Blade Runner (1982) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): It still looks great, you know

Posted on May 2, 2023 by kaist455

Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner”, whose “Final Cut” version is currently being shown in South Korean theaters, has firmly occupied its own space in the movie history for its unforgettable futuristic city, which is one of the best cases to be compared to Fritz Lang’s great silent film “Metropolis” (1927). I must confess that I still see lots of plot holes and problems here and there in the story, and I also think the movie does not go deep that into its ever-intriguing matters of identity and humanity, but we can all admit now that it has always been timeless for those awesome visual details observed here and there in its vivid and impressive futuristic background.

The main background of the film is Los Angeles in 2019, which, considering it is 2023 now, looks more like a SF fantasy world to us as a colorfully messy mixture of past, present, and future. While the city in the movie is pretty unrecognizable to us as filled with lots of towering buildings under the dark, gloomy, and polluted sky, its streets and alleys are filled with big video billboards and shiny neon signs just like many modern cities of the 2020s of our world, but there are lots of shabbiness around every corner of this city with constant doses of heavy rain, as reflected by one key scene set in a big crowded marker area filled with various kinds of languages and ethnicities. Although there are lots of flying vehicles in the sky, the computer technologies in the film look now visibly retrograde, and they look much more dated compared even to Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), which I happened to watch right after “Blade Runner” at a local theater.

At the beginning of the film, the screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, which is based on Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”, tells us a bit about “Replicants”, though it is often murky about what Replicants exactly are or how they are produced. Are they just biogenetically enhanced humanoids or actually robots with flesh and bone? All we can be sure about them is that 1) they are superior to human beings in many aspects, but 2) their lifespan is somehow limited to around 4 years, and 3) that is the main reason why a small group of Replicants led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) sneaked into the Earth. Well aware of their impending mortality, these Replicants are quite determined to find any possible way for living longer, but that is not approved by the authorities on the Earth or a big powerful company which has made them and many other Replicants out there.

The authorities on the Earth have their own squad to handle those runaway replicants. They are called, yes, “Blade Runners”, and Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is one of them. Although he is officially retired, he is virtually forced to work again just because he was one of the best ones to track down and “retire” Replicants, but I must point out that he is not that smart or resourceful as far as I can see. Sure, he studiously keeps chasing throughout the film, but he seems to be in a situation way over head more than once. In the other words, he is no more than your average hard-boiled detective hero mired in constant anxiety and confusion, who comes with the territory in any kind of urbane noir flick.

Speaking of noir films, the story is surely shrouded in more darkness and murkiness than it is suggested by the moody landscapes of its city background. It looks like Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel), the CEO of that powerful Replicant company, has some secret plan behind his coldly benevolent appearance, and he shows something quite unexpected to Deckard via his secretary Rachel (Sean Young), who has had no idea about her true identity because of the implanted memories of her “past”. There is a sad, poignant scene where she visits Deckard for desperately proving her ‘humanity’, and that leads us to that longtime question surrounding Deckard: Is he also a Replicant just like her?

The movie doles out that interesting possibility along the story. During one early scene, Deckard’s boss, who is played M. Emmet Walsh with his usual sleazy aura, says that six Replicants escaped to the Earth but two of them subsequently got killed later. It is quite possible that one of those supposedly eliminated Replicant was Deckard, and you may wonder more about whether there is any connection between Deckard’s seemingly redundant dream scene and a certain little object shown in the finale.

Anyway, as Deckard doggedly continues to look for those runaway Replicants, Scott and his crew members including cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth steadily serve us a bunch of stunning visual moments to observe and savor. I probably watched the film more than five times, but I always found myself amazed and enthralled by what Scott and his crew members so vividly and mesmerizingly achieved on the screen, and that is further accentuated by Vangelis’ electronic score, which feels a bit dated at times but still works pretty well in the context. I remember the overwhelming opening shot of the city landscape full of tall towers and buildings under the grim sky, which eventually leads to the big and imposing pyramid building which is the headquarters of Tyrell’s company. I remember how this great moment of sheer awe and grandiosity is contrasted with the shabby and melancholic lair of a young but miserable scientist who gets himself involved with those runaway Replicants later in the story. And I also remember how tragically powerful it feels to see the death of those runaway Replicants in the story, who are, ironically, the most emotional figures in the film like HAL 9000 is in “2001: A Space Odyssey”.

As Harrison Ford’s understated lead performance dutifully carries the story amid lots of stunning sights, the other main cast members including Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, Brion James, Joe Turkel, Joanna Cassidy, James Hong, and Edward James Olmos inhabit their roles as convincingly as Ford. While Hauer makes a striking impression on us as the main antagonist of the story, Young, Hannah, and Cassidy are effective as futuristic noir female characters, and Olmos and Turkel ably suggest a lot about whatever their respective supporting characters are holding behind their back.

When it came out in the middle of 1982, “Blade Runner” unfortunately found itself overshadowed by the enormous success of Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982), but it has gradually occupied in many moviegoers’ conscience during next four decades, and it eventually becomes as influential as “Metropolis” and many other notable futuristic city movies ranging from Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” (1985) to Alex Proyas’ “Dark City” (1998). In case of Denis Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049” (2017) which came out several years ago, it was certainly nice to see the extension of the futuristic world of “Blade Runner” on the screen, but that film is no more than a faithful homage to the visual greatness of “Blade Runner” as I reflect more on its equally clunky plot and thin characterization (Confession: I got myself carried away by the hyper-enthusiasm surrounding that film as writing my 3.5-star review at that time).

