The Swimmers (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Swimmer sisters from Syria

Posted on November 26, 2022 by kaist455

“The Swimmers”, which was released on Netflix a few days ago, is a solid drama film which did its job a bit better than expected. Based on a real-life story of two Syrian swimmer sisters who had to leave their country just like many other refugees around the world, the movie diligently handles its story and characters with a considerable amount of sincerity and thoughtfulness, and it surely earns some feel-good moments in the end while never overlooking the harsh reality surrounding its two main characters and many others around them.

The opening part of the film shows how things were mostly all right for Yusra Mardini (Nathalie Issa) and her older sister Sara Mardini (Manal Issa) in 2011. Although their country was on the verge of being shaken up by the Arab Spring movement during that time, they and their family were not concerned much as continuing their mundane daily life in Damascus, and their father Ezzat (Ali Suliman), who has been their swimming coach, keeps training them as before, while hoping that his dear daughters will compete in the Olympics someday.

Four years later, Damascus still seems to be fairly safe despite the ongoing civil war, and both Yusra and Mardini does not mind having some exciting time out there along with their friends, but they and their family soon come to face that harsh reality which surrounds them and many others more and more as time goes by. At one point, Yusra’s latest swimming competition is suddenly disrupted by an unexpected airstrike, and this horrible incident makes Yusra and Mardini consider leaving their country for their athletic career.

Although they are reluctant to let their dear daughters leave the country, Yusra and Mardini’s parents eventually agree to allow that because they really care about their daughters’ future. They are understandably concerned because Yusra and Mardini are going to take lots of risk while trying to go to Europe just like many other refugees out there, but Yusra and Mardini are accompanied by their male cousin Nizar (Ahmed Malek), and Nizar promises to their parents that he will protect his dear cousins as much as possible, though he reluctantly joins them at the last minute.

Once they arrive in Istanbul, Turkey along with Nizar, Yusra and Mardini embark on searching for any possible way to go to Greece, and that is the beginning of their harrowing journey across the Europe continent. At one point, they and many other refugees have no choice but to use a very small motorboat for going to one certain island of Greece, and, not so surprisingly, the situation becomes quite dire when the motorboat suddenly stops in the middle of the sea due to some mechanical problem.

At least, they and the other refugees all manage to arrive in the island, and the movie often emphasize the considerable social gaps between them and those affluent tourists in the island. When they need to have a shower at one point, Yusra and Mardini decide to go to a beach for tourists, and the mood becomes a bit more cheerful as they put a bit of disguise on themselves for avoiding any suspicion.

Even after they and the other refugees put their feet on the Europe continent, the situation remains risky and desperate as before. They will have to cross several borderlines for going to Germany, and, of course, those local authorities are not going to allow that at all. In case of those seedy smugglers, some of them simply exploit refugees while others do help a bit, and there is one painful scene where Yusra has a very traumatic moment before eventually saved by her older sister.

Anyway, thanks to some good luck, Yusra and Mardini manage to arrive in Germany along with Nizar, but things still do not look good to them. They are allowed to stay in a facility for refugees in Berlin, but they remain stuck there as going through one bureaucratic step after another, and they are also quite frustrated when they belatedly come to realize that they may not be allowed to get their family out of Syria.

Nevertheless, Yusra and Mardini still stick to their professional aspiration. Although they have no one to help around them, they boldly approach to one local swimming club, and their talent and boldness certainly impress its coach, who generously lets them move into the dormitory building of his swimming club. Quite determined to compete in the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Yusra drives herself more and more, but her older sister becomes less passionate about swimming compared to her, and that certainly leads to some personal conflict between them.

Although what eventually follow next will not surprise you much, the screenplay by director Sally El Hosaini and her co-writer Jack Thorne seldom loses its focus on the story and characters, and the unadorned natural acting of Nathalie Issa and Manal Issa, who are actually sisters in real-life, carries to the film to the end. In addition, they are supported well by a number of good performers including Ahmed Malek, Matthias Schweighöfer, James Krishna Floyd, Kinda Alloush, and Ali Suliman, and Schweighöfer, who considerably dials down himself here compared to his showier supporting turn in “Army of the Dead” (2021), makes an interesting contrast to the more stoic appearance of Suliman, whom I still fondly remember for his unforgettable performance in Oscar-nominated Palestinian film “Paradise Now” (2005).

In conclusion, “The Swimmers”, which is El Hosaini’s second feature film after her debut feature film “My Brother the Devil” (2012), is conventional but engaging thanks to its good acting and storytelling, and I found myself more emotionally engaged than expected even though I knew exactly what I would get from the beginning. Like recent Disney+ movie “Rise” (2022), this is indeed a standard feel-good drama, but it is done well with enough care and respect, so I will not grumble for now.

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The Wonder (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): She cannot just observe….

Posted on November 26, 2022 by kaist455

Sebastián Lelio’s latest film “The Wonder”, which was released on Netflix a few weeks ago, is quietly tense as its heroine struggles to do her best under one situation which turns out to be more complicated than it seems at first. Although it steadily maintains its detached attitude, the movie patiently builds up its story and characters under its palpably dry but nervous mood, and it is also supported well by another solid performance from its very talented lead actress.

Florence Pugh, a British actress who has steadily advanced since her chilling breakthrough turn in “Lady Macbeth” (2016), plays Elizabeth Wright, a young 19th century British nurse who comes to a small rural Irish village for one certain job. In that village, there is a young girl who has manages to live even though she has supposedly not eaten anything during last several weeks, and several elders of the village including a doctor who examined her want Elizabeth to observe this young girl along with a nun. Although she is not so eager to do that job, Elizabeth follows the instructions from the village elders anyway, and she soon begins her latest job with some understandable skepticism.

