Phonology

I only managed to see 9 films this year due to other commitments and a train disaster but here's my 4 word summaries and a few pictures for your delectation.

The Women : Bitching, hats, talking fast!

Well done and thank you, Artistic Director Hannah McGill!

Taxidermia, probably one of the weirdest, sickest, bizarre, surreal films I have ever seen is out on Friday. Just watch the trailer. and be horrifically fascinated 

I've been at the Glasgow Film Festival for the past few days. I've just seen Taxidermia. I feel rather sick.

Trailer here. 

More to follow. 

Congratulations, Hannah! That's a damn fine job you've got yourself there.

Wossy does Asian Cinema

Been loving this little season of films and documentaries. Good for absolute beginners and a great little reinforcement for afficionados.

Over the last week I've seen a total of new and as yet unreleased films, some good, some bad and some decidedly ugly. Here's a brief rundown.

In Chronological Order:

A Bittersweet Life: Korean Ultraviolence best summed up by the 4 word review - Longest Suicide Scene Ever.

Mirrorball - Funkstörung Event: A DVD presentation of Funkstörung's visual remixes. Famed as much for their visual art as for their music, this is worth tracking down.

Battle in Heaven: Wow. A beautifully shot film with a cast of non actors from Mexico City. Disturbing and graphic but also very still and peaceful. Not for the prudish or easily shocked.

Dumplings: I am almost certain that the majority of the population would walk out on this film as it is probably the sickest film I have ever seen. Saying that it's a great piece of Hong Kong cinema, but you'll never eat dumplings again.

Sugar: With a score by Jim Thirwell, shot mostly in B&W and with No dialogue, this was probably the most surreal film I saw all week. It starts with a shot of a girl sitting in a refrigerator, need I say more? Reminiscent of Eraserhead, maybe a little too much though. Made me a bit twitchy and shaky. Great sound design though.

Screaming Masterpiece: Fantastic documentary on Icelandic Music, with sagas set to music, Björk, Sigur Rós and Mugison to boot. I'll be looking for this one on DVD. Got to love Iceland. I want to visit now.

Taimagura Grandma: Overlong documentary on a solitary farmer woman's life in Japan. Interesting to see how Tofu and Miso are made by hand though.

Bride of Silence: A Vietnamese period piece that didn't interest me enough to keep me alert really. Nice thought though.

Fingers: Oh Harvey Keitel, how I love you. I was discussing this movie after seeing it with a friend and we came to the conclusion that only Harvey does the things that Harvey does. Great acting all round, great costumes and hair (mini afro, tight pants, cool flares, bikinis, the lot!), and a fantastic story about a pianist whose father is a loan shark. Humour and brutality. Excellent.

Song Of Songs; Oh dear. This film was a mess. A shabby portrayal of Orthodox Judaism and a strange and incestuous brother-sister relationship. Not even the marvellous Natalie Press could save it. And then I got trapped and had to sit through the Q&A. The worst film of the week. By far.

The Moustache; My favourite! A French film about a man who shaves off his moustache, his wife apparently doesn't notice then insists he never had a moustache and from then on.... Surreal, hilarious and odd. Loved it.

P: Thai magic and demons appear when a girl from the country arrives to work as a prostitute in a Bangkok nightclub. Bloody and vampiric, just the way I like my horrors. Evil girl!

My friend Jack has designed a website for it, and now you can see the trailer for West End Story here.

Multiregion/Region-Free dvds for stupidly low prices at cd wow.

Lots of Wong Kar Wei:

 As Tears go By
        Happy Together
        Chungking Express

And the next big Zhang Yi-mou film, not out in cinemas til Boxing Day in the UK.
House of Flying Daggers.

If you can deal with NSTC Region 3 (South Asia) dvds you can also get a 2 dvd edition of Hero.

I just wish they had Ashes of Time.

Hurry up postie!

Having recently had a clear out of my flat (actually it's ongoing, the hall cupboards remain untouched), I have decided to try and watch a film every day whenever possible. The reason for this is that I have unearthed a stupid amount of unwatched videos and dvds. Not only do I have more than enough books to read (and I will not buy any more til I've finished all the ones I have), but I have a total of thirty films, comedies and music videos to watch. If I so much as mention that I might be bored in the next month or two, please shoot me, as I have no reason to be. Of course I'll still be going to the cinema (UGC Unlimited card, I love you) so I'll soon be fed up with films and waffling about music and words again before I know it.

Here's some of the delights as yet to be sampled:

• Mallrats
• Sonatine
• LOTR (1&2)
• Dogville
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
• Arizona Dream
• Eddie Izzard (Unrepeatable, The Definite Article and Glorious)
• Prince and The Revolution Live
• Being John Malkovich

Some of these are old favourites to be visited over and over in the years to come, others have been languishing on the shelves, temporarily forgotten. But hey, I love movies, so what better way to spend an evening or a day off? I might even hone my critical skills on them, but really, I'm too easily pleased by film to be a good reviewer.

Now, where to start?

    When a film's press raises your expectations as high as Hero 's does, one would expect to be disappointed. I've been looking forward to this film for too long. I resisted getting an imported DVD, because I knew that the cinematography was designed for the big screen. So I waited, counted down and at last I've seen this masterpiece. And it didn't disappoint me in the slightest.

 

    The plot and even the fighting are secondary to the look of the film, beautifully composed in every shot. There's a lot to pick apart, whether that be the stilted dialogue, the political undertones (which could be analysed any which way you desire), or even the set piece fights. However, the outstanding beauty of the film was enough to override any awkwardness for me. Jet Li's assassin, Nameless, battles his way through the piece, his intent gaze and stillness providing a focus for the plot. However, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, two of Hong Kong's finest actors serve as a dramatic centrepiece and provide the most touching of moments despite the restricted language provided in the dialogue.



    Whether you like epic drama, art house movies, blockbusters or kung fu, Hero is most certainly worth a visit to the cinema.