The Territory (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Their territory to defend in Amazon

Posted on May 4, 2026 by kaist455

2022 documentary film “The Territory”, which is currently available on Disney+ in South Korea, focuses on the defiant struggle of a bunch of indigenous tribe people living in one Amazon rainforest area of Brazil. While it occasionally shows the viewpoint of their main opponents, it is clear that the documentary puts more emphasis on those indigenous tribe people and their rights to defend their territory, and it is often infuriating for us to see how more injustice was thrown upon them in one way or another.

At first, we are introduced to the two central figures of the documentary: Bitaté Uru-eu-wau-wau and Neidinha Bandeira. The former is a 19-year-old member of the Uru-eu-wau-wau tribe, and the documentary gives a brief piece of information on this obscure indigenous tribe who has been resided in the Amazon rainforest area for many centuries. It was only after 1980 that the tribe made a direct contact with the world outside, but this change unfortunately led to the death of many tribe members caused by those infectious diseases from the outside world, and only around 200 tribe members remained around the late 2010s.

Nevertheless, Bitaté and many other tribe members including Ari Uru-eu-wau-wau stood their ground in their territory, even though it has been steady encroached here and there by numerous settlers and farmers eager to turn the rainforest area into farms and ranches since the 1980s. No matter how much they tried to defend their territory, the farmers and settlers kept destroying its rainforest step by step, and things got all the worse when Jair Bolsonaro became the new president of Brazil in late 2018. He and his government tacitly encouraged the farmers and settlers to destroy more of the rainforest, and Bitaté and his tribe members became a lot more frustrated than before.

At least, they could get some help from the outside mainly thanks to Bandeira, a passionate local activist who has been very close to the tribe for many years. In fact, she has been pretty much like another mother for Bitaté, and we see them often closely working together for their common cause. While being fully aware of how she is not welcomed much by many of those local people, Bandeira does not flinch at all for what she really believes in, and her daughter accepts that well even though she is often concerned about safety as much as her mother.

Meanwhile, the documentary also pays attention to several settlers and farmers on the opposite position, who had no problem at all with showing their belief and the considerable damage they often cause in the rainforest. At one point, we see two settlers casually set small fire at one spot in the rainforest, and we soon see the sheer ecological horror resulted from that. Everything around the spot is burned to the ground, and it is all the more chilling when you consider how many unknown plants and animals, which could actually be very valuable for the humanity, might be destroyed there forever.

And we also come to reflect more on how much the Amazon rainforest has been important for all the living organisms on the Earth for several million years at least. We all know well that it is regarded as the “lung” of the Earth mainly because it has produced a substantial amount of oxygen every year, and that is why it must be preserved for not only the humanity but also all other animal and plant species around the world (Yes, plants also need oxygen as much as we and other animals).

However, to our exasperation, this ecological importance seems to be the last thing to be considered for those farmers and settlers. They regard the Amazon rainforest as their own American Wild West to be conquered and then civilized, and they regard Bitaté and his tribe people as a mere nuisance to get rid of as soon as possible, while having no idea on how they may also be thrown away by the rich and powerful in the end. As backed by the Brazilian government much more than before, these incorrigible people cornered Bitaté and his tribe more and more, and then there came a tragic incident involved with one of the key tribe members.

The situation became all the more despairing for Bitaté and his tribe because of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Their community was devastated as consequently losing around 5% of its population, but they kept trying to stand their ground nonetheless, and they eventually established a de facto police apparatus for protecting their territory more than before. Using not only drones but also digital video cameras, they recorded and reported more of their defiant stand against the unjust system, and this actually drew more attention from the media and public in the end. After that, the settlers and farmers had to step back a bit due to their bad public image, but, as reflected by one infuriating scene shown in the middle of the end credits, they were stopped at all, and the documentary informs us a bit on how much the Amazon rainforest was destroyed under President Bolsonaro and his government.

In conclusion, “The Territory”, which was included in the shortlist for Best Documentary Oscar in 2022, feels immensely urgent right from the beginning, and director/co-producer/co-cinematographer Alex Pritz, who deservedly won Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking for the documentary along with his producers including Darren Aronofsky in 2023, did a competent job of presenting his main human subjects with considerable care and respect. While it could show and tell more in my humble opinion, it accomplishes its mission fairly well within its rather short running time (86 minutes), and its many angry moments will linger on your mind for a while after it is over.

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Caught Stealing (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): He’s in a trouble way over his head…

Posted on May 4, 2026 by kaist455

Darren Aronofsky’s 2025 film “Caught Stealing”, which is currently available on Netflix in South Korea, is a cheerfully absurd and intense comic noir thriller. As its flawed hero desperately struggling to survive under a situation way over his head, the movie deftly throws a lot of twists and turns into the plot along with a bunch of various colorful figures to enjoy, and you will gladly go along with that even as observing his accumulating plight from the distance.

Austin Butler, a promising young actor who has steadily advanced since his Oscar-nominated breakthrough turn in “Elvis” (2022), plays Henry “Hank” Thompson, who was once a promising young baseball player but now works as a bartender in the Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City, 1998. When he returns to his apartment from another working time at his bar, Hank comes across his British friend Russ Miner (Matt Smith), and Russ happens to need Hank right now. Due to some personal reason, Russ must go back to his home in London as soon as possible, and he asks Hank to take care of his cat instead of him for a while at least.