All Elizabeth will have to do is just observing that girl in question while also ready for any moment when that girl shows an urge to eat, but she cannot help but feel pity as discerning how poor and desperate that girl’s family is. Like many other people in Ireland, the girl’s family have still been struggling to live and survive even after that devastating famine in the late 1840s, and her parents, who lost their only son during the famine, seem to want to believe that their daughter’s supposedly exceptional state is really a religious wonder to behold.

The girl’s case is a sort of closed room mystery. As far as Elizabeth can see, the girl does not have any opportunity to eat under Elizabeth’s watch, and the nun working with Elizabeth also does not seem to see anything suspicious at all, though her viewpoint may be affected by her religious believe to some degree. The girl claims that she has managed to sustain herself thanks to some kind of blessing, and both the doctor and Elizabeth confirm that the girl’s physical condition is fairy fine even though she has seemingly not eaten anything at all except drinking some water at times.

Quite determined to get to the truth behind the girl, Elizabeth decides to be a little more stringent for removing any reasonable doubt. For example, she checks out the girl’s condition more thoroughly than before, and she also prevents the girl from having any kind of contact with her parents, who are naturally not so pleased about this at all.

As the girl keeps refusing to step back and eat as usual, Elizabeth cannot help but feel more conflicted as time goes by. As a nurse, she is supposed to help her patient getting well, but what she is doing under the village elders’ permission seems to be hurting that girl, and she finds herself more haunted by the memories of someone she lost in the past.

In the meantime, Elizabeth is approached by a young newspaper reporter named William Byrne (Tom Burke). Although he looks more cynical and skeptical than Elizabeth, it subsequently turns out that he actually cares about the case more than he seems to be on the surface, and he becomes an unexpected ally for Elizabeth as she later discerns how complicated the situation surrounding the girl really is. Regardless of whether her wonder is false or not, the girl’s parents may suffer a considerable consequence once she agrees to eat, and Elizabeth becomes more conflicted about what she should do for the girl.

Not hurrying itself at all, the screenplay by Lelio and his co-writers Alice Birch and Emma Donoghue, which is based on Donoghue’s novel of the same name, makes some sharp points on the disadvantaged social position of women during the 19th century. No matter how much Elizabeth tries for the girl, she is disregarded and ignored by the village elders because, well, she is a woman, and they are more interested in protecting their reputation and interest. Even though they may drive the girl to death in the end, that is not the first thing they care about from the beginning, and that eventually prompts Elizabeth to make a rather risky decision later in the story.

Although the movie becomes less tense during its last act, it is still held together well by Pugh’s subtle but powerful acting. While usually unflappable on the surface, Pugh deftly conveys to us whatever is churning behind her character’s rigid façade, and she is also surrounded by a number of engaging performers including Tom Burke, Toby Jones, Niamh Algar, Ciarán Hinds, Elaine Cassidy, and young performer Kíla Lord Cassidy, who is incidentally Elaine Cassidy’s real-life daughter.

Overall, “The Wonder” is surely another interesting work from Lelio, and I think you should check it out especially if you admired his previous works such as “Gloria” (2013), “A Fantastic Woman” (2017), and “Disobedience” (2017). The movie will surely require some patience from you due to its slow narrative pacing and detached atmosphere, but it is still worthwhile to watch thanks to Pugh’s solid acting and several commendable technical aspects including the chilly cinematography by Ari Wegner, who was recently Oscar-nominated for Jane Campion’s great film “The Power of the Dog” (2021). In short, this is one of more interesting films from Netflix during this year, and you may have to give it a chance someday.

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Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): An enchanting animation film from Guillermo del Toro

Posted on November 24, 2022 by kaist455

It is said that great movie directors do not follow rules but illustrate them instead, and “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”, an animation feature film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, surely exemplifies that. Yes, we are all familiar with that famous Italian fairy tale of the same name written by Carlo Collodi, but del Toro and his crew splendidly bring new life and personality into its very familiar story and characters, and the result is quite refreshing and poignant besides being another impressive masterwork to be added to del Toro’s long and illustrious career.

Like many of del Toro’s works, the film has considerable darkness at its center, and that aspect is evident during its prologue part set during the 1910s. After unfortunately losing his only son due to the World War I, an old rural woodcarver named Geppetto (voiced by David Bradley) has been quite morose and depressed during next several years, and then he makes one impulsive decision when he becomes quite drunk at one night. Using a pine tree which has grown near his son’s tomb, he quickly makes a little wooden boy which vaguely resembles his dead son, and, what do you know, this little wooden boy soon comes alive thanks to a little intervention from a magical fairy voiced by Tilda Swinton.

Geppetto is certainly surprised to see his impulsive creation being very alive in the next morning, and the film has some naughty fun with how Pinocchio (voiced by Gregory Mann) causes lots of stir in Geppetto’s village. While many of villagers are understandably outraged, the fascist mayor of the village is willing to use Pinocchio for his political cause, and he is even ready to send him to a military training school for boys.

Despite all the troubles caused by Pinocchio, Geppetto comes to care a lot about Pinocchio, and so does Sebastian J. Cricket (voiced by Ewan McGregor), a little travelling cricket who initially resided in that pint tree. As he promised to the fairy, Sebastian tries as much as possible for guiding Pinocchio along with Geppetto, but then our little wooden boy gets himself associated with a seedy circus ringmaster who instantly sees a golden opportunity from Pinocchio, and that is just the beginning of many troubles (and adventures) to come to him.

