Boiling Point (2021) ☆☆☆1/2 (3.5/4): One tense evening at a restaurant

Posted on August 6, 2022 by kaist455

I often braced myself while watching “Boiling Point”, a tense and electrifying drama continuously unfolded in one upmarket restaurant located somewhere in London. Mainly revolving around a very troubled head chef and a bunch of other people working in that posh restaurant, the movie gradually raises the level of emotional tension along its fluid and dexterous narrative, and it surely strikes us hard as not only its flawed hero but also several other characters around him come to reach to each own, yes, boiling point.

At first, we are introduced to Andy Jones (Stephen Graham), and we slowly come to gather some personal details of his as he is hurriedly going to his restaurant. Besides his recent divorce, his life has been quite a mess due to several reasons to be revealed later in the story, but another evening at his restaurant is about to begin right now, and he must ready himself well before the opening hour just like those employees working there.

However, the situation does not look particularly good when he enters the restaurant, which happens to be going through a routine health and safety inspection. The inspector assigned to the restaurant has already noticed a number of significant problems in the kitchen, and he accordingly comes to downgrade its rating from 5 stars to 3 stars with a tactful warning. Andy naturally becomes quite exasperated, but he has to admit that he is partially responsible for this serious professional humiliation as he has been quite distracted by his problems during last two months.

At least, it seems that he and his employees will go through their another evening fairly well. Everyone will surely be quite busy because it happens to be a Friday night before Christmas, and there is also some serious food shortage problem to deal with, but everything may turn out to be okay as long as Jones keeps things under control along with Carly (Vinette Robinson), who has been his second-in-command. As observing their interactions, we come to gather that Carly has been an invaluable coordinator for Andy and others at the restaurant, and we are not so surprised when she demands to him salary raise later in the story. After all, it is apparent to us that she has taken care of many big and small troubles for her boss, and she does not feel like being appreciated by her boss for that at all.

Anyway, the situation becomes a bit more stressful than expected due to several unwelcomed factors. There is a very unpleasant customer who is not so nice to waiters and chefs right from when he orders wines, and he also gives them a big headache as complaining about a lamb dish served to him later. In case of three rude Americans suddenly coming into the restaurant, they promptly demand something not on the menu, and Andy and his employees have to tolerate them because these superficial dudes happen to have a very popular Instagram account.

Above all, Andy is belatedly notified that an old colleague of his, who has been very popular thanks to his successful TV show, is going to have a dinner at the restaurant. When this guy finally comes, he comes along with a certain well-known figure in the local restaurant business field, and that makes Andy and his employees more nervous. If they do not do their best during this evening, their restaurant may suffer something worse than their recently downgraded health and safety rating.

All these and many other things in the story are seamlessly presented on the screen via one impressive continuous take, and director/co-writer/co-executive producer Philip Barantini, who adapted his 2019 short film of the same name along with his co-writer James Cummings, and his crew members including cinematographer Matthew Lewis did a superb job of immersing us into the main characters’ increasingly tense circumstance. While it may look modest compared to more ambitious films such as Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” (2014) or Sam Mendes’ “1917” (2019), the movie distinguishes itself well via its skillful camerawork coupled with effortless verisimilitude, and it is really amazing that Barantini and his cast and crew members did only four takes during their shooting (They actually planned to do eight takes at first, but they later decided to cut down to four takes because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic).

The main cast members are believable in their respective roles, and their good ensemble performance is one of the main reasons why the movie engages us from the beginning to the end. While Stephen Graham, who has been one of the most interesting British actors since he drew my attention for his memorable supporting turn in Shane Meadows’ “This Is England” (2006), deservedly received a BAFTA nomination for his intense performance here in this film early in this year, the other main cast members have each own moment to shine, and Vinette Robinson is wonderful especially during one particular scene where she has to convey us a lot of her character’s emotional conflict.

In conclusion, “Boiling Point” is impressive for not only its commendable technical aspects but also a series of engaging human moments observed from its numerous main characters, and you may come to reflect a bit on how difficult it really is to run a restaurant. Unless what we are going to eat is really terrible or harmful to us, we should show some appreciation to those hard-working people, shouldn’t we?

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How to Please a Woman (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Cleaning and sex

Posted on August 5, 2022 by kaist455

“How to Please a Woman” is a little Australian comedy film which cheerfully handles female sexual desire and yearning without any pretension. Although it could delve more into its interesting main subjects in my humble opinion, the movie often amuses and delights us via a series of humorous moments to be savored, and it is also supported well by the earnest performance from its engaging lead actress.

Sally Phillips plays Gina, a married middle-aged woman who has not been that happy in her mundane middle-class life. While her and her lawyer husband have lived fairly well together for years, there has not been much romantic feeling between them, and her husband does not seem to be particularly interested in her while often busy with his work. At least, she has worked in a local liquidation agency instead being stuck in her house, but she is usually disregarded by her boss, who does not appreciate her much while constantly demanding her to do one thing after another.

Anyway, Gina usually gets some comfort and cheerfulness from her several friends in a local female swimming club, and one of them gives her a little surprise on her birthday. A young man named Tom (Alexander England) suddenly comes to her house, and it soon turns out that he works as a male stripper, though he is not that good despite his basic professionalism.