Hank accepts this seemingly simple request from his friend without much hesitation, but this soon leads to a big trouble for him. On the very next day, a couple of suspicious Russian guys come, and they seriously injure Hank just because they think he has something to hide as a close friend/neighbor of Russ. Needless to say, Hank is quite baffled about what is going on around him, but then he belatedly comes to realize that Russ gave him something else besides the cat at that time, and now he is cornered by many other shady figures in addition to those two Russian thugs.

Now this is a familiar setup for your average noir thriller, but there are also a lot of comic absurdity as our rather hapless hero hurriedly bounces from one narrative point to another. For example, we are amused a lot by when Hank is interrogated by a local detective assigned to his case, and the movie also shows some naughty sense of humor when he subsequently discovers a certain important little object at one point in the middle of the story.

Nevertheless, the movie never overlooks what is being at stake for Hank, who becomes more scared and desperate as things get not only more absurd but also more intense. Many of his opponents are not definitely someone he can mess with, but there are not many people around him who can actually help him. In case of his nurse girlfriend, she sincerely cares and worries about him, but she does not easily tolerate his incorrigible behaviors at all, as shown from one particular scene between them.

I must point out that it is often frustrating for us to see Hank making his situation worse in one way or another along the story, but we also get to know how troubled he has been since a devastating incident which ruined his professional athletic career forever. Still feeling a lot of regret and guilt inside him, he also cannot help but think of what he could have become if it had not been for that incident – especially whenever he hears more about the ongoing MLB (Major League Baseball) season.

The screenplay by Charles Huston, which is based on his 2004 novel of the same name, has a lot of rich character details observed from those various figures revolving around Hank in the story. While Hank’s nurse friend functions as the only consolation in his miserable status of life, his rather dopey boss provides some comic relief, and we also get a series of darkly amusing moments from many of Hank’s opponents, who are all deadly serious but also look rather funny at times.

In the end, the movie eventually culminates to a climactic sequence where a lot of things happen here and there, but we never feel like getting confused thanks to the skillful efforts from Aronofsky and his crew including his frequent cinematographer Matthew Libatique, who did a commendable job of imbuing the screen with a palpable sense of time and location. While there are some expected moments of payback, there are also a number of small and big surprises to enjoy, and I particularly appreciate the big irony observed from the end of this electrifying sequence.

Butler is compelling as his character gradually faces his personal demons and then somehow finds his inner strength along the story, and he is also surrounded by a group of talented performers who have each own moment to shine. While Zoë Kravitz brings some warm sensitivity to her several key scenes with Butler, Matt Smith delightfully chews every moment of his appearance as required, and Regina King is also effective as the aforementioned detective character. As some of the main villains in the story, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Benito Martínez Ocasio, who is also known as “Bad Bunny”, go all the way for their respective juicy scenes, and I also like the brief appearances of Griffin Dunne, Carol Kane, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Tenoch Huerta, and a certain Oscar-winning actress to be revealed later in the film. In case of the cat which plays Russ’ cat, it effortlessly steals the show whenever it is on the screen, and you may care more about its safety than anything else in the film.

On the whole, “Caught Stealing” is relatively less ambitious compared to many of Aronofsky’s notable films such as “Requiem for a Dream” (2000) or “Black Swan” (2010), but it is more interesting than his previous film “The Whale” (2022), which somehow garnered a Best Actor Oscar for Brendan Fraser despite its middling result. In short, this is one of the more enjoyable films from last year, and I assure you that you will not be disappointed if you look for any competent genre piece.

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Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): Her very late coming-of-age story

Posted on May 4, 2026 by kaist455

To be frank with you, I am a rather socially awkward person, but even I shake my head as observing the heroine of Michael Showalter’s 2015 film “Hello, My Name Is Doris”. Besides being quite socially awkward, she is also seriously delusional at times in her clumsy quest for love, but the movie somehow does not lose its empathy and understanding on her at all – even as she makes several big wrong choices along the story.  

At the beginning, we see how things have recently been difficult for the titular character played by Sally Fields. For many years, Doris Miller has lived with his ailing mother in their house, but now her mother passed away, and she does not know what to do about the rest of her life. While she has steadily earned her living as an accountant in some company located in New York City, there are not many people in her daily social life, and her house has been full of many different stuffs she and her mother kept for many years. Her brother suggests that she should sell the house and then make a new start for herself, but she is not willing to do that even after meeting a therapist recommended by him.

And then there comes an unexpected change at her workplace. A younger guy named John Fremont is introduced to Doris and her co-workers as a new employee to work with, and, what do you know, Doris is surprised to find herself quite smitten with him right from their first encounter. Even though she is much older than this dude, she believes that she can win his heart somehow, and we get amused a bit as she has occasional moments of delusion associated with her crush on him.

Now this sounds rather disturbing, but the screenplay by Showalter and his co-writer Laura Terruso, which is based on Terruso’s short film of the same name, did a good job of balancing its story and heroine between humor and gravitas. We laugh as she attempts to get closer to John via her fake Facebook account thanks to a little help from the granddaughter of a close friend of hers, but then we come to care more about her as getting to know more about how static and frustrating her life has been for many years. She has surely longed for some changes in her life, but she does not know well how to bring real changes into her life as a woman rather hopelessly stuck in a rather unhealthy mindset, and there is a poignant moment when she is reminded more of her old personal issues later in the story.

Meanwhile, it becomes quite apparent to us that John is not very serious about Doris even after Doris manages to befriend him a bit more. While he is nice and friendly to her when she approaches to him at a concert of his favorite band, he simply regards her as a co-worker to socialize with, and Doris is certainly devastated when he later turns out to be in a romantic relationship with some young woman at present.   

