Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Will they overcome?

Posted on September 5, 2022 by kaist455

“Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul” is a wry satire about one certain amusing side of the American culture. Mainly revolving around the two central figures of an African American megachurch who really need to overcome their disgraced public status, the movie cheerfully bounces from one witty moment to another along with its two charismatic lead performers, and their enjoyable comic performances are the main reason why I can willingly overlook several shortcomings including its rather anti-climactic ending.

At the beginning, the movie gives us some background information on its two main characters: Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) and his wife Trinitie (Regina Hall). During last several years, Lee-Curtis was a very influential African American Christian pastor in Atlanta, Georgia, and he and his wife were certainly proud of their megachurch which was incidentally the main source of their fame, wealth, and power in the local community. Around the height of their success, the number of the congregants of their church was around 25,000, and it was surely a wonderful American dream for both of them.

However, their church was subsequently hit by a series of serious allegations against Lee-Curtis, who was accused of committing very inappropriate things to some of young congregants. As this came to draw more attention in public day by day, lots of congregants left the church, and Lee-Curtis and his wife became quite desperate while also coping with the legal trouble resulted from those serious allegations.

Nevertheless, they do not totally give up their hope yet. As the Easter week is approaching, Lee-Curtis and his wife plan a big church event where he is supposed to repent and then, yes, get born again in front of many audiences. As a matter of fact, they even let a documentary filmmaker and a small number of technical crew members follow and then record their ambitious journey to redemption, though we do not see much of these filmmaking folks behind the camera.

In front of the camera, Lee-Curtis and Trinities try their best for presenting themselves as positively as possible, but, of course, they only come to show how woefully they are unprepared from the beginning, and the movie naturally shifts itself on mockumentary mode at times. At one point, we are told that there are only five congregants still going to Lee-Curtis and Trinitie’s church, and these congregants surely bring some extra amusement during the scene where they try to assist Lee-Curtis and Trinitie’s rehearsal at the church.

To make matters worse, somebody is already ready to take over Lee-Curtis and Trinitie’s congregants. They are a promising young pastor named Keon Sumpter (Conphidance) and his wife Shakura (Nicole Beharie), and we get a little humorous moment when Lee-Curtis and Trinitie attempt to stop Keon and Shakura from ruining their big day to come. Although these two couples are courteous to each other on the surface, what is actually exchanged among them beneath their polite words and smiles are pretty evident to us, and that accordingly brings us another chuckle.

Above all, Lee-Curtis and Trinitie have serious personal issues to deal with, and the movie delves more into their increasingly strained relationship via a series of private moments between them. Although both of them never talk directly about what Lee-Curtis actually committed, we gradually come to have a pretty good idea about whatever happened between Lee-Curtis and those young congregants, and he certainly looks quite hypocritical when we see him preaching a lot about a certain sexual issue in front of his congregants. While well aware of her husband’s hidden problem, Trinitie tries to endure nonetheless as doing whatever she must do as a dutiful preacher’s wife, but she cannot help but feel like running out of patience – especially when her husband does not look like learning any lesson from his disastrous scandal.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that the movie eventually reaches to a sort of breaking point along with its two main characters, but the screenplay by director/writer Adamma Ebo, which is based on her 2018 short film of the same name, holds our attention to the end as providing more comic absurdity along the story. It also generates some gravitas via several more serious scenes, and one particularly strong scene sharply conveys to us how willingly Lee-Curtis looks away from his misdemeanor despite facing its grave ramifications right in front of him.

Above all, the movie is buoyed by the excellent comic chemistry between its two lead performers. While Sterling K. Brown, who has been mainly known for his Emmy-winning turn in TV drama series “This Is Us”, surprises us with his unexpected comic talent, Regina Hall, an underrated actress who can be not only very funny but also genuinely touching, is stellar as usual as steadily holds the ground for her co-star, and she is particularly good when her silent face speaks volumes around the end of the film. In case of Nicole Beharie and Conphidance, they ably function as the counterpart for Hall and Brown, but I cannot help but wonder whether they could be utilized further for more laughs for us.

On the whole, “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul” is not entirely without weak aspects, but it is still a fairly good feature debut work from Ebo, who has closely collaborated with her producer/twin sister Adanne Ebo. In my inconsequential opinion, it pulls its punches a bit too much especially during the last act, but it is still funny enough for recommendation thanks to the game efforts from Hall and Brown, and you may enjoy it more than me if you happen to be its target audience.

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I Came By (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Competent but ultimately flawed

Posted on September 5, 2022 by kaist455

I must confess that I found it rather challenging for me to talk about Netflix film “I Came By”, which was released a few days ago. Because many of crucial moments in the film depend on unexpected narrative turns, I will try as much as possible for not spoiling any of your entertainment while delving a bit into its story and characters, but I sincerely recommend you to watch the movie instead of reading the next paragraphs, especially if you are already interested in checking out this competent but ultimately flawed genre piece.

At first, the movie, which is mainly set in London, shows us the latest private secret mission of a lad named Toby Nealy (George MacKay) and his longtime childhood friend Jameel “Jay” Agassi (Percelle Ascott), For last several months, they broke into the residences of rich folks and then left a distinctively graffiti of theirs, and this illegal activity of theirs has drawn considerable attention on the internet while regarded as a bold act of defiance against the capitalistic system.

