Are You Lonesome Tonight? (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A humid noir set in Guangzhou, China

Posted on April 25, 2022 by kaist455

Chinese film “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” will haunt you with its gritty noir tale drenched in lots of palpable summer heat and humidity. I must tell you that you may often get quite confused due to its rather convoluted plot which does not explain much to us even in the end, but, as many of you know well, that comes with its genre territory, and you can just simply go along with its distinctive mood and style to be savored and appreciated.

After the odd opening scene featuring one big cow, the movie goes straight into its plain hero’s unexpected big problem. During one hot summer night in Guangzhou, China, Wang Xueming (Eddie Peng), a poor young man working as an air conditioner repair guy, is driving his shabby van for a movie date with his girlfriend, but then his van happens to hit something on the road shortly after he is distracted by that big cow. It looks like Wang unintentionally ran over some guy, and, because this guy in question seems to be dead and nobody happens to be around them at the spot, Wang hurriedly disposes of this guy’s body and then quickly leaves the scene.

However, as days go by, Wang finds himself bothered more by his growing guilt and regret, and then he subsequently comes across that dead man’s wife, Mrs. Liang (Sylvia Chang), by coincidence. While fixing the air conditioner of her little apartment as requested by her, he comes to care sincerely about Mrs. Liang, and he becomes all the more conflicted when Mrs. Liang is in a serious trouble because of her husband. It turns out that her husband was involved with some nasty local criminals, and now they demand that she should pay her husband’s debt as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the situation surrounding Wang and Mrs. Liang turns out to be much more complicated than it seemed at first. Once the body of Mrs. Liang’s husband is found, the police investigation naturally follows, and a local detective assigned to the case instinctively senses that there is something suspicious about it. In addition, Wang comes upon a certain small item while looking around the spot where the body was eventually discovered, and this item may help Mrs. Liang getting out of her current problem, but Wang soon finds himself in a serious danger as trying to fix the problem for her.

As Wang struggles more and more along the story, the screenplay by director Shipei Wen and his three co-writers often catches us off guard while shifting from one viewpoint to another. In case of one particular sequence later in the story, the movie seems to go in one direction along with Wang at first, but then it suddenly changes its course as presenting the circumstance again via some other main character’s perspective, and we become more aware of how murky the situation is for everyone involved with it in one way another.

This is pretty confusing for us at times, and I must confess that I am not that sure about whether I really understand everything in the story (Please don’t ask me about how one certain bag comes to arrive at its ultimate destination, for example), but I did not mind at all during my viewing at least. After all, chaos and confusion have always been time-honored genre elements of noir films, and many solid noir films can actually get away with a lot of chaos and confusion – as long as they keep floating with style and mood.

And I assure you that “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” is equipped with plenty of style and mood right from the beginning. While its daytime scenes are constantly drenched in the tangible sense of heat and humidity, its nocturnal scenes are often gritty and striking with its dexterous utilization of lights and shadows, and Wen and his several cinematographers did a commendable job of immersing us into the vivid and realistic atmosphere of their movie. In my humble opinion, their overall result is as impressive as Diao Yinan’s “The Wild Goose Lake” (2019), and Wen, who previously debuted with his short film “A Short Film About Nothing” (2017), surely demonstrates here that he is another new talented Chinese filmmaker to watch.

The main cast members of the movie are convincing as human figures really inhabiting inside their shabby world. While Eddie Peng earnestly holds the center as your typical flawed noir film hero driven by fear and guilt, Sylvia Chang, whom I recently watched in Edward Yang’s “That Day, on the Beach” (1983), is somberly graceful in her unadorned natural performance, and these two very different performers deftly handle those tentative moments between them without any misstep. Peng and Chang are also surrounded by several good performers to notice; Wang Yanhui holds his own small place well as the aforementioned local detective in the story, and Zhang Yu has a small showstopper moment when his supporting character performs a well-known American classic pop song from which the English title of the movie comes.

In conclusion, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” may require you some patience due to its slow narrative pacing as well as its adamantly murky plot, but it is still worthwhile to watch as a competent genre piece which has enough mood and style to engage us during its 95-minute running time. Although I am not totally enthusiastic about it, this is a solid feature debut for Wen nonetheless, and I guess I can have some expectation on whatever will come next from him.

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The Slug (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): You will certainly cheer for her

Posted on April 24, 2022 by kaist455

You may really want to hug the heroine of South Korean independent film “The Slug”, which is much more intimate and heartfelt than its rather slimy title suggests. While life remains hard and uncertain for her even at the end of the movie, she comes to find some unexpected comfort and support in addition to feeling a bit better about her life than before, and you may find yourself cheering a lot for her as watching her being optimistically ready for the next chapter of her life.