While mostly staying true to Collodi’s fairy tale, the screenplay by del Toro and Patrick McHale, which is based on the story by del Toro and Matthew Robbins, tries a series of interesting variations along its narrative. As expected from its 20th century background, fascism functions as another kind of evil besides that circus ringmaster, and this aspect eventually culminates to when Pinocchio and many others are sent to a certain isolated place. No, they are not turned into donkeys here, but the film has its own dark moments to unnerve us while never losing its sense of fun and wonder.

Above all, Pinocchio’s bumpy journey toward being a real boy is handled with enough interest and gravitas to hold our attention. As he frequently encounters with the other fairy who is also voiced by Swinton, the story deftly handles those matters of life and death without overemphasizing them, and that resonates a lot with Pinocchio’s certain important choice around the end of the story.

Furthermore, the film is a visual joy to behold thanks to its top-notch stop-motion animation, which imbues extra fantasy qualities onto the story and characters. Pinocchio looks rather shabby and imperfect at first, but he gradually becomes more endearing as we observe small and big details on his wooden appearance, and we come to care more about him even when we rolls eyes for his irrepressible spirit and innocence. As he goes through one adventure after another, the film provides a number of impressive moments to behold, and you will not certainly be disappointed at all around the time when our little wooden boy happens to be stuck along with Geppetto in the stomach of one big hideous sea creature.

And there are also several wonderful musical numbers provided by composer Alexandre Desplat, who previously collaborated with del Toro with “The Shape of Water” (2017). Besides working pretty well in the context of the story, these musical numbers surely make the film relatively more cheerful than many of del Toro’s darker works, and I particularly enjoyed the one involved with Pinocchio’s little irreverent payback moment against the circus ringmaster.

Around Gregory Mann and David Bradley, the film assembles many different performers who have each own fun with their respective colorful supporting roles. While Ewan McGregor is surely the standout in the bunch, Christoph Waltz, Burn Gorman, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Black Nelson, and Finn Wolfhard are also solid in their voice acting, and you may be a little surprised by what Cate Blanchett did here in the film.

In conclusion, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”, which is currently being shown in South Korean theaters before being eventually released on Netflix early in the next month, is one of the better adaptations of Collodi’s fairy tale during recent years, and it is surely one of the best animation films of this year. Will it become a timeless classic just like the 1940 Walt Disney animation film? In my inconsequential opinion, that is quite possible, and I think you really should behold its enchanting qualities on big movie theater screen instead of watching it at your home.

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Armageddon Time (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): So he grows up…

Posted on November 24, 2022 by kaist455

James Gray’s new film “Armageddon Time” is a somber and melancholic coming-of-age drama which feels rather uneven and superficial despite some good moments to be appreciated. Mainly revolving around a young boy of one stable middle-class Jewish family in New York City during 1980, the movie closely observes how its young hero comes to open his eyes more to the harsh reality surrounding him, but it only seems to scratch the surface at times as mostly stuck inside its genre conventions, and there are also some glaringly distracting moments which do not mesh well with the rest of the film.

During the opening part of the movie, we get to know how things have been not so good for its young hero. Although he has considerable artistic potential, Paul Graff (Banks Repeta) is not regarded that well by his parents Irving (Jeremy Strong) and Esther (Ann Hathaway) just because he is not focusing on study. At least, his grandfather Aaron (Anthony Hopkins) does not hesitate to encourage Paul’s growing artistic aspiration, and Paul is always delighted whenever Aaron comes to see him.

Unlike his older brother who studies at a prestigious private school, Paul has been attending a local public school just because his parents cannot afford to send him to that private school, and he does not expect much as he begins the sixth year, but then he meets Johnny Davis (Jaylin Webb), an older African American boy placed in Paul’s class because he is held back by a year. Right from their first day in the class, they become quite friendly to each other because both of them hate their class teacher, and Paul soon finds himself spending a lot of time along with Johnny.

However, their jolly time does not last long mainly because Johnny frequently clashes with the class teacher while also inadvertently getting his friend into big troubles. At one point, they get themselves caught for smoking marijuana in a school bathroom, and Paul’s parents are certainly furious when they learn of what their son did.

In the end, Paul’s parents decide to send Paul to that private school, and Paul is certainly devastated, but there is nothing he can do – especially when he realizes that his grandfather wholly supports his parents’ decision. On his first day on that private school, he cannot help but feel awkward as sensing how much it is different from his previous school, and he also feels quite uncomfortable when his new schoolmates do not hesitate to show their prejudices against colored people.

As his older brother advised to him in advance, it seems all Paul has to do is just keeping himself low and quiet, but he becomes more aware of not only how privileged his world is – and how his world is unfair to those less privileged people like Johnny. Not long after Paul is transferred, Johnny eventually drops out, and we clearly see troubles on the horizon when Paul later gets himself involved with Johnny more than expected.

Naturally, Paul asks for some advice from his grandfather, and there is a quiet but poignant moment as Aaron gives Paul what may be his last advice to his grandson. Although Paul does not say a lot about his recent troubles, Aaron clearly sees through his grandson as usual, and he does not pull any punch at all while telling his grandson about why he should stand up against prejudice and injustice.

Around the last act, the movie becomes a bit tense as Paul tries something risky along with his friend, and that is when the movie begins to stumble a lot. Mostly sticking with Paul’s viewpoint, the movie does not delve much into whatever Johnny feels and thinks, and it does not even seem to try to understand his position except a very brief flashback scene showing his private life. Despite young performer Jaylin Webb’s strong presence, Johnny remains to be more or less than a mere plot device to be exploited for Paul’s gradual maturation along the story, and that is the main reason why his last scene with Paul lacks necessary dramatic impact to linger on our mind.

