films watched in 2024 (notes)

similar plot to the french film released last year "anatomy of a fall". it was interesting hearing some opinions about what would be the more noble/dignified thing for this 1960s japanese wife to do. very interesting plot

the opening convinced me that it would have similar plot/vibe to something like dirty dancing, or at least cats on park avenue. but mainly it is a small coming-of-age (?) journey with tomoyo trying to track down the "daddy longlegs", a figure who sends her flowers each year on her birthday. a few dance sequences within, and interesting to see how purposely diverse the dancers are in this

i was under the shallow impression that this film was only notable for having gay characters in a sequence. the film is about a young man from a small town trying to track down his girlfriend, and how him and the people around him try to stay afloat in slightly-above-poverty conditions in manila. very well made, i really connected with the characters and story.

maybe i went in with the wrong expectations.. yes this film looks beautiful, but the plot and the way it was presented felt a bit shallow to me. also, places with peanut shells littering the floor have always rubbed me the wrong way lol

i feel like everytime i watch a film starring tomoyo, i watch a film slightly worse than the one i watched before. a bit of whiplash seeing her babyface order a drink and smoke a cigarettes. 

i saw it was logged as watched on someone else's profile on lbxd and saw the positive top reviews and decided to watch. watched it over the course of like 5 hours so thats not the ideal watch experience but it was interesting throughout

i submitted this to mdl lol.  evidently inspired by the exorcist, but much more reminiscent of films where the patriarch of a family *almost* or does betrays his wife, and is supernaturally punished.

i used to be ashamed to say i loved final wars but this one is so mid in production decisions that seeing hiroshi abe sparked literally no joy at all. also naomi nishida looks like a no mole fukatsu eri

besides the gross stuff i loved the amount of practical and computer effects in this it was awesome and i liked seeing nepal and thailand

love funny fast paced concepts this was great

i am the only human being on earth with this gripe but i dislike how many contemporary 80s/90s films are scored. if music cues in the goonies don't bother you this won't be an issue but im kind of sensitive to that i guess

unfortunately the raw opening scene is the best part of the movie by far, 

in terms of pinky violence, pretty much every other recommended one is more fulfilling in terms of 'cool criminal chick'.

loved the top-down ending scene. the way that the story come together is slightly unique, this has a weird amount of charm given the plot. this is probably an allegory for american imperialism and japanese societal behaviors or something idk

atsuko asano so beautiful in this, the music is groovy besides the tchaikovsky, and i got what i expected/wanted from the plot i guess.

only watch it if you are a film nerd, andy lau fan, sorimachi takahashi fan, and johnnie to fan. which obviously has a lot of overlap. kinda missing some magic tbhh. but i will watch again if a 4k comes out or something

the dubbing slightly soured my experience i think

plot/character motivations being so spotty just reinforces that boxers omen is in a league of its own

some parts are quite funny but not every joke pays off as much as i felt it shouldve. also kind of drags on after a bit.. the humor is helped by what ever company(?) did the subtitles for the vhs