Rough Groove

Movies watched: 13th French Film Festival, June 08

40! That’s how many movies and a short I’ve watched in June!

The 13th French Film Festival was held at the Shangri-la Plaza in Mandaluyong last month. Of the 10 movies on offer, one didn’t make it due to permit problems. Entrance was free but unfortunately, as the tickets were given two hours before the start of the movie, I’m often left with no tickets once the preceeding one finished that it was around 4 days I’ve been going to this mall just to watch it. I was able to watch 7 of the nine films.

Qui m’aime me suive ( If You Love Me Follow Me) - Benoit Cohen, 2006
Roman de Gare (Crossed Tracks) - Claude Lelouche, 2007
Ah! Si j’etais riche (If I Were a Rich Man) - Gerard Bitton, Michel Munz, 2002
Changement d’adresse (Change of Address) - Emmanuel Moiret, 2006
Clean - Olivier Assayas, 2004
La Mome (La vie en rose) - Olivier Dahan, 2007
Je crois que je l’aime (Could This Be Love?) - Pierre Jolivet, 2007

Movies watched: May 08, part 3

This post wraps up the movies I’ve watched for the month of May. Except for the French film, the other three were seen at theaters.

Regarding the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, what a let down. The previous installments were much better. Come to think of it, aliens? What Happens in Vegas, however was way better for a light and mindless comedy.

Iron Man - Jon Favreau, 2008 (US)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Steven Spielberg, 2008 (US)
What Happens in Vegas - Tom Vaughn, 2008 (US)
Combien tu m’aimes (How Much Do You Love Me) - Bertrand Blier, 2005 (France)

Movies watched: May 02, part 2

For the month of May, I was able to watch 22 films of which I focused more on works specifically in South East Asia and China. The Asian countries covered: China, one each from the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, three from Thailand, and two from South Korea. This also includes work by Zhang Yimou (3 films) and Wong Kar Wai (4 films).

Part 3 of May movies watched will list non Asian films.

Ploning - Dante Nico Garcia, 2008 (Philippines)
Da hong deng long gao gao gua (Raise the Red Lantern) - Zhang Yimou, 1991 (China)
Qian li zou dan qi (Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles) - Zhang Yimou, 2005 (China)
Ying xiong (Hero) - Zhang Yimou, 2002 (China)
The Legend of Suriyothai - Chatrichalerm Yukol, 2001 (Thailand)
Ploy - Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, 2007 (Thailand)
Ruang rak noi nid mahasan (Last Life in the Universe) - Pen-ek Ratanaruang, 2003 (Thailand)
Bin-jip (3-Iron) - Kim-Ki Duk, 2004 (South Korea)
Mu Sa - Sung-su Kim, 2001 (South Korea)
Xich lo (Cyclo) - Anh Hung Tran, 1995 (Vietnam)
Tai yang yue (Rain Dogs) - Ho Yuhang, 2006 (Malaysia)
Sheng si jie (Stolen Life) - Li Shaohong, 2003 (China)
Ping guo (Lost in Beijing) - Yu Li, 2007 (China)
Wu Ji (The Promise) - Chen Kaige, 2005 (China)

Movies watched: Wong Kar Wai, redux - May 08

There’s no question about it, I’m a great fan of Wong Kar Wai’s work and for the month of May, of the 22 films I have watched, I was able to finally watch his four other movies:

Dung che sai duk (Ashes of Time), 1994
Duo luo tian shi (Fallen Angels), 1995
2046, 2004
My Blueberry Nights, 2007

Except for Wong gok ka moon (As Tears Go By, 1988), more or less, I have covered his directorial works.

The rest of the Wong Kar Wai movies that I have watched earlier can be viewed in this post.

Movies watched, April 08

April was a bit lean when it comes to the movies that I watched compared to the previous months. Well, I was quite busy and for about two weeks, I was also on a collecting trip in Mindoro and Banaue since two visiting foreign friends came. Anyway, 11 movies and 1 short made it this month. No specific country, language or director, but it was a mix of different genres, types and works.

I was in fact planning to view a number of Japanese films from such acclaimed directors as Akira Kurosawa, Takashi Miike, Takeshi Kitano and others but I was only able to watch 2. In the Valley of Elah, Don’t Tell, Tsotsi are also good films. As for The Forbidden Kingdom, well, as soon as Americans star as heroes in martial arts films and even with the likes of Jackie Chan and Jet Li as back up, its always bound to fail.

In the Valley of Elah - Paul Haggis, 2007 (US)
The Virgin Suicides - Sofia Coppola, 1999 (US)
The Forbidden Kingdom - Rob Minkoff, 2008 (US)
Tsotsi - Gavin Hood, 2005 (South Africa)
Tasogare Seibei (Twilight Samurai) - Yoji Yamada, 2002 (Japan)
46-okunen no koi (Big Bang Love, Juvenile A) - Takashi Miike, 2006 (Japan)
The Other Boleyn Girl - Justin Chadwick, 2008 (UK)
Vers Le Sud (Heading South) - Laurent Cantet, 2005 (France)
L’Homme de sa Vie (The Man in My Life) - Zabou Breitman, 2006 (France)
Gegen die Wand (Head On) - Fatih Akin, 2004 (Turkey)
El Bestia nel Cuore (Don’t Tell/Beast in the Heart) - Cristina Comencini, 2005 (Italy)

Short: The Storekeeper - Gavin Hood, (South Africa)