Log: week 45 / 2021

Joe is a demoted officer on call duty. In between more pedestrian 911 calls, he receives a message of a woman who is being kidnapped by her husband. Joe tries his best to save the woman, but when the HCP stop the wrong van it seems the two are lost. Joe goes above and beyond to solve the case from his station.

Most of the plot and the dialogue are copied from the original. There is a bit more padding (to clear up certain plot points) and some slight changes that take some edge off. Gyllenhaal isn't at his best and the film does leave the call station for a single scene, which was pretty unnecessary. Not terrible, but make sure you watch the original first.

The story starts with two loafers, one of them turns out to be the son of a mythical crime syndicate boss. He left his old life behind years ago, of course it's coming back to haunt him. His father sent some men to get the jade pendant given to him by his deceased mom. His sister has the same one, so Shang-chi will have to find her as quickly as possible.

Shang-chi is a typical "USA does China" film, stuck in uncanny valley. There are quite a few parallels with the cheesy Chinese CG fests that have plagued Chinese movie screen though. The CG's a bit better, the aesthetics are a bit worse, the result is pretty much the same. Very mediocre film making that will be quickly forgotten.

Ree has been given the care of her two younger siblings and her sick mother. Her father is out doing some shady business, but doesn't seem to be coming back this time. When the money runs out and there's a chance they'll be evicted, Ree sets out to find her dad, but wherever she goes she is met with defiance and indifference.

The muted color palette adds to the dramatic tension, performances are fine and the slow unraveling of the mystery was aptly paced. The film isn't exactly subtle though and even though the intrigue is there, Granik never takes it anywhere surprising or truly exciting. Solid genre work, but nothing more.

Four kids grow up in Hell's Kitchen, a notorious neighborhood in New York. They're rascals who scour the edge of the law, until one fated day they steal a hot dog cart and nearly kill a man doing so. They're all sent to a correctional facility, where they are severely mistreated by the guards.

2.5 hours is a lot, then again the film covers a lot of ground. Performances are decent, and somehow I do like Levinson a tad more than most of his Hollywood contemporaries, even though his directorial style isn't all that defined. The plot is pretty standard though and the film has few surprises, nor does it dare to get very graphic. Just decent.

Krishna is a young boy loving on the streets of Bombay. He is doing odd jobs to save up money, money that will buy him a ticket out of the city. Life is tough though and around every corner are people who want to take advantage of Krishna. When he becomes involved with a drug courier, Krishna's life takes a dive.

It's a tragic story no doubt, but Nair's direction is pretty bland. The performances aren't always great either, the drama is a bit too predictable, and the conclusion felt a bit random. People who love this kind of social drama will certainly get more from this film, for me, it lacked cinematic quality.

Asger is working the emergency calls, when he gets a call from a woman who is being kidnapped. Her assailant is setting next to her in the car, and she addresses Asger as if she was speaking to her daughter. Asger immediately understands that the situation is critical, and will do anything to rescue the woman.

It's clear from the start that the film is about to stick with Asger throughout the entire runtime. Not knowing what exactly is going on the other end of the line is what drives the tension, still director Asger could've done more with it. Performances are decent but nothing special, the added drama feels a tad too much like filler and the ending is a bit silly, but the foundation is pretty solid and the short runtime makes sure the film never drags on for too long. Decent.

There's historic value here, as Riefenstahl's techniques are ahead of its time. By modern standards it isn't all that special though, so I didn't really get much out of it. Don't expect any exciting sporting matches or built up tension, the registration of the games themselves is actually pretty subpar, instead Riefenstahl seems more interested in the aesthetic beauty.

What will stay with me the most though is how amateurish the games were back then. Of course, the original Olympic Games were set up for amateurs only, but if you compare the events (the gymnast disciplines in particular) with today's athletes, this is complete amateur hour. Not completely uninteresting, but hardly worth the runtime.

One day, an adolescent boy is found in the basement, with his father lying dead elsewhere in the house. It's clear the boy has never seen the light of day. A caretaker takes him under her wings, but the people in town down really like the odd-looking boy. When he turns out to have special powers, it just makes things worse for him.

The premise is neat and Flanery's performance is on point. The drama is vintage Hollywood though. Quite cheesy, with dumb bad guys, predictable hurdles and a downright kitsch ending. The film keeps on alternating the good with the bad, so it never becomes a true disaster, but Silva isn't really the man for this type of thing.