Despite some reservation I still have, “Blade Runner” is inarguably one of the best works from Scott, who has steadily worked during last 46 years since he debuted with “The Duelists” (1977). Although I did not like some of his films such as, yes, “Gladiator” (2000) and “Exodus: Gods and Kings” (2014), he also gave us “Alien” (1979), “Thelma & Louise” (1991), “Black Hawk Down” (2001), and “The Martian” (2015), and it is really impressive to see this legendary British filmmaker still working as usual although he will be 86 in this year. He is surely one of the best filmmakers of our time, and I can only hope that he will keep going during several years at least.

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Dream (2023) ☆☆(2/4): A coach for a bunch of homeless soccer players

Posted on April 30, 2023 by kaist455

South Korean film “Dream” is definitely not for me. As a sports drama film, it is so generic that I was not surprised or moved enough in any possible way. As a tearjerker, it is so artificial that any of character in the film did not have enough human quality to make me care about them in any conceivable way. As a comedy film, it is so silly that I was quite annoyed more than once instead of amused enough in any plausible way.

Perhaps, I am not an ideal audience for the movie from the very beginning, After all, I did not like director/writer Lee Byeong-heon’s previous film “Extreme Job” (2019) enough for recommendation, and my opinion turned out to be quite minor because that film made a considerable local box office success at that time. Considering what I observed from other audiences around me when I watched “Dream” during this Sunday afternoon, I think it will be another hit for Lee, but I still do not think the movie is better than “Extreme Job” or his truly funny film “Cheer up, Mr. Lee” (2012).

During the first half hour of the film, you can easily see through what the movie is about as well as how it is about. We have a disgraced star soccer player named Hong-dae (Park Seo-joon) as the central character of the story, and it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that he will eventually come to redeem himself despite one very unfortunate incident which jeopardizes his professional athletic career to a considerable degree.

For improving his public image more, Hong-dea agrees to work as the new coach for a little soccer team consisting of homeless people. Because there will be an international soccer tournament for homeless people in Hungary, Hong-dea must prepare and train a bunch of homeless people a lot, but, not so surprisingly, these homeless people are not so good at playing soccer in one way or another.

Nevertheless, Hong-dae really has to make these homeless people into better soccer players mainly because of a young female documentary filmmaker named So-min (Lee Ji-eun). Although she knows too well that Hong-dea’s team is pretty hopeless from the beginning, So-min is already quite determined to make a powerful narrative to draw more attention from the public, and Hong-dae agrees to go along with So-min’s plan because, well, that may help improving his current public image.

So-min goes all the way for anything to generate any pity or sympathy from those potential viewers out there, and those homeless players in Hong-dea’s team certainly have each own sad personal story. When one of more skillful players in the team gets seriously injured at one point, So-min instantly sees a perfect opportunity for engaging melodrama, and she manages to persuade Hong-dea to let this guy remain in the team even though he may not play that well during the upcoming tournament.

The movie could be much funnier if it just leaned more toward satire, but it instead lets itself bogged down by more melodramatic elements while also failing to develop its main characters into human figures we can really care about. To be frank with you, I found its main characters too broad to care about, and I was also quite annoyed with a number of underdeveloped subplots including the one involved with Hong-dea’s criminal mother.

In the end, the movie attempts to pull our heartstrings during its last act where Hong-dae and his team eventually go to that international soccer tournament for homeless people, but it does not succeed much in my humble opinion. Yes, Hong-dae and his team certainly try as much as possible while playing against several mighty foreign teams one by one. Yes, they are quickly overwhelmed right from the beginning as your average underdog team. Yes, they somehow find a way to distinguish themselves even though there is still not much chance for them to prevail to the end of the tournament.

The main problem of the movie is that none of the main characters in the film is believable enough to earn our support or sympathy, though it is inspired by a true story to some degree. While Park Seo-joon has several big moments as you can expect from his character, his character is still no more than a superficial caricature on the whole. In case of Lee Ji-eun, she surely tries as much as possible with her thankless role, but she is ultimately wasted a lot as her character is swayed back and forth between satire and melodrama without any gravitas at all, and the same thing can be said about several supporting performers in the film including Kim Jong-soo, Jung Seung-gil, Lee Hyun-woo, Yang Hyun-min, Hong Ahn-pyo, Heo Joon-seok, and Ko Chang-seok, who is sadly wasted even though he somehow manages to leave some good impression on us at least.

Overall, “Dream” is a big disappointment compared to another recent South Korean sports drama film “Rebound” (2023), which is as conventional as “Dream” but did a lot better job at least. I believed in the main characters of “Rebound” right from the start, and that was the main reason why I could root for them even while clearly discerning several rote aspects of the film. In contrast, I did not believe much in the main characters of “Dream”, and I remained quite distant to its story and main characters even while observing some positive responses from the audiences around me from time to time. They might have enjoyed the film more than me, but I think both I and they will not remember it that much around the end of this year, and that is all I can say for now.

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Rye Lane (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): This eventful day of theirs

Posted on April 30, 2023 by kaist455

Raine Allen-Miller’s debut feature film “Rye Lane”, which is currently available on Disney+ in South Korea, is simply delightful from the beginning to the end. Yes, this is basically your typical “Boy-Meets-Girl” story on the surface, but the movie distinguishes itself to a considerable degree with lots of wit and style as well as an ample amount of life and personality, and you may want to revisit it just for savoring those funny and charming moments surrounding the two different main characters at its center.

Right from the opening scene showing many different bathrooms one by one, you can instantly sense something special about the movie, and it does not disappointment us at all with the following Meet Cute moment between Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah). Dom is helplessly crying alone inside one of the booths of a gender-neutral bathroom at an art exhibition held in South London because he is still not recovering from his recent breakup with his ex-girlfriend, and then he finds himself in a more awkward situation when Yas happens to enter the bathroom. By coincidence, they later come across with each other again at the art exhibition, and then they are officially introduced to each other via their mutual acquaintance.

