Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): …And then it becomes deadly for all of them

Posted on July 31, 2023 by kaist455

“Bodies Bodies Bodies”, which is currently available on Netflix in South Korea, a nasty but humorous comedy thriller film which will amuse you in more than one way. On the surface, it looks like your average woman-in-danger flick, but it goes a bit deeper than expected as thoroughly and relentlessly satirizing its main characters’ banal relationships and shallow behaviors, and that is where most of its fun comes from.

The movie opens with a little private moment between two young women named Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and Bee (Maria Bakalova), and we get to know a bit about them as they are going to a remote spot belonging to the father of one of Sophie’s rich friends. They have been in a romantic relationship for a while despite their apparent social difference, but Sophie is eager to introduce Bee to her friends, and Bee hopes that she will have a good time with others there.

However, things do not look particularly promising because Sophie and Bee turn out to be virtually uninvited when they arrive at a big house located at that remote spot in question. Although her three female friends, Jordan (Myha’la Herrold), Emma (Chase Sui Wonders), and Alice (Rachel Sennott), welcome Sophie and Bee at first, it is clear to us that they do not like their fun time with two guys interrupted by Sophie and Bee’s appearance.

The two guys in question are Greg (Lee Pace) and David (Pete Davidson), who is incidentally the son of the owner of that big house. David later expresses his displeasure during his private conversation with Sophie, and we also come to gather that they and their friends actually do not know anything about Greg, who is much older than them but comes there anywhere just because he recently happens to get involved with Alice via an online dating application.

Anyway, they all expect to have a good time together inside the house while it gets dark and stormy outside due to a hurricane during the evening. While a friend of theirs happens to be absent for some reason, Bee is willing to fill the empty spot instead, and the mood soon become more casual and playful as they are about to play a little murder game called, yes, “Bodies Bodies Bodies”. Somebody among them will take the role of the killer, and, after some dark moment inside house, they will have to guess the identity of the killer once lights are turned on and then the “body” is found.

Of course, the situation subsequently becomes more tense than before when something suddenly occurs to the shock of everyone inside the house. To make matters worse, they also find themselves completely isolated from the outside for no apparent reason, and they become more terrified as it seems that someone among them is going to eliminate them one by one.

This is certainly a classic thriller setup exemplified by Agatha Christie’s chilling mystery thriller novel “And Then There Were None” and many other similar movies ranging from John Carpenter’s “The Thing” (1982) and Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” (2015) to those Friday the 13th movies. As the body count is naturally increased along the story, the movie deftly dials up a sense of dread and paranoia among its main characters, and that is further accentuated by the atmospheric score by Disasterpiece.

In the meantime, the screenplay Sarah DeLappe, which was developed from the story written by Kristen Roupenian, has a naughty fun with how superficial the relationships among the main characters really are. Mostly interacting with each other on the Internet instead of making any genuine human connections among them, they inevitably come to reveal each own deception and hypocrisy under their increasingly perilous circumstance, and the resulting conflicts among them only lead them to a series of unwise things you should not do if you are in a slasher horror film.

As a result, many of the main characters in the film become rather unlikable to us, but the movie keeps holding our attention before eventually arriving at its expectedly ironic finale, and its main cast members are effective as broad but colorful characters. While Maria Bakalova, who has been more well-known thanks to her hilarious Oscar-nominated turn in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” (2020), dutifully holds the center in a plainer appearance, Amandla Stenberg, who has been more notable since her powerful lead performance in “The Hate U Give” (2018), functions as a good counterpart for Bakalova, and My’hala Herrod, Chase Sui Wonders, and Rachel Sennott are also equally solid. In case of Lee Pace and Pete Davidson, they do not hesitate at all from the obnoxious sides of their respective supporting roles, and their solid comic performances provide extra humor to the film.

“Bodies Bodies Bodies” directed by Halina Reijn, a Dutch actress/filmmaker who previous made a feature film debut in “Instinct” (2019). I have not seen that movie yet, but “Bodies Bodies Bodies” shows that she is a good filmmaker who knows how to engage and entertain us, and I enjoyed how she balanced the film well between comedy and thriller. Yes, this is another typical genre exercise, but it has some wit and personality in addition to working well as a biting social satire, and I recommend you to give it a chance someday.

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Stephen Curry: Underrated (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): From an underdog to a legend

Posted on July 30, 2023 by kaist455

Documentary film “Stephen Curry: Underrated”, which was released on Apple TV+ in last week, looks into the past and present of the professional athletic career of Stephen Curry, one of the most prominent NBA players at present. As a guy not so interested in sports, I could only observe and assess what is presented in the documentary, and I can only tell you for now that it gives us a fairly engaging underdog narrative although it could show us more about Curry as a human being in my inconsequential opinion.

At the beginning, the documentary mainly focuses on how much Curry was underrated in his early years. Just like his father, Curry wanted to be an NBA basketball player, but he did not look that promising just because he was rather skinny in addition to being not so tall, and this actually came to motivate him a lot. As advised by his father, he trained himself more and more in addition to improving his athletic strength further, and this eventually helped him distinguish himself as a young nut promising basketball player.

However, Curry still did not receive much attention when he was about to enter the college basketball league in 2006. At first, he really wanted to go to Virginia Tech because it was where both of his parents studied and played, but then he could not go there to his disappointment, and then there came an unexpected offer from Davidson College of North Carolina. Bob McKillop, who was the coach of the Davidson Wildcats at that time, clearly recognized considerable potential from Curry, and he was quite willing to nurture and support Curry as much as possible even though nothing much was expected from Curry at that time.