Not long after successfully accomplishing their latest mission, Jay happens to come across a suitable target for their next mission. The target in question is a retired judge named Hector Blake (Hugh Bonneville), and this guy looks fairly respectable and admirable for his dedication to civil rights, but Toby is skeptical just because Blake seems rather hypocritical considering his very privileged family background.

Anyway, breaking into Blake’s house looks pretty easy to say the least. He lives alone in his house, and, thank to Jay, Neil can easily turn off the security system of Blake’s house, but there comes a major setback for Neil. After learning that his girlfriend Naz (Varada Sethu) becomes pregnant, Jay decides that he really should be more careful and responsible than before, and he becomes all the more determined about that when Naz’s conservative parents later disown her due to her pregnancy. 

In the end, Neil decides to break into Blake’s house alone by himself, and everything seems to be going well for him at first, but, of course, there soon comes another problem. It turns out that Blake has one big terrible secret hidden inside his house, and that naturally puts Neil into a very complicated circumstance. Sure, he may call the police and then show them what he discovered, but this will definitely expose not only him but also Jay, who, as a young black man with a substantial criminal record, does not want to get into another legal trouble.

Now I should be more careful as going further into details, so I will just say that Neil’s opponent is not only smart and resourceful but also quite formidable to say the least. When his house is subsequently searched by the police later in the story, Blake is not so perturbed at all because of his respectable status, and, thanks to his several influential friends, he can also pull some strings for preventing any further investigation.

Around that narrative point, the screenplay by director/co-producer/co-writer Babak Anvari and his co-writer Namsi Khan gradually shifts its focus to Blake’s twisted criminal mind. There is a quiet but creepy scene where he casually reveals more of what has made him tick since his childhood years, and we are more chilled by how he methodically takes care of his current problem with no remorse or hesitation at all.

Meanwhile, the movie also pays some attention to Jay and the other main character in the story. Although her relationship with her son has been quite strained, Lizzie (Kelly Macdonald) decides to get to the bottom of whatever his son gets himself into, and she soon gets some clues thanks to a little indirect help from Jay, who still does not reveal everything to her or his girlfriend. It does not take much time for Lizzie to grasp the overall situation surrounding her son and Jay, and she comes to fear more than before when she happens to come upon one sudden incident while doing her little stakeout outside Blake’s house.

Up to that point, the movie engaged me fairly enough, but then, unfortunately, it takes a series of contrived plot turns to my dissatisfaction. Although its plot did surprise me more than once, I came to observe its story and characters from the distance in the end due to a number of flaws in terms of storytelling and characterization, and I was also quite disappointed with how it pulls off its eventual finale too conveniently.

In case of the main cast members of the film, they do try whatever they can do with their respective roles, but they are often limited by their rather conventional character. While George MacKay and Kelly Macdonald are stuck in their thankless parts, Percelle Ascott and Varada Sethu manage to acquit themselves well despite their underdeveloped supporting roles, and Hugh Bonneville is effectively chilling without disrupting his character’s supposedly clean-cut appearance at all.

Overall, “I Came By” is a little better than Anvari’s middling previous work “Wounds” (2019), but it is still a letdown compared to his impressive debut feature film “Over the Shadow” (2016). In short, this is an average Netflix flick you may come by, but I would rather recommend you to check out “Over the Shadow” instead, and you will probably thank me for that.

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Sundown (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): He just wants to stay there…

Posted on September 4, 2022 by kaist455

“Sundown” is so adamantly distant and opaque in terms of attitude and narrative that you may find yourself constantly wondering about how it really regards the elusive behaviors of its exasperatingly self-absorbed hero. To be frank with you, I am not so sure about whether it actually has any idea or opinion despite a few striking moments, and I must confess that I merely observed its story and hero with increasing detachment, though, to some degree, I appreciate how it competently catches us off guard from time to time.

At first, the movie looks at how its hero spends a family holiday along with his three family members. While his sister and her two children are willing to enjoy all those luxuries they can get during their ongoing stay at some posh hotel in Acapulco, Mexico, Neil (Tim Roth) is not so interested in getting any fun or relaxation in contrast, and the camera phlegmatically observes how he goes through one sunny day after another without much enthusiasm.

And then something occurs unexpectedly on one day. His sister receives a call from London, and she is devastated to learn that their mother becomes gravely ill and then is being sent to a hospital. She decides that they all should go back to London as soon as possible, so they promptly leave for the airport, but, alas, she and Neil are soon informed that her mother died shortly after being taken to the hospital.

While his sister becomes more devastated than ever, Neil remains quite detached as before, and then he tells her that he somehow forgot to bring his passport. Although she says that she and her children may wait for another plane while he gets back his passport, he insists that she and her children should go now, so she and her children eventually get on the plane to London while he supposedly goes back to the hotel.

However, it soon turns out that Neil actually lied to his sister. Once he gets on a taxi, he instructs its driver to take him to any hotel available, and the driver takes him to a rather cheap hotel which looks quite shabbier compared to his previous staying place. While not minding this big environmental change at all, he simply goes through one day after another as before, and he even comes to befriend a young local woman he later happens to encounter.

Of course, his sister begins to call him as handling the aftermath of their mother’s death, but Neil keeps lying to her as giving several false excuses, and he also does not give a damn about whatever is happening around him. At one point, he and others around him are suddenly struck by one very nasty incident, but that does not seem to shake him up at all, and he just continues to stick to his current status.

