Author Archives: kaist455

Hotel Mumbai (2018) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A brutal docudrama on the 2008 Mumbai Attacks

Posted on June 17, 2019 by kaist455

“Hotel Mumbai” intends to be a vivid, intense, and disturbing presentation of the 2008 Mumbai Attacks, and it succeeds to some degree although I feel rather ambivalent about its overall result. While it is often gripping and chilling as depicting … Continue reading →

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Birds of Passage (2018) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A criminal family drama set in Colombia

Posted on June 16, 2019 by kaist455

“Birds of Passage”, which was selected as Colombia’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in last year, is a compelling mix of crime drama and anthropological interest. While it is another drug crime story set in a South American … Continue reading →

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Aniara (2018) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Space voyage of the Damned

Posted on June 16, 2019 by kaist455

Swedish SF film “Aniara” is akin to watching a slow but inexorable progress toward utter despair and sheer hopelessness. Although it is often too clinical for us to care about what is going on in the story, the movie works … Continue reading →

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Little Woods (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): A tale of two desperate sisters

Posted on June 16, 2019 by kaist455

“Little Woods” is a melancholic tale of two women struggling with their increasingly desperate circumstance. While this is essentially your typical American independent film intended as a cold slice of life, the movie is a competent piece of work equipped … Continue reading →

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Ask Dr. Ruth (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): America’s most famous sex therapist

Posted on June 16, 2019 by kaist455

I like good documentary films about interesting human lives, and “Ask Dr. Ruth” is one of such cases. Here is a remarkable old German lady who moved to US after surviving the World War II and then became an unlikely … Continue reading →

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Dilili in Paris (2018) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A little mystery in Paris the Belle Époque

Posted on June 15, 2019 by kaist455

I was ready to enjoy French animation feature film “Dilili in Paris”, but it did not satisfy me enough. Sure, the film provides a number of lovely visual moments to be appreciated, and I was amused by the frequent appearance … Continue reading →

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Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A rambling Bob Dylan documentary from Scorsese

Posted on June 14, 2019 by kaist455

Bob Dylan has always been an iconic but distant figure to us. Sure, he has given us numerous memorable songs such as “Blowin in the Wind” or “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” for more than 50 years, but he has also … Continue reading →

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I Am Mother (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): A slow but tense SF thriller on AI and motherhood

Posted on June 10, 2019 by kaist455

To be frank with you, I did not have much expectation while watching the trailer of Netflix film “I Am Mother”. Right from the first shot in the trailer, I had a pretty good idea about what it is about … Continue reading →

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Varda by Agnès (2019) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Her last words

Posted on June 9, 2019 by kaist455

I wish I had encountered the works of Agnès Varda earlier. During that wild period when I relentlessly devoured many works of various great filmmakers as your average young cinephile, I somehow missed many of her notable films except “Cléo … Continue reading →

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Gloria Bell (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): As she reaches for more love and happiness

Posted on June 8, 2019 by kaist455

They say you should not try to fix it if it is not broken, and that saying is applied well to Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio’s new film “Gloria Bell”, which is the American version of his previous film “Gloria” (2013). … Continue reading →

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