In addition, Gray’s screenplay, which is inspired by his own childhood memories, is curiously distant to several other crucial figures in Paul’s life. While Paul’s mother is a merely neurotic housewife who is not so good at cooking, Paul’s father frequently swings back and forth between being abusive and thoughtful, and Paul’s older brother usually remains in the background just like several other family members besides Aaron. We never really get to know and understand any of them, and the movie ultimately wastes the diligent efforts of Ann Hathaway and Jeremy Strong, who often struggle with the uneven depiction of their respective roles.

Anyway, the movie is carried well by the earnest performance from young performer Banks Repeta. He is wonderful especially during his several key scenes with Anthony Hopkins, and Hopkins subtly holds the ground for Repeta while never overshadowing him at all. In their cameo appearance, John Diehl and Jessica Chastain are effective as certain two real-life figures associated with not only Paul’s private school but also that orange-faced scumbag, and you can easily see how the movie attempts to connect its period background with our time.

In conclusion, “Armageddon Time” is one or two steps down from Gray’s better works such as “The Immigrant” (2013) and “The Lost City of Z” (2016). It is not a total waste of time thanks to several good performances and its authentic period mood and details, but I still think it could go deeper into its story and characters, and I let you decide whether you will check it out or not.

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Strange World (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Into a familiar but fun world

Posted on November 24, 2022 by kaist455

Disney animation feature film “Strange World” is a standard product which turns out to be more spirited and enthusiastic than expected. Sure, this is another familiar family adventure drama besides reminiscent of a number of other adventure films ranging from “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (1959) and “Fantastic Voyage” (1966) to “Innerspace” (1987) and “Avatar” (2009), but it has at least enough style, energy, and imagination, and that is certainly more than enough to compensate for the conventional aspects of its story and characters.

During the opening scene which skillfully and amusingly sets the pulpy tone of the film, we are introduced to a bold and mighty adventurer named Jaeger Clade (voiced by Dennis Quaid) and his less adventurous son Searcher (voiced by Jake Gyllenhaal). They and several expedition members, who are from a little isolated country named Avalonia, have been searching for a route which may take them beyond those big mountains surrounding Avalonia, but they have not had much success yet while having more dangers during their journey. After he discovers a mysterious plant which may benefit Avalonia a lot because of its ability to generate electricity, Searcher comes to clash with his father, and his father eventually goes alone by himself while letting his son and the other expedition members return to Avalonia.

25 years later, Searcher is now running a big farm where he grows hundreds of that mysterious plant, which was incidentally named Pando by him. Thanks to Pando, life has been quite more convenient for him and others in Avalonia during last 25 years, and he is certainly happy as beginning his another usual good day along with his wife Meridian (voiced by Gabrielle Union) and their adolescent son Ethan (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White).

However, there soon comes a big trouble which threatens not only Searcher’s business but also the whole country. Something disturbing seems to be happening to some of Pandos in his farm, and Callisto Mal (voiced by Lucy Liu), who was one of the expedition members and is now the president of Avalonia, later visits Searcher’s farm to tell him how bad the situation really is. It seems that many of Pandos in Avalonia have been infected with some sort of disease, and Mal and her expedition team are going to go down into a big hole which may lead them to the underground center of the massive root network among those Pandos on the ground.

As a guy who prefers farming to adventure, Searcher is naturally reluctant when he is asked to join the expedition, but he eventually agrees to join Mal and her expedition team, and then the situation becomes a little more complicated than expected. Despite his objection, his son and a family dog sneak into the big flying ship for the expedition, and, not so surprisingly, his wife later joins them after finding out her son is gone with the dog.

When their flying ship passes a certain perilous point, Searcher and others come across a hidden underground world, and that is where the film becomes more interesting. While it shows a lot of influence from “Avatar” in many aspects, the fantasy underground world in the film is colorfully presented with a considerable amount of awe and wonder on the screen, and you will also enjoy a number of many various odd creatures such as a certain elastic entity nicknamed “Splat”.

In the meantime, Searcher encounters his father (Is this a spoiler?), and the film has some fun with the personal conflicts among Searcher, Jaeger, and Ethan. Watching Ethan so eager to know more about his grandfather, Searcher becomes rather uncomfortable, and that naturally leads to more tension between him and Jaeger. Still obsessed with finding a route to the outside world, Jaeger reminds Searcher again of why Searcher has distanced himself from his father for many years, and that consequently leads to more strain in Searcher’s relationship with Ethan.

While never overplaying the conflicts among its main characters, the film steadily gives us one wonderful visual moment to another. There are several busy action sequences as expected, but director Don Hall and his co-director Qui Nguyen, who previously worked together in Oscar-nominated animation film “Raya and the Last Dragon” (2021), never let their film lose its vibrant sense of awe and wonder. I was particularly amused by the scene involved with a big acid lake just because it took me back to a similar scary moment in “Innerspace” (That was the first movie in my inconsequential life, by the way), and I also appreciate how the film pulls off a surprising moment of revelation which somehow reminded me of a certain highlight moment in “Dark City” (1998).

