2018's Film List [February]

Onto the short month. INDEX

01. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (02.02.18)
The last of Park Chan-Wook's Vengeance trilogy and perhaps the most strait forward. By which I mean it is crazy and very complex. It is a hauntingly beautiful film from the direction to the settings the music and even the cast. A much more understandable vengeance this time but the mess it causes at the end is something to behold.

02. A Dog's Life (03.02.18)
Chaplin from 1918. The mandatory madness at the start but it developed into a fun little story. One of the happiest endings I have seen from Chaplin. Silent but again the OST from 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture' worked well to accompany.

03. Neo Tokyo (05.02.18)
A strange name for this anthology film, the Japanese name translates into Labyrinth Tales which makes just a  little more sense. I dug this out because Otomo had a part to play and his section was the most detailed and to me the most interesting. Nothing seems to link the film together but it dose play with the mind and cognition a bit. Very well made and for 1986 it looks outstanding.

04. The Cloverfield Paradox (09.02.18)
Two things first, why in disaster movies are the crazy conspiracy nuts always right? Also the is no paradox!!! Such a frustrating film, I love the middle chunk and most of the rest but the are things I cant look past. Slopy writing and hand waving packed together with tropes that they didn't need to follow. So much to like and I like what it did to tie the Cloverfield films together. Also some of the direction looked like it was shot for TV.

05. The Animatrix - Beyond [short] (10.02.18)
The is so much you can do with a virtual world but mostly they are used to show a place but here it its played with very differently. I love how glitches around a house cause it to be haunted. The are a few cool moments but not much of a story to tell. It's a toy box film not a story film.

06. Black Panther [Cinema] (15.02.18)
It worked. Perhaps a bit too safe in story structure but the look and feel of the world was great. I just wish more took place in the bustling city. Very well acted and the story beats were effective enough. Such a bad viewing experience though, I forgot it was half term.


07. The Animatrix - A Detective Story [short] (17.02.18)
This one give a nice look into Trinity before the first film. Nice use of her Alice in wonderland cover. Another by Watanabe and his take on Noir is great. Much more slick than his previous entry.

08. The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (18.02.18)
Let down in two spots but other wise a solid little film. The is a bit of dodgy CG and the girls voice actor was awful. I love the places the story goes and the look and design of all the elements. They should have stuck to traditional animation for this one. I must give Æon Flux another watch.

09. Escalation [short] (19.02.18)
A very on the nose politically driven short film that mocks Lyndon B Johnson the US President during the Vietnam war. It must have been very divisive not just for its message but in the pictures it uses. Made by one of the key Disney animators.

10. Dante's Inferno (21.02.18)
The great Italian version from 191. I am somewhat familiar with the story of the Divine Comedy but reading it has been beyond me. The were some very surprising things, the effects and sets are very very good. The were one or two points I wasn't aware of that took me by surprise but from the point of view of Dante I guess it makes sense. I had to provide my own sound track and Elder Scrolls Oblivion worked well.

11. Your Studio and You [short] (22.02.18)
A nice little mockumentary by the creators of South Park. Supposedly it was just a internal bit of fun but surfaced online at some point. Dry and clever but it has a very narrow market.

12. The Running Man (23.02.18)
It should have been a god half hour longer. It skips past plot relevant stuff so fast it was easy to miss. I love the action and the theme. The use of real stars helped to sell it. The sound track was surprisingly good. Only a bit of dodgy direction but that comes with the times.

13. Source Code (24.02.18)
If they had put a little more into the explanation of the science behind the film then this would be up there with his first film Moon. It looked like it was going to be a 'normal' sifi film with a good ending but the last moments made it all the better but again it needed that bit more to cement the concept. I am still untangling it in my head. The only thing that lets this film down is some very cheep looking explosions.

14. Papers Please - the short film [short] (25.02.18)
The best film based on a video game? Perhaps, it is solid even if it lean too hard on the use of montages. I love the aesthetic of the booth and it captures the feel of the game. Not the story I expected but I guess it works. 

Not a bad list for the shortest month. Best? Black Panther.