Although they are total strangers to each other, Yas and Dom gradually come to feel some mutual attraction between them, and, what do you know, they subsequently find themselves talking more with each other as walking around here and there in South London. Dom has been quite anxious and depressed because he is about to have a meeting with his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend who happens to be his best friend, and he confides to Yas about how he has been miserably letting himself stuck in his parents’ house without thinking much about what will be next for him. Feeling sorry for Dom because she also recently had a breakup with her ex-boyfriend, Yas decides to accompany him more than she thought at first. She willingly sits right next to him when he eventually faces his ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend, and she even chooses to ignore an unexpected job opportunity just for talking more with him.

As Dom and Yas come to open themselves more to each other, the movie deftly establishes the vivid and colorful atmosphere around them. Allen-Miller and her cinematographer Olan Collardy frequently use extreme wide-angle lenses for emphasizing the heightened emotional status of Yas and Dom, and they also skillfully utilizes many distinctive locations in South London including Rye Lane Market, which are filled with vibrant colors and various persons to be observed (You will be surprised by the unexpected cameo appearance of a certain prominent British actor during one key scene – and how he manages not to overshadow the two lead performers of the film).

In addition, the movie gleefully wields its naughty sense of humor with lots of style and heart. We are amused by a series of cheerfully stylish flashback scenes which give more information about Yas and Dom’s respective problematic relationships, and you will also never forget that art exhibition which has the big photographs of many different human mouths. I do not know whether they are actually art or now, but they are strikingly silly and impressive in my trivial opinion.

The screenplay by Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia steadily keeps things rolling as its two main characters bounce from one narrative point to another. During its middle act, Dom and Yas find themselves in the house of her ex-boyfriend’s parents for a little hidden purpose, and the situation becomes all the more absurd when they later break into her ex-boyfriend’s residence.

Of course, there eventually comes a big moment of conflict between our two main characters, and that is naturally followed by a typical montage part showing the passage of time, but the movie is too smart and intelligent to succumb to its genre conventions. Sure, Yas and Dom come to realize that they really like each other more than they admit (Is this a spoiler, folks?), and they do not hesitate at all when one of them actively and humorously approaches to each other for confirming their love.

Like any other romantic comedy films, the movie depends a lot on the presence and talent of its two lead performers, and they effortlessly click with each other throughout the film while filling their roles with lots of human details to engage and touch us. Dexterously gliding along many different emotional modes, David Jonsson is alternatively funny and poignant in his witty performance, and Vivian Oparah flawlessly complements him with her equally engaging acting, and their comic/romantic chemistry is evident particularly when their characters face Dom’s ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend – or when their characters come to do an impromptu musical performance later in the story. The movie also assembles a bunch of various supporting performers around Jonsson and Oparah, and they certainly bring some extra human colorfulness to the film.

In conclusion, “Rye Lane” is seemingly modest but quite refreshing for transcending its familiar gerne conventions in more than one way, and Allen-Miller, who previously made several short films before making a feature film debut here, surely demonstrates that she is another promising new talent to watch. In short, this is a small gem too good to miss, and I sincerely recommend you to check it out as soon as possible.

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We Feed People (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): They feed Humanity

Posted on April 29, 2023 by kaist455

Today, I happened to watch two different documentary films which are currently available on Disney+ at present, and I must tell you that it was an interesting double feature show for me because both of the main subjects of these two different documentaries are celebrity chefs who have been quite popular in US in each own way. Both of these two documentaries were informative to me in one way or another because I did not know that much about either of their respective main subjects, but David Gelb’s “Wolfgang” is a bit dissatisfying because of its rather superficial presentation of the life and career of Wolfgang Puck, while Ron Howard’s “We Feed People” is relatively more engaging as vividly presenting only José Andrés’ ongoing humanitarian activity but also his indelible personality.

In 2010, Andrés was just one of many well-known celebrity chefs in US, but there came an unexpected experience which changed his life and career forever. After Haiti was hit by a massive earthquake, he volunteered to go there just for providing food to many local people affected by this immense catastrophe, and then he was quite surprised to see them not usually being able to get decent food there. He immediately decided to find any possible way to help them eat as well as possible, and that was the beginning of his non-governmental organization World Central Kitchen.

When Puerto Rico was hit by a big hurricane in 2017, Andrés did not hesitate at all, but, like he did in Haiti, he and his colleagues had to deal with many different problems right from the very beginning. He was determined to deliver and provide food to at least 500,000 people everyday, but then he and his colleagues had to secure lots of things first, including a considerable amount of food ingredients for their big cooking process.

Not so surprisingly, this daunting circumstance put lots of stress and strain on Andrés, who had to spend a lot of money without getting any financial help for a while. At one point, he was so stressed and exhausted that he had no choice but to go back to his family home in LA for some rest, but he soon returned because he could possibly let down others around him as well as those unfortunate people in Puerto Rico.

In the end, Andrés and the members of World Central Kitchen came to help numerous people in Puerto Rico, and their hard but valuable field experiences from Puerto Rico helped them a lot as they continue to work around the world during next several years. When there was a sudden big volcano eruption in Guatemala in 2018, they were fully prepared at that time, and they did much more than simply providing food to those local people to be helped by them. Because of a little lesson he came to learn in Haiti during that time, Andrés has always cared about the qualities of the food prepared by him and his colleagues, and that was appreciated a lot by many local people, who were certainly glad to receive some decent meal from them.

