Been watching a few movies lately, went on a little Hong Kong kick especially
As Tears Go By 1988 - Wong Kar Wai's Hong Kong interpretation of Mean Streets and 1st Movie. I enjoy his movies generally and I liked this one, the cinematography in his movies are always pretty epic. Definitely could see how he progressed in his movies. Any Maggie Cheung is fine by me. Going to watch another movie with Andy Lau.
Super Cops II 1985 - Cynthia Rothrock and a young Michelle Yeoh. I wish I could have watched this with a better translation or the original language then what Pluto gave me, the voiceovers were terrible. Still I enjoyed it for what it was, Hong Kong Female Buddy Action Movie, which led me to watch another Cynthia Rothrock movie.
The Inspector Wears Skirts 1988 - Produced by Jackie Chan, Eh it was all right, I would have rather watched Super Cops II again. Less Cynthia Rothrock in this one, she was more of a guest star. It's weird typing this to see something like As Tears Go By came out the same year as this.
Renfield 2023 - I got this from the library (something I rarely do but should do more of.) I really liked this one. I want to hate Awkafina tbh but I think she is good doing her shlub loser Asian Character in every movie. Nicholas Cage was hammy as Dracula but it was fun, and Nicholas Hoult usually plays the same character and he did, but not in as mean spirited as usual. He played the loser familiar. Lots of gore, it was a good time, I may watch it again before returning.
Lola Montes 1955 - I can across this real life person from reading the book Royal Flash by George McDonald Frasier, who incorporated real life people in his fictional stories of the character Flashman. I found her to be an interesting person in real life (she was Irish and not Spanish for one) because of the affairs she had, but moreover how she basically was able to dictate the affairs of Bavaria as the king became enamored with her, and how she ended up buried in Brooklyn after a life in California. Anyway I understand this movie to set some of the precedents of French New Wave, and it was interesting that her character in the movie was the main attraction in a circus, but I just found it boring, unlike the person it inspired. Her life is where the song "Whatever Lola Wants," supposedly came from. From Wikipedia:
"Whatever Lola Wants" is a
popular song, sometimes rendered as "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets". The music and words were written by
Richard Adler and
Jerry Ross for the 1955 musical play
Damn Yankees. The song is sung to Joe Hardy by Lola, the Devil's assistant, a part originated by
Gwen Verdon, who reprised the role in
the film. The saying was inspired by
Lola Montez,
[1] an Irish-born "Spanish dancer" and mistress of King
Ludwig I of Bavaria, who later became a
San Francisco gold rush vamp.
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Long Goodbye 1972 - Robert Altman's interpretation of a "modern day" Philip Marlowe played by Elliot Gould. I enjoyed this for what it was. Marlowe's friend reminded me of Owen Wilson which is funny because I couldn't place who played the doctor in the movie and it turns out he played the priest in Wedding Crashers. Could have seen this as a good Owen Wilson/ Vince Vaughn remake when they were in their prime. The Ernest Hemmingway like character and actor were good and the movie wrapped itself up neatly. It had some fun quirky parts like this topless group of female neighbors. This most famous person in the movie in the end was the second appearance of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a movie uncredited as a thug who had no lines.