While making us more wondering about the reasons behind his adamant detachment, the screenplay by director/writer/co-producer/co-editor Michel Franco gradually lets its hero roll down into more misery and suffering. There eventually comes a point where his sister becomes frustrated with him and consequently decides to take care of the matter for herself, but that does not seem to affect him at all, and she becomes all the more exasperated than before, though he is willing to sign on anything necessary for him to let himself free of everything in his life.

Now some of you may guess a bit on what a privileged life Neil probably had before becoming a major headache for his sister, who is apparently the head of their big family company. I will not go into details here not for spoiling anything for you, but I can tell you at least that Neil comes to suffer more as trying to walk away from his privileged status, and that is where he comes to show a bit more emotion than before.

Nevertheless, the movie stays on its detached mode even as things get worse and worse for its hero, and it also becomes harder for us to care about him. Sure, we may feel a bit sorry for whatever he is actually suffering behind his disaffected façade, but he is still more or less than your typical privileged Caucasian male, and the movie does not seem to decide on whether it should care or laugh about his ongoing plight. It tries a few surreal touches later, but these touches do not fit well with its cold-blooded objective attitude to the story and characters, and the finale fizzles without much dramatic impact even though it gives us some hint on why Neil has been so detached from the very beginning.

Anyway, the movie is carried fairly well by the solid lead performance from Tim Roth, who has always been good at exuding weary detachment without overemphasizing it. Whenever the camera looks at his face, you can always get some subtle sense of whatever his character is feeling and thinking, and Roth’s engaging presence makes the film worthwhile to watch to some degree, while also reminding us again of how this wonderful British character actor has been consistently interesting for more than 30 years.

On the whole, “Sundown” has several good things to admire besides Roth’s commendable efforts, but it does not satisfy me enough for recommendation, and I am also quite dissatisfied with how the movie under-utilizes Charlotte Gainsbourg and several other performers around him. At least, I did not grumble that much as going through its rather short running time (82 minutes), and it is a bit better than Franco’s obnoxious previous film “New Order” (2020), so I will let you decide on whether you will spend some time on this competent but ultimately superficial cinematic exercise.

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Nocturne (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): A son, his mother, and her other son

Posted on August 28, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean documentary film “Nocturne” follows the cacophonic life story of a mother and her two very different sons. Because one of these two sons happens to have a serious case of autistic disorder, his younger brother as well as his mother often face considerable difficulties in communicating with him besides dealing with each own personal issues, and it is touching to see how these three main figures of the documentary eventually come together via what have dominated over their life for years.

After the opening scene showing a little special concert held in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2018, the documentary goes back to 10 years ago, and we look into the daily life of Eun Sung-ho, an autistic lad living with his divorced mother Son Min-seo and his younger brother Eun Gun-ki. While he has a considerable musical talent, Sung-ho constantly needs the care and attention from his devoted mother, so she becomes concerned more than before because of the upcoming concert, but, to her frustration, Sung-ho’s autistic mind is often drawn to the world of television and video game whenever he is not playing music.

Once he is prepared well by his mother, Sung-ho does the concert as well as expected, and we get to know more about her endless devotion to him. He is often very difficult to deal with, but she responds to him with enough tactfulness and discipline, and you can clearly see that he is always under control as long as she is around him.

Meanwhile, the documentary also focuses on Gun-ki, who also looks promising as he often plays the piano in their apartment. Although Min-seo does not forget telling her younger son that he can be as good as his older brother, Gun-ki knows too well that his mother is a lot more occupied with his older brother, and his rather sullen attitude clearly conveys to us his longtime resentment about not getting enough attention and affection from her.

Anyway, Gun-ki tries to be a promising musician just like his older brother, but he only comes to see his older brother continuing to rise as an exceptional pianist and clarinet player, while his life keeps going down to his frustration. When the documentary moves forward to several years later, we see him earning his meager living day by day, and he bitterly tells us about a series of unfortunate downturns in his life he went through shortly after quitting his college education due to the tuition problem. With no bright promise in his life, he often looks morose and disaffected, and that certainly affects his relationship with his mother and his older brother.

Meanwhile, Min-seo continues to support and promote Sung-ho as usual, and we cannot help but notice how much she looks older than before. Although her economic situation becomes worse than before, she is still willing to invest everything into Sung-ho’s life and career, and, so far, the result has been fairly rewarding for her thanks to Sung-ho’s significant career advancement.

However, Min-seo is well aware that there may come the day when she cannot be around Sung-ho anymore, and that is why she wants Gun-ki to be closer with Sung-ho, but, not so surprisingly, that turns out to be quite a daunting task. While Gun-ki visits her and Sung-ho for having a dinner with them, he soon comes to clash with not only Sung-ho but also their mother, and that is certainly the most painful human moment in the documentary.

Around that point, the documentary alternates between Gun-ki and Sung-ho as their respective lives continue as before. Gun-ki eventually decides to have some change in his life, so he goes abroad for working as a tour guide, and he subsequently goes through a mandatory military service period. In case of Sung-ho, he does a number of big concerts while improving his musical skills step by step, and his mother is certainly prouder of him than ever.

