I'm Your Man

It's time for one woman and her robot.

In a new experiment, people are partenered up with robots, and one woman reluctantly gets her own robot. However, she has trouble seeing it as anything other than a robot, which kinda impinges on connecting with him. The robot is designed to be everything she needs... although the thing she really needs is happiness.

You won't be shocked by the plot, this movie still works really well for all that. Maren Eggbert and Dan Stevens are great as leads. (Note, this is a German movie, and Dan Stevens is an English actor... although he speaks flawless German, although they do explain why he has an English accent despite being a robot.)

Just a basic story about being human and connecting, and it's great!

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The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On

Oh, a documentary from 1987 from Japan! Although not a fun one.

Kenzo Okuzaki is a 62-year-old WW2 veteran and one particular event during the war he is aware of is the death of two Japanese soldiers. However, that doesn't sit right with him, and his religious views, so although the crime doesn't hold up any long under law, God's law demands the people responsible face up to the truth, that of murder. And so we follow him as he tracks down people, trying to get some sort of justice.

This is a while ago (even from the point of view of the documentary at the time) so he is talking to people who at best vaguely remember, and most often pass the buck of "it wasn't me, I didn't know about it at the time, I only just got there, I was just following orders".

However, this documentary is two hours long, and it is too long. This may reflect my Western sensibilities in how long it takes to get things to happen, but it does feel like there is stuff that easily could be cut out. I was also surprised about how much people let cameras in to film them.

An interesting documentary, but could be revised for current viewing habits.

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Escape from Mogadishu

A Korean Film, with a definitely different take than what you'd get from an American film.

South Korea and North Korea both have embassies in Somalia... and then it's the 1990s and a war breaks out between the military and the civilians. They get caught up in it, and eventually make the move to get out. Unfortunately, North Koreans are having a bit of a problem and they end up at the South Korean embassy, but even they can't all last long there. But is there a way any of them can get out, let alone both?

Neither of them are having a good time, and when they are forced together, tensions are very high, and not just because of the war in the city. This is a great movie and the character actors do fantastic jobs. By the end, while the authorities of North Korea can jump in the deepest pits, you really are sided with them all to get out alive.

(Conversely, if this was an American movie, no doubt this would have been American Troops criss-crossing the city, shooting everyone, and no-one would be likeable as they bravely deign to acknowledge the city as they casually leave everyone else behind.)

But yeah, we get a more intimate movie with this (than America) and I enjoyed this a lot.

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Savage

It's a New Zealand movie! From back in 2001... which contains the quote "This is America, you can't just shoot everyone!"

A young couple (very loosely in a relationship) drive around, and occasionally pick up hitchhikers for fun. But when they pick a cowboy, they also pick up his troubles, which includes a Maori drug lord and some skinheads. She wanted fun, but what will she have to do to earn the right to wear snakeskin?

This has a great lead performance by Melanie Lynskey...and about the only other person you might recognise is a younger Taika Waititi. That said, there are solid performances all around, and even the skinheads get something of an arc (even if they are still skinheads and get what's coming to them).

I'm not sure if this a classic NZ movie, but glad I saw it. It's really good!

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Sisters with Transistors

A documentary about early female pioneers in the electronica music industry? Don't mind if I do!

As it says above, this is about the female makers of electronic music, from back in the 50s, 60s and 70s. We hear from (and about) names like Suzanne Ciani, Elaine Radigue, Laurie Spiegel and Delia Derbyshire amongst others. We also hear plenty of their music, which basically is the entire backing track of this movie.

(And yes, of course they mention the Doctor Who theme.)

Given the range of music, it's not surprising that while I liked some, other music not so much. When even the subtitles say "drone" you know you are in for a tough listen. But hey, they were popular (in so far as they can be popular and still not well known, which is the point of the documentary) so it's not my tastes that mean anything.

If this sounds anywhere near your interests, give it a watch!

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Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time

Certainly one of the longest titles for a movie!

Marta leaves America for Budapest, to meet up with a man she met at a medical conference. However, when she tracks him down, he doesn't know her. Oops! However, she decides to stay around, takes a job that's rather beneath her skills, all to track the guy down. Yep, she's basically stalking him, but it's a good thing. In the mean time she sort of hooks up with the son of a patient, and then when she does get her man, it's not easy going.

Especially as she isn't the most reliable of narrators. We find out (she talks to a therapist, and this is one of the few movies where that's a good thing) that she has a tendency to make things up and later believe they are real. So how was this first meeting really? And when she is with the chap later, is she really, or is it in her mind?

I'm sure the ending isn't as ambiguous as how I read it, but after that set up, how could I not? Not to mention it ends on an image that might mean something, but I could easily have missed it.

But my main take away from this movie... dang, director Lili Horvat really likes a close up! Back that camera off!

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The Killing of Two Lovers

It's a character piece about a man trying to get back with his family.

That man we see in the first shot is trying to shoot his (separated from) wife and her new lover. From there, he tries to get through the days while he can't really be with his children and his wife is with someone else, and his teenage daughter having her own problems with the family having issues...

To be honest, I'm not sure why this made my short list, but there we are. My main issue is that... I don't like the lead character. He's not a great guy, so him getting back with the wife and the family isn't something I'm rooting for. Which is the basic thesis of the movie, so...

Maybe I should refine my selections better...

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