This is a made in Thailand short science-fiction anthology series that received wide release through Netflix. Similar to shows like Black Mirror, each episode is its own standalone story with a couple of them being almost films in their own right. None of the science-fiction ideas in here are particularly original and the plot seems meandering a lot of the time. But I will credit this for being a fantastic effort. It’s bold in challenging established moral values and norms, genuinely dares to imagine what Thailand might be like 20 to 30 years in the future and most of all boasts such high production values that I’m astounded. It’s doesn’t just look authentically futuristic, they have superb art direction as well.
I would never have thought to add this to my list except that whenever people discussed their favorite comedies online, it invariably pops up. Indeed the film’s reputation has grown over time. My initial impression of it were bad. It seemed like the usual story of graduating high school kids wanting to lose their virginity. In the end, I still can’t see the greatness in it. But I concede that the duo of Jonah Hill and Michael Cera works and they manage to soften the raunchiness with the cuteness of the characters so the comedy is never mean-spirited.
The films of Robert Bresson haven’t disappointed me so far but I must confess that this one is tough to swallow. As it is literally showing snippets from the diary of a priest, the scenes are very episodic, not allowing us to dwell in the moment. Then there is the cultural and religious gulf and indeed the film probably has little meaning for those who have no religious faith at all. I’m pretty sure I’ve more or less understood what it wants to say but that’s not at all the same as being moved by it. I can see how ahead of its time it is and how it must speak to those who are religious but it’s not for me.
Kelly Reichardt teams up with Michelle Williams again in another delightfully understated film. Once again it’s set in Portland, Oregon and being centered around the Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC), just about everyone in it is an artist of some stripe. But as this film shows, not all artists get to be famous or rich or successful. As usual, Reichardt’s work is so subtle that it might not seem like it has much of a point. But the soft rivalry between Lizzy and Jo, highlighting how the latter is just ever so slightly closer to the artist that the former aspires to be, is good enough for me.
A documentary made by an American director about the underground nightlife scene in China sounds exactly like something the Chinese government would frown on and that I’d love. The vibes, the images and the sound are all incredible, adding up to a powerful portrayal of a side of Chinese society we rarely get to see. Yet while there is no doubt that director Benjamin Mullinkosson is a friend of the queer community, I sense a certain wistfulness in it. The people in it don’t seem so much to be enjoying life to the fullest than using the nightclub as a way to cope with depression and the stresses of life. It doesn’t seem healthy at all and so this documentary isn’t an altogether sympathetic view of their lifestyle as I would expect.
This isn’t the kind of film I’d catch in the cinemas at all but I had expiring movie club points so here we are. Liam Neeson seems like unlikely successor to Leslie Nielsen and I have to say that while I appreciate the effort and his straight-faced Frank Drebin, he doesn’t have the comedic timing to pull it off. To me this was good for some giggles and I’m flabbergasted by some of the very weird segues. But I wouldn’t say this was very good. Its gags are neither very original nor very clever and the time is long past when police in America were seen as allies to the people.
Continuing the series of films that show how bad life in Japan was in the post-World War II period under American occupation, here’s a lesser known one set in the slums outside a US military base. I’d expected it to have more of an anti-American message but it really just has them as part of the background reality that everyone needs to work around. The scenes of poverty, moral corruption and blatant lawlessness are grim and far from the idealized Japan seen in other works of the era. The downside is that its conclusion feels fake and hacked on. In reality the criminals win so comprehensively that there’s no happy ending for anyone else.