The documentary stumbles a bit as its three main figures come to gather again because of one sudden incident. It does not delve much into what exactly caused Gun-ki’s sudden hospitalization, but this incident somehow brings back him to his mother, and we soon see how things get better for him as well as his mother and his older brother during following several years. Although he has been pretty skeptical about his mother’s emotional/financial investment into his older brother’s career, Gun-ki is eventually convinced to help his mother and his older brother, and his mother is certainly glad when Gun-ki accompanies Sung-ho during Sung-ho’s concert travel to St. Petersburg.

While it still regards Sung-ho with distant respect as before, the documentary generates some emotional poignancy as observing how much Gun-ki is changed in comparison. Although he often struggles to have his older brother’s affairs under control, he comes to understand and care more about his older brother than before, and there is a genuinely touching moment when he comes to have an unexpected moment of communication with his older brother via their shared musical talent.

On the whole, “Nocturne”, directed by Jeong Kwan-jo, is admirable in the earnest handling of its human subjects, and I also enjoyed the effective utilization of a number of recognizable classic pieces including those well-known nocturnes composed by Frédéric François Chopin. I must point out that it does not go beyond the level of plain TV documentary film, but it has its heart in the right place at least, and I certainly appreciate that.

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Rolling (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): As she begins to roll under the pandemic

Posted on August 28, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Rolling” is a modest but sensitive character drama surrounding its young heroine’s emotional journey toward regained hope and optimism. Although it initially requires some patience from us due to its rather slow narrative pacing, the movie eventually comes to engage and move us more than expected, and you may find yourself cheering for its young heroine as observing how she finally becomes ready to roll again for her life.

During its first half, the movie slowly establishes how things have been depressingly aimless for its young heroine. Since quitting her college education and then breaking up with her boyfriend for some unknown reason, Joo-ri (Shim Dal-gi) has been stuck in a long period of lethargy as living alone in a one-room residence belonging to her mother, and the first scene in the film succinctly conveys to us her messy and melancholic status as she is flaccidly going through another summer day.

However, this pathetic life condition of hers is suddenly interrupted by one forceful demand from her single mother. Joo-ri’s grandmother recently happens to become very ill, and Joo-ri’s mother must go back to her family house as soon as possible, so she demands that Joo-ri should take care of her kimbop shop instead during her temporary absence. Although not welcoming this demand at all, Joo-ri has no choice from the beginning because her mother threatens to kick her daughter out of that one-room residence, so she soon begins to work at the kimbop shop although she does not know that much about how to make kimbops as well as her mother.

Now some of you is surely wondering what the hell kimbop is, so I will explain to you a bit about what kimbop is. It is a common Korean rice roll wrapped in dried seaweed, and it also contains several other ingredients such as meat and vegetable, depending on its maker’s choice. While I often enjoy eating it at local kimbop shops, I also like a lot eating the ones made by my mother, and I gladly help her a bit whenever she is going to make kimbops for my family.

Anyway, after a number of clumsy trials, Joo-ri begins to make fairly passable kimbops. After all, all she has to do is following her mother’s own preparation process, and those few customers coming to the shop do not have much problem with her kimbops on the whole. In addition, the shop is frequently empty due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (The movie is one of a few recent South Korean films depicting the current pandemic, by the way), so she simply occupies the spot without working that much.

Nevertheless, as her mother comes to stay around her grandmother longer than expected, Joo-ri finds herself interacting more with the outside world than before. There is a shy lad who comes to the shop everyday for eating a kimbop, and Joo-ri becomes closer to this young dude after she hurriedly takes him to where he must take a very important examination on one day. Although he inadvertently causes more inconvenience for her, he sincerely apologizes later, and she willingly lets him come into her daily life because, well, he is really nice to her.

In the meantime, Joo-ri also comes to reflect more on how long her life has been stalled. As looking for a certain old item requested by her mother, she comes upon several other old items from her past, and they naturally remind her of how she was more spirited compared to her current status. After that, she gradually becomes more active about her life, and a series of small episodic moments let us sense more of her slow inner change along the narrative.

The mood becomes a little more serious because of a sudden incident happening outside the screen, but the movie steadily maintains its dry and restrained attitude as before. When Joo-ri and her mother happen to have a moment for honest conversation between them later in the story, the movie wisely avoids unnecessary melodrama, and that is why this moment feels more sincere and poignant than expected.

Above all, the movie is carried well by the strong presence of its lead actress. I only came to notice her via her notable supporting performance in “Snowball” (2021), but I can tell you here that Shim Dal-gil is one of the most promising newcomers to watch in South Korean cinema. While never making any excuse on her character’s human flaws, Shim’s engaging performance holds our attention even when the movie is spinning its wheels a bit, and she is both funny and touching especially when her character has an unexpected moment of epiphany on what she can and must do for her life right now. In addition, she is also supported well by several good supporting performers including Jung Eun-kyung and Woo Hyo-woon, and Jung and Shim click well together as a mother and daughter who have known well each other for many years.

Overall, “Rolling”, which is incidentally the second feature film of director Kwak Min-seung, is worthwhile to watch for its sensitive storytelling as well as its commendable lead performance, and I particularly appreciate a glimmer of hope and optimism shown from the very last scene of the film. Yes, there will probably be a lot more difficulties for her, but she surely knows where she is going now, doesn’t she?

