1. Nightmare Alley (2021): 4/5
Consistent with his style and taste, Guillermo del Toro pumps out just another decent Gothics-inspired tale of Man and Monster with this one. This film's visual is impeccable with very distinctive character design, memorable settings both outside (normally under the very adverse conditions for filming like snowing or raining but at the same time great background to enhance the feelings and emotions of the scene) and inside - this film is especially nice to look at from inside thanks to many great Art Deco interior designs and equally masterful use of lighting, which brings a sense of mystery and darkness to the film. The pacing, however, is not as good due to a pretty slow introduction (the carnival sequence) that is probably half-an-hour too long and does not contribute a lot to character development. From the middle of the film, however, the pacing was driven up a notch thanks to a more focused and interesting plot that leads to the climax near the end and also a pretty memorable ending. With regards to the ending, I understand that it is well-liked by the audience, yet I would love to have an even more shocking ending where it turns out that everything in this film was just a dream - a "nightmare alley" I might say that Stan cooked up during the first night at the Carnival, BEFORE being lured to be another miserable chicken-eating geek by Clem. This ending might be a little bit less meaningful and philosophical in comparison with the current "full circle" ending that del Toro chose for this film, but it would make this film much more entertaining and memorable à-la-"Shutter Island", which is admittedly an even more difficult to follow film but with an unforgettable ending. This film needs such an ending to elevate itself, though, since somehow I could not feel a lot of heart (aka. humanity and humanism) in this film - a trademark of Guillermo del Toro that has always been emphasized in his previous films to create an even greater contrast to the plethora of unique Monsters that del Toro brought to the table. Part of this problem of this film is probably due to the less-than-perfect performance of the cast, as even the supremely talented Cate Blanchett does not really impress the audience with her acting as a mysterious and mischievous "shrink" Dr. Lilith Ritter, whereas Bradley Cooper was decent but no where near the "Oscar for Best Actor" caliber of acting capability and charisma that he and his publicists has hoped for via the flood of articles praising his acting in this film and others, and the rest of the cast, despite their equally impressive talents, did not have a lot of space to shine (aside from probably Willem Dafoe) to save screening time for Cooper. Funnily enough, one of them Rooney Mara (who played Stan's lover and later wife in this film) was actually in the same film with Cate Blanchett before, in a film of much more memorable acting - "Carol". It seems that this film to del Toro is just a passion or pet project that he has incubated since forever, so hopefully he could retain this level of filmmaking while again inject some more "heart" to this film the way he already did, and succeeded, for "The Shape of Water" or "Pan's Labyrinth". As a side note, I find it very funny that Holt McCallany (the police-turn-bodyguard of the evil magnate Ezra Grindle) played an exactly the same role that he has done in perfection in "Mindhunter".
2. After Love (2020): 3.5/5
I was very intrigued by the premise of this film - one half of a very happy couple died only to reveal that he had a hidden life away from his partner. It turns out that that premise was utilized pretty effectively, especially the first one third when the melange of sorrow, grief, loneliness, doubt, and the feeling of betrayal all grew within the widow and made her suffer in a very quiet way due to her peculiar situation of being a British woman converted to Islam (as an unprecedented sacrifice for her husband) only to lose the only reason for such conversion - the love of her life. The confrontation between her and the secret lover of her husband in France during the last two third of the film is, however, not as impressive since the actress in charge of the wife's "counterpart" was not as good as the amazing Joanna Scanlan (who played the wife) with poor dynamics with her son, who was not really good either. I understand that this film is about many things, one of that is forgiveness, but the fact that both the wife and the secret lover totally forgave the utmost betrayal and lies of the decease by the end of the film somehow bothered me, probably because it appears to be a little bit immoral and controversial even. Still, Joanna Scanlan is the brightest star of the cast of this small yet memorable film.
3. The King's Man (2021): 3.5/5
This is definitely a flawed film with a script too greedy for its own good as the tonal shift back and forth between a mindlessly fun action-packed film and a twisted anti-war drama is just too obvious for the audience to ignore. The tragic thing is that BOTH sides of this film are good to the point that they can easily splitted into two different films for the filmmakers to explore the themes and motifs to their utmost depth and also for the audience to enjoy. Instead, they are cramped into this third installment of a series famous for being mostly fun with just a scene or two of unforgettable emotions (the best example of this being the "Country Road" scene in the pretty mediocre "Kingsman: The Golden Circle") and thus become accidentally detrimental to each other. How could they not be when a supremely funny scene of Rasputin dancing and fooling around is succeeded sometime later with the pointless yet deeply poignant and symbolic death of Conrad not during but AFTER escaping the No Man's Land? The acting in this film is also average at best with the atrocious performance of Gemma Arterton and Djimon Hounsou. They so obviously phoned in that even a very fine Ralph Fiennes could not save the day. If this film's two predecessors could escape criticism on this aspect of acting due to them being mostly mindless fun, this film could not due to its aforementioned very unfortunate focus on the underlying pacifist aspect of this franchise. The lack of a memorable "big bad" in this film might also contribute to this weakness as the villains in this film, including even the much-advertised Rasputin or the surprised appearance of Mata Hari. Still, despite its many flaws, I highly value this film for its entertainment value, from the clever setting and choreography of the action scenes - a trademark of the Kingsman franchise, to its surprisingly decent cinematography and production design, especially of the war scenes, that rival any "serious" war dramas in Hollywood these days. In particular, I really appreciate Matthew Vaughn's clever approach to alternate history with the script of this film that maintains all the key moments of the first World War but twists all the facts surrounding those historical moments. This respecting-while-twisting style of the film's script is really refreshing and ease to enjoy as the film appears to be not at all a propaganda (ALL sides are bad in this film, including a hilarious union of Lenin and Hitler as both pawns of the "big bads") and rather a not-so-serious retelling of history while not making it a pure fantasy that ignores all the bad things that happened to this war. Same treatment went for the historical moments that makes this film really fun to watch and also unexpectedly informative for those who want to recheck their memory of World War I, its root causes and outcomes (of course after checking Wikipedia). Such a unique approach to alternate historical film is rare these days and thus this film's effort - a successful one even in this approach should be appreciated and applauded.
4. Contact (1997): 2.5/5
The science and philosophy behind this film are pretty solid (duh, since it was written by the famed Carl Sagan himself) but the film as a whole really is a big mess. I tend to be pretty tolerant to films with experimental elements like this one but coming to watch this with very high hope (due to the insane amount of hype Sagan has still received even after his early death), I really could not give this film a higher score. Simply put, this film is extremely cheesy for its own good with a seemingly strong-willed female protagonist who turned out to be very disappointing and uninspiring by the end, especially since the ever-talented Jodie Foster seemed to be so uncomfortable with this role that she had to force a lot of facial expressions to artificially "show" her emotions on screen. Her rare wooden acting AND overacting in this film really stood out like a sore thumb, especially for those who already watched her impeccable performances in films like "The Silence of the Lambs", "The Accused" or even "Nell". Funnily enough, her bad appearance in this film is still much superior than the rest of the cast, including Matthew McConaughey whose total lack of charisma really made the audience question Robert Zemeckis's decision to cast him as THE spiritual leader of the whole USA in negative light. The part where McConaughey's character revealed to Foster's character the real reason why he did not vote for her to lead the one-man journey to the darkness of Vega is not only the cheesiest (and thus most disappointing) moment of this film, but also showed McConaughey's very very limited acting capability during the 1990s (thankfully he has improved so much since then and even redeemed himself for the excellent performance in a pretty similar film to "Contact" that is Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar"). Yes, again, the science and philosophy in this film is good, and enjoyable this film might be, but this film is nothing in comparison with the gold standard of this type of philosophical sci-fi space films that is "2001: A Space Odyssey".
5. Azor (2021): 3/5
I decided to watch this film, which has fallen completely off the radar for any award since being presented at the Berlin Film Festival earlier last year, simply because it has, at the same time, been rated as one of the best-reviewed film of 2021 as well as categorized as a mystery/investigation - my favourite genre. It turned out that this film fell off for good reasons, namely its being very lowkey with not a lot of things happening on screen, whereas the cast was not really impressive either, all of which made this film a much more forgettable watching experience in comparison with another Argentina - the explosive and very emotional "El secreto de sus ojos". Even its effort in alluring the protagonist Yvan's (rivery) journey to the dark side to the famous road to the heart of darkness of "Apocalypse Now", especially during the last of the five "acts", the film could not raise any brow from the audience since such reference has no impact whatsoever on the stream of the story as a whole. At the same time, however, I really appreciate this film for its very subtle exploration of various facets of the Argentine society during the dictatorial National Reorganization Process, most of which I am not familiar with at all. The switching back and forth between Spanish and French, with some sprinkles here and there of English, is also a nice approach to writing dialogues since such language switches have meanings of their own - one for business, another for daily life, one for gentleness, one for brutal past, present and future. A nice and meaning film to watch, this one really is.
6. Let the Bullets Fly (2010): 4.5/5
This film takes some time to get everything going, but once things are in their order, the film just becomes fantastic through and through. I do not know why, but throughout the whole time watching this film, I often got back to the idea that if Quentin Tarantino were a Chinese director, this is the kind of films that he would make - witty with hilarious yet layered dialogues, breathtaking pacing with sudden and crisp cuts that the audience needs time to get accustomed to, alternative-history-based script with details heavily borrowed from and/or inspired by iconic films of the same genre, memorable characters who are neither straight heroes or anti-heroes but always full of nuances and playing at the edge between the good and the evil, and meticulously-built story arc with almost always a very satisfying ending. As a fan of Quentin Tarantino, I am already used to watching such a feat time and time again from his films, but as a cinephile not really familiar with Jiang Wen (although as anyone of my age, Jiang has always been one of the biggest stars of Chinese cinema and, hilariously enough, Chinese television as he was known first to the Vietnamese audience through his unforgettable role in "A Native of Beijing in New York"), I am really really impressed with the way Jiang built everything up in this film and concluded them in a very calculated, satisfying, and confident way. And even better than Quentin Tarantino, whose acting has always been a low point, or a funny point in his films, Jiang Wen is equally fantastic in this film as the main protagonist as he is the director/writer for this one with a very charismatic, funny, likeable character with even a faint scent of tragedy. With such an imposing presence, Jiang easily held himself when facing other equally capable actors like Ge You, Chen Kun (who is really good in this film) and unquestionably superior to the top-billing Chow Yun-fat, whose performance as the archrival of Jiang's character is still very nice if one can ignore his poorly-acted over-the-top comedic minutes. Another amazing feat of Jiang Wen in this film is the fact that he was able to include numerous subtle criticisms of Chinese traditions and history ("one has to make to mass angry and frustrated to be able to mobilize them, but even then, the mass would only follow those who are already winning/leading" for example) without being censored by the Chinese authority and even made this film a colossal box-office success - clearly he has "learned" his lessons after "Devils on the Doorstep" cost him eight years not being able to direct or write new films. The only minor complaint I have for this film is the confusing opening sequence that is probably a notch too fast for the audience to follow and enjoy the witty dialogue. Other than that, what an entertaining and meaningful film this one really is.
7. Hard Eight (1996): 3/5
As an indie debut film made by a 26-year-old director without any formal training, this is a very solid piece of work that was already able to demonstrate some of Paul Thomas Anderson's strengths and trademarks that would follow him ever since in his career including confident storytelling and editing that always appear strong in every single aspect, layered characters who are often in the shady side yet possess at least some human decency and always contain a gleam of hope and innocence, and troubled families and souls intertwined by destiny. The weakness of this film might be the fact that it does look indie with unrecognizable production values and locations, less-than-impressive cast, except for a strong performance from Philip Baker Hall who later shone in "Magnolia" for playing an equally complicated character with a noble appearance veil covering over a very dark past. Hall's co-lead in this film - John C. Reilly, however, is much less impressive with questionable and sometime conflicting and even despicable traits (probably an intentional decision by PTA to help the audience understand a little bit about his character's untold father whom was killed by Hall's character, probably for that exact reason of questionable characters. At least Reilly was later able to redeem this performance by his perfect role as the very vulnerable policeman in "Magnolia" (whose eventual girlfriend played by none other than Melora Walters, who played the escort of Reilly's friend - played by Samuel L. Jackson in this film - PTA really loves to rehire his cast). I am also not really a fan of the ending, which to me is rather abrupt and without a satisfactory conclusion. I understand that PTA loves nuances and is never about satisfactory endings, but his later films really master this philosophy instead of such an abruption for an ending like "Hard Eight". Clearly not a masterpiece debut but a very competent one nonetheless.