Nevertheless, the movie avoids making John look obtuse or superficial at all as paying some attention to his sincerity and kindness. Besides remaining genuinely cordial to Doris, he is really serious about his relationship with that young lady, and we naturally wince when Doris subsequently makes an unwise impulsive choice which considerably affects John and his girlfriend’s relationship.

And we also get to know about several figures surrounding Doris. While he may be selfish to some degree, Doris’ brother sincerely cares about his sister’s welfare, and so do Doris’ close friend, who simply regards Doris’ romantic pursuit as a part of her belated personal growth. There eventually comes a point when Doris lets her down a lot, but then she willingly becomes someone to lean on for Doris nonetheless because, well, that is what a true friend should do.

Needless to say, Field’s colorfully likable performance is crucial in making the film work. While never overlooking how silly and absurd her character is, Field illustrates her character’s personality and humanity with a lot of care and sensitivity, and she also embodies well the bountiful spirit hidden behind her character’s introverted appearance. Once she feels more comfortable with expressing herself and her feelings, Doris makes some big forward steps for herself as shown from a hilarious scene involved with John’s favorite band, and we come to root for her character more than before.

Showalter also assembles a bunch of good performers to support Field’s solid performance. As the object of her character’s desire, Max Greenfield holds his own place well next to Field, and he is particularly good when his character and Doris come to have a little honest conversation around the end of the story. Beth Behrs, Tyne Daly, Stephen Root, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Isabella Acres, Elizabeth Reaser, and Peter Gallagher are also well-cast in their respective supporting parts, and you may be also delighted by the appearance of Natasha Lyonne and Kumail Nanjiani, who would become more familiar to us after this film.

In conclusion, “Hello, My Name Is Doris” is a small but amiable comedy film which also works as the belated coming-of-age drama of its oddball heroine. As a guy who made a fair share of mistakes as struggling to interact with others around me during last four decades, I understood and then empathized more with Doris during my viewing, and I was eventually touched as observing a significant sign of improvement from her. That change is a bit late for her, but it is never too late for any of us to change and then grow up a little as long as we are still alive, isn’t it?

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A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025) ☆☆(2/4): A big bland boring journey

Posted on May 3, 2026 by kaist455

Kogonada’s 2025 film “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey”, which is currently available on Netflix and several other streaming services in South Korea, is surprisingly flat and tepid despite a lot of talented figures assembled together for it. While it is intended as a calm and somber reflection on the messy aspects of love and life, it unfortunately feels bland and hollow at times because of its deficient storytelling, and its occasionally distracting artificial aspects make us more aware of its many flaws in terms of storytelling.

At the beginning, we are introduced to David (Colin Farrell), a currently single guy who is about to go to the wedding of a friend of his. Unfortunately, his car happens to get its wheel clamped due to his illegal parking, so he has no choice but to go to a rental service company which is simply named “Car Rental Company”. He meets two employees there, and these two employees, played by Kevin Kline and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, ask rather odd questions before eventually renting him an old car equipped with a special GPS (Global Positioning System) voiced by Jodie Turner-Smith.

In the middle of the wedding, David is introduced a woman named Sarah (Margot Robbie). As talking a bit with each other, David and Sarah come to see how much they are different from each other, and that seems to be the end of their brief encounter, but, what do you know, they subsequently meet each other again at a Burger King restaurant. As they talk more with each other, they are reminded more and more of their considerable personality difference, but then they find that both of them rented a car from the same rental service company, and Sarah later gets into David’s car because her car happens to have some inexplicable malfunction.

This is surely a typical case of Meet Cute, but what follows next is pretty contrived to say the least. As suggested by that weird GPS of David’s car, he and Sarah take a route leading them to one magical spot after another, and each of these magical spots on this route makes them face their respective pasts in one way or another. In case of one of these magical spots, they come into an old high school memory of David associated with one stage performance of a certain classic Broadway musical, and David is certainly embarrassed a lot because that was when he was painfully rejected by his first love. In case of some other magical spot associated with Sarah’s past, she and David see how she missed the chance to see her mother for the last time right before her mother’s death, and it is clear to us that she still feels guilty about that.

As getting to know more about each other along the story, Sarah and David naturally become a bit closer to each other, but they come to learn more about how messy and flawed they have been. Due to each own reason, both of them often cannot help but walk away from any possibility of serious romantic relationship, and they hesitate to approach closer to each other as reflecting more on how often they have ruined their respective chances for love and happiness.

Around that narrative point, we are supposed to care more about their relationship development, but the screenplay by writer/co-producer Seth Reiss fails to bring enough substance to its story and characters. Its plot is so trite and predictable to the core that we become more distant to whatever is going between its two main characters, and, to make matters worse, its two characters remain to be more or less than plot elements to be rolled along its predetermined narrative course. I guess David and Sarah being guided (or manipulated) by that strange GPS throughout the story is a humorously self-conscious touch, but that becomes less amusing as the screenplay lackadaisically moves from one narrative point to another along with its two main characters.

Furthermore, the movie is all the more dissatisfying due to the serious lack of chemistry between its two lead performers on the screen. Colin Farrell, who has steadily established himself as one of the most interesting actors in our time as shown from his previous collaboration with Kogonada in “After Yang” (2021), and Margot Robbie, who can be quite funny and engaging as shown from her several notable performances including her Oscar-nominated turn in “I, Tonya” (2017), are dependable performers equipped with each own presence and talent, but they somehow fail to generate enough romantic spark between their characters to our bafflement.