Feeling rather embarrassed about this little surprise, Gina simply instructs Tom to do some cleaning instead during their next two hours, and then she gets a little interesting idea. As Tom does some cleaning in his shirtless appearance, she cannot help but feel the sexual need inside her, and she eventually decides to start a little service business which provides not only house cleaning but also sexual pleasure to women like her. Incidentally, she knows a little local moving service company on the verge of being shut down and then liquidated, so she takes over the company without hesitation while re-hiring its several male employees including Tom, who actually also works there for earning some support money for the baby of his ex-girlfriend.

Of course, the first several days of Gina’s little service business are not so easy to say the least, and some of the most hilarious moments in the film come from how she and her employees try to make their first step. While many of Gina’s friends are quite interested, most of them want much more than mere cleaning service, so Gina reluctantly agrees to go along with their desire, but her employees are not prepared enough to say the least. Tom has no problem with providing whatever his clients want, but he still needs some advices on how to provide a satisfying cleaning service. In case of one of his fellow employees, this dude is confident about his, uh, certain body part, but it soon turns out that he really needs some education on how to give his clients a real sexual pleasure.

Although it keeps everything as mild and pleasant as possible without being too explicit and raunchy, the movie freely explores female sexual desire with considerable honesty. In case of one friend/client of Gina, she wants to test the range of her sexuality, and that leads to an amusing scene between her and some other friend of Gina, who willingly fills the spot not eligible for Gina’s male employees.

In the meantime, Gina also becomes more aware of how she has sexually been discontent for years. She actually tries to ignite some romantic spark between her and her husband, but her husband only comes to let down her a lot, and she subsequently finds herself attracted to Steve (Erik Thomson), a middle-aged guy who ran the moving service company before she acquired it. He has no problem with working under her while providing her some extra help, and she surely appreciates that, but they also become more aware of their mutual attraction – especially after their rather silly moment involved with a little certain object given to her.

Of course, the situation becomes a little more serious later in the story, but the screenplay by writer/director Renée Webster does not lose any of its sense of humor, and neither does Phillips’ good performance. While steadily maintaining her character’s unflappable appearance, Phillips ably conveys to us Gina’s gradual sexual liberation along the story, and we certainly root for Gina when she comes to her feelings more than before.

Around Phillips, several supporting performers in the film have each own fun with their respective roles. While Erik Thompson subtly clicks well with Philips during their several key scenes, Hayley McElhinney, Caroline Brazier, and Tasma Walton are entertaining as Gina’s colorful friends, and Alexander England, Ryan Johnson, and Josh Thomson are also funny as their characters try to adjust themselves to their new job.

Although it arrives at its ending in a little too convenient way, “How to Please a Woman” provides breezy fun and pleasure as much as we can expect from its naughty story promise, and it will probably make a nice double feature show with “Good Luck to You, Rio Grande” (2022), another recent comedy film which also honestly and humorously deals with female sexual desire. As many of you know, we still need more female films these days, and this is certainly another good one to watch.

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Emergency Declaration (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A predictable crisis in the air

Posted on August 4, 2022 by kaist455

As your average seasoned moviegoer, I saw lots of disaster flicks, and that is probably the main reason why I was rather unimpressed by South Korean film “Emergency Declaration”. While reminding me of many other movies ranging from “Airport” (1970) to “Airplane!” (1980), the movie flies fairly well during its first half thanks to its taut and efficient setup process, but then it takes a flight course riddled with bland clichés and sappy melodrama during the rest, and I simply observed its eventual landing (Is this a spoiler?) without much care or excitement.

Right from the beginning, the movie introduces us to the villain of the story, who is a creepy and unpleasant young man ready to execute his diabolical plan. At an international airport which is filled with lots of people as usual, this lad is looking for any airplane suitable for his plan, and he eventually chooses one particular airplane after one accidental encounter with a young girl who happens to notice something suspicious about him.

That young girl is accompanied with her single father, and both of them become understandably nervous when they later notice that odd lad gets on the airplane. In addition, the girl’s father, who later turns out to be a former commercial airline pilot, has a serious mental issue with being on airplane due to some incident in the past, and, what do you know, the co-pilot of the airplane turns out to be someone associated with that incident.

In the meantime, the movie also pays attention to what is happening on the ground. We are introduced to a detective who had to give up his summer vacation because of some unexpected big case, and he is certainly not so pleased when he is requested to handle another case involved with someone who announced on the Internet that he will soon commit an act of terror. Although it looks rather insignificant on the surface, the detective decides to delve a bit more into this case, and what do you know, he ends up entering a shabby apartment belonging to that creepy young dude and then discovering very terrible things.

Unfortunately, that creepy young dude has already embarked on executing his atrocious plan. Not long after the airplane takes off from the airport and then flies toward its destination, he secretly spreads a highly virulent pathogen at one certain spot within the airplane, and the situation gets worse and worse as many of the passengers in the airplane get infected one by one within a short period of time.

At least, once his plan is belatedly revealed, many government officials and experts quickly gather together for handling this unprecedented case of bioterror, but there is nothing much they can do except trying to find any cure for that dangerous pathogen and secure a safe landing spot for the airplane as soon as possible. After the whole situation is reported on the media, the airplane is regarded as a flying hot zone unwelcomed by other countries including US, and even South Korean citizens are understandably not so eager to get the airplane back in South Korea.