8. Insomnia (2002): 3.5/5
This is a hard film to rate. It is not because the film is bad or it has too much nuance that it is impossible to discern any thought or feelings after the final credit has run out. Of course its implication is obvious since this is a Nolan's film, and Chris Nolan, while always equipping his films and characters with mysteries and twisted fates, never fails to make his intentions with character and plot developments as obvious as possible via dialogues, visual cues, or even explanatory monologues by various characters throughout the film. This film is no exception, and in no way such forceful foreshadowing makes it a less entertaining one. On the contrary, this is a very neat film with meticulous directing, editing, and unique and memorable settings and production values based on various locations of the US Far North. One could not complain about the acting either, as Al Pacino's late-career tiredness is perfectly suitable for his role in this film (kudos to Nolan for this casting, since such lack of energy from the once-explosive Al Pacino would easily destroy a film that requires a more engaging and proactive performance from him - a fact made obvious by his forgettable appearances in "Simone" - came out in the same year as "Insomnia" (!) or "Righteous Kill"), whereas Robin Williams was able to make his character as creepy as his dramatic capability allows, and Hilary Swank, although relegated to a lesser character than her capability [she already won an Oscar by this time!] and her character's potential, still managed to not to be outshone by her more famous co-stars. The film's plot and final act are also very solid, thought-provoking, and entertaining. And still, somehow this film feels not as complete or rememberable as other four and four-plus ones, probably because the pacing is very slow, especially for this detective-mystery genre, to the point the film appears to be dragging at various points throughout its runtime. The very traditional treatment of its characters and plots, especially in comparison to the uniqueness of the settings, also makes this film slightly less attractive for ones craving for a true Nolanesque film (no wonder why this film is sometimes conveniently left behind when one talks about Nolan's films). Still, a very entertaining film to watch and another proof for Nolan's illustrious workbody that even such a "lesser" film of his career is still a very nice watching experience.
9. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021): 4/5
I always have a soft spot for the Spider-Man franchise, probably because Sam Raimi's first "Spider-Man" was the first "proper" superhero film that I was able to watch at a true cinema house, whereas "Spider-Man" comics was also my first exposure to American comics, although I was not really impressed with its drawing style - I still am, strongly influenced by years of reading manga since childhood when there was next-to-nothing to entertain for any kid. No matter which iteration of the franchise, either by Sam Raimi, Marc Webb, or Jon Watts, I almost never fail to find a very relatable and funny Spider-Man with a lot of heart and not much fanfare or sophisticated "toys" like his counterparts. This one is no different, but I truly, truly appreciate this film for giving Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 3" and especially Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" a certain level of closure, given the abrupted nature of their ending (there were no "Spider-Man 4", nor "The Amazing Spider-Man 3" mostly due to financial reasons), and even some much-needed appreciation. Different from most people, I really love "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", especially the "MJ falling" scene, which in my opinion is easily among the best filmed sequences of the superhero genre, thus I am really touched when Tobey Maguire's "OG" Spider-Man comforted Andrew Garfield's "Amazing" Spider-Man that he truly is amazing, hence the film. And the fact that Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man was able to somehow "correct" the "MJ falling" scene really is emotional to me - a feat almost no other superhero film has been able to achieve. The well-written and well-acted appearance of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield instead of some cash-in cameos is another surprise about this film. I enjoy, and cherish every single minute the handsome Garfield and the aging Maguire were on screen together. Although this film is far too long for its own good, and many emotional build-ups - like the death of Aunt May do not pay off at the end (whereas some deaths/near-deaths are just another joke without any true consequence for the involving characters - a "trademark" [death does not matter] of the Marvel Universe really are annoying), the very creative combination of the three "Spider-Man" as well as the smooth transition in and transition out of the previous two iterations of this franchise really make this film a superb cinema experience, especially for longtime "Spider-Man" fans like me. I could not give this film more than four stars, however, due to the fact that it still has way, way too much banters (that actually lengthen the film's running time unnecessarily) - a fact shows that Kevin Feige really wants to merge this charming and unique franchise to his bland "McDonald-style" Marvel universe, via banters. Too much banters really destroy the flow of the film and even decrease the emotional build-up of that film by giving lesser attention to the deaths and instead focusing too much on small talks, stupid gestures, and under-cook scenes. Of course at the end of the day, the three Spider-Men are more important, and thus I can somewhat forget the annoying banters. If only the filmmakers of this franchise could be somewhat more resolute in "decouple" this franchise and the rest of the monotonous Marvel universe.
10. CODA (2021): 3/5
This film is not a bad one by any mean, but the strongest contender for the Oscar for Best Picture? Such a joke! This film is decently made with a good story (thanks to the original French film that it was adapted from - France has always been famous for emotional and competent films with singing/songs [NOT musicals] like "Les Choristes" or "La Môme") and some heartwarming moments, but that is about it. The film's script is very shallow, predictable, and surprisingly low energy for a script that has gotten many accolades in this award season. The characters are thus equally forgettable and in some parts even irritating due to their selfishness and aloofness - I am not sure the deaf community would be receptive to the idea that a pair of deaf parents would have no idea about how to sacrifice for their CODA daughter instead of MAKING her sacrifice for themselves like in this film. One might argue that the third act already redeemed this plot point since the parents indeed turned to wholeheartedly support their lovely CODA daughter. Still, such sudden turn makes no sense as there is no character development, no sign pointing to any reflection, any internal struggle inside the parents' mind after the seemingly emotional but actually very long and awkward sequence of the mini concert. As the filmmakers do not attempt to build up any background stories for their characters, the audience would naturally have no idea why they behave as such throughout the film - almost always thinking about their hardship without a slightest idea on how their CODA daughter has a totally different set of problems facing life and desperately need their tactful support. The tragedy is that while neglecting character development in most cases, the filmmakers at the same time left behind many unexplored potential details like the past of the music teacher (a "failed" Berklee graduate, how? why? what impact?), the past of the CODA girl's own parents, so on, so forth. Such an under-developed script might be suitable and forgivable for a YA (Young-Adult)-targeted film (which this one was originally intended for - my wild guess), but a potentially Oscar-winning film? No way! And somehow, it is very probably going to win some major awards, the Best Picture included, tonight at the latest Oscars. Such a tragedy for good, decent films (like "Licorice Pizza") in an era of political correctness and wokeness. Watching this film only reminded me of "Sound of Metal" - a much, much, much better film about deafness and the conflict between being able to listen and having no idea at all how to deal with it. It will really be a shame if this film gets the final Oscar instead of many more accomplished and rememberable films.
11. Death on the Nile (2022): 2.5/5
As a big fan of Agatha Christie and an unashamed sucker for murder mystery and melodramatic films, I truly love Kenneth Branagh's "Murder on the Orient Express" (congrats to him for his not-really-deserving Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for "Belfast" - I like Branagh but PTA's "Licorice Pizza" is simply a better one, much better one) and thus kind-of look forward to this sequel "Death on the Nile" despite considering the source material an inferior book to "Orient Express" (still an excellent one, even by Agatha Christie's standard, but nowhere near "Orient Express"). This final product, however, disappointed me greatly. I am not sure whether it is because Armie Hammer's "cannibalism" scandal was so big that the film had to be re-cut to minimize his screen-time (he is still prominent in most scenes in this film, though, so I believe that not really is the case), or because COVID and distancing protocols have prevent Branagh and his collaborators the optimal conditions to make this one as high-quality as "Orient Express". But what I can be sure is that this film was subpart in terms of editing with some scenes so out of place that they seemed to be stitched together at the last minutes. The acting is also disappointingly bland, probably due to the lack of big names like in "Orient Express" (Branagh was still there, but his very own acting is this film is equally questionable, and his French is really, really atrocious to any viewer who can hear or read French [like me]), and also very likely due to the now very infamous capability of Gal Gadot to not being able to act, at all. I do admire Branagh's effort to giving these Agatha Christie-based films the best exotic, unique, and authentic places possible, but this film nonetheless looks poorer than its predecessor despite being filmed in one of the most famous and outstanding pieces of architecture since the early year of humanity. But most importantly, the storytelling in this film is pretty uninteresting even though Branagh had tried to introduce some new elements to this adaptation of a very well-known classic in the detective/murder mystery genre like Poirot's private life and the root of his being "smug" anywhere he goes - probably because such introduction was made in a half-hearted way without any true dedication to integrate such new elements to the core plot of the film. Also, despite having some surprisingly sensual scenes, this film does not contain the big heart that Branagh was somehow able to introduce to the first film and thus the audience could not feel relatable to a whole bunch of unlikeable characters instead of developing their own sympathy for "Orient Express"'s. Despite its weaknesses, I still hope that this film would at least perform decently in the box office so that Branagh could continue on this direction with other classics by Agatha Christie like "And Then There Were None" or "The ABC Murder".
12. The Handmaiden - Extended Cut (2016): 4/5
It was very unfortunate that I did not pay attention to the version of "The Handmaiden" to watch and ended up with this extended cut, which is, according to many, inferior to the original theatrical version in terms of editing, plot structure, and character development while does not add much to the (already full) table. I said "unfortunate" because this version is clearly too long and too slow in some (minor) parts - especially at the beginning, thus some trimming (like the one done for the final theatrical version) would be necessary to make the film more concise, character development tighter, and tempo not interrupted by the film's (already long) length. Still, I enjoy this film thoroughly and really appreciate the fact that Park Chan-wook was able to introduce to his audience a perfect blend between the kaleidoscopic nature of a Korean-style film noir that is both suspended and slapstick-comedy funny at parts, with the twisted nature of a British Victorian-era detective mystery (à-la-"Sherlock Holmes") - an approach and a trademark that Park has gradually perfected since "Thirst". On this aspect, Park might probably be the most original among the "big name" Korean directors, even more unique and original than Bong Joon-ho, who is easily the biggest name of Korean cinema right now after the massive critical success of "Parasite". Although "Parasite" is easily the tighter film with better characters (it is also easier to make a film tight when its scope and setting are rather constraint/limited in comparison with the massive setting of "The Handmaiden"), I was still able to enjoy "The Handmaiden" thoroughly thanks to a very clever plot (albeit slightly too complicated for its own good by the end), an amazing duo of leading actresses, and an unforgettable setting. The lesbian sex scenes might be, to my humble opinion, a little bit too long and superficial in comparison with other superior films like "Blue Is the Warmest Color", but other than that, the two leading female protagonists were really fantastic in their juggling the plot and injecting its with many interesting twist-and-turns. Yes, in short, fantastic film.