In case of a big hurricane disaster in the Bahamas in 2019, the situation was a bit more challenging for Andrés and his colleagues. First, they needed to secure a kitchen safe and clean enough for their cooking, but it turned out to be quite difficult to find any suitable spot for them as many buildings were considerably ruined by the hurricane. At one point, they attempted to clean an abandoned hotel restaurant kitchen which looked like the only option for them, but their efforts eventually turned out to be futile, and this certainly frustrated them a lot, though they subsequently found a fairly good alternative to everyone’s relief.

During the COVID-19 pandemic during next several years, Andrés and his colleagues became much busier than before as millions of people in US struggled to get any decent food in the middle of the lockdown period. While constantly cautious about any possibility of infection, they went here and there for helping many desperate people out there, and Andrés also actively worked with several notable American politicians including Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden for more change and improvement.

Meanwhile, we also get to know about Andrés’ personal life. While he has been much more successful than he expected when he came from home country to US many years ago, he is your average down-to-earth family guy with lots of heart and spirit, and you can easily sense his sincere care and compassion, which have been one of the main forces behind his nongovernmental organization. As the global community is struck by much more climate disasters than before due to the ongoing climate change around the world, World Central Kitchen naturally becomes more important than ever, and Andrés and his colleagues are continuing to pursue their humanitarian cause even at this point.

On the whole, “We Feed People” is worthwhile to watch for several genuine moments of human decency and empathy, and Howard, who recently made a series of solid documentaries including “Pavarotti” (2019) whenever he was not making disposable feature films such as “Inferno” (2016), did a commendable job of presenting Andrés’ and his colleagues with enough care and respect. Although it does not show Andrés’ cooking skill as much as you might expect, you will come to admire him a lot as getting to know him a bit, and, as observing how he and his colleagues have passionately worked for years, you will also come to reflect more on the value of having a decent meal. Sure, the world will probably be far less convenient for many of us during the rest of the 21st century, but having a decent meal will still be an important human right for all of us no matter what will happen to us, right?

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Wolfgang (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): He’s still cooking…

Posted on April 29, 2023 by kaist455

To be frank with you, I do not know much about how famous Wolfgang Puck has been during last four decades, so documentary film “Wolfgang”, which is currently available on Disney+, fills my blind spot to some degree. Here is a man who has been willingly devoted himself to his craft for many years while also having a string of impressive successes beyond his expectation, and the documentary would be more interesting if it simply lets us get to know more about who he is instead of focusing too much on the rather superficial details of his professional career.

After the quick summary on how successful Puck has been since he opened his first restaurant in the late 1980s, the documentary lets Puck talk about his humble beginning in Austria. He was born to an unmarried mother who subsequently married a coal miner, and it is clear to us that he still feels hurtful about his very unhappy childhood years. His stepfather was frequently abusive to his wife and her children, and Puck was already quite determined to leave his unhappy home and then prove himself someday even when he was only 14.

Having been interested in cooking since he was very young, Puck knew he wanted to be a chef, but the first years of his professional career were not so easy to say the least. At first, he was employed as a junior employee at a hotel restaurant, but he got fired just because he did not prepare enough potatoes, and that certainly humiliated him a lot. As a matter of fact, he even considered jumping into a river at one point, but he decided not to give up at any chance in the future, and this desperate determination of his eventually led him to more opportunities during next several years.

After learning a lot from a number of fine restaurants in France, Puck came to try his luck in US, but the circumstance was rather grim for him in many aspects. During that time, the American cuisine culture was far less sophisticated compared to the French one, and Puck certainly experienced lots of culture shock as trying to find any decent restaurant for him. He managed to get employed in some seemingly fancy French restaurant in LA, but he was horrified to see how this restaurant was lousy in many aspects. For example, nobody cared about getting fresh ingredients, and that surely added more bad reputation to this restaurant.

However, things got changed in the end when Puck later became the new chef after the previous one got fired due to one scathing review article on the restaurant. First, he focused on getting fresh ingredients for his cooking, and, fortunately for him, there was a nearby farm which could steadily provide him many different vegetables. In addition, he paid a lot of attention to the qualities of meat, and this also contributed a lot to the following improvement of the restaurant.

Around the time when the restaurant became much more popular and successful than before, Puck came across Barbara Lazaroff, who would marry him as constantly supporting and promoting his career. Motivated by Lazaroff’s sincere support, Puck eventually decided to walk away from the restaurant after seeing that he was not appreciated enough despite his considerable contribution to its amazing success, and he and his wife subsequently opened a restaurant of their own in West Hollywood. Although everything seemed to be messy and chaotic even on its opening day, their restaurant turned out to be quite successful right from the start, and this big breakthrough led him to much more fame and success. Via one prominent Hollywood agent who frequented his restaurant a lot, Puck began to appear on TV, and, thanks to his natural charm and charisma, he quickly became the most famous chef in US since Julia Child.

Since that point, Puck has kept going on while devoting a lot of himself to his craft and career, and he is still happily working as usual, but, as he frankly admits in the documentary, he did not pay much attention to his family life in the meantime. In case of Lazaroff, she does not have much bitterness about her husband or their eventual divorce in 2003, but she confides to us how unhappy she often was for being frequently under-appreciated during that time. Although she was crucial in many of her ex-husband’s successes, Puck was always the one who got all the attentions in public, and that inevitably caused more conflict and estrangement between them.

As entering his later years at present, Puck becomes more reflective about his life and career, and we see how he tries to make peace with his past in Austria while looking forward to the future. There is a little touching scene where he visits a family tomb along with his younger sister, and he also shows some regret on his absence at the time of his dear grandmother’s death. In addition, he interacts more with young chefs willing to learn more from him, and one of such people is one of his four children, who may have his own distinguished professional career someday.

