So in regardless The Witch is better than The Wailing or not that's entirely up to you. One of the reason The Wailing managed to maintain a cult status following is the man behind the camera. Na Hong Jin's reputation is as relevant as Chan Wook Park and Bong Joon Ho. To me that's the whole reason I'm into it so much not just because it's a horror movie to begin with. He only made 3 feature length movies to date and each comes with a consistent track records.
Chill just a movie to discuss and not that your opinion is better than mine or what not. Simply don't see The Witch as that de facto horror movie.

A Cure for Wellness - A very troubled movie with impeccable visual flair.

Believe this is a pretty daring movie who thinks big with story but too ambitious for it's own good. It does not have faith in it's audiences to unravel the mystery on our own. Every one step forward marred by two steps backward. Disturbing scenes that are gorgeously lensed. There are truly hideous uncomfortable scenes given the high class treatment that felt a little David Lynch/Stanley Kubrick. Then occasionally the scenes overstays their course with unnecessary plot deviation. The premise is pretty great but lacks conviction to be exceptional. I will still gladly buy the blu-ray due to the beautiful production design and I like the lead actress and Jason Isaac performance a lot. Dane DeHaan misses the mark for me. Gore Verbinski is a lot like Ridley Scott, even their bad movies still being filmed a lot more better than say your average joe film director.

Not sure this will screen locally due to shocking taboo nature of the premise and if they do still worth checking out on blu-ray/vod to avoid unnecessary censorship. Also can see this as a potential cult hit if one to seek out that controversial plot twist. It's a malformed shutter island-esque type of story.

David Fincher now like a wandering ghost with all studios shooting down his projects. Guess they couldn't pocket his demanding high price tag and the risk involving all his choice of projects. Think he had a serial killer docs in HBO or Netflix at the moment.
I'm ok with Gore Verbinski failing now and make a comeback later and hope it's not like Ridley Scott where he made only one good film out of half dozen or more. Just me...I would rather endure bad Verbinski/Scott movie than those soul less rehash or sequels running rampant nowadays.

Toni Erdmann - An unconventional dramedy.

The premise is pretty straight forward with the prankster father reconnecting with her uptight daughter. The biggest hurdle is the almost 3 hour runtime and I couldn't finish it in one sitting. The jokes is more in the wheelhouse of Zach Galifianikis's Baskets...awkward and dry. The biggest strength is seeing the polar opposite characterization of the daughter slowly realizing she is not that different from her goofy father by the end of it all. Mindful there are inappropriate scenes tipping the verge of bad taste but important to tell a deeper character story. Do not watch the last one third of the movie with any children around cause there are abundant of nudity. Just a little torn this is the front runner for Oscar's best foreign film where it is not as obvious as last year's Son of Saul. I kinda like it but not head over heels about it.

This post has been edited by 6so: Feb 23 2017, 04:13 PM

Really glad Moonlight walk away with Best Picture and Mahershala Ali Best Supporting Actor. La La Land didn't dominate as predicted and I won a case of Hoegaarden from a bet I made with my client.
Hackshaw Ridge also clinched 2 technical awards meaning Mel Gibson is back in a big way.

Assassin's Creed - Flaccid cinema at its best.
There's only so much you can "art-housing" the lame premise. While the aesthetic aspect is pleasing...the pacing and story just flat out disaster. Felt the brain behind all of it couldn't elevate the dull stroyline from the game to be something more profound. Or they just misplaced the priority in preserving the core game story instead pushing the envelope forward. Marion Cottilard just had that uninterested "what have I got into" look all the time. Also have they not realized the most boring aspect of the game is the modern timeline while we are engaged with the ancestor's timeline.
After all I'm still curious to see Justin Kurzel's next movie even with this crapfest because I really dug his creative vision.

The Void - Hellraiser meets The Thing

If you are a fan of practical creature effects...not a bad watch. As long as you don't go in expecting Guillermo Del Toro or Weta quality of effects, you may find something in this indie horror. The premise got a bit of shady cult group in a small town, human spawning grotesque creatures and a little HP Lovecraft cosmic horror. The big criticism of mine is at times it veer into fan film territory where they are still honing their filming skills. The acting is OK for what it is and not bad by any imagination. The story a little too big for them to pull off but for sure does not warrant to penalize them for trying something different. I will watch this anytime over those cash grab of "Conjuring" clones.