Up to that narrative point, the movie did a good job of accumulating enough amount of tension and suspense on the screen. Although its main characters are no more than broad stereotypes, the movie skillfully juggles them as their storylines gradually converge together, and the main cast members dutifully fill their respective spots as require. While Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jeon Do-yeon are more prominent as expected, Kim Ham-gil, Han So-jin, and Park Hae-joon hold each own place well on the whole, and Im Si-wan is particularly effective in his villainous role.

However, the movie begins to stumble more than once during its second part, where it tries too hard for squeezing more emotions from us in addition to doing many predictable things. Yes, we all know that the ex-pilot character in the story will eventually come to the cockpit and then must overcome his longtime anxiety for keeping the airplane in the air. Yes, those passengers in the airplane are naturally thrown into panic and desperation, and we certainly get several moments of conflict among them while also reminded of our current situation outside the film. Yes, there comes a climactic moment as one certain main character tries something quite daring for saving those passengers, and I do not have to tell you anything about the eventual outcome of this desperate act.

And there are several things which are not so necessary in my humble opinion. The frequently shaky camera of cinematographers Lee Mo-Gae and Park Jong-Chul is clearly influenced by Paul Greengrass’ “United 93” (2006) and “The Bourne Ultimatum” (2007), but the result is merely showy, and the same thing can be said about a sudden action sequence in the middle of the film. In case of the climactic part, it is too mellow and overwrought as burdening the movie with more melodrama, and this only makes us more aware of how contrived the finale is in many aspects.

Overall, “Emergency Declaration”, whose theatrical release in South Korea was postponed for more than one year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, is a mostly competent genre piece, but it does not have enough fun or thrill compared to its numerous seniors. To be frank with you, I would rather watch “Airplane!” or “Airport” again, but I will not stop you from spending your precious two hours on the movie.

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Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Good luck on your viewing

Posted on August 1, 2022 by kaist455

Romanian film “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn”, which won the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival early in last year, is quite bold and naughty to the core. Right from its deliberately salacious opening scene, the movie will catch you off guard, and that is just the beginning of how it frequently challenges us from the beginning to the end as handling many different subjects besides the main issue of its very unfortunate heroine.

The movie consists of three parts, and the first part gradually establishes the ongoing plight of a young schoolteacher named Emi (Katia Pascariu). As shown during the opening scene, she and her husband shot a sex video just for their private fun, but, alas, their sex video file was somehow leaked on the Internet not long after that, and now she will have to confront the parents of her students during the upcoming evening meeting.

While it does not delve much into how her sex video happened to be exposed on the Internet, the movie does not hide at all the content of that sex video from us. As far as I can see from the film, it looks like the two performers on the screen really went through a series of explicit sexual acts, and I can only admire how willing director/writer Radu Jude and his two performers were to go all the way for pushing boundaries. Yes, the result is basically your average porn clip, and I still wonder whether this is really necessary due to its inherent voyeuristic quality, but it surely shocks and embarrasses us as much as intended while somehow generating some gaudy sense of humor.

Once it grabs our attention via the opening part, the movie becomes far less sensational as leisurely rolling from one tangential moment to another along with its troubled heroine. When she drops by a flower shop, she is approached by some male stranger who seems to be interested in getting closer to her, but we wonder whether he knows her via that leaked sex tape. When she later drops by the residence of her direct boss who is sympathetic to her, the movie pays some attention to what is going on among the family members of her direct boss, and we get a little amusing moment as our heroine listens to one of these family members for a while.

In case of several outdoor scenes, they almost feel like the clips from a documentary film as cinematographer Marius Panduru’s camera calmly looks around streets and people. I have no idea on how much of these moments were actually planned in advance, but their considerable verisimilitude is impressive on the whole, and we come to get several small slices of life from the Romanian society going through the current COVID-19 pandemic era. Many people on streets do wear a mask, but I could not help but notice that some of them do not wear their masks that properly, and that made me wince more than once during my viewing.

The second part of the film is a forthright video essay which presents various subjects ranging from history to sex. I must confess that I do not entirely understand the whole picture of this part, but I was often amused by how the movie cheerfully presents these subjects one by one in alphabetical order like a little encyclopedia. The movie is surely determined to encompass all these things presented during its second part, and you may come to admire its ambitious attempt more.

As entering its third part, the movie eventually goes back to its heroine’s ongoing circumstance, and that is where many of subjects presented in its second part come to resonate via the accumulating absurdity around her. After flatly presenting herself in front of the parents of her students, she tries to make some points on her privacy and rights, but many of them are already determined to judge and then persecute her, and some of them are quite rude while never hiding their prejudice and bigotry at all. I guess these very unpleasant characters represent a number of negative aspects of the Romanian society, and they will probably make you think twice about visiting Romania.

As our heroine and those parents pull and push each other during next 30 minutes, the movie skillfully dials up the level of its comic tension, and then it catches us off guard again. I will not go into details here for not spoiling any of your entertainment, but I can tell you instead that I chuckled a lot as watching the very last shot of the film, which is another social satiric jab to be appreciated.

By the way, I must tell you that the movie has two different versions. Compared to the original version, the “censored” version prepared by the director himself covers up all those sexually explicit elements in the film, and that is the one which is being currently shown in South Korean theaters. I watched both of these two versions, and I assure to you that you will be less shocked and embarrassed in case of the “censored” version, but I also must point out that the overall dramatic impact of the film is naturally decreased in comparison – especially in case of what is so uproarously shown at the very end of its third act.

