The narrative parsimony of Munyurangabo is such that revealing the plot, even in a synopsis, would spoil the pleasures of the slow, patient unfolding of events. They're not “spoilers” per se, but each tiny revelation of the backstory – people's ...Read More
If there's anything a little disappointing -- other than my friend Luna's legitimate complaint about the lack of girls, which was perhaps the reason why my daughter wasn't interested in seeing it again -- it's that Up doesn't quite fulfill ...Read More
Lee Isaac Chung's Munyurangabo (2007) has been one of the more critically-acclaimed releases of the year so far, and the rave reviews alone should have spurred viewers into theaters. But surely its “exotic” provenance – made by a Korean American ...Read More
In trying to slash my way through the thicket of signifiers that is 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (2 ou 3 choses que je sais d'elle), it struck me that the film was probably Godard's way of ...Read More
"This isn't a wedding, this is a funeral!" spits an angry wedding crasher in Oshima's Night and Fog in Japan (Nihon no yoru to kiri). The wedding, not a particularly happy one at this point, is between two members of ...Read More
The most-read page on this blog, which I find kind of odd, is the About page. (Second is my entry on Slumdog Millionaire.) The About page is something that Wordpress attaches automatically when you make a page for the first ...Read More
Death by Hanging (Koshikei) begins with a question – no, a demand: Are you for or against the abolition of the death penalty? It’s a demand specifically directed at the audience, and the film allows for no fence-sitting. This claustrophobic, ...Read More
After seeing the viral trailer, a co-worker of mine said, “I’m just glad this movie even exists.” I understand his point. Conceptually, at least, the premise was promising in and of itself: an homage to monster B-movies of old, two ...Read More
Nagisa Oshima’s debut feature film, A Town of Love and Hope, also known as Street of Love and Hope (Ai to kibo no machi) – a title apparently forced upon the movie by the studio, which freaked after seeing it ...Read More