13. High and Low (1963): 4.5/5
Kurosawa never fails to amaze me with his tension-packed films, no matter what settings they have. Despite being made six decades ago, this film has not aged at all thanks to an excellent script that has both a very original and intriguing premise (a failed kidnapping as the kidnappers caught the wrong victim to blackmail, or is this?) and an extremely clean, easy-to-follow, yet never fails to entertain the audience even for a minute. The "cleanness" of this film's script is really essential to its success since this is a police procedural film, and only a sophisticated yet not convoluted "procedure" can retain the audience on their seat throughout the rather-long running time (143 minutes) of this film. Of course, for those who already watch the "recruitment sequence" of "Seven Samurai", such a smoothly-executed and exciting "procedure" is no surprise. Still, this film again proves that Kurosawa is the master of execution with a very clear idea in his head on how to lay out the plot and details of his films to his audience in the most approachable yet exciting way possible. This film is even better in the sense that Kurosawa was able to "switch gear" three times in a row - making this film from a moral suspense (will he pay the ransom, or not?) to a pure police procedural (how could the culprit fool the police? and how could the police catch him after all that tomfooleries?) and finally to a social drama that reflects the "high and low" of Japanese society during the early booming years after World War II (is being poor a good enough excuse for a crime? is being rich a crime in and of itself?) without breaking the pacing and the flow of the film for even a minute. Excellent filmmakers like Wes Anderson can do such a smooth "gear switching" in terms of settings and character focus, but fundamentally switching gear between genres within a single film is a very difficult technique that requires extreme confidence in all phases from writing the script, directing the scenes, to editing - something that only the utmost masters like Kurosawa have been able to demonstrate. To be fair, the ending of this film is a slight letdown since it is a little bit too short and too simple in comparison to the very complicated moral and mental setup of the first part, and the uber enjoyable thrilling sensation of the second part, especially since some important details (like the big slash on the culprit's hand, or the unfinished power struggle between the victim and his enemies at the company) were left unresolved despite the impressive length of the film (the second part might probably be trimmed down without affecting the pacing to save some more times for the last part). Toshiro Mifune's rather subdued performance in this film is another high point of this film (that has very few low points) as he was able to contain his explosive emotions and tendency to overact throughout the film so that his character has a higher degree of nuance in terms of morality and masculinity than many of his roles during the long and fruitful collaboration between him and Kurosawa. Amazing film, I am very happy to be able to watch such a great one.
14. Yojimbo (1961): 3.5/5
I know this film is much more influential than "High and Low" to Hollywood and especially the Western/action genre, but somehow to me it ages worse despite being made only two years prior to the latter. Similar to "Seven Samurai", the film is very chaotic but the pacing is pretty all over the place as the plot of the "Bodyguard with No Name" unfold instead of the very coherent and focused storyline of "Seven Samurai". The fact that this film is much larger than "High and Low" and requires a much bigger cast also works against its quality, since the supporting cast was pretty disappointing with either caricature or overtly-comedic performance (except for Toshiro Mifune, of course, who was still as charismatic and attractive as ever). Probably the masterful handling by Kurosawa of action sequences, as well as the ingenious plot (by the 1960s standard) have given this film such a status among Kurosawa's body of works (probably only behind "Rashomon" and "Seven Samurai"), and to Hollywood (including Sergio Leone, who actually did not belong to Hollywood per se by then), but to a modern viewer like me, this film is definitely a good action piece, but not as memorable as "Ikiru" or "High and Low", let alone "Seven Samurai".
15. Dial M for Murder (1954): 3.5/5
By flipping the whole process of "whodunit" by explicitly telling the audience who is the culprit and how he intended to carry out his evil plan, Alfred Hitchcock already struck gold with this film from the very premise. The part on how the evil plan was turned upside down was another ingenious move by Hitchcock since he was able to intrigue the audience two times in a row - a very difficult feat for a pretty standard closed-room whodunit like this, and also give the audience a new look at this genre - a more realistic one that demonstrates clearly that carrying out a sophisticated act like the crime of murder is not at all an easy feat. The film, however, was marred by poor performance from the two very undistinguishable leading actors, and another rather subpart and very passive role by Grace Kelly (aside from Kim Novak's role in "Vertigo", Hitchcock hardly succeeded in creating strong and memorable female characters - something very in line with his infamous reputation of poor treatment of actresses on set. The very short conclusion of this film is also a disappointment (given the film's excellent premise) and feels immoral even as the extramarital couple (played by Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings) prevails by the end (a pretty obvious and predictable outcome to any attentive viewer since the first part of the film) despite doing nothing good or moral (aside from being unfaithful to her rather dedicated husband [for Grace Kelly's character] or selfishly annoying and useless [for Cummings' character]). In my personal opinion, such an ending, even though the most optimal for this film, remains a very undesirable one (Hitchcock could have easily just "killed" off the wife while still making the husband to be found guilty - a much more impactful and consequential ending for both three not-so-good characters). All in all, a film with an excellent premise but pretty lacklustre ending.
16. Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991): 2/5
I know this is a cult film for being uber violent and ridiculous, but from the point of view of a normal cinephile, this film is a mediocre product with very poor acting all across the board, and equally poor practical effects and make-up. The plot is, in my opinion, okay for not being too convoluted (and thus the audience could focus on the actions) and easy to follow (not too surprising, though, as the film followed pretty faithfully the original manga "Riki-Oh" even frame by frame), but really, the poor execution means such an okay script could not save this film from a forgettable experience, except for those who consider this a niche and cult film (to them I would advise that there are many other Hong Kong films with kind-of similar plot but much, much better execution like "The Untold Story".
17. Du rififi chez les hommes (1955): 4/5
A very well-made film with an extremely slick protagonist and an ingenious heist plot. Although the acting is pretty stiff - something that could not be avoided in the "dark" era of pre-Method Acting, Jean Servais' Tony "le Stéphanois" is still mesmerizing with his expressive eyes, undeniable charisma, and the dark cloud of a doomed destiny permeating from every single gesture of this dilapidated old man. The rest of the cast, although not excelling in their performance, is serviceable enough to not distract the audience from an excellent heist that involved very little dialogues but a lot of sophisticated planning, very logical and realistic implementation, and successful tension build-up (how such a competent and logical writing and direction was not applied for the very illogical and hard-to-believe ending? - I have no idea, helas!). In comparison with Hollywood action films of the same era, this film feels so much more modern - almost to the level of how "Citizen Kane" was ahead of other Hollywood dramas of the 1940s, no wonder why this film has had such a long-lasting impact on the action genre (and the heist subgenre) in the following decades (even the famous "sweat dropping" scene in Brian De Palma's "Mission: Impossible" more than four decades later still echoed the "sweating" heist sequence of this film). As mentioned above, I do not particularly like the sequences that lead to the ending, as so many illogical details could be spotted (how could Tony still let Jo's son and wife strolling around despite knowing perfectly well that they would be snapped up by the Grutter's gang?), but the "no more hero" ending is really touching and memorable (a little bit too "staged" and dramatic, though). All in all, a very nice film to watch, even until this day - a very difficult feat for an action film.
18. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021): 3.5/5
I know this film series is famous (or infamous) for being very convoluted and unapproachable for newcomers, but still "tried" to watch this one due to it rare feat of the only animation able to win over a Mamoru Hosoda's film ("Belle") at the Japan Academy Film Prize. Must be a crazily good film, right? It turns out that this film really is confusing even when previously I did watch "Neon Genesis Evangelion - Movie: The End of Evangelion", which shared numerous plot points with this film. Nonetheless, I can totally understand why Japanese people love this film - as the Evangelion brand alone is already a powerhouse in Japan, and this film has marvellous visual (and character/robot designs that are simple unparallel of the mecha subgenre) as well as an equally memorable soundtrack with so many catchy and well-timed tracks. The overtly religious subtext of this film still feels a little bit ... hilarious to me (less so in comparison with "The End of Evangelion"), but characters acts are generally well written and laid out so I am still very comfortable watching this one despite .... having no ideas what the hell was going on in some sequences, plot-wise and choreography-wise. After watching this, I was just even more curious about how "Belle" would lose to this one - probably will only have the answer after watching Hosoda's latest.
19. Intouchables (2011): 4/5
This film is a very simple yet super effective comedy, since, hey, why do we always have to stuff films with social or political messages? With a pair of totally opposite protagonists - a poor black strong young guy versus a (very) rich white paralyzed old guy, I also thought that this film would explore such contrasts in the context of the more and more divisive society of France. But thankfully not, this film has a very simplistic and optimistic (and thus might be considered naive) approach to all the problems related to the aforementioned contrasts. Some might find such unsophisticated script treatments of conflicts and tensions in such a highly successful film (box office-wise) disappointing or even idiotic - many mainstream film critics obvious did, but sometimes the audience just wants something like this - pure joy, pure love of life, pure optimism against all odds. It is even funnier to read criticisms against the film's lack of "social engagement" while using such a high contrasted couple of protagonists when one realizes that the original couple (whose relationship this film was based on) was quite less contrasted - for example, the assistant in real life was not a Senegalese but actually an Algerian - a much "closer" and less "dark" companion to the French paralyzed wealthy businessman, they are also closer in age in real life - meaning the film did not focus on the contrasts since they actually were not that significant (Omar Sy was chosen for the black protagonist probably because he has been a frequent cast member in Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano's films - of course he is also clearly very good and charismatic, in my opinion any of the leading actors of "Indigènes" who are mostly of Algeria or Morocco origins might be a better fit for authenticity). In any case, who care! This film is just pure fun and a total breath of fresh air for the audience, and that might be the most important quality of a good film - it should be able to make people happy and feel optimistic.
20. Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996): 4.5/5
In rating this film, I was able to forgive the pretty inconvenient opening sequence that is full of discriminatory and caricature interpretations of Mainlanders, who, according to Hong Kong filmmakers, are always naive, stupid even, and have no idea about the advanced technologies of the modern life in Hong Kong (a pretty standard practice in pre-1997 Hong Kong cinema). Perhaps Peter Chan just wanted to highlight the innocence (or ignorance, depends on the viewer's perspective) of BOTH Lis (Li Xiao-Jun is of course the simpler, but Li Qiao is no less simple-minded in some aspects) but intentionally made the whole opening sequence a very distorted look of immigrating Mainlanders in Hong Kong during the 1980s - of course they were poor and not aware of some conveniences in the Westernized society of Hong Kong during that time, but such lack of knowledge did not make them simple-minded - an insult to such a sophisticated (and sometimes very calculated) people like Chinese (of whom even Hong Kongers have always been a part). In any case, this part is pretty short and full of interesting tidbits about lives in Hong Kong, especially of the poorer ones, during the 1980s - Peter Chan has always been a master of small details like these, so they did not really affect the quality of the film in general. But the atrocious performance by the wooden Leon Lai is really unforgivable and is the only thing that prevents me from giving this wonderful, wonderful film a full five. The one-dimensional performance of Leon Lai, who was not able to express any emotional depth by his character Li Xiao-Jun during his duresses, is distractive enough. But at the presence of his much much more skilled Eric Tsang and the majestic Maggie Cheung, Lai's role really sticks out like a sore - the sole sore of this film and made the audience question Peter Chan's very questionable decision to cast no one else but him in this role. If you could not get Tony Leung Chiu-wai (the optimal solution for any role in any Hong Kong film, but even more so in the presence of Maggie Cheung, whose chemistry with Tony Leung has been unmatched not only in Hong Kong but in the 1990s cinema in general), why not went for Sean Lau or an actual Mainlander like Jiang Wen instead of the very handsome but equally untalented Leon Lai? Other than Leon Lai's disappointment, this film is really, really good. Although the script is pretty melodramatic, especially the ending, it feels sincere and nostalgic since the whole film permeates a classical sense of an old and disappearing Hong Kong and its people, as well as the uneasy feeling of the changes that were coming after Hong Kong's reintegration with China in 1997. Such a backdrop is just the perfect environment for the "will they won't they" relationship between the two Lis, who are also very sincere to each others without knowing how much they meant to each other to the point of blinding themselves to their very own feelings and happiness while making important decisions in life. I already lamented about the tricky treatment of unfaithfulness and extramarital affairs in my reviews of films like "Dial M for Murder" since it is very difficult to balance between the romantic aspects of such often-unrequited-or-tragic relationships and the moral hazard of romanticizing such relationships (glorifying or justifying betrayals and unfaithfulness would always remain a thorny or at least inconvenient subject to a larger part of the audience), but Peter Chan was totally successful in avoiding such moral hazards in depicting the on-off relationship between the two Lis by simply "let it flow" - let his characters be hesitant, make wrong decisions, suffer from such wrong turns, and try again to find a stable and "justifiable" way in life and in their relationships. This film is such a treat for those who still have a longing for the old Hong Kong and its marvelous cinema of the 1980s and 1990s like me. Such a memorable film! And of course, this film is also recommendable for anyone that admires good performances, since Maggie Cheung is simply outstanding in this film. Her acting might is just too good, so good that no other Hong Kong actress could come close and she could have easily stood among the A-listers of Hollywood if not for the fact that, helas, she always stayed away from her magnificent acting career for almost two decades since "2046" in 2004. Not only skillful enough to express any emotion needed for her character in a whim (the "laughing and crying" scene of Li Qiao at the near end of the film is really a prime proof of why Maggie Cheung is "simply the best in the business"), Maggie Cheung is also so beautiful, so charismatic that no one on screen or offscreen (aka. the audience) could take their eyes off her. The combination of Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, and Wong Kar-wai really is the best gift Hong Kong cinema could give its fans like me.
