Category Archives: Movies

Red Rocket (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A porn actor returns to his hometown

Posted on January 5, 2022 by kaist455

Sean Baker’s new film “Red Rocket” is alternatively amusing and cringe-inducing for good reasons. Here is an incorrigibly sleazy and pathetic dude who is still driven by his hubris and selfishness even while his life is hitting another bottom, and … Continue reading →

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Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): A little Christian family birthday party

Posted on January 4, 2022 by kaist455

“Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party” is a modest but engaging drama mainly revolving around the family birthday party for its sexually repressed adolescent hero. While simply hanging around him and a bunch of Christian characters around him during one long day, … Continue reading →

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The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (2015) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): The Rise and Fall of the Black Panthers

Posted on January 4, 2022 by kaist455

Stanley Nelson’s documentary film “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” shows a lot more about the Black Panthers than you may expect. To be frank with you, I once regarded the Black Panthers as nothing but a pesky and … Continue reading →

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The Lost Daughter (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): What makes this woman tick?

Posted on January 3, 2022 by kaist455

“The Lost Daughter”, which was released on Netflix in US at the very end of last year, is an ambiguously fascinating character study revolving around one woman who seems to have some lasting personal issues behind her seemingly monotonous façade. … Continue reading →

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Beats (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A music drama of familiar beats

Posted on January 3, 2022 by kaist455

Netflix film “Beats”, which should not be confused with the acclaimed 2019 British music drama film of the same name, is a conventional hip-hop drama film consisting of beats familiar to the core. While it has some good music worthwhile … Continue reading →

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Tallulah (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): Her problem with a baby

Posted on January 2, 2022 by kaist455

The heroine of Netflix film “Tallulah” is probably one of the messiest movie characters I have ever encountered. She is often quite impulsive and unwise to our annoyance and frustration, but the movie lets us have more understanding and empathy … Continue reading →

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Attica (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Five Days in Attica, 1971

Posted on December 31, 2021 by kaist455

Documentary film “Attica” looks into the uprising at the Attica Correctional Facility, New York in 1971, and it tells and shows much more than what I vaguely knew about this incident. To be frank with you, I only came to … Continue reading →

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Nowhere Special (2020) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Before he dies

Posted on December 30, 2021 by kaist455

“Nowhere Special” is a mildly poignant drama film about a decent guy who simply wants his young son to have a good life after he is gone. Although it thankfully avoids sappy sentimentality as earnestly rolling its story from one … Continue reading →

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Lamb (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A coldly unnerving drama from Iceland

Posted on December 30, 2021 by kaist455

Icelandic film “Lamb”, which was recently included in the shortlist for Best International Film Oscar, is a coldly unnerving drama which intrigues us with its very weird story premise at first. Although its final few minutes is a letdown compared … Continue reading →

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The Forever Prisoner (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): It was torture indeed

Posted on December 29, 2021 by kaist455

HBO documentary “The Forever Prisoner” is often sobering and chilling in its calm but blistering presentation on what the US government allowed to happen in the name of War on Terror. While it did not surprise or shock you much … Continue reading →

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