The early part of the film quickly establishes its heroine’s life background. In the late 1990s, young Choon-hee (Park Hye-jin) happens to become an orphan due to her parents’ sudden accidental death, and she has no choice but to stay at her mother’s family house where Choon-he’s uncle and his family are living with her grandmother. Although Choon-he’s uncle and his family are not bad people at all, they eventually decide to have her live in the attic room for a rather selfish reason, and this small and stuffy room consequently becomes her little private place.

Because her uncle and his family are often occupied with several private problems including his problematic older son, young Choon-hee is frequently neglected and disregarded at her new home unless she received some care and attention from her grandmother, and she is also ostracized by many of her schoolmates due to hyperhidrosis, which often makes her perspire a lot in her hands and feet. As a matter of fact, she sometimes leaves wet footprints on the floor because of this, and there is a little tender private moment of identification as she is simply regarding a small slug for a while.

Even when she becomes a grown-up, Choon-hee, who is played by Kang Jin-ah now, remains as lonely and isolated as before. She is now the only one currently occupying her family house, and it later becomes apparent to us that her uncle’s older son, who already moved out some time ago, is considering selling the house sooner or later regardless of how she feels about that. While she tries to continue to live there as usual, she makes a meager living by peeling garlics day by day, and she hopes that she will save enough money for the medical treatment for her hyperhidrosis someday.

And then there come two little unexpected changes into her shabby daily life. During one evening full of lightnings on the sky, Choon-hee is unfortunately struck by a lightning when she is returning to home, and she manages to regain her consciousness not long after that, but then something baffling happens when she comes back to her residence. Probably because she has often thought about her unhappy past, she begins to see her younger self hanging around her, and she is certainly perplexed by this inexplicable happening.

Meanwhile, she comes across a lad named Joo-hwang (Hong Sang-pyo), and she soon finds herself joining a little self-help group meeting along with him and several other persons. Although she does not get that much from this self-help group meeting, she is glad to spend some time with Joo-hwang, and it looks like Joo-hwang is also interested in getting a little closer to her mainly because she does not mind his stuttering problem at all. When she later tells him about how often she sees her younger self these days, he accepts this little issue of hers without any bias, and we are not so surprised when she lets him into her residence later.

As comforted by a bit by her younger self as well as Joo-hwang, Choon-hee becomes a bit relaxed about her life, but the situation remains desperate for her as before. Her uncle’s older son curtly reminds her that she will soon have to find a new place to live because he finally sold the house, and we get an emotionally intense moment as she angrily tells him about how much the house has meant to her for many years. In addition, both Choon-hee and Joo-hwang subsequently find themselves facing a serious financial trouble, and that certainly affects the growing relationship between them.

Nevertheless, the movie still maintains its gentle attitude as usual while thoughtfully handling its story and characters. Choon-hee’s uncle and his family members are depicted with some human complexity to be appreciated, and the movie also shows affection to Joo-hwang and a certain substantial supporting character whom Choon-hee happens to befriend along the story. In case of a number of key scenes between Choon-hee and her younger self, these scenes are balanced well between seriousness and playfulness, and it is moving to see how these scenes lead Choon-hee to little hope and optimism in the end.

Director/writer Choi Jin-young, who made several short films before making a feature film debut here, draws solid performances from her main cast members. Kang Jin-ah’s earnest but plucky performance holds our attention throughout the film, and she and young performer Park Hye-jin click well with each other during their substantial moments in the movie. While Hong Sang-pyo is likable as Choon-hee’s possible boyfriend, Lim Ho-jun, who was also good in another recent South Korean independent film “Awoke” (2020), is well-cast in his supporting role, and Hwang Mi-young simply steals every second of her brief but impressive appearance.

Overall, “The Slug”, which was mainly shot in my hometown Jeonju, is a modest but charming work which alternatively amused and touches us with its bittersweet qualities, and you will come to like and care about its heroine a lot more than expected. In short, this is another interesting South Korean film of this year, and I think you should check it out if you ever come across it.

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The Novelist’s Film (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): How they come to make a film

Posted on April 24, 2022 by kaist455

As I said many times before, my history with Hong Sang-soo’s films has been rather complicated. During the time when I became a bit more serious about films, “Tale of Cinema” (2005) and “Woman on the Beach” (2006) felt like an acquired taste to me, but I became more enthusiastic around the time of “Hahaha” (2010) and “Oki’s Movie” (2010), and then I simply took his works for granted around the late 2010s while he kept giving us one or two films per a year.

