Not every day you get to see superhero movies that defined a good chunk of your childhood on the big screen again. Alas, with TIFF’s ongoing Christopher Nolan retrospective still progressing, it’s only coming into its final days as 70mm presentations of Interstellar and Dunkirk are incoming. Nonetheless, I’m getting myself caught up on writing proper reviews once more, after a long series of distractions came along. Be sure to keep your eyes on Cinema from the Spectrum over the next few days. Given that I’m also covering Fantasia at the same time, bear with me as I’m getting everything together once more.
Without further ado, these are Friday’s Five Films. If you like what you’re seeing here, remember to subscribe for a whole lot more.
#1: A City of Sadness (1989, Hou Hsiao-hsien)
I think most people have this listed as Hou Hsiao-hsien’s masterpiece, but due to its general unavailability here, it is not one that I revisit often. It’s also not one I think I’ll be finding myself rewatching frequently knowing how the title appropriately captures what it felt like to live through a tumultuous point in history, without a proper understanding of what went on around you. Hou Hsiao-hsien has always been one of the most reliable filmmakers when it came to the subject of memory. Though knowing the real, tragic history being covered in A City of Sadness, it’s also a treatise about how we choose to distort our own understanding of circumstances to continue moving on. These wounds only stay with you long after it ends.
#2: The Dark Knight (2008, Christopher Nolan)
I don’t think this film needs any introduction. Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies have been a big part of my childhood, especially because they were my first time seeing the character on the screen after reading the comics for most of my childhood. Which only makes it harder for me to be objective about these films, especially when they remind me of a good part of my growing up. That having been said, for as much as you always hear about The Dark Knight in this trilogy, it’s really just about as good a superhero movie as they’ll ever get. With superhero movies being so commonplace now, cases like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy feel refreshing, because they represent an artist using these characters to respond to their way to see the world. Maybe that’s more a comment about the superhero genre specifically, but to specifically go back to The Dark Knight, it feels like Nolan’s means of capturing the United States’s own crumbling foundation. And I think it only goes without saying the hospital demolition scene is one of the most astonishing set pieces in any blockbuster.
#3: The Green Ray (1986, Éric Rohmer)
If you asked me to rank Éric Rohmer’s Comedies and Proverbs, I probably would tell you that the best films are either Boyfriends and Girlfriends or Pauline at the Beach. Yet after seeing The Green Ray on 35mm this past weekend, I think it only goes without saying that Rohmer perfectly understands loneliness, and how it follows you so long after a time that should be pleasurable for you. In how he writes ordinary conversations, they’re all built around different understandings of life coming together. But that’s also where we start sensing his characters worrying about their future, especially when they know the time they’ll have to return home is coming close.
#4: Journey to the Shore (2015, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
This particular Kiyoshi Kurosawa film is not ranked as highly as some of his more revered works, most of which are in the horror genre. Though I think I feel comfortable ranking it as one of his best films, especially knowing that it’s taking the framework he’s used frequently in the horror genre and now used it to observe a long path of grieving. At least, because this is a film built within the shadow of a tragedy, and we’re thinking of an entire world to observe possibilities of what life could have been, if things went our way. Moments that are happy are made sadder, especially when these ghosts still permeate the world and help shape these places in our memories.
#5: School on Fire (1988, Ringo Lam)
My favourite Ringo Lam movie, but it’s probably not a film I find myself wanting to revisit in the same sense that I would for City on Fire or Full Contact. Yet, if you’ve watched City on Fire, it only goes without saying that Ringo Lam is on the more fatalistic end of the big Hong Kong action filmmakers of that era. This film might be the best encapsulation of such, especially when you’re considering the corruption of an innocent girl by manner of her own circumstances, whether it’s the bullying she faces or her involvement with the Triads. For a long while, I had wondered if this film was going to be made more widely available after having only been able to watch it on YouTube via a VHS rip, but the recent Shout! Studios Hong Kong collection has only made it into a reality – and in the best possible quality, too.
The Complete Day-by-Day Log
First time watches are denoted with bold text. Scores are on a ½ to ✯✯✯✯✯ basis.
Friday
A City of Sadness (1989, Hou Hsiao-hsien) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Batman Begins (2005, Christopher Nolan) - ✯✯✯✯✯, watched on 35mm
School on Fire (1988, Ringo Lam) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Saturday
I Love Paris (2026, Nicky Murphy) - ✯✯✯✯½
Charli XCX: Alone Together (2021, Bradley Bell and Pablo Jones-Soler) - ✯✯✯
Wild Search (1989, Ringo Lam) - ✯✯✯✯
Captain Pantoja and the Special Services (1999, Francisco J. Lombardi) - ✯✯✯½
The Dark Knight (2008, Christopher Nolan) - ✯✯✯✯✯, watched on 35mm
Sunday
George A. Romero’s Resident Evil (2025, Brandon Salisbury) - ✯✯✯
I Want Your Sex (2026, Gregg Araki) - ✯✯✯✯
The Green Ray (1986, Éric Rohmer) - ✯✯✯✯✯, watched on 35mm
The Dark Knight Rises (2012, Christopher Nolan) - ✯✯✯½, watched on 35mm
The Devil’s Mouth (2026, Jeff Wadlow) - ✯
Monday
Voice Without a Shadow (1958, Seijun Suzuki) - ✯✯✯½
Omkara (2006, Vishal Bhardwaj) - ✯✯✯✯½
Man on Fire (1987, Élie Chouraqui) - ✯✯✯
Yojimbo (1961, Akira Kurosawa) - ✯✯✯✯✯, watched on 35mm
Tuesday
When You Open the Door (2026, Eriko Katagiri) - ✯✯✯✯
La Haine (1995, Mathieu Kassovitz) - ✯✯✯✯✯
The Samurai and the Prisoner (2026, Kiyoshi Kurosawa) - ✯✯✯✯
Journey to the Shore (2015, Kiyoshi Kurosawa) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Wednesday
Nina Wu (2019, Midi Z) - ✯✯✯✯
Bona (1980, Lino Brocka) - ✯✯✯✯✯
A Guy Named Joe (1943, Victor Fleming) - ✯✯✯½
Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018, Tatsuya Nagamine) - ✯✯✯✯½
The Priests (2015, Jang Jae-hyun) - ✯✯✯½
Thursday
Classe Tous Risques (1960, Claude Sautet) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Rangeela (1995, Ram Gopal Varma) - ✯✯✯✯½
A Thousand and One (2023, A. V. Rockwell) - ✯✯✯✯½
Singapore Sling (1990, Nikos Nikolaidis) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital (2024, Kerwin Go) - ✯✯✯
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