[Weekly Update] 2023 Movies - Part Deux

Yes, I finally have time to watch some films. I usually prefers to review movies after some time have passed, so my feelings can settle and my thoughts can coalesce. But we are the the last month of 2023, so I guess you are getting my fresh opinion instead.

But first, some house keeping:

CHANNEL UPDATE

Hope you enjoy our latest video on Real, one of the most surreal and baffling movie I have ever watched, and I have watched Wild Zero. I'm super excited to began this new series. And judging from the comments, it seems a lot of you are excited as well.

I'll keep this series up with maybe one update every two months or so. The main problem is, these bad movies don't tend to make it outside of the country of origins, so it is often difficult to find. It legit took me close to a year to find a copy of Ah Girl Go Army. And I'm still trying to find Deshdrohi, at least a copy that's not pirated and full of watermarks. So update will be kinda slow, but I promise I'll do my best to be funny and informative.

As scheduled, our next video will be about Chinese blockbusters from 2023, and then it's our Patron voted topic, Steven Seagal. I'll be taking a one month break, and we'll be back on February with some new videos, and hopefully a redesigned look that injects a bit more energy back into our channel.

Finally, and this is to all my patrons who have a channel of their own: Due to a glitch on YouTube's end, for about half a day, our last video was stuck with a glitched thumbnail. If this happens to you, if one of your video has its thumbnail changed to a grey box, you can fix it by going into YouTube Studio, choosing a default thumbnail, save and refresh Studio page for it to take effect. Repeat this twice before reuploading your original thumbnail.

It took me 3 hours to realize you have to REFRESH the page for YouTube to do anything.

MEDIA TALK

So here are the movies I didn't talk about in previous updates, most of which are films I watched last week.

Beaut is Afraid: I say this too often, but I have never been an Ari Aster fan. And, since this is so far the most unique film out of his filmography, it also means it is by far my favorite. I will say, however, that most of the interesting part came from Phenoix's performance, co-starting with his enormous... baggage. At 3 hours long, it's certainly an experience. I'd say it's worth watching at least once. Not clamouring for a rewatch any time soon, though.

Killers of the Flower Moon: It's Scorsese alright. There's just something about his style of gang violence that feels different, scratching that unique itch. One moment the move shocks you and pushes out away, only to immediately pulls you back in with a gripping story... Until like half way through the film when the movie's run time begins to hurt the viewing experience. I so desperately wished Scorsese just does the Kill Bill & Red Cliff thing. Remember when two parter movies were "epic", rather than one movie that's twice the length?

Anatomy of a Fall: I don't know what I was expecting going into this movie. But knowing that it won Palme d'Or and also stars Sandra Hüller gives me the right expectation. It is your standard art house prestige cinema that appeal to festival goers, films that I desperately wish I can see with other critics and talk about our interpretations afterward, like Drive My Car, like Decision to Leave, like Triangle of Sadness. Maybe I'm just burnt-out, Anatomy of a Fall is also below all three of the examples I listed. But your milage may vary. That said, this kind of film usually takes me a lot of time to digest, so maybe I'll come around to it.

Past Lives: Oh look, one of my favourite movies of the year. I'm biased, that's for sure. If you read the synopsis, it doesn't seem all that interesting. But something about it is just really beautiful. Maybe it's the filmic colorgrading, maybe it's because I can relate to the diaspora culture. Or maybe it's the acting that feels both eastern and western. It's a clean, subdued, terrific film that mesmerizes. And it's best watched in an empty afternoon, when no one else will bother you and your coffee.

And that's the update of this week! There are a few more movies I watched that I don't think leaves a strong enough impression for me to talk about, maybe in another update. For now, I have to focus my eye on Chinese cinema, and make a long, maybe 20 minute video, showcasing some good works. See you soon!