In the meantime, Hong gradually entered unexplored territories around the point when he made “On the Beach at Night Alone” (2017), and then there came a series of interesting works such as “Hotel by the River” (2018), “The Woman Who Ran” (2020), and “In Front of Your Face” (2021). After making so many films about your average petty South Korean heroes struggling with their relationships with women, he finally left his usual territory and then started to focus more on female characters, and that is a curiously welcoming change in my inconsequential opinion.

In case of “The Novelist’s Film”, which incidentally garnered Hong the fourth Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize when it was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival early in this year, it is another typical work from Hong, but it shows us its mind and heart more directly compared to his previous works. As following its heroine’s several accidental encounters, the movie provides some forthright moments reflecting Hong’s filmmaking philosophy as well as a bit of his private life, and they are handled with enough wit and insight even while casually presented in plain sight.

Lee Hye-youn, who previously collaborated with Hong as the lead actress of “In Front of Your Face”, plays Joon-hee, a middle-aged female Seoul novelist who happens to come to Hanam (It is one of those satellite cities surrounding Seoul, by the way) on one day. During the opening scene, we see Joon-hee coming into a small local bookstore, but it turns out that something serious is happening between the owner, who happens to be her old friend, and her young female employee, so Joon-hee, whose entrance is not luckily noticed by either of them yet, decides to wait for her friend outside for a while instead.

While Joon-hee is waiting in front of the bookstore, she is soon greeted by that young female employee, who, to our little amusement, behaves as if nothing serious had happened between her and her employer. Her friend also comes out not long after that, but, to our small bafflement, she does not say anything about what really happened between her and her employee, and Joon-hee does not ask about that at all as talking with her friend more about how long it has been since they met each other for the last time.

When Joon-hee subsequently goes to a local observatory tower alone, she happens to encounter a middle-aged filmmaker and his wife, who are incidentally her close acquaintances. After having a conversation among them for a while, they eventually come to take some walk outside, and that is how they come across Gil-soo (Kim Min-hee), a well-known movie actress who has been rather dormant during recent years.

As the camera patiently looks at these four main characters, the movie gradually develops a humorous situation among them. When the filmmaker makes a rather rude comment on the current status of Gil-soo’s acting career, Joon-hee promptly and harshly criticizes that, and we are more amused as how the mood becomes quite awkward among everyone at the spot, while also coming to reflect a bit on how Kim Min-hee’s career has been jeopardized to some degree by her ongoing real-life extramarital affair with Hong.

Anyway, Joon-hee and Gil-soo come to have more time together as the filmmaker and his wife eventually leave the scene, and then they meet Gil-soo’s nephew-in-law, who is incidentally a film school student. As they talk more with each other, Joon-hee comes to have an idea on starting her own little movie project, and both Gil-soo and her nephew-in-law are quite interested in collaborating with her.

Because of the very title of the movie, we already know we will eventually see Joon-hee’s little cinematic creation in the end, but the movie still has some delight and surprise for us. In case of one certain sequence later in the story, we are initially tickled by how our heroine’s journey makes a sort of full circle in the end, and then there comes a long conversation coupled with lots of Korean rice wine instead of soju (If you are familiar with Hong’s works, you will know what I mean). The last chapter of the film, which virtually functions as its epilogue, is unfolded at a certain real movie theater, and you will be quite amused if you happen to watch the film there.

Like many of Hong’s films, the movie depends a lot on the spontaneous interactions among his small cast members, and they are constantly engaging in their effortless interactions on the screen. While Lee Hye-young diligently holds the center, Kim Min-hee, who also participated in the production of the film, Seo-yeong Hwa, Kwon Hae-hyo, and Ki Joo-bong dutifully fill their respective spots around Lee, and Ki is simply delightful to watch during his brief appearance as your typical middle-aged South Korean male poet.

In conclusion, “The Novelist’s Film” is another amusing work from Hong, and I am impressed again by how consistent and productive he has been while modestly changing his direction here and there during last two decades. I am still regarding his works with some reservation in contrast many other local critics who will certainly choose this film as the best South Korean film of 2022, but it is surely one of more interesting South Korean films of this year, and I am glad to see that he keeps going as usual.

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The Lost City (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): A novelist’s unexpected adventure

Posted on April 23, 2022 by kaist455

“The Lost City” gives us as much as we expected from its trailer. Clearly influenced by Robert Zemeckis’ “Romancing the Stone” (1984), the movie tries a little comic adventure tale while playing a bit with its genre conventions, and the resulting entertainment is mostly enough for compensating for its many predictable aspects.