Anyway, Curry’s first year at the Davidson Wildcats was rather disappointing in the beginning, but McKillop continued his support toward Curry nonetheless, and a series of archival footage clips show how Curry gradually got better in addition to becoming another substantial part of the team. There later came a big moment of defeat and frustration for not only Curry but also many of other team members, but McKillop did not give up at all, and Curry and his several ex-team members reminisce about how McKillop gave them some hard criticism while never losing his usual supportive stance at that daunting time.

What followed next is your typical underdog drama, and that is certainly the most engaging part of the documentary. After discerning that they really had to play together as perfectly as possible, Curry and other main team members tried hard to excel themselves besides building up more team spirit among them, and, what do you know, they became almost invincible once they eventually found a way to click well with each other on the court. At the Southern Conference, the Davidson Wildcats surprised everyone as winning the Championship three times during 2006-2008, and this significant achievement eventually led to its participation in the NCAA tournament in 2008. Because the Davidson Wildcats never entered the NCAA tournament for almost 40 years, everyone in the Davidson College went wild to say the least, and that was certainly another highlight in Curry’s years in the Davidson Wildcats.

I will not go into details on what happened next, but I can tell you instead that director/co-producer Peter Nicks, who previously impressed me with two very good documentaries “The Force” (2017) and “Homeroom” (2021). did a competent job of building up narrative momentum. Around the point where it the documentary eventually arrives at a big dramatic moment to remember for everyone at the court, you may brace yourself for a bit even though you are much more knowledgeable about Curry’s professional athletic carrier than me.

This narrative is often intercut with Curry’s current status as a prominent NBA player. As already told to us at the beginning of the documentary, Curry was underrated again around the time when he entered the NBA draft in 2009, and many people showed doubts as his rather disappointing records during first several years, but, of course, he was not so deterred by this as eventually becoming one of the most valuable players of the Golden State Warriors.

2021 was rather daunting for Curry despite a little historic moment for his professional athletic career, and the documentary attempts to look closer into his life, but I must say that this part feels relatively banal to the part focusing on his years in the Davidson Wildcats. The documentary surely interviews Curry’s several family members including his parents, but what they say in front of the camera is not particularly revealing in my humble opinion, and that is a shame considering that they might talk more about Curry’s life and personality. Things get a bit more interesting when the documentary shows us Curry’s sincere efforts on getting a college degree, but that still does not show much about him, while only leading to an eventual feel-good moment where he finally receives the college degree in front of his proud family members and numerous attendees.

In conclusion, “Stephen Curry: Underrated” is mostly informative and engaging on the whole, so I recommend it despite some reservation due to its relatively weak aspects. As far as I can see from the documentary, Curry is an interesting human figure to watch in addition to being a remarkable basketball player to remember, but his life and career are still going through their middle chapter even at this point, and now I wonder whether the documentary is a bit too early. As shown at the end of the documentary, he is already ready for whatever will come next to him, and we may get more interesting stories about him later in the future.

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Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): The tale of a Kraken girl

Posted on July 29, 2023 by kaist455

Animation feature film “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kragen” might have felt a bit more refreshing if it came out a few years earlier at least. During my viewing, I was reminded of several other recent animation films including “Luca” (2020) and “Turning Red” (2022), and, despite some fun and entertainment, the film does not have much to distinguish itself in the bunch. I liked it to some degree without getting bored, but, folks, I also wished it to have a little more distinctive personality besides merely being a well-made product.

The story of the film mainly revolves around Ruby Gillman (voiced by Lana Condor), who is your average shy high school girl and turns out to have a good reason for her anxiety and insecurity. She and her family are actually sea creatures called, yes, Krakens, but they have hidden their true identity from others in their little seaside town while disguising themselves as “Canadians”. Although she has gone along with that well during last several years, Ruby has felt more awkward about hiding her true identity from her schoolmates than before as entering her adolescence years, and even hanging around with several misfit students in her school does not help her that much.

Nevertheless, Ruby is eager to experience and enjoy more things out there, and one of these things is incidentally the upcoming school prom to be held on a big boat, but there are two problems to deal with. First, she wants to ask a certain hunky boy in her school, but she is understandably hesitant about that because she is not so sure about whether he really likes her as much as she adores him. Second, her mother Agatha (voiced by Toni Collette) has firmly forbidden her from doing anything on or in the sea, and she is not so pleased when Ruby tries to persuade her to make an exception for the upcoming school prom.

Of course, Ruby soon comes to learn the reason why she has not been allowed to be on or in the sea throughout her whole life. When that hunky boy happens to fall into the sea by her little mistake, Ruby jumps into the sea despite her initial hesitation, and, what do you know, that causes her subsequent transformation into a big Kraken with shiny tentacles. Once she later manages to get smaller thanks to her mother’s timely intervention, she comes to learn more about her mother’s family via her jolly uncle Brill (voiced by Sam Richardson), and that eventually leads her to meeting her grandmother, the underwater queen who incidentally prefers to be called “Grandmamah”.

While Grandmamah is eager to show and teach her granddaughter more about her kingdom and the considerable power and ability of their family, Agatha still wants her daughter to stay outside the sea, and that certainly makes Ruby quite conflicted. She does not feel like being ready for succeeding her grandmother someday, but she also feels less comfortable with her current life outside the sea, and the only consolation comes from Chelsea (voiced by Annie Murphy), a pretty red-haired girl in the high school who turns out to have her own secret to hide just like Ruby and quickly befriends her because of that.

