michael

A nation's post-colonialist unrest embodied into a guilt-ridden, angst-filled veteran. Easily one of the best films I've ever seen in my life. A story about war and the guilt it follows home. A story about blind faith, leadership and corruption. Most importantly, a story about revenge. I understand Scorsese's love for this film and I wouldn't be surprised if this helped inspire Taxi Driver. Both powerful revenge flicks, though it could be argued this film creates a much more compelling and emotional motive to its revenge. This film's setting and historical context makes it so much more impactful and that isn't an insult to Scorsese, just a compliment to this film. A film to should watch, especially if you're Indonesian or aware of Indonesian history.

Kon's work is incredibly abstract and open-ended. There's clear meanings and themes he conveys but he does so in such heavy, thought-provoking ways. Perfect Blue explores parasocial relationships and mental health quite in-depth which surprised me, considering Paprika felt so absurd and nonsensical. Perfect Blue feels much more like an exploration of the psyche while Paprika a delving of the imagination. Without going to spoilers, I suppose every troubled character here struggles with change. Something changes drastically in their life and that creates denial, fear or violence.  It's a great film. I don't think you should do what I did and expect Paprika's level of animation but it easily compensates for that with its story.

Villeneuve and Nolan are legends of modern science-fiction.  Arrival is one of the best modern science-fiction films i've seen. Where older science-fiction rely more on action and violence, modern sci-fi masterpieces like this and Interstellar have a focus on the human spirit and emotion. I adore theoretical physics and it's quite beautiful, having space-time being tinkered with in both these films. It's a difficult concept to write and direct but if done properly, it always results in extraordinary work. Love this film. Great story, incredible directing and haunting soundtrack.

There's something about 1990s Hong Kong films that makes it feel so emotional. It depicts loneliness and longing in such a dreamy way that you can't help fall in love with films from that era. This is a great (and severely underrated) example of one. Despair, loneliness, grief, all packed into one heartbreaking film. Kaneshiro seem to be a typecast at that era, but he does get the opportunity for more serious and heartfelt scenes compared to his average Wong Kar Wai performances. This is one of my favourite films of all time and if you enjoy Wong Kar Wai, you might enjoy this one. The cinematography doesn't match, but there's that longing story and repeated soundtrack that feels all too familiar.