I am all too familiar with the idea of taking a back seat to my own life. It is not necessarily because I am satisfied with my situation or the status of my relationships with the people in my life; it is because I am fearful of altering what has become familiar to me. The idea of confronting the bitter and souring circumstances surrounding me is discomforting because they are all I know. I have adjusted my life accordingly, making…
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Fallen Angels 1995
We all long for a special connection that magically makes the familiar parts of life feel fresh again. That type of bond with a person that somehow makes foods taste better, city lights shine brighter, and makes the most mundane of activities feel like a thrill ride. Some would call that love. But when we're in love, our hearts afire, it's easy for our vision to get clouded. Everything can seem so perfect, but what happens if the person we…
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The Grudge 3 2009
It is remarkable that these Ju-on films somehow keep getting worse. Although I must note that The Grudge 3 is a special type of terrible. It attempts to remedy some of my long-standing complaints throughout this franchise-watching endeavor. The chapter-like story delivery and the reoccurring scares wore me out tremendously, yet they persisted throughout every installment. Finally, though, a Ju-on film tried to do something different. It opted for a more straightforward storyline and spent more time with specific characters.…
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The Cave of the Yellow Dog 2005
In The Cave of the Yellow Dog, director Byambasuren Davaa captures the life of the Batchuluun family, a real Mongolian family with no prior acting experience who live a nomadic lifestyle. The filmmaking resembles a quasi-documentary approach, with the camera highlighting what everyday life is like for the family. The story is simple — the family's eldest daughter, Nansal, discovers a dog and hopes to make it a part of their family unit. However, Nansal's father worries that the dog…
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The Grudge 2004
The previous Ju-on films presented stories of people coming in contact with vengeful spirits in chapter-like form. This US remake (still directed by Takashi Shimizu) is what you get if you take one of those chapters, expand it into a feature, and add white people to the equation. The story and scares are mostly the same old, same old, but with a Hollywood coat of paint.
Some people will say the bigger budget, so updated effects, are a significant win…
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Yi Yi 2000
One of the most beautiful qualities that cinema possesses is its ability to resonate with people worldwide regardless of a film's setting. Movies can provide insight into specific cultures and ways of life while also revealing that most of us, irrespective of where we are placed in the world, are much more similar than we are different.Yi Yi follows the Jian family, who live in Taipei, but many of the characters' troubles and concerns are experienced universally.
Director Edward Yang…
