#lamaup film

[lamalamam]

top five movies

ohhh that’s a hard one. my movie ranking list fluctuates all the time so I'm going to pick five that are on my mind rn. so in no specific order:

1. The Handmaiden (2016)

the historical set design is gorgeous and brimming with visual metaphors. but it's park chan-wook, so the film's bound to be problematic; is it a product of male fantasy or a subversion of the male gaze? just the best movie to fight over with your friends who are majoring in gender and culture studies

2. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

don't know if it's the best Macbeth adaptation but it definitely got the most haunting take on the weird sisters. from the high-contrast lighting, the match cut transitions to the minimalistic set design, its aesthetics is *chef kiss*

3. Happy Together (1997)

what can i say. one of the most plotless movies i’ve ever seen, redeemed only by the charming cast (imo) and doyle’s cinematography, still it’s a film very dear to my heart. the character dynamic got me hooked: two uprooted persons holding onto each other because they are the closest thing to home. it has a banger soundtrack as well!

4. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

possibly my fav film that came out in 2021. magnetic and high-tension, i know it’s coming but the ending is no less devastating, still do not have the courage to watch the whole thing again. go watch the trailer.

5. The Truman Show (1998)

to end the list on a more light-hearted note, the truman show is my comfort movie of all time I mean who doesn’t love a cathartic ending? there's something really special about films made in the late 90s/early 00s that made them feel charming and sincere and boy does it hold up well

[lamalamam]

having to watch Luis Buñuel is my punishment for saying wkw's films are a narrative mess

[lamalamam]

Brushing up my memories of EEAAO, I’m once again reminded of the “you’re getting fat” line. I remember seeing people comment the line ruins the movie for them because of the fat-shaming. While I completely understand where they’re coming from, the line is also an excellent example of the cultural barriers between immigrant parents & their first gen children.

Saying someone’s getting fat is like a form of greeting in Sinic culture. It’s the first thing your elderly relatives say to you when you see each other during the biannual family get-together. In traditional Sinic culture, the word ‘fat’ can carry a positive connotation (e.g., 心廣體胖) because you have to live an affluent life to be well-fed.

Joy is about to leave in that scene, and Evelyn is drawing a blank on what to say because “I love you” and “I miss you” are simply unspeakable, so she turns to her roots, the only way she knows to show that she cares. So by “you’re getting fat” she means “I saw your growth and I noticed your accomplishment. But of course this meaning is lost because Joy simply doesn’t speak her language. That scene hurts not because of what was spoken but what wasn't.

[lamalamam]

is anyone gonna talk about how Osborn was like “it was all her fault, that woman bewitched you into this moral crusade with her holiness and righteousness-” like what is up with that

[lamalamam]

doc ock singing poor unfortunate soul

[lamalamam]

lotr is a lot gayer than i thought, and by that i mean its refreshing to see male platonic affection and intimacy portrayed onscreen

[lamalamam]

if they villains, why we sympathise???

[lamalamam]

“sometimes when two people love each other it’s really unfortunate” is totally Lai and Ho.

Ho Po-wing is the only character in the trio without any internal monologues and that is why so many label him as the antagonist/manipulator/heartless player, but you need to remember WKW’s narrative is as subjective as it gets, particularly in this film (illogical lightings, the switch from bnw to saturated colours, step-printing effect etc,). For most of the film we’re watching it from Lai Yiu-fai’s pov, that’s why we root for him. In actuality, Lai and Ho are equally terrible partners.  They regress at the slightest hint of insecurity, their fights petulant and childish. Ho is volatile, always the one throwing fits, but his outbursts are straightforward. He’s the one who breaks it off but also the one who reaches out. While Lai counteracts surprisingly with passive aggressiveness (think the scene when he deliberately misleads Ho, or when he refuses to eat, and my fav scene where he plays with the knife). They’re soulmates but in the worst way possible, they know all the right buttons to push, dragging this masochistic tango out until someone is finally fed up.

[lamalamam]

oh to see your city so lovingly evoked on screen

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love it when a director doesn't spoonfeed everything to the audience. need me more movies that rely on visual storytelling rather than expository dialogue that tells u what's happening in every scene

[lamalamam]

another way to interpret the rewritten ending (other than LC's scheduling problem) is that wkw wanted to offer a less pessimistic outlook on the 97 handover. The original ending seemed much more fitting in retrospect, but I understand the significance of hope for people who were living in that turbulant times

[lamalamam]

bless whoever upload the deleted scenes I owe you my life

[lamalamam]

im a simple movie enjoyer i see match cut i go feral

[lamalamam]

the dark knight screening banned for "endangering national security"