Category Archives: Movies

The 15:17 to Paris (2018) ☆☆(2/4): A dull, tedious tale of American heroism

Posted on March 14, 2019 by kaist455

During recent years, Clint Eastwood gave us a number of interesting movies about American heroism. While “Flags of Our Fathers” (2006) is a haunting World War II movie revolving around three soldiers in that iconic photograph shot during the battle … Continue reading →

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Disorder (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): A damaged soldier trying to protect

Posted on March 11, 2019 by kaist455

“Disorder” is a genre piece more thoughtful and powerful than I expected. While often tense and gripping as required, the movie relentlessly delves into its deeply troubled hero’s damaged state of mind, and the result is a compelling character study … Continue reading →

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American Splendor (2003) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Plain splendid

Posted on March 10, 2019 by kaist455

It somehow took quite a long time for me to get to Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s “American Splendor”, based on the acclaimed comic book series of the same name which was written by Harvey Pekar. When I came … Continue reading →

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The Vanishing (2018) ☆☆(2/4): Three lighthouse keepers on an isle

Posted on March 9, 2019 by kaist455

“The Vanishing” initially intrigued me but eventually bored me a lot. Loosely inspired by a mysterious case of disappearance which really happened in 1900, the movie attempts a dark thriller drama of greed, guilt, and madness, but it fails to … Continue reading →

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Isn’t It Romantic? (2019) ☆☆1/2 (2.5/4): Isn’t it typical?

Posted on March 9, 2019 by kaist455

“Isn’t It Romantic?”, which was theatrically released in US in last month and then was released by Netflix outside US on last Thursday, is fairly watchable, but it is not as fresh as intended. While it initially seems to have … Continue reading →

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Vox Lux (2018) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Before and after becoming a star

Posted on March 9, 2019 by kaist455

I was left with rather hollow impression after watching “Vox Lux”, whose title means “voice of light” in Latin. While it has a number of good moments to remember, the movie is not entirely successful in terms of story and … Continue reading →

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Captain Marvel (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Meet Captain Marvel

Posted on March 7, 2019 by kaist455

“Captain Marvel”, the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), is alternatively familiar and refreshing. Although it is your typical superhero origin story, there are a number of nice changes and variations for distinguishing itself from many other recent … Continue reading →

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Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Life in the Siberian Taiga

Posted on March 3, 2019 by kaist455

In January 2013, I came to learn about Werner Herzog and Dmitry Vasyukov’s documentary film “Happy People: A Year in the Taiga” via Steven Boone’s review and late Roger Ebert’s blog post. While I became quite curious about the documentary … Continue reading →

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The Front Runner (2018) ☆☆(2/4): As his campaign crashes down

Posted on March 2, 2019 by kaist455

Jason Reitman’s latest film “The Front Runner” tries to cover too many things about the rise and fall of Gary Hart, who attempted to be a Democratic presidential candidate in 1988 but then fell from grace due to that infamous … Continue reading →

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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Conventional but inspiring anyway

Posted on March 2, 2019 by kaist455

“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival early in this year and was recently released on Netflix, is based on an inspiring real-life story of a young clever Malawian boy who went … Continue reading →

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