All About Lily Chou-Chou
All About Lily Chou-Chou is one of those foreign films that dominated my college years. There was a time before high-speed internet when these films were near impossible to find in North America. This is where the readers groan and tell me how great it is that I can frame movies to key moments in my past. Pardon my Knowlesian moment, while you bitch and moan on social media.
This film is about two teenage boys in Japan bonding throughout life changes and a musician’s message board. The audience is never led to understand which boy posts under which screen name. However, we are taken in and out of a fixed timeline to see what has dominated their lives.
One boy almost dies, the other was a great elementary school student. Academics and social happenings smack into each other. These kids have legit trouble, but they want this Bjork figure to be the thing that removes them from their misery. Film Movement has been killing it on bringing these modern classics to HD.
Mission of Honor – Blu-ray
Mission of Honor was a foreign release that I covered earlier in the year. This fictional retelling of the Squadron 303 is handled pretty fairly. While the Brits like to glamorize the Battle of Britain, it’s neat to examine every aspect of the conflict. Especially since they weren’t totally cool with the Norwegian and other foreign pilots that helped save the United Kingdom.
Iwan Rheon is quickly becoming a personal favorite outside of Game of Thrones. Between The Dirt and this film, I’m finding myself seeking out more of his work. Originally released overseas as Hurricane, this film feels like it never got the attention it deserved.
I know the Western world prefers big showy offerings like Dunkirk, but what about looks at the awkward shades of wartime conflict? I’ll find myself waxing poetic about these situations, but I know the truth. Nobody can eat popcorn and listen to deep relationship studies at the same time.
