Adapted from supernatural stories dating back to the 18th century, this period fantasy film is utterly traditional. It’s been a while since we’ve watched anything as old-fashioned as this and it’s satisfying how we now interpret these old stories differently in light of all that we’ve learned about art and cinema. This film is delightful and the execution is perfect, as it successfully evokes the supernatural with no special effects. More than that, it strikes me now that these stories were written to keep the peasants in their place and never attempt to rise above their station. It’s so obvious that I wondered why I never saw it before.

I really liked this dark drama about an actress researching for her latest role but then after finishing it I went online to read up on what people had to say about it and discovered that it’s considered a comedy. That made me wonder if I even understood it correctly at all. In the end, I don’t think I was wrong though. Despite the overbearing horror music and the absurdity, I believe director Todd Haynes fully means for the audience to seriously engage with the topic. It’s unsettling, deeply uncomfortable for everyone and none of the characters are quite certain what to think of the situation themselves so it’s only to be expected that the audience will feel the same.

This may an Italian film but it barely matters as there is no dialogue whatsoever. There’s only a foreword and an afterword in Italian explaining what it’s about. Instead what we have is pure visual storytelling and some of the best cinematography I’ve seen in recent years. This is also a film that defies genres. It’s technically a dramatic reenactment of an event in 1961, the exploration of the Bifurto Abyss cave system. Yet it’s staged like a documentary with no particular focus on any characters with the exception of a local of the area. It is amazing in all respects and it makes me wonder what other historical films might be like if they were made like this.

I never watch this back in the day and it was never on my watch list. But it popped up while I was browsing Netflix and my wife noted that it was a film she liked. This is a very long film, especially so for a romantic drama, but no can deny the beauty of the cinematography nor how deeply affecting it is. This really has it all, an aristocratic desert explorer who has some serious bad boy vibes, the last gasp of the pre-war internationalist period, all mixed up with passionate love so intense that it overcomes marriage vows and gentlemanly conduct. I have quibbles about its structure and the relevance of characters like Hana and Kip, but it’s a good film that deserves its place among the great romances.

We tend to have bad experiences with anime but this one is not only popular at the moment but was also a recommendation from our cinephile. Honestly the premise of an dungeon diving story that is focused on food sounds both original and fun. Unfortunately the quality of the show on an episode to episode to basis varies by quite a lot. Apart from schtick about food, it’s still a fairly generic fantasy anime with all of the usual faults of the genre. It’s not awful but I don’t think we’ll be back for the second season.

Films about corporations are rare and one that portrays a large corporation in a good light are even rarer. Moreso than it is about Michael Jordan, the story here is really about Nike’s rise from being a middling sports shoes company to the global behemoth it is today with the help of the Air Jordan line. It’s so flattering to Nike that it’s hard to believe this isn’t some sort of Nike commercial. Ben Affleck does a decent if unspectacular job at directing. It’s rather heavy-handed in mining 1980s nostalgia and too blatant about playing up the mystique of Michael Jordan, but it works well enough and I’m pleased as punch that it even exists.

The combination of Hirokazu Kore-eda and Song Kang-ho practically makes this a must watch and the unusual fact that Kore-eda has chosen to make a Korean film is even more intriguing. This one still shares the theme of being about parents failing their children and indeed is supposedly a companion film to Shoplifters. Unfortunately I found this one to be on the weaker side with moments that just a touch too sentimental. Even so you can see right from the opening shot what a skilled craftsman Kore-eda is and he can imbue meaning even to a deceptively bland phrase.