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Ghost in the Shell (DVD) Rating: B+ Sci-fi noir, dystopian neon-and-rain atmosphere, steely techno music, moody talk about what it means to be human, and manga cool have never come together so fetchingly ('Blade Runner' excepted). Ukigumo (Floating Clouds) (DVD) Rating: A The truth in this film creeps up on you: weeks after seeing it, I'm still thinking about the main relationship (it's what we'd call 'It's Complicated™'; how did Naruse know these things when he made the film in '55?!); the light it throws on my personal life is almost unbearable to contemplate. Up Rating: B- So it has the most affecting sequence in this year's movies (the one that compresses an entire life in four minutes), and some very funny gags, but it overplays its cute card. And at the end of the day, I just don't care about what happens to that damn bird. 6th Singapore Short Cuts (2): Swimming Lessoon Rating: previously rated Older Children Rating: C The Moth Catcher Rating: C+ Dawn Rating: C Outing Rating: C+ Prepubescent solipsism is supposedly the subject of 'Older Children', but came across as its aesthetic. 'The Moth Catcher' has potential to become something scary and strange, but opts for easy irony that brings it thudding to earth with a quasi-environmental message. 'Dawn' wants to make a statement about the pace of Singapore's urban development – oh wow, so refreshing! 'Outing' is an example of what happens when beginner directors overly concern themselves with how a film should look and feel versus story development (would a grandfather really spend his last day with a grandson this way?). Goodfellas (DVD) Rating: A American pop cinema rarely gets better than this. Famously losing the Oscar to 'Dances with Wolves', but look who's really dancing. The formal dexterity here is dazzling; the filmmaking has an infectious swing and swagger. Scorsese makes that tricky marriage of tone (blithe) to subject (dark) look so easy. Bangiku (Late Chrysanthemums) (DVD) Rating: A- This is a multiple thread narrative but you'd hardly notice it, so unobstrusive and masterful is the braiding. Quand J'étais Chanteur (The Singer) (cable) Rating: A- A much more restrained, and much better written version of 'The Wrestler', world-weary and wounded. District 9 Rating: B Overly shaky camerawork and nagging logic lapses hinder a fuller immersion in the movie, which has some inspired touches, but hardly any of the mythic resonance that would make it a sci-fi classic. Kimyo Na Sakasu (Strange Circus) Rating: B The denouement explains way too much (like that how to mindfuck?), is too screamy, and is too over-the-top even by the film's own depraved incest-and-amputations standards. Post a comment in response: |
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