The voice cast members of the film have each own fun with their archetype roles. While Jake Gyllenhaal demonstrates more of the comic side of his talent, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union, Lucy Liu, and Jaboukie Young-White bring enough life and personality to their respective roles, and you may appreciate how the film plainly presents the homosexuality of Young-White’s character without much pretension. Since Gyllenhaal appeared along with late Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) 17 years ago, there has been indeed some progress in the depiction of sexual minority characters on the screen, and I guess the film is another example.

Overall, “Strange World” is often conventional to the core, but it is fairly entertaining enough to hold our attention from the beginning to the end. To be frank with you, I did not expect much at first, but I found myself more engaged and amused as forgetting some little troubles of mine for a while, and I felt recharged a bit when I walked out of the screening room after it was over. That is what a good animation film can do, you know.

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Spirited (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A Christmas Carol with song and dance

Posted on November 22, 2022 by kaist455

“Spirited”, which is currently available on Apple TV+, attempts something different with that famous classic short story by Charles Dickens, and the result is mildly engaging on the whole. As frequently serving us song and dance numbers, the movie generates some jolliness with its two lead actors, but it eventually becomes rather tiresome because, well, we all already discern how the story will end, and there is much surprise or poignancy for us.

Rather than starting with the viewpoint of someone to be redeemed, the story begins from the viewpoint of the current Ghost of Christmas Present, played by Will Ferrell. Along with not only the Ghost of Christmas Past (Sunita Mani) and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (voiced by Tracey Jordan with Loren G. Woods playing on the screen) but also hundreds of good ghosts working under a certain familiar ghost figure, Ferrell’s character prepares a lot for their single target to be redeemed every year, and we see how they pull off another success from their latest target.

Once their latest job is done, the Ghost of Christmas Present and his colleagues naturally look for the target of the next year, and he comes across an obnoxious dude who looks quite challenging while they observe their actual target. Compared to their target, Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds) seems to be utterly “unredeemable” to say the least (After all, he is running a big public relation company specializing in digging dirt and manipulating public opinions for his clients), but the Ferrell’s character believes that changing Briggs will bring more goodness to the world, and he eventually manages to convince his boss despite his boss’ understandable skepticism.

Once he gets the permission, the Ghost of Christmas Present and many other ghosts diligently prepare that three-stage dream for Briggs, and, of course, Briggs turns out to be much more challenging than expected. Quite jaded and cynical to the core under his charming appearance, he does not even hesitate to dig some nasty dirt for his little niece who wants to get elected as the student president of her school, and that brings more self-hate and self-doubt to his longtime assistant Kimberly (Octavia Spencer), who somehow happens to be able to see Ferrell’s character when he and his two fellow Christmas ghosts are monitoring Briggs during their last preparation step.

Anyway, Briggs soon experiences a spooky prelude before his carefully manufactured dream as sleeping earlier than usual during Christmas Eve evening, but things do not go that go well for the Ghost of Christmas Present and his fellow ghosts from the beginning. In the end, Ferrell’s character has no choice but to appear in front of Briggs much earlier than planned, and he surely comes to see more of what a hopeless case Briggs seems to be in many aspects. While Ferrell holds the ground with his usual earnest comic presence, Ryan Reynolds often wields his usual sarcastic persona with gusto, and they click together a little better than expected.

As their characters push and pull each other throughout the story, the movie provides a series of well-made musical sequences, but they are not particularly impressive in my trivial opinion. Often looking quite stagy and artificial, these musical sequences does not have enough wit and spirit to hold our attention, and the songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are mostly forgettable compared to their more impressive works in “The Greatest Showman” (2017) and, yes, “LaLa Land” (2016). Their songs are certainly effective during these musical sequences with some wit and humor, but you will probably not find yourself humming any of these songs in the movie after watching it.

Thankfully, the movie is not entirely joyless on the whole. I enjoyed the naughty Victorian mood of an extended sequence where Ferrell’s character shows his little hidden personal story to Reynold’s character, though you may easily guess that from the very beginning. I was also amused by several nice variations of those key moments in Dickens’ original short story, and I liked a little comic moment involved with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who wants to do more than merely looking grim and menacing without saying any word.

To my disappointment, the main cast members surrounding Ferrell and Reynolds are often under-utilized due to their underdeveloped supporting parts. While Sunita Mani, Patrick Page, and Tracy Morgan have some fun with their more colorful roles, Aimee Carrero, Joe Tippett, and Octavia Spencer are stuck in their bland thankless supporting characters, but Spencer acquits herself well in addition to demonstrating here that she can sing fairly well, which is incidentally one of a very few surprises in the film.

Directed by Sean Anders, “Spirited” will be quickly forgotten around the next Christmas season, but it is not a total waste of time at all, and you may enjoy getting some holiday cheer from it. Yes, Dickens’ original short story is memorable not because of its holiday cheer but due to its ghostly darkness, and I must point out that the movie does not have much of darkness to compensate for its cotton candy sweetness. If you want less holiday cheer, there are many other darker movie versions of Dickens’ original short story including Robert Zemeckis’ “A Christmas Carol” (2009), and you may have better time with any of them.

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Falling for Christmas (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): An average Christmas product from Netflix

Posted on November 21, 2022 by kaist455

I am old enough to remember how Lindsay Lohan was a promising actress around the early 2000s. After “Mean Girls” (2004), it looked like she was ready to move onto the next step of her burgeoning acting career as shown from her fine supporting turn in Robert Altman’s poignant last film “Prairie Home Companion” (2006), but, alas, she unfortunately became a notorious troublemaker/laughingstock due a series of big and small problems in her life and career, and she actually appeared in only two movies since Paul Schrader’s “The Canyons” (2013).

