Definitely in the same vein as the French “Man Bites Dog” and the German “Das Experiment.”

“Infernal Affairs” 1, 2 and 3 debuted at AFI Fest two years ago. Director Lau talked about the American remake (it had already been bought by then) and I’m curious to see how it developed.

A few observations: It’s more of an extended interview than a documentary. It’s in French and translated/narrated. There are no subtitles, which I suspect is more of a practical reason, since often his photographs are presented in full view while commentary runs in the background and subtitles would be distracting. There’s a lot of Bach piano music and to my delight Ravel is also represented as well (about three quarters of the way). His passion for the arts is what’s most endearing, specially the part where he visits the museum and talks about Painting, a first love for me as well.

The opening scene as it follows fall leaves and a little girl riding her tricycle eventually past a white picket fence, which reminded me of Blue Velvet and somehow seems out of place in a kids film, was the highlight for me, it’s funny (her singing specificially) and well-animated. The rest is pretty much a formula.

It’s the details that make this film worth watching. From the music, to how a sense of urgency is created by cutting to shots of the clocks, to how as time progresses they keep getting bigger and bigger, to how the threat is symbolized by cutting to the same shot of the railroad tracks. And so forth. Much recommended.

First Mexico and then Brazil. Sigh.

Agassi, now 36 years old, recently announced that he would be retiring at the upcoming US Open. He is the last man standing from his tennis generation. And so all eyes were on him at Wimbledon this year, as it would be his last tournament. He advanced through to the third round to play against 20 year old Nadal. The first set was a close one and went through to tie-breaker wherein Agassi lost. And from that point onward we knew that what we were watching was tennis history. It was an emotional goodbye and can’t even imagine what it will be like when he retires at the US Open.

This film was nominated for Best Motion Picture (1950) against “All About Eve.” It’s no surprise that the latter took the Oscar considering the commentary the film makes about Hollywood. Both films are worthy, but my choice would have been “Sunset Blvd.”

This film is specially fun to watch if you live or are very familiar with Hollywood, West Hollywood or the Hancock Park area, as there are many scenes that will give you a glimpse at what these looked like fifty-six years ago.

Plucked from the film: “Love is all a matter of timing, it’s no good meeting the right person too soon or too late.”

There’s a scene in this film involving Giulia where she sits by a piano that her mother has given her and the camera pans over to her beautiful hands as she starts to play. It’s then that we hear a scrumptious piano piece by none other than Maurice Ravel. This delighted me endlessly and I sort of know why. In any event, it’s the second film that I’ve seen recently that references his work. Now it also references Bach and Mozart, but their music is much too popular in film for me to keep track of.