Life - Anton Corbijn

Life is a really simple story about the beginnig of 2 artists - James Dean and Dennis Stock play by Dane Dehaan and Robert Pattinson. 

I love biopics and Life is a compelling story but it is missing something. When there aren't much happening in the movie is hard to convey emotions. A lot is happening in the movie, I mean metally for both of the characters but the artors are struggling to bring those delimmas on the big screen. It was a really plain performance by the two leads.

The thing is I don't really get why they casted Dehaan for the role for James Dean, he doesn't phyiscally fit the role nor his appearances. Yes James Dean might be awkward, but awkwardly talented and handsome. Dehaan just gave us awkward period. On the other hand Pattinson just barely made the mark.

I felt like it was kind of a waste to see a good movie got downgraded because of the performances of the cast.

"Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean" is a better example of the interpretation. Yes it might be a bit too expiremental for mainstream cinema but at least in my opinion it lives up to the standards more than "Life" does.

Steak - Quentin Dupiex

I would say this is my Quentin Dupieux favourite so far.

Dupieux himself said Steak might be his least received work ever. First, steak is a film which should have been released in no more than 40 theatres. Since it is featured 2 well-known french comedians Eric & Ramzy, the PR marketed it as a typical comedy so it was released in more than 300 theatres in France. If you know a little about Dupieux, you would have known his style is no where close to typical french comedies (it is pretty much the same as the American comedies, only it tries to have a message behind, kind of like "what we've learnt from the fairy tales".) In order words his movies are not for everyone.

Steak is trying to tackle the issue of social status. How we try to fit into the norm, be part of something that we are not or literally changing our apperances to be more attractive. ( it exists in some places already. In South Korean plastic surgery is really common.) But how far w1ould we go? To which point we will say stop and just be ourselves. Hat off for the way how Dupieux presents the scenario.

Life is a never ending high school. When they are a group of people there will be troubles. Anti bulling campaigns keep saying "it's getting better".  Because we don't see those people in a regular basis or you could hide yourself from them after you graduated. We could embrace it and live with it or even try to be one of the bullies. Steak is a little more than just becoming one of them. Fitting in is not easy, faking it is even harder. At the end of the day you would ask yourself why? Why am I doing this?

I love how the little details Dupieux put in his movies. Again they are really subtle but yet they are powerful enough to have his points come across.

*As per my understanding Steak has only been released in french speaking countries. Only the Canadian DVD has english subtitles but unfortunately it has been out of stock since. I think you might be able to find the english subtitles online.

Ken Park - Larry Clark and Ed Lachman

I'm still in the marathon exploring mode (maybe not 100%, but close enough), once again Larry Clark shows me something on the big screen that I found authentic and genuine. It's like he puts these trouble kids in a time capsule, when you open it, the rebelliousness of the teenagers has a really strong presence.

I don't know where I've heard of this, it says: no matter how different their movies are, directors are always trying to say the same thing, more or less the same theory, the same values in their works.

This time round, we see something different, a hint of family influence. It shows how the relationship between parents and their children affects each other. I am not saying if you come from a dysfunctional family you will automatically become into kinky sex. No, kinky is not the word, we all do aware sex dominates a big portion of our mind, especially teenagers. For some people sex is a HUGE part of their lives. And exploring their sexuality is a stage we couldn't avoid, we experiment stuff, we do stuff we might not be too proud of. We all have been in this grey zone. (even if you don't want to admit it, somehow you have been there.) Of course Ken Park might be a little extreme, one way or another it is a phrase people go through. When you are a teenager everything seems like the end of the world, it's you against the world and Ken Park reveals how we feel (had felt) when we are a teenager and how we handle those feelings. Something not everyone is capable to handle.

Simulated sex scenes don't really bother me that much, (of course unless they are pointless and too repetitive.) Nowadays, they could be shown in the cinema easier. I don't feel like they are redundant. It helps telling a story.

The Smell of Us is going to be in the cinema like in few days, I'm so excited.

My Pick 2014

I watched 168 movies in this year, about 50 of them I watched at home. Still pretty impressive by the number of times I'm at the cinema per month.