Anyway, it seems she has been climbing up from her personal/professional bottom these days, and Netflix film “Falling for Christmas”, which was released early in this month, shows that she is still a good performer who can be funny and delightful. While she is not so supported well by the movie itself, she carries it to the end through her fairly commendable efforts, and the overall result is not as terrible as I feared at least.

In the movie, Lohan plays Sierra Belmont, a spoiled and superficial daughter of one wealthy businessman who owns and runs a big ski resort in Aspen, Colorado. She is recently employed as the “vice president of atmosphere” of the resort, but everyone including herself knows well that her father simply wants her to keep her around him during the Christmas season, and she is usually more occupied with interacting with her boyfriend, who is equally superficial as your typical social influencer.

Not long after he arrives in the ski resort, Sierra’s boyfriend pulls off a little surprise for her just because that will draw more attention to them from those countless online followers of his out there. He takes her to a remote spot outside the ski resort, and then he blatantly proposes to her with a big wedding ring which incidentally does not fit with her little finger that well.

Sierra says yes without much thought, but then something unfortunate happens. She and her boyfriend happen to be on a high spot covered with lots of snow, and they accidentally tumble down from that spot in opposite directions. In case of Sierra, she is not injured much on the whole, but she gets her head hit by a tree. After she is fortunately rescued and then sent to a local hospital, she wakes up to find herself totally incapable of remembering who the hell she is, and she has no choice but to stay in a small local ski resort run by Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet), a nice (and handsome) dude who kindly rescued her at that time.

Jake and Sierra, who is now called “Sarah”, actually came across each other before, though neither of them cannot remember well even though that happened not long before Sierra’s accident. Because his little ski resort business has not been going well, Jake attempted to approach to Sierra’s father for some financial help, and that was when he had a rather unpleasant encounter with Sierra, who just looks vaguely familiar to him as “Sarah” at present probably because she does not wear all those fancy clothes and accessories.

Anyway, Sierra agrees to help Jake’s ski resort business a bit as a temporary employee, and the movie certainly gives us a series of silly comic moments showing how woefully inexperienced she really is. It looks like there is not any other employee besides her and Jake’s hearty mother-in-law Alejandra (Alejandra Flores), and Alejandra gladly helps “Sarah” get accustomed to her new job although “Sarah” will stay for just several days.

While often being around Jake, Sierra gets to know more about Jake, and, what do you know, she comes to care about him and his ski resort business more than expected. His ski resort actually came from his dead wife’s family, and he has really tried a lot to prevent it from being shut down because he knows how much it means to not only himself but also his mother-in-law and his cute little daughter, but, alas, it looks like he may have to close it down once the current Christmas season is over.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that our heroine eventually finds a nice solution for Jake and his sky resort – and that she also falls in love with him while wholeheartedly supported by Alejandra and her granddaughter. After all, her granddaughter wishes her daddy to be really happy, and the movie even has a certain supporting figure who may be a sort of Christmas spirit or an undercover Santa Claus.

The movie is often distracting whenever it focuses on a comic subplot involved with how Sierra’s boyfriend struggles to survive out there in the meantime, but it surely feels warm and cheerful when it is focusing on Sierra’s expected growth along the story. Lohan is often amusing and charming in addition to fitting very well to her role mainly due to her current public image, and she demonstrates here that she deserves the second chance as much as, say, Robert Downey Jr. In case of several other main cast members, Chord Overstreet and George Young are sadly stuck in their respective thankless cardboard roles, and Alejandra Flores and young performer Olivia Perez acquit themselves well as bringing some decent holiday cheer as required.

Directed by Janeen Damian, “Falling for Christmas” is not particularly recommendable for being a bit too familiar and predictable, but it is mostly passable as another safe Christmas product from Netflix. Yes, there are much better movies for Christmas out there, but it will probably not disappoint you much if you simply want to spend your free time without much expectation.

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Bantú Mama (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A small interesting film from the Dominican Republic

Posted on November 20, 2022 by kaist455

“Bantú Mama”, which was released on Netflix in US a few days ago and also recently selected as the Dominican Republic’s official submission to Best International Film Oscar, is a small film too good to be overlooked in my inconsequential opinion. Although it simply presents a modestly shabby human drama on the surface, it handles its story, background, and characters with considerable care and thoughtfulness, and it may be regarded as a solid breakthrough for its promising director who will probably impress us more in the future.

At the beginning, the movie succinctly establishes how a young African woman named Emma (Clarisse Albrecht) gets herself into a big trouble shortly after leaving her current residence in France. She initially seems to be merely enjoying a vacation in Santo Domingo she could somehow afford, but it gradually turns out that she got herself involved with a local criminal organization, and we soon see her nervously attempting to smuggle a considerable amount of drug as demanded at the airport.

Unfortunately, Emma is arrested by the local police right before getting on the airplane, and then she becomes a fugitive once she manages to escape thanks to a sudden accident in the middle of her transfer to the jail. She happens to be within a very notorious slum neighborhood in Santo Domingo, but she is fortunately rescued by T.I.N.A. (Scarlet Reyes) and $hulo (Arturo Perez), two adolescent siblings who have struggled to earn their living for themselves in the absence of their parents.

T.I.N.A. and $hulo willingly take Emma to their little shabby residence where they have lived along with their little young brother Cuki (Euris Javiel). Because T.I.N.A. and $hulo are usually busy with earning money by any means necessary outside, Emma naturally comes to take care of Cuki at their home, and we observe how she gradually comes to function like a mother figure in the house as she stays longer than expected.

