Log: week 22 / 2021

The cast does a decent job, with Galifianakis as the obvious stand-out. There are too many jokes that don't fully land, and the action scenes feel somewhat underdeveloped, though the light tone of the film makes it easy to digest. It's certainly not a terrible film, just one that fails to stand out in any way.

The problem is simple: none of this is funny. The jokes are predictable, the comedic timing is horrendous, and overall the execution feels cheap. This film feels like a rush job and even though they managed to land some famous actors for this entry, it comes off as a lazy fan project. Not good.

The performances are weak, the film looks pretty cheap, the action scenes aren't that exciting and the futuristic hardware fails to impress. At nearly 2 hours, it's also way too long. There's just a basic amount of action/genre fun to be mined from this film, unless you're truly starved for action films, I wouldn't really bother.

Almost all scenes are filmed inside the ship. This could've resulted in a claustrophobic atmosphere, instead, it highlights the stage-like setup and comes off rather fake. There's also a bit too much bickering between the survivors, especially since most of them mistook shouting for acting. A handful of decent scenes make it a passable affair, but if you're after nail-biting suspense, you won't find it here.

Disease-based romance and tragedy has been quite popular in Asia the past decade and this film merely continues that tradition. Han's knack for beautiful visuals is there, and the actors do a pretty solid job, but the story is just a little too sentimental. It's certainly not a bad film, but I expect more from Han.

The first half hour is quite slow and uneventful, but that's just part of the slowly building crescendo that wreaks havoc in the final hour. There's not a lot that makes sense here and everything is clearly played for laughs. Directors Yamamoto's execution is solid, though I will say that I've seen this done better. Still, if you're in for a hilarious comedy, this one comes well recommended.

There are a few slapstick moments that break the mold, but they are even less funny than the rest of the film. Performances are rather poor, the plot isn't all that interesting and though the film itself is relatively short, it felt at least twice as long. It's a comedy I simply didn't find funny, and since that's all there is to Miss Chic, the verdict is quite damning.

Performances are decent, the comedy is light yet amusing and the drama is poignant at times. It's very solid for HK standards, on the other hand this is a pretty standard and expected coming of age flick that goes through the motions without taking any risks. Just a decent film, which is better than I expected it to be.

Expect a slew of familiar Shaw Bros actors doing their usual thing. There's a lot of kicking, punching, hurling weapons at each other and some brutal murders. What there isn't much of is coherence or creativity. I'd probably like this film better if I'd seen it a bit earlier in my exploration of Chang's oeuvre, but as a 60th+ plus film it's just a bit too expected.

There is a lot of padding here, which isn't very interesting at all. Generic characters and Nakata's tepid direction simply don't support a dramatic narrative. The bigger problem though is that none of the haunts are scary. It's just the same old ghosts and apparitions doing the same old things. The ending gives the film a small boost, other than that this is for the most hardened J-Horror fans only.

The cast does a decent job (with a somewhat surprising role for Willis), the setting is appealing, and the camera work is nice enough. Miller simply goes through the motions and doesn't do much beyond keeping the plot on the rails, but if you're looking for a decent action/thriller flick, this isn't such a bad choice.

The special effects are quite terrible, Williams is grating, the plot is really simplistic and the bad guy ... well, I actually felt bad for him as the film went along. It could be that little kids gets something out of a film like this, then again it'll probably just make their ADD worse than it already is. Pretty horrible.

The plot is decent but somewhat predictable and it's a bit of a cop-out that Cruella isn't really the villain here, but Stone thrives as Estella/Cruella, Hauser is pretty funny and cinematographer Karakatsanis really knows how to add a little extra flair to the film. The film is much better than it has any right to be, Disney did really well here.

The problem with Godzilla vs. Kong is that it's not quite goofy or over the top enough to be fun, neither is it cool nor impressive enough to be a kick-ass blockbuster action flick. No matter how hard Wingard tries to make it big and bold, it all feels rather dull and inconsequential. Disappointing.

The action is a big step up from the previous film and the first half is pretty explosive. The second part slows down a bit too much, which takes away from the fun. But, major props for keeping it well under 2 hours for a change, a film like this really doesn't need to be any longer. There's definitely some good things here, it's just a shame about the less interesting second half.

It's a bit of an ugly duckling story with some girl power thrown in at the end. The performances are decent, and the first hour has some rather amusing scenes. The second half is too predictable though and with Frankel playing it safe from start to finish there's really not much here that makes a lasting impression.

James Fox puts in a pretty solid performance, but it's Roeg's manic visual style that stands out here. It's a little rough around the edges and I don't think it works very well with the score, but the energy is boundless. It's a pretty odd film beyond that, possibly a bit too puzzling for some, but it's certainly worth a shot.

It's always nice to see a film like this shot on location, Hu is also very capable capturing these lovely settings. Performances aren't too great, luckily there isn't too much drama or narrative. The fight choreography isn't the best either, though the editing is nice and punchy and the short runtime keeps things nice and tight. A solid Hu.