“Wolfgang” is directed by David Gelb, who previously made “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” (2011), which is about one dedicated sushi master in Tokyo. Although it is not as good and satisfying as “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”, “Wolfgang” is still fairly enjoyable mainly due to Puck’s engaging presence as well as some delicious shots of cooking and dishes, and it is rather disappointing that the documentary did not go deeper into his life and personality. I did savor its tasty moments, but it could be richer and more insightful in my trivial opinion, so I will just let you decide whether you will watch it or not.

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Peter Pan & Wendy (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A pedestrian version from David Lowery

Posted on April 29, 2023 by kaist455

David Lowery’s latest film “Peter Pan & Wendy”, which was released on Disney+ yesterday, is surprisingly pedestrian to my surprise and disappointment. Because Lowery has impressed us a lot with a series of distinctive works such as “A Ghost Story” (2017) and “The Green Knight” (2021), we certainly had some expectation on what he could with that classic children’s story written by J. M. Barrie, but he just seems to be no more than a hired hand here instead of freely wielding his own artistic talent and creativity, and that is a big letdown to say the least.

The most disappointing thing about the movie is that it does not bring anything particularly new or refreshing to its very familiar story, which, as many of you know, has been adapted into variously different films for many years. Sure, there is always that classic Disney animation film “Peter Pan” (1953), but there are also a number of interesting variations ranging from Steven Spielberg’s “Hook” (1991) to P.J. Hogan’s “Peter Pan” (2003), and you may also appreciate Benh Zeitlin’s “Wendy” (2020) despite its flawed aspects.

Compared to these three notable movie adaptations of Barrie’s original story, “Peter Pan & Wendy” does not have much distinguish itself on the whole. Sure, Wendy in the film, played by Ever Anderson (She is the daughter of Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson, by the way), has more pluck as a girl who will be more excited about having adventures than assuming a motherly role for the Lost Boys of Neverland, but the screenplay by Lowery and his co-writer Toby Halbrooks does not delve that deep into Wendy’s conflict about adulthood, and it duly depicts her awkward relationship with Peter Pan without any new insight to enliven these two well-known characters.

The movie also lacks freshness in case of Peter Pan. Although newcomer Alexander Molony is as likable and spirited as required by his role, his character feels more like a symbol rather than a living character in my inconsequential opinion. As poignantly reflected by Hogan’s 2003 movie, remaining young and innocent forever feels like a sad curse rather than a blessing to cherish, but Lowery’s version does not reflect on that much when Peter eventually says his goodbye to Wendy around the end of the story (This is not a spoiler to any of you, right?).

Moreover, Neverland in the film does not look that wondrous while feeling deficient in magic and wonder. You may enjoy a brief moment showing a bunch of mermaids with tentacles who look like much more glamorous cousins of Ursula in Disney animation film “The Little Mermaid” (1989), but, sadly, they do not appear again in the film. I also like the nearly wordless acting of Yara Shahidi, who easily steals the show from Anderson and Molony during her several key moments in the film. In addition, it is certainly nice to see Tiger Lily being played by Native American actress Alyssa Wapanatâhk, but this striking supporting character remains a mere plot element to the end, and that is another disappointment, though casting Wapanatâhk is much better than that criticized casting in Joe Wright’s “Pan” (2015).

In case of the Lost Boys, I am rather depressed to report to you that they are usually no less than background details just like Wendy’s two younger brothers, and that makes me a bit nostalgic about “Hook”. Yes, that film is still a bit too flawed for me to recommend, but it does not lack anything in case of those good child performers in the film, who are relatively more colorful in terms of appearance and personality.

Not so surprisingly, the most fun in the film comes from Captain Hook, and Jude Law, who incidentally has more hair on his head than usual, plays his petty but memorable villain character with campy gusto while also bringing extra gravitas to the story as demanded by a little more complex relationship between his character and Peter. Steadily standing by Law, Jim Gaffigan, who has been mainly known for his comic performances but has also shown more serious sides of his talent during last several years, brings an ample amount of humor and personality to his equally well-known supporting role like late Bob Hoskins did in “Hook”, and his solid acting here in the film confirms to me again that he is now one of those ever-reliable character actors to welcome in any kind of film.

Anyway, “Peter Pan & Wendy” is not a lousy product at all, and I enjoy its technical aspects including the jubilant score by Lowery’s frequent collaborator Daniel Hart, but, if you have admired Lowery’s previous works as much as I have, you will also observe that he could do better than this. After all, he already collaborated with Disney in “Pete’s Dragon” (2016), and his own distinctive cinematic style was not inhibited at all in that enjoyable film, which is also friendly and gentle enough for young audiences and their parents.

To be frank with you, I even doubt whether young audiences will really enjoy “Peter Pan & Wendy”, considering that it has several moments which may be a little too grim and intense for them. Because the kids are usually tougher than expected, my small concern is probably unnecessary, and I guess it is likelier that they will be more disappointed with the lack of unadulterated fun and excitement in the film, so I will gladly recommend them to watch Hogan’s 2003 version or “Pete’s Dragon” instead.

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Boston Strangler (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A dry, middling true crime drama

Posted on April 29, 2023 by kaist455

“Boston Stranger”, which is currently available on Disney+, is a dry, middling true crime drama which does not distinguish itself much in its growing genre territory. While surely reminiscent of not only “Spotlight” (2015) but also “Zodiac” (2007), the movie somehow fails to generate enough interest for us despite its undeniably compelling (and chilling) real-life story, and you can only appreciate some good efforts on and behind the screen.

