Moana (2026) ☆☆(2/4): It doesn’t go far at all

Posted on July 12, 2026 by kaist455

“Moana”, which is a live-action remake version of 2016 Disney animation film of the same name, feels so thoroughly redundant from the beginning to the end that my mind frequently went stray here and there while I watched it at a local movie theater today. In fact, I was so bored and distracted that I actually welcomed the occasional chatters among the four little young boys sitting right next to me. They might have annoyed some audiences around them to some degree, but, what the heck, their chatters had a lot more life than whatever I observed from the screen.

And I must confess that I was also quite tempted to copy a lot of my 3-star review on the 2016 animation version. For describing a bit of the story and characters to you here within a minute, all I would have to do is copying and then pasting several paragraphs from that review of mine, though I would also have to change the names of the cast members except one certain member.

Yes, Dwayne Johnson, who provided the voice of Maui in the 2016 animation version and its following 2024 sequel, returns here to play the live-action version of his character, and all I can tell you is that he still has all the right stuffs for playing Maui as before. While he certainly has no problem in looking as bulky and muscular as required, he effortlessly brings some likable jolliness to his shapeshifting demigod character, and he surely lightens up the mood when he delivers that certain well-known musical number as expected.

However, as we all know, the center of the story is a young plucky girl named Moana (Catherine Laga’aia), who is a member of some Polynesian island tribe who has been governed by her village chief father for years. While her father prefers to maintain the status quo on their island as much as possible, Moana, who will succeed her father someday, has been aspiring to explore whatever is beyond their island, and her aspiration is gently encouraged by her father’s eccentric mother.

When the life on the island becomes quite endangered by some unknown dark force, Moana naturally tries to find any possible solution besides merely enduring that as her father suggests. Thanks to her grandmother, she comes to learn that her tribe actually sailed around here and there outside their island a long time ago, and this discovery eventually prompts her to sail beyond the island with a certain magical object which may be the key to restoring her world.

Of course, not long after she departs along with her wacky pet chicken, Moana eventually encounters Maui, who has been stuck in a small rocky island for many decades after he inadvertently caused that grave ongoing harm on Moana’s world. Although he is not so willing to help her at first, Maui eventually agrees to help Moana, and they soon go through several risky moments before eventually arriving at their destination.

The following action sequences during the second half of the film are mostly slick and competent, but they only remind me more of why live-action film can rarely surpass animation. For example, we can easily accept Moana’s pet chicken as a supporting character right from the start in case of the 2016 animation version, but we often cannot help but notice it as a mere CGI figure in case of the 2026 live-action version, and the same thing can be said about that giant crab character, which is voiced again by Jemaine Clement here in this film. Although Clement has some fun again with his delightfully vain monster character, his musical scene in the film feels less colorful and inspired in comparison, and that is another disappointment in the movie.

The overall quality of the soundtrack of the film is fairly good on the whole, but they are more or less than the adequate reproduction of the soundtrack of the 2016 animation version. The score by Mark Mancina and the songs by Mancina and his two collaborators Lin-Manuel Miranda and Opetaia Foaʻi are mostly fine here, but I must point out that most of its highlights depend on the previous materials from the soundtrack of the 2016 animation version. While Miranda provides a new song for the end title of the 2026 live-action version, I do not think it will linger on your mind as long as that Oscar-nominated song of the 2016 animation version.

Anyway, the overall result is not a total dud at least mainly thanks to the earnest lead performance from newcomer Catherine Laga’aia, who imbues her titular role with enough spirit and personality just like Auli’i Cravalho did in the 2016 animation film version. In case of several supporting performers in the film, John Tui and Frankie Adams bring some gravitas to the story as Moana’s caring parents, and Rena Owen, a New Zealand actress who is mainly known for “Once Were Warriors” (1994), steals the show during her brief appearance.

In conclusion, “Moana”, directed by Thomas Kail, is thankfully not as awful as I feared, but it still feels quite unnecessary as doing almost nothing except merely reproducing what was so enjoyably presented before. Folks, we already had to endure the passable live-action version of “Lilo & Stitch” (2002) and “How to Train Your Dragon” (2010) in last year, and now here comes a more redundant product my mind will soon forget without much regret. Like many of you, I have really been quite tired of these and many other pointless cases of live-action remakes during last several years, and I can only wish that there will soon come the end of this undeniably wasteful trend.

