ObsessiveCinemaDisorder
Joined Jun 2017
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Ratings231
ObsessiveCinemaDisorder's rating
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ObsessiveCinemaDisorder's rating
How much does family lineage weigh?
The Last Dance is a touching and poignant comedy-drama that portrays current Hong Kong perfectly. It dissects traditional and modern Chinese values and explores the family tensions and burdens that arise within patriarchy. It features strong performances from Dayo Wong, Michael Hui, Chu Pak Hon, Michelle Wai, and Rachel Leung.
Dominic Ngai, a debt-ridden wedding planner, embarks on a new career as a funeral planner following the COVID-19 pandemic. He takes over his girlfriend Jade's retiring uncle's funeral business and meets Master Man, the Taoist priest who's now Dominic's new business partner. They clash over Dominic's personalized sales approach, which goes against Man's Taoist beliefs.
Meanwhile, at home, Master Man quarrels with his son Ben, who wants to quit his job as a Taoist priest and start a new life in Australia with his wife and son. Master Man's daughter, Yuet, quarrels with his father over his outdated views on women being impure due to menstruation.
Anselm Chan directs the film with a sensitive, careful touch in vignettes reflecting the current mood of the working class, Chinese family dynamics, traditional vs. Modern values, and death itself.
The scenes are precisely timed with dramatic punch, a quality that, for the first time in a long time in a Hong Kong film, makes The Last Dance feel like a completed screenplay before production, rather than a film shot on the fly, as many Hong Kong films commonly are. The last time I felt that was from the Infernal Affairs trilogy.
It is a fantastic portrait of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong working spirit. Dominic's salesmanship gags, funny as they are, reflect the quick thinking survival instinct that Hong Kongers pride themselves on.
Yes, the film could have focused on one theme and told a more refined story, but I disagree. That's like looking at a collage painting and wanting to tear out your favorite corner.
This is, hands down, my favorite cast of 2024. Any acting accolade is well deserved.
As Master Man, Michael Hui so effortlessly reminded me of my grandparents, uncles, aunties, and family friends who were part of the older generation who have the traditional mentality.
Dayo Wong is at his most refined as Dominic Ngai, acting as the everyman and audience representative. This is the straightest he's ever played any role with no ounce of humor. Dominic, having to smile and maintain a constant jovial mood as a job survival mechanism, was truthful and endearing. Unfortunately, it hasn't received much award attention, and I fundamentally disagree with it.
The burden of succeeding a legacy falling upon the son and the daughter feeling undervalued by the father, is something any Chinese, or any Asian-or anyone actually-can easily relate to. Michelle Wai and Chu Pak Hong play that sibling dynamic beautifully.
Rachel Leung, in a supporting role as the secret lover of a marital affair, is fast becoming one of the best Hong Kong actresses.
With its massive box office success, The Last Dance has struck a deep chord with the HK audience. Every time someone brings up seeing The Last Dance in theaters, I ask them if they heard any crying or sniffling at the movie, and it's always a resounding yes.
The Last Dance is a touching and poignant comedy-drama that portrays current Hong Kong perfectly. It dissects traditional and modern Chinese values and explores the family tensions and burdens that arise within patriarchy. It features strong performances from Dayo Wong, Michael Hui, Chu Pak Hon, Michelle Wai, and Rachel Leung.
Dominic Ngai, a debt-ridden wedding planner, embarks on a new career as a funeral planner following the COVID-19 pandemic. He takes over his girlfriend Jade's retiring uncle's funeral business and meets Master Man, the Taoist priest who's now Dominic's new business partner. They clash over Dominic's personalized sales approach, which goes against Man's Taoist beliefs.
Meanwhile, at home, Master Man quarrels with his son Ben, who wants to quit his job as a Taoist priest and start a new life in Australia with his wife and son. Master Man's daughter, Yuet, quarrels with his father over his outdated views on women being impure due to menstruation.
Anselm Chan directs the film with a sensitive, careful touch in vignettes reflecting the current mood of the working class, Chinese family dynamics, traditional vs. Modern values, and death itself.
The scenes are precisely timed with dramatic punch, a quality that, for the first time in a long time in a Hong Kong film, makes The Last Dance feel like a completed screenplay before production, rather than a film shot on the fly, as many Hong Kong films commonly are. The last time I felt that was from the Infernal Affairs trilogy.
It is a fantastic portrait of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong working spirit. Dominic's salesmanship gags, funny as they are, reflect the quick thinking survival instinct that Hong Kongers pride themselves on.
Yes, the film could have focused on one theme and told a more refined story, but I disagree. That's like looking at a collage painting and wanting to tear out your favorite corner.
