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Reviews
Top Knot Detective (2017)
Hilarious and touching.
If you watch the trailer, you'll know everything you need to about this fictional documentary of a short-lived TV show that never existed. It's a sober look at an utterly bonkers Japanese program, in particular the troubled but brilliant (or perhaps not) actor, writer, and director Takeshi Takamoto. The aspect of this film I appreciate the most, besides the comedy, is that it actually delivers emotional moments and the story is not so crazy that it defies plausibility. One could easily be forgiven for thinking it's a real documentary about a real show.
Lowlife (2017)
Highly entertaining
Lowlife is full of fun ideas and great performances of some really compelling odd-ball characters, maintaining a heavy sense of drama throughout yet frequently delivering comedic riffs. It's a wild and thrilling story from start to finish. My movie of 2017 so far, and I expect to see it many times again once it becomes available.
XMOOR (2014)
Solid and natural film.
I really enjoyed this film. The story was well realised and the characters, while flawed, were at least so in believable ways. The turning point and resulting revelations came naturally without ever feeling forced or needlessly exaggerated for cinematic effect, yet still offered a number of tense and fearful moments. My friends had some criticisms about the actions of the characters, but in my opinion those were not unreasonable considering the circumstances each were in at the time.
While much of the film was shot in night-time forest areas, the cinematography was pleasing and did a good job of saturating the atmosphere with the bleak cold & mist of Exmoor, including some wonderful aerial shots of the location in the early morning