Log: week 4 / 2021

After a peculiar train ride, Jozéf arrives at a far off sanatorium to pay his dying father a visit. The reception is puzzling, but that's only a prelude to this mysterious place where time doesn't seem to behave as expected and where dreams, memories and fantasy all blend together to create one big, confusing experience.

The setting and cinematography are impressive, sadly the props and costumes come off a lot cheaper. Performances aren't that great either and the darker second half takes away some of the film's appeal. People with a soft spot for the weird and creative owe it to themselves to give this one a fair chance, others should tread carefully. Interesting, but not entirely successful.

Kiang Yu-Kou's intellect is apparent even at a very young age, but his arrogance doesn't make him very popular. He spends his time watching Chinese opera and even tries his hand at writing one himself, but his blossoming career is cut short when the Japanese invade Shanghai and the war starts.

The film's a bit oldskool for a '97 Hong Kong project but fails to revive its glory of just half a decade ago. Performances are weak, the cinematography is a little disappointing and overall the project feels rather cheap. Might be better for people who are more acquainted with the subject, though they might be bothered by Ko's inability to fully suppress his comedy background. Not great.

The death of a respected left-wing politician during a rather violent protest shocks the public. At first, it looks like an act of terrorism, but then stories start popping up that he was assassinated by his political rivals. More and more evidence points in that direction, but the investigator has to wiggle by some high-ranking officials to get to the truth.

Z is an amusing film, but that's about it. The political context is little more than dressing and the investigation is very by the numbers. More and more clues push the investigator into the right direction, who doesn't have to do much but wait until everything is thrown into his lap. It's not really a genre I'm very fond of and I didn't see anything too special here, but it was decent enough.

Eguchi thinks back of the time he spent writing his thesis in Yanagawa. At the time he lived in with the Kaibara household. When he hears the sound of tears at night, he goes out to investigate and becomes part of the drama that tears the family apart. The rest of the city is in pretty bad shape too.

Performances are decent, but the intrigue simply doesn't work. Ôbayashi's style isn't very suited for serious films and when he tries to get poetic it just comes off silly. There are moments where his talent shines through and its certainly not a terrible film, just not on the same level as his other work.

After destroying two German tanks, private Alyosha is branded a hero. Rather than accept a medal, he asks for leave so that he can visit his mom. His wish is granted, but his voyage home is not without trouble. He meets up with various people as he tries to get to his destination in time.

Performances are bland, the cinematography is rather dull and the drama is extremely predictable. I couldn't really find the appeal of this film, nor how it earned its status as one of the big classics. At least the film isn't too long, but after about 30 minutes I grew tired of it and it didn't get any better after that. Disappointing.

So they tore the Amityville house down and put an asylum in its place. Lisa gets hired as a cleaner, but soon enough her job starts to take a serious toll on her mental health. The caretakers mistreat the patients, see sees apparitions and the ward with the criminally insane is a vile place to clean. Cue a sinister plot.

The film is just really amateurish. Performances are crap, the sound mix is hilarious (with much of the music fully drowning out the dialogues) and the cinematography is substandard. Some moments are moody, but they're completely overshadowed by the poor execution elsewhere. A bland and cheap attempt to cash in on a franchise that isn't very good to begin with.

Dennis and Steve are two paramedics who stumble upon a new drug. When Dennis' daughter disappears after taking the drug, Steve starts an investigation on his own. The drugs acts as a time travel mechanism, but as it doesn't come with any explanation Steve has to figure out himself what the rules are.

It's a silly premise and even though the film tries to come up with an explanation, it still makes very little sense. The time travel scenes are also a bit too complex for a little genre film like this, which takes away from the impact. Performances are decent and the soundtrack is pretty great, visually it's also pretty solid, but it's just a little too serious for its own good.

The police are trying to track down a gang of criminals who have the uncanny capability to disappear on the spot. The police is clueless, until one of the cops discovers they might have taken part in a nuclear test. Their bodies became unstable and they turn to goo whenever they're touched.

The effects are crummy, Honda isn't really suited to direct cop thrillers and the performances are quite poor. It's just a very sluggish and dull film. The finale quarter is slightly better as things heat up (quite literally), but watching transparent goo isn't as much fun as seeing someone prance around in a rubber suit. Not a fan.

Yang Lie Xue is a soul hunter, a descendant from an alien race who help lost souls make their transition to the afterlife. She isn't very good at her job and because her family is famed for their immaculate track record, this results in quite a bit of friction. When Xue gets another chance to prove her worth, she decides to make a real effort.

The fantasy lore is interesting enough and there are moments when Xu shows he could one day be a capable director, but overall the film looks too cheap, the fantasy elements are poorly conceived and some misplaced comedy didn't help much either. It's certainly not a terrible film, it's just that the potential was there to be great, it just never really materialized.

Qi Ling and Yin Chen embark on a journey to save Gilgamesh, the last wish of the former Duke. Their trip is made a lot harder when You Ming, Thalia and Qi La show up. They're hellbent on stopping our heroes from reaching their goal, and they've got some mean tricks up their sleeves to accomplish just that.

Guo is a young director, so it's no surprise that the film sometimes feels like an elongated cut scene from an unreleased Final Fantasy game. It's just not quite cinematic enough to be a real masterpiece, but the lore is compelling and intriguing, the action scenes are glorious and the film feels truly epic. The character models are a bit flimsy (faces can look very realistic, but the body language still feels off) and there are definitely some pacing issues, but the fantasy elements are more than sufficient to make me want to go back and watch the first film, while looking forward to the conclusion of this trilogy. Good stuff.

Unsuspecting villagers are enslaved by Lord Arakawa to work in the sulfur pits. The children take it upon themselves to try and free their fathers, but the trek through the mountains is pretty treacherous. Luckily they get a little help from the big stone God, who ones again rises to fight for the fate of the innocent.

