After being so disappointed by No Time to Die, it’s reasonable to ask if it’s even possible to make decent action movies set in the modern era. This film from the Philippines makes for a great counterexample as it limits the scope of its action to reasonable levels. Despite its limited budget, its cinematography is fantastic and it doesn’t compromise on its plot and character development either. This is admittedly a very dark film but that this what it means to treat the subject of violence and killings seriously. It seems that I was way late in hearing about this and this was successful enough that an American remake is in the planning.
This is a science-fiction book that everyone will have heard of if only because of the vast number of adaptations inspired by it. I similarly have never read the book itself before this, thinking that I already knew all there was to know from the adaptations. Watching a discussion of the top science-fiction novels however made me realize that there still is a lot of value in revisiting the old classics because they are classics for good reasons. As such I’ll be adding some science-fiction classics into my reading rotation beginning with this one by H.G. Wells.
This film wowed critics as a real-time look into how an upmarket restaurant in London works behind the scenes in one long, continuous shot. Despite its modest scope, the film impressed enough people that it’s already been made into a full series. I loved all of the details and how each character, including the customers of the restaurants, all have their own little stories. But I do note that the way it ramps all of the restaurant’s myriad problems into an explosive climax kind of makes it feel like a reality show. It’s just so dense with drama and it makes a lot of sense why this might better be expanded into a television series.
This film was compiled from old Soviet footage of the funeral of Joseph Stalin in 1953 by Sergey Loznitsa, a Ukrainian director of Belarusian origin and predates the ongoing invasion. With no added commentary except for an afterword, its surreal quality naturally lends it added resonance this year as it makes for a powerful indictment of the cult of personality built around the supreme leader of the USSR. At a little over two hours long, it’s a bit of a chore to get through as it consists only of the expected pageantry and ceremonies of a huge funeral repeated again and again. Yet I would argue that it’s worth it for the look into the USSR of the period and what such a national cult is like from the inside.
I have not watched all of the Daniel Craig Bond films and I have little idea of the story so far. Still strong reviews and the sense of this being the end of an era persuaded me that it might worth watching this last one, especially as we so rarely watch conventional action movies these days. As expected this looks slick and beautifully shot and there is some real emotion in Bond’s relationships. However the plot that serves as its connective tissue is almost perfunctory in how thin it is and it’s hard to feel any sort of real peril in the action scenes. In short, it’s standard, formulaic Bond.
This was a free game that I decided to try for a bit because it’s been a while since I last played a shooter and I actually liked an earlier game in the series. I did finish it as the game seems rather easy to me even at hard difficulty and it’s quite short but I didn’t really like it at all. I thought it felt extremely linear and the story is just a tour of the most famous names of the Wild West with a classic revenge plot as the connective tissue.
From time to time, I’m still working through the Hollywood classics and I keep being amazed by how enjoyable they are. I see this John Huston film being described as a noir but I don’t think it counts as one. I’m not sure what the genre is called but it’s one of those where the characters are all trapped by circumstances in a confined space and have to put up with each other. As usual, this provides the opportunity to go into what makes each of them tick and it’s a real pleasure to see even the supporting characters being put under the microscope. Great performances all around and it even ends with a relatively realistic yet thrilling gunfight!
