remembering 14 films, A Natural History of Love

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Indeed, this Hwan is losing the energy to update hwan.com.

I have watched a few films of late, though recalling them is not all that easy.
  1. Kick-Ass. I enjoyed the fighting and the daughter/father team, but the rest of the film was mostly unpalatable. The obvious Toronto landmarks mercifully distracted me from some of the more painful bits.
  2. Disgrace, 2009. Shakes up everything without closure; some things can't be fixed even when they obviously need to be. Uncomfortable to watch. Malkovich is excellent.
  3. Battle in Heaven. Yikes, just yikes. Another film difficult to, ahem, swallow. Leaves a lasting visual impression, even if the plot is otherwise non-existent.
  4. Broken Embraces. Well-acted enough but predictable, obvious.
  5. Departures. I thought it was rather enjoyable. Quirky. Right up my alley.
  6. 3 Extremes, 2005. Not for the faint of heart: bloody gristly crunchy goodness. Fruit Chan, Takashi Miike, Chan Wook Park. In truth I only saw two of the three stories.
  7. Avatar. Technically impressive, needs to be watched on a big screen. I saw the 3D version and was entertained from start to finish, without a minute of feeling restless, which is a feat in a 5 hour, 24 minute film.
  8. Crazy Heart. Really liked it. Is it wrong that Bad Blake reminds me of me?
  9. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Wow, just excellent. A role entirely suited to Nicolas Cage's wildman personna. Unpredictable, delightful, powerful.
  10. An Education. Good performances from a deep, talented cast. Not a film that's normally up my alley but gains my approval nonetheless.
  11. Up in the Air. I really enjoyed this one, lots of nice touches, I was pleasantly surprised.
  12. The Brothers Bloom. Seemed to have the ingredients for a great film but comes up short. As such the first half is promising, the second, disappointing.
  13. Elegy, 2008. Smart and at times engaging, I eventually lost interest in the characters. Maybe I just don't like Penelope Cruz? I would definitely choose Patricia Clarkson over her, anyday.
  14. Fugitive Pieces, 2008. Holocaust films tend to be on the emotionally draining side, but this one manages to work through that, with the characters developing to a natural conclusion. I did find some of the scene transitions confusing.
I haven't much else to talk about, or that I can talk about easily here. I suppose I could rant about my joining the newly-poor, but that's incredibly boring I find. Videogame-wise, I haven't done anything new. On my third run through The Spirit Engine 2, been playing a bit more StarCraft and updated my Steam to play Team Fortress 2. Watching more of The Big Bang Theory. Worked through yet another cold, this one plaguing me for but a day. Oh, I'm currently reading Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of Love, an entertaining and informative book. Seems like I can only stomach female writers if they stick to the facts. Uhm, I've re-introduced milk into my diet? And speaking of stomachs, mine has certainly grown softer and pudgier. Yes, my stomach has, not me.

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