I like that even as Netflix is making adaptations of all kinds of intellectual property, some of questionable merit, that includes great novels as well. I haven’t read the novel by Orhan Pamuk though my wife has but both of us have fond memories of our trip to Turkey so watching this seemed like a good idea. The production is as usual sumptuous and I enjoyed visiting the Istanbul of the 1970s. I’m less of a fan of the obsessive love story and the character Kemal Basmaci seems like any other creepy older man preying on a younger girl. Yet as befits a great novel, the sheer intensity of his emotions is intoxicating and his externalizing of his love into mundane objects is a fascinating form of mania.

This is the first film I’ve watched by G. Aravindan who is a filmmaker of note in Malayalam cinema. The title refers to a town in India that is apparently famous for its temple. The imposing structure naturally makes an appearance and the film also features the region’s beauty. Unfortunately the imagery and even the sound are poor in quality, as if the film were much older than something made in the 1980s. Worst of all, I struggled to make sense of what the film wants to say despite the simple plot until I realized that it must be interpreted through a Hindu lens. I did not like that set of conclusions at all.

The film is upfront about its premise, no surprises there. But I was caught off-guard when it pulled an Up right at the start to tug at our heartstrings. This is an old-fashioned romantic comedy and as such shamelessly falls back on many familiar tropes. But it uses them smartly in an updated context and averts those that have aged badly. It’s never going to win any awards but it’s wickedly funny, makes no missteps and sometimes this sort of back-to-basics approach is just what we need.

I’m getting to be quite a fan of Shōhei Imamura with his predilection for covering the underside of societies. Here he highlights the plight of Japanese prostitutes who were tricked into coming to Southeast Asia in the early 20th century. What’s more, the primary subject is Kikuyo who arrived in Klang and so Imamura comes to interview her in Klang and other places in Malaysia in 1973. Not only does this reveal an almost certainly unknown part of history even to us, it’s a fascinating treasure trove of footage of life in Malaysia from that era.

Park Chan Wook’s latest is once again filled with murder. Unlike the past crime thrillers that established his reputation however, No Other Choice is a comedy and I think not a good one at all. The comedic timing is off, the film itself is too long and most of all, the main character is so blatantly evil it’s impossible to sympathize with him. It seems I’m the outlier here as most critics loved it as a critique of capitalism. However since I’m in favor of fair competition, I think actually murdering your competitors is not that at all and so I found this to be highly offensive to my sensibilities.

We finally get back to watching more of Louis Malle’s French work and now I’m kicking myself for not doing this much earlier. Au revoir les enfants as it’s known even in English because Goodbye, Children sounds terrible, is semi-autobiographical, based on events from the director’s childhood. We’ve seen plenty of films about the Holocaust but this one stands out for depicting civilian life in France under German occupation. It’s packed full of perceptive details on their attitudes towards the Jews, French collaborators, the progress of the war and much more and all the more devastating in its impact in that it’s from the perspective of children.

All I knew about Marty Supreme going in was that Timothée Chalamet was lauded for his performance here and that it’s about ping pong. I quickly realized that one, it’s isn’t a sports movie at all and two, the main character is one of the most obnoxious pieces of shit I’ve ever seen on film. Yet he also reminded me of Adam Sandler’s character Uncut Gems. ‘Lo and behold it was made by the same director Josh Safdie who I am now convinced must be some kind of moral nihilist. Yes, this is a highly entertaining film and Chalamet is phenomenal in it. But the message it’s sending is so infuriating it made me want to punch out the screen.