Miss Hokusai

Miss Hokusai (Keiichi Hara, 2015)

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Rating: Q=7, P=7 / Obsession

Scale 1=4, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=4

Animation, Art, Japan, 1800s, Complex Relationships

A beautiful film about the great Hokusai and his equally talented daughter. The film shows Japan in the early 1800s: traditional clothing and hairstyles, bridges, merchants and peddlers, etc. There are fantastic sequences of how an artist's mind interprets situations, events, and observations. Japanese folktales are also woven into the story. This is a great little art history lesson as well as a fun escape back in time to a very different world.

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Hell or High Water

Hell or High Water (David Mackenzie, 2016)

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Rating: Q=5, P=3 / Thanks But No Thanks

Scale 1=2, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=2, Scale 4=1

Crime, Neo-western, Detective, Complex Relationships, Thriller

This film just didn't do it for me. The story of bankers taking away farmer's lands is an old one, and a current one so I appreciated a film about it. But the other familiar stories--desperate men turning to crime, one last hurrah for a retiring detective--felt sub par; just not as good as other detective crime films. It's a dark story, gritty and sad, and you just know how it will end.

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Dunkirk

Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017)

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Rating: Q=8, P=6 / Can't Get Enough

Scale 1=4, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=3

World War II, Survival, Historical

From the very first scene, I knew this film would get to me...in a good way. What a monumental feat from Christopher Nolan--making his audience see and feel the tortuous panic of the notorious battle. He shows us the countless attempts to escape, only to return back to the beach or drown in the belly of a ship or at sea. He shows us the shell-shock, how priorities, loyalty, survival and trust become murky and grey and confusing.

Nolan's editing is superb, showing the plot out of sequence for an even more pensive and disturbing feel. And Hans Zimmer's incredible score amps up the fear and desperateness to an almost unbearable level--there were moments when the score made me shiver and I could feel my stomach react.

This is an important film that is difficult to watch. It makes you think about the state of humanity, the essence of what it means to be human, the awful reality of war.

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FAVORITES: City of God, It Happened One Night, and The Motorcycle Diaries

FAVORITES for July & August:

City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002)

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Rating: Q=8, P=8 / Obsession

Scale 1=4, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=4, Scale 4=4

Brazil, Gangs, Social Realism, Coming of Age, Cinema Novo

Why is it a Favorite?
This film is a masterpiece. It is gritty, dark, and disturbing, but also funny, entertaining, and escapist. It brings tears to your eyes and also gives you goosebumps. It leaves you feeling uncomfortable because of the state of humanity but also hopeful that change might happen. Meirelles does incredible things with editing, art direction, and narrative to make this story, based on true events, feel like fiction. So much brilliance.

It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)

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Rating: Q=7, P=8 / Obsession

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=4, Scale 4=4

Classic, romantic comedy, screwball, witty

Why is it a Favorite?
Frank Capra was the master of romantic comedies. He wrote wonderful lines and created moments that to this day are still funny and inspiring. He knew exactly how to place the actors in frame, he knew just when to fade or to cut the scene. I love this story because it is as hilarious as a Shakespeare comedy but as cute and happy-making as a fairy tale.

The Motorcycle Diaries (Walter Salles, 2004)

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Rating: Q=7, P=8 / Obsession

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=4, Scale 4=4

Travel, Based on Book, Social Realism, Political, Philosophical

Why is it a Favorite?
How can you not love a movie that is about travel and personal growth? When Ernesto "Che" Guevara took his epic motorcycle trip across the whole of South America he intended to see the continent on his way to practice as a doctor, but his journey showed him so much that disturbed and moved him that he changed his life completely. The awe-inspiring scenery and documentary-like aspects of this film never fail to make me yearn for the life of a traveler. Gorgeous film.

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