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bluerthanbluets) wrote2023-11-25 09:01 pm
bluerthanbluets) wrote2023-11-25 09:01 pm
Entry tags:
2023 film highlights
i dont think ill ever make a letterboxd or whatever but i saw a lot of movies in the past two weeks so this is just a log of that + 2023 special mentions
qcinema is a lovely time to watch movies bc the tickets are cheap and titles that would otherwise not reach my city get screened. last year, i saw three movies (next sohee, joyland, return to seoul) with a friend who works in the industry/helped me get tickets/my movie buddy but he suddenly recently got a gf and i think she does not like it when we go to the movies together... lol anyway timing this year was perfect too bec by now classes are winding down so i had more free time i got to catch five! ty friends who went out to watch with me!
i would have rated this a four if i hadnt seen kogonada's columbus yet or if it were a bit more restrained when it was doing what it wanted to do with the subtitles. still, this was an intelligent movie about language and filmmaking and the mortifying ordeal of being known... or understood. triumphant for a small team and a new director imo.
i liked this one a lot. its 3 stories told following the 3 meanings of the word mimang. i thought the third one was perfect, and then later i found out this was shot over four years, which made the movie more charming! and really depicted the changes in the same area all three stories kept talking about (admiral yi's statue) and the changes in the actors and their characters too. totoo nga ang sabi ni caloy, kung ang siyudad ay pag-ibig...
i bought hot honey milktea in the cinema for the first time and it was really really good. lead actor (who also directed for the first time) was compelling in this role. there was one scene with one of the actresses when they were on a bike that made the weird pacing and ending forgivable somehow.
this was my 3rd ryu hamaguchi movie and this might be my favorite one. love how soothing and calming and repetitive it was until it turned dark and violent. idk people were saying the ending was confusing (might be bec it pans upwards and we dont see explicitly what really happened) but to me it gets clearer and clearer the more i thought about it. the story was clear and firm where it wanted to go, not that i was able to predict it, but when it did go there, slowly, it felt correct. the manic turn at the end was the only way it could have gone. gorgeous scenery and music. perfect dialogue too. only someone confident in his craft can be as patient and slow as this one was. hashtag goals.
if you can catch this in your cinemas, pls watch it. made me astonishingly envious of the life of a toilet cleaner: to wake up before sunrise and then to listen to old cassette tapes while driving to work, to go to a noodle shop and be recognized and be handed a drink as soon as you sit down- For your hard work today! And then to go to a sauna once every two days. To a bookstore to buy a one-dollar book every weekend. To take photos of the sky every time as you sit down for lunch, to always be looking up, to always see something to smile about. beautiful, gorgeous movie. beautiful life. i cried at the oddest, quietest moments because. fuck yes let's live. the light is beautiful. lets live. the trees are beautiful. lets live. life is beautiful if you are present. if you just feel it all. if you look. if you are humble enough to always look up. beautiful movie.
and then non-festival movies i saw throughout the year worth mentioning:
i watched this twice in the cinemas. which means i liked it. got me delusional thinking i could write a basketball au lol but u know what. it rly wasnt about the basketball. its about grief and distance and... absolution. perfect for a story. maybe ill pick it up again later.
this is the kyungsoo role for me. he was excellent. also wanted to write abt it esp when i found out kyungsoo filmed his parts alone majority of the time and wow, that must've been so lonely.
grabe to! a bit shaky as it struggled to achieve the effect it wanted but my god. romnick sarmenta. pls go back to acting again.
well you know. i was in hae-sung's shoes once. i was exactly that. no i wont elaborate. what! its whatever! its in the past!
qcinema is a lovely time to watch movies bc the tickets are cheap and titles that would otherwise not reach my city get screened. last year, i saw three movies (next sohee, joyland, return to seoul) with a friend who works in the industry/helped me get tickets/my movie buddy but he suddenly recently got a gf and i think she does not like it when we go to the movies together... lol anyway timing this year was perfect too bec by now classes are winding down so i had more free time i got to catch five! ty friends who went out to watch with me!
gitling dir. Jopy Arnaldo: 3 stars
i would have rated this a four if i hadnt seen kogonada's columbus yet or if it were a bit more restrained when it was doing what it wanted to do with the subtitles. still, this was an intelligent movie about language and filmmaking and the mortifying ordeal of being known... or understood. triumphant for a small team and a new director imo.
mimang dir. Kim Tae-yang: 4 stars
i liked this one a lot. its 3 stories told following the 3 meanings of the word mimang. i thought the third one was perfect, and then later i found out this was shot over four years, which made the movie more charming! and really depicted the changes in the same area all three stories kept talking about (admiral yi's statue) and the changes in the actors and their characters too. totoo nga ang sabi ni caloy, kung ang siyudad ay pag-ibig...
love is a gun dir. Lee Hong-chi: 2 stars
i bought hot honey milktea in the cinema for the first time and it was really really good. lead actor (who also directed for the first time) was compelling in this role. there was one scene with one of the actresses when they were on a bike that made the weird pacing and ending forgivable somehow.
evil does not exist dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi: 4 stars
this was my 3rd ryu hamaguchi movie and this might be my favorite one. love how soothing and calming and repetitive it was until it turned dark and violent. idk people were saying the ending was confusing (might be bec it pans upwards and we dont see explicitly what really happened) but to me it gets clearer and clearer the more i thought about it. the story was clear and firm where it wanted to go, not that i was able to predict it, but when it did go there, slowly, it felt correct. the manic turn at the end was the only way it could have gone. gorgeous scenery and music. perfect dialogue too. only someone confident in his craft can be as patient and slow as this one was. hashtag goals.
perfect days dir. Wim Wenders: 5 stars
if you can catch this in your cinemas, pls watch it. made me astonishingly envious of the life of a toilet cleaner: to wake up before sunrise and then to listen to old cassette tapes while driving to work, to go to a noodle shop and be recognized and be handed a drink as soon as you sit down- For your hard work today! And then to go to a sauna once every two days. To a bookstore to buy a one-dollar book every weekend. To take photos of the sky every time as you sit down for lunch, to always be looking up, to always see something to smile about. beautiful, gorgeous movie. beautiful life. i cried at the oddest, quietest moments because. fuck yes let's live. the light is beautiful. lets live. the trees are beautiful. lets live. life is beautiful if you are present. if you just feel it all. if you look. if you are humble enough to always look up. beautiful movie.
and then non-festival movies i saw throughout the year worth mentioning:
the first slam dunk dir. Takehiko Inoue: 4 stars
i watched this twice in the cinemas. which means i liked it. got me delusional thinking i could write a basketball au lol but u know what. it rly wasnt about the basketball. its about grief and distance and... absolution. perfect for a story. maybe ill pick it up again later.
the moon dir. Yong-hwa Kim: 3 stars
this is the kyungsoo role for me. he was excellent. also wanted to write abt it esp when i found out kyungsoo filmed his parts alone majority of the time and wow, that must've been so lonely.
about us but not about us dir. Jun R. Lana: 3 stars
grabe to! a bit shaky as it struggled to achieve the effect it wanted but my god. romnick sarmenta. pls go back to acting again.
past lives dir. Celine Song: 4 stars
well you know. i was in hae-sung's shoes once. i was exactly that. no i wont elaborate. what! its whatever! its in the past!