After the opening scene not so different from the similar one of “Romancing the Stone”, we are introduced to Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock), the author of a series of pulpy but very popular adventure romance novels. Although she has been rather tired of what she has written for years, she manages to finish the latest entry to her ongoing series, and then she reluctantly agrees to go through a book tour as requested by her hard-working agent Beth Hatten (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who steals the show despite her rather thankless supporting role).

One of the main reasons why Loretta is not so enthusiastic about her book tour is Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum), a hunky lad who has been the model for the front covers of her novels. Although he is a lot different from the popular adventurer hero of her novels in many aspects, those numerous fans of her novels find him pretty sexy thanks to his good-looking face and body, and, to Loretta’s annoyance, they are all quite eager to see him taking off his shirts as usual when he is on the stage along with her.

However, that turns out to be a minor problem compared to what happens to her not long after that. When she decides to leave earlier than expected, Loretta is suddenly taken away to somewhere against her will, and that is how she comes to meet a wealthy British dude named Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe). He has been quite obsessed with finding a certain important ancient treasure at some Atlantic tropical island, and it turns out that, as the wife and colleague of a famous archaeologist who passed away several years ago, Loretta may interpret one cryptic ancient message recently acquired by Fairfax, which will probably lead him to where that valuable item is hidden once she does the job as demanded. Loretta is certainly not so willing to help Fairfax, but Fairfax promptly takes her to that island, and she has no choice but to try to interpret what is given to her.

Meanwhlie, after watching Loretta getting kidnapped, Alan tries to locate and then rescue her. When it turns out that he and Beth cannot get any immediate help from the police despite knowing where she is thanks to her smartwatch, he decides to hire someone with a particular set of skills, and he luckily happens to know such a person. Although he does not have to go to that island for himself, Alan insists that he should go there mainly because he sincerely cares about Loretta’s safety, and we get some small good laughs as he clumsily tries to follow after that professional in question, who is drolly played by Brad Pitt.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Alan eventually finds himself getting involved in Loretta’s situation much more than expected. While he bumbles more than once as he and Loretta subsequently attempt to evade the pursuit of Fairfax and his menacing goons, he really tries to help and support her as much as possible, and there is an amusing scene where he comes to think of a sensible way for motivating her enough to climb along a stiff cliff along with him.

As they bounce from one risky moment to another along the story, the movie provides extra depth to its two lead characters. While we get to know more about how much Loretta is still coping with the loss of her husband, we also come to see that Alan is actually a decent guy who is well aware of his limits, and we are not so surprised when the movie takes a little romantic break along with them at one point in the middle of the story.

Of course, things eventually become a little more tense and serious when Loretta and Alan are thrown into another peril thanks to Fairfax, but the movie keeps floating with enough wit and humor at least. I must point out that Daniel Radcliffe, who has admirably tried other things besides Harry Potter, often looks rather strained as trying to look bad and nasty, but he looks like having a ball with his petty villain role nonetheless, and his overacting somehow works as a part of comedy in the film.

In case of Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, they are certainly ready to go for solid laughs from the beginning, and they have a good comic chemistry between them throughout the film. While Bullock balances her character well between humor and gravitas, Tatum, who can be sincerely hilarious as shown from several recent comedy films including “21 Jump Street” (2012), does not hesitate to throw himself into several uproarious comic scenes, and I will not deny that I was quite amused by a certain scene where his character must be almost naked in front of Bullock’s character for an understandable reason.

In conclusion, “The Lost City” does not bring anything new to its genre territory, but directors Adam and Aaron Nee, who also wrote the screenplay with Oren Uziel, Dana Fox, and Seth Gordon, competently serve us clichés and conventions, and I came to feel less tired while watching it at a local theater at last night. To be frank with you, I am already doubting whether it will be fondly remembered for a long time like “Romancing the Stone”, but it did its study fairly well, so I recommend it mildly for now.

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The Anchor (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): An anchor in crisis

Posted on April 23, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean film “The Anchor” is another typical woman-in-crisis flick, but it did the job a bit better than expected. Although the story becomes a little too contrived during its last act in my humble opinion, the movie mostly works on the whole thanks to not only its competent handling of mood and tension but also the strong performance from its lead performer, who is incidentally one of the best South Korean actresses at present.

Chun Woo-hee, who has been more prominent thanks to her unforgettable breakthrough performance in “Han Gong-ju” (2013), plays Se-ra, a young woman working as a prominent TV news anchor of some major broadcast company. During the early part of the film, we see how much she is dedicated to her profession, and we also observe how lonely she also is. While there are not many people close to her at her workplace, her fund manager husband is frequently absent at their supposedly luxurious apartment, and her mother So-jeong (Lee Hye-young) seems to be the only person constantly around her in her private life, though she does not bring much comfort to her daughter as often talking about how Se-ra must work harder for her career advance.

