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Reviews
Call Me Kate (2023)
Objective documentary
An interesting and objective doc on Katharine Hepburn. It gives an honest and balanced portrayal of the kind of person she was. I enjoyed the objectivity of it, with many surviving family members giving their insights. It doesn't overly glorify her or unnecessarily undermines. I'm quite neutral to her celebrity and found this worth my time. There is a great deal about her childhood and the family she grew up in before her acting career. Included are audio recordings of interviews in her own voice though much is read by a voice actor. My personal takeaway is that once she knew she wanted to be famous, she became basically a quite selfish person. Not completely heartless but ultimately very self-absorbed and only attuned to what she wanted.
Only God Forgives (2013)
Laughable premise
Having been transferred to Bangkok to work for 6 years, the premise that Ryan's character can operate in the underworld is laughable. He cant even speak thai. There is no way, no way Thai would ever allow a farang to operate in their world like that. Its obvious the writer/director had a holiday in thailand in the tourist zones and thinks he really knows Thailand and Thai culture. Embarrasing.
Many others have reviewed the cinematography (outstanding) and the pacing (glacial). His style seems to be stuck in this mode. Unfortunately it does not work for every story and film. This is just adapting "Drive" to a different location. Thinking the exoticness of the location could mask making the same movie, it just makes it feel like a cheap ploy.
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
Amazing visual style.
A favorite of mine purely for the visual style of retro-futurism based on early 80's. A created past that never actually existed that was set in a future that didnt come to exist. A great Modernism style that I cant get enough of. The cinematography of Norm Li is very inspiring and key to its appeal. But aside from that, character development, dialogue and pacing do suffer.