Log: week 4 / 2022

There's no real plot to speak of. We follow Kang-sheng Lee as he spends his days alone in a nice villa, a place that doesn't help cure his loneliness. Non lives in a small flat, and loves to cook traditional food. The two meet, spend a little time together and then part ways again.

Fans of slow cinema are no doubt going to love this, personally I don't think the cinematography is strong enough (though it is quite pleasant) to carry a film with no actual plot or dialogues. It's just endless scenes of Lee and Houngheuangsy doing very little at all, and that for two hours straight.

Sophie was a promising skier, but she sees her dream go up in smoke when she turns blind. Trying to move on with her life, she offers her services as a house sitter. When cat sitting for a particularly rich woman, three men break into the house and start their search for a safe. With the little help of an app, Sophie will try to get out alive.

A remote house in the dead of winter, a main character with sensitive hearing and a girl on the other side of a phone helping her to escape. All the ingredients are there for a tense little film, but somehow the threat isn't strong enough and the film simply meanders along. Not a bad film, just a little plain.

A death row prisoner (Sudo) contacts a journalist, telling him he has a few extra confessions to make. By informing the journalist, he hopes to incriminate his former partner and boss, as he double-crossed Sudo and made him kill his best friend. But evidence is sparse and the journalist has to carry out his own investigation if he wants to uncover the truth.

The presentation is a little dry, but the film is carried by several stand-out performances. Takayuki Yamada, Lily Franky and Pierre Taki all are superb and give the film that gritty edge it so desperately seeks. If it had been a bit shorter and had a little extra polish this could've been a minor masterpiece, as it is now it's still a very dark and worthy crime flick.

We get four stories that celebrate the Chinese ancestors, highlighting their sacrifices and perseverance, and how that brought wealth and power to the people today. Each short is then followed by a short conclusion with force-feeds the message to the audience, as if it wasn't clear enough already.

Wu Jing's effort is a basic war flick that doesn't impress too much. Zhang Ziyi (yes, the actress) shows the most promise, sporting a stylish and moody finish. The third and fourth shorts are quirkier and offer a lighter vibe. While still a bit long, the difference in styles and approaches do make sure the film never drags, it's just a shame that each film ends on a sour note.

Kikonosuke is the son of a famous stage actor. He becomes an actor himself and isn't unsuccessful, but then he discovers that he is only praised because of his father. Behind his back, people are making fun of him. He finds comfort with the woman taking care of his nephew, and decides to move away from Tokyo to start a new life.

Very static camerawork, uninviting decors and endless conversations make this film a pretty big drag. The theater scenes are a bit livelier, but not enough to offset the rest of the film. And at 150 minutes, it's also pretty long, which only made the experience worse. Not good.

When Deviants return to the Earth, the Celestials living among us are forced to come out of hiding to protect humanity from extinction. But their mission is a lot bigger than initially expected. When they finally discover why they were sent to Earth, they have a very tough decision to make.

When you have a dumb plot and dumb characters, the last thing you do is spend more time on them, but alas, here we are. The designs are also pretty drab, the film looks and sounds like your average Marvel film and at 2.5 hours, it's at least 45 minutes too long. This could've been fun, instead it was cheesy and boring.

The plot is virtually nonexistent. Alexandre is a self-absorbed guy who dates several women at once. He is particularly attracted to Marie, a slightly older woman, and Veronika, a young and liberated spirit. When they meet, they talk endlessly about stuff, which is pretty much all there is.

I didn't care one bit for the conversations. They felt forced, bland and pseudo-intellectual. The cinematography is a bore, the soundtrack negligible and the performances are pretty weak too, considering we're supposed to be watching these three people for more than three hours straight. I'm sure there's an audience for this, I'm clearly not it.

The plot is trivial, but what did you expect. After the Earth has gone to shit (again), a biker gang is looking for one of the last remaining androids. They finally find her and take her along with them, but a boy looking for medicine gets into their way and takes the android for himself.

The cinematography is pretty decent, the score is effective, the styling is nice and the pacing is excellent. It's a short film that doesn't waste too much time on specifics, since this is all very familiar territory. Simple genre entertainment, in other words. If you like a bit of post-apocalyptic filler, it's not a bad choice.

This film is a compilation of the final episodes of the TV series, though the plot is easy enough to follow without having seen the series. It's a simple good vs bad guy story, where Conan has to save the world from an evil empire that tries to get their hands on an almighty weapon. Nothing too out of the ordinary there.

The art style is rather basic, so is the animation, but that's no surprise considering the film's TV roots. The Big Giant Robot's Resurrection is littered with the usual Miyazaki traits, and it already holds a lot of what would make a film like Laputa so great. Interesting for those who love Miyazaki's films and are wondering how it all started for him.

When Nobita is scolded for his bad school results, he remembers his grandma, someone who always supported and comforted him. He travels back to the past with Doraemon to visit his already departed grandma, which set a bunch of future-altering events in motion that seriously mess up Nobita life.

The art style is quite peculiar, a mix of minimalist and detailed CG animation that fits the franchise surprisingly well. The plot is pretty fun, the atmosphere breezy and pleasant and the pacing plenty fast, so there's no chance of things becomes dull. A step up from the first film and quite entertainment, but a masterpiece this is not.

Takashi is a quiet, somewhat mysterious cook who works in bar Hydra. It's a pretty inconspicuous place that attracts the occasional lecher, but nothing worse. Nobody knows about Takashi's dark past though, which is about to catch up with him, putting his colleagues in the bar in considerable danger. It's up to Takashi to keep them safe.

