Log: week 43 / 2021

Joe Wilson is a regular guy, trying to make an honest buck as he tries to fund his wedding with Katherine, the girl of his dreams. His life is suddenly disrupted when he is jailed on suspicion of kidnapping. Wilson is innocent, but the people of the town are certain he's the culprit and an angry mob lights a fire to the jail where he is locked up.

Lang's Fury is a pretty moralistic tale that's a bit too unsubtle and heavy-handed to make a real impression. The performances are mediocre, the plot not too convincing and the styling pretty average. The pacing is decent though and the finale is slightly better than the rest of it, but I think I prefer Lang's German films.

Maria and Ingvar mourn the loss of their child, when mother nature appears to be lending them a little hand. On their farm a rather special lamb is born, which the couple takes as their own. The lamb brings them happiness, but they'll soon find that the lamb wasn't really meant for them to raise.

Lamb's a pretty typical A24 production. A moody soundtrack, long takes, silent characters, an oddball concept. Director Jóhannsson does well, Rapace and Guðnason put in nice performances, there's just a bit too much filler, and the audiovisual styling isn't quite thorough enough. A slightly more genre-driven approach might've pushed it to be a true masterpiece, as it stands, it's still a pretty intriguing film.

Hiro Terada lives with Osamu Tezuka in an apartment building. When Tezuka leaves, other mangakas take his place and in no time the place has become a haven for up and coming artists. Terada is the leader of the group and tries to help the younger members, as they try to figure out how to make it in a cut-throat world.

The performances are fine, the cinematography is decent, the pacing a little slow and the narrative somewhat wandering, but that's expected from a Japanese drama. I personally didn't care too much for the setting, people with an interest in the Tokiwa collective might get more out of it. A fine drama, but I expect a bit more from Ichikawa.

There's not really a main plot here, just a little city by the sea and some slightly oddball characters who inhabit the place. The directors take on various smaller stories, sometimes working together, sometimes by themselves. It plays almost like an anthology, though the stories aren't entirely disconnected.

If you've seen some Japanese dramas than Zokki won't have too many surprises for you. The performances are strong, the cinematography is polished, and the soundtrack is fitting. It's a calm, calming, somewhat slow film, paying a lot of attention to smaller moments, little gestures, and some light comedy. Good fun, but nothing too extraordinary.

Herbie Stempel is doing well on the Twenty-One quiz show, until the producer approaches him and tells him to take a dive. The ratings have stabilized, and the makers want Van Doren, Stempel's opponent, to win the next game. Stempel resists, but the promise of a future talk show makes him change his mind. When that show never materializes, Stempel is furious.

If you need a film to tell you that TV is fake, then Quiz Show will provide you with all the material you need. The direction is somewhat expected, and the film doesn't take any real chances, but Fiennes and Turturro are both pretty good. Not a very remarkable film, but not quite as cheesy and pushy compared to similar Hollywood dramas.

A group of poor workers is promised a big sum of money when they agree to drive a delivery with highly explosive materials across the jungle. A perilous journey they'll have to finish with two ragged trucks. While they appear confident to finish the job, they have no idea of the dangers that lie ahead.

Just like the original, the trip is the main feature here, it's a shame then that it takes so long before they even get started. The drama isn't too interesting, Friendkin's direction is a bit murky too, but at least there are some nice scenes scattered throughout. Just not enough to make this a successful thriller.

Miyata is still sulking because his girlfriend left is six months ago. His friend feels sorry for him and sets him up with a nice lady who just got out of a relationship herself. The two seem to hit it off, but when Miyata's old girlfriend suddenly returns the magic is gone. What looks like a trivial meeting hides quite a bit of intrigue.

Director Uchida does well to hide parts of the story, only to reiterate the same scenes later on with added knowledge. It's a nice enough setup, but once the surprise is gone the somewhat dreary cinematography, the forgettable score and decent but basic performances can't pull the weight to make this a true future classic. Good fun, not a masterpiece.

The titular Dr. Mabuse is a criminal mastermind (and he sure looks the part too). He has his eyes set on the Berlin underworld, most notably the gambling scene. The law is hot on his tail though, Norbert von Wenk won't rest until he has Mabuse locked up behind bars. Safe to say, that's going to require some effort.

Though the pacing isn't too bad, the plot and characters are pretty simplistic. There's certainly not enough material to fill more than 4 hours of film, I wouldn't be surprised if some shorter cuts were a bit easier to sit through. On the other hand, it's not quite as boring as I feared, so at least this wasn't a complete bust. Recommended if you like 20s German cinema and big crime epics, it's not really for me though.