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Bullet Train (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Killers on a Train

Posted on August 28, 2022 by kaist455

“Bullet Train” gives us a brutal and relentless mix of comedy, action, and thriller which worked to some degree for me. While it is often entertaining to watch the game efforts from the cast and crew members of the movie, the movie does not have many things to distinguish it from many other similar action flicks out there, and I was also frequently distracted by its rather superficial handling of story background and characters.

At the beginning, the movie quickly establishes its story setting and premise while also introducing us to a seasoned mercenary who is currently called “Ladybug” (Brad Pitt). After some soul-searching and a series of psychiatric sessions, Ladybug has been determined to be as non-violent as possible for the rest of his career, and the latest job handed to him by his handler seems appropriate for that. All he has to do is finding and then retrieving a certain metal brief case on a Bullet Train ready to leave Tokyo early in the morning, and it looks like he will easily and quickly get the job done before the train arrives in Kyoto.

However, of course, it gradually turns out that the situation is a lot more complicated than our hero expected at first. There are already several mercenaries on the train, and they are certainly as dangerous as our hero can be. In case of one young woman introduced to us as “The Prince” (Joey King), she looks like your average British schoolgirl on the surface, but she is actually quite a lethal schemer, and her wily plan is already being executed mainly via a certain desperate Japanese dude who unwisely gets himself involved in her plan.

The movie also pays attention to an assassin duo called “Tangerine” (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and “Lemon” (Brian Tyree Henry), who are somehow called “twins” despite their apparent racial difference. As shown to us via a couple of very violent flashback sequences, they are pretty skillful killers, but they are also rather silly for their eccentric aspects, and one of the most amusing moments in the film comes from one of them frequently talking about the characters of a certain famous classic TV animation series for children.

Anyway, we later come to gather that these and other main characters in the story are the crucial parts of a secret plan involved with the fearsome Russian boss of a powerful gang organization in Japan. Tangerine and Lemon’s job is simply retrieving this Russian boss’ kidnapped son and the ransom money on this dude, but then they belatedly come to realize that they have been set up from the beginning, and they soon get themselves entangled with Ladybug and several other mercenaries on the train.

While the train keeps running rapidly on its course as usual, all these and some other characters clash with each other in one way or another, and director/co-producer David Leitch, who previous gave us “John Wick” (2014) and “Atomic Blonde” (2017), and his crew members accordingly serve us a series of frantic action scenes unfolded among Ladybug and other main characters in the film. At one point, our hero must confront a certain opponent of his without drawing any attention from nearby passengers, and that will certainly generate some amusement for you besides a substantial amount of thrill and excitement.

The screenplay by Zak Olkewicz, which is based on Kōtarō Isaka’s novel, also tries to bring some gravitas to its story and characters, though the result is often uneven and shallow in my humble opinion. All the main characters in the film remain to be more or less than cartoonish archetypes, so it is a bit too jarring when the movie becomes more serious with the late entrance of a certain important character. After juggling so many characters and actions, the movie literally gets derailed along with the train (Is this a spoiler?) around the narrative point where that fearful Russian boss character finally reveals himself as expected during the final act, and it eventually becomes less fun as drenched in heaps of uninspired CGI.

At least, the main cast members of the film have some juicy fun with their respective roles. While Brad Pitt usually functions as the straight hero of the story, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry often steal the show thanks to their effortless comic chemistry, and Henry, who has been one of the most reliable actors working in Hollywood since his excellent supporting works in “Widows” (2018) and “If Beale Street Could Talk” (2018), is utterly uproarious as deftly balancing his character between seriousness and absurdity. Although her role is apparently a whitewashing version of your typical Japanese schoolgirl, Joey King manages to acquit herself at least. In case of several other main cast members including Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Zazie Beetz, and Benito A. Martínez Ocasio, who is also known as “Bad Bunny”, fill their respective spots as much as they can, and, if you still do not know anything about that, I will let you be surprised by the special appearance of two certain well-known Hollywood performers during the final act of the film.

In conclusion, “Bullet Train” is a fairly competent product, but it is not entertaining enough to compensate for a number of glaring flaws ranging from its weak storytelling to its strained attempt to westernize many of its main characters in the Asian background. Because it is one or two steps from “John Wick” and “Atomic Blonde” and I gave three stars to “John Wick” and “Atomic Blonde”, I give it 2.5 stars, but you will probably enjoy it enough if you ever happen to come across it while casually changing TV channels.

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Full Time (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Her full-time predicament

Posted on August 19, 2022 by kaist455

French film “Full Time” is a calm but intense observation of one desperate personal struggle. As its heroine tries her best for herself and her children despite an increasingly difficult circumstance, the movie gradually immerses us into her situation via a number of dry but emotionally tense moments, and we come to have more understanding and empathy on her grueling predicament.

At the beginning, the movie quickly establishes how things have been bad for its heroine. Julie Roy (Laure Calamy) is a young divorced mother of two little kids, and she has earned her meager living via working as a maid in some five-star hotel in Paris. She and her two kids live in a suburban area outside Paris mainly because she thought it will provide a better environment for her kids, so she has to go back and forth between Paris and that suburban area by train on every weekday, but that has been quite difficult for her due to an ongoing transit strike. Because there are much fewer trains now, she must wake up earlier than before, and she usually returns to her home very late while her two kids are waiting at the house of a kind old neighbor.