At least, Robbie manages to bring some genuine pluck into her role, and Farrell also acquits himself fairly well just like he previously did in “Ballad of a Small Player” (2025), another very disappointing movie of his in last year. In fact, he ably handles a little musical moment in the middle of the film, and that may take you back to how believable he was as a popular country singer in “Crazy Heart” (2009) many years ago.

Overall, “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” is not as wonderful as its very title suggests, and it is sadly a big letdown after the considerable critical success of Kogonada’s first two films. When I saw “Columbus” in late 2017, I was quite mesmerized by how effortlessly it sets the tone and then develops the story and characters with considerable emotional effects, and I was further impressed by how Kogonada advanced more with his next film “After Yang”. At this point, he already made the next film which was incidentally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival early in this year, and I can only hope that his next film will not bore and disappoint me like this regrettable dud did.

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Swapped (2026) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Visually wonderful but ultimately flawed

Posted on May 2, 2026 by kaist455
A whimsical animated bird with green feathers flying in the air, carrying a small, furry creature on its back, surrounded by a colorful nature backdrop.

Netflix animation film “Swapped”, which was released on this Friday, works whenever it pays attention to its wondrous fantasy background. Packed here and there with vivid and colorful details to notice, the film is certainly a nice eye candy for the audiences, and it is a shame that the film is not so engaging in terms of story and character. Sure, its message on empathy, understanding, and solidarity is quite important to us considering how our world has been driven toward more apathy, ignorance, and disconnection these days, but, sadly, this important message is not delivered well to us mainly because of its rather rote storytelling.

At the beginning, the movie establishes its fantasy background mainly via Ollie (voiced by Michael B. Jordan), who is a little rodent creature called “Pookoo”. When he was very young, he and many other Pookoos including his parents peacefully lived together in their natural habitat as harvesting their main source of food day by day, but then they were thrown out of their habitat by a bunch of big birds called “Javan” not long after Ollie’s accidental encounter with a little young Javan. Now they are hiding under the ground because Javans occupy their habitat, and things become all the more desperate for them as they are almost running out of their food.

Nevertheless, Ollie, who has always been bold and curious, keeps trying to find any possible way to help his tribe. On one day, he happens to discover how to chase away Javans, but, alas, he tumbles down into a hole in the ground when one Javan tries to attack him, and then he comes upon a strange magical pod, which somehow transforms him into a Javan.

A cute animated character with a round diving mask surrounded by colorful aquatic plants and fish with large eyes.

Needless to say, Ollie is quite confused about his unexpected transformation, and the situation becomes more complicated when a Javan named Ivy (voiced by Juno Temple) gets involved with him later. Thanks to a bit of help from a big fish named Boogle (voiced by Tracy Morgan), Ollie finds another magical pod which can revert him to his original appearance, but, unfortunately, Ivy touches that magical pod first, and then she gets transformed into a Pookoo.

What follows next is the unlikely friendship between Ollie and Ivy, who come to have more understanding on each other’s clan via their respective transformation. They certainly do not like each other much at first, but they soon come to depend on each other for surviving together, and that leads to the gradual bonding between them. While Ivy helps Ollie learn how to fly, Ollie teaches Ivy how to depend on her newly acquired sense of smell, and then they are joined by Boogle, who also wants that magical pod for his own personal reason.

Of course, there are several obstacles in front of these three main characters. For example, there are a bunch of wolves hungry for anything edible for them, and then there is a very steep waterfall which turns out to be much riskier than expected. However, all these and other obstacles turn out to be relatively less challenging compared to the ultimate opponent for Ollie and Ivy.

Around that point, the story becomes all the more predictable to our disappointment. Yes, it turns out that there is a hidden connection between Ollie and Ivy, and you could easily guess that from the very beginning even if I did not tell you anything. Yes, Ivy and Ollie eventually overcome their bias against each other, and they and their respective clans work together for saving many other creatures in their area. Yes, Ollie and Ivy definitely save the day as fighting against that fearsome opponent, and we certainly get an important lesson from that.

A colorful animated scene featuring a small, cheerful animal character next to a vibrant, friendly bird with leafy features, set in a lush, forested background.

Compared to this clichéd plot, the visual style and imagination are too good in my inconsequential opinion. For instance, many of the animal creatures in the film look like being generated from trees or grasses, and I particularly like those gigantic creatures which are sort of hybrid between mammoth and forest. This may sound rather outrageous to you, but these fantastic creatures are so vividly illustrated on the screen that I am reminded of what Gabriel García Márquez once said: “If you say that there are elephants flying in the sky, people are not going to believe you. But if you say that there are four hundred and twenty-five elephants in the sky, people will probably believe you.”

The voice cast members of the film are solid on the whole. Michael B. Jordan, who recently won a well-deserved Oscar for his frequent collaborator Ryan Coogler’s latest film “Sinners” (2025), deftly balances his character between humor and drama, and he is complemented well by Juno Temple, who did a good job of bringing some plucky spirit to her role. In case of several other notable voice cast members, Cedric the Entertainer, Justina Machado, and Tracy Morgan are effective in their respective supporting parts, and Morgan, who has mainly known for his Emmy-nominated turn in American TV comedy series “30 Rocks”, surprises you as his supposedly goofy character comes to show some unexpected seriousness later in the story.