On one day, something odd happens when Se-ra is preparing for her latest TV broadcast as usual. A woman calls and then demands that she should talk with Se-ra on the phone, and Se-ra reluctantly agrees to talk a bit with this strange woman. While this strange woman tells everything about who she is and where she is living with her young daughter, she seems rather unhinged to Se-ra, so Se-ra simply disregards her even though this woman says she is terrorized by someone who tried to break into her residence.

Although she thought it was just a prank call, Se-ra does not feel that right about that caller, so she decides to check out where that caller supposedly resides, and it soon turns out that caller was really desperate at that time. While horrified by what she has just discovered, Se-ra also sees an opportunity to boost her career further, and she certainly does not disappoint herself and others at her workplace as diligently reporting this tragic incident.

However, as she delves more into this incident for reporting anything good enough to draw more viewers out there, Se-ra finds herself increasingly disturbed by what she saw at that caller’s residence, which seems to awake something hidden somewhere inside her mind. She begins to experience a series of disturbing hallucinations for no apparent reason, and that naturally influences not only her work but also her relationships with her husband and mother. While he is mostly occupied with his work as usual, her husband is not so pleased about how much they have been estranged from each other, and her mother, who has clearly lived for her daughter’s success, strongly advises as usual that she must put her career above anything else.

And then there comes a questionable psychiatrist one of whose patients was incidentally that caller in question. After their first encounter under a rather suspicious circumstance, Se-ra begins to suspect this psychiatrist, and it seems that there is something shady about this psychiatrist. For example, one of his other patients died under a mysterious situation around 10 years ago, and Se-ra becomes more convinced that he is hiding something from her after she approaches to him again for more information.

And that is where we become more aware of how unreliable our heroine’s viewpoint is. As Se-ra becomes more disturbed by those seemingly inexplicable hallucinations, her boss decides to replace her with some younger anchor, and that naturally gives her more anxiety and stress. For getting to know what the hell is going around her, she eventually decides to let herself go through a hypnosis session under that psychiatrist, but that only makes her more confused and agitated than before for some unknown reason.

You can easily guess the answer to her mystery if you are a seasoned moviegoer like me, but the movie keeps things rolling as before, and you may forgive how the screenplay by director/writer Jung Ji-yeon cheats us a bit during its finale. Although the climactic part feels overlong, it is still held well together by its emotional intensity, and the movie also makes some good point on sexism and discrimination.

Above all, Chun Woo-hee’s believable performance steadily carries the film to the end, and she is also supported well by two good performers revolving around her. While Shin Ha-kyun looks suitably untrustworthy in his substantial supporting role, Lee Hye-young is as coldly demanding as required by her part, and she is particularly effective when her character shows more of how much she clings onto her daughter’s success for many years.

Overall, “The Anchor” will not surprise you that much if you are familiar with its genre territory, but it is a still solid thriller film with enough enjoyable elements besides another commendable performance from its lead actress, and Jung Ji-yeon, who previously made several short films, made a nice feature film debut here. I saw through it from the beginning, but I was entertained at least, so I will not grumble for now.

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Awoke (2020) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Have some compassion on him…

Posted on April 15, 2022 by kaist455

I feel rather conflicted about South Korean independent film “Awoke”. Although it is surely serious about its main subject which has become quite a relevant issue in the South Korean society, the movie is not recommendable enough because of its weak story and characters, and I was often distracted by its heavy-handed moments instead of having more understanding and empathy toward its disabled hero. Maybe you should watch it for being more aware of its main issue, but I doubt whether it will really make you more sensitive to what many disabled people are struggling with even at this point.

The opening part of the movie quickly establishes its young hero’s very unfortunate circumstance. After being hit by a car on the road, Jae-gi (Jo Min-sang) becomes severely disabled due to the injury resulted from that accident, but he does not get much support even when he is recovering at a local hospital. Although he gets some help from his older sister Eun-joo (Hyun Tae-kyung), he often feels frustrated because he has to depend a lot on wheelchair now, and then he is notified that he is graded as a person of mild disability despite his severely disabled body. As a consequence, he is not allowed to get a number of necessary welfare services which are only for persons of more sever disability according to the current welfare laws, and this is also going to jeopardize his subsequent job search because many companies hire persons of more sever disability first.