What follows next is predictable to say the least, but director Kirk DeMicco and his crew provides a number of visually wonderful underwater moments to engage us as Ruby explores more of her new world along the story. Although I must say that they do not look as amazing as the highlights of “Finding Nemo” (2003), they are still fairly gorgeous with lots of broad but colorful details to enjoy, and I especially like the splendid grandeur of Grandmamah’s big giant underwater palace.

In the end, the story culminates to an expected climactic part coupled with some action, and that is where I got a bit dissatisfied. Although it thankfully avoids being too rapid or flashy, the film could take some more time for building up its story and characters more in addition to letting us enjoy more of its mood and details before hurriedly heading to its big finale.

Anyway, the voice cast members of the film are solid in their respective parts. While Lana Condor, who has been mainly know for Netflix film “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” (2018) and its two following sequels, fills her archetype role with enough charm and pluck, and her good voice performance diligently carries the film to the end even while the film stumbles more than once later in the story. While ably supporting Condor, Toni Collette, Annie Murphy, Colman Domingo, Sam Richardson, Will Forte, and Jane Fonda have each own moment to shine, and Fonda certainly relishes every moment of hers as Ruby’s commanding but doting grandmother.

In conclusion, “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kragen” is often deficient in terms of storytelling and characterization, but it is a mostly competent product which has some enjoyable elements to hold our attention for a while. Sure, “Turning Red”, which is about a girl who can be transformed into a big red panda as entering her own problematic adolescent period, did a better job of presenting the anguish and anxiety of female adolescence with more wit and imagination, and “Luca”, which is incidentally the coming-of-age tale of a sea creature boy, has more style and personality in comparison. Nevertheless, “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kragen” is not entirely without fun and amusement at least, and I will not stop you from spending your spare time on it.

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The Son (2022) ☆☆(2/4): The disappointing second film by Florian Zeller

Posted on July 29, 2023 by kaist455

Florian Zeller’s second film “The Son” is disappointing for seeming to have all the right elements to give us a fairly good family drama on the surface. Again, Zeller adapted one of his acclaimed plays along with Christopher Hampton, but the overall result is curiously dull and lackluster compared to the powerful human moments of their previous Oscar-winning film “The Father” (2020), and we only come to observe its cast members struggling a lot with thin narrative and superficial characterization.

At the beginning, the movie depicts how the daily life of Peter Miller (Hugh Jackman), an affluent New York City lawyer currently living with his second wife, is unexpectedly disrupted when his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) comes to tell him about their son Nicholas (Zen McGrath). According to Kate, Nicholas has been quite problematic for rather unspecific reasons, and now he wants to live with his father instead of his mother. Although he is not eager to live with his son mainly because his second wife Beth (Vanessa Kirby) is raising her baby son at present, Nicholas eventually agrees to let Nicholas stay in his residence, and Nichoals seems to be grateful for that.

However, of course, the situation gradually becomes awkward between Peter and his son. While he seems to get a bit better than before after moving to a new school, Nicholas does not talk much about whatever he has been struggling with, and that certainly frustrates Peter a lot. As a father, Peter certainly tries his best to connect with his son, but Nicholas seems to be more withdrawn instead of answering to any serious question from his father, and things only get worse as he shows more erratic behaviors.

Because she usually stays in their residence along with her baby son, Beth often shows her understandable concern to Peter, and Peter feels more conflicted about what to do with his son. In addition, he happens to get a big opportunity which may boost his professional career a lot, and he wonders whether he should give up that chance for paying more attention to his son.

However, no matter how much Peter tries, Nicholas only becomes more distant to him with a number of clear signs of mental deterioration. He turns out to have a certain disturbing habit shown from many mentally unstable people, and he often says about how much he has been tired of everything in his life. He sometimes looks brightened up a bit as shown from an impromptu dance scene between him and his father, but he soon goes back to his usual moody mode, and that disturbs both Nicholas and Beth more.

However, the adapted screenplay by Zeller and Hampton unfortunately fails to convey us whatever Nicholas is struggling in his deeply troubled mind. Despite Zen McGrath’s earnest efforts, Nicholas is mostly defined by his frequent mood swings and inexplicable behavioral patterns instead of coming to us as a real human character, and Zeller and Hampton’s adapted screenplay gets worse as struggling to provide some explanation via a number of contrived dialogues scenes which belong more to stage than screen. Now I am reminded of late critic Pauline Kael once said; “Explaining madness is the most limiting and generally least convincing thing a movie can do.”

As a matter of fact, many of relatively better moments in the film are not directly involved with Nicholas. The private conversation scenes between Peter and his ex-wife are believable as we can sense their past from some underlying bitterness beneath the surface. Even though the movie does not show a lot about what is going on between Peter and his current wife, we can clearly observe some emotional wound when he apologizes to her for whatever happened between them when he was quite drunk at the previous night.

The best scene of the movie comes from a brief but crucial scene between Peter and his aging father Anthony (Anthony Hopkins). Peter still remembers how much he and his mother were mistreated by his father in the past, but Anthony does not show any regret or remorse at all, and it becomes quite apparent to us that their toxic father and son relationship is influencing Peter’s efforts for Nicholas in one way or another.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Peter belatedly comes to realize what a crummy father he has been to Nicholas just like his father was to him, but the movie continues to disappoint us more as throwing more plot contrivance into the story. As a result, what is supposed to feel devastating do not strike us much, and the following epilogue scene do not ring true to us at all.