The plot revolves around a post office robbery. Two detectives are put on the case when two witnesses of the robbery are found dead the next day. Their leads take them to a member of the secret police, but once they're on his tail, previous accounts and witnesses start to fall through, making it very hard to build a case.

It's really a very basic setup, executed with almost no flair. The comedy is bland and doesn't work well, the investigation is a real bore, the cinematography is dreadful, and the soundtrack was probably just an afterthought. This feels very generic in every possible way, best to avoid unless you really love Scandinavian police thrillers.

After the events of the first film, both Zosia and the killers end up in jail. The local police chief takes Zosia back to the scene of the crime, but there she turns into a gruesome killer and shreds him on the spot. It's up to Wanessa and Adas, two police constables, to locate Zosia before she murders even more people.

The gore is pretty brutal, the characters are pleasantly daft and Kowalski proves he's not just a slasher nut, but he knows about other horror niches too. The film becomes pretty unhinged in the second half, just adds to the appeal if you ask me. A worthy sequel, bring on part three.

As the title gives away, this film recounts one of Liuxiang's early adventures. Liuxiang is a grand thief who uses his skills to do good. One day he runs into Mu Qianyu, heir to the power of the Devine Water Palace. Qianyu is being targeted by a female ninja, who wants the power all to herself. Liuxiang decides Qianyu can use his help and joins her quest.

Though these films are swiftly and cheaply made filler productions by nature, their baseline quality has been steadily rising these past couple of years. Chu Liuxiang seems to be taking a step back again. Poor and unnecessary CG, mediocre performances and some unwelcome melodrama take away from the film's appeal. Not all is bad, but there are definitely better films in this niche.

When Dr. Richard Kimble comes home one night, he finds a stranger in his house, his wife murdered. When the police comes down to investigate the murder scene, they arrest Kimble and place him under suspicion of murder. Kimble manages to escape, but he'll be forced to prove his innocence with an entire police force on his tail.

The Fugitive isn't a very complex film. After the initial setup, Ford spends the remainder of the film running around, inching closer and closer to the final reveal. There's never any doubt that the plot will be neatly wrapped up by the time the film has ended, even so, the road there is pretty amusing. Basic but decent filler.

Tong is a doctor who studied Western medicine in the UK. When he returns to China he settles in a small town, where he hopes to help out the local villagers. When he arrives, it turns out the people there are threatened by the Axe Gang. To make matters more complicated, Tong falls in love with the sister of the Axe Gang's leader.

While this sounds pretty bland, the film has one important redeeming factor, which is Yen himself. As a director/lead he has every opportunity to let the action scenes shine, and shine it does. The rest is rather subpar (though a proper remaster could help, the camera work isn't that bad really), so if you feel like some kick-ass martial arts cinema, this is a pretty solid option.

Bogart plays Roy, a criminal just released from prison. He gets right back into the business, this time hooking up with Red and Babe, two younger criminals. Roy also meets Velma, a young girl he falls in love with. When the robbery goes bust, Roy and Velma have to run away together, as the police are right on their heels.

There's a lot of dialogue here, most of it isn't interesting at all. The premise is very simple, the performances are rather one-note and the few action scenes aren't very convincing either. I guess films like these are way more fun if you're a hardened film noir fan, personally I find them pretty dull and forgettable.

Tina and Ben are a couple who hunt down unknown spots for their YouTube channel. Ben receives a lead about a lake that is supposedly great for diving, but when they arrive at the place it turns out to be a tourist hotspot. A friendly local is willing to take Ben and Tina to a more remote corner of the lake, where they can dive for a flooded house.

It's a pretty simple setup, which could've been a tiny bit shorter, then again the film is already quite economic as it is. The initial discovery of the house and its chambers is by far the best part of the film, the sets are insane, and the tension is built up pretty nicely. The actual horror elements are a bit disappointing in comparison, but overall this is a pretty nifty horror flick that is sure to please genre fans.

Not sure how much of the plot I can spoil, since the film gives it all away anyway, but I'll try to keep it at least a little exciting. Claire is looking for a nanny, as she has a tough time juggling works and two kids. Out of the blue, Peyton applies for the job. She looks perfect, but she is linked to Claire's past, and she is looking for revenge.

So the plot is a real bore, other elements of the film are completely unable to make up for it too. The cinematography is utterly bland, the score feels like something they found for free. It's almost as if you're watching a cheap TV production, not a 90s blockbuster hit. The performances are truly poor too, which leaves ... nothing really. Best to forget all about this film as quickly as possible.

