EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): He rules anyway

Posted on July 5, 2026 by kaist455

Baz Luhrmann’s documentary film “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” is often excessive but undeniably electrifying in its vivid and impressive presentation of Elvis Presley as an entertainer. I must tell you that I am not a very big fan of Presley, but the documentary reminds me again of why he has been regarded as one of the biggest figures in the 20th American pop music history, and the documentary frequently pulls all the stops for emphasizing it to us with sheer energy and gusto.

It goes without saying that Luhrmann not only admires but also adores the main human subject of his documentary. After all, he already gave us Oscar-nominated film “Elvis” (2022), and the documentary was actually conceived from when he looked for the unseen footage of Presley for including it in that movie. While sixty-eight boxes of footage were eventually discovered, it was unfortunately without audio, and Luhrmann and his crew had to work extensively on restoring it with existing audio sources over the next two years.  

Their result may not be entirely perfect, but I must tell you that it is still magnificent to watch on big screen. Sure, many of those old footage clips in the documentary look old and grainy at times, but their visual qualities are quite good even on IMAX screen, and so are their audio qualities. To be frank with you, my eyes were often impressed by every crisp visual detail on the screen, and my ears were frequently overwhelmed whenever Presley galvanized his enthusiastic audiences on the screen.

Curiously, the documentary does not delve much into the life and career of Presley, probably because Luhrmann already explored that a lot in “Elvis”. Although that movie is quite flawed in my humble opinion due to a number of reasons including Tom Hanks’s heavy-handed supporting performance, it also has several good elements including Austin Butler’s Oscar-nominated lead performance, and it can be a fairly nice companion piece to the documentary. 

After briefly looking over the early years of Presley’s career at the beginning, the documentary goes straight to the later years of his career in Las Vegas during the 1970s. Although his career at that point was relatively less prominent compared to when he was the biggest American pop star during the 1950-60s, he still had enough charisma and talent to show off in front of many audiences, and you will be amazed to learn later on how tirelessly he worked day by day for what would be the last highlight in his career, though the documentary did not mention at all his serious health and addiction problem which probably led to his untimely death on August 16th, 1977 (He was only 42 years old at that time, by the way).

Anyway, the documentary shows a lot of what a committed professional entertainer Presley was. We see him closely and casually working with a number of singers and musicians for their rehearsal. We see him performing several famous songs such as “Love Me” on the stage with considerable energy and passion to mesmerize his audiences. As he frankly admits at one point, his singing style is influenced a lot by gospel and R&B, but he adds his own style and personality upon what he absorbed, and that was certainly what made him a huge pop music star during the 1950s.    

Thanks to the excellent restoration work by Luhrmann and his crew, we can observe every fine detail in the footage clips of Presley doing one concert after another. For example, I could not help but notice how sweaty often he looks on the screen, and this somehow took me back to how David Byrne also looks quite sweaty in Jonathan Demme’s great concert film “Stop Making Sense” (1984). Despite a lot of sweat and exhaustion, both Presley and Byrne are brimming with a lot of passion and excitement, and that is quite infectious to their respective audiences. 

In contrast to its superlative concert scenes, the documentary only ends up scratching the surface when it occasionally attempts to give us some glimpse into Presley as a human being. While it overlooks his problematic relationship with his fire wife Priscilla Presley (Please check out Sofia Coppola’s 2023 film “Priscilla” if you want to know more about her story), the documentary is also rather vague about Presley’s opinions on several social/political issues such as the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War during the 1960s.

This weak aspect of the documentary makes it feel a bit superficial at times, but, like many of Luhrmann’s previous works, the documentary seldom bores us. The editing by Jonathan Redmond is a bit too scattershot at times, but it is mostly tight and effective during the concert scenes at least, and it is certainly worthwhile to wait for what will be shown during the end credits, which incidentally looks as flamboyant as you can expect from Luhrmann.  

Overall, “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert”, which was released in selected theaters in South Korea a few days, is an engaging documentary which will definitely grab your attention right from the beginning along with its very charismatic human subject, and I am glad that I could enjoy its many big and vivid moments in the IMAX screening room of a local movie theater in my hometown. Yes, he still rules as before, and the documentary is certainly recommendable especially if you are more knowledgeable or enthusiastic about Presley than me.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Samurai in Time (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): A samurai sent to the 21st century

Posted on July 5, 2026 by kaist455

2023 Japanese film “A Samurai in Time” keeps its attitude as straight and sincere as possible, and that makes it all the more amusing for us. Its story premise is quite familiar to say the least, but the movie handles the story and characters with enough humor and skill, and it also shows some genuine poignancy later in the story.

The opening scene introduces us to Kosaka Shinzaemon (Makiya Yamaguchi), a samurai of the Aizu Domain in Kyoto during the late 19th century. When he and his colleague attempt to strike upon a samurai of their opposing domain, Kosaka and his target happen to be struck by a sudden lightening, and, what do you know, Kosaka later wakes up to find himself transported to a movie studio in 2007. Because this movie studio is mainly for period films and TV dramas, he does not draw much attention from others, who all mistake him for one of those extra performers on the set.

Needless to say, Kosaka is quite baffled to see the ongoing shooting process at one of the sets in the movie studio, and he certainly becomes much more shocked to see how much his country looks different in the 21st century. Fortunately, he later finds a place to stay thanks to the chief priest of a nearby old temple recognized by him, and he also gets some extra help from Yuko Yamamoto (Yuno Sakura), a young plucky lady who has incidentally worked as an assistant director at the movie studio.