In conclusion, “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn”, which was incidentally selected as the Romanian entry for Best International Feature Film Oscar in last year, is definitely not for everyone, but I recommend you to watch it if you are looking for something daring and different. I am not sure whether it succeeds as well as its director wishes, but it is quite unforgettable to say the least, and I guess that is a sort of achievement.

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Chorokbam (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): An atmospheric slice of life

Posted on July 31, 2022 by kaist455

To be frank with you, I felt growing frustration while watching the first 30 minutes of South Korean independent film “Chorokbam”. In terms of story and characters, the movie is adamantly dry and minimalistic to the core, and it was really difficult for me to gather what it is actually about. Nonetheless, I also could not help but admire how it is about, and my eyes kept paying attention to its commendable technical aspects even though my mind still felt rather detached at times.

First, let’s talk a bit about the three main characters of the story. The opening scene shows a middle-aged man who works as a night guard in some apartment complex, and then we are introduced to his wife and their adult son, who have lived along with him in their little old apartment. Although everything looks mostly fine on the surface, we come to learn that they will soon have to move to somewhere else because their landlord recently decides to put the apartment back on the market, and this results in some strain on their domestic daily life although they keep going on as usual. For example, the son accepts that he may have to live separately, but the future is not so bright for him as he remains stuck in his menial job, and he only gets some consolation from his girlfriend from time to time.

And then something happens. We soon see the family solemnly holding the funeral for a close family member of the father along with two family members of his, but the quiet mood is suddenly disrupted by a sudden physical conflict between the mother and one of these family members of his. As the camera phlegmatically observes this conflict from the distance, we naturally come to wonder more about the personal reason behind this physical conflict, but the movie does not delve into this situation at all, and it simply moves on along with its characters, who somehow come to have some reconciliation as mourning for that dead family member.

The mood becomes a little more tense later in the story, but the movie still sticks to its austere storytelling approach while just having us filling the gaps and blanks in the story for ourselves. As a matter of fact, director/writer Yoon Seo-jin deliberately whittled out many details from the first draft of his screenplay before shooting the film, and this can be quite frustrating for you at times as you struggle to grasp its rather subtle narrative flow.

Nevertheless, the movie will be a considerably rewarding experience once, like I did, you accept what Yoon and his cast and crew members intend to achieve here. The camera of cinematographer Choo Kyeong-yeob is mostly static throughout the film, but, coupled with unadorned but precise scene composition, its calm and serene gaze gradually immerses us into the mundane daily life inhabited by the main characters. During one particularly impressive scene, the camera just observes one action from the distance for a while, but then we are caught off guard by the unexpected appearance of a certain figure right in front of us, and I will let you appreciate its somber but striking dramatic effect for yourself.

What follows after that is another quiet highlight in the movie. As the camera calmly watches the aforementioned figure from the distance, we come to listen more to what is being said to this silent figure, and we slowly gather a certain irony behind the circumstance. What eventually happens not long after that may not be so surprising, but an emerging sense of devastation is palpable to us nonetheless.

Meanwhile, the movie also throws a bit of style and poetry into the mix. As reflected by its very title (It means “Green Night” in Korean, by the way), the movie often decorates the screen with green light, and its rather creepy utilization of green light brings extra nervous tension among its main three characters, each of whom has each own fear and discontent behind their weary façades. While the father does not know what to do with the rest of his life, the mother is reminded again and again of how she has been sick of her married life, and the son feels lost and confused with no bright promise in his life. During one brief moment ominously suffused by green light, the movie shows them sleeping together but clearly being distant to each other in more than one way, and that conveys to us more of their hopeless family life.

Although these three main characters are more or less than mere archetypes, they come to us as real people with human issues thanks to the humble and unaffected acting of its three main cast members. While Lee Tae-hoon holds the ground as required, Kim Min-kyung, who sadly died not long before the shooting of the film, ably complements Lee, and Kang Gil-woo, who recently played a supporting character in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Broker” (2022), holds his own place well between Lee and Kim. Several supporting performers in the film are equally convincing, and Oh Min-ae and Kim Guk-Hee deserve to be praised for bringing some life and personality to their respective roles.

In conclusion, “Chorokbam”, which is incidentally Yoon’s first feature film, can be pretty challenging as your average arthouse movie, but you will not easily forget its stunning technical qualities at least. This is not something which can be described as ‘entertaining’, but I assure you that it will haunt your mind for a long time after it is over, and you may have some expectation on what may come next from Yoon.

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Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Epic, tense, and efficient

Posted on July 28, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean film “Hansan: Rising Dragon” is a war historical drama about one big sea battle which was a significant turning point in the Imjin War, which is also known as the Japanese invasions of Korea of 1592–1598. Although I have no idea on how much of the movie is actually fictional, I enjoyed it anyway for not only its epic climactic part but also those efficiently tense scenes preceding that, and I eventually decided to put aside its several notable weak aspects including the rather distant presentation of its legendary real-life hero.