The synth soundtrack feels a little out of place, the cinematography isn't quite polished enough and the plot's very basic, but the characters are rather fun and the action scenes in the second half are fast and well executed. The short runtime plays in the film's favor and the punchy close combat scenes are a treat. Simple but solid fun.

Hawkeye is a European man adopted by one of the Indian tribes. A colonial war between the French and Brits wages in America. Both sides enlist different Indian tribes to help them out, Hawkeye ends up on the side of the Brits. He falls madly in love with the general's daughter, who he vows to protect.

Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is pretty terrible, the romance is kitsch and the sentiment never feels earned. It's 100% unfiltered Hollywood schmaltz, but clearly there's an audience for that. At least the cinematography, setting and score manage to ease the pain just a little, but it's hardly enough to save this film.

Takemichi leads a pointless and unfulfilling life. When he hears his old high school girlfriend died in a local gang war, he ponders where it went wrong for him. On his way home, he ends up on the tracks of the metro, but when the train is about to hit him, a time warp takes Takemichi back 10 years in time.

If you like this niche, then Tokyo Revengers won't disappoint. The performances are solid, the gangs are pretty badass, and the time travel mechanic does add a bit of a twist to an otherwise rather generic genre. The direction feels a bit plain though and with many better films released in the past couple of years, it's hardly a stand-out.

Gaston is a petty thief who escapes his imprisonment in Aquila. While being chased by soldiers, he bumps into Navarre, who saves him from their clutches. Navarre is a lone warrior who travels together with his hawk and is out to kill the bishop op Aquila. Gaston decides to join him in his quest.

Time has not been kind to this film. The colors are kitsch, Broderick and Hauer are amateurish, the plot is a snoozefest and the ever-present soundtrack deserves a decade's worth of Razzies. Somehow the kitsch was just the right amount of astonishing to keep me interested, but a good film this is not.

When an old man robs a bank, he disappears and leaves his four kids behind to deal with the aftermath. Ten years later they come together to declare their parents dead and split the inheritance. Roaming around the house, they find clues as to what exactly took place ten years ago.

Solid performances and clean cinematography provide a solid base, some slightly exaggerated situations and amusing coincidences do the rest. I was quite surprised by the efficiency of the drama in the second half and the finale is superb, if the comedy had been a little sharper this could've been a small masterpiece. A very fun discovery.

A species on the brink of extinction has one more chance to survive their oppressor. They send out 8 seeds into the galaxy. Whoever finds them becomes a savior, and when all eight saviors return to their planet the prophecy foretells their race will be spared. It's a nice bit of sci-fi/fantasy nonsense that offers more than enough potential for campy entertainment.

Some elements are copied straight out of Star Wars, though Fukasaku never really matches the scope and ambition of that franchise. Instead we get some kind of space theater, sporting people in silly costumes and weird make-up, dressed up with some goofy special effects. The pacing makes sure it never gets boring, but if you want to get the most out of this film, it's mostly about embracing the kitsch.

The idea of a leftist director documenting a right-leaning punk band seems impossible these days, but that's exactly what makes this documentary interesting. Tsuchiya isn't out to ridicule or undermine his subjects either, instead, he looks genuinely interested in their story, and sees his own ideals challenged during production.

It's fun to make the journey together with the director and his subjects, though I do feel the pacing could've been a little tighter. The second half does get a little repetitive and keeps on circling the same topics. Though it probably gives a good impression of how the main characters experienced the changes in their lives, I think Tsuchiya could've found a more exciting way to show us.

Fang Hui is a young woman who lives by herself. Her social status attracts several men, but Hui isn't really interested in any of them. A serial killer is lurking in the city, Hui doesn't realize that she has become his next victim. She is hoping to move to a safer location soon though, so his time to make a move is limited.

The soundtrack is very strong, the cinematography well above average and the first half harbors some very creepy scenes. It's also the first time I've seen a film reference Spirited Away directly, which was pretty interesting. It's a shame the second half is a bit too drawn out, and the finale gets a bit silly, other than that this was a pretty great thriller. Guess I've got to check the original (South-Korean) film now.

The film handles the October Revolution of 1917, Russia. An important historical event that details how the monarchy was overthrown by the Bolsheviks, who went on strike. It's probably true that the visual style detracts from the actual content here, as I can't say I learned much or am able to recount many details, but that's hardly a negative.

There are other, more famous Eisenstein films, but I think his visual prowess was never more impressive than here. The edgy editing, the stark black and white contrasts and the love for more abstract imagery really define this film. The middle part felt a bit more toned down, but the first and final third are pretty damn great. One of the best silents I've seen.

A group of people are driving through snow-covered plains to a little village up the road. When they pass an old lady looking for a ride, the driver won't stop to let her in. A little further, he hits an animal and his car won't start anymore. The people are stranded in the freezing cold and with night setting in, their chances of survival are slim.

The setting is magnificent of course, though the stylish cinematography also plays an important part. The soundtrack is solid but not too remarkable, the performances are a little overdone, but not so bad it becomes distracting. A White Day is a mysterious and atmospheric little film that kept me intrigued, though never felt fully realized.

The premise is pretty simple. Two samurai armies are facing each other in battle. Their leaders want to make sure the other side doesn't get too much land under their control, and so they chase each other throughout the land, waging war and trying to outsmart each other whenever they meet.

There are some impressive battle scenes here. The colors pop, the camera work is nice and Kadokawa has a good eye for lighting and composition. I do get bored with these big battles rather quickly, and the plot doesn't offer too much intrigue. Still, I think it's one of the better films in its genre, it's just that the genre isn't really for me.