Harry is a petty thief who finds himself in Los Angeles after barging in on a casting call while fleeing from the police. There he bumps into Harmony, a wannabe actress who struggles to keep her head above water. Harry is completely smitten by the girl, but she spells trouble, and before he knows it his life is filled with corpses.

Downey is the heart of the film. His typical delivery makes the comedy and narration stick. With a little help from Black (some fun editing and nice visual touches), that's well enough to make this an entertaining film. It's just not quite as special and original anymore as it was the last time I watched it. I still like the film a lot, but the genius is gone.

Two Soviet partisans are traversing occupied Russia, trying to keep out of the hand of the Germans. The barren landscape and cold winter setting makes their trip excruciating. When they are finally caught, the difference between the two is immediately clear. One will do anything to survive, the other stands by his principles.

The first half of the film is passable. The snowy setting and stark black and white cinematography go well together. The second half becomes a lot more dialogue-heavy and the blunt, almost screamy philosophical claptrap really didn't do it for me. Not that I expected the world from this film, but I did expect it to be better than this.

Raymond Wong is back in full effect. He landed a teaching job at a new school, and he's planning to get married to his girlfriend. The kids at the school are making his life harder than it needs to be though, to make matters worse his old self is still hanging around and the ghost of an evil warlord is chasing his girlfriend for past-life mistakes.

The film starts out pretty tame, the first half hour offers little more than simple Raymond Wong comedy sketches. The film does pick up steam during the second half. The comedy gets crazier, the pacing is excruciating, and the finale is pretty wild. You probably don't need to see the earlier films to enjoy part IV, but some prior experience with Hong Kong comedy is an absolute must.

There is no plot, none whatsoever. This is just Lee Kang-sheng dressed as a monk, walking very (very) slowly. The film consists of 16 static shots with just that. There is no dialogue, no apparent goal or destination, no camera movement. Just a guy walking around at a snail's pace. If that sounds like hell, don't even go near this film.

The shorts left me pretty cold, mostly because they weren't long enough to get me in the mood. This is the kind of film that transfixes, but it actually needs a certain run-in period to get you in that mood. The aesthetic quality of the film also seems higher, the ambient sounds are soothing, and the length is just right. Pretty hard to recommend, but this film like Tsai making a real effort again.

Max and Drew are the creators of a streaming show that specializes in exorcisms. Max is the producer, Drew plays a priest hungry for (social) followers. When one of their victims fails to turn up, Max' girlfriend takes her place. When she becomes possessed by a real demon, subscriber counts go through the roof, but Max and Drew find themselves at a loss.

The start of the film is a bit basic, not in the least because the streaming thing is becoming a little overused. But the film more self-conscious than most of its peers and the execution is actually pretty nice. The effects aren't top-notch, even so LeVeck transcends that and delivers a pretty amusing horror flick. Good fun for genre fans.

The film pitches the one-armed boxer against the master of the flying guillotine. After the former killed two disciples of the latter, a showdown is inevitable. The master is a very powerful and ruthless man, he sets off on a veritable killing spree, picking up some other martial artists along the way. The one-armed boxer will have to be cunning if he wants to get rid of his opponent.

There's a lot of fighting going on here. The story advances through rather short bursts of dialogue, the rest is just extended fight sequences, tournaments and trap building. The choreography is a bit mixed, but there are some cool weapons and a pleasant level of creativity. You really have to love martial arts flicks, other than that there's really not much here, but if you do, you can't really go wrong with this film.

Homer Smith, a black baptist, is crossing the desert when his car suddenly fails him. Luckily, there's a farm close by. When he gets there he is greeted by 5 nuns. They are quite pushy, and they talk him into doing some chores for them. Before he knows it, he's staying with the nuns and building them a church.

All characters are inherently good here, and when their vanity pops up it is immediately remedied with some wise words from the rest of the cast. The plot is completely saccharine, the styling is bland, but the pacing is decent, and it's also somewhat refreshing to spend some time with characters that aren't total douchebags. Some redeeming qualities, but not a great film.

Aladar is a dinosaur adopted by a group of lemurs. They find his egg on their island and decide to raise him as one of their own. Aladar lives a good life, but then a meteor shower hits Earth and destroys their home. They're forced to look elsewhere for a place to live, which marks the start of a long and perilous trip that will require much sacrifice.

Dinosaur is all tech, no aesthetic. Twenty years down the line that means that visually, it's a very unattractive film. The story isn't much to look at either, the characters are pretty annoying and Disney's magical life lessons are best soon forgotten. At least the film is pretty compact, that's about the only positive here really.