Keira Knightley plays Loretta McLaughlin, a young married woman who also worked as a reporter of Boston Record American in 1962. Although she and her husband already have three kids to raise at their suburban residence, that does not stop her at all, but she often gets frustrated because her chief editor Jack MacLaine (Chris Cooper) still does not allow her to do what she really wants to do as a reporter. She is eager to cover those criminal cases out there, but, not so surprisingly, she is usually instructed to handle the articles for housewives just because of the gender prejudice against her, and she certainly envies how Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), another female reporter at her workplace, is allowed to work outside with considerable success.

On one day, something happens to draw McLaughlin’s attention. She comes to notice that there are at least three murder cases which share a suspiciously similar pattern, so she decides to investigate these murder cases more, and, what do you know, she soon comes to realize the possibility of a serial killer prowling somewhere in the city. Although her chief editor is rather skeptical at first, he decides to publish her article about the serial killer anyway, and, what do you know, that turns out to be her first big break as drawing lots of attention from the public.

The situation becomes all the more serious as the Boston Police, who are incidentally not so pleased about McLaughlin’s reporting, start to be more active in the ongoing investigation, and McLaughlin is soon partnered with Cole, who turns out to be more helpful than expected as a seasoned professional who can easily access to off-the-record sources if that is necessary for their big task. While the serial killer, who is eventually named “the Boston Strangler”, continues to kill more women, both McLaughlin and Cole become more passionate about their job, and they even find themselves becoming considerable public figures because their newspaper subsequently promotes them as its two star reporters.

However, the more McLaughlin and Cole become involved with the case, the more they become frustrated and exasperated. The Boston Police turn out to be quite incompetent in their investigation to say the least, and McLaughlin later comes to learn that they even overlooked someone who can be the prime suspect just because they were not so eager to cooperate much with other police departments outside the city. Once McLaughlin delves more into this matter, the Boston Police eventually arrests that prime suspect in question, but there are still many things remaining unresolved or unanswered, and McLaughlin becomes more determined to get to the bottom of the case, though even Cole is not so willing to help or support her on that.

As McLaughlin continues to do more reporting by herself alone, director/writer Matt Ruskin’s screenplay gradually reveals how complicated the case actually was behind its supposedly clean-cut ending with the incarceration of that prime suspect. Although that prime suspect later turned out to be linked with the DNA evidence from the last victim, the movie suggests that the truth may be quite stranger than fiction, and we are chilled by how willing both the public and the Boston Police were to ignore many questions and problems just for getting the closure for the case as soon as possible.

This is certainly a fascinating true crime story, but the movie frequently gets itself compared with “Zodiac” and other true crime drama stuffs out there. Although Ruskin and his cinematographer Ben Kutchins did a good job of injecting a gloomy sense of anxiety and confusion into the screen, the result is no more than a pale imitation of what was so wonderfully achieved in “Zodiac”, and it also fails to reach to the sublime level of “Spotlight”, which is more restrained but much more powerful as it patiently and masterfully observes its main characters’ investigative reporting process.

Moreover, many of main characters in the film feel rather flat on the whole, and that often hinders the solid performances from some of them. While Knightley diligently carries the film as required, Carrie Coon, who has been one of the most dependable character actresses working in Hollywood since she drew the attention from me and others via her scene-stealing supporting turn in “Gone Girl” (2014), ably supports Knightley whenever that is necessary, and Alessandro Nivola manages to acquit himself well although he is stuck in a thankless supporting role like Bill Camp, Morgan Spector, David Dastmalchian, and Chris Cooper.

In conclusion, “Boston Stranger” is not a total waste of time at all, but it does not delve enough into its main subject, and I wonder whether its complex real-life story could be explored much more as it were a TV miniseries instead of a feature film. It surely tries to go further than “The Boston Stranger” (1967), and I admire that to some degree, but I doubt whether it will be remembered more than that little classic film which is actually a heavily fictional presentation of the case. Despite its questionable sensationalism, “The Boston Strangler” will linger on your mind longer than its colorless junior for good reasons, and maybe you should check it out first.

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The Harvest (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A Hmong family with issues

Posted on April 28, 2023 by kaist455

Caylee So’s “The Harvest” is another recent American independent film intended as a modest but realistic slice of Asian American immigrant life. Although it is a bit too generic in terms of story and character, the movie mostly works as a window to the lives of the people of specific cultural/ethnical background, and I just wish it could go deeper while dealing with that familiar generation conflict problem among Asian immigrant parents and their American kids. 

Doua Moua, who also wrote the screenplay besides serving as one of the producers of the film, plays Thai, a young Asian American man of Hmong descent. If you have ever watched Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” (2008), you probably remember a bit about who Hmong people are and how many of them came to emigrate from Indochina to US around the time of the Vietnam War, and Moua actually played one of the Hmong characters in that film.

After the prologue scene where Thai’s calm narration tells a bit about how he was born, the film succinctly establishes his current family issue. While he has been living in San Francisco during last several years, he returns to his family home mainly because his father Cher (Perry Yung) is seriously ill due to his worsening kidney failure, and it is clear that Cher does not regard his son that highly as your typical stern Asian father.

While his mother Youa (Ying Yuen) is often busy with supporting the family instead of her husband, Thai comes to spend more time with his father as accompanying his routine visit to a local clinic for kidney dialysis, but, like his other family members, he soon gets frustrated with how his father refuses to accept the changes in his daily life due to his current illness. Apparently feeling less proud than before just because he is not healthy enough to support his family, Cher does not interact much with his son or his wife while behaving as if everything was still all right for him and his family as before, and he also quite distant to his adolescent daughter Sue (Chrisna Chhor), who has incidentally been hiding her private relationship with some black guy.

