Log: week 18 / 2022

Linklater loves a bit of nostalgia. Apollo 10½ sees him returning to his childhood, recounting all the little details that made the world such a different place. I, on the other hand, care very little for nostalgia. The reason why I didn't think this was a complete disaster, was because the film is also very much about looking to the future.

More Chinese war propaganda. The Battle at Lake Changjin must've been quite the success, or this endeavor was simply so huge that they figured a second film would be necessary to recoup the effort. If you're looking for 150 minutes of action and sentimentality, Hark, Lam and Chen have you covered.

While I've watched most Marvel films, I've stopped caring about any connection these films have. I'm sure they made quite an effort to link this new Spider-Man film to all the others (and Dr. Strange, for some weird reason), but I simply don't care enough for any of the characters, nor the plot. There are no stakes anyway, as Marvel will just reset whatever plot twist they introduce in the next couple of films.

Hark Tsui puts out another sprawling martial arts epic. With a stellar cast, a sizeable budget and a commendable lack of CG, he made a film that is well able to stand the test of time. The action scenes are spectacular, the locations are grand, and the bad guy is a real hoot. Hark takes his time, but the film is never too slow or laggy. Seven Swords is easily one of his best films, and stands proud among the Chinese martial arts epics of the early 00s.

Visconti is best known as one of the cornerstones of the Italian Neo-Realist cinema, so I was quite surprised to find a film like Death in Venice. This one was all atmosphere and repressed emotion, a slow-moving drama about the quest for beauty that never really dulls, even at 130 minutes long.

A slow burn thriller that was burning maybe a bit too slowly. Like many of these films, the problem isn't so much the genre elements, but the forced drama in between. Wired Shut has enough going for it, but the father-daughter relationship gets too much attention, slowly doing the film even more.

A contemporary (and considerably more accessible) successor to Tokyo.sora, just not quite as good as its predecessor. That's not saying too much though, as Ishikawa's first is one of my all-time favorite films. Will I Be Single Forever has plenty going for it, it's just a tad too poppy and leading for my personal taste.

One of Lasse Hallström's earlier features. I'm not a big fan of the director, and Happy We contains his particular brand of cheese, but there's a kind of gleeful joy present that is dearly missing from his USA work. The film is light and comfortable, even when the drama has the potential to darker and more introspective.

My third Ophüls turns out to be his final film. Apparently, the production of Lola Montès was a terrible mess, with studios coming in and changing the film behind his back. It's no surprise then the director called it quits, at least history did him right and his final film got reinstated in its original form.

A surprisingly low-key and mysterious film from Ohtomo. I've got pretty used to him as a capable blockbuster director, I didn't quite expect this sullen drama with mystery elements driving it forward. He does pretty well in fact, though part of that is due to the very strong cast, who take some pressure off of Ohtomo's direction.

A classic epic. Cecil B. DeMille set out to create the definite film adaptation of the story of Moses. With a huge cast (and even more extras), state of the art special effects and a runtime of nearly 4 hours, he certainly made a real effort. And yet, the result is utterly dull and boring. What a slog this was.

A bold revisioning of the Little Mermaid story. In typical anime fashion, the story is moved to Tokyo and the lore is spruced up with lots of contemporary fantasy elements, but the core of the story remains intact. It's a film for a younger demographic, though animation fans will find lots to like here.

Jing Wong takes another stab at Kung Fu Cult Master. Though I appreciated the chaos of the original, the film didn't do particularly well. Now it comes with the backing of a wealthier industry, which gave Wong more room to create a film that could live up to its source material. I personally don't think this first half is better than Wong's original adaptation, but opinions may differ.

Vintage western. The kind that doesn't even want to pretend it's going to deliver anything beyond burly men with hats and guns in a barren setting. To say I'm not a fan of westerns is an understatement, so films like these really aren't for me. At least this one was short, which put a clearer deadline on the hurt.

Basic. This type of hillbilly horror was pretty popular some 15 years ago. It's probably a bit too early to revive this niche, especially when the execution here feels cheaper and softer than those early 21st century horrors. Butchers is an okay film if you're low on horror fare, as long as you keep your expectations in check.

A cute little drama with minor comedy elements. Tanada isn't reinventing the wheel here, if you've seen a couple of Japanese dramas, this will definitely feel familiar. At the same time, there are some interesting details that do set it apart from its peers. And unless you want lots of narrative action, I'm going to guess this is also a very accessible film.

A pretty mixed bag. I quite like Allen's absurd comedy, I'm not such a big fan of his pandering to classic slapstick. A film like Bananas keeps going back and forth between the two styles, which gets a little tiring after a while. Especially when the soundtrack doesn't seem to know when to quit.

A film that leans quite heavily on its premise. And I will admit that the premise is pretty strong, it's just that everything around it isn't quite up to par. Some things are a little easier to forgive than others, certainly keeping the film's low-budget in mind, but it does feel like there was the potential to do more.

Too many people in the anime scene want to be the next Shinkai or Hosoda. Without their skills to match and a sizeable budget to back some decent animation, the result is often extremely derivative. Over the Sky is a perfect example. I felt like I'd seen this film before, only executed with much more precision and way better skills.

Jing Wong helped launch the careers of many famous Hong Kong directors, others never really found their way from underneath his wings. Siu-Hung Chung is such a long-time collaborator (though to be fair, Chung was already quite busy before teaming up with Wong). Set Up is a pretty decent film, with both directors clearly making an effort.

The Rock discovers his comedy talent. Not that this is a great film, Johnson isn't even the funniest guy on screen, but it is the type of film that would turn him into one of Hollywood's biggest stars. And if you don't care too much about the deplorable morality, Tooth Fairy certainly isn't the worst US comedy either.

100% certified bonkers. Blitzkrieg Bop is a mix of absurd comedy and low-budget punk. It falls somewhere in between the work of Sogo Ishii and Katsuhito Ishii, which should give you a good idea of what to expect. It's certainly not for everyone, but if you can stomach Japanese comedy, there's a big chance you won't want to miss out on this one.

Hadn't seen too many Kang Sheng films (this is only my second), like most Shaw Bros directors he has a pretty expansive oeuvre. When one of his films landed on Prime here I didn't want to miss the opportunity, and so I took a little diversion from Cheh Chang & Yuen Chor's oeuvre, and I'm glad I did.

Folk horror and arthouse seem to have found each other. You Won't Be Alone is the latest in a series of (often) Euro-centric folk horror films that stand out with more distinct direction styles, an aversion of straightforward narratives and familiar arthouse clichés. It's a pretty successful combination, but not quite as original as it pretends to be.

I never watched the original, but seeing how I generally prefer Taiwanese over South-Korean cinema, I wasn't too bothered by that. I knew very little about Man in Love going in, and came out pleasantly surprised by this sweet, and stylish mix of crime and romance. It's probably nothing you haven't seen before, but the execution was on point.