On the whole, “Swapped”, which is directed by Nathan Creno (He was the co-director of Disney animation film “Tangled” (2010), by the way), is rather dissatisfying mainly due to its weak narrative and thin characterization, and it is less distinctive even compared to several recent Netflix animation films such as “Nimona” (2023), “Orion and the Dark” (2024), and “In Your Dreams” (2025). At least, it is a fairly competent Netflix product, so you may enjoy it to some degree, but then your mind will quickly move onto another latest stuff to watch from Netflix.

A young child and a colorful creature sitting on a rocky ledge, gazing at a vibrant sunset with purple and orange hues over misty mountains.

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The Choral (2025) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A chorus during wartime

Posted on May 2, 2026 by kaist455

“The Choral”, which is currently available on Netflix in South Korea, is a mildly somber period drama about one little choral performance during wartime. Although it feels meandering at times due to its rather thin and unfocused narrative, the movie works to some degree at least when it eventually arrives at the expected finale where the efforts of its main characters are finally and dramatically demonstrated in front of others.

Set in a fictional town in Yorkshire, UK, 1916, the story begins with a big trouble in the local choral society in the town. When its choirmaster happens to join the army due to the ongoing war in Europe, its members quickly look for someone to replace their former choirmaster, and that happens to be Dr. Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes). Although he is deemed rather problematic due to several reasons including atheism, they eventually agree to recruit him because he seems to be the best option for them right now.

While he is not so willing to take the job at first, Dr. Guthrie accepts the request, and he surprises the elder members of the choral society a lot right from his first day. Once it is clear that the choral society needs more male voices due to the absence of many former male members who went to the war, he willingly recruits more male singers besides a number of new female singers. In addition, he does not care much about class background from the very beginning, so the choral society is packed with various figures from the town ranging from a young Salvation Army lady to a middle-aged woman of some seedy reputation.

And then there comes the matter of what the chorus will perform for the upcoming local concert. They initially chose a certain famous work by Johann Sebastian Bach, but they later decide that it is inappropriate just because Bach is a German. Eventually, they choose “The Dream of Gerontius” by British composer Edward Elgar instead after it is suggested by Dr. Guthrie.

Because they have a rather short time for their practice, Dr. Guthrie and his chorus members must do their best, but then he becomes quite frustrated as his chorus members often do not reach his standard. Fortunately, they come to show some improvement as time goes by, and Dr. Guthrie also comes to have an idea on how to elevate their performance more. He wants the performance to reflect the horror and sadness of the ongoing wartime, and he subsequently has a number of injured soldiers join the chorus.

Meanwhile, we get to know a bit more about Dr. Guthrie along the story. Although he is a quiet and reserved man, it has been known well that he is gay, and some people in the town often regard him with suspicion just because he lived in Germany for many years before the war began. Nevertheless, he keeps focusing on his job as usual, and this professional dedication of his is appreciated more by the chorus members.

The movie also pays some attention to several subplots involved with a number of key members of the choral society. In case of a wealthy local Alderman, his private life has been desolated after he lost their only son to the war, and we observe a lot of estrangement between him and his grieving wife. In case of a young woman whose boyfriend went to the war several months ago, she has been quite worried as he was possibly dead, but then her heart is drawn to one of the chorus members, who is soon conscripted to the army just like many other lads around his age.

The screenplay by Alan Bennett, who previously collaborated with director/co-producer Nicholas Hytner in “The History Boys” (2006) and “The Lady in the Van” (2015), tries to juggle these and many other story elements together, but the result is superficial and scattershot at times as not providing enough narrative momentum to engage us more. As simply moving on from one episodic moment to another, the story frequently struggles to hold the center, and it also fails to provide enough depth and substance to its several subplots, all of which are conveniently resolved around the finale as expected.

At least, Ralph Fiennes is engaging in his quietly sensitive performance, which speaks volumes even when his character does not seem to express much on the surface. While being mostly unflappable throughout the story, Fiennes gradually conveys to us his character’s thoughts and feelings without showing them off at all, and one of his best moments in the film comes from when Dr. Guthrie has an honest private conversation with his accompanist at one point in the middle of the story. The accompanist, who is incidentally gay just like Dr. Guthrie, decides to be a conscientious objector instead of getting conscripted to the army, and Dr. Guthrie is saddened because there is no possible way for him to help his accompanist at all.

On the whole, “The Choral” is a bit too mild to hold my attention, and I wish it did more groundwork before eventually arriving at the expected finale. Yes, the finale will not disappoint you at all as its main characters give a choral performance to remember, but the movie is often hampered by its weak storytelling, so I ended up admiring their performance from the distance. They surely did a good job, but the movie itself is rather underwhelming in my inconsequential opinion.

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The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): She returns – but things have changed

Posted on April 30, 2026 by kaist455

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” has a fair amount of fun and style while showing some surprisingly melancholic aspects. As things have surely changed a lot during last 20 years since “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006), the movie becomes a bit more serious than its predecessor as recognizing this considerable change in the world inhabited by its main character. However, it also feels like a redundant epilogue as being one or two steps below its predecessor, even though it is still entertaining to see a sort of homecoming among its four principal performers.

At the beginning, the movie quickly establishes the current status of Andrea “Andy” Sachs (Anne Hathaway). Since she quit working for Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) at an enormously famous fashion magazine named Runway around 20 years ago, Andrea has steadily established her journalism career, and now she is about to have one of the finest moments in her career, but, alas, she and several colleagues of hers suddenly found themselves unemployed as a part of the aggressive downsizing of their newspaper company right before that moment. Considering how this has often occurred in numerous major newspaper and magazine companies around the world during last several years, this moment surely comes closer to many audiences who have been well aware of this alarming decline of journalism industry.

