Wu Jie is struggling with grief and life’s pressures. As she is about to end it all, a murder victim catches her attention, and the investigation brings her back into focus as more bodies are found and the investigation gets more complicated.
Tag Archives: Foreign
Transylvanie (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]
A young girl being bullied for thinking she’s a vampire decides to show her bullies that she really is a vampire.
Stay Online (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]
Director Yeva Strielnikova’s “Stay Online” is literally a digital thriller for the modern age, and it’s never been more relevant a commentary on the importance of the internet than before. The digital thriller has become something of a niche sub-genre, and “Stay Online” practices that formula, but rather than a horror movie, implements the device as a means of exploring a modern war unfolding before our eyes. America has managed to stay embroiled in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia through various social outlets. One of the most important facets has been Tik Tok, which has dispensed unfiltered information before our eyes.
Night of the Assassin (2023)
One of the most feared assassins of the Joseon dynasty finds himself in a position where he can no longer practice his craft, having a heart condition that limits his capacities. He soon finds himself in a village, working as a restaurant server when he is pulled back into his previous career.
Bird Box: Barcelona (2023)
Netflix’s 2018 surprise hit “Birdbox” was a pretty good movie that skated on thin ice from minute one since it was accused of aping the concept for “A Quiet Place.” But the efforts of a sequel have firmly placed it as a movie better off left as a one and done horror film. “Barcelona” is considered kind of a sequel and kind of a spin off, but in reality it’s kind of a glorified pilot. I don’t know if Netflix is planning more sequels down the road, or a TV series, but “Barcelona” feels like the first of many incoming spin offs. And it never once feels like a complete movie, but only a buffer and promise of things to come. And as a follow up to the original, it fails epically assuring I won’t be back to see how they further develop this premise.
Final Cut (Coupez!) (2023)
If you, like me, were blown away by 2017’s “One Cut of the Dead,” you’ll have been surprised to learn that there was indeed a French language remake right down the pipeline. I’ll admit that I was very annoyed by this news, but everyone’s experience making movies is different and this story translates well to any one that has endured making art. “Final Cut” when all is said and done is a very good remake of the 2017 original. It’s funny and clever, but it never quite hits the emotional highs and sincerity that Shin’ichirō Ueda’s original ever does.
Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani – 3 Disc Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]
From Radiance Films, fans of the Italian crime cinema sub-genre will adore what this three disc box set has for fans, as “Cosa Nostra” features three key films from director Damiano Damiani and film icon Franco Nero. Included is “The Day of the Owl” with Franco Nero as a police chief who, while investigating the death of a construction worker, goes up against corrupt officials and a ruthless mafia boss (Lee J. Cobb). “The Day of the Owl” is adapted from the novel by Leonardo Sciascia; The Day of the Owl was the first book to openly deal with organized crime in Sicily.