Noyce cared much about the cinematography and the soundtrack is a serious drag. People with a love for the 70s might find something interesting here, I was glad the film was just an hour long.

Jorge doesn't like Christmas, his life becomes hell on Earth when he starts suffering from partial amnesia. One half of him lives a regular life, the other half only surfaces on Christmas Eve. Jorge feels terrible about having to live through the same day over an over again, but soon realizes that seeing his life slip by is actually much worse.

Leandro Hassum is energetic and extremely present. It took me a while to get used to him, but in the end I did appreciate his performance. The comedy is rather silly and predictable, but the delivery is amusing and actors clearly had a lot of fun with it. Overall the film is amusing and light, but its tragic core lies right below the surface and when it surfaces it really hits the mark. Not a big Christmas fan, not a Groundhog Day fan either, but this was surprisingly good.

A young and wealthy businessman is profiled through his relationships with three different women. The first is a high-class dame, the second an artist and the third a working-class girl. When the relationships get too serious though, the man bolts and ditches the woman without giving them a proper explanation.

Epstein has a very remarkable visual style. The pacing of the editing is interesting, the shots betray a affinity for aesthetic beauty and the settings look lush. The drama is not quite as gripping though and the performances are decent, but nothing too remarkable. The man was clearly born too early.

The plot is extremely basic and the title is quite self-explanatory. We follow a barber shop where the barber isn't too worried about doing a decent job. He cuts people bald, chops their heads off and get himself into all kinds of trouble. It's basically just one big series of sketches.

The comedy is quite dark though and the actors don't really adhere to the classic slapstick mold. It's not extremely funny, but at least it's a welcome change from people falling over and/or bumping in to each other. An interesting curiosity, not too long and decently paced, but not that funny.

After World War I, two soldiers are sent to a mental hospital to recover. They struggle with survivor's guilt, and they find it hard to deal with the atrocities they have witnessed during the war. In order to get better, they are urged to write about their feelings. The both of them turn out to be very adept poets.

The performances are solid, the soundtrack is nice and the lack of standard war heroics is refreshing. The pacing is quite slow though and the dialogues are a bit overworked. Even though the film tries very hard to be deep and introspective, the drama feels a bit cheap at times. Interesting film, but overall not that successful.

The Butcher is an urban legend who turns very real one weekend. He invades a small town, steals a dagger and starts killing people. When he meets Millie, a somewhat reclusive girl, he stabs her with the dagger, and they swap bodies. When The Butcher can survive in his new body for 24 hours, the swap becomes definitive.

Performances are solid, with a stand-out part for Vince Vaughn. The comedy is decent, the horror references are fun and the kills are quite brutal, though the film remains light on actual gore. The core twist is fun enough, the pacing is solid and the film doesn't outstay its welcome. Another solid Landon, no doubt we'll see a sequel next year.

Curtis explores how the individual became the center of attention in the 20th century. Rather than focus on the media and consumer behavior, and try to bare the underlying mechanics at play, Curtis takes a more political angle and dredges up wars and political left/right mind games. Not really what I was hoping for.

There are some interesting anecdotes scattered around this documentary, but they are few and far between. Instead, this is a pretty dry history lesson, with little cinematic value. It also doesn't help that the film is 20 years old and a lot of extremely relevant things happened in those 20 years. Not the eyeopener I was expecting to see.

A British ship with a highly classified load is sunk near the coast of Greece. James Bond is sent on a mission to make sure nobody else gets to the load before the Brits, but there are quite a few others who would like to make sure Bond never makes it. Luckily Bond gets help from the mysterious Melina.

Maybe it's because Moonraker was a tough act to follow up, but I was a bit bummed we're back to the skiing and underwater tricks for this one. The action isn't very spectacular, the soundtrack was way too cheesy and Glen makes poor use of the settings. Fingers crossed this was just Glen having some trouble settling in, as it was by far the least entertaining Bond.

Some typical geeks start fawning over a series of tiles spotted throughout the US. The tiles contain a cryptic message, information on the internet is sparse and nobody is claiming the tiles as their work. And so an improvised investigation starts, as the forum dwellers try to find out who is behind the creation of these tiles.

This is little more than oldskool conspiracy theories combined with internet niche obsession. The mystery really didn't grab me, the time spent on off-topic nonsense (like a profile on the guy who started the investigation) is a complete waste of time and any cinematic attempts to make it more mysterious fall flat. The film simply failed to grab my attention.

Belsnickel was once one of Santa's favorite elves. He turned bad though and was banned from Santa's Village. Belsnickel devises a plan to get back in, for that he seeks out Kate, one of Sant's True Believers. His plans succeeds and Santa will need the help of Kate again to save Christmas.

The animation is mediocre, the kids are extremely cringy and Russell is a rather poor Santa. For all its cheep cheese though, Chronicles 2 is slightly more palatable than the first film. While it doesn't even try to do anything different, it at least brings some standard Christmas atmosphere. I hope this is the last in the series though.

Mizuhara served five years in jail to protect his boss. On the day he is released, his car is shot to shreds. Mizuhara discovers his former gang is behind the attack, clearly trying to get rid of any loose threads. He also learns his old boss is dealing drugs for a living, which gives him a good idea for revenge.

Gang vs Gang is a pretty basic Japanese noir, sporting sullen men in long coats and hats, doing shady business in lively bars. The first hour is a little slow, very dialogue-driven and not all that exciting, the final 30 minutes is a lot more fun, with some welcome action in a somewhat surprising setting. Not terrible, but I prefer Ishii's more extravagant films.

Jerry and Lucy are a couple destined for divorce. There's no trust between them and all they ever do is fight with each other. While they're waiting for their divorce to get finalized, they already start making new wedding plans, but neither one is willing to let the other get their life back on track so soon.

Soon to be divorced people trying to mess with each other's lives isn't a very funny premise, Grant and Dunne are quite stiff and the dialogue-driven comedy simply isn't all that funny. At least the pacing is decent and the runtime is short, but there's nothing memorable here and I'm sure I'll have forgotten all about it by tomorrow.