Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Raise the Red Lantern 1991

  ★★★★ Watched 30 Jul 2024

  RAISE THE RED LANTERN 大红灯笼高高挂 (1991) is among the best movie collabs between “Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmaker” director Zhang Yimou and actor Gong Li. It was shot by two cinematographers, Sun Lang and Zhao Wei, who are among the finest in the field. Stunning classical compositions and restrained performances are what makes this movie powerful. It takes place in Northern China in the 1920s. University student, Songlian, must leave school when she is forced into an arranged marriage to…

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  Lady Snowblood 1973

  ★★★★½ Watched 29 Jul 2024

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Visceral filmmaking. Lady Snowblood is based on the 1972 manga series by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura, directed by Toshiya Fujita and starring singer/actor Meiko Kaji. Vibrant colors, vivid sets, unconventional choices and lawless filmmaking inject uncontrollable energy into a premeditated karmic revenge tale. Meiko Kaji is thrilling to watch in her beautiful brutality, wielding weapons and destroying her family’s killers. And yet this movie digs deeper than simple bloodlust. 20 years after the fact, Lady Snowblood’s enemies are old and decrepit, their eventual systematic slaughter is a hollow victory for the tragic heroine, burdened by a painful and lonely destiny.

Popular reviews

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  Eno 2024

  ★★★½ Watched 29 Apr 2024

  Let go of control. Surrender to feelings.

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  Challengers 2024

  ★★★★ Watched 29 Apr 2024

  This one got me thinking of Douglas Sirk’s gorgeous and repressed queer 1950s narratives meets 1980s sexy-style movies. Zendaya in sunglasses on the Challengers poster reminds me of Tom Cruise in sunglasses on the Risky Business poster. Power struggles, explosive volleys, time jumps and sparring dialogue amped up by a propulsive score force the audience to watch as closely as a ball boy at a tennis match. Great performances and narrative complexities make for an exciting experience when words fall away and characters cut to the chase, like good sex, or a good game.