As Kosaka understandably does not tell much about himself, both the priest and Yuko think he is just an extra performer a bit too serious about his small part in the movie studio, and Kosaka soon finds himself really working as an extra performer for the studio once it is noticed that he has all the right qualities to look like a real samurai. He is rather reluctant at first, but, of course, he turns out to be quite good as a stunt performer for shooting sword fight scenes. After all, he has trained himself a lot on swordsmanship for years, and he surely knows how to wield sword – and how to look realistic in being “cut down” by his opponent’s sword.

One of the most humorous scenes in the film is when our samurai hero requests to be mentored by an old sword master who has worked in countless period TV dramas and movies for many years. Despite their considerable age difference (I will let you decide on which one is actually older), Kosaka instantly touches the master’s heart with his good old traditional values and ethics, and he certainly comes to learn a lot from this old man, who gladly imparts his own knowledge and skill to him step by step,

As getting more accustomed to his new world and situation, Kosaka quickly rises to considerable prominence as a skilled stunt performer in the studio, and then there comes an unexpected big chance for him. A famous movie star is about to make a period drama film which will be a glorious comeback to his old genre, and Kosaka happens to draw this dude’s attention. He even visits Kosaka in person for persuading Kosaka to work along with him, but Kosaka becomes all the more reluctant to work with him – until he is eventually persuaded by Yuko.

The movie becomes more humorous as things gradually become uneasier between Kosaka and his famous co-star for their matters of pride and honor. While the director of the movie and his crew members including Yuko certainly notice the growing tension between their two lead performers, they simply think that Kosaka and his co-star are just quite committed to their respective roles, and the director, who is your average cocky filmmaker, enjoys this “chemistry” between his two lead performers without much second thought.

Of course, the movie becomes a bit more serious when Kosaka happens to learn more about the historical background of his movie later in the story, but it still maintains its absurd sense of deadpan humor as before. As becoming more serious about not only his role but also his movie, Kosaka is determined to push himself a lot more than required for the grand finale of his movie, and his co-star unhesitatingly goes along with that to the shock and surprise of everyone on the set.

Although it understandably steps back a bit during its climactic part, the movie still balances itself well between humor and tension, and so do its main cast members. Makiya Yamaguchi ably swings back and forth between absurdity and pathos along the story, and he is also surrounded by several solid supporting performers including Norimasa Fuke, Rantaro Mine, and Yuno Sakura. While Fuke clicks well with Yamaguchi during several key scenes of theirs in the film, Mine is both amusing and touching as Kosako’s mentor, and Sakura, who also incidentally served as the assistant director of director/writer/editor/cinematographer Jun’ichi Yasuda, holds her own place well as another substantial character in the story.

Overall, “A Samurai in Time” is a modest but likable fantasy comedy film, and I was entertained enough by a number of strong qualities including witty storytelling and good comic performances. Although its production budget was less than 30 million yen, the movie is fairly slick and competent as far as I observed from the screen, and it is not so surprising that the movie became an unexpected sleeper hit in Japan two years ago (It eventually earned one billion yen at the local box office, by the way). In short, this is a small but enjoyable gem worthwhile to check out, and I assure you that you will not be disappointed.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Enola Holmes 3 (2026) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A problem before her wedding

Posted on July 4, 2026 by kaist455

Netflix film “Enola Holmes 3”, which was released a few days ago, has less fun and excitement compared to its two predecessors to my little dissatisfaction. While it is supported mostly well by the plucky presence of its lead actress at least, the movie often feels plodding without enough intrigue to hold our attention, and we can only hope that our smart and spirited heroine will have a more exciting adventure in the next time.

At the beginning, the movie, which is loosely based on Nancy Springer’s acclaimed book series “The Enola Holmes Mysteries”, quickly establishes how things become suddenly complicated for Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown), the younger sister of Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill). During last several years, she has become as prominent as her older brother while proving her worth and intelligence again and again, and she is willing to continue her detective more as long as possible, but there comes an unexpected moment. Her longtime boyfriend, Lord Tewkesbury (Louis Partidge), proposes to her, and she accepts her proposal even though she does not want to quit her advancing detective career for their marriage.

In case of Sherlock, he is not so amused by this sudden decision of his younger sister, but he agrees to attend her wedding anyway, which is going to be held in a little Mediterranean island named Malta. Everything seems to be going fairy well for Enola, but then she finds herself hesitating a lot right before the wedding, and then she is notified by Dr. Watson (Himesh Patel) that Sherlock was kidnapped.

Needless to say, Enola soon works on this latest case of hers even though this surely lets down her boyfriend a lot. As guided by her own intelligence as well as what she has learned from her dear mother who has been a fugitive pursued by the British government due to her radical political activities, Enola gradually grasps the existence of an evil and cunning figure behind the kidnapping of her older brother, and the situation becomes more urgent as Tewkesbury later gets involved with her ongoing investigation due to a big personal reason.

However, the screenplay by co-producer Jack Thorne, who recently won two Emmys for his acclaimed Netflix miniseries “Adolescence”, often struggles to balance itself between the mystery and Enola’s personal matters. For example, the mystery itself is not particularly surprising, mainly because the opening scene of the movie already showed us someone who will soon escape from the prison and then set the trap for our detective heroine. You will not be surprised much when this figure finally appears in front of Enola later in the story, and it is a shame that the movie does not delve that much on this figure’s deep resentment toward the colonialism of the British empire.