This was easily the best-looking entry in the series. The snowy scenes in the mountain were pretty great and the finale was by far the most impressive of the three films. It's a shame that there's not quite enough variation in structure between the films, as it all felt a little too predictable the third time around. This was good kaiju fun though, definitely recommended for fans of the genre.

When Sunada and her friend have a little time to spare, they decide to visit Sunada's hometown for a visit to her family. Sunada isn't too proud of her rural roots, but being there unearths a lot of forgotten memories and emotions, some of which prompt her to reevaluate her current life.

The performances of Kaho and Shim Eun-kyung are stellar, the chemistry between the two is truly off the charts. Hakota aptly balances deeper and darker moments with light comedy and there are quite a few poignant moments. The soundtrack's a bit underused though and visually it's just a little too predictable. But the potential is clearly here, I'll be keeping a close eye on Hakota. Fans of Japanese drama should definitely give this one a go.

A ronin arrives in a barren town, hoping to find a bit of work. The town looks deserted, not too long ago an uprising took place there, so the ronin appears to be dead out of luck. Desperate for food, he gets caught in a local feud that goes way above his head, but his will to survive is strong.

Kill! is just a smidgen over-the-top, which doesn't read as very funny when you're not too versed in rules of the genre. I mostly saw a very familiar setup with the usual elements I dislike about chanbara cinema. Crude characters, uninteresting drama and poor action scenes. Maybe I'll revisit it once I've seen more core genre efforts, but for now this was a big disappointment.

Three women in contemporary Hong Kong are sharing a house together. They each have a very different idea of what love is supposed to be. Pai Mei wants to marry rich and live a comfortable life, Chu Tai just wants to get married at all cost and Yao Yao is saving herself for the right man. But love isn't that straightforward.

The soundtrack isn't great and the drama is a bit much, but the cinematography elevates the film above the usual Shaw Bros fare and the film is actually quite atmospheric. Performances are decent and even though the characters are a little too stereotypical, Sex, Love and Hate succeeds in what it sets out to do. Not bad, just don't expect a typical Chor martial arts epic.

Gabbar is a mean criminal who made many enemies in his time. When he kills the family of an officer, the man decides it's time to get rid of Gabbar once and for all. He recruits two small-time criminals and tasks them with tracking Gabbar down and killing him before he can do any more harm.

The colorful cinematography and light tone are a pleasant departure from the norm, the plot is simple but leaves enough room for some genre fun. The problem is that the film gets way too serious, jumps from one genre to the next and grossly overstays its welcome. The usual Bollywood complaints in other words. A real shame, as with some serious trimming this could've been a pretty acceptable film.

Carver is a wealthy media mogul who plans to launch a worldwide news coverage agency. Behind the scenes he's staging and manipulating highly volatile political scuffles, in order to produce scoops for his network. Bond is sent in to investigate as he's had a past with Carver's wife.

Brosnan doesn't quite feel at home with so many bullets flying around, Yeoh's martial arts skills are underused and Pryce must be one of the blandest bad guys yet. There are some nifty action scenes and the film's a tad shorter than usual, but there's nothing really memorable about this Bond entry.

Cassie still lives with her parents and works a boring day job in a local coffee shop. She was well on her way to become a doctor, but she dropped out of school and lost all will to make something of her life. At night, she frequents bars and pretends to be drunk, trapping unsuspecting predatory men and giving them a good scare.

Promising Young Woman has everything to be a cynical, gutsy and relevant revenge thriller, but it feels like Fennell keeps pulling punches. There isn't really one identifiable thing that goes wrong, it's more like a series of missed opportunities that make it feel like the film didn't live up to its full potential. Still, some fine performances, strong cinematography and cheeky twists (not a big fan of the massacred pop songs though) make this a very worth debut.

Yi Li is a wannabe martial artist who roams Old Street, a tourist attraction that used to house a lot of martial arts schools. When he is hired by a wealthy group to help revive the glory of the street he gladly obliges, but little does he know that they are using him to get to the treasures of the former masters.

Performances aren't great and the comedy is a little questionable, but once the film starts to focus more on the action that's quickly forgotten. There's nothing exceptional here, it surely can't compete with the better films in the genre, but if you're starved for some decent martial arts fun than this is a pretty solid bet.

Marlo struggles with her responsibilities as a mom. She has two kids and a third one the way, her husband isn't helping much around the house and her oldest is having troubles in school. Marlo is at the end of her wits, but things change when she hires Tully, a night nanny who helps her out so she can get a decent rest.

It's not the most imaginative setting and even though Theron does her best, she'll still somewhat of a miscast. Once Davis hits the screen things get a little better, but some silly twists and questionably executed scenes in the second part don't do the film any good. Not a terrible film, just rather mediocre.

Django arrives in a little town close to the Mexican border. The town is overrun by members of the Klan and a group of Mexican bandits, turning the town into one big lawless battlefield. Django tries to keep out of their affairs, but inevitably gets drawn into their rivalries, with deadly consequences.

The characters are a bit livelier and there's a stronger focus on action, which makes it a little easier to sit through. I still don't care much for the setting and there's still too much posing and boring conversation to make it truly entertaining, but compared to its peers Django is a breath of fresh air.

The first two shorts are set in ancient Japan (Edo and Taisho era) while the last one takes place in a more contemporary (and common Yakuza) setting. Though the title of the film focuses on the law part, Ishii has more interest in what happens when they are broken, which makes for some very gruesome punishments.

While the exploitation elements are definitely fun, Ishii seemed a little too confident in the technical side of his production. Paint-like blood and rubber body replacements don't work that well from up close. The pacing is high though and there are some very nasty kills that will no doubt please genre fans.