Log: week 28 / 2022

Miike's darkest take on the Yakuza genre. The first half of the film is a pretty standard Yakuza tale. A lot of characters are introduced, there's some muscle flexing and intrigue, and the rise and fall of a young recruit. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but Miike does well with that kind of material. It's the second half that makes this one stand out.

A very, very, very talkative film. The looseness of the Nouvelle Vague is there, but Rohmer spends way too much time on endless conversation that range from mundane and boring to forced and uninteresting. It would've been a lot nice if the characters hadn't been stuck in endless conversations.

Chinese sentimentality. The plot has minor sci-fi and fantasy elements, but these are just excuses to set up a romantic film with lighter drama and comedy influences. It's all very glossy, with a strong push for retro appeal, and a vibe that is construed to appeal to as many people as possible.

Otomo comes with a sports drama. Go and Shogi are pretty popular in Japan, but they aren't the most cinematic of sports. Even someone like Toyoda burned his hands on the genre, Otomo too struggles to keep the matches interesting, but all in all he did a pretty commendable job.

A very kitschy musical. Gigi's reputation has seemingly tanked over the years (and with good reason too), but once you've won that Oscar you've made your name forever. The only thing that stands out these days is the overly colorful cinematography, the rest isn't really worth watching.

A typical 70s crime/thriller, almost saved by the slightly above average lead performances. The name of the film has always stood out to me, but I'm not a big fan of 70s grime and Pakula isn't really my kind of director, so it took me a while to get around to it. Maybe that's why I was somewhat pleasantly surprised this wasn't the complete disaster I was expecting.

A pretty generic genre film. Going into Cryo, I pretty much knew what to expect, and in the end that's exactly what I got. Writer/director Burgin delivers a pleasant but somewhat basic sci-fi/mystery that never attempt to color outside the lines. That's both the appeal and the major shortcoming of the film.

Sexy Beast is one quirky crime flick, a film that put director Glazer on the map. I really loved it the first time I watched it, revisiting it was still a lot of fun, it just wasn't quite as special as I remembered. It's still an easy recommend for people who never watched the film though, as it's not like anything else you've seen.

A rather dire Hong Kong action film. They've tried long and hard to cross over and work together with other markets, but those attempts have been mostly in vain. No doubt Simon Yam had his fingers crossed for international success when he joined this project, but the execution is lazy and the action scenes are pretty tame.

One of the endless remakes of Perfetti Sconosciuti (which I probably should've seen first). Not sure how they sold this film to so many countries in such a short time, but clearly something about this film clicked. It is a very good concept, and it is very easy to localize, which is why I ended up with de la Iglesia's version. I trust him to bring something extra to a film.

Japanese splatter with a surprisingly well-stacked cast. The film does get too caught up in its own narrative, which can get a bit geeky and too movie-centered. A tighter focus on horror and all-out weirdness would've made for a better film, but it's an amusing Japanese horror romp. Somewhat of a rarity these days, so it was a welcome diversion.

Tom Ford's first is pretty much what I expected a Tom Ford film to be. A brooding romantic drama, leisurely narrated with lots of room for mood and atmosphere. I even got some slight In The Mood for Love vibes from it, except that it's not quite as stylish and delicate as Kar-Wai's films. Then again, that's quite a high bar for someone's first ever film.

Taiwanese puppet animation. I'm not sure if I'd call it a niche on the rise, but there seems at least one studio who is taking it seriously. And rightfully so, as their puppet work looks amazing. Demigod is clearly meant to be the start of a longer running franchise (with at least one sequel in the works), based on the quality of this first one I can't wait to see what's next.

Voodoo horror. Though voodoo may be a very thankful subject for a horror flick, it's not a genre niche that is particularly stacked. Spell isn't a film to challenge any genre boundaries, and the film delivered exactly what I expected from it, but it does so with plenty of conviction. Sometimes, that's all you need from a horror film.

A fairly simple but loveable and well-executed drama. And Your Bird Can Sing offers a basic love triangle, but one that is quite a bit breezier and warmer than most of its peers. Superb performances, stylish but subtle cinematography and a lack of overly dramatic events make this film a joy to watch. It's an easy sell for fans of Japanese drama, the excruciating finale is merely the icing on the cake.

This third instalment is shorter (which is good), but not necessarily better. I know the Brave Archer is a respected series, but I never quite understood the appeal. It's quite slow, overly sentimental, and it can get very wordy. Not what the Shaw Bros studios is best known for, and with reason.

Sleep paralysis horror. It's a popular and forgiving subject for a horror film, it's a shame then that Mara doesn't make full use of its potential. Botet's a real asset and some of the dream scares are cool, but the procedural that lies at the film's core isn't strong enough and detracts from the horror.

Not Miike's finest hour. I rewatched the first film not too long ago, and that one still held up pretty well. This sequel shares many of the same traits, but seems more exclusively targeted at a younger audience. There is still some fun to be had, but those typical Miike-only moments are missing, which just leaves a more kid-friendly version of the first part.

Taiwanese found-footage horror. For a while now, Taiwan has been producing decent quality horror flicks, Incantation neatly fits in with the rest of them. It doesn't really reinvent the genre and the introduction is a tad long, but once the curse starts to take effect, the tension doesn't let up.