The film tells the life of Elsa Andersson, a young girl who grows up on a farm, but dreams of becoming an aviator. Her parents, nor the people in her village really understand Elsa's fascination with the sky, but she is determined to follow her dreams, even though her father would prefer if she stayed on the farm.

There are some flashes of quality here, mostly some dreamier moments in between the more traditional drama parts. Performances are decent, but the plot is awfully dull, the styling feels a bit bland and the runtime is inexcusable. It might've been a better film if they'd gone full fiction, this felt like a contrived and lazy attempt to pay homage to Elsa Andersson.

Nixon is a successful lawyer who sides with the Conservatives and wants to unite his country. A first attempt to become president fails, but after Kennedy is assassinated and the US finds itself stuck in the Vietnam War, Nixon sees his chance to try again. This time with more success, though he'll find that being a president isn't as easy as he'd hoped.

Stone has quite a bit of fun with the rise of Nixon. The pacing is solid, there's some (limited) visual prowess and some memorable scenes. Once things go downhill for Nixon the film grinds to a halt. Hopkins is too much of a caricature, the drama doesn't really register, and the film goes on for way too long. If you're really interested in Nixon, it's probably better to watch a good documentary.

David is a former cop who gets hired by the CEO of an android-producing company to retrieve his daughter. She fled to Zone 414, a place where humans and androids live together. The first thing David needs to do is to seek out Jane, an android who doesn't quite restrict herself to her programmed routines.

Pearce is surprisingly weak, Lutz is better but isn't given all that much to work with. Some settings are moody, Baird does his best to bring the place to life and the second half does add some intrigue, but the film never really escapes the shadow of its big brothers. Decent sci-fi filler, but I'd hoped for a bit more.

After Benny is extradited from the US, he ends up back in Mexico, where his life feels somewhat bleak and pointless. When his brother, a local criminal, dies in a drug feud, Benny takes over his brother's life and becomes a dealer himself. At first it seems like an easy way towards a comfortable life, but when Benny's boss gets into a conflict with another drug lord, people start falling like flies.

Performances are nice enough and the yellow glow gives the film some welcome flair. The first half of the film is pretty fun, when things get more serious though it quickly becomes clear that there's simply not enough meat here to warrant the epic scale and runtime of the film. Not bad, just a bit overblown in places.

Camille is a talented artist who gets noticed by Auguste Rodin. She impresses him so much that he takes her as his apprentice. Camille is smitten by Rodin, but finds it hard to be nothing more than his mistress. As she starts to understand that she'll never be more than Rodin, she tries to get out from under his wings.

For a film celebrating a female artist, Claudel is a surprisingly weak and dependent character. Adjani and Depardieu both put in commendable performances, the film sports a pleasantly warm, romantic look, only three hours is a bit much. Nuytten could've cut at least 60 minutes of material, and he would've ended up with a better film.

Marlowe is a private detective who helps Terry, a friend of him, escape to Mexico. The next day the police appear on Marlowe's doorstep, as Terry's wife has killed herself. The police take him in, once it's clear that this is a suicide case Marlowe is released again. He doesn't trust the story and starts an investigation on his own.

The recurring musical theme (in different executions) is fun, the lead character is charismatic and Altman doesn't take the story too serious, which is always a plus. The plot itself is pretty basic and the film could've been a bit shorter, other than that it's one of the better USA 70s classics I've seen to date.

Grindelwald escapes from his prison and sets out to rule the world. He tries to convince other wizards to join him, as he promises him a world where they will be elevated above all other creatures. Dumbledore and his former student Newt aren't going to just let this happen, and so they set out to stop Grindelwald.

A simple plot that pits the same characters against each other once again. The characters are pretty silly, so is their feud, but the world they inhabit is quite interesting and Yates doesn't skimp on the fantasy. It's not a great film by all means, but it is a slight step up from its predecessor.

Luke and Jackie are divorced, but Luke already has a new love in his life: Isabel. His kids don't really like Isabel as they see her as a replacement for Jackie. There's quite a bit of tension between them, until Jackie hears she has cancer. This changes their relationship, as time is running out for her.

Though the film is called Stepmom and there's plenty of potential drama there already, it wasn't quite enough for Columbus, so he introduced a character with cancer. It's a really odd turn of events that puts the film on an entirely different track, which just seems to underline that Columbus had no idea how to fill two hours of film with genuine, human drama. A very poor effort.