 Furthermore, the relationship between Enola and her boyfriend has less charm and spark than before, and the movie trudges a lot whenever it pays attention to how they try to deal with that awkward problem in their relationship. They do love each other, but Enola still do not want to be limited by their marriage – even when they have a little romantic time together on a beach alone by themselves. In the end, the movie brings out a rather convenient ending for this romantic issue of theirs, and that is a bit too disappointing in my humble opinion.

Nevertheless, you will still appreciate the considerable talent and presence of Millie Bobby Brown, who has steadily advanced since her breakthrough Emmy-nominated turn in Netflix drama series “Stranger Things”. Just like she did in the previous two films, she effortlessly slips into her role right from the beginning, and, thanks to her natural charm, we do not mind at all even when she breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience. In case of several modest physical action scenes in the film, Brown demonstrates that she can be a good action movie heroine someday, and I would love to see her doing what Charlize Theron has often done during last several years since “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015).

Around Brown, the movie assembles a number of notable performers, who did a fine job of filling their respective spots as well as they can. Louis Partridge, Henry Cavill, Himesh Patel, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sharon Duncan-Brewster dutifully support Brown in one way or another, and Carter and Duncan-Brewster certainly has a lot of fun with their substantial supporting characters. Although his character is rather flat as usual, Partridge has a good moment when his character comes to learn more about his family’s deep connection with Malta, and Patel brings some gentle humanity to his supposedly thankless role.

 On the whole, “Enola Holmes 3” is relatively less satisfying than its two predecessors, but it is not wholly deficient thanks to not only Brown’s strong presence but also the competent direction by Philip Barantini, who also won several Emmys for “Adolescence”. He and his crew including cinematographer Matthew Lewis did a commendable job of imbuing the screen with a lot of sunny Mediterranean mood, and the score by Aaron May and David Ridley, who incidentally replaces their predecessor Daniel Pemberton, is effective as bringing some extra spirit to the film. Although the series goes down a bit in this case, there are still good stuffs to enjoy, and I will not mind if there will be another Enola Holmes movie. After all, there are some remaining issues to deal with for her, right?

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Sheep Detectives (2026) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A woolly mystery

Posted on July 2, 2026 by kaist455

“The Sheep Detectives” has much more charm and wit than its rather silly title suggests, and I was accordingly entertained a lot during my viewing. As a comic mystery tale mixed with some familiar elements from Agatha Christie as well as “Babe” (1995), the movie often intrigues and delights us from the beginning to the end, and it even shows some genuine poignancy as its animal detective characters delve more into their simple but urgent murder case.

The story, which is set in a typical English country village which will surely take you back to Christie’s Miss Marple stories, opens with how wonderful things have been for a bunch of sheep under the care of their shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman). George is a nice dude who deeply cares about the sheep under his charge, and the early part of the movie shows how he goes through his daily life alone by himself with his sheep.

One of George’s daily routines is reading mystery novels to his sheep just for comforting and entertaining them a bit before they go to sleep. Unbeknownst to him, his sheep actually understand whatever he reads aloud in front of them, and we get an amusing moment when they actively discuss later on who committed the murder in the latest mystery novel read to them.

Meanwhile, things get rather ominous in the village. It looks like George is not liked that much by some of the villagers, and we observe some fishy aspects of these villagers. What do you know, he is soon found dead outside his little residence by his sheep on the next morning, and his sheep are naturally quite devastated as feeling quite uncertain about what may happen to them.

In case of a sheep named Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), she gradually senses that there is something suspicious about Geroge’s death, and she and her friend Mopple (voiced by Chris O’Dowd) eventually decide to investigate more on their shepherd’s death. Not so surprisingly, there are indeed several possible suspects in the village, and the situation becomes a bit more complicated when George’s daughter, who was incidentally separated from him when she was very young, arrives at the village along with her no-nonsense lawyer and George’s will. 

I must say that the mystery inside the story is rather elementary to my standard (I could easily and instantly spot a small but crucial clue which soon led to me to the identity of the murderer, for example), but I was constantly engaged thanks to the witty screenplay by Craig Mazin, which is based on the 2005 German mystery novel “Three Bags Full” by Leonie Swann. As smoothly juggling its numerous animal and sheep characters, the movie deftly doles out one possible clue after another to be picked up by us and our sheep detectives, and it is fun to see how they show more wit and intelligence as trying to figuring out what really happened to their dear shepherd.      

In addition, they also show a lot more sincerity than expected as becoming more serious about the case and their life. In case of a sheep named Sebastian (Bryan Cranston), he is rather aloof even when he gives some help to Lilly and Mopple, but he turns out to be hiding a lot of personal pain involved with his past before being bought by George. As a sheep which can remember much more than other sheep, Mopple certainly has some serious issues to deal with, and there is a little touching moment when he confides to Lily a bit on the upside and downside of his unique ability. 

It surely helps that the sheep characters in the movie are convincingly realistic enough for us. Although they are mostly CGI, many of them look individually distinctive for their colorful appearances and personalities, and they become more endearing to us as they diligently carry the story toward the finale where everything is revealed and explained. While she looks mostly plain on the surface, Lily is clever and resourceful enough for not only solving the case but also finding a rather ingenious way to deliver the answer to a local police officer struggling to handle the case, and that incidentally takes me back to that cat detective in Jiro Akagawa’s several mystery novels including “A Game of Cat and Killer”.   

