I’d mistakenly believed that this was the original version of the 2003 English-language film by François Ozon but it turns out the resemblance is only superficial. This one does feature major French star power and sizzles with erotic tension. It’s even more meaningful once you learn about the behind-the-scenes relationships and events during filming. Unfortunately I wouldn’t consider it a great film. It drags on just a little too much and the eroticism peaks at the beginning instead of ramping up as it should.

This is the newest version of a film that Hollywood loves to remake again and again. I’d never seen any of the previous ones but my wife asked to watch this one so here we are. I have to admit that this is a well-executed film with strong performances, solid music which is especially surprising from Bradley Cooper, and so on. Yet its heart is still the kind of fairy tale that Hollywood loves so much along with a willingness to forgive the excesses of the lifestyles of artistes because they are special. I just can’t buy into this kind of story these days and so this doesn’t work for me at all.

I actually do have vague memories of the earlier 1984 adaptation of the James Clavell novel even though I was far too young then to understand any of it. This new version is by all accounts far better especially as rather than framing John Blackthorne as the protagonist, it really only puts him in the position of a witness to the rise of Yoshii Toranaga. Production quality and especially the performances are all excellent. This is faithful to the novel so it uses the fictionalized versions of the historical characters. But part of me so wishes it used the original names instead as it would have been so cool.

If this weren’t just released on Netflix, I probably wouldn’t have watched it but we do watch lighter fare once in a while. This Korean animated film may feature slick visuals and a science-fiction setting but don’t be fooled. It’s an old-school romance which doesn’t hesitate in pouring on the melodrama to wring out your tears. Still, I can’t be entirely dismissive as newcomer director Han Ji-Won knows exactly what he is going for and does a great job of filling the screen with spectacular if not entirely realistic imagery.

I wad dubious about this at first. It felt like the age-old formula of young lovers committing crimes and rebelling against the world, except with a lesbian couple. But then it starts ramping up the intensity and never stops even as it enters surreal territory. Right then I was hooked and understood that this was something special. It’s kind of insane that a formula like bodybuilding noir could ever work but it does. It’s fitting then that it was made the same director who made Saint Maud as it shares the same kind of insane intensity.

Not only is this a French animated science-fiction film, it’s a very serious one to boot and relies on the audience being reasonably intelligent and attentive. Most science-fiction stories are built around just one or two cool ideas, but this one just keeps throwing new things at you and expects you to keep. Unfortunately it flubs the ending as the buildup is way better than the payoff but it’s so good as a cyberpunk noir while it lasts.

Here’s another masterpiece from classic Indian cinema and this time it is not by Satyajit Ray. It does cover similar thematic territory however in being what I would call misery porn. It was made by Ritwik Ghatak and is believed to be his best known and most watched film. There’s supposed to be some political backdrop to this but I don’t think it matters much as the Partition of Bengal is not directly mentioned. All we need to know is that this is about a miserably poor family and a self-sacrificing daughter who bear everyone’s burden. It’s such a superbly made film that one instantly recognizes why it is a masterpiece. Yet it also advances a morality that I find execrable.