Monthly Archives: June 2020

Da 5 Bloods (2020) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Boys are back in Vietnam

Posted on June 15, 2020 by kaist455

Spike Lee’s latest work “Da 5 Bloods”, which was released on Netflix on last Friday, is quite a compelling mix of adventure drama, social commentary. and history lesson. While it is rather uneven and a bit too overlong in my … Continue reading →

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Clemency (2019) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A calm, sobering drama on death penalty

Posted on June 14, 2020 by kaist455

“Clemency”, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival early in 2019 but was unfortunately overlooked shortly after its limited theatrical release in US around the end of the same year, will shake you hard for good … Continue reading →

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Just Mercy (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Conventional but timely anyway

Posted on June 14, 2020 by kaist455

“Just Mercy” is a conventional but timely drama film based on one infuriating real-life case of legal injustice. Although it occasionally feels too mild and colorless in terms of story and characters, it is still engaging mainly thanks to several … Continue reading →

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Innocence (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): A daughter who returns to her shady hometown

Posted on June 12, 2020 by kaist455

South Korean movie “Innocence” is a compelling mix of detached courtroom mystery drama and heated family melodrama. Although the mystery at the heart of the film is a bit too easily solved, the movie still holds our attention as its … Continue reading →

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The High Note (2020) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Her First Superstar

Posted on June 12, 2020 by kaist455

“The High Note”, which was recently released in South Korean theaters as “My First Superstar”, is a mildly entertaining comedy film about an aspiring young woman who wants to break into music industry. Although you will not be surprised much … Continue reading →

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Spelling the Dream (2020) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Breaking the Bee

Posted on June 10, 2020 by kaist455

Netflix documentary “Spelling the Dream”, which is also known as “Breaking the Bee”, examines one interesting current ethnic trend of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but it only comes to scratch the surface in the end. Although it is fairly … Continue reading →

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Jazzy Misfits (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Mother, daughter, and some other colorful misfits

Posted on June 4, 2020 by kaist455

South Korean film “Jazzy Misfits” bounces here and there in one colorful neighborhood area of Seoul along with its two very different main characters. Although we can clearly see its eventual destination from the very beginning, the movie diligently amuses … Continue reading →

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The Vast of Night (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): One night in a small town of New Mexico

Posted on June 1, 2020 by kaist455

“The Vast of Night”, which was released on Amazon Prime in last week, is a little but compelling science fiction film which evokes those fun and scary episodes of old TV series “The Twilight Zone” and “The Outer Limits” while … Continue reading →

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