Category Archives: Films & Television

Mad World (2016)

This is one of the higher profile Hong Kong films of recent years and the only wonder of it is that I took so long to get around to it. This is especially cogent for us as the film deals with bipolar disorder with which we are both familiar. As is so often the case nowadays, it was directed by a young and virtually unknown newcomer Wong Chun and immediately racked up a whole slew of awards.

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Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974)

After watching so many of the classics of cinema, I thought that I’d had at least heard of all the greats by now but this recommendation from our cinephile friend still managed to surprise me. It was directed by Shūji Terayama who it seems was a true artist in every sense of the word: a poet, writer, playwright etc. in addition to being a director. This highly experimental film was itself loosely adapted from his own poetry.

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Booksmart (2019)

As I’ve mentioned before, I have a bit of a weakness for coming of age films and this certainly counts. It does seem rather more juvenile than I would usually like but it’s has been well reviewed and even showed up on the best of lists of a number of critics. Interestingly it’s also the debut directorial feature of Olivia Wilde who is of course best known as an actress.

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Bullitt (1968)

I like to think I give all genres of film a fair shake while I go through the classics but the truth is that action films suffer disportionately as stunts and action shots that were great back in there just can’t compare to what studios can achieve now. Bullitt was once known for one of best car chase scenes in cinematic history though by modern standards it’s only ordinary. Still, I believe that this is the first film I’ve watched starring Steve McQueen, another legend of Hollywood.

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Fast Color (2018)

I always like to give independent films with interesting premises a chance and this one, purportedly a female-centric superhero film that has nothing whatsoever to do with Marvel or DC, seemed like a good bet. Unfortunately not all such bets turn out well and this is a thoroughly mediocre film, to my eyes made only because the director had a cool idea of a particular special effect to use.

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Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

After watching and loving Roman Holiday, it was only a matter of time until I got around to this other famous Audrey Hepburn vehicle. Like everyone else, I’ve heard the song Moon River many times and as this is another Hollywood classic, I expected something similar in tone and style. It turns out that this is completely different and perhaps an early hint can be seen in that it was loosely adapted from a story by Truman Capote.

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