21. The Batman (2022): 3.5/5
This is a fine action superhero film, but worth the hype? I think not. The film is well made and decently paced, especially the opening sequence and through the first two or three murders. However, from then on the film drags on for too long with very slow pacing, in particular when Robert Pattinson's Batman is on the screen. I understand "moody" Batman is a trademark of this franchise, but making him move slowly, act slowly, react slowly, think slowly really affects the quality of this film as such moody hesitation can only irritate the audience who has to sit through this almost three-hour film only to be met with a disappointing ending. Many critics and cinephiles have compared this film to "Seven". I might be biased here since the latter is one of my all-time favourites, but in my opinion the former is just another superhero film and still far from an almost-perfect crime-mystery film like "Seven". By that I mean "The Batman" still has (or has to have) many ridiculous and distractive details of the superhero genre like the cape (who the hell thinks a cape is practical for an action-focused superhero without flying capability?), the annoying "raison d'être" of saving the whole world like a true God (why can't the filmmakers narrow down this repetitive, unrealistic, and straight-up boring life goal with a more personal and relatable "mission"?), or the utter disregard of human casualties during conflicts (yeah, Batman does not kill but during the chase between him and the Penguin, how many already died, realistically?). In addition, the film has its fair share amount of illogical details that are very obvious and thus distractive like the fact that James Gordon just inserted the bloody thumb-drive into his police computer without a second thought on cybersecurity, or Penguin could just escape any retaliation from the law enforcement after the deadly chase with Batman. Those weaknesses, which were made even worse by the too ambitious running time of this film, made "The Batman" a pretty incomplete watching experience. Hopefully the sequel will be able to resolve this point the way "The Dark Knight" surpassed "Batman Begins" in every aspects.
22. Days of Being Wild (1990): 4/5
A very solid Wong Kar-wai film albeit, in my opinion, not his best. I can totally understand the love for this film, especially from die-hard Wong Kar-wai fans due to its plentiful of symbolism, unrequited loves (the depiction of which Wong Kar-wai is King!), Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, and many other trademarks in Wong's long and illustrious career. I, however, could not enjoy it thoroughly due to its not-really-likeable lead (played by Leslie Cheung), especially his brutality toward women - I understand the root cause of such mental and even physical brutality, but such understanding does not make it less detestable. Similar to the excessiveness of Leslie Cheung's character, the film also feels, again in my opinion only, a little bit excessive in philosophizing its relationships and destinies, as well as introducing too many very memorable yet widely strange and thus less relatable characters (although most were played very well, especially by the could-not-be-more-beautiful Carina Lau and even the usually-wooden Andy Lau). Nonetheless, I still deeply admire Wong's masterfulness in distilling romances that could be told in a full-length film or a series even into very concise yet still complete (in their incompleteness - as most are unrequited) and very sophisticated (thus very memorable). Coupled with some unforgettable images and quotes (Maggie Cheung's closing the window, Leslie Cheung's bird-without-leg story), these romances were told really, really effectively and only made the audience thirsty for more, and also regretfully wish that they could have been narrated in multiple films (instead of a single one) like this one. Thankfully, Wong Kar-wai really learned as he went (from the obviously lesser "As Time Goes By" to this) and has since made more restraint, less excessive, and more relatable love stories in his following films. Had it not for this film, those later masterpieces would probably not have been that perfect, that memorable. So, let us enjoy "Days of Being Wild" as much as we can while waiting until Wong could find time to finish his next project.
23. Three Colours: Red (1994): 4/5
This film is indeed a slow burn due to its resemblance to any "cinéma vérité" French films during the late 1980s and 1990s - slow pacing, restraint tensions, dialogues too subtle to invoke emotions. However, the more one watches, the more one finds out that this is a very different film with strange and sci-fi-like even plot and yet very humane interactions between characters of very incompatible backgrounds and premises. This film is also so French that I did not realize that it was set in Switzerland. A nice, complete film that is easy to follow (also thanks to its very manageable running time).
24. Stand by Me (1986): 4.5/5
This is such a small (in terms of settings, storylines, and character age) yet deeply moving and nostalgic film. Watching this film really really made me think back of my own childhood when one spent time with friends easily and freely like breathing in the fresh air of the once-less-polluted Hanoi without knowing that such carefree and happy moments together with your childhood friends would be gone forever, would be impossible to be recreate again once one got old and tangled by the thousands worries and calculations in life. Such precious and untainted nature of childhood friendship depicted in this film is accentuated by the extremely beautiful dialogues that, I am not sure, came straight from the writing of Stephen King in his original novel or from the adaptation by the two screenwriters (no wonder why this film got the sole Oscar nomination in the Adapted Screenplay category). Either way, it is impossible to not appreciate the beauty of sentences after sentences memorable from the very beginning ("I was 12 going on 13 the first time I saw a dead human being. It happened in the summer of 1959, a long time ago, but only if you measure in terms of years.") until the very last line ("I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?") - I am deeply, deeply moved by these two quotes, especially the latter since it is so true, so universal across cultures, countries, and personal experiences. The only problem I have with this film is the pretty underwhelmed (or whelmed) acting of the adolescent cast aside from the amazing River Phoenix. More often than not these teen actors overacted to emphasize the implications of the plot points or dialogues, and thus only made such beautifully-written scenes slightly less effective. Modern teen actors are much better on this aspect since they are able to be subtle instead of being too expressive like the previous generation. Nonetheless, it is hard to find a better film about nostalgia, childhood, and friendship like this one. Such a peaceful and cozy watching experience.
25. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022): 4.5/5
An absolutely brilliant film full of original ideas and visuals. The core plot-line might appear simple but is actually very subtle, moving, and relatable, especially for people of East Asian origin, who are always burdened by traditions, responsibilities, ambitions, and virtue from the day they were born until their death. And in fact, such simplicity in storytelling is a must for this film since it is a very complex, and sometimes even hard to absorb, product due to its theme of absurdism, its layering of visuals and characters and playing with timelines and the (actual) theory of multi-universes. The success of this film is also thanks to the excellent cast, especially Stephanie Hsu who is absolutely terrifying as the villain while very convincing as the vulnerable daughter, whereas Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan are also very decent (although not as good as Hsu), and even Jamie Lee Curtis in her very minor role still excels in her most hilarious role that I have ever watched. The tasteful way this film paid homage to the wuxia genre is also commendable - I especially love the staircase scene that has a very apparent influence from the famous scene in "Kungfu Hustle" with a similar setting. The only and very minor complain I have for this film is the fact that it is borderline a spoof one sometimes, especially during the fighting sequence that involves "the plug". I understand that "the plug" is actually a necessary plot device for a film that deals in a very straightforward (and very effective) way the homosexual theme. Still, a whole fighting sequence revolving around such an uncomfortable image (hilarious one to many, though, I understand) is a little bit too much, in my opinion. All in all, a very original film that appears artsy enough but at the same time super entertaining even for the audience that does not enjoy too sophisticated films.
26. The Northman (2022): 2.5/5
Such a boring film with a very conventional plot, archaic even, that is only slightly improved by a beautiful setting that is the land of ice and fire - Iceland. I would not call this film pretentious, since the filmmakers appear to have a lot of efforts in making this one an authentic look at the Viking life and Viking spirits at its heyday with a lot of spirituality, a lot of savages, and a lot of raw emotions. Yet, such a portray of the Viking people was made in a very unsophisticated and repetitive way that I could hardly enjoy throughout this very, very long film. I am not even sure such unsophisticated perspective would satisfy people of Viking heritage or with some level of interest on these people and their lives a thousand years ago. Even in the sense of a Shakespeare-inspired play/film, this film failed since there is nothing noteworthy about its script except for its rigid compliance to the utmost tradition of revenge story without any modern addition or creative modification. The choreography is not at all impressive for an action-heavy film like this, as even though the actors appear to be tough and well-built, their action sequences have no weight at all due to a very theatrical (and not realistic) display of forces and pains. I originally planned to give this film a three, to reward the filmmakers' honest efforts, but thinking again about how much time I wasted for this lacklustre, over-hyped (by Reddit), and disappointing film, I think that a 2.5 is a much more fitting score.
27. Belle (2021): 3.5/5
Now I understand why Hosoda could not win the Japan Academy Prize with this one - the first time he has ever lost this category, ever - such a crazy feat! I thought this is a continuation of "Summer Wars" and indeed the visuals, setting, and basic plot of this one share many similarities with the marvellous "Summer Wars". However, it seems that Mamoru Hosoda really wanted to make this one an anime interpretation of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" and thus had to forgo many traits that make his films amazing - simple yet moving stories, innovative visuals that smoothly blend reality and virtuality, and memorable characters of all ages. The way Hosoda bridged "Beauty and the Beast"'s traditional good vs. evil story with his family theme and coming-of-age subjects is indeed innovative (especially the subplot on domestic abuse - a new aspect in his often very soothing and peaceful writing) and should be appreciated. But by focusing too much on bridging the two very far-away themes, Hosoda accidentally (or intentionally, I don't know) made the plot of this film seem to be much more "forced" and unnatural in comparison with his previous wonderful ventures, whereas the amazing settings and good backgrounds of the characters were almost forgotten. For example, the audience could clearly appreciate the immerse scale and diversity of the U metaverse, but aside from serving as a backdrop for Belle and Dragon, it has no depth, no logic, no influence (on real life) at all - a big, big disappointment when considering how connected the virtual and real worlds in "Summer Wars" are. Similarly, the characters in this film, despite their familiarities for any fan of Mamoru Hosoda and likeability, seem to be very shallow without much character development throughout the film and appear to be all the same despite their diverse backgrounds and appearances. I understand that this might be just a new experiment of Mamoru Hosoda with blending different source materials for a more innovative outcome, but pretty underwhelming this outcome is, in my opinion. Hopefully Hosoda would regain his pace with the next one. On a side note, this film does have mesmerizing soundtrack, very refreshing and touching, but it lacks a song that could go straight to the audience's heart like "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" had with Hanako Oku's "Garnet".
28. Margin Call (2011): 5/5
This is an absolute gem of writing and directing. The script is so neatly written that it makes me feel every single word uttered by the cast means something, alludes to something, and has its own weight. The fact that this extremely economical script wastes no time at all for banter, narrators explaining things, or small talks might be the feature that I appreciate the most from this film, especially since there are way too many films these days being long just for the sake of being longs with a lot of "filler" dialogues and petty jokes that have no depth or meaning whatsoever (yes, I am looking at you, the king of bantering Marvel Cinematic Universe). In addition, the meticulous delivery of these marvellously-written lines by the excellent cast is equally impressive, especially since this is the debut (!) feature by J.C. Chandor (how in the world he has not been able to replicate this insane level of talent for his later films, I have no idea...). I love how each and everyone of the cast played their role to excellence without any need to cast shadow over others, no matter how "big" or "small" their names are in Hollywood, so that I can enjoy even more NOT their names or faces, but the way they deliver every lines with intention, with care, with perfection. Of course, despite such "egality" approach to line and role distribution, Jeremy Irons as John Tuld still rules, like his character in this film does, with a character with very short appearance yet absolutely majestic during that brief period. And most of all, this film is just fun! A "talkie" (aka. a film based on talks in a very limited setting, boring even, and dialogues without any actions, any nature, any CGI at all) about an actually very technical subject (I had "some ideas" about mortgage-backed security aka. MBS after watching "The Big Short" - another excellent financing film, and "Inside Job", but not good enough to actually understand the subject matter) being fun? That is an extremely difficult feat that J.C. Chandor was able to achieve. All in all, I thoroughly enjoy this film and could only hope that Chandor could return to this subject once more to deliver to us filmgoers another marvellous film like this.
