Coop-a-Log ¬-¬ Film Diary & Reviews

This was a mega packed week which started with the Czechoslovakian film, When The Cat Comes, part of the New Wave in the country. It's a cheerful film and has a fun premise. Then I watched a Chinese neo-noir, Black Coal Thin Ice, which has an incredibly unique feel thanks to how fresh the location feels compared to usual Western films. Then Super Mario Galaxy Movie made me question whether Ill...

Defeated after Return to Silent Hill and restored by Mirror, my last cinematic excursion before an unplanned hiatus: Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer, Elegy, Un ange passe. Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer is a documentary film created by his son with a few different interviews that document the life of a master from his feature to list and weave a narrative about his unnfortunate departure from...

Coop-a-Log W9 2026 - Judgement, EPiC, Return to Silent Hill, Mirror Judgement is a short film by Park Chan Wook that shows that the master had his style figured out from the beginning, although his inspiration most likely goes back to Alfred Hitchcock, but he was able to make it his own. Park Chan Wook can do more in 20 minutes than some directors in 120 minutes. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is...

W8 2026 - Your Face (Tsia Ming Liang), Send Help (Sam Raimi), Waiting Women (Ingmar Bergman) This week I muse on slow cinema of Tsai Ming Liang with some light discussion of Your Face, followed by Sam Raimi's Send Help which only has occasional hints of his signature style, in an otherwise enjoyable but mostly forgettable story of shifting power dynamics. Ingmar Begman is the only consistently...

W72026: HIT MAN, Crime 101, Marty Supreme, Aguirre, Wrath of God, The Enigma of Kasper Hauser, Django Unchained HIT MAN starts off as an interesting concept exploring the perception biases before becoming a slightly cliche, but well executed thriller with a romance at its core. It was good, but I felt a little bit let down that the movie switched from the more interesting premise to something dull...

In this week I watched Charisma from Kiysohi Kurosawa who I consider to be the master of horror and explain some of the reasons why. The other film is Bela Tarr's quasi-sequel to short film he made to graduate from uni.

Started the week with Shinya Tsukamoto's Bullet Ballet and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse before spicing it up with Carry On, surprisingly good mid-budget Netflix film and the Taiwanese 2nd New Wave with Tsai Ming Liang's Goodbye Dragon Inn. To end the week I was lucky to watch the Lost Highway and Eraserhead from David Lynch at the BFI IMAX (largest screen in the UK) and The Handmaiden from...

I started week 4 with Sergey Bondarchuk's Waterloo which is an incredible epic, that retains some of the great qualities of War & Peace but focused on a specific episode of history and provides it unreasonable scale. Then I watched Werner Herzog's Fata Morgana. Rashomon was one of the biggest highlights in this already packed week which showcases why Akira Kurosawa is considered one of...

In W3 I watched Pursuit of Happyness which I had massive issues it with its melodramatic tone. Also in that week I watched The Gorge which had an interesting premise that it dismissed in favor of boring action and an unnecessary conspiracy plot. Passion of the Christ is an impressively executed film but seems to focus on that more than exploring religion in a meaningful way. The Battle of Algiers...

W2 started off with a few short films that are hard to describe but interesting to experience. Then I watched a Soviet-produced Sherlock Holmes and the Hounds of the Baskervellies. To cap off the week, Scott Pilgrim Takes off.

In W1 of 2026 I watched the Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath which is traditionally watched in Russia for New Year's Eve. Then Worst Person in the World, the Palm d'Or winner for Joachim Trier. Following that, a relatively forgettable but still enjoyable Dragon Lord with usual Jackie Chan antics. And lastly, another festive NYE films from Soviet Union, Carnival Night.