As Andrea subsequently tries to find any job opportunity, there comes an unlikely offer. Her emotional public speech at that moment happened to draw the attention of the owner of Runway, and, what do you know, she soon finds herself getting employed as a new editor there. She is now going to work along with Miranda instead of working under her as before, and she is certainly delighted to meet her imperious mentor again, though Miranda seems barely moved while not recognizing Andrea that much.

Nevertheless, there is not much tension between Andrea and Miranda from the beginning, because we know too well that Miranda recognizes and cares about Andrea more than she can possibly admit on the surface. After all, she actually helped Andrea a bit start her journalism career despite being quite disappointed with Andrea’s eventual choice at that time, and Andrea remains grateful to Miranda as before.

And Miranda really needs some help from Andrea this time, because her magazine is facing a disastrous public relation problem due to a major article praising a well-known fashion industry company which turns out to profit a lot from oversea labor exploitation. Andrea subsequently writes a piece for public apology, and that seems to help the magazine recover from this messy public scandal, though Miranda remains not so impressed while being more occupied with the upcoming promotion promised by the owner of Runway.

Meanwhile, we meet two familiar figures: Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci) and Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). Although he has suffered and endured a lot as working under Miranda for many years without receiving any recognition or appreciation at least, Nigel continues to stand by Miranda as her trustful right-hand guy, and he also remains kind and supportive to Andrea as before. In contrast, Emily left Runway some years ago, and now she works as a senior executive at Dior in addition to being engaged to a very wealthy suitor.

Leisurely rolling its main four characters along the story, the movie gradually shows seriousness as Miranda and her magazine face another unexpected big problem later in the story. Needless to say, Andrea is willing to do anything for saving Runway and helping her mentor, but the situation becomes a bit more complicated as her well-intentioned plan goes wrong later, though it is rather hard to believe that she is so naïve like that despite being your average seasoned journalist.

While it is relatively less fun than its predecessor, the movie wields its glamour and beauty as much as it can across the screen. We surely see a lot of gorgeous and colorful clothes throughout the film, and the mood becomes more lovely when Miranda and Andrea go to Milan, Italy for attending a big fashion show to be held there. At one point, they have a dinner with a small group of guests right in front of a certain famous work of art, and that reminds us more of the luxurious aspects of Miranda’s life and work, though, to our little amusement, she has to step back a bit in case of her travel budget (I will not deny that I chuckled a little as observing this silly but funny moment).

The four principal performers diligently carry the film on the whole. Meryl Streep, who was deservedly Oscar-nominated for the previous film, certainly brings a touch of class to her character as expected, and Anne Hathaway demonstrates that she still can be as charming and likable as she was in the previous film. In case of Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, both of them have each own moments to shine, and Tucci is particularly poignant when his character is finally asked to do something very important on behalf of his boss around the end of the story.

Overall, “The Devil Wears Prada 2”, which is directed David Frankel (He directed several comedy films such as “Marley & Me” (2008) after “The Devil Wears Prada”, by the way), thankfully did not bore me, but it is not as enjoyable as its predecessor. Mainly because I gave the previous film 3 stars out of 4, I gave the movie 2.5 stars, but you still want to watch it anyway if you enjoyed its predecessor, and you will probably have a fairly good time just like the audiences around me did during last evening.

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The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) ☆☆(2/4): Bland and uninspired as before

Posted on April 30, 2026 by kaist455

I felt depressed as phlegmatically observing how my mind was frequently turned off as watching animation film “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie”, the sequel to “The Mario Bros. Movie” (2023). I did try to focus on its barebone plot and cardboard characters, but there was nothing I could really hold onto during my viewing, and I was merely amused a bit by a meaningless stream of silly gags and superficial jokes along this expensive but ultimately mediocre product.

As watching the beginning of the film, I struggled to remember anything from “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”, but I could only remember a very few things. As far as I can recall, 1) the story was more or less than your average hero origin story for Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and his younger brother Luigi (voiced by Charlie Day), and 2) they eventually saved the day for Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy) and her kingdom, and 3) their villainous opponent, Bowser (voiced by Jack Black), was defeated and then got imprisoned in his literally downsized status.

 The main villain of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is Bowser Jr. (voiced by Benny Safdie), the son of Bowser who has somehow established his own powerful army somewhere in the galaxy and has been quite determined to accomplish his two main goals. First, he wants to liberate his father who is currently a captive in the palace of Princess Peach, and then he is going to dominate the universe along with his father with his planet weapon which is virtually a cartoonish version of the Death Star in the Star Wars movies.   

 As a part of his diabolical plan, Bowser Jr. kidnaps Princess Rosalina (voiced by Brie Larson), who is the gentle but powerful protector of little orphan stars. He is going to use her power for that weapon of hers, and, needless to say, the Mario brothers and Princess Peach soon get involved into this situation along with Bowser, who seems to be sort of rehabilitated as trying to suppress his evil side in front of the Mario brothers.

As its main characters bounce from one narrative point to another, a lot of recognizable stuffs pop up here and there throughout the film. If you have ever played or encountered that famous Nintendo video game on which the film is based, you will certainly notice many different figures and backgrounds from that video game, and you may be also delighted a bit by how these elements are colorfully presented in digital animation.

