Tag: International

ASHES OF TIME… REDUX (1994)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Written & Directed By: Wong Kar Wai 
Based On The Book “The Eagle Shooting Heores” By: Louis Cha 
Cinematography By: Christopher Doyle & Pung-Leung Kwan 
Editor: Patrick Tam & Kit-Wai Kai 
 Cast: Brigitte Lin, Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung,

Ou-yang Feng lives in the middle of a desert, where he acts as a middleman to various swordsmen in ancient China. One of those swordsmen is Huang Yao-shi, who has found some magic wine that causes one to forget the past. At another time, Huang met Mu-rong Yin and under the influence of drink, promised to marry Mu-rong’s sister Mu-rong Yang. Huang jilts her, and Mu-rong Yin hires Ou-yang to kill Huang. But then Mu-rong Yang hires Ou-yang to protect Huang. This is awkward, because Mu-rong Yang and Mu-rong Yin are in reality the same person. Other unrelated plot lines careen about. Among them is Ou-yang’s continuing efforts to destroy a band of horse thieves. Oy-yang recruits another swordsman, a man who is going blind and wants to get home to see his wife before his sight goes completely. The swordsman is killed. Ou-yang then meets another swordsman who doesn’t like wearing shoes. Oy-yang sends this man after the horse thieves, with better results. We then find out what a man must give…

The original cut was released in 1994 I am reviewing the re-edited version of 2008

I will admit that I haven’t watched the original cut yet. This is the same film only re-edited to put emphasis on different things and look at the film in a different way. Sort of like what was attempted when the Mel Gibson film PAYBACK was put out on DVD and re-edited more to the director’s original vision before the production was taken outbid his hands and re-shot and re-edited it’s also similar to the APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX putting back in cut scenes to supposedly make the film richer in content and context.

This is a great movie… To have on in the background of a party continuously playing, but sitting through it is a challenge. I love Wong Kar Wai’s work but I couldn’t wait for it to end. It was like sitting through a music video with its camera work and rapid editing. Though a music video with a thin plot seems a simple reason to link scenes of action together.

This film feels moody as you have to be in a certain type of mood to watch, more open and accepting of the story it presents. I believe the reason I didn’t enjoy it as much as Wai’s other films are that one saw the masterpieces first and came back to watch this film which doesn’t match the greatness of his other films though you can see the seeds. It almost feels unfocused half of the time as to where it is going or what it wishes to convey.

While the film is visually arresting. The story begins to get confusing and boring. When the film is on the verge of getting too boring it redeems itself with an action scene.

Director, Wong Kar wai shows that he is capable of stunning action sequences, which are rather rare in his films, but then he messes them up in this film by making the. In slow motion. Almost like a delayed slow-motion capture. This messes up the fluidity of the choreographed action, but when the scenes run at regular speed they are a sight to behold. This film had an exhausting effect on Wong Kar Wai. While on hiatus during the editing process, he wrote CHUNGKING EXPRESS to “clear his head”.

This is a visually beautiful movie, low budget with a few too many close-ups for no reason it seems. I will prefer and enjoy the first cut just like APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX.

What is interesting about Wong kar wai when it comes to most of his films is that he is a visual stylist as a director, but not, in the same way, directors like Tim Burton works most of the time in his movies. The camera stays still and he lets the sort be about the characters as they reveal relationships and the big story. Now when this is happening the lighting and colors are usually immaculate and use the landscapes to their fullest. And when the camera moves the angles he uses in the scenes are strange, but breathtaking that you feel the movie so much more because at the heart of most of his films are relationships.

It’s like Woody Allen films with less dialogue, no comedy, and no archetypes yet more open and visual. More seems to be at stake and the characters are usually young with more modest incomes plus more sensual than sexual.

It hurts to give this film such a low grade. He has made strides since this film it is an early work that hints at his future vision and genius. Still one of the better and More Interesting filmmakers still working today

 Grade: C-

BABY BLOOD (1990)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Alain Robak
Written By: Alain Robak and Serge Cukier 
Cinematography: Bernard Dechet 
Editor: Elizabeth Moulinier 

Cast: Emmanuelle Escourrou, Christian Sinniger, Jean-Francois Gallotte, Roselyne Geslot, Francois Frapier, Thierry Le Portier 

When a strange creature crawls into a woman’s uterus she becomes a killer in order to feed the tiny terror growing within her.

