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| The Guardian - Culture: Film | | | | Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash review – masterful send up of 80s action flicks | | by Phương Lê Aug 3, 2022 | | Combining adrenaline-pumping violence and a torrid love affair this is a homage to, and a subversion of, classic Indonesian cinema Pulpy yet swooningly romantic, Edwin’s entertaining thriller has perhaps the coolest film title in recent years; it also won the Golden Leopard at last year’s Locarno film festival. Adapted from the popular novel by Eka Kurniawan – the first Indonesian writer to be nominated for the Booker prize – this is a bombastic time capsule of 1980s Indonesia that is all about the essence of manhood. Left impotent by a childhood trauma, Ajo (Marthino Lio) can’t get it up, but he can certainly raise his fists, earning a reputation as a daredevil who chases death just to prove his virility. Paved with hair-raising motorcycle duels and even murder plots, Ajo’s path towards self-destruction is cut short by his encounter with Iteung (Ladya Cheryl), a girl hired as the bodyguard for one of the young man’s intimidation targets. Cue the perfect meet-cute where the pair engage in thrilling hand-to-hand combat against the spectacular backdrop of a concrete dumping ground. And like any classic love scene, the camera lingers on their contorting bodies, accentuating the sensuality as much as the speed of martial arts moves. Continue reading... | | | | | Tax concerns axed Batgirl, but studios will suffer if they become too cynical | | by Peter Bradshaw Aug 3, 2022 | | Hollywood has always been hard-hearted – but now more than ever, it needs to remember that films are more than just profit-generating ‘content’ Gamblers and other types of investor are aware of the overwhelming need to avoid the “sunk cost fallacy”, to reject the irrational belief that even if a long-planned course of action is now clearly unworkable, you just have to keep on because you have sunk so much money and sweat into it. Ruthlessly cutting your losses is how executives demonstrate their virility. It’s what Rupert Murdoch did by closing the News of the World and it’s what Wayne Enterprises did in the DC Comics world by discarding the old merchant branches of its business in the 19th century. But does that – should that – apply to movies? Continue reading... | | | | | |
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