Quite grateful to Emma for her little but precious help, T.I.N.A. tries to help Emma go back to France as much as possible. Because the local police is still looking for her, Emma should be really careful especially when she is outside the house, and she surely has a tough lesson when she almost gets arrested and then exposed later in the story.

Meanwhile, the movie also pays attention to how things have been desperate for T.I.N.A and $hulo. Expecting to earn some money sooner or later via some drug dealing, $hulo thinks things will soon get a bit better for him and his two younger siblings, but T.I.N.A. knows better as clearly discerning lots of despair and desperation in their slum neighborhood. As she bitterly admits at one point, she and her older brother will probably be stuck there for the rest of their life even if they are lucky enough to avoid jail unlike their prisoner father, and that is why she is really concerned about Cuki’s life.

At least, things do not look bad for now thanks to Emma’s presence in the house. When she does some African dance along with Cuki and his two older siblings, the mood gets lightened up a bit in the house, and the movie subtly makes an interesting point on the racial and cultural background of its main characters. While Emma is quite different from Cuki and his two older siblings in many aspects, she and they make some human connection via their shared racial background, and that eventually motivates T.I.N.A. to make a hard but necessary choice around the end of the story.

These and other soft and sensitive moments in the film are often contrasted with the gritty realism of the slum neighborhood surrounding its main characters, and director/co-writer/co-producer Ivan Herrera, who previously made a feature film debut with “Pueto Pa’ Mi” (2015), and his crew members including cinematographer Sebastian Cabrera Chelin did a commendable job of imbuing the screen with a considerable degree of verisimilitude. According to the IMDB trivia, they used only one camera lens during their shooting, but the movie does not look cheap or shabby at all, and it even has some sublime poetic moments including the recurring ones involved with a kite in the sky.

In case of the small main cast of the film, they are quite natural in their unadorned ensemble performance. Clarisse Albrecht, who wrote the screenplay with Herrera, gracefully conveys to us her character’s gradual development along the story, and we can really sense how much her character is true to herself in the end. Euris Javiel and Arturo Perez are effective as two very different siblings who have no choice but to stick togeher for not only themselves for their dear little younger brother, and Euris Javiel is also fine as another crucial part of the story.

In conclusion, “Bantú Mama” is fairly impressive in terms of mood, storytelling, and performance, and Herrera shows here that he is another interesting new filmmaker to watch. Although it surely requires some patience as your typical arthouse movie, the movie will engage you more than expected once you give it a chance, and you may even come to wish that it is a little longer. That is surely something not many movies can do, isn’t it?

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Falling for Figaro (2020) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Following her dream

Posted on November 19, 2022 by kaist455

“Falling for Figaro” is a mild and pleasant comedy film which will probably not leave much impression on you when it is over. While it is buoyed a lot by the charming natural presence of its lead actress, it is also pretty predictable and conventional to the core, and I must confess that I simply observed its story and characters from the distance even while getting some entertainment from time to time during my viewing.

Danielle Macdonald, a likable Australian actress who previously drew my attention via her enjoyable lead performance in Netflix comedy film “Dumplin’” (2018), plays Millie Cantwell, a young female American fund manager who suddenly decides to give up her promising professional career just for pursuing her personal dream. After watching a fabulous opera performance during one evening, she becomes quite determined to try on becoming a professional singer, and that certainly perplexes her boyfriend a lot, who is also incidentally her direct supervisor in their workplace.

Surely well aware of how inexperienced she is in many aspects, Millie looks for any good teacher who may be interested in helping her improve her singing skills, and she subsequently approaches to Meghan Geoffrey-Bishop (Joanna Lumley), a former diva who has focused on teaching since she left stages many years ago. Millie is warned about how harsh and cranky Meghan can be, but she is not daunted at all, and we soon see her driving up to a small Scottish village where Meghan has resided since her retirement.

Of course, things do not look that good right from when Millie arrives at the village. There is only one inn which is also the only pub in the village, and the room given to her is not exactly ideal to say the least. Although she has to stay there for next several weeks at least, Millie remains optimistic as before, and she also draws lots of attention from the crusty innkeeper and several other villagers who certainly welcome a little unexpected change in their mostly uneventful village.

However, Millie’s singing teacher is not so impressed or charmed by Millie at all. Right from their first singing lesson session, Meghan sharply points out how horribly amateurish Millie is, and Millie actually comes to consider quitting after her first grueling experience with Meghan, but she soon regains her plucky spirit nevertheless while also trying as hard as possible. Still strict and acerbic as usual, Meghan comes to discern considerable raw potential from her new student, and Millie consequently becomes more professional bit by bit under Meghan’s guidance.

Meanwhile, the movie also focuses on a local lad named Max Thistlewaite (Hugh Skinner), who was incidentally Meghan’s only student before Millie came. As Meghan’s attention is drawn more to Millie, Max cannot help but become jealous a times, but he also finds himself more motivated than before. Both he and Millie are going to participate in the upcoming nationwide singing competition, so Meghan has them practice together for enhancing each other, and, what do you know, we sense certain mutual feelings gradually developed between them.

After taking some time in establishing its main characters during its first half, the screenplay by director Ben Lewin and his co-writer Allen Palmer hops from one expected moment to another during its second half. Yes, our heroine surely becomes quite nervous and vulnerable during a local preliminary contest, but it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that she will eventually overcome, though I must say that there is a little surprise from what she sings during this part. Yes, our heroine becomes a bit conflicted when her boyfriend comes to show some support while she feels attracted to Max, but you can clearly see how this situation will be resolved in the end.