Because he and his older sister have been short of money in addition to having to pay their rent as soon as possible, Jae-gi becomes more desperate than ever, but then he is helped by a disabled guy named Byeong-ho (Lim Ho-jun) not long after their accidental encounter. It turns out that Byeong-ho is a dude who can actually pull some strings at a local welfare center for the disabled, and he helps Jae-gi some financial help while also introducing Jae-gi to a lawyer who may get Jaa-gi re-graded as a person of more severe disability. Though the lawyer demands a considerable amount of fee for that, Byeong-ho assures to Jae-gi that everything will be fine in the end, and Jae-gil comes to request a considerable welfare loan from a local bank as instructed by Byeong-ho.

And things seem to be going fairly well for Jae-gi for a while. Thanks to Byeong-ho, he becomes a sponsored player to play a little lawn sport along with other disabled persons, and Byeong-ho promises to him that he will get more as long as he plays as much as required by their system. When Eun-joo happens to be unemployed later, Byeong-ho suggests that she should work as a part-time caregiver for him, and Jae-gi is certainly grateful for that.

However, we also see what a rotten guy Byeong-ho actually is. We see how one of his disabled men pretending to be much more disabled just for being graded as a person of severe disability and then getting much benefit from that. We also observe how he often exploits not only the system but also others around him including Jae-gi, who comes to have some doubts on Byeong-ho but sticks to him nonetheless just because of his gratitude to Byeong-ho.

Around that narrative point, the screenplay by directors/writers Jung Jae-ik and Seo Tae-soo pushes its hero into more misery and desperation in rather clumsy ways, but that does not work as well as intended. As shown from the very first shot of the film, we already know well that the situation will get worse for Jae-gi along the story, and we are not so surprised by what happens to him and his older sister later in the movie, but many of these grim moments are contrived to say the least. While the scenes involved with Jae-gi’s frustration with the system feel realistic at least, a subplot between Byeong-ho and Eun-joo is merely unpleasant as existing only for more emotional manipulation on us, and we are dissatisfied more because that subplot only leads to a very predictable outcome in the end.

Moreover, I am also concerned about how the movie presents Byeong-ho as the main villain of the story. Although it attempts to bring some human complexity him at one point, he remains to be a merely deplorable archetype, and we only come to observe him with more disgust and contempt. No, I do not mean that the movie should have more pity or sympathy on this sleazy bastard, but I seriously wonder whether this broad supporting character will result in more bias against the disabled as well as those economically struggling persons really depending a lot on the welfare system.

Anyway, the movie has some solid performances to notice. As the center of the film, Jo Min-sang diligently carries the film to the end, and his earnest performance is the one of the main reasons why the movie holds our attention to some degree. While Jae-gi is more or less than a figure to be pitied, Jo ably presents his character with enough humanity at least, and he is also supported well by several supporting performers including Hyun Tae-kyung, Song Min-hyuk, and Lim Ho-jun, whom I sincerely hope is actually nicer than he looks in the film.

Overall, “Awoke” is a well-intentioned but notably flawed film, and I cannot recommend it mainly because I was too conscious of its several weak aspects during my viewing. Having been well aware of how the South Korean society has been quite harsh and indifferent to many persons of disability out there, such movies movie like this certainly need to be made for more public awareness and conscience, but the movie itself is not good enough in my humble opinion, and that is a shame.

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Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) ☆☆(2/4): Not much secret or wonder

Posted on April 15, 2022 by kaist455

There was a time when we eagerly waited a new Harry Potter movie. Although many of us were well aware of what we would get, we were still enthralled and excited as watching many wondrous details of the fantasy world surrounding Harry Potter and his friends, and we all got enough satisfaction around the time when we finally reached to the final Harry Potter film.

In contrast, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (2016), which is the first entry in the spin-off series from the author of Harry Potter novels, did not impress me enough, and its following sequel “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” (2018) let us down more without showing anything particularly new for us. I wish the series focused more on those numerous fantastic animals handled by its nerdy hero Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), but, unfortunately, it became more like the prequel series explaining the past of Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” continues this disappointing trend without enough fantastic elements for us.

The story begins at the point not long after the finale of “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”, and it mainly revolves around the increasingly volatile political situation surrounding the upcoming election for the new leader of the International Federation of Wizards. While two prominent candidates have closely competed with each other, Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen, who thankfully replaces Johnny Depp), an evil wizard who has tried to take over the magic world, is planning to interfere with the election, and his plan is involved with a certain rare Chinese magical creature named “Qilin” (It is pronounced as “chilln”, by the way).

