Category Archives: Movies

Drifting Home (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A drifting apartment building

Posted on September 19, 2022 by kaist455

Japanese animation feature film “Drifting Home”, which was released on Netflix a few days ago, begins with an intriguing story idea to hold your attention for a while, but it only comes to disappoint us due to several flaws in … Continue reading →

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A Clockwork Orange (1971) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): It is ticking well to disturb us

Posted on September 17, 2022 by kaist455

Whenever I have to rank the 13 feature films of Stanley Kubrick, “A Clockwork Orange” is always a major headache for me. Along with “Dr. Strangelove” (1964) and “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), it shows Kubrick at the peak of … Continue reading →

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Everything Went Fine (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A restrained but poignant drama by François Ozon

Posted on September 12, 2022 by kaist455

French film “Everything Went Fine” is restrained but poignant as simply observing a very serious family matter. While never overlooking its main characters’ emotional struggles over that matter, the movie thoughtfully lets us get to know more about them and … Continue reading →

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Jazz on a Summer’s Day (1959) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Jazz on the seaside

Posted on September 11, 2022 by kaist455

“Jazz on a Summer’s Day”, whose recent 4K remastered version was somehow released in South Korean theaters a few days ago, is an interesting time capsule which attempts to bring us into one day of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival … Continue reading →

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Kim Min-young of the Report Card (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): As they are drifted apart from each other

Posted on September 11, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Kim Min-young of the Report Card” is a calm but intimate observation on the slow dissolution of the friendship among its three young female characters. As they try to live their respective lives in each own … Continue reading →

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The Black Phone (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): A familiar but solid genre mix

Posted on September 8, 2022 by kaist455

“The Black Phone” did not surprise me much, but I was entertained nonetheless. As your average seasoned moviegoer, I clearly discerned what I was going to get from this effective genre piece, and it did not exceed my expectation much … Continue reading →

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Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Will they overcome?

Posted on September 5, 2022 by kaist455

“Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul” is a wry satire about one certain amusing side of the American culture. Mainly revolving around the two central figures of an African American megachurch who really need to overcome their disgraced public status, … Continue reading →

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I Came By (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Competent but ultimately flawed

Posted on September 5, 2022 by kaist455

I must confess that I found it rather challenging for me to talk about Netflix film “I Came By”, which was released a few days ago. Because many of crucial moments in the film depend on unexpected narrative turns, I … Continue reading →

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Sundown (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): He just wants to stay there…

Posted on September 4, 2022 by kaist455

“Sundown” is so adamantly distant and opaque in terms of attitude and narrative that you may find yourself constantly wondering about how it really regards the elusive behaviors of its exasperatingly self-absorbed hero. To be frank with you, I am … Continue reading →

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Nocturne (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): A son, his mother, and her other son

Posted on August 28, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean documentary film “Nocturne” follows the cacophonic life story of a mother and her two very different sons. Because one of these two sons happens to have a serious case of autistic disorder, his younger brother as well as … Continue reading →

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