This is, hands down, my favorite cast of 2024. Any acting accolade is well deserved.
As Master Man, Michael Hui so effortlessly reminded me of my grandparents, uncles, aunties, and family friends who were part of the older generation who have the traditional mentality.
Dayo Wong is at his most refined as Dominic Ngai, acting as the everyman and audience representative. This is the straightest he's ever played any role with no ounce of humor. Dominic, having to smile and maintain a constant jovial mood as a job survival mechanism, was truthful and endearing. Unfortunately, it hasn't received much award attention, and I fundamentally disagree with it.
The burden of succeeding a legacy falling upon the son and the daughter feeling undervalued by the father, is something any Chinese, or any Asian-or anyone actually-can easily relate to. Michelle Wai and Chu Pak Hong play that sibling dynamic beautifully.
Rachel Leung, in a supporting role as the secret lover of a marital affair, is fast becoming one of the best Hong Kong actresses.
With its massive box office success, The Last Dance has struck a deep chord with the HK audience. Every time someone brings up seeing The Last Dance in theaters, I ask them if they heard any crying or sniffling at the movie, and it's always a resounding yes.
The Order is a crime thriller that provides a fascinating close-up study of white supremacists through the lens of an otherwise standard cops and robbers fare.
Based on a true story, FBI agent Terry Husk is assigned to take down a white supremacist terrorist group known as The Order in the 1980s. The group has committed multiple robberies to fund their plan to overthrow the government and start a race war.
Director Justin Kurzel provides brilliant genre-bending moments, like a scene where the hero and villain chit-chat under false pretenses and an instance of "why didn't he shoot his gun?" that was chilling.
The cast gives strong performances that all match the gritty, introspective tone of the film. They're all holding their emotions for the lingering camera, to allow the audience to look into them.
Jude Law as the FBI agent breaks the seams of what a police hothead is like in movies, and presents what they would be like in real life. A hothead police officer oozes coolness onscreen, but in actuality, what they're doing is quite dangerous and downright stupid in real life.
Nicholas Hoult plays Bob Matthews, the real-life leader of The Order, as a fact. It's chilling how normal the character is. He has a family, is a leader in his community, and gives people jobs... but he's doing it to start a race war.
As good as the performances were, the script doesn't provide enough character nuances for the film to rise above its police procedural constrictions. Imagine Michael Mann's Heat with half the character development before the climactic showdown.
What's most memorable about The Order is that it allows the audience to be in the environment and lets us examine their ideology up close.
It's fascinating and eye-opening, observing how people build as a community on a bent thought, farming hate, until it turns into violence.
Based on a true story, FBI agent Terry Husk is assigned to take down a white supremacist terrorist group known as The Order in the 1980s. The group has committed multiple robberies to fund their plan to overthrow the government and start a race war.
Director Justin Kurzel provides brilliant genre-bending moments, like a scene where the hero and villain chit-chat under false pretenses and an instance of "why didn't he shoot his gun?" that was chilling.
The cast gives strong performances that all match the gritty, introspective tone of the film. They're all holding their emotions for the lingering camera, to allow the audience to look into them.
Jude Law as the FBI agent breaks the seams of what a police hothead is like in movies, and presents what they would be like in real life. A hothead police officer oozes coolness onscreen, but in actuality, what they're doing is quite dangerous and downright stupid in real life.
Nicholas Hoult plays Bob Matthews, the real-life leader of The Order, as a fact. It's chilling how normal the character is. He has a family, is a leader in his community, and gives people jobs... but he's doing it to start a race war.
As good as the performances were, the script doesn't provide enough character nuances for the film to rise above its police procedural constrictions. Imagine Michael Mann's Heat with half the character development before the climactic showdown.
What's most memorable about The Order is that it allows the audience to be in the environment and lets us examine their ideology up close.
It's fascinating and eye-opening, observing how people build as a community on a bent thought, farming hate, until it turns into violence.
Robert Egger's remake of Nosferatu has all the ingredients of being a modern horror classic, bringing fine performances and top-notch production values.
Bringing his expertise as a set designer, writer-director Robert Eggers brings his trademark eye for historical details, returning the vampire to its folklore roots, away from modern conventions. The Transylvanian gypsy section, with its ominous mood and forest scenery, is reminiscent of The Witch, Egger's first film.
Jarin Blaschke's cinematography is intoxicating poetry, as close to black and white photography in color. The nighttime exterior shots of Transylvania and the Wisburg town are addictive to gaze at.
This is my favorite cast of 2024; there are no weak players and everyone stands out in their way.