The Lure - The weirdest movie I've watched in a long time.
NSFW trailer

It's balls out Europop musical, fairy tale, horror movie, erotic and a bit of everything mesh into one twisted film. The basis of the story very loosely based on The Little Mermaid. Two mermaid perform as singer slash stripper act in a dingy carbaret club. One of the mermaid mirrors Ariel's narrative with a modern twist while the other show us this is not your walt disney's mermaid. It just got weirder and weirder by the minute...akin to watching something Takashi Miike and Sono Sion would've made. i love how the movie ends on a darker note that's befitting to the story. Really glad my wife pick this up for me at HMV.
Hope to catch up on Silence next with the director's commentary. Purposely bought the blu-ray for that.

Get Out - A good thriller with a whacked out premise.
First of all, this is not that over hyped masterpiece as some reviewers made this out to be. Directed by the less famous of the comedic duo. A little on the nose in depicting how the white people in the film not racist and while every moment the script and tone told you they are racial tension bumbling beneath the surface. So the white people playing nice to the black kid really raised a lot of alarms. All I can say the payoff from the setups pretty much earned its place. It's that fairy tale success of a super low budget movie that hits the jackpot big time. Invest your patience to see through that left field revelation.

Just when you thought MNS about to comeback and here his position being challenged by a newer talent with a fresher sense for storytelling. This is a better movie to Split in terms of them operating within the same genre. Not horror but a thriller that does not rely on the cliche.

Colossal - It's not what you think it is.

The premise very original with all the actors fully committed to their roles. It's anything but a romcom and as a matter fact it's a pretty dark story with wee bit of humor in it. It's not as simple as the kaiju being a projection of her trainwreck personality. It's about caught in a toxic relationship that she's guilty of festering due to her inability to act. All I can say there are abusive men who exploit Anne Hathaway's character in a hard to watch way. It's that age old question does a leopard change its spot. So will she able to reach catharsis to affect change.
Just that they find a very bizarre and ingenious way to tell that story. A truly acquired taste movie if you want to watch something unconventional and pretty clever scripting to boot. I can see Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry directing this movie so you can get a rough idea of what it is.

Silence - The other Scorsese type of films.
Beside synonymous for making violent gangster or troubled character study films....he does make heavy religious theme films here and there. Its his continuing effort to find a deeper understanding in faith after failing to be a Catholic priest. Think at one point he was a drug addict as well. Anyhow Silence in a way is a lot like his 97 Kundun that chronicles Chinese Communist oppression on Dalai Lamai from his discovery to exiling Tibet. It has the same mesmerising pace and the unjust sentiment carefully weave into the storytelling. It's a little letdown for me because it reminded so much of Kundun although the cinematography is more updated with grander production value. Again its mindboggling given Scorsese age of 74 able to pull off the difficult location filming. Basically they are doing what Innaritu did in the Revenant although the weather might be more forgiving. The japanese casting is very good.

T2:Trainspotting - Not as fun as it seems.
Basically great empires can come and go while human nature does not. It's more of middle age fcuk-ups go for one final score to relive their youthful destructive behavior. Only that there aren't enough of fresh angle to explore. It's more like revisiting the greatest album of a forgotten band instead a knockout comeback. All is not lost though, the Spud story arc does pull a lot of heartstrings and many ways the best part of the sequel.
More of a middling end product that could not live up to the promise of the original or just another victim of the sequel curse.
In regardless the sequel fails or not, the original still my generation of Citizen Kane cause it's still the best film I ever watched and not just a movie.

Raw - The single best film I've seen this year so far.

Believe someone fainted or puke during one of the festival screenings. To those naysayers who said movies no longer original or no longer imaginative, here is proof of smart and effective storytelling very much alive. To a degree I'm able to read where the story gonna be by the set-ups. Nope not with this movie. The red herrings just delicately done and it keeps coming. You simply unable to anticipate how the story will pan out. The heroine basically a hardcore vegetarian forced to eat a rabbit liver during the freshman hazing activity. From there things just got out of control to an unimaginable degree. No it's not about serial killing or anything like that at all. Highly recommended if can stomach bloody scenes and sexual situations. The lead actress really can act and her chemistry with her sister very convincing.