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The Piano (1993) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): An extraordinary female drama by Jane Campion

Posted on July 12, 2026 by kaist455

Jane Campion’s 1993 film “The Piano”, which was re-released in selected theaters in South Korea a few weeks ago, is still an extraordinary female drama to mesmerize and then haunt you for a long time. Mainly revolving around its rather enigmatic but strong-willed heroine, the movie works as a sensitive and compelling tale of human emotions, and it is surely one of the high points in Campion’s remarkable filmmaking career.

After the prologue part which gives us a few bits of background information on its heroine, the story begins with her arrival at a remote region of New Zealand around the mid-19th century. Her name is Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), and she comes from Scotland to this remote area for marrying a local father named Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neil). We are told that she somehow became mute during her early years, and she often depends on her young little daughter Flora (Anna Paquin), who translates her sign language for the communication with others around her.   

Right from their arrival on the beach near to Alisdair’s place, things do not look that good for Ada and Flora to say the least. They have to spend the following night alone together before Alisdair, his neighbor George Baines (Harvey Keitel), and several local indigenous people to carry their luggage eventually come on the next day. When Ada later requests that her piano also should be carried to his house, Alisdair callously ignores her request, and Ada becomes quite exasperated and frustrated, because the piano is the only tool for expressing herself besides writing and sign language.

As time goes by, it becomes apparent to us that Alisdair simply regards Ada as someone to put beside himself. Their following marriage ceremony is perfunctory at best and miserable at worst, and he does not show any affection or considerable to her at all. As a matter of fact, he does not hesitate at all when Baines offers a piece of good land in exchange for Ada’s piano, which is still left on the beach.

When Ada is subsequently sent to him for teaching him how to play piano, it gradually turns out that Baines is more interested in some other thing than learning how to play piano. While looking coarser even compared to Alisdair in many aspects, Baines turns out to be a lot more sensitive dude than expected, and he has an offer Ada cannot easily refuse. He tentatively approaches to her step by step (or key by key, shall we say), and we accordingly get a series of small but sensual moments as these two very different figures open themselves more to each other in one way or another.

Now this looks like your average pulpy romance tale, but the movie fills the story and characters with a lot vivid realistic details to engage us more. Campion and cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh did an impressive job of imbuing the screen with a palpable sense of life, and we are gradually immersed into the specific period background inhabited by the characters in the story. We initially wince more than once as observing all those moody and muddy moments unfolded on the screen, but our eyes are drawn more to the considerable realism behind these moments, while our minds are more attentive to the emerging emotional undercurrents around its main characters.   

Campion’s Oscar-winning screenplay alternatively surprises and touches us as these main characters show more complex human qualities along the story. Although she seemed to be mostly aloof and distant at first, Ada comes to show more sensitivity, passion, and determination as she silently follows what her heart desires, and there is an achingly poignant moment when she somehow shows a bit of defiance despite her body and mind being cruelly by her husband later in the story. While Baines and Alisdair turn out to be more than two mere opposing figures surrounding Ada, Ada’s daughter is not a passive bystander at all, and she often functions as another crucial element in the story – especially when she makes an impulsive decision which leads to a much more devastating consequence than she could imagine.

All of the four principal performers in the film are unforgettable in their respective strong performances. Holly Hunter, who deservedly received the Best Actress award at the Cannes Festival (The movie also garnered the Palme d’Or award, by the way) and then a Best Actress Oscar, is utterly superlative as subtly brimming with quiet emotional intensity, and she is also ably supported by the three other performers surrounding her. Despite his rather strained accent, Harvey Keitel clicks well with Hunter during several intimate scenes between them, and Sam Neil, who would become more recognizable to us thanks to not only this movie but also Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” (1993), is also effective as his unlikable character comes to show his own misery and despair. In case of Anna Paquin, who rightfully won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, she did much more than holding her own place among her adult co-stars, and it is a shame that she has seldom surpassed her indelible achievement here in this film, though she has had a fairly respectable acting career during last three decades.  

Overall, “The Piano” is a sublime piece of work to be appreciated for many good reasons including mood, performance, and storytelling. Although her career seemed to go down a bit since “The Piano” came out, Campion recently made a triumphant comeback with “The Power of the Dog” (2021), which incidentally garnered her a Best Director Oscar. Since this another high point of her career, she remains rather inactive during last several years, but I sincerely hope that she will continue to impress us more as one of the best female filmmakers of our time.