Anyway, the main cast members of the film try as much as they can do with their underwritten roles. While Hugh Jackman shows that he can be much more serious than he was in “The Greatest Showman” (2017), he is not demanded to do much except looking glum and conflicted, and Laura Dern and Vanessa Kirby are mostly limited by their thankless supporting parts. In case of Anthony Hopkins, who was absolutely magnificent in his Oscar-winning performance in “The Father”, he somehow leaves a lasting impression despite his short appearance, and that says a lot about his immense talent and presence.

In conclusion, “The Son” is a major letdown compared to the considerable achievement level of “The Father”, and it only makes me curious about watching its stage version someday. On sidenote, Zeller also wrote “The Mother” besides “The Son” and “The Father”, and I can only wish that he will have more luck when he is going to adapt “The Mother” later.

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Polite Society (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): A feisty genre exercise to cherish

Posted on July 27, 2023 by kaist455

“Polite Society” is a little but feisty genre exercise to cherish for good reasons. As an energetic mix between martial arts action movie and coming-of-age comedy, it kicks and punches all the way for giving us a bunch of outrageously spirited fun moments, and you will also enjoy how it is deliciously peppered with distinctive style and cultural elements to be savored.

At first, we are introduced to Ria (Priya Kansara) and her older sister Lena (Ritu Arya), and the movie quickly establishes these two young Pakistani-British girls’ respective personalities as they go through another day in their neighborhood in London. While Lena does not know what to do next after recently quitting her art school, Ria is quite determined to become a stuntwoman someday as frequently honing her martial art skills, and Lena sincerely supports Ria’s aspiration as her dependable older sister.

And then there comes an unexpected change into their daily life. On one day, they and their parents are invited into a big traditional part held at the old country manor of a wealthy family friend named Raheela (Nimra Bucha), and what we get next is a sort of the 21st century version of Jane Austen movie mixed with Pakistani cultural elements. Besides Ria and Lena, many other young ladies are invited to the party, and all of these ladies are eager to draw the attention of Raheela’s son Salim (Akshay Khanna), who happens to be an eligible bachelor in addition to being a very successful geneticist.

Unlike many of those young ladies at the party, Ria and Lena do not give a damn about Salim at first, but, what do you know, Ria is shocked to learn later that Salim proposes to Lena and Lena actually accepts his proposal. Naturally, Ria tries to protest, but her parents support Lena’s decision, and Lena does not have any problem with her decision to marry Salim. After all, she feels rather frustrated after quitting her art school, and it seems that marrying a nice rich guy like Salim is a much better option for her life.

What follows next is a series of comic moments showing Ria’s clumsy attempt to stop her older sister’s marriage by any means necessary. With some help from her two best friends, she tries to dig up anything suspicious about Salim for changing her older sister’s mind, but, not so surprisingly, that only adds more strain and conflict to her increasingly estranged relationship with Lena. So far, Lena looks perfectly fine to be with Salim or her future mother-in-law, and we wonder whether Ria simply does not accept well how things change between her and her older sister due to her older sister’s upcoming wedding.

However, Ria eventually discovers that there is something sinister about Salim and his mother. While it is apparent that Salim is your average mama’s boy behind his dashing appearance, he and Raheela look like having some insidious plan behind their back, and, as your typical domineering mother, Raheela is not going to let Ria to ruin her son’s upcoming wedding at any chance.

For fighting against this mighty opponent, Ria’s particular set of skills surely come handy to her, though she is still not so confident about whether she can actually save her older sister. The movie generates some good laughs when she tries to demonstrate her martial art skills in front of her schoolmates at one point early in the story, but it still cares about her hope and aspiration nonetheless, and it surely takes some risk along with its heroine when she must act right now for saving her older sister later in the film.

As the center of the film, Priya Kansara is alternatively funny and electrifying in her dexterous performance balanced well among comedy, drama, and action. Besides looking believable in many of physical action scenes in the film, she also anchors the movie well with unadorned sincerity and gravitas, and that is the main reason why several deliberately exaggerated moments in the film work on the emotional level even while tickling us a lot. When the movie tries a bit of song and dance moment during its climactic part, Kansara gives another impressive moment to be appreciated, and we come to root for her character more than before.

Around Kansara, director/writer Nida Manzoor, who incidentally makes a feature film debut here after making several short films, assembles a number of colorful performers. Besides looking both cordial and sinister as required, Nimra Bucha chews every moment of hers in the film with sheer gusto, and she does not disappoint us at all when her character eventually reveals her devious design on her son’s marriage. Ritu Arya fills her seemingly thankless role with enough life and presence, and she and Kansara ably convey to us well the considerable emotional bond between their characters during several key scenes of theirs. In case of several other main cast members, Akshay Khanna, Shobu Kapoor, and Jeff Mirza are well-cast in their respective supporting roles, and Seraphina Beh, Ella Bruccoleri, and Shona Babayemi provide extra fun as Ria’s schoolmates.

Overall, “Polite Society” is quite entertaining for its deft handling of several different genre ingredients, and it surely shows that Manzoor is another promising filmmaker to watch. As far as I can see from the movie, she is a competent filmmaker who knows how to engage and entertain us, and I guess I can have some expectation on what may come next form her.