He is Admiral Yi Sun-sin (Park Hae-il), who has been one of the biggest national heroes in Korea since his honorable death at the very end of the Imjin war. When his country was almost cornered to the end shortly after the Japanese army invaded the Korean peninsula in 1592, he miraculously changed the course of the war via a series of victories on the sea, and he was a truly fearsome opponent to those Japanese admirals during that time because of his brilliant strategies and a certain famous secret weapon of his.

The story of the movie begins not long after Admiral Yi won first several battles in 1592. Because the Japanese army has still lots of chance to win the war, Admiral Yi and his navy must make a big forward move as soon as possible for regaining the control over the sea surrounding the Korean peninsula, but he also knows well that he and his navy must be very careful under their increasingly difficult circumstance. While his king, who already fled from the capital, seems to consider running away to China, the Japanese army has already been planning to corner him on the land as well as the sea, and, above all, that secret weapon of his needs some urgent improvement for the next battle.

Naturally, Admiral Yi is quite pressured from many sides including his own men, but he keeps maintaining his stoic fortitude as usual. Although he is physically wounded during the previous sea battle, he is determined to keep going nonetheless, and he also begins to devise one bold strategy which is a risky gamble considering how exactly many factors work together for him and his navy during the upcoming battle.

Meanwhile, the movie also focuses on his main opponent, who is played by Byun Yo-han with grim intensity. Knowing well how smart and dangerous Admiral Yi is for him and his navy, this Japanese admiral is ready to do anything for finding any weak point from his opponent, and that includes sending several spies into the area of Admiral Yi. Once he comes to learn of the major weakness of Admiral Yi’s secret weapon, he becomes more confident about the chance of defeating Admiral Yi, and he does not hesitate at all when he later has to do something drastic for getting what he needs for increasing his odds.

Around these two lead characters, the movie places a number of other characters, but they are more or less than mere story elements. The Korean figures under the command of Admiral Yi look mostly same in their almost identical armors, and the same thing can be said about the Japanese figures serving under Admiral Yi’s main opponent. In addition, the movie has only one substantial female figure in the story, but she does not speak much on the whole, and we are not so surprised by a hidden purpose behind her docile appearance.

Above all, the movie does not go deep into its hero. It surely presents Admiral Yi as a wise and courageous man, but whatever is churning behind his unflappable façade remains elusive to us, and we can only behold him instead of getting to know him more. Park Hae-il’s face can be quite expressive as shown from Park Chan-wook’s latest work “Decision to Leave” (2022), but he is only required to look merely formidable here without revealing much throughout the film, and, despite his diligent efforts, I think the movie is not exactly one of better moments in his solid acting career.

Fortunately, all these and other complaints of mine were completely washed away during the climactic part, which is certainly worthwhile to watch on big screen. You may not totally follow how Admiral Yi’s strategy is unfolded on the sea near Hansan Island, but the movie keeps holding our attention without losing any of its narrative momentum, and it surely delivers impactful highlights for its South Korean audiences. To be frank with you, I think some of them are a bit far-fetched, but they still work in dramatic sense, so I guess I should not grumble about that here.

On the whole, “Hansan: Rising Dragon” is relatively less satisfying than director/co-writer Kim Han-min’s electrifying breakthrough work “War of the Arrows” (2011), but it works better than his previous work “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (2014), which is incidentally about another significant victory in Admiral Yi’s naval career. Although I did not like “The Admiral: Roarding Currents” enough to recommend it, it confirmed to me that Kim is a skillful action movie director who knows one or two things about how to excite audiences, and “Hansan: Rising Dragon” solidifies my inconsequential opinion on his filmmaking talent.

By the way, I have to inform you that Kim is actually planning to conclude with the third film which will be about Admiral Yi’s last battle. It is already titled “Noryang: The Sea of Death”, and I will not expect too much as your typical seasoned moviegoer, but I sincerely wish that it will be as entertaining as what I saw from the two previous films besides being the good final chapter for Kim’s trilogy.

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Alienoid (2022) ☆☆(2/4): A bland and bloated teaser for whatever will come next

Posted on July 28, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean film “Alienoid”, which is actually the first half preceding the second half which will come in next year, is bland and bloated to say the least. Although I watched the film during last evening, I cannot recall any particular moment to remember or savor, and I only come to discern more of how it looks and feels insignificant and unimaginative. Sure, this is supposed to be a grand and ambitious mix of SF, fantasy, action, and comedy, but it does not succeed at anything while merely trudging from one narrative point to another without any ounce of genuine inspiration or imagination, and the result is one of the most tedious movie experiences of this summer.

The story promise of the movie is pretty familiar to the core. For many centuries, the Earth has been covertly used as a sort of prison by a highly advanced alien race, and those alien prisoners are imprisoned inside their human hosts before they eventually die along with their human hosts. Of course, somebody needs to control and maintain the status quo over time and space, and that is what “Guard” (Kim Woo-bin), an alien robot whose design is clearly ripped off from “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015), has been doing for a very long time along with his artificial intelligence computer partner.

During the opening scene, Guard and his partner literally drive into Korea in the 14th century in a way not so far from “Back to the Future” (1985), and they swiftly take care of the latest case of prisoner escape, but then there comes a little problem. While they manage to capture the prisoner in the end, the prisoner’s human host, who happens to be a young woman, dies, and she pleads Guard to take care of her baby daughter before her death. Guard ignores without much hesitation because he is not supposed to meddle with human affairs, but he only ends up being stuck with that baby thanks to his partner.