The voice cast members in the film did a splendid job of bringing enough life and personality to their respective woolly roles. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, and Chris O’Dowd ably balance their sheep characters between humor and drama, and several other voice cast members including Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey as Zora, and Brett Goldstein have each own moment to shine. In case of the performers playing the human characters in the story, Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Tosin Cole, Hong Chau, and Emma Thompson bring extra fun to the story without never overshadowing the sheep characters in the story at all, but Thompson steals the show a bit as expected to our little delight.

In conclusion, “The Sheep Detective”, directed by Kyle Balda, is certainly recommendable for anyone who loves good mystery novels. Considering that Swann subsequently wrote two sequel books after “Three Bags Full”, we may soon get another adventure of these likable woolly fellows, and I will certainly have some expectation if the production of the sequel is started.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Little Brother (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): The trouble with his “brother”

Posted on June 29, 2026 by kaist455

I must confess that it took some time for me to recognize the considerable talent of John Cena. Around the time when he appeared in “12 Rounds” (2009), he looked to me like just another popular American professional wrestler trying to follow the footsteps of, say, Dwayne Johnson, but he gradually demonstrated his distinctive talent in a number of different works such as “Trainwreck” (2015) and “The Suicide Squad” (2021) during next several years. As recently shown from his wryly hilarious guest appearance in Apple TV+ series “Pluribus”, he is smart enough to know exactly what and how he can act, and that will certainly help his ongoing career more.

As far as I observed from his performances, Cena is usually effective as a straight counterpart to silly or absurd comic situation (I would love to see him doing deadpan comedy for Wes Anderson someday), and that valuable talent of his is effectively utilized in Netflix comedy film “Little Brother”, which was released in last week. While showing good comic timing along with his fellow main cast members, he also keeps his acting as straight as possible, and this actually makes a number of loony moments in the film all the more amusing for us.

Here in this film, Cena plays Rudd Landy (John Cena), who is a fairly successful real estate businessman in New York City but still wants to distinguish him a lot more due to his longtime inferiority complex associated with his older brother Josh (Christopher Meloni). Since their early years, Josh has always looked cooler and more successful compared to his younger brother, and Rudd feels like being overshadowed again by Josh when Josh, who is incidentally a very wealthy hedge fund manager, contributed much more money than Rudd to a charity event held by Rudd’s wife Deirdre (Michelle Monaghan).

Anyway, Rudd has been recently trying to go for more prominence and success via some big reality TV show, but the situation does not look that rosy for him from the very beginning. To the producers of the reality TV show, he is just another candidate to come and then go, and that certainly makes him all the more insecure and neurotic than before, while also making him a lot more distant to his wife and their two adolescent sons.

And then there comes an unexpected change on one day. Rudd and his wife happen to be brought in front of a guy named Marcus Pinchel (Eric André), and Rudd does not recognize Marcus at first before eventually remembering an old connection between him and Marcus. More than 25 years ago, young Rudd got himself associated with young Marcus via a “Big Brother-Little Brother program”, and this brief relationship between them has meant a lot to Marcus even though Rudd never contacted him since then.

It soon turns out that Marcus’s longtime assistant Mia (Sherry Cola) has corresponded with Marcus for a while via Rudd’s email account without Rudd’s knowledge. Believing that Rudd still cares a lot about him, Marcus decided to go to see Rudd in New York City, so he got out from a mental hospital where he had temporarily stayed for no particular reason.

Needless to say, Rudd’s daily life and schedule are immediately disrupted in one way or another thanks to Marcus, who is your average messy troublemaker. As his “brother” keeps causing more troubles, Rudd becomes more exasperated and frustrated, but he is also quite perplexed as Marcus is somehow accepted well by not only his family and assistant but also the producers of the reality show, who instantly sense considerable potential from Marcus right from the start.

 As Cena steadily holds the ground with the growing exasperation inside his character, the movie diligently throws one wacky comic moment after another, and Eric André willingly throws himself into sheer silliness and absurdities without any sense of condescension. While his goofy appearance makes a good contrast with his co-star’s straightforward attitude, André somehow strikes the right balance between sincerity and zaniness, and he also did a good job of imbuing his character with some little but precious pathos. Yes, we can clearly see how much his character annoys Rudd with his irrepressible goofiness, but we also perceive Marcus’s sincere and amiable aspects just like Rudd’s wife, who gladly shows more heart to him and then receives some valuable lesson to spice up her marriage a bit.

While it becomes pretty predictable and less fun during its last act, the movie keeps holding our attention thanks to its two co-stars’ good efforts, and they are also supported well by several main cast members, who have each own comic moment to shine along the story. While Michelle Monaghan, who has been one of the most underrated actresses working in Hollywood at present, surprises us as not flinching at all from some of the raunchiest moments in the film, Christopher Meloni somehow brings some interesting human details to his supposedly broad supporting character, and the special mention goes to Sherry Cola, who ably overcomes her rather thankless supporting part.  

  In conclusion, “Little Brother” does not surpass my expectation, but it handles its comic materials a bit better than expected, so I give it mild recommendation. Yes, it is sometimes too silly for my taste, but I did chuckle more than once during my viewing, and now I must remind myself again of what my late mentor Roger Ebert often quoted: “A man goes to the movies. A critic must be honest enough to admit that he is that man.”

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Voicemails for Isabelle (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): A typical Netflix romantic comedy with some enjoyable things

Posted on June 29, 2026 by kaist455

Netflix film “Voicemails for Isabelle”, which was released a few weeks ago, is quite typical to the bone. Even before its Meet Cute moment, you will already have a pretty good idea on how the story will go after that narrative point, and it will not surprise you much on the whole. Nevertheless, its many conventional aspects are thankfully compensated by a number of enjoyable things including the undeniable likable presence of its lead actress, who is certainly the best element in the film.