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Smugglers (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Female divers who become smugglers

Posted on July 27, 2023 by kaist455

South Korean film “Smugglers” simply has a fun with juggling its various colorful criminal characters, and I enjoyed that. Although you can clearly see where it is sailing right from the start, you will gladly go along with that while being entertained by the game efforts from its solid main cast members, and the result is one of more entertaining products during this summer season in South Korean theaters.

The movie, which is mainly set in a small fictional port city in the 1970s, begins with the extended prologue part establishing the conflict between its two female main characters: Chun-ja (Kim Hye-soo) and Jin-sook (Jung-ah). Along with several other local women, they have worked as female divers, called “hanyeo”, for Jin-sook’s father, but their work has recently been jeopardized by the pollution caused by nearby chemical plants, and that is how they later come into the world of smugglers along with their boss. Things seem to get much better for everyone for a while thanks to their little smuggling activities, but, of course, there eventually comes a moment where they come to face the consequence of their criminal action, and the following tragedy breaks Jin-sook’s heart while also making her quite angry about Chun-ja. After all, Chun-ja manages to escape and then is disappeared, and everyone thinks she is the one who betrays them all.

Two years later, we see Chun-ja working as a small-time black market operator in Seoul. Because she has done her business without any permission from a powerful (and ruthless) smuggler called Sergeant Kwon (Zo In-sung), she soon finds herself being about to be eliminated by Sergeant Kwon and his right-hand guy, so she quickly suggests one seemingly good business idea for him. She is going to establish a new smuggling route for him, and she is willing to go back to her old place for that even though she is well aware that she will not be welcomed much there.

Anyway, once she succeeds in convincing Sergeant Kwon, Chun-ja promptly goes to her old place and then starts her little criminal project along with Ok-bun (Go Min-si), a charming but opportunistic young woman who has run a little coffee shop there. Because Jin-sook and other female divers are necessary for her plan, Chun-ja contacts with a guy who once assisted Jin-sook’s father but now becomes a local criminal boss, and he is certainly willing to help her a bit because of whatever he may get as a new business partner for Sergeant Kwon.

When she soon comes to learn of Chun-ja’s return, Jin-sook is naturally not so pleased to say the least. Although she and her fellow female divers have worked for that local criminal boss from time to time, getting associated with Chun-ja again is the last thing they want, and Jin-sook even swears in front of Chun-ja that she and her female fellow divers will not work for Chun-ja at any chance.

However, not so surprisingly, Chun-ja’s offer eventually becomes the one Jin-sook and her fellow female divers cannot refuse, but things become a little more complicated in the meantime. There is a local customs officer who has been watching on whatever is going on among Chun-ja and her associates, and Chun-ja also has a little plan for her survival when the situation gets much riskier later in the story.

Although it takes some time for building up its narrative momentum during its first half, the screenplay by director/co-producer Ryoo Seung-wan and his co-writer Kim Jeong-yeon deftly rolls the story and characters to the expected climactic part, and it also provides some seriousness as paying attention to the estranged relationship between its two female main characters. While they do not like each other much, Chun-ja and Jin-sook subsequently find themselves sticking together for beating their opponents, and it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Chun-ja actually has her own reason for running away from Jin-sook and others at the time.

When it eventually arrives at the climatic part, the movie does not disappoint us at all with a thrilling underwater action sequence, and the main cast members keep holding our attention with their good performance. While Kim Hye-soo, who is still one of the most interesting South Korean actresses at present even though she has been active for more than 30 years, is the most prominent member in the group, she does not overshadow her fellow cast members at all, and her showy acting is often complemented well by Yum Jung-ah’s more grounded performance. While Zo In-sung and Park Jeong-min are effective as Chun-ja’s two different criminal associates, Kim Jong-soo is also well-cast in his supporting role, and the special mention goes to Go Min-si, who effortlessly steals every moment of hers in the film.

On the whole, “Smugglers” is another good genre film from Ryoo, who has steadily worked since his debut feature film “Die Bad” (2000). Although I did not like “The Battleship Island” (2017) much, his next film “Escape from Mogadishu” (2021) reminded me that he is still a good director who knows how to thrill and entertain us, and “Smugglers” shows him trying something a little different. As mainly driven by the vivid personalities of its main female characters, the movie surely makes a considerable contrast with many of his usually male-dominant films, and that is sort of refreshing in my trivial opinion. To be frank with you, mainstream movies in South Korea really need more female characters these days, and “Smugglers” may be a small but significant sign of change.

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They Cloned Tyrone (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): They indeed did…

Posted on July 22, 2023 by kaist455

Netflix film “They Cloned Tyrone”, which was released yesterday, is a modest genre mix which is often very familiar but also engaging enough in its own way. Definitely reminiscent of a bunch of notable African American films ranging from those classic Blaxploitation flicks of the 1970s to Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” (2017) and Boots Riley’s “Sorry to Bother You” (2018), the movie wildly swings back and forth between social satire and conspiracy thriller for more thought and amusement, and you will simply go along with that once you get accustomed to how it is about.

The opening part of the film feels like your average African American crime movie. First, we are introduced to a young drug dealer named Fontaine (John Boyega), and then we observes how he gets himself into a trouble with some rival drug dealer in his slum neighborhood. In the end, right after visiting a local pimp named Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx) at a local motel for some little business issue between them, Fontaine gets shot multiple times outside the motel, and that seems the end of his life story.

