In The Mood For Love

Saw In The Mood For Love. Such longing and melancholy. Two neighbors discover their spouses are both cheating on them and struggle not to also cheat despite falling in love. It's shocking that there isn't a script. It's like jazz.

The Burbs

Saw The Burbs. I was very disappointed by the ending which changed the message of the film from "accept those who are different" to "those who are different are probably trying to kill you." Boo.

Sphere

Saw Sphere. A nice taut psycho-drama with sci-fi/action elements. A lot of my good-will toward the movie comes from my having read the book. The ending would probably infuriate me if I hadn't. The book does a better job of justifying and contextualizing the ending.

Sherlock Jr

Saw Sherlock Jr. I think I love Buster Keaton.

The Towering Inferno

Saw The Towering Inferno. It was a disaster movie where a skyscraper burns up. I don't know why they don't make disaster movies like this and The Poseidon Adventure anymore. They're pretty corny, but so are a lot of movies and these make perfectly ripping tales. In this one, firemen are the saintly saviors of everyone. The amount of fireman worship is cray.

Ordinary People

Saw Ordinary People. An obligatorily ironic title because of course the film is about people who are rich and troubled. Usually I'm annoyed by such movies because they often revolve around who to marry or how to save face or other such "problems" but this one I liked. It earned its sentiment and was genuinely sad and troubling. The characters (particularly the dad) did pretty much what I would have done which saved me some mental shouting at the screen. There was only one character who behaved inhumanly but that was a major plot-point. Always a plus in a drama.

Also, main character on swim-team = dripping guys in speedos. Awesome. I don't know why America has seized upon football as the go-to high school sport when this is clearly preferable.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring

Saw Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring. It was a very Buddhist movie, all to do with cycles and repeated or transmuted sins. I think my enjoyment of the film is hindered a bit by lack of knowledge about animal symbolism in Korean culture (snake/fish/frog/cat/dog/turtle are all important.) It was beautiful and lyrical. There is a sequence where the protagonist is climbing a mountain that was solid gold. I really liked it. Death is used sometimes to heighten the drama in what I think is an unearned way, but such is the way in Asian movies.

The 13th Warrior

Saw The 13th Warrior. I generally don't like war films, but this was alright. I liked that death was treated semi-seriously (tho not realistically of course, and there were (as ever) hundreds of minions carelessly mowed down.) I kept wondering how Antonio Banderas stayed so clean-shaven. It suffered from the same overwrought sad trumpets and stupid manhood-proving sequences that all war movies have but then, what can you expect? Silliness aside, it was entertaining.

Man With a Movie Camera

Saw Man With a Movie Camera. Such a fun film! All the camera tricks possible in the 30s are on display, all the tricks are used to dazzle and amuse. It's like the opening credits of Amelie, but an hour long. Really dug it.