This is one of those movies that came from nowhere for fame. I had never previously heard of this film and decided to take a chance at it. While scrolling through Shudder.

This Is definitely a film made for horror fans. The theme of this film seems to be literally at first men’s horniness will be the death of them. Most don’t come off well throughout the film.

As the lead female played with total commitment and energy by Emmanuelle Escourrou.  who gets infected by this parasite at first is reluctant to go through with what the parasite is forcing her to do. Working her way as a seductress to entice more victims. As she already had men all over her, even when not trying, though she was in an abusive relationship and the one man she wanted to have no interest.

The parasite in her uterus wants her to kill but not for blood or the remains. The film never seems to answer the reasons why. Just the act sets this film apart from similarly themed films in its wake like GRACE or PREVENGE.

As the parasite grows into a baby after sex and while psychically communicating and controls her more through pain and threats. So it’s almost like she is in an abusive relationship again. 

The film presents the killings not from a need, not from a maternal instinct of trying to help her child survive. As it says it wants blood but we rarely see her take it. 

The first half of the film is presented episodically like short stories of her next kill. While still on the run. 

The film offers plenty of nudity and some sex, but it’s never quite erotic, exotic, or sexy. The filmmakers do have some artistic tendencies in the film, but it seems like with a Troma Studios-type budget. That ends up having the movie feel slightly exploitative. 

The film at times feels quite silly, but it never lets loose to have fun with its wacky premise.

The film never goes where you expect. As once you believe you have it figured out. It goes another way.

GRADE: B

GREATFUL DEAD (2013)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Eiji Uchida
Written By: Eiji Uchida and Etsuo Hiratani
Cinematography: Shin’Ya Kimura

Cast: Kumi Takiuchi, Takashi Sasano 

Nami is a young woman with numerous hangups sprouting from a dysfunctional childhood. She inherits a small fortune that allows her to pursue various interests, many of which are abnormal.

This film is definitely the work of a singular vision of director Eiji Uchida 

This is a strange character piece about a girl so encased by the loneliness that she takes to watching people not ordinary people but people who are on the outs of society and seem to have been broken or rail against the Norm.

She ends up Also giving them chances at life. As her main subject not only seeks to revitalize his life before she injects herself into it but also gives him something to love when she attacks him and tries to kill him for making a connection. She also brings him back to his war days as just trying to survive.

The film offers a few surprises such as their past together and some unsettling scenes of her trying to sexually assault him.

Though the film also seems to have something to say about religion how for some it is a savior and for others it is a tool of resentment 

This film is definitely a conversation starter if you make it through as it is at times too intense for some and maybe a little too slow for others 

There seems to be a fetishism in effect, you just keep waiting for it to surface but alas it never quite does fully. Though it does go there more than his later film LOVE AND OTHER CULTS, which may compare to the movie LOVE EXPOSURE, Which is itself a love story built around fetishes.

Until then the film stays subdued but creepy. You wish we could learn more about some characters on the sidelines. As the film is definitely a character study.

Like the lead female character likes to play games and put everything in its place.

Grade: C+

LA LLORONA (2019)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Jayro Bustamante 
Written By: Jayro Bustamante and Lisandro Sanchez 
Cinematography: Nicolas Wong 
Editor: Jayro Bustamante And Gustavo Matheu

Cast: Maria Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz, Margarita Kenefic, Julio Diaz, Maria Telon, Juan Pablo Olyslager 

An aging paranoid war criminal, protected by his faithful wife, faces death while being haunted by the ghosts of his past.

The film is well put together and grafted. As things come together or are revealed slowly deepen our understanding. 

As this is a horror story with barely any scares. Which makes it all the more dramatic. With its tight cinematography and lack of score 

The film is not as scary but is more about the horrors of the past. Done to humans by their fellow man for little to no reason and how they live with themselves after. Just trying to live yet haunted knowing their own guilt.

In certain scenes, the film grabs your attention. As not only does it leave you in the middle of things but also offers no immediate explanation. While it has a tendency to start a scene in a tight close-up seemingly small then slowly moves back to reveal more complexity to the scene as you see more space revealing many remaining others in the scene but still stays artistic and quite striking in images that you might have thought was the art of the beauty of the shot was only a fraction of the overall. A piece of the ultimate puzzle. Which scenes are usually for a movie or production.  

