I was a big fan of Blindsight and really enjoyed discussing it in various places so it’s no surprise that this sequel was one of my most anticipated books. Unfortunately even after I’d gotten my hands on it (I chose to buy it as an ebook from Google Books), I took my time reading it because I ended up being very annoyed by it. After finishing the book, I went around the Internet to read up on various discussions. The regulars at Broken Forum mostly liked it but on Reddit and other places, I find that mine is not an uncommon opinion.
After having watched so many films, I’d like to think that I’m starting to have a good grasp of what is out there even if I haven’t necessarily watched it yet, especially when it comes to American cinema. But every once in a while I’m reminded that there’s so much that I still don’t know. I’d never heard of Sidney Lumet before this but he is apparently one of the most respected American directors of all time with an impressively long filmography and a reputation of being a great craftsman of film.
This unusually named film is the anime adaptation of a seinen manga, meaning it’s aimed at young adults. Also unusual is that it was directed by an American, Michael Arias, who works primarily in Japan. It’s about a pair of young orphans who run rampant in the streets of Treasure Town, a district of a large metropolis. Due to their athletic abilities and martial prowess, they are said to be the masters of the town. Consequently when the Yakuza tries to move into their territory, the duo become priority targets for their assassins.
Two Days, One Night is the first film I’ve watched by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, a duo of brother-directors from Belgium of some renown. With Marion Cotillard in the leading role, it has serious acting power behind it as well. It duly went on to do well on the international awards circuit, which was why I added it to my ever growing watch-list.
When I wrote about Season One a couple of years ago, I ended by noting that it seems almost inevitable that Clementine would be the main character for Season Two and expressed disappointment that she must then either have plot armor or be killed like any other character in this franchise. So when this came out and it was revealed that Clementine really would be the protagonist after all, I managed to stay away from it for a long time, not wanting it to ruin the amazing experience I had with the first game.
Brazil showed us a couple of weeks ago how you can have the highest-grossing film of the year also be a respectable and artistically interesting film and now India does the same with PK. Not only is it the most commercially successful Indian film ever made, both domestically and in international markets, it also happens to be a courageous film that pokes fun at religion in an inventive and intelligent manner.
This marks the third film we’ve watched by Luis Buñuel, all within a year. This is because I’d asked for recommendations of South American films from a Broken Forum poster and he must really like Buñuel. We’re still slowly working through the list. To be honest, I was hoping that this would be one of his more surreal films like The Exterminating Angel, but it turned out to be a more direct social commentary film like Los Olvidados, albeit in the completely opposite direction.