Zoey Deutch, who has been more prominent during last several years thanks to her good performances in several notable films such as Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague” (2025), plays Jill Shaw, a struggling young female baker working in San Francisco, California. During the opening part, we see how close Jill and her younger sister Isabelle (Ciara Bravo) were to each other as they grew up together, and the movie handles this crucial part with enough humor and poignancy. Although Isabelle had been struggling with cystic fibrosis since her birth and was not expected to live that long, Jill always stood by her along with their loving parents, and Isabelle certainly appreciated her older sister’s care and affection.

Although Jill subsequently left their home in Austin, Texas for her baking career, she and Isabelle keep corresponding with each other day by day. When Isabelle tells Jill on one day that her current medical condition has been getting worse than before, Jill is not particularly worried at first, but then her younger sister suddenly dies not long after that, and Jill is certainly quite devastated by this sudden loss.

After going through another unsatisfying day not long after Isabelle’s death, Jill leaves a voicemail to Isabelle’s phone number as usual, but it turns out that Isabelle’s phone number is now for a new smartphone belonging to Wes (Nick Robinson), a hunky lad incidentally working as a real estate broker in Austin. While he is quite perplexed by the continuing stream of voicemails from Jill, Wes gets to know more about her and Isabelle via her voice mails, and he eventually decides to go to San Francisco for meeting her.

Because he knows where she usually sends her voicemail to him, it is not difficult for Wes to meet Jill at that spot in question. Although he still does not talk anything about receiving her voicemails, Ned comes to like Jill more as getting to know her more during next several days, and Jill is pleased to spend more time with Wes, who seems to be much better than several crummy dudes she met before him.

Yes, this surely feels quite conventional already, and the screenplay by director/writer Leah McKendrick is certainly well aware of that. At one point in the middle of the story, Wes confides everything to his two best friends who are about to marry, and they immediately point out that his situation is not so far from Tom Hanks’s character in “You’ve Got Mail” (1998) – and how unfair he is to Jill just like Hanks’s character to Meg Ryan’s in that movie. In addition, a number of romance films such as “The Faults in Our Star” (2014) are mentioned throughout the movie, and it is a shame that “Vertigo” (1958), which is, in my humble opinion, one of the most desperate (and morbid) romance films in the movie history, is not mentioned at all even though the Golden Gate Bridge is frequently shown in the film.

McKendrick’s screenplay mostly sticks to its numerous genre conventions, but it mixes them with a substantial amount of wit and humor, and the result is often buoyed by her two engaging lead performers. Deutch frequently exudes her natural charm as her character bounces from one narrative point to another along with her co-star, and she also demonstrates well her considerable comic talent during several key scenes associated with her abusive boss and rather unsympathetic colleagues. While having some good laughs from that, we come to care more about Jill than before, and Deutch diligently carries her character and the movie to the end even though the story lags more than once during the last act.

On the opposite, Nick Robinson, who has mostly been known for his several notable films including “Love, Simon” (2018), is relatively bland compared to his co-star. Nevertheless, he is well-cast as an effective counterpoint for Deutch, and he has his own moment when his character valiantly attempts to amuse and entertain Jill and several others riding a local tour bus along with them. We can clearly sense more of the growing affection between them, and that certainly makes him more hesitant about revealing everything to her than before.

In case of several supporting performers in the film, they simply fill their functional roles as much as possible. As Jill’s sick younger sister, Ciara Bravo clicks well with Deutch during the early part of the story, and Gil Bellows and Tanis Dolman provide some warmth as Jill and Isabelle’s caring parents. Harry Shum Jr. and Megan Danso have some fun with their broad supporting roles, and Nick Offerman gleefully chews his several scenes as Jill’s abusive boss.

Overall, “Voicemails for Isabelle” does not break any new ground in its genre territory, but it works mainly thanks to the solid chemistry between Deutch and Robinson. Even though I found their movie a bit too predictable, I still rooted for their characters nonetheless, and that is what a good romantic comedy film can do, isn’t it?

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Summer’s Camera (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): A little sensitive queer adolescent drama

Posted on June 28, 2026 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Summer’s Camera” is a little queer adolescent drama to be admired for its somber but sensitive moments. Calmly following the uncertain emotional journey of its queer adolescent heroine, the movie subtly illustrates her personal loss and grief beneath the surface, and it is also interesting to observe the story thoughtfully handling what is going to be her very first romance.

At the beginning, Yeo-reum (Kim Si-a) frankly tells us about her life with her father, who worked as a photographer before his sudden death. He gladly shared his professional passion with his daughter whenever they spent time together, and he even gave her some of his old film cameras for encouraging her interest in photography more. 

Some time after her father’s death, Yeo-reum, whose name incidentally means “summer” in Korean, remains stuck with the last film camera given to her by him. While still wondering what she really wants to shoot on the last few films of an old film roll inside the camera, Yeo-reum accidentally encounters Yeon-woo (Yu Ga-eun), one of the soccer players in her female high school. Right from when their eyes are met, something clicks inside Yeo-reum, and she eventually uses those last few films for shooting Yeon-woo practicing on the school field.

When she subsequently gets the film roll developed, Yeo-reum discovers something quite unexpected. The film roll also contains a bunch of old photographs shot by her father during his high school years, and she notices that he shot a lot of some other boy around his age. Fortunately, there is the name of this boy in one of these old photographs, and then she locates him at a spot not so far from her neighborhood.

