November Catch-Up: All the Simon-Abrams-related News That's Fit to Promote

Don't you miss it? Don't you miss it? Some of you just about missed it...

“Now where am I?”

Greetings, fellow watchers of illusion. I am Simon Abrams, film critic and author, and I am here to catch you up on some items of note. It’s been a few weeks since my last newsletter, and to be quite honest, it’s felt longer. My concentration has been limited by a number of side projects, including my search for a new apartment. I’ve found one, by the way, and am moving in by the end of month. I’ve also been waylaid by deadlines and some other things I can’t talk about yet. Thing could certainly be going better, especially as my rent’s about to double. But I am grateful that my hands are full and that I’m supported by friends and loved ones.

The future of this newsletter is uncertain, but I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to focus a more on extracurricular writing here as my schedule evens out, including a couple of articles that I can’t place anywhere else. In the meantime, please consider paying for a subscription or even recommending this Substack to your friends. I’m not talking to my current paid subscribers either since they’ve already proven to be generous patrons. And if you’re wondering what’s in it for you: hey, I have blu-rays, DVDs, and other pre-owned (or even unopened/shrink-wrapped) media to give away to paid subscribers, too. Simply cough up, I mean sign up for a paid subscription, and I’ll shoot you an email, see what you might be into…

“Gun it, dad!” “Okay, son.”

Alright, now where were we? Let’s start with some reviews, focusing mainly on movies that I’d recommend to you, the reader. I don’t usually mind or feel it appropriate to only accentuate the positive, especially since I find myself unreasonably irritated by my peers’ disdain for negativity. Still, it’s been a month or more since our last catch-up—I refuse to look, even through forked fingers—so here’s an exceptional round-up, boom:

-The Greatest of All Time! (Now on Netflix) Tamil action star Vijay’s back and this time he’s playing his own dad, and you know what, just…just click here.

-How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies! I was not expecting to be so charmed by this crowd-pleasing Thai weepie, all about a scheming Zoomer who cozies up to his nana in order to steal her valuable apartment. But I was charmed, so there. Go, read, be charmed!

-Sleep! ($6 at your VOD outlet of choice!) The feature debut of Jason Yu, Bong Joon-ho’s second AD, also happens to feature one of the last performances from Parasite star Lee Sun-kyun. Sleep’s a surprisingly tender and sure-footed romantic-drama that also happens to be an appropriately neurotic possession flick. What to do when your partner’s expecting and you unexpectedly start walking around in your sleep? For answers, go here.

“Blood! Blood! Blood!”

-The Shadow Strays! (On Netflix!) With this gory new brawler, Indonesian genre guy Timo Tjahjanto confirms that the splattery, high-impact actioner The Night Comes for Us was not, in fact, a fluke. I think I prefer that earlier pic, if only because it’s more action-intensive and relentless. Still, Tjahjanto’s only gotten better at shooting action since then and his latest is definitely worth a look.

-Daaaaaalí! ($4 rental on VOD!) I can’t imagine a scenario where one might stumble upon a Quentin Dupieux movie without knowing who Quentin Dupieux is. That said, even if you don’t know who QD is, you might still enjoy this fittingly itinerant shaggy dog joke of a movie, which riffs on the idea of condensing Dalí’s life into a conventional biopic. Multiple actors play Dalí! There are lots weird sight gags and dreams within dreams! There’s also lots of anti-humor, much of which lands! You’d be a fool not to click…

“Men! How many of us are there? Men! Before we go any further, let’s be men!”

-Youth (Hard Times) and Youth (Homecoming)! Over the course of five years (2015-2019), Chinese documentarian Wang Bing lived near and recorded the lives of garment workers living in the Northern township of Zhili. In that time, Wang and his editor Dominique Auvray shot something like 2,600 hours of footage, so it’s not surprising that the resulting project was broken up into three (3) features. I reviewed the second and third of these movies and can recommend both, even if I do prefer Wang’s Bitter Money, which apparently was a proof of concept for Youth (Spring) and its sequels.

-100 Yards! ($7 rental on VOD!) Some action buffs have been waiting for Chinese director Xu Haofeng’s latest martial arts drama for *tallies fingers* eight years now. That felt like an eternity , especially if you knew 100 Yards that isn’t the only feature that Xu (The Final Master, The Sword Identity) made in the last few years. I got into that a little in my 100 Yards review. I maintain that Xu is one of (if not the) best working action directors; if you disagree, take a walk, your opinion’s no good here.

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Why is this man eyeing your sesame cake?

What else should you know? Well, there’s some noteworthy blu-ray supplements, too. I recorded audio commentaries for Jeremy Saulnier’s horror-comedy Murder Party and Jed Kurzel’s true crime psyhodrama Snowtown Murders. Both of those titles were released by Vinegar Syndrome’s partner labels. I’ve been happy to do some work for VS and their various associate companies throughout the year, including this month’s Congo blu-ray, which I contribute a booklet essay to. Still waiting for a couple of other 2024 supplements to either be announced or put on the release calendar, including a couple for Kino Lorber Classics.

There’s also some book stuff that’s happening at its own pace and some features, too…one feature that I wish I had an update on simply didn’t happen because the guy I was supposed to interview disappeared on me. We had an outlet, my questions, and a prominent institution’s publicists at our back. The guy still blew us off. Then he went on to do an interview with the BBC. That kinda sucked, tbh. If nothing else, that mid-sized heartache was a good and painful reminder that just because you’re ready doesn’t mean that the backup that you need is, too. Fuck ‘em, they either will or won’t come around in time.

I have some ideas for the next paid-subscriber’s-only post. You’re welcome to help me decide, but I’m currently torn between doing something about Bar Rescue, Mortal Kombat’s Rambo trash/pep talk bumpers, or another round-up of new Asian titles that you can stream right now (did you know that there’s an Indonesian remake of Zulawski’s Possession? I’ve seen it and it’s on Netflix right now) You’re welcome to sound off in the comments section of this new post. Who knows, I may even make the next post free, too…

In the meantime—MUSICA.