The director does the same when a scene is in wide shots only in reverse and slowly pushes in to bring us closer to the character in the middle in a tight close-up. Again managing to reveal more, as we see certain details we miss initially as they come more into focus, but also brings us closer and more intimate with the characters who are the focal point as they come more into focus.

This also helps build the tension even when this style is phased out toward the middle. As this is a film devoted to slow reveals which is genuinely what the style and even the film are all about. 

The central location of the house becomes an odyssey in itself even without its limits it feels endless. 

The film offers striking images and angles. As we wait to see what will happen driving our imagination and expectations. Then chooses to retreat slowly leaving its own restraints. 

As the film exposes the class divide as well as race through the country and in the family’s behavior. 

What is spooky, The main character never seems to blink. Her long natural black hair could be a shroud for her. That ends up becoming more of a long frame for her beauty 

It offers up the vanity of beauty with the general’s wandering eyes. As his wife knows of his indiscretions. The young lady who comes to work for them is a native of the country and knows that is his weakness.

Who he has taken advantage of before. It offers hints that the young lady seems to be haunting him or a representation of his past.

The audience is kept expecting violence. So it works on your anticipation, expectations, and temptations offering glimpses to read the mood. 

Not as mysterious as I thought but still effective. His wife going through in dreams the crimes he committed against her in the past. This is why she haunts him as a way to get in so that other spirits slowly are allowed protestors to represent past victims and their kin.

The film even seems sequel ready if needed. As she keeps implying she is not done and might be coming for his comrades. Whom we see early on in a meeting. 

When his wife is going through in dreams the friend he committed to the young lady in the past. This is why she haunts him, as a way to get in so that other spirits slowly are allowed in. The protesters more represent past victims and their kin. That is when it all really hits. We are expecting one kind of film and the film is offering something quite unexpected but still a revenge tale. 

The film runs out of steam a little once you figure it out. Not as striking as a gothic style and goes more for harshness. A ghost story in a reality that feels a little more like a fable only modernized 

Grade: B+

SWEETIE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT (2020)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed & Edited By: Yernar Nurgailyev
Written By: Yernar Nurgailyev, Zhandos Ai Bassov, Daniyar Sostanbayev, Il’Yas Toleu, Anuar Turizhigitov & Alosher Utev 
Cinematography: Azamat Dulatov 

Cast: Daniyar Alshinov, Abel Kalyeva, Azamat Makienov, Yerlan Primbetov, Dulyga Almolda, Ahmet Sakatov, Rustem Zahnyamanov

Dastan can no longer stand the constant nagging of his highly pregnant wife and decides to run away for at least one day with his friends. The men go fishing, which would have gone smoothly, if not for a series of unforeseen events.

Like the Russian film, WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE this film is violent out of nowhere but also usually in the middle of a highly ridiculous comedic scene. This is definitely a fun film that will have you laughing or at least giggling throughout.

As both films just are so over the top and pack so much in such a little concept that they go miles with it and it never feels like it is getting stretched too far 

So that the film feels almost like a live-action cartoon only with real-life consequences. Though the film has so much zany energy and out-of-nowhere moments. That it is hard to dislike the film. It feeds off the fear of what’s the worst that could happen and what is out there in the unknown of nature.

As it never seems to let you rest. As soon as the road trip starts it gets worse and worse. As well as funnier and funnier. 

Some jokes come across as long or expected but there is plenty all through that is unexpected. Though as fast and furious as this film is, it allows the jokes to land and spread before moving on to another one. 

None of this is meant to be taken seriously and might remind the audience of the whatever can go wrong will go wrong movies of the 1980s only with a more well-known veteran comedic cast.

Here this is a foreign gun production that screams for an American remake. Which I doubt will do the justice that this film does. As part of the humor might be that it takes place on foreign soil which is foreign to the audience. Especially when it comes to actions and reactions.

Though the film is violent it’s not so much gratuitous to an unbearable degree, but one would categorize it as a splatter comedy. 

The film does live up to it’s title and serves as a final line and a summation of the film. 

