review
Project Hail Mary
Charming feel-good fun (with perhaps a bit too much goofiness coming from Gosling's character), but also constantly felt overly reminded that I was watching a Hollywood product optimized for affective impact and mass appeal.
Kino Oyasumi
late night reviews and rants about film and other media
review
Resurrection
There are plenty of self-congratulatory films about film, but this is truly the one all-time must see.
review
The Testament of Ann Lee
While I appreciate that the duo behind this took some stylistic creative choices to depict the ecstatic nature of their communal rituals, I am clearly not this film's target audience. To me, it ultimately came of as superficial, unfocused, aimless and ultimately just downright boring.
review
It Was Just An Accident
I did enjoy this and given the context of the director think it is a valiant work, but do have some gripes with it.
review
Arco
Loved the environmental metaphors, the bumbling trio of loveable up-to-no-goods, the brilliant French comic inspired artwork, the retro future designs, and even made me sympathetic to the working class robots.
review · Berlinale
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
While the script is rather formulaic, this had a lot of heart. Definitely enjoyed the playful "kids these days" digs throughout.
review · Berlinale
Filipiñana
Sharp, satirical indictment of class and gendered power dynamics in the Philippines, through the lens of a teenage girl from a formerly exploited ethnic background working at a golf terrain, in a brilliant debut from Rafael Manuel.
review · Berlinale
A New Dawn
For as clumsy as a the storytelling is, at the very least this debut film by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, a PhD in traditional Japanese art, undeniably works as an impressive display of the director's talents as a visual artist.
review · Berlinale
The Weight
Wonderfully suspenseful action-adventure film that harkens back to the classics without falling into the pitfalls of the racial and gendered insensitivities that have historically plagued them.