Around 10 years later, that baby becomes your average plucky little girl with lots of curiosity about what her ‘father’ really does. While she already knows much about Guard and his partner, Guard still does not reveal his longtime mission to her, and that makes her more determined to find that out. Via his partner’s indirect help, she comes to learn of what Guard is going to do sooner or later at a certain local hospital, and, what do you know, she comes to behold something amazing (and frightening) when she goes there later.

Meanwhile, the movie rolls another main plot, which is set in Korea in the 14th century. We meet a young swordsman/Taoist named Mureuk (Ryu Jun-yeol), and the movie give us an exaggerated action scene as he wields his martial art skills and some supernatural power for catching a trio of thieves. At one point, we see two cats coming out of his fan and then transformed into a couple of human sidekicks for him, and that is surely more than enough for you to see that the movie does not give a damn about any realism or historical accuracy.

While looking for any job to handle, Mureuk tumbles into a complicated situation surrounding one mysterious sword which seems to have considerable magic power, and he consequently gets himself involved with several other figures eager to get that sword by any means. They are 1) a goofy Taoist duo who seem to be as powerful as they claim; 2) an ominous cult leader who keeps wearing a mask to hide his face; 3) a lethal man who is apparently from the future; and 4) a young lady who is also from the future as shown from a certain weapon of hers.

The movie tries to juggle all these and other story elements together before its obligatory climactic part, but, unfortunately, it frequently stumbles instead as seriously lacking style, personality, and substance. While its comedy mostly comes from heaps of silly gags, its science fiction elements are mediocre and uninspired while only reminding us of better alternatives out there, and its drama often feels superficial as failing to develop its characters enough to engage us. For example, it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Guard comes to care about his ‘daughter’ more than he admits despite being mainly driven by logics, but the movie does not bring enough depth to their relationship from the beginning, and we only come to observe their story without much care or attention – even when they hurriedly go through a series of big action scenes later in the story. The action scenes in the film are fairly competent in technical aspects, but they feel plain with lots of crashes and bangs, and you may be distracted by how the special effects used in these action scenes look curiously cheap without much impression or impact.

The movie is packed with a number of notable South Korean performers, but they are not utilized that well on the whole. Whenever he is not playing some other main role which is more colorful in comparison, Kim Woo-bin is not very interesting as Guard, and that is the main reason why young performer Choi Yu-ri often steals the show from him. In case of Ryu Jun-yeol, Yum Jung-ah, Jo Woo-jin, and Kim Eui-sung, they have some fun with their respective roles, but it is a shame that Kim Tae-ri, who has been more prominent since Park Chan-wook’s “The Handmaiden” (2016), does not have many things to do here except being as feisty as required.

Directed and written by Choi Dong-hoon (“Tazza: The High Rollers” (2006) and “The Thieves” (2012)), “Alienoid” is a major letdown considering the talents assembled for it, and it is disappointing enough to lower my expectation for whatever will come next in 2023. As your average amateur movie reviewer, I will have to watch the following film anyway, and I can only hope that I will be bored less than before at least.

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Anything’s Possible (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): The conventional romance of a transgender girl

Posted on July 25, 2022 by kaist455

Billy Porter’s debut feature film “Anything’s Possible”, which was released on Amazon Prime in last week, is a conventional coming-of-age romantic comedy revolving around one transgender high school girl. While it is pretty safe and predictable in terms of story and characters, the movie deserves some attention as a mainstream product willingly and frankly presenting its adolescent transgender heroine on the screen, and it may open the door to more interesting transgender movies to come in the future.

At first, we are introduced to the daily life of Kelsa (Eva Reign), a plucky transgender high school girl living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Thanks to her supportive single mother Selene (Renée Elise Goldsberry), Kelsa has no problem with her sexual identity in addition to going through some necessary hormone treatment for that, and she even honestly talks everything about her sexual identity via her YouTube channel.

In case of her school life, most of her schoolmates have accepted her sexual identity without much problem, and she always can depend on the supportive friendship from her two best female friends Em (Courtnee Carter) and Chris (Kelly Lamor Wilson). Kelsa can talk anything with them whenever they can spend time together, and it seems that her only concern at present is where she can study after her high school graduation.

However, things become complicated when she happens to draw the attention of a Muslim boy named Khal (Abubakr Ali). The more he comes to know about Kelsa via her YouTube channel, the more he finds himself attracted to her, and this makes him quite conflicted. He does not know how to approach to her properly, and, above all, he hesitates to confide his growing romantic feelings to not only his dear family but also a close friend of his, who apparently does not know much about gender sensitivity.

Anyway, Khal eventually decides to express his feelings toward Kelsa boldly in front of others at their school, but, alas, he does not succeed as well as he hoped. While Kelsa is actually willing to respond to Khal, it turns out that Em also wants to be his girlfriend, and his small misstep leads to a serious misunderstanding followed by a very awkward moment which puts considerable strain on Kelsa’s relationship with Em. Quite bitter and disappointed, Em consequently shows how mean she can be, and that accordingly causes a considerable trouble for Kelsa later in the story.

Meanwhile, Kelsa and Khal become quite closer to each other once their mutual feeling is clearly recognized between them. While they naturally feel a bit awkward as their romantic relationship comes to attract the attention of everyone at their school, they are simply happy to be together, and we get a little sweet moment as they confide to each other about their respective aspirations for the future.

