Log: week 12 / 2021

Pegg is perfect for his part, guys like Izzard, Bhaskar and Williams are on a roll and the Monty Python gang shines as the council of aliens. The comedy is quirky and goofy and though the romance is a little generic (Beckinsale is the only one underperforming) it never really bothered me. Good fun.

At its best, you're getting Douglas driving a fighter jet through a mockery of an Eastern European city and shooting everything to bits. At its worst, it's a pretty dull Indiana Jones knock-off with Danny DeVito in one of his worst roles to date. It's a big mess really, but when it gets crazy, there's at least some fun to be had.

There are some solid action scenes at the start and end of the film, but the middle part is quite dull, with too much focus put on the plot. Michelle Reis is a decent lead, the rest of the cast is clearly less gifted. It's certainly not a terrible film and there are a few memorable fights, but it can't really compare to the better films of that era.

The tone is light, the drama is decent and Ronan's performance is strong. Her character's somewhat shady and even a little unlikable though, strangely enough the film doesn't really acknowledge that and pretends this is just a sweet little romance. It didn't really bother me that much, but it is quite remarkable. As for the presentation, it's pretty polished and slick, but hardly attractive. All in all a sold film, though not enough that jumped out for me.

Performances are somewhat mediocre too, the poetry doesn't really work and even though it's a pretty weird film, it never feels all that special or surprising. Still, at a time when many were pulling cinema into a more narrative direction, it's a welcome attempt to create something magical. It's just aged pretty badly.

The black and white cinematography is pretty atmospheric and the animal stories are cute enough. The humans are less interesting though and 95 minutes is a bit long for a film where nothing substantially happens. I feel I might've enjoyed this better when I was still a kid, now there's just not enough here to keep me hooked.

The sharks and caves have somewhat variable dimensions, characters only die at the whim of the writers and there's a succession of perils that merely seem to exist to drag out the runtime. But the performances are decent, the cinematography is nice and there are some pretty good scares. If you're looking for pure entertainment, this film has you covered.

Shadow in the Cloud is not without faults. The CG is a little shoddy, the creature design is lame and Moretz is a poor fit for the girl power fantasy Liang chases, but all of that is easily forgiven when people start falling out of planes and are propelled right back in by the explosion of another plane underneath. It's that kinda film, and that deserves praise.

The lead performances are pretty dim, the comedy is overly sanitized, the punchline is lame and even though the runtime isn't excessive, the film does start to drag after a while. It's one of those films that is so unoffensive that it effectively becomes offensive. Not what I call fun and relaxing entertainment.

The suits and gear look pretty flimsy, performances are rather weak and Eveneshen's direction feels too formulaic. There's some basic genre fun to be had here and the movie never really slows down enough to turn boring, but unless you're looking for some last resort sci-fi, it's not an easy recommend.

The costumes and sets are extremely lush. Vibrant colors and rich details make this a visual treat. That is, if you don't count the poor CG. It's a hurdle that's keeping a lot of these Chinese films down. Performances are decent and the plot is fun enough, if only they'd put a little more effort into their computer foolery films like these would be at the top of their niche.

Like most of these films, my main issue lies with the comedy, which is bland and irritating. Annoying characters, horrible puns, predictable gags, everything feels just completely lazy. The animation is competent, but the art style is ugly and the soundtrack a disaster. At least the film is so unmemorable that I'll have forgotten all about it by tomorrow. Generic nonsense.

The start's a little slow, but once the first victim gets her faced scraped off with an axe it's clear that The Furies is going to be a lot of fun. D'Aquino isn't afraid to focus on the gory details of the kills, add to that some twisted characters and all the ingredients are there for some good old-fashioned slasher entertainment. A very pleasant surprise.

Chow's typical brand of comedy is fully present. With the help of Stanley Fung and Bill Tung he brings a lightness to the film that is unique to Chow. Sze Yu Lau's direction is a little inconspicuous, and it does feel like a cut-and-paste job from a bunch of other (more popular) films, but I've come to a point where I welcome even the more basic Chow comedies and Look Out, Officer didn't let me down in the slightest.

Wakamatsu offers another glimpse into the mind of a very troubled soul. It's certainly not a pleasant film, let alone a titillating one, so if that's what you're after you can better skip this one altogether. If on the other hand you like a stylized and frank descent into the rotten mind of a violent pervert, Wakamatsu has you covered.

The problem with Phobias is that there isn't enough of a difference between the different shorts, which is one of the key reasons why I love anthologies. By themselves the shorts are pretty decent, but they're all a bit samey. At the same time the continuous interruptions make it more difficult to get into the main narrative. Would've worked better as either a stand-alone narrative or a more focused and detached anthology. But if you're looking for some solid horror film, Phobias is pretty solid.

Performances aren't that strong, the cinematography looks a little cheap and the premise takes too long to get interesting. The second half is in fact a lot more fun, but the film never really rises above its limitations and with so many similar films out there, Infinitum fails to get itself noticed. Decent sci-fi filler though, if you're in the mood.

It's an intriguing setup and there are moments of true beauty here, but Suzuki fails to keep it interesting all the way through, which is a shame as the film isn't that long to begin with. The cinematography is a bit barren and the soundtrack could've been more distinctive, performances are solid though and Ako's character is a real treat. Suzuki shows promise, I'll keep an eye on him in the future.

It's a shame then that the film fails to capture the imagination. The setting is rich enough and McAvoy/Radcliffe do their best, but the film is just a little lifeless, much like its famous creature. I had hoped McGuigan would've taken this to the next level, sadly he delivers a rather generic blockbuster interpretation. It's certainly not terrible, just forgettable.