SING YOUR WAY HOME ♪

A record of what I'm watching. Occasionally, some music.

[singyourwayhome]

Ugetsu (1953)

DIR: Kenzi Mizoguchi

81

Mostly lives up to its reputation. Supernatural and illusory elements carry a great deal of weight, and make up for overly simplistic characterizations.

[singyourwayhome]

In the Line of Duty 3 (1988)

DIR: Arthur Wong, Brandy Yuen Jan-Yeung

75

Convincing, but unmemorable 'Lady Cop' programmer, with Cynthia Khan taking the place of Michelle Yeoh.

[singyourwayhome]

We Are What We Are (2013)

DIR: Jim Mickle

62

Excellent second effort from Mickle. Unfortunately missed Cold in July when it was in theaters.

[singyourwayhome]

Death By Hanging (1968)

DIR: Nagisa Oshima

84

Grim narrative that continues to escalate from morose to completely absurd. Treads water very late in its runtime, but manages to mostly stick the landing in what could be an underwhelming 'message film' about capital punishment.

[singyourwayhome]

Maximum Overdrive (1986)

DIR: Stephen King

N/A

Didn't make it past the ten minute mark.

[singyourwayhome]

Children of Paradise (1945)

DIR: Marcel Carné

87

Beautiful and sweeping film that balances the grandiose and mundane. Follows multiple performers as they build legacies off-screen, then captures moments between them, in the context of their shared histories.

[singyourwayhome]

Expect the Unexpected (1998)

DIR: Johnnie To, Patrick Yau

72

Starts incredibly strong, then meanders. To does do an excellent job of building relationships, but can't keep the film focused.

[singyourwayhome]

Godzilla (2014)

DIR: Gareth Evans

48

Saw this in theaters, so that gives you a sense of how far behind I am. Felt apathetic towards the film. Overly stoic, with a sense of too much self-importance. Godzilla doesn't register as much of a presence.

[singyourwayhome]

Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982)

DIR: Joe Layton

50

Over-editing deflates excellent material from Pryor.

[singyourwayhome]

War of the Worlds (2005)

DIR: Steven Spielberg

45

Exceeds the grasp of mid-00s special effects. Isn't helped by flat characters, melodramatic plot turns, and Dakota Fanning's excessive screaming.

[singyourwayhome]

The Way, Way Back (2013)

DIR: Jim Rash, Nat Faxon

34

Hollow, over-dressed, teen summer farce.

[singyourwayhome]

Perros De Presa (1992)

DIR: Andrés García

79

Solitary directorial effort from film star Garcia (Chanoc, ¡Tintorera!), is a misanthropic survival tale pitting escaped convicts against vacationers. The fun-in-the-sun trip ends abruptly as the escapees hold the group hostage.

[singyourwayhome]

Mission Recall (1990)

DIR: Wong Ching-Lam, Yu Lap-Wa

88

A sleazy, fucking gem. Weighing in like a John Woo-lensed Cüneyt Arkin flick. Star Chang Kuo-Chu administers brutal justice upon wave after wave of adversaries. Uncompromising, including torture and the rape of one character's elderly mom in front of him, this is not for the faint.

[singyourwayhome]

The Long Gun (1988)

DIR: Chui Yuk-Lung

63

Warped, Taiwanese cops-vs-robbers film starring Alexander Lo Rei. Unsubbed and undubbed, with a lot of drama thrown around—doesn't make the most appealing packaging for an action film.

[singyourwayhome]

Prisoners (2013)

DIR: Denis Villeneuve

54

"What price revenge?" or some other hackneyed question pretty well summarizes the eye-for-an-eye myopia of exacting vigilante justice.

[singyourwayhome]

Nobody's Business (1996)

DIR: Alan Berliner

80

Stumbled on this sitting in my Netflix queue. Wildly edited peek into one man's dysfunctional family. Berliner's father is an engaging and unapologetic foil for the director's barrage of genealogical questions.

[singyourwayhome]

A Serious Shock: Yes Madam (1992)

DIR: Albert Lai Kin Kwok

73

What seems like another example of Hong Kong ladycop autopilot, turns out to be an interesting and convoluted story of betrayal. Titular triangle in the poster above doesn't refer to an opium ring, but rather a love triangle—which sets the plot, and its violent action, in motion.

And that's Yukari Oshima credited as Cynthia Luster.