Backyard Great crime/detective flick from Mexico. From the very beginning til the end, the story got me hooked. Great soundtrack and memorable shots. One memorable shot that comes to mind, there's this shot where the camera follows this vehicle then camera pans to this other vehicle and pans again to another vehicle to show all these characters intersect. I like how it all develops. This one has a strong message and decent performances. Check it out.
Here's the fourth Wong Kar-Wai film to see this month: Fallen Angels I liked it. It's like another version of Chungking Express. Love the cinematography. This is clearly Wong's style all the way through. Not as good as Chungking Express and Ashes of Time, but delivers a decent story. The characters are likeable. This is okay to have for the Asian collection. This is definitely, my favorite Wong Kar-Wai film that I've seen this month, so far.
Animation Night Presents: Mary and Max Charming independent adult animation (well, claymation). I put this one up there with Pixar's "Up." This one is just a tad better, in my opinion. This one had sad moments, some funny moments, and some great storytelling. At first, it seemed like the narration was too much, but, after a while, it was necessary for this kind of story. This is a story about friendship. Very original and heartwarming. Goes good with a can of sweet condensed milk or maybe some chocolate covered ants. If you see this movie, you'll know what I'm talking about. Highly recommend this and a must buy for the Animation section.
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done This movie hit the spot. This is my kind of movie. It was strange and out there. Of course, anything that has David Lynch's name on the credits, has to be somewhat weird. And for the sake of being weird, it delivers in that aspect. If this movie was a 2010 movie, it would be in my top 5. But, it came out last year. Love the different music (from Jazz to Mariachi). Brad Douriff's character made me giggle a little. This played earlier this year at the Alamo Drafthouse, but, I missed out on that opportunity. This is a must buy for me. For those David Lynch fans, this is also a must buy. Can't wait to see it again.
This month's director is Wong Kar Wai. The reason I've chosen this director is because I'm a big fan of Chungking Express. I wanted to see what else he's done.
Tonight, I pay a visit to his latest flick:
My Blueberry Nights Love the colors. This is another Wong Kar-Wai movie that I'm not a fan of. I like his direction, but I'm just not feeling the story and pace. Nothing wrong with a slow paced story, just that I wasn't in the mood for it today. But, that's his style. All his movies are slow paced art films. I need to accept that. Performances are great as usual. This felt like the movie, "Mystery Train." It's interesting that I bring that up. Wong Kar-Wai has a lot of things in common with American Independent director, Jim Jarmusch. I respect Jarmusch films just like Wong Kar-Wai, but, their movies aren't for me. Not personally impressed. But, if you like films by Jim Jarmusch and/or Woody Allen, then definitely check out films from Wong Kar Wai.
This month's director is Wong Kar-Wai. The second film to see is:
Days of Being Wild Slow and mellow film we got here. Some okay scenes, especially the cinematography. But, overall, I wasn't in the mood for this. It has the usual Wong Kar-Wai ending, where it leaves you hanging and you interpret your own ending. I like the intro. If you're in the mood for a drama, this might be okay. The story wasn't all that. A lot of Wong Kar-Wai fans love this film, but, this wasn't for me.
The Back-up Plan We saw this in the afternoon. I knew I wasn't going to like it. It was cheesy and predictable. There's only one scene that I liked. The scene where this woman was having a home birth and all her friends were there. They exaggerated in that scene, made it hilarious. But, everything else, sucked. J-Lo=terrible actress. Even Linda agrees, it wasn't all that.