29. Himitsu (1999): 3/5
This film has a pretty interesting premise, even among the "body-swap" subgenre, as the "living" soul of the "dead" mother replaced the apparently "dead" soul inside the "living" body of the daughter. The utilization of such premise is, however, very uncomfortable to watch, especially by modern standard of political correctness (that already makes such classics like "Big" an "incorrect" film for depicting the love between a grown-up woman and a teenage), as the focus is not on the struggle between the soul and the body, but mainly on the relationship between the husband and his wife-in-his-daughter's-body. The borderline incestuous nature of such interaction, even though it did not turn sexual, is very, very difficult to watch, especially since the acting is clearly subpart (when Japanese actors use the comical and stage-influence overacting, they are often bad, even really bad in their roles!). Had the emphasized been on the struggle of the wife accommodating her new body and new life BEYOND her relationship with the kind but very indecisive husband, the first two-third of the film would have been a much more pleasant watching experience. The last one-third of the film, when the sensual struggle turned into a more moral and emotional one, is a much, much better sequence of more logical and understandable events, including the highly touching and interesting twist-and-turn by the very end of the film (which shows that this script was really written by Keigo Higashino of the famed "Suspect X"). I really wanted to give this film a 2.5, even a 2, after watching the first two-third, but the last part really proves that this film has its own moments. Not the acting though, the acting is terrible throughout the film.
30. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022): 3.5/5
Hey, I like this film a lot and could have easily given this one a 4, even a 4.5 if not for the horrendous performance across the board, especially from Xochitl Gomez's America Chavez and even Benedict Cumberbatch himself. The talented Elizabeth Olsen (I LOVE her role in "Wind River") has several impressive sequences, especially toward the end when a more subdued expression of emotions is needed, but she more often than not overacted in this film so could not therefore elevate its acting quality as a whole. Still, despite the disappointing cast, and the rather forgettable plot (except for "Thor: Ragnarok", I could hardly remember any film of this "McDonald's of cinema" universe with decent writing), I fully enjoyed this film for its being distinctively a Sam Raimi's film. I am very surprised that this film was able to get a wide release despite being as pure horror film as it could be in this superhero genre. The film contains tons of jumpscare moments and horror visual keys trademarked by Sam Raimi himself throughout the early years of his career with the "Evil Dead" series or later on with "Drag Me to Hell" (crazily enough - the last major film of Alison Lohman despite her up-and-coming status at that time) and thus is simply a delight to watch as the audience is served with an actual gourmet dish and not just another bland and indistinctive McDonald's burger like (almost all) the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Just like escargot (snail) or blue cheese, you can like the dish or not, but you would always be able to realize and appreciate the fact that you are eating a dish prepared by a chief with his/her own unique taste and not just another "Yes-Man" no-name cook. This is such a surprise to me because even Sam Raimi himself had to suppress his masterful horror creativity when making the original "Spider-Man" trilogy, especially for some minor sequences with the amazing Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin or Venom of the quirky "Spider-Man 3", whereas even exciting auteurs like Chloé Zhao ended up with some very forgettable outcomes while involving with Marvel. This film has been very unfortunately and unfavorably compared to the somehow-similar-but-way-better "Everything Everywhere All at Once" by anyone who has watched both films, and that is a totally fair take. However, one should take into account the fact that "Doctor Strange" and Sam Raimi had much more constraints, from the increasingly-convoluted nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the dominant role of Kevin Feige (who surely played a big role in driving away the original director of this film), and the cash-driven and streaming-driven pressure by Disney, whereas the Daniels clearly had much more creative freedom while making "Everything" (and a way better script as well). A pleasant surprise from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to me, to be honest.
31. Lakeside Murder Case (2004): 3/5
A decent murder-mystery film that was able to fresh things up a little bit by focus not on the murder, nor the mystery (on whodunit), but on the psychology of those who involved. The way the ensemble cast in this film clearly demonstrated how a murder could, and should, be covered up is also very interesting (although this approach is better, and perhaps perfected by Keigo Higashino in his famed "The Devotion of Suspect X"). Still, I find this film not really satisfying due to the poor performance of the whole cast, as even the clearly talented Koji Yakusho (of "The Third Murder) relied too much on overacting in trying to show the emotional and moral struggles of his character facing the dilemma between the truth (and consequently punishment) versus the lie (and consequently, a thin line of hope over the horizon for his character and his character's beloved daughter). The forgettable supporting cast was not able to help Yakusho in this aspect either, since they have no unique feature that might help distinguish one from another (despite the presence of two extremely beautiful actresses in Hiroko Yakushimaru and Yuku Mano). The few, but very significant jump-scare scenes, especially the last one - also the last frame of the film, do not help in elevating the film in my eyes either, since I HATE jump scare. Really, this film is not too bad, but not really memorable either, a 3 might be a little bit generous but I could not give this one a 2.5 or 2, which are often reserved for mediocre or worse films in my rating scale.
32. The Conversation (1974): 5/5
This is definitely one of the classics that one would often talk about "They do not make films like this anymore". By today standard, this film would equate a combination of an "arthouse" nihilistic indie, a high-tech action-thriller-mystery, and an "Oscar-bait" film reflecting contemporary issues and concerns. But by the golden standard of the New Hollywood era, this is simply a film by Francis Ford Coppola - the greatest American director of the 1970s, by many miles. In 1974 alone, Coppola somehow came up with both this film and "The Godfather Part II", which is one of my most favourite of all time and extremely rewatchable. Watching the latter so many times, I somehow forgot to watch the former, until now. What a masterfully-made film it really is. Based on a very classic "Crime and Punishment" dramatic structure, this film has an extremely well-written script without any unnecessary character, dialogue, or even detail. By that, I mean when you look at a frame, or a setting, you know that everything that is in the focus would later be relevant to the plot and character development. More than that, each setting is also very well structured to the point of resembling a painting with deep contrast between light and shadow (probably reflecting the mental and moral struggle of the Christian-devoted-cum-eavesdropper protagonist) and highly modern symmetricality. The timeless classic motif of the characters in this film makes it a very easy film to follow and enjoy, despite the fact that half a century (!) has almost passed since the film was made. But the way Coppola put these characters in a very modern and relevant setting, which somehow incidentally coincided with one of the most infamous chapters of the American history during the 20th century with similar eavesdropping problem - the Watergate Scandal, catapulted the film to a totally new level as a landmark film of the New Hollywood Era that clearly reflects the anxiety of the American society and mentality during the tulmultous period of retreating from Vietnam and internal societal unrest. Gone the innocence, optimism, and positivism of the "make-believe" American spirit that won the (World) War and took off as the most powerful and wealthy country in the world. Instead, the American society grew more pessimistic, suspicious (of each other, and of outsiders), and uncertain of their own prowess. This film somehow reflects exactly that transient anxiety, incidentally perhaps by Coppola's own admission (that this film was inspired by Antonioni's "Blowup") but extremely powerful, meaningful, and relevant nonetheless even half a century later. The incredible thing is that, despite being a very meaningful and layered piece of thought like that, this film remains a totally entertaining film with a neat plot and thrilling twist-and-turn, albeit with a little slow pacing during the first half. I really hope that Coppola can still make some good films for us to enjoy, but even in the case that he does not, or prefers to grow vines and make wine instead, that would be totally fine, since this film, and the rest of his 1970s portfolio, is already more than enough for cinephiles like me, and for his immortal legacy with this art.
33. Blowup (1966): 3.5/5
I know that I should not expect a full-fledged mystery film for such an iconic film born in the era of counterculture like this, but really, I feel that this film would have been much more exciting and interesting (for modern watchers like me) had it leaned more on the mystery aspect (like "Chinatown" did) instead of the existentialism that was Antonioni's final choice and focus. Especially since the film has very weird pacing and mismatched sequences (the slow-burn sequence on the hill of the Maryon Park is excellent and creates a thrilling premise for a nice mystery flic, but the subsequent "playing" sequence between the protagonist Thomas and the two "muse-wannabes" to me feels really out of place) that would have been fixed by a stronger focus on how the Maryon Park mystery upends Thomas' life. Of course I understand that this film has huge, huge influence on subsequent films and directors, but really, it might not really be a thoroughly entertaining mystery to me, a normal filmgoer. Also, I am very intrigued by the apparent masculinist aggressiveness of this film, which is to me very similar to the demonstration of masculinist absurdness in "A Clockwork Orange".
34. The Bare-Footed Kid (1993): 3/5
At 90 minutes, this film is so short, I was able to finish my daily chores (folding clothes, washing dishes, and cleaning after dinner) while watching it in one sitting (well, actually it often takes me way too much time to do the aforementioned tasks, simply because I do enjoy those relaxing tasks that I can complete mindlessly, not worrying about a thing in the world - still, the film is definitely short). On the other extreme, besides this one, Johnnie To was able to complete FOUR other films of decent quality - Hong Kong cinema, and To himself were a totally different beast back then. With such productivity, it is natural that I did not expect a highly polished action film à-la-Johnnie To, especially since the cast, aside from the magnificent Maggie Cheung, consists mostly of pretty underwhelmed actors (given their popular name recognition) like Aaron Kwok or Ti Lung. Indeed the performance in this film is pretty forgettable (again, except the ever-talented Maggie Cheung at the height of her beauty and acting prowess), partly due to a pretty mediocre script (despite being written by To's long-time collaborator and favourite screenwriter Yau Nai-hoi) and subpart choreography, especially during the first half. The second half, however, is pretty innovative for a wuxia film in the early 1990s, as Johnnie To was able to inject his idiosyncratic and very modern visual and filming style to this seemingly traditional wuxia film (the primary example perhaps being the only "date" between Maggie Cheung's Pak Siu-kwan and Ti Lung's Tuen Ching-wan), as well as turn upside down the "rag-to-rich" (or zero-to-hero) motif that had always been used as a backbone of most Hong Kong wuxia films up to that point. Instead, To introduced to the audience a film without heroes, where everyone has their own flaws, where righteousness does not always prevails but has to compete fiercely with other fundamental needs of a person - love, thirst for recognition, and others. With that, the second half of this film gives out a feeling of postmodernism that few wuxia films of this era were able to achieve (like "The Blade"). If only the choreography had been more elaborated, and the script less campy, this film would have had a much higher position in Johnnie To's illustrious filmography.
35. The Heroic Trio (1993): 2.5/5
Easily the worst Johnnie To's film that I have ever watched. The film is so campy that I had to force myself to finish it, especially since the acting, despite the great cast, is utterly horrible across the board. Any fan of Maggie Cheung must want to banish To to the shadow realm after watching this film as Cheung - the most talented actress of the bunch was cast for the most comical and simply the worst character of the Trio that is Thief Catcher, thus she could only follow the script and be as comical, ugly, and all around disappointing as possible. The most memorable of the Trio must be Anita Mui as Wonder Woman, since she was very, very beautiful in this film with a lot of charismatic despite her role being equally one-dimensional as the others. Of course, this film has some values, like the unique blend of not two, but three genres - traditional wuxia (reflected through the appearance of the "eternal evil" of this genre - a Ming-dynasty evil eunuch), gun fu (à-la-John Woo), and dystopian superhero film (similar to "Dark City" or some other early 1990s Hollywood superhero film) - a blend that is clearly the reason why this film has since become a cult classic among fans of the action genre. As a fan of Johnnie To, I also recognized here and there the sentimental treatment of the script to the point of almost melodrama, or the stylistic cinematography with heavy utilization of raining and shadow. But really, the film is of very disappointing quality, including the terrible CGI that reminds me of NOT "Terminator" (which was clearly the inspiration for the CGI sequences in this film) but the pretty primitive skeleton warriors scene from the 1963 (!) CGI pionnier "Jason and the Argonauts". Thankfully To ended up with much, much better films after this one, whereas Cheung's illustrious career has not been tainted at all by her laughable appearance in this film.
