When I added this to my list, I had no idea that it was a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru. I almost never watch remakes but in this instance, there is such a gulf of time and even culture between the two versions that it might be worth exploring. In the event, this is an extremely faithful adaptation of the original. It’s interesting how its Britishness makes it more humorous and entertaining to us than the Japanese original. Yet in the end there’s no real contest. Ikiru possesses layers of depth that are simply absent here, only to be replaced by sentimentality. It’s a nice effort but this is no great film.

This French film is usually considered a documentary and indeed, some call it one of the greatest documentaries of all time. I think it’s more like an experimental art film and even its maker Chris Marker calls it a home movie that others somehow are willing to pay to watch. It consists of both footage that Marker shot himself along with stock footage from others. There’s a lot going on in the extensive narration but some key themes include the impermanence of memory and imbuing meaning through rituals. I’m not convinced that there is anything truly deep in it though. I rather think of it as a carefully constructed puzzle box, meant to pleasingly tickle your mind as the film guides you into making strange, unexpected connections.

My wife has been paying close attention to this latest film directed by Chong Keat Aun as it seemed impossible that it would ever be released in cinemas here in Malaysia. That’s because this is a film, supposedly the very first one, about the 13 May 1969 racial riots in Malaysia, a notoriously touchy subject in our country. Surprisingly it eventually did appear in our cinemas, possibly because the current Prime Minister is Anwar Ibrahim. However it has been significantly censored with lines muted and parts of the screen in some scenes blurred out. My wife was disappointed that it only touches on the historical events lightly, preferring to evoke an emotional reaction by focusing on a very small set of fictional characters. I thought it worked fine but it’s hard to see how non-Malaysians will be able to get much out of it.

Director Gareth Edwards earned plenty of clout for making Rogue One, so I thought that an independently made sci-fi film made by him would be worth paying attention to. Unfortunately while this film has some great aesthetics and I do like how most of it takes place in Asia, the story is a horrid mess. It’s not really a science-fiction film at all as the AI here are effectively indistinguishable from humans so prejudice against them is just racism. That might sound profound but it doesn’t make sense at all as the film refuses to offer any explanation of how the AI here works. It’s an underwhelming, unsatisfying film and I’d attribute that to Edwards being responsible for the story himself.

I never played the video game as it was a PlayStation exclusive for so long but of course I couldn’t help but be aware of it given its success. I was hesitant to watch this series as I’m still feeling burned out about zombie stories but our cinephile friend recommended it and I heard that it’s completely faithful to the videogame so here we are. In the end, I have to concede that this is probably one of the most competently executed zombie story on television and boasts a large enough budget to look utterly fantastic. Yet it still is just a zombie story and there’s only so much they can do with only two lead characters. It’s entertaining, sure, but it’s not a show that I particularly love.

This experimental Czechoslovakian film is a real head-scratcher as I can barely understand a fraction of what it’s trying to do. The key may be that it was made when the country was still under Communist control and this level of obfuscation was necessary to get its anti-establishment message past the censors. The two female characters get up to all kinds of crazy antics but the one line they keep repeating is that nothing really matters suggesting a deep-rooted apathy to life. The visuals are striking certainly and there is plenty of creativity as it switches between types of shots and pair the movements of the two sisters with sound effects. Still this is just way too weird and incomprehensible for me.

Obviously everyone knows Monty Python and the Holy Grail and I’ve watched plenty of clips from it here and there, but I’ve never seen the full thing. So when I realized that it’s on Netflix, I thought that it was time to fix that. It’s every bit as zany and outrageous as its reputation, yet unfortunately it does seem that it’s best appreciated as a series of skits. Some of the sequences take too long to get into and don’t land very well. The whole thing is just a bit too much. I’m amazed by the irreverence on display though and impressed that Terry Gilliam and his team basically learned how to direct in the process of making it.