However, this fun does not last that long as there is not much development in terms of story and characters. The plot is virtually non-existent as merely moving its main characters along its utterly predictable narrative, and there is not much depth in case of characterization. While Mario and Luigi are simply defined by their broad appearance and attire, the hidden connection between Princess Peach and Princess Rosalina is perfunctory without much interest, the same thing can be said about Bowser’s little inner conflict, which is quickly discarded once he sees how much his son has tried to impress him (Is this a spoiler?).

Furthermore, the main voice cast members of the film remain bland and uninspired on the whole. Chris Pratt’s voice performance is improved a bit compared to his utterly flat job in the previous film, but there is nothing much he can do except sounding cheery or heroic. Charlie Day has much more things to do compared to the previous film, but he is only demanded to throw a lot of silly lines just for making us a little amused. Anna Taylor-Joy and Brie Larson bring some pluck to their respective roles, but they are often limited by their limited thin characters, and the same thing can be said about Jack Black and Benny Safdie, who are just required to chew every line of theirs as much as possible. In case of the supporting voice performers including Glen Powell, Issa Rae, Keegan-Michael Key, Luis Guzmán, and Donald Glover, most of them are unfortunately under-utilized despite their game efforts, and that is another disappointment in the film.   

In technical aspects, the film shows some competence but remains seriously devoid of style and personality. Sure, directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, who also directed the previous film, and their crew members did almost everything they could do for vividly presenting all those stuffs from that Nintendo video game on the screen, but there is not much sense of surprise or inspiration from the start. Sure, the story does try to expand its universe with several different worlds to be unfolded in front of Mario and Luigi, but there is not any particularly fresh style or substance to draw our attention, and we just come to follow a series of happenings and introductions without much care or interest. At least, the score by Brian Tyler, whose score for the previous film was one of a very few saving graces, tries its best for bringing some enthusiasm to the screen, and you may appreciate his efforts more considering he kept working on the score even when he was hospitalized for a while due to a mild stroke.    

In conclusion, “The Super Mario Galaxy” simply comes and goes without much impression just like its predecessor, and it is already fading away in my mind although no more than a half day passed since I watched it at last night. Because it earned more than 800 million dollars around the world at this point, there will surely be another sequel within a few years, and now I become all the more depressed as mulling on this daunting prospect.

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Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (2026) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A Mummy flick a la “The Exorcist”

Posted on April 28, 2026 by kaist455

“Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” is supposed to be one thing at the beginning but then turns out to be some other thing in the end, and I enjoyed that to some degree. While it does not bring anything particularly new to its real genre territory, there are several competent moments for dread and shock at least, and you may overlook its rather thin narrative and shallow characterization.

After the opening scene which becomes more disturbing than expected, the movie introduces us to an American TV journalist named Charlie Cannon (Jack Reynor) and his family. Mainly due to his work, he and his family have stayed in Cairo, Egypt during next several months, and things have been fairly good for them, but then there comes an unexpected incident. Their 8-year-old daughter Katie, played by Emily Mitchell, is suddenly vanished for no apparent reason, and Charlie and his wife Larissa (Laia Costa) are quite frustrated and devastated as the following investigation by the local police is going nowhere.

8 years later, Charlie and Larissa are now living in Albuquerque, New Mexico with their two other children in the house belonging to Larissa’s mother. Although they remain haunted by Katie’s disappearance as reflected by a room still ready for her possible return, the family looks fairly fine on the whole, and it seems they can move onto the next chapter of their life at last.

Of course, there soon comes an unexpected news for them. An old mysterious sarcophagus was recently found from an airplane crash site in Egypt, and, what do you know, it contains the barely living body of Katie, who is now 16 years old and played by Natalie Grace from this point. Quite baffled to see their daughter again, Charlie and Larissa eventually take their regained daughter to their home in Albuquerque, and their two other children certainly feel awkward about this sudden change in their daily life.

As Larissa tries to help Katie’s recovery along with her mother, we surely begin to get a series of bad signs popping here and there. While looking mostly catatonic on the surface, Katie frequently shows erratic behaviors to the confusion of her parents, and their two other kids find themselves more disturbed by the increasingly ominous presence of their older sister. As things gets worse in their household day by day, Charlie tries to find any clue to what really happened to Katie at that time, and Detective Dalia Zaki (May Calamawy), a young local female cop who handled Katie’s case, is willing to help him as much as possible.

Even before they come closer to discovering the unspeakable secret behind Katie’s disappearance, you will get a pretty good idea of what is really happening to Charlie and his family – especially if you are a seasoned moviegoer like me. After all, Katie’s appearance looks as dirty and ragged as that young unfortunate girl in “The Exorcist” (1973), and she is surely capable of doing several nasty things such as suddenly vomiting a lot of gooey stuff on the floor.

It can be rather frustrating for some of you to see how the main characters in the film often behave as if they had never watched “The Exorcist” or any other similar horror films out there. Rather than following common sense, Charlie and Larissa keep doing one unwise thing after another along the story, and we are accordingly served with the ghastly consequences from these foolish actions of theirs. Even after a certain main character dies in a very gruesome way later in the story, they still try to maintain their status quo in the house, and that logically leads to more moments of terror and disgust for us.

These and many other horrific moments in the film are handled fairly well by director/writer Lee Cronin, who previously gave us “The Hole in the Ground” (2019) and “Evil Dead Rise” (2023). As the movie surely pulls all the stops during its expected climax, we are naturally bombarded with a lot of bangs and crashes, but this is imbued with some sense of dark fun even though it is clearly influenced more by “The Exorcist” and “The Evil Dead” (1981) than those numerous mummy movies such as that dull 2017 film starring Tom Cruise.

