The Grandmaster (2013)

I can’t remember much of a cinema release for Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster (2013); it felt like its mixed reception resulted in an underwhelming reputation. Unexpectedly a martial arts movie for fans of Wong Kar-wai’s arthouse melodramas, it might have been too much of an arthouse melodrama for fans of martial arts movies. I was […]

Un Flic (1972)

Grey buildings standing imposingly on a French coastline. An incoming storm whips the ocean and rain washes over deserted streets. A car moves slowly with four men in trench-coats and hats. They stop on a street corner and through the mist is a bank with its lights on, just about to close for the day, […]

Nowhere To Hide (1999)

Sometimes the algorithm works. I only came across Nowhere To Hide (1999) when I was looking up “Similar Movies to” The Wild Goose Lake (a Chinese neo-noir that was a recent fave) on Apple. Wong Kar-wai stylistic comparisons for a South Korean crime thriller, images of dudes punching each other drenched in the rain, I’m […]

Trouble Man (1972)

What brought me to watching Trouble Man (1972) I’m sure is the same thing that draws in a lot of people and possibly has had more cultural impact than the film itself: Marvin Gaye’s soundtrack. The song ‘Trouble Man’ is a brilliant piece of music, and much like the ‘Theme To Shaft,’ it smoothly and […]

Naked Lunch (1991)

I think I tried reading William S. Burroughs once borrowing books from the uni library, but it didn’t take; I mainly think of him for his acting role in Drugstore Cowboy and his distinctive voice. So finally sitting to experience Naked Lunch (1991), I was more connecting with it as a David Cronenberg film rather […]