However, what do you know, we see Fontaine waking up at his shabby residence in the very next morning without any sign of trauma, and Slick Charles is naturally confused and frightened when Fontaine subsequently visits the motel again. Although Fontaine do not remember anything about what occurred on the previous day, Slick Charles and one of his prostitutes, Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris), did witness that incident, and Fontaine decides to look for the answer to this befuddling matter of his along with Slick Charles and Yo-Yo.

What follows next is a series of funny moments which make these three main characters have more doubt and question about their surrounding world. It looks like there has been some hidden conspiracy involved with their slum neighborhood, and they come to see more signs and clues as they try to get to the bottom of their increasingly peculiar circumstance. For example, they happen to find an underground laboratory where a certain kind of substance is being produced, and they later discover that this substance is actually one of special ingredients used by, surprise, a certain popular fried chicken brand among black people.

Because of the very title of the movie, it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Fontaine eventually comes to learn that he is actually a clone, but there are some small, nice surprises I will let you behold for yourself. I will not tell you much here, but I can tell you instead that things become more preposterous when a certain supporting character played by Kiefer Sutherland enters the picture later in the story, and the movie shifts itself onto the realm of John Carpenter’s classic B-action films and their numerous juniors such as Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles’ “Bacurau” (2019) when Fontaine and several other characters eventually decide to fight against the insidious conspiracy on them and many other black people out there.

While it does not reach to the devious horror satire of “Get Out” or the no-holds-barred farce of “Sorry to Bother You”, the screenplay by director Juel Taylor and his co-writer Tony Rettenmaier takes its time to build up some comic momentum along the story, and the movie has enough mood and details to hold our attention. Although the story is clearly set in the 21st century background, Taylor and his crew members including cinematographer Ken Seng deliberately fill the screen with grainy texture in retro style, and we are amused more as observing the blatantly old-fashioned interior design of those hidden underground places to be discovered by Fontaine and his gangs.

As the center of the film, John Boyega plays as straight as possible just like he did in his breakout performance Joe Cornish’s “Attack the Block” (2011), another preposterous but interesting genre flick which depends a lot on Boyega’s considerable talent and charisma. Compared to his rather strained lead performance in “Naked Singularity” (2021), Boyega’s quietly intense acting here in this film looks much more convincing as dutifully carrying the film to the end, and he also has some fun when he is required to do some multi-tasking during the climatic part (This is not a spoiler, right?).

With Boyega firmly holding the ground, the two main cast members of the film have each own moment to shine. Although his prime period mainly represented by his Oscar-winning performance in Taylor Heckford’s “Ray” (2004) may be already passed, Jamie Foxx is still an interesting actor to watch, and he brings a flamboyant sense of fun to his supporting character. Besides, he is also matched well by Teyonah Parris, a wonderful actress who has steadily advanced since her key supporting turn in Justin Simien’s “Dear White People” (2014).

On the whole, “They Cloned Tyrone” is an enjoyable genre mix to be appreciated for its mood, style, and performance, and Taylor, who previously wrote the screenplay for “Space Jam: A New Legacy” (2021), did a solid feature film debut here. The movie is a bit overlong (The epilogue scene, which explains the title of the movie, is rather perfunctory in my humble opinion), but it succeeds as much as intended at least, and I will not grumble for now while savoring its several effective satiric moments.

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Emily the Criminal (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): As she tumbles into crime

Posted on July 22, 2023 by kaist455

“Emily the Criminal”, which is currently available on Netflix in South Korea, follows a young desperate woman who happens to tumble into crime out of her growing financial desperation. As phlegmatically observing her criminal descent, the movie slowly builds up the tension surrounding her increasingly tricky circumstance, and it is also strongly held by one of the best movie performances of last year.

Aubrey Plaza, who has been showing more of the serious sides of her talent since her notable supporting turn in TV sitcom series “Parks and Recreation”, plays Emily Benetto, a college dropout who has tried to earn her meager living in LA. As shown from the opening scene, Emily has tried to get any job better than her current menial job, but, unfortunately, there is a little but notable criminal record of hers in the past, and her latest job interview is eventually botched because of that.

And we get to know a bit about how economically desperate Emily has been during recent several years. Although she did not graduate, she still has to pay off her tuition loan which is no less than 70,000 dollars, and, to make things worse, she can barely afford to pay off its interest only, no matter how hard she works everyday. On one day, one of her co-workers introduces her to a rather shady part-time job opportunity for earning 200 dollars per hour at least, and she does not hesitate to grab it, even though she does not feel so comfortable about this seemingly good chance from the beginning.

Of course, it does not take much for her to see what kind of job she has to do for earning as much as promised to her. She and a bunch of other people gather at a place run by a guy named Youcef (Theo Rossi) and his cousin, and Youcef gives them a generous warning in advance on what he is going to ask them to do. He and his cousin have run a little but lucrative credit card theft operation, and they always need someone to use those stolen credit cards for buying expensive stuffs to be sold by Youcef and his cousin later. Discerning well what kind of risk she will take, Emily initially decides to leave along with a few others, but then she changes her mind because, well, she really needs money right now.

The first job she will have to do looks like a piece of cake. Once she receives one of those stolen credit cards, she will go to a local shopping mall where she is supposed to buy a big TV, and all she needs to do is not drawing any unnecessary attention before she eventually walks out of the shopping mall and hands that purchase TV to Youcef.