Lo Lieh is tasked with battling a criminal gang. Hoping to learn more about them, he infiltrates the gang. What he doesn't know is that they have moles too, and Lieh soon becomes their target. To make matters even more complex, Lieh falls in love with the blind daughter of the gang's boss.

The film is nothing more than a bunch of familiar scenes and plot points stringed together. But the fight scenes in the rain do look extraordinary, there is some very cool weaponry and there's an actual post-climax finale, a true rarity. Not the best Cheh Chang film out there, but Shaw Bros fans have plenty to look forward to.

Luz is a Chilean woman who stumbles into a police station. She doesn't make a lot of sense, so the police calls in the help of Dr. Rossini. When he arrives he hypnotizes Luz, taking her back to earlier in the day. Luz is a cab driver and picks up an old school friend. What follows defies description.

It's nice to see that Singer fully commit to the atmosphere, but the soundtrack is a bit simplistic and the drab 70s/80s vibe didn't really do it for me. It's the rather disappointing finale that left me wanting the most though, a film like this really need to go full out, but Singer keeps everything very restrained. In the end, the atmosphere isn't powerful enough to support the sluggish pacing, but the film deserves bonus points for doing something different.

Lisa is a young girl who falls madly in love with a pianist living next door. She is too shy to confront the man, and before she can, she has to go live in a different city. When she returns to Vienna, she wrestles her way back into his life. But they only have a short time together before fate pulls them apart again.

It's a nice enough setup and the film is decently paced. It's quite short, there's just the right amount of intrigue and the performances are decent too. The cinematography and soundtrack are pretty mediocre, but the biggest problem is that the end left me completely cold, even though it was clear this was supposed to be a real tearjerker.

A young boy gets his family into trouble when he plays around with some science gear. The device shoots a ghost from the sky, which lands at their house and begins to haunt the place. In the meantime, two vampire hunters are chasing a particularly malicious demon. The two parties meet up, which results in quite a bit of chaos.

I'm quite fond of films like this, so I'm always happy to bump into some lesser known ones. Spiritual Trinity is straight up genre fare, but the fights are pretty cool, the styling is on point and the comedy is pleasantly daft. Hard to recommend, but if you've seen and liked all the bigger films in the genre, it's a pretty safe bet.

Anna is a young woman who falls in love with a businessman 30 years her senior. Their love runs deep, but Anna's husband gets jealous and moves her to the forest, where she gets 8 kids. Years later, Anna's granddaughter asks her father about Anna's death, suspecting that she killed herself.

I haven't found a trailer or excerpt from the Latvian version, but Baumane's English narration is simply horrendous. The animation is very bland too, it feels more like an afterthought, something that moves for people to look at while they listen to Baumane's story. It's a shame not more effort was put into the presentation, as it is now, it's better suited as a radio/podcast recording.

The setting is 1941, a South-Korean hospital. Three largely unrelated events happen in the span of a year, all hinting at the existence of ghosts (or human souls, if you will). A girl is wedded to a student, a young girl is brought into the hospital after a car accident and a doctor returns after his visit to Japan.

The film offers a typical South-Korean mix of drama and horror. The build-up is pretty solid, the execution of the horror scenes is stylish and the film forces you to keep paying attention to what's going on. Ultimately though, a confusing plot isn't enough to make this a great film. Good and solid genre filler, nothing more.

Fred it being chased by some hardened criminals, after blowing their boss' vault. He finally loses them in the Paris subway, but doesn't dare to come out again. In the underground tunnels he meets up with some of society's rejects and decides to stick around for a while. The only thing that gets Fred to leave his hideout is Héléna, an alluring woman.

The most interesting thing about Subway is that it doesn't have a set narrative or clear plot. It's basically just Fred being chased in the subway and meeting up with some weird fellas, while passing the time as he tries to figure out where to go with his life. The soundtrack is decent, the cinematography is playful, and the performances are pretty light and fun. A solid Besson.

Bob, a former criminal, switched careers and makes money gambling. When he falls in love with a younger girl and loses big during one of his games, he plans to rob a casino. He assembles a crew and comes up with an airtight plan, but casting himself as a casino gambler puts the entire operation in jeopardy.

Melville builds up the robbery quite meticulously, but because the characters are rather boring the film becomes terribly sluggish. The jazzy soundtrack is overly cheesy, even somewhat childish, and the heist itself isn't as tense as it should've been. At least the cinematography was slightly above par, but not enough to save this film. One of Melville's weakest films I've seen.