Because Thai is still unmarried, he is naturally asked about whether he has a girlfriend now when he and his family have a dinner together at one point. As an unmarried dude of Asian descent, I surely know and understand well how awkward and uncomfortable he feels about the question; I get similar questions whenever I happen to be around my family and relatives during the traditional holiday seasons, and I always respond to their nagging questions with a considerable degree of courteous vagueness.

As Thai continues to stay in his family house, the movie gradually presents the lives of others around him. At one evening party where he and his several old friends celebrate the upcoming marriage of a female friend of his, he and that young woman talk a bit with each other, and we come to sense something between them as observing their gentle interaction. When Thai and his father subsequently attend the following wedding, we get a glimpse into the cultural background of Thai and other Hmong people in his neighborhood, and there is a little interesting moment where Cher meets a bunch of elders for some conversation. As listening to them, you can feel those old traditions and values are still living inside them, though their next generations do not care that much in comparison.

Not so surprisingly, Cher expects his son to move to their family home as a dutiful son, but Thai is reluctant to say the least for good reasons. He still cares about his father despite their long estrangement, but he has a plan for his own life in San Francisco, and that makes him all the more conflicted. Besides, his younger sister will probably leave for college education once she gets graduated from her high school, and that means his father will be left alone by himself whenever his mother works outside.

The situation becomes more complicated as more issues come out among Thai and his family members. Now quite worried about his daughter’s future, Cher suddenly attempts a matchmaking for her without asking to Sue or Youa at all from the beginning, and that certainly makes both Sue and Youa quite frustrated and exasperated. It also turns out that Youa has her own issues behind her frequently cheerful façade, and we can only imagine how much she has tried to accept and tolerate her husband for years.

During its last act, Moua’s screenplay becomes rather contrived and blatant as throwing a series of jarring melodramatic moments which spell out its main characters’ feelings and thought a little too much, and that is where the movie stumbles more than once, but the main cast members of the film continue to hold the film together. With Moua diligently holding the center as required, Perry Yung, Ying Yuen, and Chrisna Chhor are believable in their respective supporting roles, and Yung is particularly good as ably embodying his character’s complex human aspects.

“The Harvest” is the second feature film of director Cayless So, who previous made a feature film debut in “In the Life of Music” (2018) before making several short films. I have not seen “In the Life of Music” yet, but she demonstrates here that she is a good filmmaker who knows how to handle story and characters thoughtfully and sensitively, and you can clearly discern how sincere and passionate she and Moua are about their film. Anyway, I am glad that Moua approached to me for giving a chance to watch the film several weeks ago, and, though I am not satisfied enough for recommendation, but I wish good luck on both him and So.

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Hidden Blade (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Too convoluted to care

Posted on April 27, 2023 by kaist455

I often felt frustrated and exhausted as watching Chinese spy noir thriller film “Hidden Blade”, which was released in South Korea yesterday. Although I enjoyed its period mood and details to some degree, I did not get much fun or entertainment while my mind constantly and busily struggled to make sense of its heavily convoluted narrative filled with various kinds of deception and manipulation, and I eventually became rather distant and bored as dully observing the movie trudging from one elusive conversation scene from another without much sense of focus or direction.

This is rather odd because the movie has Tony Leung, a great Hong Kong actor who can suggest many different things at once via his distinctive mix of natural charisma and subtle acting. Again, he instantly draws our attention right from his very first scene in the film, but he is usually one of mere plot elements here just like all of the other main cast members in the movie, and it is a shame that the movie seldom lets him function as the human center to hold for us amid lots of confusion and disorientation in the story.

Leung’s character, Director Ha, is the head of the Political Security Department in Shanghai for the puppet regime under the control of the Japanese Army in the middle of the World War II. Along with his right-hand guy Mr. Ye (Wang Yibo), Director Ha has successfully arrested a bunch of enemy agents, and that is why they are the members of a political inner circle led by Officer Watanabe (Hiroyuki Mori), who is charged with overseeing their department on behalf of the Japanese Army.

It looks like things will eventually work out well for the Japanese Army as well as Director Ha and other Chinese collaborators in Shanghai, but the situation becomes much more alarming after the Pearl Harbor Attack in 1941, and then there come two unexpected incidents. On one hand, a group of Japanese soldiers are ambushed and then killed at one night for a certain atrocious deed of theirs, and Director Ha and his subordinates must find and then eliminate whoever is behind this incident. On the other hand, a certain prominent enemy agent approaches for defection, and this agent reveals that there is a hidden spy around the top of the Political Security Department in Shanghai. Naturally, both Director Ha and Mr. Ye become all the more discreet than before, and we accordingly get a series of dry but tense conversation scenes where they and several other main characters are flatly talking about one thing but also seem to imply some other thing to each other while overseen by Officer Watanabe, who has nothing much to hide in contrast as often wearing his jaded imperialist heart on his sleeve.

The screenplay by director/writer Cheng Er brings more confusion via its non-chronological plot structure. As the story frequently flashes forward or backward throughout the film, the movie gets bogged down more by its increasingly convoluted storytelling, and we become more distant and disinterested as a result. The movie actually presents several certain key moments more than once, and we are supposed to regard them differently with more information revealed along the story, but they are no more than repetitive bookmarks for us because the movie merely replays them without much difference.

In technical aspects, the movie certainly spends its production budget well. Its period atmosphere and details are as fine as many other similar films ranging from Ang Lee’s “Lust, Caution” (2007) to Zhang Yimou’s “Cliff Walkers” (2021), and its only distracting element is the score which often feels quite heavy-handed while being influenced too much by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s score for “Dark Knight” (2008). Whenever any main character seems to look suspicious at any chance, the score becomes overpoweringly intense and brooding, and that goes on and on to our annoyance.