His name is Ma-roo (Kwak Min-gyu), and, as he frankly reveals later, Yeo-reum’s father was his boyfriend before breaking up with him and then marrying Yeo-reum’s mother. He and Yeo-reum soon spend more time together, and he gradually becomes someone to whom she can talk about anything including her growing romantic feelings toward Yeon-woo.   

However, it does not take much time for Yeo-reum to take her first forward step toward Yeon-woo, who, to Yeo-reum’s surprise, turns out to have been quite attracted to Yeo-reum since their first encounter. When Yeo-reum later reveals more of this romantic situation of hers to her best friend Min-jeong (Lee Eun-sol), Min-jeong does not mind this at all, and it seems that all Yeo-reum will have to do is confiding everything to her mother, who is mostly absent as busily working for supporting herself and her daughter.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that there will be an inevitable moment of heartbreak for Yeo-reum, but the movie does not hurry itself at all while wisely avoiding unnecessary melodrama. With some more support from Min-jeong, Yeo-reum and Yeon-woo show more affection to each other without hiding their romantic relationship much from others around them, and that surely reminds us of how South Korean queer cinema has become a lot more open and honest than before. Around 20 years ago, many of South Korean queer films were far from mainstream, but South Korean queer cinema were boosted a lot by a number of critically acclaimed works ranging from “The Handmaiden” (2016) to “3670” (2025) during the last two decades, and it is certainly refreshing to see an adolescent queer character who is totally fine with being herself while more concerned about those universal matters of romance familiar to all of us.        

As leisurely rolling its story and characters, the screenplay by director/writer Divine Sung, who incidentally made a feature film debut here in this film, gets us more engaged in Yeo-reum’s slow but steady emotional journey. Several intimate personal moments between Yeo-reum and Yeon-woo are shown with soft and sunny warmness, and that is why it is devastating to see Yeo-reum belatedly realizing an overlooked problem in their supposedly strong relationship. As Ma-roo tells Yeo-reum more about her father, her mind sometimes drifts around imagined moments, and these imagined moments eventually lead to a poignant moment of acceptance for her later in the story. 

Sung also draws engaging performances from her main cast members. Kim Si-a, who previously played a substantial supporting character in “Kill Boksoon” (2023), earnestly holds the emotional center of the story, and she is also supported well by several other cast members including Kwak Min-gyu, Yu Ga-eun, and Lee Eun-sol. Kwak’s understated acting complements well Kim’s forthright attitude during several key scenes of theirs, and Yu and Lee hold each own place around Kim besides bringing enough life and personality to their respective supporting roles. 

Overall, “Summer’s Camera” is worthwhile to watch for several good reasons including its delicate mood, thoughtful storytelling, and good performances. This is surely another notable feature debut film from South Korean cinema during this year, and it will be interesting to see what may come next from Sung after this commendable starting point. I think she is a fairly promising filmmaker, and I sincerely hope that she will advance further with more artistic achievement to impress us.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Manok (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): A lesbian lady back in her rural hometown

Posted on June 28, 2026 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Manok” is a likable queer comedy drama boldly waving its rainbow spirit across the screen. While its cheerful mix between humor and drama often feels rather uneven especially during its second half, the movie has a lot of spirited fun with how its brash lesbian heroine goes all the way for her modest but significant goal without hiding herself at all, and this surely tickled me and other audiences around me more than once.   

At the beginning, we are introduced to Man-ok (Yang Mal-bok), a middle-aged lesbian woman who has run a little lesbian bar at the Itaewon-dong neighborhood of Seoul for around 20 years. When she belatedly realizes that her bar has not actually been that popular among her fellow lesbians including her longtime companion Geum-ja (Kim Jung-young), she cannot help but lash out at several others including Geum-ja, and she eventually decides to shut down her business not long after being informed that her estranged mother died and then left their old family house to her.

Although she knows well that she will not be welcomed much due to her checkered past, Man-ok returns to her rural hometown for staying at her family house at least for a while. Needless to say, this instantly raises the eyebrows of everyone in the village including her ex-husband Cheol-joo (Park Wan-kyu), who married a local hairdresser not long after their divorce and has also incidentally been the village chief during last several years. 

All Man-ok wants is living quietly without drawing much attention from the others in the village, and several village people are actually nice to her without asking too much, but she soon finds herself blocked by Cheol-joo’s petty personal resentment in one way or another. After getting encouraged a bit by some other villagers who have been quite discontent with Cheol-joo’s leadership, she eventually decides to challenge him in the upcoming election for the village chief, and Cheol-joo is certainly not so amused at all.

Because neither Man-ok nor her several supporters do not have any particular election campaign experience, they soon find themselves stumbling more than once, but they finally find a right campaign strategy for appealing more to those voters out there. It turns out that many of the villagers are not so pleased with how Cheol-joo has been running their village, and Man-ok eventually succeeds in presenting herself as a possible good alternative.

However, Man-ok remains not so open about her homosexuality to the villagers, and she becomes all the more conflicted due to Jae-yeon (Sung Jae-yun), a local queer teenager who is actually the only daughter of Cheol-joo and his current wife. After seeing how Jae-yeon, who is apparently more comfortable with being a boy, has kept his sexual identity to himself in a little private place which once belonged to her, Man-ok is willing to come closer to Jae-yeon as a possible mentor figure to lean on, but she also hesitates at times due to her ongoing election campaign.