Constantly following its heroine, the movie lets us get to know more about how she has been cornered in many aspects. At her workplace, she is always busy as frequently demanded to do one thing after another, and her direct supervisor may fire her at any point just because she is often late for work due to the transit strike. At her home, she is usually too tired to pay more attention to her kids, and that neighbor of hers becomes more reluctant to babysit her kids for understandable reasons. In addition, her ex-husband has not yet sent the routine support money for her and her kids, and, to her growing exasperation, he does not even answer to her calls at all.

At least, there is some hope for Julie because she is soon going to do an important job interview, though it does not look that promising to her. As a woman who has enough education and experience for that job, she might actually succeed in getting that job, but she will have to take the risk of losing her current job for that small possibility, and the mood becomes more nervous as she later attempts to do the job interview even though she is supposed to be working in the hotel.

Meanwhile, the situation keeps getting worse for her day by day. At one point, Julie has no choice but to sleep at a shabby little hotel in Paris because there is no bus or train for her and many others, and she certainly feels ashamed when she picks up her kids at that neighbor’s house on the next day. At her workplace, she comes to conflict more with not only several colleagues of hers but also her supervisor, who is not so pleased about what Julie did for going to that job interview.

Around that point, the screenplay by writer/director Eric Gravel provides relatively more relaxed moments to our relief. Despite many problems she has to deal with in one way or another, Julie does not forget preparing for the birthday party for one of her kids, and she feels a bit happy as playing with her kids and other kids invited to the party. She also comes to befriend some guy in the neighborhood, and we sense her attraction toward him when he kindly fixes the faulty boiler of her house.

Of course, the mood soon becomes quite urgent for her again, and Gravel and his crew members did a splendid job of generating a moody but palpable sense of desperation on the screen. While cinematographer Victor Seguin presents the urban backgrounds surrounding the heroine in cold and harsh ambience, the propulsive electronic score by Irène Drésel frequently accentuates her urgency, and we come to brace ourselves more than before. This is certainly not a comfortable experience at all, but our eyes keep following her plight thanks to Grave’s skillful direction, and we come to care more about what may happen to her next.

Above all, the movie is firmly held together by its unadorned but strong lead performance. Laure Calamy, who won the Best Actress award when the film was shown in the Orizzonti section of the Venice International Film Festival in last year (The movie also won the Best Director award, by the way), is superlative as effortlessly embodying her character’s weary desperation on the screen, and she is particularly stunning when her character must try anything for not losing her job. As the camera looks at her face closely, we can feel how desperate her character really is, and it is really devastating to see what eventually happens not long after that. In case of several other main cast members in the film, Anne Suarez, Geneviève Mnich, and Cyril Gueï are also fine in their respective supporting roles, and Mnich provides some human warmth as her character shows some sincere concern to Julie.

I always cherish movies which can function as the window to different human conditions and experiences, and “Full Time” is surely one of such good films. Yes, this is indeed a tough stuff to watch, but it is still engaging mainly thanks to the commendable efforts from Gravel and his cast and crew members, and its last scene will linger on your mind for a while after it is over. On the whole, this is one of more interesting films of this year, and I think you should give it a chance someday.

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Nope (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Something Wicked This Way Flies

Posted on August 19, 2022 by kaist455

Jordan Peele’s third feature film “Nope” is a terrific genre piece to admire and enjoy. Although there are some parts which do not seem to work as well as intended, I was entertained a lot by how the movie skillfully engages us from the beginning to the end, and even those seemingly weak parts of the film somehow fit into its big picture as I reflect more on them after watching it two days ago.

Because the trailer of the film does not show much of what it is about, I will only describe the story as little as possible without spoiling your entertainment. After quoting an excerpt from the Bible just like Peele’s previous film “Us” (2019) and then jolting us with its gradually chilling prologue scene, the movie, which is mainly set in a horse ranch located in some remote area of California, introduces us to Otis Haywood Sr. (Keith David) and his son Otis Jr. “OJ” Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya). When they are training a horse in their ranch as usual, something inexplicable suddenly happens upon them, and, along with the prologue scene, this succinctly establishes the overall tone of the movie in addition to giving us another big shock and surprise.

After that gruesome incident, OJ tries to run and maintain the ranch just like his father did for many years. They have been known well for training horses for movie and commercial production, and his father openly claimed that his ancestor was actually that African American jockey in “Plate 626” from Eadweard Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion series of photographs, though there is not anything to support his claim.

Because of his rather introverted personality, OJ lets his younger sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) do some promotion while he is mostly focusing on horses, and we get a little humorous moment as she cheerfully promotes their ranch a bit in front of a bunch of people preparing to shoot a commercial. However, due to a subsequent little happening, they unfortunately get fired, and that makes OJ sullener and more frustrated than before.

Meanwhile, a series of odd things happen around their ranch, and the movie slowly dials up the level of tension after OJ comes to spot something very strange in the sky. He and Emerald decide to delve more into this mysterious matter for themselves, and they get some technical help from Angel Torres (Brandon Perea), a young local tech salesman who also gets involved into their circumstance later in the story.

Now I should be more discreet about explaining to you on how much I enjoyed the rest of the film. If you watched the trailer, you may already have guessed what you are going to see, but you will be surprised by how the movie dexterously plays on your expectation, and I particularly appreciate its effective utilization of sound effects. I will not go into details here, but there are truly frightening moments which depend a lot on sound effects, and I was often quite chilled as watching the film in a Dolby Cinema screening room.

