Ashes of Time is such a weird piece, I always have a hard time discussing it even. Too art house for some—certainly less approachable than Crouching Tiger or even the Zhang Yimou stuff, but still some of WKW's most beautiful work, and that's saying something. Mileage varies a lot, but it even got a parody movie out of…

…I have a deep fondness for the first Once Upon a Time in China (and Kiss of the Dragon, but I ain't arguing for that). The ladder sequence and the log fight in the rain…

I don't know why Trump or his supporters reactions would matter in this case—is there some imaginary magic casting that would unite people in laughter? That would persuade anyone not already in on it about everyone's humanity?

Here to add to the Kore-eda love—though I kinda hated Marborosi when I first watched it, and haven't seen it again since. After Life is still a sentimental favorite and I loved the other ones that I've seen.

But not standing in for the Amazonian rainforest.

The guys from the Raid were and I wasn't expecting anything, but I was still sad when they didn't do anything.

I caught Iron Monkey in a theatrical run many years later…it was just me, a couple of friends I dragged in, and like 4 or 5 teenage boys with the theater to ourselves. When the final fight part 2 starts on the logs, even they were "too much!"

Lance Henriksen will never get enough praise. I even watch that ridiculous Brian Bosworth Stone Cold movie for him and William Forsythe.

Oh, it's a lark thought certainly. Mainly I was thinking the fighting parts aside (which is big, but mainly to propel plot), so much of what's fun of Yakuza is that weird just daily errands living part.

You know, at this stage, I'm thinking Yakuza is more like Stardew Valley with brawling than anything else.

But there's certainly a calculation we all do all over no? One doesn't need to be assigning monetary amounts to be weighing one thing of another. Is that piece of art worth letting someone off from something? Affleck or Parker or Polanski? Meryll Streep got lots of applause for her Golden Globes speech—what if I like…

The story is complete fantasy set whenever, and it's mainly financially smart casting. It's not whitewashing, but I get what the people complaining are maybe coming from.

Re: the movie reception at least, Birth of a Nation did get a lot of praise at first, but I understand that Sundance typically has exuberant crowds that can include family and friends of the people who worked on the film, and tends to create buzz that may become hype. And so when more people actually got to see it—it…

Eh, did you really run out of doctors/entertainments done by other people? I'm not saying vet everybody, but if you find something out, there are vanishingly small services that can be done by only one person.

Not going to go all in my thoughts, since I'd have to re-research to do it satisfactorily, but one part is also, Birth of a Nation wasn't that good, and it featured a tropey use of rape. It might not've been bad, but there's (rightfully or wrongly) always extra forgiveness for work people feel like they would miss if…

Many people got that thing wrong. As an international project, it doesn't fit neatly into the white-washing charge people like so much—though I think you can argue about the institutionalized expectations it happily plays off, and is clearly muddled enough its defenders didn't really say that so often. (I really kind…

I pre-ordered (which is to say, ordered): Yes! I said no rush: No!

Re: Firewatch. You don't have to speak! Normally I do every time, but I stuck to it with every indecisive moment that resulted in an awkward pause, and damned if that didn't feel natural and well-handled as well. Personal note: I have more than one map i drew when I was kid that was exactly like the stuff you find in…

Hmm…along with the steroidal version I think there's a lot of taciturn men who otherwise don't show emotion, just super repressed or self-serious, while everyone around them does. I think the cracks are probably Saints Row (which is its own parody of everything else) and dad games. Fathers are allowed to emote toward…

I think that's a think that Miranda admits to even.