Mine (Heads up, there's a lot this week):
Cobweb (Samuel Bodin, 2023)
I found this to be a genuinely creepy and satisfying little horror movie. It’s not often that one can get under my skin, but this did. It really shocks me that the studio had so little faith in this one that they gave it a limited release, as though not perfect, it’s far better than many that do. Sure it’s flawed, but the good by FAR outweighs the bad. 8/10
Yakuza Wolf 2: Extend My Condolences (Buichi Saitô, 1972)
I watched, and did not like, the first Yakuza Wolf movie two weeks ago. I almost didn’t bother with this, but I already owned it as it was in a Chiba box set and I read online that it was a sequel in name only. It also had a different director, so I decided to give it a shot. Overall, I found it an improvement. It’s nowhere near as mean spirited and sleazy as the first. It’s a lot more comedic as well. It’s not really a good movie, but I watched it without feeling like I needed a shower when it was over. 5/10
The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive (Francesco Mazzei, 1972)
This one is pretty sleazy even by Giallo standards (and yes, I recognize it might be hypocritical to complain about that in a Yakuza film a moment ago, and not really care about it here... but what can I say, it just fits the Giallo genre). There’s a bit more of the police procedural aspect in this one, which is nice in my opinion. That said, it's WAY too predictable and goes on a bit too long. It’s interesting that this is the only movie the director made though, it’s competent enough that I would have expected a few more from him. 5/10
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, 2021)
From the director of Drive My Car comes another movie that is frequently about characters hiding a range of emotions... and again I loved it. This time it’s three stories, all deceptively simple, but running through very feeling experiences despite a major theme of coincidence throughout them all. 9/10
Yourself and Yours (Hong Sang-soo, 2016)
A very odd little movie in which a man loses a woman due to believing rumors about her and spends the next couple days looking for her. Meanwhile we continue to see her at bars, talking to different guys, but presenting herself as a new character each time despite all of them seeming to recognize her. It’s odd, but there’s something about it that works. It’s absurd, but played with a strangely... realistic isn’t the right word, neither is serious, but somehow it tries to combine both outlooks. 7/10
Encounter of the Spooky Kind (Sammo Hung, 1980)
Martial arts horror comedy starring Sammo Hung (who also directed). Some pretty good laughs, one or two surprisingly creepy moments, but a little repetitive. 7/10
The Villainess (Byung-gil Jung, 2017)
Pretty good Korean action movie that feels a bit like the John Wick films. Plot is a little too convoluted for its own good, but it was fairly entertaining. 6/10
Body Double (Brian De Palma, 1984)
I really enjoyed this one. I may be in the minority here, but at the moment I would say this is my favorite from De Palma. 8/10
Moss Rose (Gregory Ratoff, 1947)
I’ll be honest, I only watched this because I’m a Vincent Price fan and I saw while scrolling through the Criterion channel that he had an early small role in it. The film is a touch on the boring side and the characters act in ways that I can only imagine was explained better in the book it was based on (or they had entirely different motivations). All around, not a fan. 4/10
Chess of the Wind (Mohammad Reza Aslani, 1976)
A pretty good story of murder from Iran. The movie is good, but the story behind this movie is actually better. Apparently shortly after being filmed the new regime of the country took great offense to several aspects and decided to pretty much destroy it. It was lost for years then the director’s son some 20 years later discovered a copy in an open-air market. He bought it and Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project managed to restore it to beautiful shape. It looks far better than one would expect and it's kind of stunning that it even exists now. 7/10
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (John Cameron Mitchell, 2001)
I’ve heard about this one, but never checked it out for some reason. The part of me that loves glam rock delighted in its musical numbers and I genuinely laughed several times. It’s flawed in many ways, but I personally really enjoyed it. 8/10
Mr. Freedom (William Klein, 1968)
I wished I liked this one more. It’s a comedy about America’s foreign policies, personified as a superhero called Mr. Freedom who love democracy (and capitalism) and hates those horrible communists so much that he’ll fight, kill and rape anyone who dares go against him. He’ll happily destroy a country to save it! It’s funny, in that horrible little too close to the truth way, but it suffers from being repetitive and frankly not missing more often than it lands on jokes. 4/10
Flashdance (Adrian Lyne, 1983)
Let’s face it, there’s really not much of a plot here... but the real reason to watch it is the soundtrack and the dance scenes and they are wonderful. This movie is pure 80s and despite all of its flaws I kind of love it for that. 7/10
Woman Is the Future of Man (Hong Sang-soo, 2004)
I got an opportunity to see another Hong Sang-soo film and took it as he’s one of the bigger names in independent cinema in Korea. This one is good, but feels unsatisfactory to me. We get to see a weekend with these characters, and while there’s much that happens on an emotional level, there’s not really in terms of plot or resolution. Felt like it was an interesting examination of the characters, but I wanted more from it. 6/10
Night of the Assassin (Jeong-deok Kwak, 2023)
Korean period piece/action film that feels weirdly like a made for TV movie (the lighting and much of the way it is shot). There’s one or two good fight scenes but it’s tonally weird (tragedy and then silly moments about learning to smile) and feels rather lifeless. 3/10
Comanche Station (Budd Boetticher, 1960)
Not bad, but likely my least favorite of the Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott westerns (of which I’ve seen all but Buchanan Rides Alone). It felt the most by the book and borrowed a bit from some of the earlier plots. 6/10