And things become a bit more complicated as Geum-ja and her and Man-ok’s female transgender friend Seon-ah (Saek Ja) come to the village later in the story. Both Geum-ja and Seon-ah certainly draw a lot of attention from the villagers not long after their arrival in the village, and this naturally generates more inner conflict for Man-ok, though she is still happy to see them again. 

Yes, the story eventually arrives at the inevitable moment when Man-ok’s homosexuality is fully disclosed to the villagers (Is this a spoiler?), and the mood accordingly becomes more serious, but the movie keeps its spirit high as frequently swinging back and forth between comedy and drama. Although the subplot involved with the conflict between Jae-yeon and Cheol-joo is a bit too dark, the movie thankfully bounces from that with more spirit, and you may come to overlook some artificial aspects of its predictably uplifting finale. Yes, considering how conservative your average South Korean rural town can be, it may feel too unrealistic, but you will not easily look away from a lot of hope and optimism exuded from this genuine feel-good moment.    

Furthermore, the movie is fully supported by the strong presence and talent of its charismatic lead actress. Yang Mal-bok, who was alternatively terrifying and electrifying as an unabashedly lousy but undeniably strong-willed mother in “The Apartment with Two Women” (2021), grabs our attention right from her very first moment in the film, and she demonstrates again that she is one of the best actresses in South Korean cinema at present. Ably balancing her character between determination and vulnerability, she gives us another vivid and complex heroine to remember, and her solid performance holds everything in the film together even when it falters a bit.

Around Yang, director/writer/co-producer Lee Yu-jin, who incidentally made a feature film debut here after making several short films, assembles colorful supporting performers. Sung Jae-yun, Park Wan-kyu, Kim Jung-young, and Saek Ja all did a good job of bringing enough life and personality to their respective roles, and Kim and Yang have a couple of sweet moments which show us more of their enduring romantic relationship.

Along with many other recent South Korean queer films such as “3670” (2025), “Manok” shows how much the South Korean society has been changed for its LGBTQ+ citizens – and how far it still will have to go for more inclusion and acceptance. Although I have some doubt and skepticism as a seasoned gay dude, the movie amusingly and touchingly reminds me of the importance of keeping going with more hope and optimism, and I sincerely hope that the movie will not only empower its target audiences but also enlighten many other audiences out there.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros (2023) ☆☆☆☆(4/4): How a French restaurant works

Posted on June 28, 2026 by kaist455

Frederick Wiseman’s last work “Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros” is another extraordinary documentary to admire and cherish. Just like Wiseman’s many other works, the documentary simply observes and listens without any interview or music or narration, but we somehow sense and understand its big, interesting picture bit by bit, and the result is an utterly ample full-course meal for our eyes and mind.

The main subject of the documentary is the Troisgros family’s Michelin 3-star restaurant “Le Bois sans feuilles” (It means “The Woods Without Leaves” in French, by the way), which is located in some rural town of France. At the beginning, we see several people from the restaurant purchasing some vegetables and herbs early in the morning, and this will certainly remind you again of that undeniable importance of good and fresh ingredients in fine cooking.

And then we see the patriarch of the Troisgros family, Michel Troisgros, and his two sons, César and Léo, discussing on their business at one of the two other restaurants belonging to them. At one point, they discuss a lot on how to make a certain dish on their menu, and you will listen to their serious discussion more even if you do not know anything about cooking (FULL DISCLOSURE: I don’t, except making fried/boiled eggs or instant noodle).

The documentary becomes more interesting as observing how things get started at Le Bois sans feuilles. As Michel tells one of his customers around the end of the documentary, the restaurant was actually moved to a new location outside the town several years ago, and the documentary often emphasizes the pastorally tranquil rural atmosphere, which makes an interesting contrast with the slick modern interior design of the restaurant.

The kitchen of the restaurant is an impressively wide and open space. As often led or guided by Michel and César, a bunch of chefs busily prepare for cooking all those dishes to be served to a bunch of various customers, and it is certainly fascinating to see how they carefully prepare each of those cooking ingredients step by step. I was particularly amused a bit by when lamb brains are prepared, and it is a bit shame that the documentary does not show much of how frogs are prepared and then cooked, though frog dishes are frequently ordered throughout the documentary.

Meanwhile, the waiting staff members of the restaurant also prepare a lot before their customers arrive. We see an employee carefully and meticulously setting each table at the restaurant. We see the head of the staff giving all the necessary information about their customers, such as food preference or allergy problems. And we soon see how each of the waiting staff members deftly handling many orders from the customers, who all expect to have a finest dining experience in one way or another.

Of course, the mood becomes all the busier in the kitchen as more orders come, but everything is mostly under control under the confident leadership of Michel and César. We never see them raising their voice at all, and it is clear that they have a lot of trust on their dependable kitchen staff members. Yes, there sometimes come a few big mistakes, but Michel regards them as opportunities for learning more, and there is a little funny moment when he has one of the kitchen staff members check on two old but reliable cookbooks after this young man makes a minor mistake in handling lamb’s brains.

After showing a lot about how the restaurant works during its first half, the documentary expands its view a bit during the second half. For the quality control of their cooking ingredients, Michel and his two sons certainly pay a lot of attention to a number of various farms which have been their main providers for a long time, and we often watch them attentively listening to their providers explaining or showing how the quality of their commodities has been maintained as well as possible. As a result, we get to know more about how important various cooking ingredients ranging from cheese to wine really are for first-class fine dining, and I especially enjoyed the scene showing a big facility where many different kinds of cheese are stored and then fermented for days or months. As its manager enthusiastically explains more, I observed the process in the facility with more interest, and I was amused a bit when the documentary later went back to the restaurant and showed a cart full of various kinds of cheese again.

