Log: week 37 / 2023

Cosmo is a nightclub owner with a heart for his business, but his gambling addiction gets him into trouble. He owns the mob some money, which he cannot pay back. They offer him another option to clear his debt. For that, he has to kill a no-name bookmaker. There's more to the story though.

Gazzara does a solid job and Cassavetes paints a thorough picture of the man. The styling is classic 70s cinema (dark and gritty, but not very pretty or memorable) and the plot is relatively basic, but there's enough going on here. Fans of 70s crime should definitely give this a go, but I'm not sure if the film has major appeal beyond that.

During one fateful night in 1998, a deadly virus gets out of containment and infects the people of Raccoon City. They quickly turn into zombies and begin to terrorize the city. A group of survivors band together and try to find out where the virus came from, hoping they might find answers there on how to stop it.

The build-up is rather long-winded, and it's not that different from every other zombie flick out there. Once Roberts gets to the finale the tension ramps up, but the CG isn't all that great and some of the monster designs end up looking a little silly. Some decent scenes at the end, but the film takes way too long to get there.

In 16th-century Prague, a Rabbi creates a fearsome golem to protect the Jews from a malicious emperor, who tries to persecute them. The creature doesn't disappoint, but an unexpected romance creates a lot of difficulties. The golem escapes and threatens to demolish the entire neighborhood.

I do like German expressionist films, they are quite visually oriented, they tend to have quite a few fantastical elements and they're rather fast-paced tales. The plot is pretty bare bones though, and the effects are basic, but it's still a lot more fun than many other films of that era. Not too shabby.

The film covers a single match, between Shohoko and Takezono. It's only Sakuragi's second match, but already he is facing Oda, a former classmate of his. There is still some tension between the two players, which will turn into motivation when they're facing each other on the court.

The plot is negligible, there really isn't enough time to do the drama any justice, and even the match isn't all that exciting, as there's little time to build up the tension. The art style is surprisingly detailed, but the animation is pretty poor. It's not too dull, and it's definitely short, but hardly worth the effort.

Nicolas Bro plays himself. A successful actor who contacts director Boe because he wants to make a documentary film. He gets a camera and he starts filming his life. The camera becomes an obsession and instead of making a wholesome romantic doc, it records the downward spiral he finds himself in.

It's a fun meta project that has a bit of extra appeal when you're familiar with Boe and Bro. The idea is solid, the performances are great and the film ends with a big bang. It's just that the DV setup isn't the nicest to look at, which is a shame as Boe's films are known for having glorious cinematography. Still a pretty cool flick, though not up there with his best work.

Vicomte de Valmont is a charming man, so much so that a countess challenges him to mess up the upcoming marriage of her ex-husband. Vicomte obliges, but he gets distracted when he meets Madame de Tourvel, a married woman. The countess doesn't believe he can, which only makes him more determined.

Some familiar faces here, who do a pretty decent job. But I didn't care much for the characters, I wasn't really impressed with all the easy flirting and I have little love for the classic setting. Things move along quite swiftly and it wasn't that the film was too longwinded, it's just that 120 minutes is quite long if there's nothing of note.

Nakamura's wife is killed in a hit-and-run. The perpetrator is caught and sent to prison for five years. Nakamura lives a sober life, but he was never able to forgive the man who took his wife away from him. Every day, he sends him a message, saying he will kill him the moment he gets out of prison.

The premise is clear, and the drama isn't too complex, but on an emotional level, there is still quite a bit to unpack. The cinematography is appropriately gritty, Yamada and Ando are great, and the film works up to a pretty gripping finale. I have nothing bad to say about The Samurai That Night, except that it doesn't do quite enough to differentiate itself.

The princess of Siam is assassinated. Hong Xiguan wants to take revenge on her killers, but he finds himself imprisoned. He won't be stopped that easily though, and while he continues to work on the case, he unravels a much bigger injustice. The Demon King Xiangren seems to be at the source of an evil plan.

Some good action scenes, a fun fantasy-fueled setup, nice cinematography, and lush settings, but mediocre comedy and subpar CG. There's always a little variance between films, but the bottom line is usually the same. I had a pretty good time, especially as it's not even 75 minutes long, but it's not exactly a stand-out film.

In the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, several people are still shaken by the disaster that hit the city. Three people join forces to save Tokyo from further harm, guided by a talking frog, a lost cat, and a mysterious black box. Their enemy: a giant worm that lives underneath the city.

The art style is a tad depressing, while the animation is rather lifeless, but it's hard to deny the film has a certain visual appeal. The French dub is quite distracting (I wish they'd just gone with Japanese voice actors) and some of the references (the ones by the frog in particular) are a bit too direct, but I liked the magic realism and the film did keep me on my toes, even though my attention slipped from time to time. Not bad.

The plot is pretty unadventurous too. The Red Army is back. One of their descendants, Hedo, is brought back to create new androids in order to defeat the Dragon Ball crew. He creates two new adversaries, Gamma 1 & 2, that will help them bring Gohan down. To make sure he takes the bite, they also kidnap his daughter.

The art style isn't spectacular, the fights feel a tad underwhelming (even though they are pretty epic again), and the 100-minute runtime is a bit of a stretch. No matter how I look at it, the original three Dragon Ball films are still the best in the series, which is a disappointing conclusion after having sat through 21 films.

James is a spoiled little brat living in Shanghai. When the Japanese invade the city, chaos ensues and he gets separated from his parents. He stays behind in the city and he has to get by on his own. Eventually, he is taken to a Chinese camp, where he has to adapt to his new life.

Bale's performance isn't great, the soundtrack is annoying and the plot isn't all that interesting, especially since the characters aren't all that likable. There's no reason why the film runs almost 150 minutes long, except to create a fake feeling of grandeur. The cinematography isn't the worst, but not classy enough to be anything but a band-aid. Not good.

The story hasn't changed too much. It's still the tale of a young mermaid who falls in love with a prince and trades her mermaid traits to become a human. Her friends (a crab, and a seagull) remain with her during her transformation, but life as a human is not as easy as she'd imagined.

Bailey can sing, but she's not a great actress. The bigger problem here though is the ugly CG and the atrociously designed underwater scenes. Hollywood really needs to do better. The rest of the cast isn't great either, the voice acting is terrible and the film is way too long. I can't imagine this doing justice to people's childhood memories, regardless of the skin color of the lead actress.