36. Mr. Vampire (1985): 4/5
Although very campy, script-wise, and dated, CGI-wise, this film still holds up very well by today's standard thanks for its uniqueness in merging the zombie genre with traditional Chinese folklore and Chinese horror classics like Pu Songling's legendary "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio". As a wuxia film - most Hong Kong films of this era, except for pure dramas, were, this film is also highly entertaining thanks to the seemingly comic but actually very creative and authentic choreography by Sammo Hung, who was at his very best during these 1980s years. Funnily enough, such excellent choreography was not able to win Sammo Hung the category prize in the 5th Hong Kong Film Awards since an even more legendary action film also competed in this category - Jackie Chan's "Police Story", what a year for Hong Kong films! In the end, "Mr. Vampire" lost almost all categories to "Police Story" and other films, except for the film score category (deservedly so, since the score really helped to highlight the suspended and horror aspect of this film to balance out the mood against its pretty campy humor).
37. Painted Faces (1988): 3.5/5
A pretty moving and nostalgic film about Hong Kong cinema of the past through the early life of two of its most pivotal figures - Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan. Due to its slow pacing, the film at 100 minutes seems to be a little bit long and dragging during the first half but is able to pick up by the end with a silly yet deeply moving scene between Sammo Hung's character (actually his very own Peking Opera teacher during his early learning years) and Lam Ching-ying's character. Knowing that Lam departed only 9 years after this film and just after the handover of Hong Kong to China only makes this film more emotional and nostalgic to me. In fact, most things about this film make me longing for the glorious days of Hong Kong cinema of the past, like the appearance of Cheng Pei-pei - a former super star of the already-dead-by-that-time traditional wuxia genre as a teacher of another dying art due to the lack of public attention - Cantonese Opera, or the gradually dilapidated state of the majestic yet crumbling villa that housed the China Drama Academy and other peculiar tenants that represented a Hong Kong of the recent past - transient, optimistic, yet pessimistic at the same time due to the destruction of traditional values and tastes. If only the acting had been better, I would have given this film a much higher score.
38. Rouge (1988): 4.5/5
The editing of this film is very questionable, especially during the first one third that makes the film initially very confusing to the audience. However, once the mystery-romantic and timeline duality is made clear, this film becomes an insanely entertaining yet very moving piece of great cinematic work. This film, alongside with "A Chinese Ghost Story", which came out just one year before (1987), might be the best example for the unique creativity of Hong Kong cinema during the late 1980s and early 1990s, as different genres are fused together in a very unexpected, innovative, and effective way. For example, this film firstly appears to be a pure romantic film, a melodrama even but progressed into parallel storytelling of a tragedy and an investigative mystery, and ends up with a thoughtful sequence on the finality of passions, especially when coming from people with the only shallow purpose of enjoying life without actually trying to achieve said purpose. Intertwined with the nostalgic contrast between an old and a new Hong Kong, this film really has a great, great story with many meanings and values depending on how one would like to watch it. Of course, this film is by no mean a perfect product of Hong Kong cinema due to its many flaws like the aforementioned confusing editing, a pretty subpart performance by Leslie Cheung (who has a similar role, but performed it in a much, much better manner in "Days of Being Wild"), especially in comparison with the sublime presence of Anita Mui (this is easily her best performance that I have ever watched), and an equally forgettable supporting cast. Nonetheless, its uniqueness, creativity, and the presence of Anita Mui at her very best are already more than enough to make this film one of the most interesting Hong Kong films that I have ever watched. Also, I am very fascinated by the similarities between this film and "Painted Faces", which came out the same year (what a year for Hong Kong cinema!) and, alongside with Wong Kar-wai's debut "As Tears Go By", was the rare film able to "snatch" some wins away from the former at the 8th Hong Kong Film Awards - including the surprising win by Sammo Hung over Leslie Cheung. Both "Rouge" and "Painted Faces" emphasize the melancholic transition of Hong Kong from an old, traditional city to a new, utterly modern international hub through the decline of the beautiful art of Chinese Opera (Cantonese the former, Peking the latter). In addition, both films ended with a scene at a film studio while a traditional wuxia (a fantasy wuxia in case of the former) was filming as two pivotal characters of the two films had tried their very best to achieve their dream to be Hong Kong stars (by first learning Chinese Opera) only to never realize their ambition and ended up being miniscule extra or stunt double. On the other hand, the former has a protagonist actively trying to pursuit her love at all cost, whereas the latter has a very passive male [Sammo Hung's character] in love, who tried his best to avoid the chance to have his very own happiness for some reasons. Above all, both films are love letters for fans of Hong Kong cinema and will forever be fondly remembered among the very best of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s.
39. Prison on Fire (1987): 4/5
This film appears to me more a documentary than a prison drama, as in it has no traditional three-act screenplay but is rather a simple retelling of some personal stories in prison as they are, without any further dramatization. The simplicity of this film's plot actually surprised me greatly, as I was totally expecting a prison escape, a riot, or at least some grandiose criminal plot throughout the film, only to realize that there is no such thing at all with this film. Of course this film has "plots", climax(es), and dramatic moments, but they make the audience feel like that they ARE necessary for a real depiction of lives in prison, and not dramatized to appear to be necessary. As such, the film is really easy to follow and still keeps its freshness until the very last moment since the audience could not tell which direction the film would progress, being not-at-all a traditional prison drama. Although the acting is sloppy at places in this film, the film as a whole feels exceptionally well-made with economical script that wastes no time for unnecessary dialogues or details, competently-choreographed action sequences, fleshed-out characters even secondary ones, and intriguing settings (despite being way too clean for a prison). But above all, this film has an amazing, amazing performance in Chow Yun-fat, whose role in this film is easily the best that I have ever watched among other films in his filmography. Despite overacting in some parts (Chow ALWAYS overacts, but this time his overacting is totally justified and essential to the emotional build-up of the film) and woodenly campy in some others ("funny" Chow really is not convincing), Chow really, really showed off his acting range and charisma in this film, as his character has it all - high and low, good and evil, sane and maniac, friendly and menacing - aspects that were all convincingly acted by Chow through his facial expression, gestures, mannerism, or simply his charismatic eyes and stature. Chow easily outshone every other actors, including the always competent Tony Leung Ka-fai, whose passive character is a totally opposition and actually compliments quite well Chow's character. This "simple" film really feels like a breath of fresh air in comparison with modern films with over-complicated plots that try to be "sophisticated" just for the sake of it and not for the enjoyment of the audience, which should be the first goal for any film.
40. An Autumn's Tale (1987): 4/5
This film is so delightful to watch that I almost gave it a 4.5, or even a 5. At the end of the day, though, the script quality is not as tight as it should be, and the film's strength thus has to rely on the situational evolvement of the relationship between the two leads. But absolutely delightful and natural that relationship really is, as nothing over-dramatic was forced on the two characters of this superb romantic film, who behave exactly like they are "real people" instead of dramatic figures in a heavy-handed screenplay like many, many Korean melodramas coming out since the 1990s. Here, I should note that I truly LOVE Korean melodramas ("The Classic" was, and still is among my most favourite films), but the way their scripts always try to make everything overdramatic (by grave diseases like all kinds of cancer, treacherous relationships full of hates and conspiracies, or artificially-inserted unfortunate situations) really makes me tired and bored sometimes. "An Autumn's Tale" is nothing like that. It reminds me of the superior rom-coms that Hollywood has always been able to produce since "Manhattan" (1979) or "When Harry Met Sally" (1989), where things occur organically without any need for forced climaxes or twist-and-turns. For example, the "running" sequence near the end of "An Autumn's Tale" (when Sam emptied his pocket to buy Jennifer her "dream gift" and ran as fast as he could to give her this "I am sorry" present), had it been in a Korean drama, could have easily ended up with Sam being shot or caught in an accident or something of that nature. Instead, the marvelous authors of this film (Mabel Cheung and Alex Law) just gave Sam time to reunite with Jennifer, only to be disappointed by how things turned out, and then surprised by the events that followed suit. This chain of events was written in a very simple manner without any sophisticated dialogues or script "surprises" as the characters stay true to themselves by being simple, with relatable decisions and thoughts to any viewer. The pinnacle of this "breath of fresh air" approach to romantic relationships in this film is probably the ending, which provides a simple yet deeply satisfying and moving closure (or opening) to a mismatched relationship between two very different characters connected to each other mostly through their loneliness being a transplant in a foreign city. Here, again I really wants to show my admiration for Alex Law for giving his characters such reasonable and relatable thoughts and life decisions. For example, Jennifer did like Sam but preferred some guys with more stability and maturity, whereas Sam equally, or even more passionately liked Jennifer but too shy due to his low self-esteem (while facing the youthful and sophisticated Jennifer and realizing how old, how "left-behind" he was) to express his feelings in a more direct way to his "crush". Here, I commends the lovely Cherie Chung for her good performance in this film that really enable Jennifer to be a "relatable" girl to the audience. But hat-off to Chow Yun-fat, who absolutely crushed it as the multi-faceted Sam. I once, even recently, doubted about Chow's real talent and whether his absolute dominance of Hong Kong cinema during the 1980s and early 1990s is deserved. But after "Prison on Fire" and this film, no doubt remains, none whatsoever. He was not only supremely charismatic and deserves to be the absolute "hero" of Hong Kong cinema, but also has range being able to express them all - a loser or a winner, a cold-hearted killer or a warm-hearted lover, an invincible action hero or a relatable and vulnerable everyday man, nothing is impossible with Chow's talent. This film might also be the most "Hollywood" Hong Kong film I have ever watched, not only for the Westernized script (that I mentioned previously), but also for the magnificent cinematography that did not need to rely on well-choreographed set pieces to mesmerize the audience. Rather, this film is simply a showcase of the different faces, mostly beautiful, of New York through a peaceful and rosy (or golden, since the film's setting is the heartbreakingly beautiful autumn in New York) lens similar to the unforgettable cinematography of "Manhattan" (ironically enough a black-and-white film). Still, this film has numerous flaws with a weak secondary cast - including the talented yet tragically short-lived Danny Chan, the even-worse American extras, or the forgettable production design. Those are the reason that made me give this film a 4 (instead of a 4.5 or a 5), but are of course not enough for me to not LOVE this lovely little romance. This is truly one of the most memorable Hong Kong films that I have ever watched.
41. Peking Opera Blues (1986): 3.5/5
Watching this film, I now totally understand why Tsui Hark is the King of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s - he was simply the best "Hollywood-style" director among his peers in Hong Kong during this period, and when Hong Kong cinema was still playing catch up with Hollywood-quality films during the first half of the 1980s, of course no one could surpassed Tsui Hark. By the same measure, however, Tsui Hark was still a topnotch director and producer later on, but NOT the best one as other Hong Kong directors like John Woo and later Wong Kar-wai or Johnnie To were able to find their own way and not simply to imitate Hollywood in their films. Still, "Peking Opera Blues" is a treat to watch, a spectacle with a well-balanced genre-mixing script, a star-studded cast that was able to showcase both their charisma and their talent through the performance in this film, and many very well-choreographed sequences and grandiose and excellently-designed settings. Like many other films by Tsui Hark, I really like this film for its being a very entertaining piece of cinema, but could not consider it an artistically-excellent film. Partly because the sense of humour in this film did not always "land" due to overacting (the beautiful Cherie Chung was the main culpable on this aspect), partly because it has many dated ideas (like the questionable, borderline homophobic, depiction of the male "Dan" groups in the Peking Opera Theatre, or the one-sided depiction of the comically-bad "bad guys" in this film), or simply the occurrence of multiple illogical details through the films (e.g. the "invincibility" of the main characters while facing firearms). I understand that Tsui Hark often forgoes such "nitty-gritty" in order to bolster the action aspect of his films. But this film is not a pure action film, therefore such sacrifice, which might be reasonable in true action films, should be reviewed with care. This is an important point because the happence of such illogical details undermined the creative and unconventional placement of male/female characters in this film (the trio Lin-Yeh-Chung in this film is definitely a better "Heroic Trio" than Johnnie To's "Heroic Trios" itself) and the very convincing performance of Brigitte Lin and Sally Yeh. Here, I must one more time profess my forever admiration for Brigitte Lin, who was always able to keep her ground against other superstar male co-stars in her films, and of course has always been the best actress to play characters with blurred gender line. An excellently entertaining film this one really is, but an excellent or perfect film? Probably not.