Grade: B

SALOUM (2022)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Written & Directed By: Jean Luc Herbulot
Story By: Jean Luc Herbulot & Pamela Diop
Cinematography: Gregory Corandi 
Editor: Nicolas Desmaison, Alasdair McCulloch and Sebastien Prangere 

Cast: Yann Gael, Evelyn lly Juhen, Roger Sallah, Mentor Ba, Bruno Henry, Marielle Salmier, Bobacer Oualy, Ndiaga Mbow, Renaud Farah, Cannabasse 

In 2003, a trio of mercenaries escaping a coup in Guinea-Bissau take refuge in a hidden region on the Saloum river of Senegal. But something from beyond the grave awaits them there.

The film starts off stark already and gets more captivating as it goes along. As more is revealed. As at first it seems more political and then seems to be a story of criminals on the run.

At first, it seems like a crime story with political aspirations. That becomes a revenge tale after a crime story in the first half. The second half has the characters more or less facing their personal demons. 

The film is many things and touches on quite a few genres, but mainly sticks to African folklore by the third act.

This is one of those films that is continuously inventive with beautiful imagery and stylish and downright cool to a certain extent.

It is even a ghost story of sorts that involves mercenaries, rebellion, and some philosophy. Either way, it leaves the film soulful and haunted. 

Most of the excitement of the Film is in the discovery’s definitely best to go In with as little knowledge as possible. Just enjoy the ride and take notice of the beauty and style. 

GRADE: B+

LES MISERABLES (2019)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Ladj Ly
Written By: Ladj Ly, Giordano Gederlini and Alexis Manenti
Cinematography: Julien Poupard
Editor: Flora Vol Peldiere 

Cast: Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti, Djerbil Zonga, Almammy Kenoute, Issa Percia, Al-Hassan Ly, Steve Tientchau, Nizer Ben Fatem, Raymond Lopez, Luciano Lopez, Jaihson Lopez 

A cop from the provinces moves to Paris to join the Anti-Crime Brigade of Montfermeil, discovering an underworld where the tensions between the different groups mark the rhythm.

This film feels like a mixture of the films END OF TOUR and TRAINING DAY only set in France.

The film shows the hostility between the residents of a neighborhood and the corrupt cops who hassle, rob, and torture them. Until one day they decide to strike back. Some In the neighborhood are no innocents but they are not all bad and they are human beings, yet they are never treated like them.

The film has an intensity throughout that keeps you on the edge of your seat and offers viewers another picture of France different from the tourist attractions.

The film shows or sets in motion how a minor incident has huge repercussions. Especially when there has been a growing hostility underneath the community for so long.

The film is also a celebration of the country the characters love and how they are treated or mistreated by it. As the film’s cast is a melting pot of immigrants trying to settle into the country. While showing how a new generation learns and takes over from elders who are too passive and want to stand up for themselves to liberate themselves and demand respect. Which they do by taking action.

The film mostly takes place after the Incident in which the cops trying to work it out, end up butting heads with new partners who have different philosophies when it comes to police work. How things are supposed to be done versus how they must be done to have any effects 

How it affects cops and citizens both as the scary part for each of them. As well for us in the audience is that we never know what is going to happen. Each side is stressed to the breaking point.

On the streets, they have no choice but to beat each other up or snitch on one another for survival short of killing. 

As the police are their own gang against all others with a false sense of power, abuse, and loyalty that comes back to haunt them. As they stick together not out of loyalty but out of survival and duty. It offers a spellbinding ending. 

If you are into energetic and vivid street stories this might be the movie for you. As it shows the many injustices that citizens must go through just to survive. 

This feels like the film the recent release ATHENA was trying to be or have the same effect, only a bit more personal

GRADE: B+

EMA (2019)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Pablo Larrain
Written By: Pablo Larrain, Giillermo Calderon and Alejandro Moreno
Cinematography: Sergio Armstrong 
Editor: Sebastian Sepulveda

Cast: Mariana Di Girolamo, Gael Garcia Bernal, Santiago Cabrera, Paola Giannini, Cristian Suarez, Giannina Fruttero 

A couple deals with the aftermath of an adoption that goes awry as their household falls apart.

Watching this film is more of an experience. the base there always seems to be a running rhythm or one that the film as well as its Characters seem to be running On.

How a beat builds, how it takes many different elements put together to make not only A song but even a bear which is the Love force the heartbeat of the entity known as music. The same can be said of life, art  and That is how this film Works 

At first, it seems like the main character is acting irrationally and randomly but as the film goes along we see how she is putting everything together to get what she wants essentially any kind of reward for all of those with who she is involving without their knowledge as to the overall goal.