While mostly remaining objective and unobtrusive, the documentary also sometimes focuses on the small but revealing human moments observed from Michel and his restaurant staff members. While being a very respectable master chef at the top of his game, Michel often enjoys having a casual conversation with some of his customers, who are all delighted to spend some time with him. He and his wife and children are all dedicated to their family business with a lot of genuine affection and pride, and his two sons are already ready to go each own way – especially after he handed his leadership to César.

Overall, “Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros” is quite a pleasure to watch despite its 4-hour running time, and this is surely a splendid finishing touch to the long and illustrious career of Wiseman, who sadly passed away early in this year at the age of 96. Although it is a shame that there will not be another work from him, this legendary documentary filmmaker left us a heap of memorable works ranging from “Titicut Follies” (1967) to “City Hall” (2020), and they and “Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros” will continue to impress and fascinate us as long as cinema is alive and well.

Sidenote: The French term “menus-plaisirs” literally means “minor pleasures”. and also puns on “menu”.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Supergirl (2026) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Superman’s messy cousin

Posted on June 25, 2026 by kaist455

“Supergirl”, another product from the DC Universe (DCU) after “Superman” (2025), has a number of right elements, but it somehow left me rather unimpressed on the whole. Probably because, like many of you, I have seen too many superhero flicks during last two decades, I simply followed the story and characters without much enthusiasm, even when I enjoyed several good things including its lead actress’s considerable presence and talent.

Yes, as shown from that brief moment shown at the end of “Superman”, Milly Alcock is well-cast as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl, who is a cousin of Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman (David Corenswet, who briefly appears from time to time here in the film as expected) and, yes, another survivor from their destroyed alien planet. You may be a bit disappointed to see that she does not wear her recognizable attire that often here in the film, but Alcock has enough spirit and charisma for the role, and her diligent efforts duly support the film to the end.

Anyway, the early part of the film quickly establishes how messy Supergirl’s daily life in the universe has been. Unlike her cousin, she does not adjust herself well to the Earth as coping with her survivor’s guilt, so she has usually spent her time on an alien planet where she can be drunk and hurt without any superpower because of its red sun different from our yellow one.

On one day when she is going through another drinking day as usual, Supergirl encounters a young plucky girl named Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley, who is incidentally not related to Daisy Ridley). Ruthye recently lost her whole family due to a bunch of barbarous pirates and human traffickers led by a dude named Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), and she needs someone to track down these rather elusive bad guys for having her revenge on Krem. Although she is not particularly interested in getting associated with this little girl, Supergirl soon comes to accompany Ruthye because, besides a sudden desperate personal reason for her, she knows too well how painful it is to lose family, as reflected by the flashback sequence shown later in the film,

Thanks to a little piece of information, Supergirl and Ruthye go to a seedy and barren planet where many people are frequently terrorized by Krem’s clan but also many different dangerous figures. One of such figures is an alien mercenary and bounty hunter named Lobo (Jason Momoa), and he has also searched for Krem’s clan for getting the bounty on one of its main members. His first encounter with Supergirl and Ruthye is not exactly pleasant, but he eventually becomes a sort of ally for them even though he does not seem to give a damn about their goal.

So, what we get here is a very typical mix of SF, western, and a bit of comedy, and that is not so far from co-producer James Gunn’s Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flick “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) and two following sequels. As the story and characters hop from one stark alien background from another, we are served with a heap of various alien figures, and the movie occasionally shows some wry sense of humor as utilizing several recognizable pop songs throughout the story.

While this is entertaining to watch for a while, I must say that this is not particularly new or refreshing compared to what we already saw many times before. After all, we had not only “Guardians of the Galaxy” and its two sequels but also recent Star Wars movies (and several TV drama series associated with them), and the film often looks like a mere imitator in terms of background and detail. In addition, it even tries a bit of George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) during its last act, but, again, it ends up just playing notes instead of music. Director Craig Gillespie does a competent job of handling a number of big action scenes in the film, but these action scenes do not have enough sense of fun or excitement, and I became more aware of all those CGIs put upon the screen in the end.

At least, I cared more about the inner struggle of Supergirl as getting to know a bit more about her, and Alcock ably balances her role between humor and gravitas. She and Eve Ridley are believable in the rocky relationship development between their characters along the story, and this may take you back to Henry Hathaway’s “True Grit” (1969) and its 2010 remake version from the Coen Brothers. Although this is actually her first feature film, Ridley holds her own place well around Alcock, and she may soon advance further after this solid debut of hers.

As another crucial part of the story, Jason Momoa, who incidentally played Arthur Curry / Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), gleefully chews the scene as required, but it is a bit dissatisfying that his character remains to be more or less than a plot element to come and then go. As the main villain of the story, Matthias Schoenaerts is as vile and nasty as required, but his villain character is not particularly memorable, and that is another disappointing aspect of the film.

In conclusion, “Supergirl” is not good enough for recommendation for me, but like “Superman”, it shows some potential for better things to come besides being much better than the 1984 film of the same name, which may be a bit entertaining for you if you are looking for something embarrassingly campy. It is not bad at all, but, considering how much our time has been saturated with countless superhero flicks during last 20 years, it should have tried more for distinguishing itself in my humble opinion.

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment