My Timing Is Off

It has been a month since my last post because I've been digging the new eels album, "Hombre Lobo", I've been sleeping, and I've been watching the fifth season of Stargate Atlantis on dvd. I've also watched the following films. Enjoy my thoughts on them.

My Name Is Bruce
Bruce Campbell's latest self-directed feature is more crap than camp.

Such A Gorgeous Kid Like Me
The lead character in Francois Truffaut's film is so unlikeable that the film is depressing, and ultimately a lesser film than it could have been, had the "gorgeous kid" had any redeeming qualities.

Miao Miao
Miao Maio possesses some good performances but is far from memorable.

Ming Ming
Odd, engaging, but odd.

Fearless
For a film entitled "Fearless", I found it to be quite reserved.

August 15th
An excellent short film.

Gran Torino
The third time around, Gran Torino is still damn good.

Tactical Unit - Partners
A decent entry in the PTU telefilm series.

City of Life and Death
An emotive filmic take on the Nanjing (a.k.a. Nanking) Massacre.

Claustrophobia
Screenwriter Ivy Ho's directorial debut is pretty good, but it isn't as good as I had hoped it would be.

Exiled
After watching Johnnie To's Exiled for the second time, I liked it better than my first viewing, but I still consider it a lesser work of his.

My Mother Is A Belly Dancer
An surprisingly entertaining film.

Butterfly
Kinda bland story-wise, but well acted.

Drag Me To Hell
Sam Raimi knows campy-horror.

The Last Metro
The Last Metro is an excellent film that shows both the great ability of an experienced auteur such as Francois Truffaut, and the great tragedy that is war.

Paprika
A fucked up Japanese Anime film about an experimental dream device that falls into the wrong hands.

Expect the Unexpected
One of my favorite films, so, it's good.

Yes, I Can See Dead People
An entertaining HK horror-comedy.

Throw Down
One of my favorite Johnnie To films.

Rise: Blood Hunter
Rise: Blood Hunter is such an incredibly shitty mess that it doesn't even deserve to be called a film.

Ivan's Childhood
One of the finest films I've seen.

M
One of the finest films I've seen, and I've seen it many times.

M le maudit
Director Claude Chabrol's poor adaptation/homage to Fritz Lang's M.

The Vampire Who Admires Me
Silly HK horror-comedy with attractive women in skimpy clothing.

Moonlight In Tokyo
An engaging HK dramedy about a mentally handicapped gigolo.

Jiang Hu - "The Triad Zone"
A top notch HK triad dramedy.

The Killer
Birds, bullets, and blindness abound in John Woo's heroic bloodshed classic.

The Uninvited
Jun Ji-hyun co-stars in a decent South Korean horror film with an unfulfilling finale.

War of the Underworld
Herman Yau's take on the Young and Dangerous.

White Valentine
A disappointing South Korean rom-com.

Destry Rides Again
James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich in the Old West, 'nuff said.

Radio Dayz
A South Korean dramedy with an engaging cast of characters that fails due to a poorly executed plot.

The President's Barber
A good South Korean political satire that feels like it could have been better if the story took a bolder stand on the issues it presents.

Swordsman II
A bold film that touches on politics, sexuality, and loyalty through swordplay and kungfu.


Check back next week for my thoughts on several films, including Derek Yee's Shinjuku Incident, and Herman Yau's The First 7th Night.