Log: week 6 / 2024
A little history lesson on French Cancan (what's in a name). I will say, I've always had a different idea of what places like Moulin Rouge were about. Somehow I figured they were classier establishments, instead, this film shows the equivalent of a drunken wedding or cheesy apres-ski party. Not my scene. French Cancan is a very loud and opulent film. That is fine if you like the music and setting, it's a bit more challenging when this type of oompapa music isn't quite your thing. Renoir thoroughly focuses on the song and dance here, which I quickly grew tired of. Not my kind of film, but if you love to wave around napkins at weddings, give it a shot.Read all
I didn't care for the series and I hated the first film, so my expectations were pretty low going into this sequel. It turns out the franchise hadn't hit rock bottom quite yet. This sequel is horrendous in just about every way possible, but seeing how it was still a mild box-office success, I guess they managed to fool enough people. The comedy is in bad taste, the performances are shabby (I can't remember them being that bad in the series, but I might be mistaken) and with a runtime of 150 minutes, the film is excessively long-winding. There are no redeeming qualities here, no moments that make it bearable in any way. Terrible.Read all
A simple action flick. The concept is little more than "let's bring Jackie Chan and John Cena together and let them fight a bunch of baddies", and that's exactly what you're getting here. That's not necessarily a bad thing, certainly when the film is quite short and to the point, but high-class cinema this is not. Chan and Cena are a decent team, though their style of comedy is pretty predictable. It makes for a lighter atmosphere, which in turn makes it easier to forgive the film some of its wonky CG. There are some solid action choreographies, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Simple but honest action entertainment.Read all
Back when one simple plot twist was enough to warrant an entire movie. Phantom Lady is one of those dialogue-heavy noirs, a film that has a pretty decent mystery setup but does very little with it. Instead, you get endless conversations between people who have cardboard personalities. Much of the film feels like watching a play adapted to the screen. People talk in barren rooms and try to solve a riddle that hinges on a rather tepid finale. Though the poster promises one of the most talked-about mysteries in a decade, I assume it's much like the scariest-ever horror promos nowadays. Much ado about nothing.Read all
A pretty classic arthouse film. It's listed as sci-fi in some places, as it pitches a new idea to solve our aging population, but it's a core arthouse drama. There are no sci-fi elements beyond the titular Plan 75, which is nothing more than a new law being passed. Just setting expectations right here. The cinematography is decent but somewhat expected, the performances are solid without any standouts. It's a polished film, but the setup is rather basic and mulls on a theme that has been around for a while (anyone remember Roujin Z?). Plan 75 isn't a bad film, it's just a little too by the number to leave a strong impression.Read all
A sublime little drama from Iwai. It's been ages since I last watched it, and I'd forgotten how unique and special this film truly is. From the lovely cinematography to the gentle score, from the soothing drama to the flashes of weirdness and horror, this is Iwai exploring the boundaries of his signature style. Add to that some splendid performances and a killer ending, and you have a sweet, challenging, compact drama that easily stands the test of time.
A pretty basic 80s action flick, starring Chuck Norris. It's one of those films that got a lot of air time on TV back in the day, probably because it was part of some package deal, and it was cheaper to re-air than buy new films. I never watched it before though, I wasn't that big on 80's action as a kid either. The soundtrack is terrible, the performances are cheesy and the action is rather blah. The film is also way too long (crossing the 2-hour mark) and the pacing is all over the place. The film offers some very simple genre fun, but it's not enough to get to the end without looking at the clock once in a while.Read all
Takashi Shimizu's latest is a pleasant mix of horror and sci-fi. It harks back to the early J-Horrors (like Ringu and Pulse), but drops the less-is-more aesthetic and goes for a more polished feel. The result is a capable horror film, but one that fails to delight or surprise. I believe it's time for Shimizu to reinvent himself. Immersion is not a bad film, updating some of the tropes and making it a bit more contemporary, while sticking with horror elements that are known to work. The problem is that it's all very much by the numbers, especially for people who've been watching these Japanese horrors for the past two decades. Decent filler, but nothing more.Read all
A couple of days in the lives of door-to-door salesmen. Salesman is a bare-bones documentary, a doc in the truest sense of the word, as the director and his crew never intervene. They merely document. A noble undertaking, except that I wasn't really all that interested in this tiny cultural niche. The salesmen are sleazy, their victims are rather gullible, and the endless back-and-forth between the two becomes tiresome after a while. The setup is interesting for maybe 30 minutes, but there's not enough material here to fill an entire documentary. Unless you have a thing for salesmen.Read all
Buckle up, because this film is short and there's a lot of lore to go through. The first half is just the introduction of the setting (and the main character), while the second half is a rush through the actual plot. Not that I cared much, I'm watching this for the action and fantasy lore, not for the great storylines. It's a more than solid streaming flick, meaning you get a lot of bang for your buck. The pacing is insane, the cinematography lush, the action and fantasy elements are properly realized, and there's infinite sequel potential. The only problem is that there are 50 films just like it, and there's hardly any way to differentiate between them. Good genre filler.Read all
Greece isn't known for its large cinematic output, but the country has a couple of (modest) classics. Stella is one of them, a film that offers drama and romance, combining it with song and dance. I can't say I'm a big fan of Greek music though, and as the film is quite generous with music, I struggled with the elongated musical numbers. There's a lightness here that reminded me just a little of the French New Wave (which would take another 6 years to properly materialize, it's just a bummer that a lot of time is spent on song and dance, which really annoyed me. The plot isn't too interesting either, but thanks to the short runtime it was still bearable.Read all
It seems Eastwood has finally slowed down. Cry Macho felt like an attempt to relive the glory of Gran Torino, but by now Eastwood is a walking parody of himself, so making a somewhat serious film like this with him in the lead is just not going to work anymore. That said, it's not his worst film either. The plot is very basic, it's really just Eastwood and some young Mexican kid spending time together as they travel back to the US. The characters are predictable, the styling is generic and the few plot twists won't surprise anyone. But at least the film has a somewhat lighter tone, which makes it a relatively easy watch.Read all