In addition, the movie shows some twisted sense of humor via two other main characters in the film. I was initially not sure about whether a subplot involved with Steve Yeun’s character is really connected that well with the main narrative, but I guess this gives some personal motive behind what this character attempts to do, and the movie does not disappoint us as striking us with another chilling highlight in the end. In case of a seasoned Hollywood cinematographer wryly played by Michael Wincott, he is surely amusing to watch as often reminiscent of Werner Herzog, and you will get some morbid laugh from how boldly and fearlessly he handles what may be the greatest challenge in his entire professional career.

All these and other things eventually culminate to the climactic sequence where lots of things happen on the screen, but the movie keeps us focused on what is being at stake for OJ and several other main characters. This sequence feels a bit too long, but the movie steadily maintains what has been carefully accumulated up to that point, and the result is definitely something worthwhile to watch on big screen.

Above all, the movie is supported well by two good performers at its center. As Daniel Kaluuya, who has been quite more prominent since his unforgettable breakthrough turn in Peele’s Oscar-winning debut feature film “Get Out” (2017), stoically holds the ground as required, Keke Palmer, whom I still fondly remember for her plucky performance in “Akeelah and the Bee” (2006), ably complements Kaluuya with her spirited performance, and it is often entertaining to watch how their very different characters dynamically interact with each other along the story. In case of several other main cast members including Brandon Perea and Keith David, Perea provides some extra humor to the story as holding his own place between Kaluuya and Palmer, and Keith David leaves a lasting impression on us despite his brief appearance in the film.

In conclusion, “Nope” is another commendable work from Peele after “Get Out” and “Us”. Although it does not reach to the devious narrative precision of “Get Out” or the endlessly thought-provoking aspects of “Us”, it is still quite enjoyable in terms of mood, storytelling, and performance, and I am already willing to watch it again for savoring its highlights more. In short, this is another fun summer film of this year after “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022), and I sincerely urge you to check it out as soon as possible.

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Day Shift (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): It’s hard out here for a vampire hunter…

Posted on August 15, 2022 by kaist455

Netflix movie “Day Shift”, which was released on last Friday, tries to have some fun with vampire hunting, but the overall result is rather colorless in my inconsequential opinion. Although it has a fair share of solid action, it could have more wit and guts for distinguishing itself more in its familiar genre territory, and the overall result accordingly feels like a mere opener for whatever will come next.

The early part of the movie mainly revolves around how its vampire hunter hero, Bud Jablonski (Jamie Foxx), earns his living day by day in San Fernando, California. Although he has been removed from a local vampire hunter union due to many violations, Bud keeps walking as usual while disguising himself as a pool cleaner on the surface, and the opening scene shows his latest vampire hunt as he sneaks into a house which turns out to be a secret nest of vampires.

Anyway, Bud subsequently sells the fangs of the two vampires killed by him in that house, but that is still not enough for supporting his ex-wife Jocelyn (Meagan Good) and their dear little daughter. While still not telling them about his real occupation, Bud really needs to secure a certain amount of money within one week because his daughter needs to pay for her necessary dental care in addition to paying her school tuition, so he comes to request help from his old friend/colleague Big John Elliott (Snoop Dogg), who happens to be one of the most prominent vampire hunters in the area.

Thanks to Big John’s help, Bud manages to be allowed into the union again, but there is a little annoying catch for him. The local head of the union, who is your average constipated bureaucrat, demands that Bud should be always accompanied with a union employee to monitor him, and that turns out to be a nerdy lad named Seth (Dave Franco). Although accompanying a vampire hunter is the last thing he wants to do right now, Seth reluctantly follows his boss’ order mainly because he really wants to get promoted as soon as possible.

What happens next between this mismatched duo will not surprise you at all if you are a seasoned moviegoer like me. As your typical by-the-book dude, Seth certainly does not approve much of how often Bud bends or breaks rules for his ultimate goal, and Bud is naturally annoyed by this while also frequently getting exasperated about Seth’s sheer inexperience and clumsiness. At one point, Seth manages to provide some little help during Bud’s latest vampire hunt, but then he also comes to embarrass himself a lot because of being so overwhelmed by those dangerous vampires.

Meanwhile, the story also focuses on an insidious conspiracy planned by a sassy and ambitious vampire named Audrey San Fernando (Karla Souza). While working as a successful real estate businesswoman on the surface, she is going to do some aggressive area expansion for herself and many other vampires under her command, and she even does not hesitate at all to kill a rival vampire of hers for getting closer to her final goal.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Bud later comes to draw Audrey’s attention for a certain reason, and the movie accordingly serves us a series of action scenes as Bud and Seth fight against a bunch of vampires more than once. At one point, they happen to work along with a pair of well-known vampire hunters in one substantial vampire nest, and the movie has lots of fun with how these four characters battle against those gruesome bloodsuckers in one way or another.

This and several other action scenes in the film are handled well under the skillful direction of director J.J. Perry, who worked as an actor/stuntman for many years before making a directorial debut here. Like his fellow Hollywood stuntmen Chad Stahelski, who is incidentally one of the producers of the film, and David Leitch did in “John Wick” (2014), Perry demonstrates here that he is a good filmmaker who does know how to present actions on the screen in effective ways, and I particularly enjoyed a solid vehicle action sequence which is more impressive than whatever I saw from Michael Bay’s “Ambulance” (2022). Unlike that film, this sequence generates a substantial amount of real thrill and excitement without losing any sense of direction or physical impact, and we gladly go along with that without getting too dizzy or confused.

