My Stupid Boss

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My Stupid Boss  is entertaining if you are into quirky films that are totally non realistic on purpose. I enjoyed it and shed tears even.

The Night Comes For Us

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The Night Comes For Us is not a horror film by genre definition I suppose but I kind of think it as horror since I was horrified watching it (in a good way). First off let me get it out of the way; this does not have the cinematic action high of Raid (and Raid 2 in a way) but it is nicely done and director Timo Tjahjanto has inserted sincerity in it. Despite the lack of any clear character definition in the script (and what ever there is are revealed layer by layer as the film progresses) I immediately feel for the characters. I liked it very much and the special effects and stunts were really good. 

Headshot

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Headshot was in my to watch list on Netflix since I love The Raid and liked The Raid 2 a lot. It is a different director and action team but the same star who is also the action director. I still like The Raid better but enjoyed this film a lot. The directors of this one are normally horror directors I have read in a (positive) review and it makes sense since this has a lot of horror in it. It is long and very violent and probably would only work for people who like that sort of film (like yours truly). So I liked it a lot. 

The Golden Cane Warrior

Photo credit: www.martialartsmoviejunkie.com

The Golden Cane Warrior seemed interesting and I liked both The Raid films and really was hoping to watch a good martial arts film. However it ended up being a 'dose off during' type of offering. The story first of all is great similar to wuxia novels of Jin Yong and the fight scenes were good too. But the actors and the storytelling were two weak points. Yes they looked good but they couldn't act and this very good story is told in such a boring manner that I actually dosed off during. It would have been good if directed rightly with a better choise of actors. 

Fathers and Daughters

Photo credit: www.screenrelish.com

Fathers and Daughters knock me off unexpectedly. Not only the story seemed interesting to me but also the performances were great (but then again the cast is all actors I like) with a cute little girl. The Father is a writer (yeah this film had me at hello) and the story is told in twofold. One past the other present day (when the little girl is grown up). I cried and cried and cried. Yeah it is another first world problems film but it touched me and I'm very glad I watched it. This may not be to everyone's taste though.

Ok I just found out that the director's one other film was The Pursuit of Happyness (I cannot watch it again since I have cried so so much during the first viewing) so it looks like Mr. Gabriele Muccino knows how to turn my taps on. 

V/H/S 2

V/H/S 2 is an anthology of a series of found footage videos. I'm not a fan of found footage but this time they worked it nicely into the story. Unfortunately the two of the stories are zombies and aliens (and I like neither) there is a supernatural cult type of story and one with ghosts but niether were scary. I actually fell asleep for a few minutes during. Anyway it was interesting but not that special. 

The Raid 2 (And A Viewing Project)

The Raid 2 And it was worth the wait. I saw The Raid in NYC with a small but appreciative audience (and I think that watching martial art action films are better with an appreciative audience). There was much to like in The Raid. A new type of martial art, great art direction and almost non stop fights where one gets her/his fill and feels good since everything else is good too.

This one is a sequel and actually did everything right as far as I'm concerned. There were lots of fights, some gun action, car action, drama and all of them were directed with a sure hand, good heart and a good eye for aesthetics. I would have loved to have screen caps.

Our hero Rama has to go undercover this time. He is put into prison to get close to the only son of a mafia don in order to smoke out the corrupted cops. The son is an asshole but a handsome one (he reminded me of old time Turkish cinema jeunne premier Ediz Hun).

Spoilers.


Later on he is proven to be a complete physco. Killing his father (and only because he won't let him do as he wants), his partner and the corrupt policeman. He is of coursed killed by Rama.

Anyway the fights were all good. They even brought back the long haired dude from the first film (his character died in that one if I remember correctly but I didn't mind since he is a great on screen fighter). Some scenes reminded me of Park Chan Wook's films especially Old Boy (I suspect the director Gareth Evans likes him) with the hammer scenes but the inspiration is used in a different context and it felt like inspiration not plagiarizing.

My favorite scene was the one in the kitchen. It went for a long time and I found myself really into it whimpering from time to time. Kudos and congratulations.



Viewing Project: Ok I have realised that I'm a lot into books (hahahahahaha) and have been neglecting watching films as often. This is usually no problem but there is a large amount (large amount at least for me) of unwatched films that I have purchased over the years. So I have decided to pick one from each end on the shelf and watch them every night. Since I bought them, something in them must have appealed to me no? Anyway The Raid 2 was the first and let's see how this will go.