kaylin

Henri-Georges Clouzot is one of the best French directors, not just of his time but of filmography in general. He has a style that can captivate, and it doesn't matter if it's a thriller, a crime film, or a pure horror film. It pulls the viewer in and lets him go only at the very end, sometimes almost spitting him out.

I simply enjoy Iko Uwais. He's small, but he's great in action scenes and in my opinion, he's one of the biggest action stars of our time, at least as far as martial arts are concerned. I hope he gets a lot more exposure than just in home-grown, Indonesian work because he deserves more films. Merantau Warrior has a simple story, but the slower pace makes it a specific film.

A film about how capitalism looks in today's world, and it's not anything nice because people who come into power are willing to do anything to maintain it, and it doesn't matter how much they smile at you or how much you believe they're telling the truth. There may be a lot of grand hypocrisy behind all this, which this film shows bluntly.

I was hoping that The Bye Bye Man would be a little scarier, a little more memorable, but I found the opening ramblings of the young people to be very awkward and clichéd. Then the plot started to pick up a bit, a demon appeared, and there were a few good scenes, but in the end, despite the well-established horror, they failed to make a good film, and I left with more disappointment than fulfillment due to the excessive plot. The presence of actresses like Faye Dunaway and Carrie-Anne Moss was a delight.

Creepozoids is an action B-movie that has a little bit of Alien in it, but it certainly doesn't live up to its qualities in any respect. It's simply a light-hearted spectacle, featuring not only sex, or rather nudity, but surprisingly also tension and occasionally even some slightly eerie scenes, mainly created by the play of light and shadow, especially shadow, where you don't see much but just enough is hinted at.

The main reason I like Aki Kaurismäki's film is that the visuals he used are a perfect match for the story presented. Black and white cinematography doesn't suit every film nowadays, but if an author decides to use it, they usually have a good reason for it. Aki Kaurismäki knew this and it makes the film nice to watch. Plot-wise, it may not necessarily be captivating.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro have made a visually beautiful film. It has something of the industrial feel, but it also has elements reminiscent of "Oliver Twist"; it's mature, yet presented as a fairy tale, where Dominique Pinon excels above all. He also demonstrates here not only captivating comedic abilities. Ron Perlman does what I would expect from him. But he does it well.

Now and then, a good action scene catches the viewer's eye, or at least a hint that there's potential for good action scenes. But there probably wasn't enough funding because most of those fight scenes are relatively short, almost as if there wasn't enough money for some of the simpler special effects I don’t like in there.

Paolo Sorrentino demonstrates his ability to direct a film that will make you think, even just about why a particular shot is so long, yet you'll still be mesmerized by what's happening. It's a crime movie. At a slow pace and with emphasis on the performances, but still with a story that definitely doesn't bore and manages to captivate on multiple levels.

Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust continues the quality of similar films from Full Moon. But if you have got used to their poor quality, you probably won't be put off by them. At the very least, not to the extent that you'd want to look for something else that these bunglers are fumbling around with. It is a bit funny in places, but unfortunately, these are isolated moments, not longer passages.