Out of topic a little...
A cool list of films that respectable film directors watches.Brett Ratner shouldn't be in that otherwise cool listings.Spoiler none of the MCU deems worthy enough.
Six Hollywood Directors Reveal Their Favourite Films Of The 21st Century
http://flip.it/ZTMjMs
Do wonder will Quentin Tarantino resume his annual top 10 movies article.His choice always surprises you.

Manage to rewatch couple of Viva La Revolution themed movies that I picked up dirt cheap.
V for Vendetta - Man the movie didn't aged well.The production design felt too staged in a soundstage.Natalie Portman has yet mature to that nuanced performer that you come to know of. Some of her scenes overcooked. Hugo Weaving performance as V is as good as it gonna gets. Having to act under the mask and breathing life to it deserved all the kudos. The story still relevant especially in the era of president Orange. Just that quality did not stood up to time when compared to the golden age of tv shows we are witnessing now.
Snowpiercer - Really do not get it why this movie couldn't be any of a bigger hit. Everything just scream quality from beginning till end. F$#^ Marvel or the present day action flicks for not having the balls to do a proper villain. The bad guys are as stock caricatures you ever gonna get but their threats to the good guys as real as it can be. You only see Ed Harris doing the antagonist act only at the very end and it does not felt shorthanded or cheap. He just destroyed Chris Evans as the hero he supposed to represent. Instant modern classic.

Life - Adequately made but not memorable.
It's a very safe movie that didn't make an effort to push the genre forward.Reasonably well acted, enough of stars power at play and pretty ok film direction.Just the premise already been seen many times before. At the end everything falls into a death roulette game with Kelvin.The twist at the end also felt on the nose.

King Arthur something something...
A franchise that nobody asked for and yet being forced upon us. Guy Richie pretty much more misses than hits ratio type of film director.In his filmography only the first two ones really good and the Sherlock Holmes films also pretty decent,
as for the rest just one disappointment after another. Thought they are going somewhere with Guy Ritchie-ing the fast paced rapid scheming moments and yet nothing came out of it. It just unable to be more than your usual fantasy cliche made for China market where the good will triumph over the evil with all the same old story beats.

Okja - The lovable superpig.
Overall this is an uneven movie. There are three phases of structure that concocted in this odd mix of tone. The first act you get the effortless Hayao Miyazaki moment between the girl and the pig which was magically realized. When comes to advancing the plotline it shift gear to a screwball mad cape rescue mission. The last act just got dark and depressing a little. It's quite messy but the creature cg work very believable to a point you almost wanted to excuse the flaws in the movie. It's above average watch and pretty sure Disney will not have the guts to explore the themes in the movie. Try not to watch this with your children cause you will need a lot of explaining when the slaughterhouse segment plays out.

Una - This movie is difficult to watch but very well made.
Oh boy need a drink after watching this. Una is not your standard Stockholm syndrome victim. Her obsession almost reaching fatal attraction level and yet we are conditioned to empathise her knowing she is the victim. Ben Mendelsohn did great balancing on his character's ambiguity. He just can be a snake in one scene and the next totally win you over. At one point he convinced you he had turn over and yet the ending of the movie suggest you maybe not.

Rooney Mara again gave an impeccable performance as a damaged person who hasn't gotten over Ray. The little girl also gave excellent screen presence as younger Una. I can see how people will react negatively to the abrupt ending and yet I thought that's quite ballsy. Any movie and tv show uses PJ Harvey song in my book will automatically foretelling something deep and profound abound.

Personal Shopper - Shaky premise with amazing performance.

The story and plot just simply don't make sense. Kristen Stewart is a personal shopper for a super rich person who forbid her to try any of the clothing she's buying and yet she has the ability to communicate with ghost. It's this weird character study of a grieving Stewart who wanted to reach out to her deceased twin brother in Paris. Its one random plot point after another. It's not "The Lobster" incoherent storytelling but a pretty well made serious drama that held together solely on Kristen Stewart performance. She got the chops to keep you invested in the tonal shifting execution. There are genuine eerie moment during the text messaging scenes and atmospheric cinematography. More of acting showcase than storytelling.

This post has been edited by 6so: Jul 19 2017, 07:39 AM