Chinatown

MOVIE #1,947 • SCORE 10/10 • 09.05.24
SERIES: JAMES HONG A-Z ACTOR FOCUS (Ch. 29)

As time goes on, and I continue to struggle with what exactly I want this website/project to be, I keep coming back to the idea that A) I want to watch full director filmographies in chronological order, and then B) rank them. I don’t necessarily feel the need to critique the films any longer: I simply watch too many of them and the effort I put in doesn’t translate to joy (not to mention results, most of the time). I’m simply a compiler and proud of it.

I’ll probably keep a single A-Z actor’s filmography at any given time, though. It’s fun to bounce around in this fashion, if only because it mixes things up for me. For example, look at this magical, alphabetical run for Mr. James Hong — specifically the three films sandwiching Chinatown, an undeniable classic…


You’ve got:

• a Samuel Fuller war movie
• a XXX porno film
• a (somewhat lesser) Abel Ferrar 80s riff on Romeo & Juliet
• a choose-your-own-adventure animated kids released on interactive DVD
• a 1970 sci-fi flick
• a mid-90s Canadian B-movie where Hong is second-billed

So, yeah, Roman Polanski’s Chinatown… ever heard of it? Like with Ferrar and Fuller, this is another entry that sort of pains me to review out of order from those auteur’s careers. So I’m not going to. I’ll get to Roman ‘totally not problematic’ Polanski eventually.

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CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #1,946 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,948 ⫸

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Chinatown is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay by Robert Towne. The film stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. It was inspired by the California water wars, a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century, by which Los Angeles interests secured water rights in the Owens Valley. The Robert Evans production, released by Paramount Pictures, was Polanski's last film in the United States and features many elements of film noir, particularly a multi-layered story that is part mystery and part psychological drama. It was released on June 20, 1974.