Category Archives: Movies

Man Up (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): Predictable but lovable

“Man Up” is so predictable that you will probably guess at least half of what will happen next after its Meet Cute scene. Yes, they meet each other by accident as total strangers. Yes, they will see how much they … Continue reading

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Mistress America (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): Another witty New Yorker comedy from Baumbach

“Mistress America” is another witty New Yorker comedy from Noah Baumbach, and it is as acute and amusing as you can expect from him. While its two heroines are not that likable as we get to know more about their … Continue reading

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The Assassin (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): A gorgeous but distant wuxia film

Sometimes I come across beautiful films which can instantly hold my gaze with their beauty and mood but somehow keep me from getting wholly involved in what or how they are about. I watch them with curiosity and admiration, but … Continue reading

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Macbeth (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): Full of grim sound and fury

Justin Kurzel’s “Macbeth” is a relentlessly dark and brutal adaptation of that ‘Scottish Play’ by William Shakespeare, and that is a right storytelling approach for its grim savage tale of corruption and madness, which is “told by an idiot, full … Continue reading

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Sicario (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4) : On dangerous border

At first, the heroine of “Sicario” does not exactly know what kind of situation she gets involved into, and neither do we, though the movie gives us a little more information. As she comes to know more about what is … Continue reading

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In the Heart of the Sea (2015) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A story that inspired “Moby Dick”

 When I came across Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” for the first time, what I read was a criminally abridged version for elementary school kids. I did not know that at that time, but I enjoyed reading it anyway, and then … Continue reading

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Suite Française (2014) ☆☆(2/4) : The German Lieutenant’s Woman

During its epilogue, “Suite Française” belatedly reveals to us its most interesting aspect. The movie is based on a novella written by Russian Jewish novelist Irène Némirovsky during the World War II, and it was a part of her planned … Continue reading

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Youth (2015) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): An idiosyncratic musing around youth and aging

“Youth” is amusing, baffling, and mesmerizing in its odd beautiful moments. It often feels uneven and random as juggling many various elements around its leisurely background, but then we are gripped by its fabulous moments, and its idiosyncratic musing around … Continue reading

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Crimson Peak (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): A creepy exercise in Gothic romance horror

In last month, I came across a New York Times article on Guillermo del Toro’s his private place called Bleak House, and it was one of the most entertaining articles I read during recent months. The article vividly described this … Continue reading

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The Boy and The Beast (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): A boy and his beast master

Around the middle of the early morning screening of Mamoru Hosoda’s new animation feature film “The Boy and the Beast”, I became more conscious of its narrative flaws, but I was entertained in spite of that. While its plot is … Continue reading

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