They are not in order since it is super hard for me to pick the top 10 already, it's even harder to rate them from 1 to 10. The list here is based on both my memories and my ratings out of 10. And below there are only 2 movies got a 10/10 and the others are 9/10, of couse there are more then 8 movies got 9/10 on my rating list since I'm only picking 10 which means I have to give up some. So the other part of putting this list together is how these movies had impacted me.

Interstellar - Christopher Nolan

Lucy - Luc Besson

Une Novelle amie (The new girlfriend) - François Ozon (french)

The way he looks - Daniel Ribeiro (Portuguese)

Coldwater - Vincent Grashaw

Gone girl - David Fincher

Boyhood - Richard Linklater

The Lego Movie - Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

Under the Skin - Jonathan Glazer

Men, Women & Children - Jason Reitman

If I have to really pick one out and really recommend it, it would be Coldwater, since it is not really mainstream and not a lot of people have heard about it. It's about a teenager went to this correctional camp for troubled adolescents which runs by ex-militaries. It is questionable of how the boys are being treated. It was super intense with excellent cast members especially the lead.

There are 2 gays movies on my list (if you count LGBT theme also), The way he looks and The New Girlfriend. I am quite surprised there are 2 made it on my list, first a good gay movie it's like clean air which means RARE! And there are 2 this year, I am super excited and happy. They are very different movies and both of them managed to challenge whatever prejudice out there towards LGBT community. (PS if you've never heard of The New Girlfriend, that's good, I would highly recommend you not to read anything nor watch the trailer for this movies just watch it and you would understand why and thank me later.)

Men, Women & Children is a surprise for me, it is a honest depiction of this generation. How technologies or to be precise, social networks + the accessibility of information, how media imposes body images. Insecurity is nothing new, however, when it is added to how people react to things it got out of hands.

Interstellar and Lucy took me to places, they opened my mind when it needed it. Love them both at first but when I spent more time thinking about them, there are some little details I'm not a fan of. Idea wise they are absolutely unbeatable.

Everything is awesome! The Lego Movie, for me this is way more than just an animated movie for kids, it questioned the existence of god, what we are living for and trying to break the norm. And of course it's funny, it's cute and it's awesome!

The idea of growing up with a movie, literally! And integrating what you were experiencing in life in the movie. The whole concept of Boyhood is fascinating, because it shows how cruel life is, how time changes people, how "life must go on". It's a super realistic reminder of how me cope with life not just being a child but also being the parent.

I have no words for Under the Skin, I am still in the progress of digesting the movie. One thing for sure it took alien movies to a whole different level.

One day if I was dead and my love was being changed with my murder you will know where the idea comes from. Gone Girl, for me, this movie is like a couple therapy. I have no idea how I could say what I want without giving too much away. um... it is more than just a mysterious case of a missing person. It's more about how relationship should work. (I am not saying you should frame your love for killing you.) If you think a little deeper, what's more than someone who knows you 100%.

Of course I have some other movies I would love to share with you guys which I adore and sadly couldn't make on the list. I am not sure whether I should write something on these movies, if I do, wouldn't it be my extended top 10 And top 10 it's top 10. Life is rough man!

About Alex - Jesse Zwick
Pride - Matthew Warchus

The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson

Short Term 12 - Destin Daniel Cretton
Eastern Boy - Robin Campillo (french)

Repisre - Mélanie Laurent (french)

Kids - Larry Clark

2015, I decided to explore a little more in movie. During christmas I accidentally stumbled across "new french extremity" (http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/15-essential-films-for-an-introduction-to-the-new-french-extremity/), downloaded a bunch of movies. (watched a few already, quite enjoyed them, will post my thoughts later) 

Since Larry Clark's new movie "The Smell of us" is going to be in french and be released in the french market first in like 2 weeks, so why not get to know this director. I finally took time to watch a Larry Clark movie, his first one, Kids. I do found some similarities of those two: like trangrassive. I don't think Kids fits in that category but according to wikipedia the movies which Larry Clark make are quite controversial. (Kids was banned in some countries, since it was accused to be simulated child pornography)

Skins, the first thought after watching Kids are, an under produced version or the original version of the UK TV series Skins. Unlike the US version (yes they tried to make a US version but it faiedl so bad that they candled it like after 2 or 3 episodes), Kids is super honest, no fancy production, complicated plot lines. Kids is simply depicting a phenomenon in the 90s and how kids were like in those days (I have to say there aren't much differences from now) It was about sex and drags and since it was in the mid 90s, AIDS was a big element as it was the new emerging disease which affects almost everyone. It was just a day of those teenagers' lives. 