When Youcef later suggests another job which may earn her more money, Emily is not so willing at first, but, of course, she comes to let herself get more associated with Youcef’s criminal operation as being tempted by more money to come. Although she has to face more risk, she cannot resist what she gets in exchange for that, and it actually look like she will finally solve her current financial problem.

And there also comes the possibility of a new start for her. When she meets and talks a bit with an old college friend of hers, this friend says that she may help Emily get hired at her current workplace where Emily can fully utilize her considerable artistic talent, and Emily is certainly eager to grab this lucky opportunity even though her friend does not promise her much.

Meanwhile, Emily also finds a possibility of romance from Youcef, who comes to like her a lot and even teaches her a bit on his credit card theft skills. At one point, he gladly shows her an empty house where he may achieve his own American dream, and Emily become more attracted to this small-time criminal while also committing one credit card theft after another.

Not so surprisingly, there eventually comes a point where everything begins to fall apart for its heroine, but the movie keeps its detached non-judgmental attitude to the end even when things become quite dire for its heroine. Virtually being cornered in one way or another, Emily comes to cross more than one line in the name of survival, and that even amazes her criminal associate.

Without making any excuse or compromise on her character, Plaza’s commendable performance firmly holds our attention to the end. What Emily does along the story is often criminal to say the least, Plaza ably conveys to us her character’s sheer desperation, and we come to understand and empathize more with Emily even when she lets herself sink further into crime. In case of several substantial supporting performers in the story, Theo Rossi and Megalyn Echikunwoke are effective in their respective parts, and Gina Gershon briefly appears as the haughty boss of Emily’s aforementioned friend later in the film.

“Emily the Criminal” is the first feature film by director/writer John Patton Ford, who deservedly received the Best First Film Screenplay Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards early in this year. Thanks to his skillful handling of story and character as well as Plaza’s top-notch efforts, the movie is a compelling mix of character study and thriller genre, and it will be interesting to see what he will give us next in the future. In short, this is one of better films of last year, and you should really check it out if you have not watched it yet.

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The Deepest Breath (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Freediving into the depths of the ocean

Posted on July 20, 2023 by kaist455

Netflix documentary film “The Deepest Breath”, which was released yesterday, amazed me, chilled me, and touched me more than once. There are a number of incredible moments showing professional freedivers challenging themselves to the end of their physical limits in the depths of the ocean. There are some gut-wrenching moments showing how risky and dangerous every attempt of theirs really is. And there is also a poignant love story between two different people at the pinnacle of their extremely demanding profession.

At the beginning, the documentary looks into the life and career a well-known Italian female freediver named Alessia Zecchini, which is presented mainly via the interviews of several people associated with her including her father. Even when she was very young, Zecchini became determined to become a professional diver once she found her passion toward the ocean and diving, and she impressed even seasoned professional divers a lot with her considerable potential when she was only 17. Although she was subsequently not allowed to participate in national diving competitions later due to her rather young age, she did not give up at all as preparing herself more and more, and she eventually distinguished herself as a rising star diver a lot several years later.

Once it seemed that she accomplished as much as she could inside pools, Zecchini’s interest quickly moved onto freediving, which was much more challenging to her to say the least for many good reasons. First, one should be able to hold his/her breath long enough for diving down toward a certain point deep into the sea, and that is relatively easier compared to big risks and challenges following that. When one later has to swim up to above the water, one has to consider everything including the remaining amount of the oxygen in his/her lungs, and, as explained to us in the documentary, there may be hell to pay if any of these factors happens to go wrong at any point.

Nevertheless, many professional freedivers have kept diving as long as they are allowed by their physical condition because of being drawn to not only the challenges upon them but also the wonder and beauty of the ocean, and Zecchini was no exception as she began to test herself at the following freediving competitions. She had already quite determined to break the world record held by a very famous female freediver to whom she looked up for years, and, probably except herself, it looked like there was nothing to stop her from reaching for that seemingly impossible goal.

When Zecchini later participated in the renowned annual freediving competition held in the Bahamas, she came across a well-known Irish safety driver named Stephan Keenan, and the documentary parallels his life story with Zecchni’s during its first hour. Just like Zecchini, Keenan always went for new challenges and adventures as leaving his home country and then going to here and there in Africa, and that was how he eventually found his lifelong profession later. During his accidental stay at a certain seaside town in Egypt which has a challenging place spot for any ambitious freediver, he became quite interested in freediving, and then he began to work as a safety diver for freedivers because that is also pretty challenging in its own way. Just like freedivers, those safety divers also usually have to depend on the limited amount of oxygen in their lungs, and that means they constantly have to pay attention to not only freedivers’ safety but also their own safety.

And the documentary shows and tells more about the sheer risk and danger of freediving. A number of archival footage clips show some disturbing moments of life and death which really happened in the middle of the competitions, and you will get chilled more as hearing about how human brain can be instantly shut down under the extreme conditions of freediving. Unless those safety divers swiftly work on this alarming emergency, called “blackout”, within one or two minutes, there will be considerable irreversible damage on brain, and this can actually lead to death in the worst cases.

Zecchini and Keenan surely witnessed and experienced numerous incidents of blackout, but that still did not deter either of them at all. Zecchini later agreed to train more under Keenan’s guidance in that seaside town of Egypt, and Keenan was willing to help and train her as much as possible. As they spent more time together, they became closer to each other, and it seemed that they finally found a lifelong soulmate from each other while sharing more passion and dedication toward freediving.