42. Con Air (1997): 2.5/5
This film should be called "Corny" instead for being absolutely corny, cringy, and poorly made. I have known its reputation being a "cult film", and listened to "How Do I Live" since forever but never found time to watch it. Now, after watching this, I think such a reputation probably comes from the strange infatuation with Nic Cage's weirdness, as well as some nostalgia about the 1990s rather than any admiration about the quality of the film itself. This is a poorly-made film, I have to repeat, and very regretfully so since it has very intriguing premise and concept - cramping all the bad people in a very confined space and making them go wild. The "bad people" in this film indeed are bad thanks to fantastic (written and/or voiceover) background for almost every single one of them, but none was developed appropriately throughout the film, including the most interesting ones like the psycho "The Virus", the maniac "The Marietta Mangler", or the weird "Sally-Can't Dance". Not only a waste of interesting character's premise, this is also a waste of talent since the actors playing these characters are actually at the very least very able and often uniquely fantastic in their own right, including the like of John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, and especially Dave Chappelle whose character "Pinball" not only has a very forgettable death early on, but also does not utilize at all Chappelle's supreme talent in monologuing and stand-up comedy. And let us not forget about the terrible performance by Nic Cage, who won an Oscar just two years before this film for the absolutely memorable performance in "Leaving Las Vegas". Watching his incredibly weird acting in this film, one could easily understand while he could hardly get a decent role later on. He was just simply out of sync with his character, transforming from an upright ex-Ranger who loved his family and righteousness into a half-psycho, half-illogical prisoner, AND BACK, AND FORTH throughout the film. His performance makes no sense at all with regard to character consistency and development to the point of being a distract to the audience, who has to scratch their damn head every five minutes wondering what in the world Cage's character is thinking or doing with no regards at all to this character's very own principles. One might forgive such terrible performance in this film (or should I blame the director and not Cage et al. for this piss-poor acting quality instead, for NOT giving any direction to his cast?), if this action film has very good action sequences. But unfortunately it did not. The action sequences in this film, just like the script, are often illogical, chaotic (without any focus), make no impact, and all around forgettable to the point of totally comparable to an action B-movie rather than a film with medium-to-high budget. Maybe the cult status of this film makes me more disappointed about its actual quality, but really, this film is not THAT good. Clearly, this film's director is now working in China on Chinese action films, FOR A REASON - he is just bad.
43. Lost and Found (1996): 3.5/5
At first glance, this film is a pure romcom full of cheesy voice-over, artificial "coincidences", and detailed copied from tons of romcoms previously released by Hollywood. But against all odds, this film proves that sometimes a mediocre script could still me savaged by excellent execution by the crew and cast. The aforementioned cheesy, cringy even, dialogues, and those tiring motifs like protagonist having cancer, or cat-and-mouse game between "almost" lovers somehow, and miraclely, work thanks to a very simple and sincere approach to character development that was able to avoid any pretentious over-dramatization. Just like the wonderful opening sequence, which focuses not on the background of the characters, but on the seemingly difficult everyday life of working-class Hongkongers, the characters in this film are very relatable to the general audience, a big part of whom are from the very same working class, despite the main protagonist literally coming from a ship-magnate family, as they behave like normal people, think like normal people, have pessimistic and vulnerable moments like normal people, and after all retain some glimpse of hope and love (for others) now matter what the conditions, just like normal people. I particularly like the ending, which is surreal in part but very charming nonetheless and serves not as a "lesson" for the audience, or a grandiose finale, but simply as an opening, or a continuation for the hope that has been cultivated and grown throughout the film. Thus, even though the film feels long at parts - especially the St Kilda sequence (even though the cinematography and setting for this part is marvelous), the ending, and the film as a whole are still a delight to watch. Nonetheless, I could not give this film a higher score, since, aside from the aforementioned flaws, the film is also not really memorable in terms of acting, especially since Kelly Chen (I always love her, at least for her very unique beauty - sharp yet vulnerable and different from any other Hong Kong actress) was not really good in her role. Perhaps being at the beginning of her acting career (she debuted only a year earlier) Chen was too stiff and consequently not expressive enough to convey the massive change in mindset of her character (from a privileged pessimist to a gleeful optimist after joining the "Lost and Found" team) - a flaw made only even more glaring by the gentle yet deeply relatable and notable appearance of the lovely Takeshi Kaneshiro. It was funny that after watching this film, and "Comrade: Almost a Love Story", which came out the same year, I had the impression that Hong Kong filmmakers seemed to try their hardest to bring out the best of their career before the reintegration of Hong Kong into a true integral part of China. Turned out that it is not exactly the case, since these two were probably the best (especially the latter) of Hong Kong cinema in 1996.
44. Incendies (2010): 4/5
I had ranked this film the best Denis Villeneuve's film that I have ever watched (over the excellent "Prisoners") until its final revelation. This is a marvellous piece of cinematic work thanks to a very tight, intriguing, and multi-faceted script that was able to interweave a very personal story of two lost twins trying to find their raison d'être after their mother's sudden passing by following her final and very peculiar task for them to find out their true root with a fiction yet factually correct tragic tale of a country (Lebanon "in real life") divided by religions, hatress, and historic ironies. I had known the existence of the Lebanese civil war before, but only as a true and tragic event in the bloody history of the Middle East, and not about its extensive scale, and lasting impact on the society and mentality of Lebanon. Villeneuve was absolutely masterful in portraying these two intertwined stories by not only using a meticulously-crafted parallel storylines, but also by increasing the pacing bit by bit, and introducing "transitions" to his storytelling by some very sudden, shocking, and completely impactful events - most effective of all the bus massacre scene, which is, in my humble opinion, easily the cruelest, realest, and most memorable scene from a Villeneuve's film that I have ever watched. With such a memorable script, it is easily to understand why the characters in this film, just like many in other Villeneuve's films, are so relatable, so understandable, and so touching to the mass audience despite their extraordinary situations. The ending, however, gave a little damp to my highly positive regard of this film, as it is, despite all the shocking twist-and turns, a little bit too coincidental, too forceful, too artificial for such an excellent film with natural flow and character development. I understand that the filmmakers probably tried to make the audience to understand the extremely cruel nature and irony of the Lebanese civil war (and most wars, really) by introducing such a strange and almost unbelievable twist of fusing the mysterious "father" and "brother" into one, but such revelation is a little bit too much, and only makes the film less real, and thus less effective to the audience. Had only the filmmakers made a different "life track" for Nihad de Mai (why still retaining him an absolute monster - even this monstrosity part was not really emphasized in this film) - different from Nawal's life (and not converging theirs too soon, too coincidental like in this film), this film could have been a much, much more effective one. Still, this film is really a must-seen for anyone that wants to explore the bloody history of the modern Lebanese society, or simply for anyone that likes the films of Denis Villeneuve, who is clearly one of the most talented, recognized, and successful filmmakers in Hollywood right now. This film is also another proof that the "chameleon" Villeneuve could succeed with almost any genre, from mystery/detective ("Prisoners") to history (this film), cyberpunk sci-fi ("Blade Runner 2046"), blockbusters ("Dune"), action/crime ("Sicario"), or pure drama ("Polytechnique"). For this, Villeneuve reminds me of Ang Lee (how I miss him and his good films, Lee!), just hope that Villeneuve could soon get an Oscar win (or some!) like Lee (he has never won any major [Oscar/BAFTA/Golden Globe] award despite numerous nominations, crazy, I know).
45. Mắt biếc (2019): 3/5
I had read the original novel that this film was adapted from but too long ago (almost two decades!) just already forgotten almost everything and thus started this film "like new". The film is an okay/competent one, but not too memorable except for the fact that the male protagonist is really insufferable from a point of view of a married man with children like me. His life choice (of abandoning every single opportunity for happiness just so he could pointlessly follow his "crush"'s steps despite her obvious not returning his feelings) makes me and my wife (this is one of the rare films that we have been able to watch together since having kids) mad, but also tickled us a great deal (due to his absolute silliness). Perhaps for a younger viewer with a more rosy view of life and love (like me two decades ago, when I first read the original novel), such an approach to love and character portray would work, but for us, it really means very little. For me personally, this film also impressed me very little since its settings and cinematography, although quite okay, only reminded me of the superior "The Classic", in which a teenage/initial love is depicted in a much more realistic and memorable fashion.
46. Decision to Leave (2022): 3/5
I am not sure whether I had to watch this film with a bad version of subtitles or not, because numerous dialogues seem to be next to impossible to understand for me and only made me remember the experience I had had 15 years ago watching French films (my academic French was not bad at that time, but much inferior and sometimes even useless for watching films due to the lack of knowledge and experiences on conversational French). What a pity that is! Because I love Park Chan-wook since his early films and completely adore the last film he made before this - "The Handmaiden". "Decision to Leave" still bears a lot of Park's trademarks like a detective-heavy script, a strong and mysterious female lead, the emphasis on visual anxiety (via eating, bloody and/or violent scenes), and tons of twist-and-turns laid out throughout the film. This film is, however, a little bit convoluted in terms of script and, in my very humble opinion as a member of the audience, should have been trimmed down significantly (at 138 minutes, this film is rather long, again in my opinion) to make the two parts (also the two murder mysteries) more connected. Of course, I still enjoy this film, especially Tang Wei's absolutely brilliant performance (she CAN act, and more importantly has exquisite screen presence and undeniable charisma - too bad she has been "cancelled" by Mainland China for too long to be able to be a true face of Chinese cinema, with both beauty and talent). But among Park Chan-wook's best? Probably not.
47. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007): 4/5
This is a very, very pleasant film to watch despite its length and heavy contents. It really is crazy that Roger Deakins was not able to win an Oscar for best cinematography for this film, not even close even since he had to face two even more memorable and superior contenders in Robert Elswit (with "There Will Be Blood") and himself (!) (with "No Country for Old Men") (2008 might be among the very best years for this category since the rest of the nominees were also exceptionally good in Janusz Kamiński with "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and Seamus McGarvey with "Atonement"), but this film really is a visual feast with an immaculate use of the sepia tone to heighten the film's sense of nostalgia, as well as the marvellous use of long shots, wide shots, and symmetrical shots to depict the last days of the "Wild West" era in the best and most tragic way possible. The acting in this film is also absolutely amazing, especially the "coward" brothers Casey Affleck and Sam Rockwell (no wonder why they would later won, easily even, their own acting Oscars for other films - they had no chance with this film though, since Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem were simply unbeatable with their performances in "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country for Old Men"). The only (minor) issue I have with this film is the fact that the film is rather dry for the most parts (Jesse James' final moments, though, are emotionally excellent, thanks to a very convincing performance by the often-limited-range star in Brad Pitt) and thus an emotional attachment with this film and its amazing characters is a little bit difficult to form. Still, an amazing film.
48. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022): 2.5/5
I really like "Thor: Ragnarok" for Taika Waititi's lighthearted and humorous treatment of the superhero theme but it seems that he went too far with this one. Focusing too much on injecting small jokes throughout the film, it seems that Waititi simply forgot how drastic this film's tonal shift was, from a Waititi-humorous treatment of super power, to a "post-modern" superhero film where roles are switched and girl power reigns, to a traditional superhero vs. supervillain tale, and ended up with another ridiculous "love solves everything" as grand finale (I still get angry thinking about the "Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space" dialogue by Anne Hathaway in "Interstellar", despite very much liking both Nolan and Hathaway). Also, the "Valhalla" post-credit again proves my point that deaths really mean nothing in this Marvel Cinematic Universe, and once death does not mean anything, one could not take any film, let alone a "cinematic universe" serious anymore. The waste of Christian Bale's talent and dedication in this film by the underutilization of Gorr the God Butcher and his awesomely-named sword (despite being a "God Butcher", he was able to kill just one "token" god at the beginning of the film) is another missed opportunity for Waititi. All in all, a fun film, but a pretty poorly-made piece of cinema this one really is.
