With the Christmas holidays having just passed and watching White Christmas from 1954 for the first time and learning that it was the first film to be shot using Paramount’s new VistaVision process, I couldn’t help but feel a bit defeated. The format is a rare commodity nowadays. And we should all be demanding answers as to why.

Keeper is Osgood Perkins’ sixth feature film as director. Having seen only this, Longlegs, and The Monkey, it is easily the best film out of the three and the one I enjoyed the most. Judging from these three, I think Perkins’ best work is still ahead of him. With this film, in terms of transcending the horror film genre, he is not there yet, BUT he is getting closer.

I found this little gem of a TV movie on Youtube. The plot: A playwright sets out to find the murderer of his actress girlfriend a year later by inviting his five theater collaborators under the pretense to rehearse for his “new play.” It is essentially a contained suspenseful thriller (primary location being the theater) and a smart one at that. It is also sort of a play within a play (within another play, maybe?).

One of the many appealing aspects about The Friends of Eddie Coyle is its title; Who is Eddie Coyle? And who are his friends? By the end, you realize if these are supposed to be friends, who needs enemies?

Yourself and Yours is Hong Sangsoo at his most playfully deceptive. The film stars Lee Youyoung (Minjung) and Kim Joohyuck (Youngsoo), a couple that breaks up over a rumor at the outset of the film. While Youngsoo wallows in regret afterwards, we experience Minjung as the woman who does not want to be recognized. Two men recognize her at a cafe, but she does not recognize them. Is she lying? Is she a twin, like she says? Is this an act? And who is the “real” Minjung?

This film begins with a subtle bang. Our lead, Hussein, is a heavy set man currently attempting a robbery at a jewelry store in Tehran. We hear him shatter glass display cases offscreen. As citizens watch him helplessly from outside, he paces back and forth aimlessly; it’s like he’s fed up. What we will find out is that we are going to watch a man who has had enough of being looked down on by society.

I love every frame of this movie. In fact, I don't think I've loved a movie this much since seeing ChungKing Express when I was in my early twenties. I got the same, warm euphoric feeling watching it. Directed and edited by Nobuhiko Obayashi, the camera is always in movement it seems, giving it this adrenaline rush that goes perfect with the movie's story.