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)
#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)
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)
This Gun for Hire 1942 // USA // Frank Tuttle Letterboxd (LINK) I cannot stand with any film which hinged on a plot of convenience. That’s a common drawback in a lot of film noir I have seen so far yet paradoxically beloved by others. THIS GUN FOR HIRE is no exception. I won’t go… Continue reading This Gun for Hire (Frank Tuttle, 1942)
My Name Is Julia Ross 1945 // USA // Joseph H. Lewis Letterboxd (LINK) It’s like watching GASLIGHT meeting VERTIGO, except I couldn’t suspend my disbelief the entire time. Nina Foch plays Julia Ross, a woman living in a boarding house with no friend and family and her estranged ‘boyfriend’ Dennis (Roland Varno) has just been married, or… Continue reading My Name Is Julia Ross (Joseph H. Lewis, 1945)
#966 Detour 1945 // USA // Edgar G. Ulmer Criterion Collection (LINK) Letterboxd (LINK) Edgar G. Ulmer’s classic film noir DETOUR has finally received the overdue pristine restoration and a blu-ray release it deserves. But as the protagonist Al Roberts (Tom Neal) sarcastically asserts in his monologue that “the world is full of skeptics,” I’m afraid… Continue reading #966 Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945)
The Rusty Knife 錆びたナイフ 1958 // Japan // Toshio Masuda 舛田利雄 Criterion Collection (LINK) Letterboxd (LINK) A prolific director, THE RUSTY KNIFE is Toshio Masuda’s third feature (he had six films released in the same year of 1958) and his first big commercial hit, not that the film itself is remarkable, but the star power of Yujiro… Continue reading The Rusty Knife 錆びたナイフ (1958)
PTU 2003 // Hong Kong // Johnnie To Letterboxd (LINK) The neon-lit night of Hong Kong has never been more moody and enticing than the one photographed in Johnnie To‘s PTU by Cheng Siu-Keung. It’s astonishing to find PTU captures the vibrant, occasionally uncanny (an errie kid cycling a tricycle around the deserted streets in the… Continue reading PTU (2003)
Laura 1944 // USA // Otto Preminger Letterboxd (LINK) WARNING: this review contains major spoilers. “I shall never forget the weekend Laura died.” Otto Preminger‘ s first masterpiece and quintessential film noir LAURA opens with an account of recollection, a voiceover done by the flamboyant, acid-tounged columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb). For any first time viewer,… Continue reading Laura (1944)
Tokyo Bay 東京湾 1962 // Japan // Yoshitaro Nomura Letterboxd (LINK) TOKYO BAY is a gripping police procedural which starts out with a gruesome assassination under a board day light of a seemingly lowlife man. The first act comprises of the methodical and deductive investigation on the identity of the victim who turns out to… Continue reading Tokyo Bay 東京湾 (1962)
The Films in My Life (OnCriterion) 