Once again, I've fallen behind in my reviewing/providing snarky, short descriptions of the films I've seen. The following films will receive painfully short descriptions, so that I might get a bit caught up on the over fifty films I've yet to post. Here goes:
Tale of Cinema
South Korean Director Hong Sangsoo's 6th feature film, Tale of Cinema, is an engaging film that, like all of Hong's work, features a simple plot and complex characterization. It's also very good.
Vampires
What can I say about John Carpenter's Vampires? It's enjoyable if one has been drinking. Heavily.
Days of Being Wild
Wong Kar-wai's first foray into cinematic romance. Few films have captured love and it's pangs as beatifully as Wong's second feature, and of those few films, most were directed by Wong.
Dreams may come
Little happens in director/actress/super-blogger Xu Jinglei's third feature, but the conversation between the two main characters that comprises the film is far more insightful than the premise would suggest. A wonderful film, from an incredible director.
Woman Is the Future of Man
The fifth film from Director Hong Sangsoo, Woman Is the Future of Man is what one would expect from Hong, a great film that affects more than seems possible.
Police, adjective
A Romanian film about choices. One of my favorite films of 2009.
Yesterday
An unispired serial killer/sci-fi flick that manages to entertain, despite being somewhat convoluted.
Avatar
A waste of time and money.
Nightwatch
Danish Director Ole Bornedal's American remake of his Danish film, Nattevagten. A decent horror flick that fails to impress as much as the original.
Nattevagten
Shocking and frightening, Bornedal's original Nightwatch film, Nattevagten, is one of the finest horror films created.
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
A great black comedy from Romania about healthcare that goes beyond complaining and points out the ugly side of humanity.
À bout de souffle
Jean-Luc Godard's first and finest film, À bout de souffle (a.k.a. Breathless) helped usher in La Nouvelle Vague, and showed audiences that all one needs for a good story, is a girl and a gun. A great director doesn't hurt.
Seven Samurai
Akira Kurosawa's samurai epic. Duh.
Scandal
Like much of Kurosawa's work, Scandal was astonishing upon it's release, and still is today.
I Live In Fear
Kurosawa's film about living in fear of nuclear holocaust is 55 years old, and, like Scandal, still terribly relevant.
The Idiot
Akira Kurosawa's filmic version of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot is, much like the source material, a great work. Unfortunately, the studio cut the 265 mintue film down to 166 minutes, and the missing 99 minutes are most likely lost forever.
Thirst
Bong Joon-ho's vampiric drama is one of the best vampire films ever made, and one of my favorite films from 2009.
The Substitute
An excellent horror-drama from Danish Director Ole Bornedal.
Fong Sai-yuk
Classic Hong Kong Cinema.
Next time, I'll share my thoughts on a few films that I'm looking forward to seeing.
28 March, 2010
21 March, 2010
Best of '09
My picks for the best films of 2009:
Wai Ka-fai's Written by
Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker
Park Chan-wook's Thirst
Lu Chuan's City of Life and Death
Hong Sangsoo's Like You Know It All
Herman Yau's Split Second Murders
Hur Jin-ho's A Good Rain Knows
Corneliu Porumboiu's Police, adjective
Boo Ji-young's Sisters On the Road
John Woo's Red Cliff
Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell
Wai Ka-fai's Written by
Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker
Park Chan-wook's Thirst
Lu Chuan's City of Life and Death
Hong Sangsoo's Like You Know It All
Herman Yau's Split Second Murders
Hur Jin-ho's A Good Rain Knows
Corneliu Porumboiu's Police, adjective
Boo Ji-young's Sisters On the Road
John Woo's Red Cliff
Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell
08 March, 2010
Almost There
This post was originally going to be a list of films that I consider to be the best of 2009. However, there is at least one film left that I have yet to see that may change my list. So, I'm going to hold off on my best of list post for about a week so I can see the film. Until then, enjoy my thoughts on two South Korean films about hopeful athletes.
