Contact

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Contact is a film I had watched in theater a long time ago and I welcomed this second viewing. Good actors and good direction. A valid story that is relevant as much now as it was then.

Rosetta

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Rosetta is a Dardenne brothers film and I love these directors. Great story tellers and actors' directors. Their cinematography is not one I usually like but in the hands of these guys I welcome it. I have never watched a bad film from them and this one is very good too. My 80 something year old aunt (who has lived in a small Turkish villiage all her life) and I watched this film about a teen who tries to find honest work while dealing with an alcoholic mother and poverty and she said that this turned out to be a very good film. So that is the power of a story well told. 

The Woman In The Window

The Woman In The Window  well it was not that bad but I just can't understand all the praise heaped upon it. It is just not that good either. Your regular mystery, you can take it or leave it. I can recommend it to the lovers of the genre. 

The Thousand Faces of Dunjia

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The Thousand Faces of Dunjia was very entertaining and has the feel of early 90s Hong Kong films. I really liked it and wanted more. 

Legion of Gods

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Legion of Gods well I would have enjoyed this film a lot better if it was in its own language and not English voiceover. It has the abundance of CGI effects (Chinese cinema loves them) and I liked the story which could have been melodramatic but they peppered it with particular jokes that actually made me laugh (yeah I have a weakness for flatulance jokes and this film had a mighty one). The actors I know were all baddies (except Jet Li) in this film. It was interesting. Anyway the film ended in the middle of the story making me think that there will be a sequel. Hopefully Netflix will get the Chinese original this time. 

The Silent Dead

The Silent Dead I really liked it. Of course I have a fondness for the English translations of Japanese novels and this one is very good. It is also good as a mystery novel even though I have guessed who the perpetrator is, it was interesting how the detectives reached the conclusion. Also one of the characters reminded me of Ollie Weeks (yeah I love Ed McBain) and I think the writer is inspired by him (based on nothing concrete, I just thought it). 

Flavors of Youth

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Flavors of Youth turned out to be lack lustre and it was weird to hear Chinese characters speak Japanese but it kind of moved this viewer prone to be manipulated easily by even a small dose of melodrama. I'm not going to recommend it but it worked for me.