Ming-liang Tsai’s Goodbye Dragon Inn (from 2003) is a classic where people who know and love historic cinemas will be able to adapt to the film’s movie ambience. Goodbye, Dragon Inn is engrossing in every scene and fragment, and it barely has any lines of dialogue. The film does not captivate its audience by its dialogue, but it does through many instances of clear continuity and cinematography throughout its cinema where the film takes place. I am someone who visits historic cinemas on a frequent basis throughout the Chicagoland area. Seeing this one at the Music Box Theatre made me feel deeply immersed in my movie’s habitat.

The film takes place on a stormy night at a regal Chinese cinema. The night is set to play its final film. That film is 1966 classic called “Dragon Inn.” With a rainy night, many would expect a crowd to turn up for a film, but the rain does not bring many fans out to this cinema. It has a small amount of audience, some who are into the movie, some who are less interested, and rather be social, and the entire film is just a visionary following of the many faces of who is at the cinema before its closure. The three characters in the cinema that have most of the attention Hsiao-Kang (played by Kang-sheng Lee), a Ticket Woman (played Shiang-chyi Chen), and a Japanese tourist (played by Kiyonobu Mitamura). All of them are in their own patterns as the nostalgic film plays on the big screen. With how many of them have different patterns throughout the movie, the cinema does not have much appreciation as it should.

Cinemas today relate to Goodbye, Dragon Inn. That is because many cinemas that are old and nostalgic are up and still in business and will draw in large crowds. Some may have different attendance now due to being in the early post-pandemic stages, but they still would usually grab attention. The opposite portion though, is how the cinema has (almost) no one a rainy day. The other aspect that adds to where its relatable but opposite, would be the audience not paying attention to the film. In today’s cinematic world, many film fanatics go to historic cinemas to enjoy classics, in Goodbye, Dragon Inn, the fans are going just to pass the time. What makes the film a masterpiece is its continued elements of showing every fragment of the cinema. That had me telling myself how amazing the cinema is and telling myself how cool it would be to be at that location as the characters were.

Watching this at Music Box Theatre also felt special because of how Music Box is an institute (literally). It was shown in 35 MM projection (the one true print projection format for classics). I did not want the experience to end. I felt like I was in a world of cinema history with being in a historic cinema and watching a film about a historic cinema. It was truly a mesmerizing experience that I will always remember at the Music Box Theatre.

Goodbye, Dragon Inn is essential to every cinema fanatic. For those who are frequent movie goers or have worked in cinemas (like me), they will relate to the pattern and direction that Goodbye, Dragon Inn is going. I loved this experience because it is a concept that is rewarding to cinema enthusiasts. If they know film subjects well, then Goodbye, Dragon Inn is essential among that subject. Four stars.

With summer movie season off to a semi-decent start in the pandemic calming down, films that have been sequels this summer have been impressive lately. The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard takes the continued humor and action to many heights of laughs and twists that I did not expect to anticipate. When you take the laid-back humor with Ryan Reynolds and throw the vocal Samuel L. Jackson in a spy film (continued), expect many more twists than the first. Some moments may seem predictable or the same, but the laughs do not stop with this sequel. The thrills were endless.

The film kicks off with Michael Bryce (Reynolds) who is trying to recover from the episodes of the first film, and escape the stressors that being a bodyguard has caused him. He suffers from many PTSD moments, and just wants to be on a break from anything that is violent after his dangerous missions with Darius Kincaid (Jackson). Sadly though, Bryce does not catch a break. They find themselves in another lethal mission. This time though, Darius’s wife Sonia (played by Salma Hayek) is involved. Their mission is to save Sonia, but may have bigger damages than they expect to handle.

What I found most captivating with The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard was how the espionage moments lead to the laughs with lots off added catastrophes. Bryce still tries to avoid violence (even when back with working with Darius), but Darius is still about causing all kinds of major damages. This sequel is like a good cop, bad cop flick where the damage only gets worse with bad cop, and remains neutral with good cop. That is where I found myself having a ball with this one. I knew that Bryce would not change his thinking, and that Darius would only cause more damage. Not just more damage, but clever misdirection for many more joyful moments. I will say for a film with Reynolds, I am starting to expect that more in his films.

This is a fun sequel, it is not amazing, but its awesome. I always love a film with the witty and satirical dialogue mixed with Reynolds and Jackson. With those two icons together, their fans are in for a wild ride. Be ready though for tons of language, lethal violence, but tons of hysterical moments. It will have you laugh just as hard as the first one (if you have seen the first one). Three stars for The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard.

Many samurai films lean towards culture, respect, tradition, and honor. Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 masterpiece Ran has all those elements, but with many brilliant and irreparable consequences. Corruption and power are where the individuals involved with the inner conflict clash with tension and violence. Kurosawa had a reputation for being an involved director with his cast and crew. He would be working with those he had a positive relationship with around his filmmaking. Ran has a numerous amount of in-depth and stunning acting between its protagonists and antagonists, and that is because of the brilliance of Kurosawa’s directing styles and routines. Ran is a genre of action, drama, and war that had me on the edge of my seat in its 35 MM screening at Music Box Theatre of Chicago.

The film takes place in Medieval Japan. A Japanese warlord Hidetora Ichimonji (played by Tatsuya Nakadi) is about to retire and divide his fiefdom with his three sons. The eldest is Taro (played by Akira Terao), the middle one is Jiro (played by Jinpachi Nezu), and the youngest is Saburo (played by Daisuke Ryu). Taro and Jiro respect their father’s wishes going forward with his decision. For Saburo, he makes issues go awry. Saburo believes that forces his brothers and him will not be on good terms going forward. With anger, distraught, and confusion, Hidetora bans Saburo. As the time goes by though, Hidetora comes to realize that Taro and Jiro are self-centered, and it becomes obvious they will not respect their father’s wishes. With the disbelief and growing conflicts, a war begins, and Hidetora believes that Saburo is the only hope to save him from the catastrophe.

The experience in 35 MM made me feel immersed with the Medieval Japan era. With digital nowadays, the films take up a certain portion of their screens, but with 35 MM it takes up the whole screen. The mountains, and the castles, and the battles were all a vibrant and nostalgic experience through the eyes of a Kurosawa’s monumental achievement. The experience was spellbinding. I was hooked on being in curiosity of which new scenery the film would take me to.

For true Kurosawa fans (if they know him well), they can tell the film is set and directed in his artistic vision. That is because he edited his own films (including Ran). That is why many of the important moments with conversations, fights, and tension are visually enthralling. Kurosawa was a director that wanted to keep working on his films until they were done to his standards of excellence. There is excellence in all his classics.

This was an experience that was an honor to have in 35 MM. Many films like this many do not think about watching in the cinema. They may be restored on DVD or in a streaming service, but the ambience is there with it in its print from its year it was released. I loved Ran and any Kurosawa film that can be seen on the big screen is worth it. Four stars.