For a film that seems to be about Mostly dancing there are no sustained long-term dance sequences. As some of the scenes are edited more briskly With plenty of cuts more like a music video. 

You believe everything to be random out of freedom then in the third act a reveal happens that brings it all Together. 

This is one of the horniest yet not erotic films I have seen recently. As it is erotic but doesn’t exactly aim in that direction. Though the characters seem more exhibitionist and more Hedonistic. As it seems to open itself and showcase open and polyamorous relationships 

As the film presents sex and sexuality as non-judge mental more open and quite naturalistic and feral. As more matter Of fact 

Grade: A

CURE (1997)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Written & Directed By: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Cinematography: Tokusho Kikumura
Editor: Kan Suzuki

Cast: Koji Yakusho, Tsuy Oshiujik, Masato Hagiwara, Anna Nakagawa 

A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they’ve done.

This is a film that the less you know about it the better. Though it still will have no overall effect on your enjoyment or feelings. It does help you to discover things as the characters do.

This movie is a marvel, not one to easily describe. It plays as a psychological thriller and horror but is more like a piece of art above all Else.

The film is tightly composed and contains a stillness. As well as staying very quiet no matter the violence that is shown.

Where the violence is shown more in the aftermath. Rather than actual attacks or actions. 

The mood and tone of the film never managed to rise. It stays dry, quiet, cold, and measured at its own pace. Which whole being a thriller is impressive as we watch pieces come together. Though still, some remain unexplained. 

The film manages to keep us interested and learning as it goes on. As this is a film that is best to pay attention to all the details though at Its speed it would be hard to miss certain elements.

The film eventually breaks down into a cat and mouse game between the suspect and the detective but it involves so much more that might be red herrings such as conspiracies. 

Some of the film’s threads that seem to connect to one another unravel or come off as some kind of coincidence. 

What helps throw the audience off is that there is no lead-up to the violence or actions of the characters. It just seems to happen and we are presented with it offering no rhyme or reason at first. Seemingly random and dealing with the aftermath. Which can be scarier than knowing the motive where you can rationale or understand 

Grade: B+

EVIL DEAD TRAP (1988)

~ jbg ~ Leave a comment

Directed By: Toshiharu Ikeda
Written By: Takashi Ishii 
Cinematography: Masaki Tamura 
Editor: Akimasa Kawashima 

Cast: Miyuki Ono, Aya Katsuragi, Hitomi Kobayashi, Eriko Nakagawa, Masahiko Abe

A late-night TV presenter receives a snuff tape, in which a woman is brutally killed. She decides to take a crew out to a location indicated in the tape, but only death and despair await them.

This is a movie best to go in blind as even if described it can never match the experience of watching it and what actually happens throughout the film. 

The location of the film the warehouse that the characters go through Is a character In itself as it seems the deeper and longer they stay there it seems to get bigger and as they journey along it seems like they are going deeper and deeper into hell on earth. A demented funhouse that seems to be a playhouse for the killer. 

This is a movie I had heard about for a while but from its title believed it to be an Evil dead movie Rip off. 

The irony is that the film actually does at times seem to have homages to the film of Its title’s inspiration with scenes of a rampaging camera going throughout the location. As seemingly whoever the evil is seeking.

You also have to consider when the film was made and released. As it’s a refreshingly original film where you can see the inspiration for many other horror films. In its, DNA is definitely in the SAW movie franchise with the boobs traps and graphic violence and consequences. 

The special effects and make-up are impressive and practical. Especially for the time as you can tell this was a film made with love of the genre 

Unfortunately, one of the few weaknesses of the film is that while trying to serve us sec and nudity, which seemed more common for the genre at the time we get a graphic sec scene but we also get a totally unnecessary graphic rape scene. That really adds nothing but gives the film an unneeded sense of depravity. Punishing certain Characters even more cruelly than needed and for no reason.

This is the kind of film where after a while you kind of give up all hope of sense or the film comes to a logical conclusion and just goes with it the chaos that it offers up and hopes it is worth it or it stays as unpredictable as it has presented itself so far. 

The film doesn’t have a big body count but makes up for it with impressive and original kills. Not to mention piling on the tension at times. Even if towards the end it feels a little long and overplayed. 

Grade: B