Log: week 20 / 2022

John Ford and John Wayne, that means you better brace yourself for some oldskool western fun. That is, if you like westerns. If you're like me, and you can't stand the genre, seeing these names together is certainly less thrilling. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is one of their vintage collaborations, so it's no surprise this didn't do anything for me.

Yamaguchi continues his Bloody Chainsaw Girl franchise with another shorter entry. While these films are good fun, they aren't up there with the best in the genre, nor with the best in Yamaguchi's oeuvre, so unless he's doing it to stay afloat (and relevant), I hope he'll abandon this series in the near future.

Omori further establishes his reputation with one of his impressive but very unpleasant films. Taro the Fool isn't an easy watch. There are no characters you can root for, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, no relief for those who power through. Then again, that's what makes these nihilistic films so worthwhile.

I used to be a huge Ghost in the Shell fan, but an onslaught of subpar series have taken their toll on the good name of the franchise. I'm not bothering with series material anymore, but whenever they release a recap film I just can't seem to help myself. And so I watched Sustainable War, a new low point in the franchise.

Fritz Lang's German period is by far his best and most artistic. I've seen a fair few German films from that era, but I still get amazed whenever I notice how stylish and fantastical these films are, especially for their age (Die Nibelungen is almost a century old now). Siegfried is no exception.

A very, very sweet film. The plot isn't too original, sporting a Tokyo banker who is sent to a backwards village as punishment. But the film has something magical and charming that makes it stand out, even beyond its musical roots. The styling is colorful and bright, the characters are fun and loveable, the setting idyllic. It's a cute little goldfish-based fantasy/musical blend that doesn't seem to have exceptionally high aspirations, but hits the sweet spot between charm and originality.

Yamaguchi continues his Bloody Chainsaw Girl franchise. The first one was decent enough entertainment, though nowhere close to the now decade-old Sushi Typhoon films. Revenge of Nero is a short and sweet sequel that combines gore and absurd comedy to deliver some prime fun.

Not a bad film, but a tremendous disappointment nonetheless. I really liked the Daniels' previous work, I sure love myself a bit of Michelle Yeoh and the rumors about this being batshit crazy were encouraging. Maybe a bit too much, in a time when truly odd and strange films are regularly slashed and discarded, one would get a little suspicious about so much praise. And one would be right.

Not the most original documentary, certainly one of the boldest I've seen about this subject. The grooming of young girls online is something that is well-documented, but to see it play out for real is quite something else. For that reason alone, this documentary is worth a look, especially for kids or adults dealing with teens.

An American classic (apparently, even though I hadn't heard about this film before). Not all that hard to see why that is, Love Story is a piece of schmaltz that didn't really stand the test of time. I'm not a big fan of the film's setup regardless, but when the execution feels so terribly forced, it's pretty much impossible to make a romance/drama like this work.

A fine mix of fantasy and horror. We're obviously getting symbolical horror here, I'd gather the film deals with growing up and losing one's innocence, with an extra focus on the mother/daughter relationship. Films like these are always in danger of neglecting their genre roots, but Bergholm doesn't fall in this all too common trap.

EL Arbi and Fallah's first. These two young talents made their dream a reality when they moved to Hollywood to shoot the latest Bad Boys sequel, but they started out with considerably fewer means to their disposal. With Image, they showcased what they could do on a budget, and I will say the result is pretty impressive.

I'd watched the adaptation of the Coens ages ago. Clearly not their best film, hardly their worst. It did make me quite curious about the original, and so I finally got around to giving that one a go. It's an amusing little comedy that feels a little stuffier than needed, but still contains some enlightened moments.

A cute little mind bender. Monstrous is a film that combines drama and horror and adds some mystery elements to make it a fine little genre mix. What keeps things together is the rather docile and almost idyllic approach to the material. Don't expect an overly riveting one, Sivertson goes for a more stylish approach.

A pretty standard Triad/undercover cop thriller. It's a staple of the Hong Kong film industry, certainly in the decade following the handover. Undercover isn't the most spirited example, it's a film that sticks to conventions and simply aims to deliver some expected genre thrills. And that it does rather well, just don't build it up too much.

An new adaptation of the Steven King book. I wasn't a terribly big fan of the first film (which is quite the understatement), so the bar was set pretty low. It's certainly not worse than the '84 version, but it's still not a particularly good film and I don't think this version of Firestarter is going to bring King many new fans.

A pretty successful mix of popular elements. There's a bit of tomb raiding fun at the start of the film, but this is really more of a police procedural with strong mystery and overt supernatural influences. The execution was a bit better than expected, but that's probably because I've seen a few too many Chinese streamer films lately.