Because the documentary already set a subtle mournful undertone right from the beginning, you will have a pretty idea about what would happen to Zecchini and Keenan on one day of 2017, even though you do not know anything about them like I did before watching the documentary. All I can tell you for now is that director/writer Laura McGann deftly presents what happened at that time via the vivid and palpable mix of interviews, archival footage clips, and some reenactment shots, and the overall result is quite powerful as coupled with the undeniable human poignancy observed from the last interviewer of the documentary.

In conclusion, “The Deepest Breath” is compelling and informative for its close look into freediving and the two interesting human figures at the center of its narrative. As a frequently neurotic guy with considerable aversion to any kind of risk and danger, I initially observed their passion and dedication from the distance, but then I came to admire them a lot more than expected, and that says much about the emotional power of this remarkable documentary.

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Barbie (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Gerwig’s silly but delightful romp with Barbies

Posted on July 19, 2023 by kaist455

Greta Gerwig’s latest film “Barbie” is a silly but delightful romp proudly embracing its glitzy artificial qualities to the end. Yes, it surely feels contradictory at times as boldly wielding messages of female empowerment and liberation via those well-known brand doll figures criticized for the inherent objectification of female bodies, but it cheerfully recognizes its imperfections while trying to have all the fun and glee it can have with its numerous doll figures, and I came to enjoy and savor that much more than expected.

At first, the movie quickly introduces us to its fantasy world along with Helen Mirren’s dryly humorous narration. This world, called “Barbieland”, is full of Barbie doll figures including the one played by Margot Robbie, and the movie goes all the way for artificial silliness as casually depicting how everything goes swell and same at every pinky day for every Barbie doll figure in this world, which is in fact not so far from the TV sitcom fantasy world of “Pleasantville” (1998) in many aspects.

On one day, Robbie’s character suddenly begins to experience a sort of mental/physical problem for no apparent reason, and that surely causes a serious trouble in her comfortable paradise. After consulting a bit with “Weird Barbie” (Kate McKinnon), she decides to go over to LA of our world for solving her problem, and she soon starts her journey along with one of Ken doll figures played by Ryan Gosling, who volunteers to accompany her just because, well, she has been the sole reason of his existence.

What follows next when these two doll figures arrive in LA is not so different from what Amy Adams’ fairy tale princess character experiences in “Enchanted” (2007). They surely draw lots of attention and ridicule right from the beginning due to their colorful appearance and outfit, and both of them naturally become quite befuddled as struggling with a sort of culture clash in one way or another.

Anyway, the main goal of Robbie’s character is finding a certain young girl who has been personally connected with her for years, but, of course, things do not go that well for her when she finally seems to locate that young girl. Right from their first encounter, Robbie’s character gets harsh feminist lessons on Barbie doll figures, and that surely throws her into more confusion, though she subsequently comes across someone who do remember and recognize her.

Meanwhile, Gosling’s character goes through his own hilarious misadventure, and that eventually leads to the bitingly humorous lampoon of patriarchy as he wholeheartedly absorbs its every toxic aspect. As a result, we later get an uproarious moment when he willfully turns Barbieland into your average male fraternity house, and that surely throws another big blow into the seemingly impeccable worldview of Robbie’s character.

While having lots of naughty fun from the frequent clash between its fantasy world and the real world along the story, the screenplay by Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach also finds some sincerity as Robbie’s character comes to empower herself through several moments of enlightenment thanks to two human figures she happens to befriend during her bumpy adventure. When she eventually arrives at an important moment of choice for herself after those good life lessons of hers, the movie becomes a little more serious than before, and the following ending comes with a little poignancy to be appreciated.

Above all, the movie seldom loses its lightweight sense of fun as often buoyed by the considerable comic intensity of Robbie’s another terrific performance. While initially amusing us a lot with her deft mix of charm and manic spirit, Robbie gradually builds up her character’s hilarious but ultimately touching emotional journey along the story, and she does not miss any comic beat even when she is going to deliver the final line of the film, which will tickle you a lot if you muse more on a certain physical aspect of Barbie dolls.

Gerwig assembles a bunch of notable performers here and there around Robbie. As the two substantial characters of the real world, America Ferrera and young performer Ariana Greenblatt hold the ground for Robbie with enough gravitas, and Will Ferrell gleefully chews every minute of his in contrast as demanded by his cartoonish role. In case of many various cast members playing Ken or Barbie doll figures in the film, all of them surely have a field day together, and Gosling, who looks as physically well-shaped as he did in “Crazy, Stupid, Love” (2011), does not hesitate to commit himself to every silly aspect of her character. As a matter of fact, he and several other hunky male cast members in the film even do a big musical dance number later in the story, and I am sure this stupendously blatant moment of overkill will amuse not only millions of female audiences out there but also numerous gay audiences who have ever played with Ken doll figures.

On the whole, “Barbie” may look rather broad and superficial compared to Gerwig’s two previous works “Lady Bird” (2017) and “Little Women” (2019), but it has enough spirit and humor for our entertainment at least. Sure, Gerwig could do better, but I also think she deserves to have some casual break after her significant achievement in “Lady Bird” and “Little Women” – just like Sofia Coppola did in “Marie Antoinette” (2006) after “The Virgin Suicides” (1999) and “Lost in Translation” (2003).

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