Category Archives: Movies

Jack Reacher (2012) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4) : Don’t find him – He’ll find you

Posted on January 17, 2013 by kaist455

While watching “Jack Reacher”, I thought of one tagline very suitable for the movie: “Don’t find him – He’ll find you.” This one is so conventional that it can be used in any other action thriller films featuring tough guy … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged action, Detective, Lawyer, Murder, Police, Shooting, Soldier, Thriller | Leave a comment

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : Terror, Torture, Soldier, Spy

Posted on January 13, 2013 by kaist455

As far as we know, Osama(or Usama) bin Laden was officially dead in May 2011. That is a major ‘spoiler’ to Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty”, but the movie is a gripping espionage thriller about a long, exhausting journey its … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged action, Espionage, Real-life figure, Real-life incident, Real-life story, Terror, Thriller, Torture | 2 Comments

Django Unchained (2012) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : Another big trashy fun from Tarantino

Posted on January 12, 2013 by kaist455

Before sorting out my thoughts on Quentin Trantino’s new film “Django Unchained”, I checked my four-star Korean review on his previous work “Inglourious Basterds”(2009), and I was a bit amused by what I wrote at the beginning: “Asking Tarantino to … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged action, Bounty Hunter, Dentist, Plantation, revenge, Slavery, Western | 6 Comments

The Sessions (2012) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : He just wants to lose his virginity…

Posted on January 11, 2013 by kaist455

Mark O’Brien’s life is one of those moving life stories we encounter from time to time. After he contacted polio when he was 6, he spent most of his life as a paralyzed man depending on iron wrong, but he … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged Catholicism, Disability, Poet, Polio, Priest, Religion, Sex, Sex Surrogate | 1 Comment

Cloud Atlas (2012) ☆☆☆(3/4) : Life is full of make-ups

Posted on January 10, 2013 by kaist455

“Cloud Atlas” is something you do not often encounter at theater: an ambitiously epic folly which will dazzle or bore you at the big screening room. Though I am not entirely sure about my opinion on this giant messy tapestry, … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged action, Clone, Comedy, Composer, Homosexuality, Publisher, Reincarnation, Reporter, Revolution, Romance, SF, Thriller, Writer | 1 Comment

Lincoln (2012) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : A portrait of a saintly and wily politician

Posted on January 9, 2013 by kaist455

During my childhood, I came across several sets of biographies of the famous historical figures for elementary school/kindergarten children, and Abraham Lincoln’s biography was a sort of obligatory volume in these sets like Jesus’ or Einstein’s was. Except nice illustrations, … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged Congress, Constitution, Father and son, Husband and Wife, Law, Politician, President, Real-life figure, Real-life incident, Slavery, the Civil War, War | 3 Comments

Flight (2012) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : The crash is not over for him yet

Posted on January 8, 2013 by kaist455

He survives, but the crash is not over for him yet. After striking us with a gut-chilling sequence at the start, Robert Zemeckis’ “Flight” switches its gear into a slow but compelling character drama about a long personal crash of … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged Addiction, Airplane, Alcoholism, Christianity, Crash, Pilot | Leave a comment

Transsiberian (2008) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : A wintry thriller on the Transsiberian Express

Posted on January 5, 2013 by kaist455

“Transsiberian” is a Hitchcockian thriller decorated with icy wintry landscapes, and it is a good example. It sets its tone right at the beginning, and then it carefully develops its unstable feeling as loading the story and the characters on … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged Detective, Drug trafficking, Husband and Wife, Murder, Siberia, snow, Thriller, Train, winter | Leave a comment

My FFC review for Nameless Gangsters(2012)

Posted on January 2, 2013 by kaist455

My Far-flung correspondent review for “Nameless Gangster”(2012) has just been posted. If you want to read it, click here. The review was revised from my original review written in February 2012.

Posted in Movies | Tagged Comedy, Gangster, South Korean Film | Leave a comment

Life of Pi (2012) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A boy’s unbelievable journey with a Bengal tiger

Posted on January 2, 2013 by kaist455

“Life of Pi” is a stunning visual achievement. It is so an absorbing and exquisite visual experience that I was effortlessly pulled into its fantastic story about a young boy’s unbelievable drift with a Bengal tiger on the vast Pacific … Continue reading →