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Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026) ☆☆☆(3/4): Another deadly game

Posted on July 6, 2026 by kaist455

“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” tries another deadly game, and it mostly succeeds on the whole. Again, our heroine is hunted by a bunch of unlikable rich people willing to kill her within a limited amount of time, but what is being at stake for them and her is bigger than before, and the movie surely serves us a series of bloody and violent moments to jolt and then entertain us.

The story begins at the point not long after the ending of “Ready of Not” (2019). After she eventually won that deadly game with her despicable wealthy in-laws including her groom, Grace MacCaullay (Samara Weaving) loses her consciousness and then is taken to a hospital, but now she has to face all the bloody mess caused by that deadly game. Because all of her opponents died horribly, she finds herself becoming a murder suspect, and she is not consoled much by her younger sister Faith (Kathryn Newton), who comes to the hospital despite many years of estrangement between them.

Meanwhile, the situation soon becomes a lot more problematic as Grace’s in-laws turn out to be members of some powerful secret organization. There are actually five other rich and influential families in this devil-worshiping organization, and all of these wealthy families are ready to take over the highest position once occupied by Grace’s in-laws.

Of course, according to a shady lawyer representing their infernal lord, there are some important rules on another deadly game targeting Grace, and we get to know these rules one by one. Again, Grace must survive till dawn once the game is started in a big place belonging to one of these five filthy rich families, and any organization member succeeding in eliminating Grace will be the leader of the organization.

Because the previous film already showed us that Grace has enough pluck and determination for getting any chance for survival, the story adds new vulnerability to her via her younger sister, who also finds herself targeted by her older sister’s opponents. As they try to survive together in one way or another, Grace and Faith naturally come to confront the estrangement and resentment between them, and this certainly throws more tension on their increasingly perilous circumstance.

Anyway, the movie strikes us with a lot of blood and violence coupled with some wry sense of humor. Needless to say, all of Grace and Faith’s opponents show more of their unlikable aspects along the story, and you will surely cheer as they get eliminated or punished one by one while the lawyer solemnly presides over the progress of their game. In case of one of them, this figure is quite angry about Grace for a petty personal reason, and that leads to a rather amusing fight scene which eventually culminates to when our heroine uses something unexpected as a blunt instrument to strike her opponent really hard.

Although the screenplay by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy, who previously wrote the screenplay for “Ready or Not”, loses some of its narrative momentum around its last act, the movie still holds our attention under the competent direction of directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. As they previously did in “Ready or Not”, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett skillfully balance their movie between intense thriller and dark comedy, and we gladly go along with that even though we occasionally wince a lot for some of the most violent moments in the film.

It surely helps that the movie is anchored well by the strong presence of its lead actress. Samara Weaving, who has steadily built up her genre movie career since “Mayhem” (2017) and “The Babysitter” (2017), comfortably slips into her familiar character, and she is believable especially when Grace struggles with her traumas from the previous film early in the story. As Grace’s estranged younger sister, Kathryn Newton seems to be stuck in a rather thankless role at first, but she holds her own place well right next to Weaving, and we instantly sense a bitter old history between their characters right from their first scene in the film.

Compared to Grace and Faith, many of the other main characters in the film are more or less than broad caricatures we observe from the distance without much care, but some of these detestable figures leave some impression thanks to the game efforts from the performers playing them. As the treacherous twin siblings in the story, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Hatosy are quite effective in their respective roles, and the brief appearance of David Cronenberg, who incidentally plays their characters’ dying father, is pretty much like a cherry on the top of their juicy villain performance. In case of several other recognizable performers in the film including Néstor Carbonell and Kevin Durand, they are rather under-utilized in comparison, but they chew each of their moments as much as possible at least. Finally, Elijah Wood, who has often played offbeat characters as sailing away from the Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson, is often fun to watch as his lawyer character remains mostly unflappable to every twist and turn in the game.

In conclusion, “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” is less entertaining than its predecessor due to having less surprise for us, but it is still a fairly fun genre film which accomplishes its goal as much as intended. I prefer the more taut and intense entertainment of the previous film, but I had enough fun during my viewing, so I will not grumble for now.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.”

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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?

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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.

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