Topsy Turvy (Leigh, 1999)

The Criterion Collection’s recent release of Topsy Turvy allowed me to revisit Mike Leigh’s film for the first time in a decade over at GreenCine. I’m amazed at how seamlessly the narrative jumps from character to character, texture to texture, sometimes traversing days and months in a single edit. This is the rare epic period piece that doesn’t feel long at all, and it will definitely get better with age.

A Woman, a Gun, and a Noodle Shop (Zhang, 2010)

A strange duck, A Woman, a Gun, and a Noodle Shop strips the brooding Neo-noir conventions from the Coen’s Blood Simple and re-imagines them in a vibrantly colorful vision of Chinese period-piece deceit. The film might not be one of Zhang’s best, but it warrants a look from those devoted to his filmography. It’s often stunning, including the final (nearly silent) climax involving arrows, swords, and splintering wood. Check out my review at GreenCine.

Links Galore

Catch up time. Links for my DVD/Film reviews that have been published elsewhere in the last month, including my first piece for the excellent film rental site GreenCine. Also, there’s some big news coming in the next few weeks. Just waiting for some last minute details to be finalized. Stay tuned…