Take Off -(Director's Cut)
Directed by Kim Yong-hwa, starring Ha Jung-woo, Sung Dong-il, Kim Ji-suk, Kim Dong-wook, Choi Jae-hwan, and Lee Jae-eung.
An immensely enjoyable, fictionalized account of the formation of South Korea's ski jump team, and their efforts to enter the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
Forever the Moment
Directed by Lim Soon-rye, starring Kim Jung-eun, Moon So-ri, and Uhm Tae-woong.
I'm too lazy to re-review this film, so please enjoy the following thoughts, which I posted last March:
"Following the completion of the regular season of Women's Handball in South Korea, a group of veteran players are forced to evalute their lives. Though they won the league championship, their team has been disbanded, and there are hard feelings amongst the women, as some have been selected to play for the national team in the Summer Games, while most have not. And, for some, handball must take a back seat to the trials and tribulations of life.
Once those selected arrive at training camp, they have to deal with a seemingly unkind and uncaring coach. Having played with her players on previous national teams, the coach is seen as unworthy, and is treated as such. However, she soon wins the players over with her kindness and strength, only to be replaced as coach by another former player, who is also her ex-fiance.
With the encouragement of her former players, she joins the team as a playe herself, and they all help each other sort out personal affairs in preparation for the Summer Games. Unfortunately, being mentally ready and in good physical shape may not be enough, as the new coach has a chip on his shoulder, and a strong distaste for the veteran players. Facing the start of the Summer Games, the players and the coach must come to believe in themselves, and each other, in order to compete for gold.
Based on true events, Forever the Moment tells the filmic tale of the South Korean Women's Handball Team's preparation for, and participation in, the 2004 Summer Games. There's drama, determination, sweat, and, you guessed it, handball. While cinematic depictions of sports teams overcoming adversity are hardly a rarity, Forever the Moment does manage to go beyond standard fare, eschewing over-the-top high-impact action-oriented scenes for touches of drama and, dare I say, humanity. Suffice it to say, Forever the Moment is very good."
Take Off -(Director's Cut)
Directed by Kim Yong-hwa, starring Ha Jung-woo, Sung Dong-il, Kim Ji-suk, Kim Dong-wook, Choi Jae-hwan, and Lee Jae-eung.
An immensely enjoyable, fictionalized account of the formation of South Korea's ski jump team, and their efforts to enter the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
Forever the Moment
Directed by Lim Soon-rye, starring Kim Jung-eun, Moon So-ri, and Uhm Tae-woong.
I'm too lazy to re-review this film, so please enjoy the following thoughts, which I posted last March:
"Following the completion of the regular season of Women's Handball in South Korea, a group of veteran players are forced to evalute their lives. Though they won the league championship, their team has been disbanded, and there are hard feelings amongst the women, as some have been selected to play for the national team in the Summer Games, while most have not. And, for some, handball must take a back seat to the trials and tribulations of life.
Once those selected arrive at training camp, they have to deal with a seemingly unkind and uncaring coach. Having played with her players on previous national teams, the coach is seen as unworthy, and is treated as such. However, she soon wins the players over with her kindness and strength, only to be replaced as coach by another former player, who is also her ex-fiance.
With the encouragement of her former players, she joins the team as a playe herself, and they all help each other sort out personal affairs in preparation for the Summer Games. Unfortunately, being mentally ready and in good physical shape may not be enough, as the new coach has a chip on his shoulder, and a strong distaste for the veteran players. Facing the start of the Summer Games, the players and the coach must come to believe in themselves, and each other, in order to compete for gold.
Based on true events, Forever the Moment tells the filmic tale of the South Korean Women's Handball Team's preparation for, and participation in, the 2004 Summer Games. There's drama, determination, sweat, and, you guessed it, handball. While cinematic depictions of sports teams overcoming adversity are hardly a rarity, Forever the Moment does manage to go beyond standard fare, eschewing over-the-top high-impact action-oriented scenes for touches of drama and, dare I say, humanity. Suffice it to say, Forever the Moment is very good."
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