Throw Down 柔道龍虎榜 2004 // Hong Kong // Johnnie To 杜琪峯 Letterboxd (LINK) Despite being a recent first-time watch, THROW DOWN immediately takes up the second place of my favorite Johnnie To film, closely following THE MISSION (1999). Asides from the explicit homage to Akira Kurosawa’s SANSHIRO SUGATA, the playful editing (the cross-cutting between interactions… Continue reading Throw Down 柔道龍虎榜 (Johnnie To 杜琪峯, 2004)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2019 // USA // Quentin Tarantino Letterboxd (LINK) I’ve been wrestling with this film since I have watched it last week. Objectively, it’s Tarantino‘s most well-crafted, good-natured, self-righteous, self-indulgent and self-parodied work, yet I consider this film to be among my least favorite Tarantino film. I can’t deny I’m affected by… Continue reading Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019)
Snow Trail 銀嶺の果て 1947 // Japan // Senkichi Taniguchi 谷口千吉 Letterboxd (LINK) Mostly remembered as a film scripted by the legendary director Akira Kurosawa and featured the debut screen performance of Toshiro Mifune, SNOW TRAIL actually deserves a broader recognition than that. The storytelling is economical and fluidly paced, the bank robbery was only glimpsed… Continue reading Snow Trail 銀嶺の果て (Senkichi Taniguchi 谷口千吉, 1947)
Mother 마더 2009 // South Korea // Bong Joon-ho Letterboxd (LINK) Kim Hye-ja is the eponymous mother whom we first met during the opening credits when she dances (swinging her body and arms and finally covering her face by her hands as in an attempt to hide her emotion) on an opening field of high… Continue reading Mother 마더 (Bong Joon-ho, 2009)
Paprika パプリカ 2006 // Japan // Satoshi Kon 今敏 Letterboxd (LINK) PAPRIKA was Satoshi Kon’s last feature film made before his untimely death in 2010 at the age of 46. He had made 4 main animated features only, yet they are all masterpiece in my opinion, and MILLENNIUM ACTRESS (2002) is one of my all-time… Continue reading Paprika パプリカ (Satoshi Kon 今敏, 2006)
#977 Blue Velvet 1986 // USA // David Lynch Criterion Collection (LINK) / Letterboxd (LINK) I have to contend that I like David Lynch more as an artist than a storyteller. Sometimes these two roles emerged in one unity quite harmoniously in the case of Andrei Tarkovsky and Stanley Kubrick; other times the side of storytelling… Continue reading #977 Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
Cops and Robbers 點指兵兵 1979 // Hong Kong // Alex Cheung 章國明 Letterboxd (LINK) A landmark film of Hong Kong New Wave, COPS AND ROBBERS may include some dated, albeit welcome, elements like an entire scene in a night club featuring Teddy Robbins (the composer and the singer of the opening song) singing, but… Continue reading Cops and Robbers 點指兵兵 (Alex Cheung 章國明, 1979)
Perfect Blue パーフェクトブルー 1997 // Japan // Satoshi Kon 今敏 Letterboxd (LINK) This film is a perfect psychological thriller dealing with numerous social and personal issues that are still relevant today. The sexualization of women, the fetishization of idols, the online/real life stalkers, the misapprehension of identity with fantasy, altogether this 80-minute animation feels… Continue reading Perfect Blue パーフェクトブルー (Satoshi Kon 今敏, 1997)
The Big Clock 1948 // USA // John Farrow Letterboxd (LINK) THE BIG CLOCK begins with a rewinding of time, as George Stroud (Ray Milland), a crime magazine reporter hiding inside a dark lobby of a building called Janoth Publications, begins to retrace his last 36 hours and how he arrived at his present predicament.… Continue reading The Big Clock (John Farrow, 1948)
Sunset Boulevard 1950 // USA // Billy Wilder Letterboxd (LINK) ‘All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.’ When the aged silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) descends ‘the staircase of the palace,’ raising her arms and curling her hands, enjoying her triumphant moment of camera and lights pointing at her again, she… Continue reading Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950)
The Films in My Life (OnCriterion) 