Unfortunately, the screenplay by Tyler Tice and Shay Hatten is rather flat without having its own substance and personality, and I must point out that the finale feels anti-climactic despite lots of actions and shootings filling the screen. At least, Jamie Foxx and several other main cast members including James Franco, Snoop Dogg, Meagan Good, Peter Stormare, and Karla Souza have some fun with their broad archetype roles, but their characters are ultimately limited by genre conventions and clichés, and this makes the movie look like a big-budget TV pilot episode full of characters in the need of more development later.

On the whole, “Day Shift” did not bore me in addition to being a fairly competent Netflix product, but it is not funny or thrilling or colorful enough compared to its many seniors including “Fright Night” (1985) and “The Lost Boys” (1987). At least, Perry shows here that he has enough skill and talent as an action movie director, and I can only hope that his next film will be more interesting and exciting than this warm-up work of his.

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Under the Open Sky (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): After he is released into the world outside

Posted on August 14, 2022 by kaist455

Japanese film “Under the Open Sky”, which was belatedly released in South Korean theaters a few days ago, is a dry but poignant drama revolving around one ex-con’s difficult struggle for rehabilitation. Although he is not a very nice person to say the least, the movie slowly lets us have some understanding and empathy on its flawed hero, and it also makes some sharp points on its social issues via his long way toward readjustment.

Kōji Yakusho, who has been one of the best actors working in Japan as appearing in a series of notable films ranging from Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Cure” (1997) to Hirokazu Koreeda’s “The Third Murder” (2017), plays Masao Hikami, an ex-Yakuza gang member who has been incarcerated in a prison for more than 10 years due to an impulsive act of killing. Because he still thinks he was unjustly punished at that time, Masao does not have much regret on his act of killing, and that causes a rather disagreeable moment between him and the warden of the prison when he is about to be released at last.

As he settles in a little neighborhood in Tokyo, things seem to be fairly going well for Masao. He has a decent sponsor willing to help his adjustment process as much as possible, and a welfare service guy assigned to him turns out to be more caring than expected although their first meeting is not so pleasant to say the least. In addition, there is a young TV director who is going to present Masao’s journey toward rehabilitation on some popular TV show, and Masao actually hopes that his appearance on TV may reach to his lost mother, who abandoned him when he was very young.

Through that young TV director’s little investigation into Masao’s life, we get to know more about how Masao happened to stray into the life of a criminal. Even when he was put into an orphanage, he was a big troublemaker, and, after he eventually ran away from the orphanage, he naturally got himself involved into the seedy world of Yakuza gangs. Even before that murder case, he had already been to prison several times, and nearly half of his life was wasted in prison as a consequence.

Anyway, Masao does not want to go back to crime because of how things have changed in the world outside. While his old criminal world has been going away into past, he comes to learn that he has a serious illness which may cause his death at any point, so he has no choice but to do anything required for his ongoing rehabilitation process.

However, not so surprisingly, his rehabilitation process turns out to be more difficult and frustrating than expected. Because he is too proud to merely depend on welfare money, Masao attempts to get employed as soon as possible, but he is only reminded again and again of how his society is not so kind to ex-cons like him. At least, he gets some generous help and support from several people around him, but the situation becomes often exasperating for him, and we are not so surprised when he unwisely lets himself driven by his old nature at one point.

Meanwhile, that young TV director becomes more conflicted about how to present Masao for his little project. When he happens to come across a moment when Masao becomes quite violent, he shoots almost everything as demanded by a female TV producer who hires him, but then he changes mind because he comes to care a lot about Masao, and that leads a conflict between him and Masao when he comes to delve a bit deeper into Masao’s longtime resentment toward his mother.

Around that narrative point, the screenplay by director/writer Miwa Nishikawa, which is based on the novel written by Ryūzō Saki (He also wrote “Vengeance Is Mine”, which was subsequently adapted into Shohei Imamura’s 1979 film of the same name), takes a little left turn as its hero is tempted by his old criminal life more than before, but the movie sticks to its calm and thoughtful tone as before. Although he feels a bit better than before as welcomed by a certain old criminal friend of his, Masao is reminded again that his good old time will never come again, and there is a little melodramatic moment when he is sincerely advised to do what is really the best for himself.

During its last act, the movie becomes rather predictable as its hero comes to open his eyes more to whatever he should do for the rest of his life, but Yakusho’s strong performance keeps holding our attention under Nishikawa’s sensitive direction. As Masao eventually comes to find how to adjust himself more than before, we observe how much he is changed in comparison, and Yakusho quietly conveys to us his character’s gradual inner transformation without emphasizing that too much.

In conclusion, “Under the Open Sky” is another solid work from Nishikawa, who previously impressed me and other audiences via her previous film “The Long Excuse” (2016). She once worked under Koreeda in “After Life” (1998), so it is not so surprising that both of these two films show the clear influences from her mentor, but they also show her own directorial touches in terms of mood and storytelling, and, in my humble opinion, she deserves more attention as another promising Japanese filmmaker besides, say, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. In short, this is one of better films I saw during this year, and I sincerely urge you to give it a chance someday.

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