Anyway, Dumbledore, who was once very close to Grindelwald as shown from the opening conversation scene between them (I heard that the studio made some change on this scene to tone down their homosexual relationship for the Chinese market – shame on you!), quickly assembles several figures who can help his plan for stopping Grindelwald, and Scamander is one of them. Although he is not so sure about what he can do for Dumbledore, he is still ready to do whatever is ordered by Dumbledore, and so is Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), a plain New York City baker who has been involved with Scamander since their accidental encounter in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”.

Because Grindelwald can foresee every step of theirs, Dumbledore and his folks must be as discreet as possible. One particular member must be quite cautious as seemingly volunteering to join Grindelwald’s clan, and there is a little poignant moment when this figure lets Grindelwald erase a certain painful personal memory as planned in advance.

Meanwhile, Scamander and his friends/allies bounce from one spot to another as instructed by Dumbledore, and director David Yates and his crew members have some fun with decorating the screen with nice period mood and details. Like its two predecessors, the movie is packed with art deco style to be cherished, and the climactic part unfolded in a certain small Asian country provides extra flavor to the overall picture.

However, the movie still lacks the enchanting qualities of Harry Potter films, and it even does not reach to the level of curiosity and wonder glimpsed in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. Although I did not like that film enough, I was occasionally amused and entertained by all those various magical creatures inside Scamander’s little cozy zoo which looks like a mere old suitcase on the surface, and that is why I was disappointed to see that “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” does not have many magical creatures in comparison. Yes, it is still a delight to see Scamander’s two certain creature friends again, but, besides Qilin and a certain big ugly monster living in a dark and perilous dungeon, that is all we can get here.

The main cast members of the film do their best with the rather rote materials given to them, though many of them are under-utilized on the whole. While he is supposed to be the center of the series, Eddie Redmayne is somehow pushed aside from time to time as the movie is busy with juggling so many other characters in the story, and I hope that he will regain the center in whatever will come next. Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen are effective as two opposing figures who still have emotional issues to be resolved in one way another, and Dan Fogler, who once appeared with Mikkelsen a bit in TV drama series “Hannibal”, provides some lightweight moments as required. While the near absence of Katherine Waterston, who brought some spirit to the previous two films, is often glaring throughout the film, Victoria Yeates and Jessica Williams fill the hole to some degree as two substantial female characters in the story, and Alison Sudol, Callum Turner, and Ezra Miller dutifully fill their familiar respective spots as demanded, though it is troubling to see Miller on the screen due to his recent real-life problems outside the movie.

In conclusion, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” is a sort of improvement over “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”, but it is still one or two steps below “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. Because I gave the first film 2.5 stars while giving the second film 2 stars, I gave “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” only 2 stars, but you will probably be less bored if you have been more enthusiastic about the series than I have, so I will simply let you decide whether you will spend your 2.5 hour on it.

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Ambulance (2022) ☆☆(2/4): Another usual stuff from Michael Bay

Posted on April 14, 2022 by kaist455

Hollywood blockbuster action films need more than being loud, busy, and bombastic these days, and Michael Bay’s latest film “Ambulance” fails to do that despite all the sound and the fury hurled at us. While it is a little better than his recent horrible Transformers flicks, the movie, which is actually the remake of the 2005 Danish film of the same name, does not have much substance to justify its relentless serving of crashes and bangs, and we only get more tired and exhausted without much fun or excitement around the time when its titular vehicle eventually arrives at its final destination.

After the overtly sentimental opening scene, the movie delves straight into how things have been bad for Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), an ex-marine who has desperately tried to find any possible way to get the money for his very ill wife’s medical treatment. When his latest attempt is failed, he goes straight to his criminal half-brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal) for getting any help from him, and Danny happens to need one more man for his latest criminal operation. He and a bunch of accomplices are going to rob the federal bank in LA, and Will may get a lot more than he wants if he participates in this criminal operation right now.

Will naturally hesitates at first, but he eventually accepts Danny’s suggestion, and it looks like everything will go well for them and their accomplices around the time when they arrive at the bank. Besides, all he has to do is holding his gun at those terrified bank employees while Danny and his accomplices quickly take all the cash in the bank.

Of course, the situation later gets worse as it turns out that there is already a special police unit waiting for them from the very beginning, and what logically follows next is a big shootout sequence where many characters shoot here and there. Watching this sequence, I was certainly reminded of the similar sequence in Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1995), but I only observed it without much care or attention. As the movie juggles so many shots in a very scattershot manner, we are often lost in chaos and confusion without getting any sense of direction or tension, and that made me reflect more on why Mann is a much better action movie director than Bay.