However, of course, their romance is soon accompanied with several issues surrounding Kesla’s sexual identity, and the screenplay by Ximena García Lecuona wisely does not overplay them while also recognizing what its heroine must face everyday. While she is quite lucky for getting all the support from several others around her including her mother, Kesla still has to struggle with how she honestly presents herself out there, and Khal also comes to stumble more than once while trying to be honest about his feelings toward his girlfriend.

Although it resolves the main conflict of the story a little too easily, the movie shows enough care and affection toward not only its heroine but also several supporting characters. While the relationship between Kesla and her mother turns out to be less than perfect, they still love and care about each other nonetheless, and there is a poignant scene where they come to have a little private conversation with more honesty. In case of Khal’s Muslim family, they are depicted with considerable life and personality, and his mother has a brief touching moment when she tells her son that she has no problem at all with whoever he is fallen in love with.

The movie trudges a bit during its last act, but it pulls off a neat finale in the end while buoyed by the unadorned chemistry between its two promising young lead performers. Besides clicking together well throughout the film, Eva Reign and Abubakr Ali are credible in their respective parts, and they are also supported well by a number of solid performers including Courtnee Carter, Kelly Lamor Wilson, and Renée Elise Goldsberry, who has been mainly known for her Tony-winning supporting turn in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit musical “Hamilton”.

As reflected by a series of notable mainstream adolescent queer films ranging from “Love, Simon” (2018) to “Crush” (2022), we have seen more of sexual minority adolescent characters on screen these days, and “Anything’s Possible” is certainly another good addition to this welcoming trend. Yes, the movie usually stays inside its genre conventions, but, thanks to the good efforts from its cast and crew members, it distinguishes itself to some degrees while delivering wholesome messages to audiences, and I sincerely hope that it will lead them to more distinctive transgender films during recent years such as “Tangerine” (2015) and “Lingua Franca” (2019). Seriously, if you have a good time with “Anything’s Possible”, just try these two little gems, and I assure you that they will broaden your view and mind.

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It’s a Summer Film (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): Their little summer filmmaking

Posted on July 23, 2022 by kaist455

Japanese film “It’s a Summer Film” is as perky and lively as you can expect from its very title. Mainly revolving around one modest but amusing filmmaking process, the movie gives us a series of funny moments to be appreciated by anyone interested in filmmaking, and it is also surprisingly poignant as bringing certain genre elements into the story.

The heroine of the story is a plain high school girl nicknamed “Barefoot” (Marika Itô), who has been quite passionate about filmmaking as driven by her genuine aspiration of becoming a filmmaker. Not so surprisingly, she is the member of a filmmaking circle in her high school, and she hopes to make a little Samurai film of her own someday, but, to her disappointment, the recent funding for her filmmaking circle goes to Karin (Mahiru Koda) instead, a popular pretty girl who loves to make romance films. I do not know whether she is really talented or not, but Karin can always have a number of students willing to help her filmmaking, and Barefoot cannot help but envy Karin even though she thinks Karin is not so serious about filmmaking in contrast to her.

At least, Barefoot gets some comfort from her two close friends, who are nicknamed “Kickboard” (Yumi Kawai) and “Blue Hawaii” (Kirara Inori), respectively. Kickboard is more interested in astronomy while Blue Hawaii is more enthusiastic about swordsmanship, but both of them understand well how much their close friend wants to make a Samurai film, and there is a sweet little moment as they watch several old Samurai films together in their little private place.

When they later find that Barefoot has actually written the screenplay for her future Samurai film, Kickboard and Blue Hawaii sincerely encourage her to make it for herself, but Barefoot still hesitates. Sure, there is a good way to earn enough money to fund their little film production, but the movie needs an actor to play its Samurai hero, and Barefoot is not so sure about whether she can find the right guy for the role.

And then, what do you know, something quite fortunate happens by sheer coincidence. When she later comes into an old local theater for watching another old Samurai movie, Barefoot happens to spot a dashing lad named Rintaro (Daichi Kaneko), and he looks quite suitable for her as the lead actor of her movie. To her bafflement, he attempts to run away from her when she approaches to him, but he is eventually persuaded to accept her request, and he even helps her earning the money for her film production.

Once they get enough money for funding the film production, Barefoot and her two friends recruit several other lads who will handle several technical aspects of their film production. In case of one lad, he happens to have a bicycle attached with many lighting equipments, and that surely helps the shooting when Barefoot and others need extra lighting.

Although the first day of their film production is not so productive due to their inexperience, Barefoot and her small crew gradually improve themselves step by step. While her screenplay still does not have an ending good enough for her, Barefoot keeps going enthusiastically along with others, and she even gets an unexpected help from Karin, who turns out to be more decent and generous than Barefoot thought.

Meanwhile, the story becomes a little more serious when Rintaro’s big secret is revealed later in the story. I will not go into details here for not spoiling your fun, but I can tell you instead that the movie made me muse a bit on the past, present, and future of cinema. For a little more than 100 years, movie has amazed, touched, and entertained us as the projection of our emotion and imagination, but there have also been some serious doubts on the future of cinema during recent years, and movies may become things of past even before the end of this century – or my inconsequential life, shall we say.

