Category Archives: Movies

The Clan (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4) : A double family life

Posted on May 14, 2016 by kaist455

A real-life criminal story dramatized in Argentine film “The Clan” is both disturbing and compelling to say the least. Here is the man who is not only a ruthless criminal but also an ordinary middle-class father, and we cannot help … Continue reading →

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Men & Chicken (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): The story of some brothers

Posted on May 10, 2016 by kaist455

Danish film “Men & Chicken”, which was submitted to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in last year, is utterly bizarre and outrageous from the beginning to the end. As a movie not just literally about men and … Continue reading →

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Phantom Detective (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): An offbeat noir from South Korea

Posted on May 8, 2016 by kaist455

South Korean film “Phantom Detective” is an amusing mixed bag stuffed with different genre elements which do not seem to fit together at first but somehow work on the whole in its offbeat concoction. After all, not many movies have … Continue reading →

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Spa Night (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): A somber, tentative gay drama in Koreatown

Posted on May 7, 2016 by kaist455

“Spa Night” puts itself in the middle of an ethnic community area in LA both familiar and foreign to me. As this small exceptional independent movie let me assess its specific, intimate details with curiosity and amusement, I was involved … Continue reading →

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Rabin, the Last Day (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): When Israel failed itself

Posted on May 5, 2016 by kaist455

As with other infamous political assassination incidents, the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has devastating historical resonance over its aftermath. Despite the increasingly difficult domestic situation following the Oslo Accord I, which could have been the real first … Continue reading →

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Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Two great filmmakers, one monumental book

Posted on May 1, 2016 by kaist455

When I was young and wild during the 1990s, I began to be more serious about movies, and it was fortunate for me to have two wonderful things to boost my growing interest on movies around that time. First, a … Continue reading →

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Captain America: Civil War (2016) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): The Avengers 2.5

Posted on April 30, 2016 by kaist455

I remember when I grumbled to myself while watching one certain action scene in “The Avengers” (2012). Watching its two superhero characters clashing with each other over something trivial, I felt the urge to say something to them: “Hey, guys, … Continue reading →

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Chinese Take-Away (2011) ☆☆☆(3/4): When things happen to him

Posted on April 24, 2016 by kaist455

The opening scene of Argentine film “Chinese Take-Away” looks so absurd that you will not believe that, as shown during the end credits, this darkly comic moment is actually inspired by a truly bizarre real-life incident. Yes, such incidents like … Continue reading →

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Chronic (2015) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4) : Living through his sick people

Posted on April 23, 2016 by kaist455

It is always interesting to observe human behaviors from movies. “Chronic”, which received the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival in last year, engaged me because of its calm observation of curious human behaviors, but I was also … Continue reading →

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Seymour: An Introduction (2014) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): On his duet of life and art

Posted on April 18, 2016 by kaist455

The first minutes of documentary film “Seymour: An Introduction” was more than enough for me to become interested in its remarkable human subject. As a man who has happily maintained his own balance between life and art for many years, … Continue reading →

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