And Leung comes and goes with grace and authority as we can expect from him. While he rarely seems to be signifying anything, Leung ably conveys to us whatever is lurking beneath his phlegmatic poker face in the film, and he is particularly good when his character has a little private interview with the aforementioned defector. As supposedly looking casual and courteous on the surface, his character corners his interviewee bit by bit to our discomfort and amusement, and you can see that Leung can easily play Christoph Waltz’s character in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” (2009) if its Chinese remake version is ever planned.

In case of several other main cast members in the film, they dutifully fill their spots in the story. While Wang Yibo, Da Peng, and Erik Wang are solid in their respective parts, Zhou Xun, Jiang Shuying, and Zhang Jingyi are mostly stuck with their flat supporting roles, and Hiroyuki Mori has some fun with his haughty Japanese officer character.

In conclusion, “Hidden Blade” is a ponderous genre exercise whose flaws cannot be wholly compensated by its good elements including Leung’s invaluable presence. Because I feel like not processing and understanding everything in the film, I may have to give it another chance someday, but I also remember well how frustrated and distant I was to its story and characters without much emotional involvement, and I must confess that it is already being faded in my mind. Yes, it is surely better than “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” in comparison, but I would rather recommend “Lust, Caution” or “Cliff Walkers” instead, and I assure you that you will have a more productive time with either of them.

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Piggy (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): The butcher girl

Posted on April 27, 2023 by kaist455

“Piggy” is a little movie which will make you deeply uncomfortable from its very beginning. Dryly but chillingly illustrating its unforgettable adolescent heroine’s anger, fear, confusion, and frustration along the story, the movie will often unnerve you a lot for good reasons, and its compelling juxtaposition of its specific coming-of-age tale and familiar genre elements will leave a lasting impression on your mind.

At the beginning, the movie shows us another miserable day of its heroine. Sara (Laura Galán) is the daughter of a butcher couple living in some rural Spanish village, and we come to gather that she has been a social outcast to other local kids around her age due to her overweight appearance. When some good-looking boy happens to hang around with several girls outside her parent’s shop, she cannot help but look at them from the distance, and then she soon becomes a target for mean ridicule when three of these girls enter the shop. To make matters worse, her callous parents are totally oblivious to what is going on, and that makes Sara all the more frustrated and exasperated.

However, this turns out to be nothing compared to what she suffers later. When she is about to do some swimming alone at a pool outside the village, Sara is approached by those three girls, who commit something as vicious and cruel as what Carrie White suffers during the opening scene of “Carrie” (1976). In the end, Sara has no choice but to walk back to her village while only wearing her swimming suit, and that certainly adds more humiliation to this terrible and infuriating situation of hers.

And then something quite more shocking happens. When Sara was cruelly tormented by those three girls, there was a man in the pool, but he simply left by his shabby van without helping her at all. We already know how dangerous he actually is, because his first scene in the film shows him targeting two certain persons when the pool is much more crowded before Sara’ routine swimming time. When Sara comes to meet him again, he happens to be doing something horrible to one of those three girls, but Sara chooses to do nothing while certainly terrified by this stranger, who leaves Sara alone then shows a bit of kindness before eventually driving to somewhere.

Sara does not say anything about her disturbing incident to anyone around her, but her village is soon disturbed by the stranger’s horrible deeds. After a body is found in the pool, the parents of those three girls are all the more anxious because their daughters still do not return, but Sara still tells nothing, even when a young local police officer instantly senses that there is something fishy about her.

Once she belatedly realizes that there is something which will incriminate her in one way or another, Sara gets herself more involved in the case, and that is how she comes across the stranger again later in the story. During their little tense moment, both she and the stranger begin to feel something mutual between them, and her following awakening as a woman makes her aware a lot more of how frustrating it is for her to live with her annoying parents.

Now the movie feels like a morbidly twisted variation of Beauty and the Beast, but the screenplay by director/writer Carlota Pereda, which is developed on the 2018 short film of hers, wisely does not spell out its heroine’s gradual emotional growth and development along the story. Still not knowing or understanding her emotional need that much, Sara unwisely lets herself drawn more to the stranger, and, of course, the stranger turns out to be much more monstrous than expected, though he seems to be really attracted to Sara like she is to him.

During the last act, the movie drives its deeply confused heroine further into the dark and unpleasant realm of horror and cruelty. Although this part lasts a bit too long in my trivial opinion, the movie keeps holding our attention as its heroine eventually finds herself on the verge of embracing the darkness of her potential lover, and we are surely served with a series of gruesome moments to make us wince more than once.

Regardless of whether you like the movie or not, you will never forget the fearless lead performance by Laura Galán. Yes, her overweight appearance is certainly the first thing to draw your attention, but Galán impresses us much more while never hesitating to delve into not only Sara’s vulnerability but also the deep anger and confusion behind her passive appearance. Although the movie firmly maintains its detached attitude to Sara throughout most of its running time, Pereda and her cinematographer Rita Noriega further accentuates Sara’s emotional isolation and frustration via deftly utilizing the screen ratio of 1.33:1, and that is one of the main reasons why the movie can constantly have us on edge while also letting us understand more of Sara’s emotional confusion.

On the whole, “Piggy” is definitely not something you can watch on Sunday afternoon, but it is worthwhile to watch as a competent genre film which strikes us hard with its strong mix of adolescent character drama and horror thriller. It is not entirely flawless (Many of supporting characters in the film including Sara’s parents are a bit too superficial to care, for example), but what Pereda and Galán achieve here is quite indelible to say the least, and I sincerely hope that both of them will keep going after this interesting breakout of theirs.

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