Category: films
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{Written by Karen Fang, this review is part of the “Writing Hong Kong” Issue (December 2017) of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films} ▚ Ann Hui (director), Our Time Will Come (Ming yue ji shi you), 2017.…
![[REVIEW] “War Films: Ann Hui’s 𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑒 and Christopher Nolan’s 𝐷𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑟𝑘” by Karen Fang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/our-time-will-come_dunkirk_cha.jpg?w=1024)
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–– “Winnipeg has 10 times the sleepwalking rate of any other city; city dwellers carry the keys to their previous addresses and those of past lovers so that when they wander to their old dreamy addresses, they can let themselves…
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Quote of the day 8 “You never seem to be waiting for me, but we kept meeting at every turn of the paths. Behind every bush, at the foot of each statue, near every pond. It is as if it had…
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In Chris Marker’s documentary, a woman narrates letters from a friend who is a world-traveller. He has been to Japan, Africa, Iceland, San Francisco, and France. The thought-provoking images and poetic commentary in this documentary invite us to meditate on…
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Originally written on March 30, 2009 –星期六那晚看了賈樟河的 <<三崍好人 Still Life>>. 一氣連續看了兩次. 電影淡淡的繪出兩個主角三明及沈红由山西往奉節縣尋親的故事, 背景為消失中的三崍. 一個尋十六年不見的妻子及女兒, 一個尋兩年沒見的丈夫. 故事有點相似, 但結局大不相同. 在這裡不詳細解讀電影, 但有少許感受想說. 很多人認為中國現代化了, 富了, 事實只是一細小部份的人先富起來. 政治領袖也許覺得一小部份人富好過人人都不富. 在光彩的背後有無數貧民的故事, 有多少是外人知曉的? 當中國人不易, 當中國窮人更不易. 話說回來, 當甚麼國的窮人都不易, 當甚麼人都不易. 電影結尾其中一個鏡頭是空中人在遠處江上走鋼絲, 賈樟柯解釋道: “最後走鋼絲, 雲中漫步, 我覺得雖然前路坎坷渺茫, 或者說雖然前路很危險, 但是不管什麼樣的人, 我們必須走下去, 我覺得雖然很危險, 但是要走下去, 所以同時也很浪漫.”…
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Let the Right One In is a vampire story set in the suburbs of Stockholm in the early 1980s. The film centres on Oskar, a 12-year-old loner from a dysfunctional family. Frail and androgynous, Oskar is unable to stand up…
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This exchange didn’t make it in the final film. [You can compare the film and the full script (as of 06/09/2009) — many changes have been made.] –
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On Tuesday I saw the excellent Blue Valentine in the West End. A lot has already been written about Derek Cianfrance’s film and its unconventional structure, which cuts between the beginning and the end of the central love story. I don’t…
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Last night, we went to watch The King’s Speech in the local cinema. The house was full, even for the ten-o’clock showing. I have liked Colin Firth since his charming turn as Darcy in Andrew Davies’s 1995 BBC adaptation of…
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On 2nd December, 2009, I posted these Banksy images on my previous blog: Responses: [Click image to enlarge] Recently, I watched Exit Through the Gift Shop. It’s a reasonably enjoyable film, and one of the highlights, for me, is this counterfeited tenner: –
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Aaron Johnson is handsome (and young!). We watched Sam Taylor-Wood’s Nowhere Boy, a film about the young John Lennon, played rather convincingly, I must say, by Aaron Johnson. However, he is certainly not as good as Kristin Scott Thomas, who…
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The answer can be found in Doubt, the 2008 film adaptation of the John Patrick Shanley’s stage play Doubt: A Parable, which won a Pulitzer Prize: A woman was gossiping with her friend about a man whom they hardly knew…
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Love & Other Drugs – Last night we went to watch Love & Other Drugs in Covent Garden. Thank you, E, for the generosity! On the film: Anne, you are no Kate Winslet or Penelope Cruz (with reference to her own…
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I was gripped from the opening seconds of Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker about an elite Army bomb squad whose main job is to defuse roadside bombs. The film uses suspense masterfully to suggest the tension and fear of the…
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–The Ghost is based on the novel by Robert Harris of the same title. We thought it was a fine old-fashioned thriller; it reminded one of both Hitchcock and the paranoid thrillers of the 1970s. Directed by Roman Polanski, the…
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–Loved The Mills Brothers’ version of “You Always Hurt the One You Love”. See Jonathan’s post about the film here. –
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–The Welsh documentary sleep furiously1 by Gideon Koppel records a year of life in Trefeurig, a small farming community in Wales. The film does not have an obvious structure or narrative. But in its formless way, it documents the slow…
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Learn more here. – – – – – – – –
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This post was originally written on 6th September, 2009. District 9 (official website: www.d-9.com) is about the problems posed by the unexpected arrival of an alien spaceship above Johannesburg, South Africa. When humans board the aliens’ hovering ship (which reminds…
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– Reading Eddie’s poem “Country” reminded me of the following from the film Proof (2005), adapted from David Auburn’s play (2001). Let X equal the quantity or quantities of X. Let X equal the cold. It is cold in…
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What a beautiful poster! Read Jonathan‘s and Todd‘s thoughts on the new HP instalment.––
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Moon is a great film. It reminded me of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Solaris (1972) and even Blade Runner (1982). The film centres on Sam Bell (played marvellously by Sam Rockwell), a miner living alone in a space station…
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Read Jonathan‘s review here. –
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Parts of this post were first written in March this year (9th March and 11th March). Revised on 17th November, 2010. Recently, I read Melanie Benjamin‘s Alice I Have Been (2009), which is a fictional account of the life of…
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This post was originally written on 20th September, 2009. Today, thanks to Sunday Times, we got free tickets to watch The Crimson Wing, a documentary about the lives of a million East Africa’s lesser flamingos. The film will be released…
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This post was originally posted on 31st October, 2009. Tonight, we went to watch the terrific An Education, starring Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard. The film was adapted by Nick Hornby from Lynn Barber’s memoir, originally published in Granta (maybe…
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, This post was originally posted on 7th November, 2009. –Last night, we went to watch Jane Campion’s luscious Bright Star, the story of the doomed relationship between John Keats (played by Ben Whishaw) and his muse, Fanny Brawne (played…
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This post was originally written on 1st September, 2010. Read a review of Bright Star here. Edward Hopper: “If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” Bright Star “Morning Sun” –– 7 Responses “Coincidence?” →…
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We greatly enjoyed The Social Network and recommend that you read Jonathan Mendelsohn’s review of the film in two parts: Part I and Part II. – – Read Jonathan Mendelsohn’s Cha profile. – –
Cha 