Author Archives: kaist455

Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): A hidden female artistic pioneer

Documentary film “Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint” focuses on one exceptional female artist who definitely deserves a lot of attention and appreciation for her pioneering artistic achievement. Although it has been almost 80 years since she died, many of … Continue reading

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Fallen Leaves (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A deadpan romantic comedy from Aki Kaurismäki

Aki Kaurismäki’s latest work “Fallen Leaves”, which was chosen as the Finnish entry for Best International Film Oscar in this year and then was recently included in the shortlist, is a seemingly bleak but ultimately heartwarming romantic comedy to remember. … Continue reading

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Noryang: Deadly Sea (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Driven into the last battle

South Korean film “Noryang: Deadly Sea”, the third and (definitely) final film of the trilogy after “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (2014) and “Hansan: Rising Dragon” (2022), is often relentlessly epic and loud in what it is expected to present on … Continue reading

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Strange Way of Life (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): A little western tale by Pedro Almodóvar

Pedro Almodóvar’s short film “Strange Way of Life”, which is incidentally his second English-language work after his previous short film “The Human Voice” (2020), is a little gay western as colorful and melodramatic as you can expect from its genre … Continue reading

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Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nuggets (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): The chickens are back…

Netflix animation film “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nuggets”, which was released a few days ago, is the latest work from Aardman Animations, which has given us a series of charming and entertaining animation films ranging from “Wallace & Gromit: … Continue reading

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Leave the World Behind (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Is this the end?

Netflix film “Leave the World Behind”, which was released a few week ago, is a very familiar type of thriller which does not bring anything new or fresh into its genre territory. This is a fairly competent product on the … Continue reading

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Joyland (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): A queer drama from Pakistan

Pakistani film “Joyland”, which was selected as the Pakistani submission to Best International Film Oscar in last year (It was subsequently included in the shortlist, by the way), is a sensitive mix between family drama and queer story. Although the … Continue reading

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Batman (1989) ☆☆☆(3/4): That indelible darkness

The most timeless part of Tim Burton’s “Batman” is that indelible darkness of its superlative Oscar-winning production design by late Anton Furst. Burton and Furst created one of the most visually striking cities in the movie history which deserves to … Continue reading

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Ikiru (1952) ☆☆☆☆(4/4): To live for the rest of his life

Not long after I watched Akira Kurosawa’s great film “Ikiru” for the first time around 20 years ago, I read a review written by one anonymous but prominent South Korean critic who argued that “Ikiru” is the funniest film ever … Continue reading

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Home Ground (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Welcome to Lesvos (No, not that island)

South Korean documentary film “Home Ground” introduces us to one extraordinary figure who deserves to be known more to not only thousands of LGBTQ+ people out there in the South Korean society but also many other South Korean citizens. Here … Continue reading

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