I would say it is pretty good at addressing the problem. How the boys thought what the girls like and vice versa how Telly loves to fuck virgins, how gullible people can be. As I said it was a honest interpretation of adolescents, it felt so real and natural.   

Larry Clark has a love for the subject adolescents (a lot of his other works are about teenagers too), and always tires to re-define the boundaries between art and pornography, like his short film in the movie Destricted, Impaled, which explores the comfortability of man acting in porn instead of woman, is basically a porn, during 30 minutes you are watching a few casting with actual intercourses. I found it less convincing, however, some other shorts like HOIST (which I absolutely love) and Balkan Erotic Epic are more justifying in this subject. 

After all Kids is a photo from 90s which no photoshop, a movie isn't afraid of telling what people dare not speak of. 

My PICK 2013

1. Disconnected - Henry Alex Rubin

The only movie got a 10/10 from all the 116 movies I watched in 2013. It’s about how humanity is weirdly linked and yet distanced at the same time. Love the execution. 

2. Searching for Sugar Man - Malik Bendjeloul 

By far, the best documentary I have even seen. It changed the way I look at documentary. I was teary at least half of the movie, I was on the edge most of the time. Maybe it’s faith, what it meant to be is what is meant to be. 

3. Gravity - Alfonso Cuaón

Super intense, magnificent cinematography/ CG. Finally a movie raises above with the help of 3D, the experience would not be the same without 3D! have more respect for Sandra Bullock now. 

4. Before Midnight - Richard Linklater

This is real, no sugar coating, not anything. Which I agree truly, love is bitter sweet. From the little train ride to the walk in Paris, those 18 years, they didn’t even know each other for more than 48 hours. They are more like fantasy to each other, so what happens if they finally be together and finally the bubble popped.

5. De rouille et d’os - Jacques Audiard

Life is full of ups and downs, even when the down was meaning losing one leg, life still goes on. (When firework was played in the movie, I truly thought Marion Cotillard looks like Katy Perry XPP)

6. Cloud Atlas - Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski 

As a Chinese the concept was nothing new, still the presentation and continuity of all the shorts were super well executed. Of cause the book is more well explained but the movie still made my top 10. 

7. Trance - Danny Boyle

It stuck in my mind for quite some time, if it didn’t reveal that much (all) and let the audiance interpret the story a little, it would be a 10. 

8. The Great Gatsby - Baz Luhrmann

The soundtrack is the highlight, if it’s not because of it, it wouldn’t even made my pick. Just imagine how could the era works with electro music but it did. And there is one specific moment it touched me more than I thought it would be.

9. The Hunger Game: Catching Fire - Francis Lawrence

The first movie made me read the entire series within a week. And Catching fire is my favourite one out of the three. The director did a good job on it, the adaptation lives up to the original. The whole concept of this movie/book is more than what it looks like. Somewhat it does mirror our society in a certain aspect. 

10. Stoker - Chan-wook Park

It was really obvious Park toned down a lot for his hollywood debut. For the subtlety, I love it even more. Everything detail matters, it was beautifully shot. 

2012 MY Picks - Movies

There were huge blockbusters like The Avengers last year, one of the biggest openings of all time. The well anticipated The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit, Skyfall, The Life of Pi, The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part. II (at least for me) and etc. And there were well made low bud, indie flicks like 360, Premium Rush, Prefect Pitch... The ones which made into my top 10 somehow strayed a little away from the mean stream. Of course one or two big production did make into the list.

There are not in any order. 

The Perk of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

The Dark Knight Rises – Christopher Nolan

Noordzee, Texas (North Sea Taxes) – Bavo Defurne

Dans La Maison (In the House) - François Ozon

The Words – Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal

Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson

Perfect Sense – David Mackenzie

Shame – Steve McQueen

Les Misérables – Tom Hooper
W.E - Madonna

Here are some amusing movies which are also really good but just didn't make it on the list.

360 - Fernando Meirelles
Anna Karenina - Joe Wright
Les Bien-aimés (beloved)- Christophe Honoré
Skyfall - Sam Mendes
Intouchables - Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano
Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean - Matthew Mishory
Looper - Rian Johnson