It is a shame that Cronin’s screenplay does not provide much depth to its main characters, who are more or less than plot elements to be manipulated along the story. While Jack Reynor, who is no stranger to horror films considering his effective supporting turn in “Midsommar” (2019), is merely required to look baffled or unnerved without anything else to do, Laia Costa and May Calamawy are often stuck in their bland parts, and the same thing can be said about the young performers playing Charlie and Larissa’s children. Shylo Molina, Dean Allen Williams, Billie Roy, Emily Mitchell manage to leave some impression despite their thankless supporting roles, and Natalie Grace looks admirably committed during several intense scenes assigned to her.

In conclusion, “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” is thankfully less terrible than I worried, but it is still not good enough for recommendation due to several reasons including its deficient storytelling. Although it is relatively more enjoyable than that Tom Cruise mummy flick, the movie does not distinguish itself much in that familiar genre region belonging to “The Exorcist” and other countless movies about demonic possession, and my mind is already ready to move on from this passable experience.

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Ran 12.3 (2026) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): The day when South Korean democracy was ambushed

Posted on April 28, 2026 by kaist455

South Korean documentary film “Ran 12.3” has a number of raw moments which still disturb me and many other South Korean citizens a lot even at this point. On December 3rd, 2024, President Yoon Seok-yeol suddenly declared the martial law on TV just for eliminating all those political opponents of his once for all, and it is really dreadful to imagine what could have happened if his impulsive (and possibly drunken) coup d’état attempt had not been quickly prevented by a lot of brave citizens and politicians several hours later.

I must confess that, because I happened to sleep rather early on that day, I belatedly came to learn about everything when I woke up early in the very next day. I was certainly perplexed as checking on several news outlets and social media services, and I and many other South Korean citizens have been reminded again and again of how fortunate we and our country were at that time.

Therefore, the documentary interested me right from when I heard about it a few months ago, but, alas, it does not satisfy or enlighten me much on the whole. While what is at the center of the documentary does have enough emotional power to hold our attention, it does not present anything new or revealing about that shocking day. Moreover, it is occasionally quite distracting due to its heavy-handed approach to the main subject, so I ended up feeling more distant instead of getting more engaged during my viewing.

The early part of the documentary hurriedly hurls at us a lot of background information about how President Yoon planned a coup d’état along with a bunch of his cronies. Many of them were in his cabinet, and these rotten people did not object to his dangerous plan at all mainly because of their cowardice and incompetence. In fact, many top figures in the South Korean Department of Justice including the Chief of the Supreme Court were ready to go along with him without any hesitation right from the very beginning.

It was really lucky for us that many members of the South Korean Parliament could respond to Yoon’s sudden martial law declaration gather at the National Assembly within a few hours. Besides the chairman of the parliament, more than 150 congressmen and congresswomen, nearly all of them were incidentally the members of the opposing parties, managed to enter the National Assembly in one way or another despite the considerable interference from the South Korean police and military under Yoon’s command, and hundreds of citizens and reporters also quickly came to the spot for not only supporting their politicians but also protesting against those police officers and soldiers.

Needless to say, President Yoon and his cronies knew well that those congressmen and congresswomen gathering inside the National Assembly would stop his martial law under their due process. He directly ordered those soldiers and police officers to stop those parliament members by any means necessary, and several raw footage clips in the documentary chillingly show us how urgent and perilous the situation was at that time.

Around that point, South Korean democracy could have been irrevocably destructed at any chance. For example, if those helicopters carrying a bunch of special force soldiers had been allowed to fly over the National Assembly a few minutes earlier, President Yoon could actually have succeeded in overthrowing South Korean democracy once for all. In addition, the chairman of the parliament and his fellow members of the parliament did their best as firmly sticking to their due process despite the accumulating pressure and anxiety upon them, and their dedicated staff members were determined to hold their ground for protecting South Korean democracy to the end.

And there were numerous ordinary citizens who were also ready to fight for South Korean democracy no matter how long their righteous fight would be. Once the martial law was officially overturned by the South Korean Parliament early in the morning of December 4th, they were certainly overjoyed, but this was just the beginning as President Yoon and his cronies attempted to get away with many serious legal offenses during next several months. In the end, this truly deplorable figure got impeached early in April 2025, and then he and his cronies were recently found guilty of a bunch of charges against them, but the South Korean society is still not so totally free from their crimes and influences.

The documentary may be worthwhile to watch for that reason, but I must point out that it has several glaring flaws to notice. Maybe you can overlook the frequent utilization of AI images and animation throughout the documentary, the overall result is still very clumsy and juvenile to say the least, and director/co-producer Lee Myung-se, who has mainly known for his notable films such as “ Nowhere to Hide” (1999) and “Duelist” (2005), uses too much music and editing for manipulating our emotions in one way or another. Furthermore, I was also bothered by its misogynistic attitude to President Yoon’s wife, who is equally despicable regardless of whether her past before marrying her husband is as checkered as, say, Eva Perón’s.

In short, “Ran 12.3” is a well-intentioned but overcooked documentary which is not good enough for compensating for its several negative aspects including its controversial executive producer, a vile and superficial man who does not deserve to be regarded as a journalist in my trivial opinion. I guess Lee wants to make his documentary “cinematic”, but it could deliver its relevant points more calmly and soberingly just with those powerful raw footage clips in the documentary. You know, they are certainly more than enough for us to get alarmed and then infuriated, and we really do not need all those bells and whistles at all.

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