Nicholas Hoult, who's on a career-high this year, effectively carries the audience into Transylvania and embodies the fear as he enters Orlok's castle.
Bill Skarsgard plays Count Orlok as a looming presence. He's deliberately obscured in shadow, out of focus, or out of frame, acting through a deep guttural voice and leaving much to the imagination. What makes it all dreadful is that Count Orlok feels omnipresent. There's no escape.
Lily-Rose Depp delivers a physical performance, twisting and contorting her body like a possessed pretzel, overwhelmed by her unwanted metaphysical connection to Orlok.
In a press interview, Eggers said he prefers F. W. Marnau's 1922 Nosferatu over Bram Stoker's Dracula novel, favoring the simplicity of a fairy tale over the Victoriana in the novel.
The gothic theme of the sublime itself, the idea that nature is an overwhelming force that forces us to confront the fragility of our humanity, originated from England and is tied to the Victorian era.
I respect Egger's opinion but don't follow his reasoning. He prefers the story to be set in Germany like the original silent film, with the actors now speaking in British accents but the film explores the sublime all the same.
Fine. Perhaps I prefer the Victoriana. Or perhaps I don't see the core difference.
The Werner Herzog remake featured lingering nature shots of the rats plaguing the town, suggesting that vampires, or notably the plague, were simply a part of nature, and not inherently evil in the Judeo-Christian sense. Also, it was the first to portray Dracula sympathetically. These new interpretations helped the film stand on its own feet.
This Robert Eggers remake, as well-made and entertaining as it is, doesn't justify itself thematically and is oddly slavish to the original Nosferatu story. While it lends to breathtaking visuals, the historical folklore angle is insufficient.
This could easily be an instant classic for audiences experiencing this as their introduction to the Dracula story.
For a Dracula fan, the plot was in all the familiar places and dragged at the midpoint. By the time Willem Dafoe appeared as the Van Helsing character, the story got mechanical, and I was eagerly waiting for the end.
I wanted Robert Eggers to proverbially grab the source material by its neck, bite it, and leave his teeth marks on it.
Bringing his expertise as a set designer, writer-director Robert Eggers brings his trademark eye for historical details, returning the vampire to its folklore roots, away from modern conventions. The Transylvanian gypsy section, with its ominous mood and forest scenery, is reminiscent of The Witch, Egger's first film.
Jarin Blaschke's cinematography is intoxicating poetry, as close to black and white photography in color. The nighttime exterior shots of Transylvania and the Wisburg town are addictive to gaze at.
This is my favorite cast of 2024; there are no weak players and everyone stands out in their way.
Nicholas Hoult, who's on a career-high this year, effectively carries the audience into Transylvania and embodies the fear as he enters Orlok's castle.
Bill Skarsgard plays Count Orlok as a looming presence. He's deliberately obscured in shadow, out of focus, or out of frame, acting through a deep guttural voice and leaving much to the imagination. What makes it all dreadful is that Count Orlok feels omnipresent. There's no escape.
Lily-Rose Depp delivers a physical performance, twisting and contorting her body like a possessed pretzel, overwhelmed by her unwanted metaphysical connection to Orlok.
In a press interview, Eggers said he prefers F. W. Marnau's 1922 Nosferatu over Bram Stoker's Dracula novel, favoring the simplicity of a fairy tale over the Victoriana in the novel.
The gothic theme of the sublime itself, the idea that nature is an overwhelming force that forces us to confront the fragility of our humanity, originated from England and is tied to the Victorian era.
I respect Egger's opinion but don't follow his reasoning. He prefers the story to be set in Germany like the original silent film, with the actors now speaking in British accents but the film explores the sublime all the same.
Fine. Perhaps I prefer the Victoriana. Or perhaps I don't see the core difference.
The Werner Herzog remake featured lingering nature shots of the rats plaguing the town, suggesting that vampires, or notably the plague, were simply a part of nature, and not inherently evil in the Judeo-Christian sense. Also, it was the first to portray Dracula sympathetically. These new interpretations helped the film stand on its own feet.
This Robert Eggers remake, as well-made and entertaining as it is, doesn't justify itself thematically and is oddly slavish to the original Nosferatu story. While it lends to breathtaking visuals, the historical folklore angle is insufficient.
This could easily be an instant classic for audiences experiencing this as their introduction to the Dracula story.
For a Dracula fan, the plot was in all the familiar places and dragged at the midpoint. By the time Willem Dafoe appeared as the Van Helsing character, the story got mechanical, and I was eagerly waiting for the end.
I wanted Robert Eggers to proverbially grab the source material by its neck, bite it, and leave his teeth marks on it.
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