Nevertheless, the movie keeps its head high just like its plucky heroine. While still struggling with getting the right ending for her movie, Barefoot keeps trying her best for her little first film, and her two friends stand by her as usual, though they have some small conflict among them as they all find themselves infatuated with Rintaro in one way or another. After all, he is a fairly handsome dude, and the movie has some extra fun as Barefoot and her two friends try to sort out their respective complicated feelings toward Rintaro.

Around the point where Barefoot finally comes to show her completed film to her audiences, the movie stumbles a bit, but it somehow lands well on the finale where fiction and reality humorously and touchingly resonate with each other. As observing this moment, I was reminded again that movies still matter to us at least for now, and my longtime passion on movies was energized by that. Yes, considering the current status of the human civilization, movies may not last that long, but they are worthwhile to remember and cherish as long as we can, aren’t they?

On the whole, “It’s a Summer Film” is a small but likable movie about filmmaking, and I think it will make a nice double feature show along with another recent Japanese film “One Cut of the Dead” (2017), which also deals with filmmaking process with lots of humor and sincerity. Both of them will assure you that cinema will remain alive and well as long as those numerous filmmakers keep trying and dreaming out there, and you may come to appreciate their efforts more than before.

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Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): They’re back – with their little boss

Posted on July 23, 2022 by kaist455

Animation feature film “Minions: The Rise of Gru” entertained me more than I expected. Yes, I only mildly enjoyed “Despicable Me” (2010), its following 2013 sequel, and its spin-off entry “Minions” (2015), and I am not a big fan of those goofy yellow creatures called the Minions, but “Minions: The Rise of Gru” distinguishes itself a bit with substantial style and personality. The film is certainly as silly and outrageous as its predecessors, but, in my humble opinion, it is the most entertaining one in the ongoing series which will soon give us another adventure of the Minions and their ‘evil’ boss.

The story begins at the point not long after the ending of “Minions”. After coming across young Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), the Minions started to serve him while living in the basement of the house where he lives with his cranky mother, and they happily (and clumsily) work together for building his underground lair while he is hoping to be recognized by a certain group of infamous supervillains someday.

Those supervillains are called “the Vicious Six”, and the opening scene of the film shows their latest evil adventure. Once they obtain a map showing the location where an ancient item of enormous magical power has been hidden, Wild Knuckles (voiced by Alan Arkin), who has been the leader of the group, promptly goes there and manages to succeed in the end, but, alas, he is later betrayed by the other members in the last minute.

After snatching that ancient item from Wild Knuckles, the other members of the Vicious Six look for any good villain to fill the current vacant spot in their group, and that is where Gru enters the picture. When he receives the invitation message from the Vicious Six, he is certainly delighted, but, not so surprisingly, he finds himself ridiculed and ignored when he shows up in front of the members of the Vicious Six, so he decides to steal that ancient item when a golden opportunity comes to him unexpectedly.

However, of course. things do not go as well as Gru hoped at first. While he manages to snatch that ancient item from the Vicious Six with some assistance from several Minions (Please don’t ask me which of them is Kevin or Stuart or whatever, by the way), that ancient item happens to be lost for a rather silly reason, and then Gru is kidnapped by Wile Knuckles, who actually survived and has been looking for any chance to retrieve that ancient item for his revenge.

Around that narrative point, the film comes to focus more on those several Minions as they attempt to rescue Gru in addition to getting that ancient item back, and they surely give us a series of slapstick moments. At one point, as already shown to us via the trailer of the film, three of them dare to fly a commercial airplane despite having no experience or knowledge at all, and the following outcome is nearly disastrous to say the least.

While cheerfully alternating between Gru and the Minions, the film also delights us with a number of fun cultural details expected from its period background, which is the exaggerated version of the American society in the 1970s. I was amused by the brief appearances of two certain classic American films from the 1970s, and I also appreciate how the film humorously utilizes a number of various pop songs from the 1970s including the one performed by Linda Ronstadt.

One of the funniest things in the film comes from when the Minions happen to come into the Chinatown neighborhood of San Francisco. They come across a Chinese American lady who turns out to be a former Kung Fu master, and, what do you know, they soon go through a number of training sessions under her stern but benevolent guidance, though, as you already expected, they are pretty clumsy from the very beginning.

The story eventually culminates to a climactic part where lots of actions happen here and there, but the film thankfully never loses its sense of fun while generating some sincerity from the unlikely partnership between Gru and Wild Knuckles, who comes to care about Gru a lot more than he admits on the surface. Steve Carell and Alan Arkin, who incidentally worked together in “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006) and “Get Smart” (2008), click well together with their different voice acting styles, and Arkin demonstrates that he has not lost any of his comic talent even though he is approaching to 90 at present.

The other main cast members of the film also have lots of fun with their respective roles. While Taraji P. Henson surely enjoys every juicy moment from her villain character, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, and Danny Trejo are well-cast as the other members of the Vicious Six, and Julie Andrews and Michelle Yeoh steal the show as keeping their voice acting as straight as possible.

In conclusion, “Minions: The Rise of Gru”, directed by Kyle Balda is one or two steps above “Minions”, but I have to tell you that your entertainment from it depends on how much you can tolerate those silly creatures. Although I often find them rather tiresome, I have gotten accustomed to them to some degree, so I had a fairy good time in this case, but you should think twice if you cannot possibly tolerate them.

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