Anyway, the movie does not disappoint us at all in case of its several performance scenes. The arias from many different famous operas ranging from “La Traviata” to “The Barber of Seville” are performed on the screen, and, yes, that famous aria from “The Marriage of Figaro” also appears during one showstopper moment later in the story.

The solid performance from the three main cast members in the film overcome the conventional aspects of the story and characters at times. While Macdonald’s spirited comic performance ably carries the film to the end, she and Hugh Skinner, whose singings are respectively done by Stacey Alleaume and Nathan Lay, have nice low-key chemistry between them, and it is a shame that the movie often pushes their good efforts into distracting plot contrivance instead of going for more development on their characters’ rocky relationship. Around Macdonald and Skinner, Joanna Lumley has some juicy fun with her cantankerous character, and she is especially funny during her several scenes with Gary Lewis, who holds his small place fairly well as a supporting character who was probably quite close to Meghan some time ago.

On the whole, “Falling for Figaro” mostly works as a casual crowd-pleaser for general movie audiences, and I was not surprised when an acquaintance of mine told me later that she actually watched it twice. I can now think of several better comedy films about opera singing such as “Florence Foster Jenkins” (2016), but it is not boring at least, and I think you will not waste your time and money if you just look for some lightweight fun.

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Stutz (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Meet his therapist

Posted on November 18, 2022 by kaist455

Jonah Hill’s Netflix documentary film “Stutz”, which was released a few days ago, is a modest but interesting work to admire. As Hill and his therapist Dr. Phil Stutz are talking and discussing about many personal things besides Dr. Stutz’s unconventional therapy philosophy, we come to discern more of their respective human aspects, and we also come to appreciate how Hill sincerely and thoughtfully presents himself and his therapist without any vanity or pretension.

The early part of the documentary shows Hill and Dr. Stutz in one cozy space, and we see them going through an interview/therapy session between them. As Hill expresses his eagerness for introducing Dr. Stutz and his therapy philosophy, Dr. Stutz willingly explains a bit about that as occasionally talking about his life. While his early life was not that happy due to many things including his parents’ considerable personality difference, he was a natural listener with considerable empathy, and that was probably one of the reasons why he became a therapist.

Dr. Stutz’s therapy philosophy is pretty simple, but it is still interesting besides being quite helpful according to Hill himself, who frankly tells Dr. Stutz (and us) about his serious personal problems. Even after he became a major Hollywood actor with considerable professional success, Hill often felt lots of insecurity and anxiety in fact, and it seems that his sessions with Dr. Stutz really helped him cope with these mental problems during last several years.

According to Dr. Stutz, we all have each own personal demon to deal with, which he calls “Factor X”. In his viewpoint, we should deal with Factor X in one way or another while also accepting that life is never free from pain, uncertainty, and constant work, and he emphasizes a lot on how we should pay more attention to a number of important things one by one as trying to deal with Factor X instead of ignoring it.

Now this sounds like your average self-help book humbug, but Dr. Stutz comes to us a decent man really serious and passionate about his therapy philosophy. First of all, he does not intend to give us the solution for everything in our life, and, as far as I can see from the documentary, he really understands how messy life and people usually are. Nobody is perfect, and life will continue to be messy as usual, but, in his opinion, we keep trying to live another day nonetheless. Yes, this surely sounds clichéd, but, as a man who has had his own depression and anxiety problem for many years, I know too well that it is indeed one undeniable fact of life.

As requested by Hill, Dr. Stutz is candid as much as possible, and he does not hesitate to talk about a number of personal problems in his life. He is still haunted by the early death of his younger brother who was very ill at that time, and he has also been coping with his incurable illness which may terminate his professional career someday. He is mostly casual about that in front of the camera, but he looks regrettable when he subsequently talks a bit about how his illness affected a certain personal relationship of his.

On the opposite, Hill responds to his therapist with much more candidness than expected. In addition to revealing more of his personal vulnerability in front of the camera, he also shows a lot of his production process behind the camera, and that is where the documentary becomes more interesting than before. Without resorting to any kind of narcissism, Hill seriously discusses with Dr. Stutz on how he should shape his ongoing personal project, and the mood becomes a bit more amusing when Hill’s mother joins them at one point. Like her son, Hill’s mother is pretty candid and forthright as talking with her son on their personal issues, and Dr. Stutz is effortless while smoothly functioning as an unobtrusive mediator between them.

This moment later resonates with when Dr. Stutz reminisces about his mother, who also had her own personal issues just like her son. Besides being often unhappy with her life, she was not exactly a good mother to her son, but she eventually came to live her life more fully than before as overcoming her personal demons during her later years, and Dr. Stutz certainly admires her a lot for that, though he also recognizes that her mother’s personality problem was probably the main reason why he did not get along that well with women.

As he and Hill talk more and more with each other, we come to feel more of the deep friendship between them, and we also sense some bittersweet feeling as they talk more about the approaching end of Dr. Stutz’s life. At least, he has peacefully accepted that for years, and Hill provides a little poignant moment as he has his therapist have some little therapeutic comfort around the end of the documentary.

In conclusion, “Stutz” works as a respectful personal tribute to its interesting human subject, and Hill impresses us again as showing another side of his multifaceted talent. Besides being capable of going back and forth between comedy and drama as shown from his Oscar-nominated turns in “Moneyball” (2011) and “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013), he also made a solid directorial debut via “Mid90s” (2018), and “Stutz” shows that he is indeed a good filmmaker to watch besides being one of more interesting performers working in Hollywood. I do not know what he will do next, but, considering what I saw from “Mid90s” and “Stutz”, I guess I can have some expectation.

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