49. Top Gun: Maverick (2022): 4.5/5
The nostalgia is strong with this one! I am never a really big fan of "Top Gun" but always have followed Tom Cruise's career with love and admiration. Thus, I was pretty scared that this film has amassed such a high critical score, as well as a big social media hype - the type of hype of which I am constantly allergic since most "overhyped" films by social media underperform in my opinion (I look at you of course, the Marvel Cinematic Universe). Miraculously, though, this film delivers! Of course, the incessant flow of awe-inspiring action sequences deserves all the praises it has received, but I think that the script of this film was also excellently written as it is subtle enough to not make the audience distracted (from the aforementioned awesome action sequences), but still deep enough to engage the audience to the point of caring for the characters even if you have not watched the original "Top Gun" or have watched it but do not care at all about Maverick and his comrades in that film. The last point is actually a huge achievement of this film as it is extremely difficult to organically connect an almost-four-decade-late sequel to its predecessor without making the audience feel forced, cheesy, or unnecessary like the 99% of the sequels, remakes of 1980s and 1990s films these days. Very good sequels like "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" have the luxury of not having to depend at all on the characters set up by their predecessors (and thus only need to expand upon the premise or spirit that they inherit), something that "Top Gun: Maverick" did not have since it was made mostly thanks to the willingness and efforts of Tom Cruise, who of course did not want "his" character Maverick to be denigrated, undermined, or even scrapped off like many 1980s, 1990s iconic characters in recent sequels. Thus, Maverick still had to be "written in" in a way of nostalgic enough (aka. retaining the traits this character already has in the first film) but also contemporary enough for the modern audience (such a big budget film like this could not rely solely on the Gen-X portion of the audience to make money, but has to be able to attract the Millenials and Gen-Z viewers as well). And somehow the writers of this film were able to do exactly just that! Really hat off to them! Of course, as a professional, this film made me laugh for its silly depiction of a nuclear enrichment site (no underground enrichment site in the world has a reactor on top of it, for what purpose? it is unrealistic and simply not necessary for the plot, at all - a technical detail totally deletable from the script). But no one goes to watch this film for its nuclear technology depiction, one watches its for fun, for nostalgia (like me), for Tom Cruise (again, like me), and for the continuation of the love for flight and love for achieving impossible feats (yeah, THE trademark of Tom Cruise's films). And one will easily be satisfied with this superb film. As a final note, I am also very, very thankful (and thus admire the writers of this film) that "the enemy" is not clearly defined at all in this film. A Russian landscape (and weapons), an Iranian background (of enrichment facilities and F-14), or a North Korean context (nuclear capabilities)? Maybe, maybe not, as everything was fused into one blurred yet formidable enough enemy to elevate this film (and its characters) even more without bothering the audience with "political stuff". Wonderful and heart-warming film. On a side note, I just rewatched a portion of "Oblivion" (the "Drone chase" per YouTube recommendation) and it clearly showed why Joseph Kosinski was selected, perhaps by Cruise himself, to direct "Maverick" since the clean, smooth aesthetics (the "window" frame repeatedly appeared in "Oblivion" was clearly "replicated" in "Maverick" in one of the most beautiful frame of the film - when the dark hangar of the aircraft carrier opened up to a deep blue sky with shadows of some navy pilots), and especially the technical superiority of the aerial chase are the perfect fit for "Maverick".
49. Captain Marvel (2019): 2.5/5
This film is competently made but contains all the pitfalls representative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that are a very, very weak (to the point of almost nonexistence) villain (and consequently an equally disappointing climax/"final battle"), an insufferable amount of banters, a utmost disrespect of the audience's intelligence (reflected through the aforementioned banters, as well as the inconsequentiality of every details and plot points), and of course the terrible, terrible performance by the whole cast, including the previously brilliant Brie Larson (why did she turn herself from the marvellous that is her role in "Room" into this "bitch-face"/punchable/very-wooden Captain Marvel? I have no idea). Still, an enjoyable-enough piece of cinema McDonald, except for the disappearing third act.
50. Rebecca (1940): 4/5
I like this film very much for its very straight-forward and clean script that nonetheless contains a lot of nuances of a mixed-genre film of the highest quality. Not simply a mystery film, and clearly not a pure romance, this Gothic film contains elements of everything, from a mystery, to a whodunit, to a romance with social commentary, and even some dark flavours of a psychological horror (that was later perfected by Hitchcock himself in "Psycho"). Thus, this film feels very modern in comparison with its Hollywood contemporaries (even such popularly-considered masterpieces like "The Maltese Falcon" or "The Big Sleep", also thanks to Hitchcock's crisp and direct direction and editing, and despite Laurence Olivier's very, very traditional and conservative approach to his portrayal of the protagonist Maxim. I understand that Laurence Olivier once criticized method acting for being overbearing, but his pretty wooden and stage-influenced performance in this film really undermined the emotional build-up that Hitchcock and the beautiful and excellent Joan Fontaine tried to created throughout the film, thankfully his charisma and screen presence are good enough to prevent him to be a distraction in this film. A very nice film indeed.
51. Olompali: A Hippie Odyssey (2018): 4/5
Such an obscure documentary about a period and subculture in the American history that I had actually very little interest on before. It turned out that it was a very fascinating film about very idealistic people with very realistic flaws, the contradiction of which naturally led to many tragedies and broken dreams. Yet, despite all those very real failures, their unreal dreams lives on through their children, through their facial expression that still contains a lot of hope, a lot of optimism, despite the accumulation of facial defects, of aging traits from years of hardships, breakups, pessimistic moments, and even premature deaths. Such an unexpectedly moving documentary that I was able to watch thanks to the ingenious recommendation system by YouTube. One day AI will rule us all, and that day is approaching, fast.
52. Bullet Train (2022): 4/5
Entertainment at its purest! This film reminds me a lot of the early Guy Ritchie's films typically with a crowded cast and a heist-focused plot full of twists and turns, as well as Quentin Tarantino's earlier, less history-focused and gorier films, especially "Kill Bill". The main difference might be the fact that David Leitch - director of this film as well as several other highly-rated representatives of the modern fast-paced action films like "John Wick" or "Atomic Blonde" saves his energy and the film's running time from character development or deeper philosophical layer to focus solely on the gory and very entertaining action sequences, as well as the idiosyncrasies of his characters, all of whom were acted very, very well by his ensemble cast. Really, this film is just pure fun from the very beginning to the very end and thus I find it extremely hilarious that this film has been rated mediocre by Rotten Tomatoes despite being one of the most entertaining films of the year. In fact, I almost gave this film a 4.5 if not for the fact that the unnecessary destruction of multiple bullet trains and a whole part of Kyoto (that I actually visited before [!] - an old yet deeply charming quarter of this former capital) made me feel uncomfortable and actually does not contribute that much to the already awesome plot. Also, this film reminds me of the hilarious "La Chèvre" - a super fun French film about a guy specifically hired to find a woman due to their similar "bad luck" status. That film was much, much less sophisticated, plot-wise and CGI-wise, yet the pure fun it has is enough to carry the meagre contents through. It turns out that at the end of the day, script is still King, not CGI or other sophisticated techniques, unless until the day AI takes over the world (I just read that Bruce Willis already signed his paper to allow filmmakers to "deep fake" him into their films - the day that all film stars are CGI is approaching, I suppose).
53. The Other Guys (2010): 3.5/5
Hey, I have watched two Sony Pictures films in a row and BOTH are more than decent (a really rare feat for this struggle studio). This film really is a quality action flick with simple yet very effective plot that contains enough twist-and-turns yet does not take itself too serious or tries too much in order to save the spotlight for the very funny and unexpected duo of Ferrell and Wahlberg. Since nothing is really new, I would have given this film a 3, but am ready to award this for another 0.5 for its brilliant ending credit that explains Ponzi scheme and other sleazy aspects of Wall Street to the audience in the easiest-to-digest way possible. No wonder why five years after this film, McKay turns "full-serious" (well, kind-of, since even his later films still have many tickling moments, those have just not been the focal point of his films anymore) with an excellent film about the dark side of the financial world in "The Big Short".
54. Raising Arizona (1987): 3/5
I understand that this film has a quite cult following, but still could not find any strong connection with this one. Aside from some poetic dialogues, this film is full of crude jokes (kind of similar to Coen Brothers' later comedies like "The Ladykillers" or "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"), Buster Keaton-inspired action sequences, and peculiar (and thus not really relatable) characters. It was admittedly very competently made, but I simply could not find it really amusing and a little bit too "dated" for my taste. Maybe it was considered an innovative piece of indie upon its initial release, but almost four decades later, such freshness might not really be in place anymore.
55. Dredd (2012): 2.5/5
I just don't understand the cult status of this film among Redditors. This film is nothing more than a stylized action B-movie with just a slight touch of visual creativity but overshadowed by very poor production value, acting, and writing. It is indeed clear that this film has potential thanks to a nice setting and premise (not really a unique one, though, as such a gloomy dystopian setting can be found in almost any action science fiction in Hollywood), but potential just stays potential due to a poorly-constructed and very conventional plot that was seemingly designed just simple enough to show off the visuals and actions of this film. Helas, the visuals and actions did not impress me even a bit. I understand the director's intention to hyper-stylise the action sequences with slow motions, excessive violence, and a neon/kaleidoscopic colour palette. But due to poor production value (at 40-50 mil., this film is by no mean a cheap product, yet somehow it appears to me no more than a glorified B-movie that would just come straight to DVD - no wonder why this film flopped hard at the box office), those well-intentioned sequences just appeared very unimpressive to me. Still, this rather entertaining film would have received a three-star from me had the acting been better. Really, the performance in this film is atrocious across the board, from the nonchalant attitude of the main "villain" to the annoying and confusing facial expression of the titular character (since half of his face is covered by the Judge helmet, his facial expression is naturally crucial to connect this character to the audience, yet somehow Karl Urban made such a connection impossible to find with his irritating lip motions and strange facial expression as a whole). Two and a half star it is then.
56. John Carter (2012): 3/5
Hey, this film is actually not bad! Redditors seem to be right, for once, this time (really funny, as the film I watched right before this one is another 2012 film that has been clearly overrated by Redditors - "Dredd"). This one, however, has been clearly underrated as it is very entertaining with simple yet engaging script and well-controlled pacing. Still, it flopped extremely hard at the box office, probably due to its very bland visual (the film is set on Mars, but the landscape that looks just like any other desert on Earth clearly does not help the film's attractiveness, even if the filmmakers intentionally kept such similarities to imply the fate of the Earth if countries continue to fight against each others - but this film is first and foremost an entertainment piece, making it a philosophical one clearly is not helpful. The acting in this film is not good either, as Taylor Kitsch proved once again that his lack of charisma and poor acting chop would only undermine any chance he had with big-budget film like this one or "Battleship". Even Lynn Collins, despite her healthy attractiveness and charm, was just average on her role (the unimpressive script with forgettable dialogues might partly be the culprit on this point). Is this film entertaining enough? Yes, definitely. Is this film worth a sequel? Not really.
57. Gattaca (1997): 4/5
I do like the film's science-fiction premise but find the implementation rather slow with tedious pacing and very little character development. The ending, however, is very neat, very moving and is the reason why I give this one a four. It seems to me that Andrew Niccol has excellent taste in writing science-fiction dystopian scripts, but needs a better director to ensure the pacing and "beef up" the characters (from just a philosophical figure with some identifiable traits) like Peter Weir did with the excellent "Truman Show" (written by Niccol). Niccol's other disadvantage in the direction role is the fact that his vision of the dystopian future is very monochromatic - mostly grey, architecturally and technologically monotonous, and simply uninspiring in the eyes of the audience (I understand the philosophical implication of such monotony, but at least he [Niccol] should offer the audience something more unique, more visual instead of some early (19)20s-inspired landscapes. The acting in this film does not help either, as aside from a (surprisingly) emotional performance by Jude Law, the rest of the cast is the forgettable, as even though Hawke and Thurman got married just one year after this film, they had no chemistry whatsoever in this film, partly due to Thurman's confusing acting, but mostly due to Hawke's partial lack of charisma (despite his obvious youthful handsomeness). Still, this is a good science ficion with strong script and fully deserves a 4 out of 5 star.
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