Danny and Will manage to escape from the scene after hijacking an ambulance which arrives there first, but there is one problem. There is a seriously injured police officer in the ambulance, and they must cooperate with a young female paramedic named Cam (Eiza González) for not having that injured police officer die, in addition to trying to evade the ongoing pursuit of LAPD and FBI. While Captain Monroe (Garret Dillahunt) is quite determined to catch both Will and Danny by any means necessary, FBI Agent Anson Clark (Keir O’Donnell) tries to handle the situation as reasonably as possible because more casualties is the last thing he wants.

Once its several main characters are introduced and then established, the movie serves us one vehicle chase sequence after another as Danny and Will frantically drive the ambulance here and there around the city. We surely behold lots of vehicles smashed or overturned on the screen, and I must confess that I was a bit amused by a brief moment which can be regarded as an equivalent to a certain movie cliché involved with fruit carts.

During these and many other intense scenes in the film, Bay and his crew members put lots of efforts on the screen for grabbing our attention from the beginning to the end, but most of their efforts are rather distracting without contributing much to the story. Due to the frantically choppy editing, my attention was frequently disrupted, so many of vehicle chase sequences did not feel that particularly impactful to me. Sure, these sequences feel a bit more realistic than all the forgettable robot action scenes in those Transformers flicks, but they are merely loud and busy without generating much narrative momentum in my humble opinion.

Above all, the movie is frequently hampered by its weak story and shallow characterization. While Danny is no more than a shrill and unstable thug, Will gets a bit of sympathy from us as a good man who is trapped by his wrong choice, but he does not have enough human depth to engage us, and the same thing can be said about Cam and several other substantial main characters in the film. Sure, she is your average seasoned professional, but that is all for us to know, and we are not so surprised what she does during her last scene in the film

The main performers of the film try their best with their respective roles. Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II try to play as straight as possible throughout the film, but this is not exactly their career highpoint, but I would rather recommend Antoine Fuqua’s recent Netflix film “The Guilty” (2021), which is incidentally also the remake of a Danish film, if you want to see Gyllenhaal being more effectively intense. In case of Eiza González, Garret Dillahunt, and Keir O’Donnell, they manage to leave some impression despite their underwritten parts, and González is especially convincing when her character has no choice but to do much more than she is qualified to do at one point.

To my relief, “Ambulance” is not as horrible as those Transformers flicks, but I still cannot help but wonder whether it could be better if it were directed by, say, late Tony Scott. Sure, I sort of admire that Bay is still working as usual while not changed much in terms of style and direction, but that is the only nice thing I can say about him and most of his movies now, and I am already ready to move onto whatever I am going to watch next.

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The Girl on a Bulldozer (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Who can stop her?

Posted on April 14, 2022 by kaist455

South Korean film “The Girl on a Bulldozer” is about one feisty girl who cannot be possibly stopped at all. While she is not a very nice person at all, we cannot help but admire her will and determination as she goes all the way for what should be done for her and her family, and we eventually come to root for her more than expected.

At the beginning, the movie succinctly establishes what a problematic girl Hae-yeong (Kim Hye-yoon) is. Due to some violent incident into which she got involved some time ago, she has just received a minor sentence from a judge handling her case, but it is apparent that she does not give a damn about this at all. As a matter of fact, she subsequently goes to several girls responsible for that latest trouble of hers, and she surely shows them that she is not the one they can mess with.

We see how things have been bad for Hae-yeong’s family. Her father has run a small Chinese restaurant for several years since he left some big local construction company, but his business has been recently struggling for many reasons including his growing debt, and Hae-yeong has no particular interest in helping her father as getting tired of him day by day. Because her mother died some years ago, Hae-yeong is the only one who takes care of her little younger brother, and we can clearly sense that he is probably the only person she really cares about.

And then something quite unexpected happens. On one day, Hae-yeong’s father goes out early in the morning for no apparent reason, and then he is gone missing. Not long after that, a detective comes to Hae-yeong to notify that they are looking for her father for committing an act of violence on someone, and then a couple of strangers suddenly come into the restaurant and tell Hae-yeong that the place does not belong to her father anymore.

While not knowing at all what is really happening, Hae-yeong tries to protect the restaurant as much as she can, but then there comes another shock to her. Her father is finally found, but there was a rather inexplicable car accident, and he has been unconscious because of that. She was told that he was driving someone’s car while quite inebriated at that time, and the situation becomes more complicated because the car inadvertently hit somebody on the road. Not long after notified of this incident by that detective, she is approached by a guy from an insurance company, and he advises that she should make a settlement with that victim’s family as soon as possible for avoiding more troubles and headaches.

However, Hae-yeong does not feel that right about doing that because there is something fishy about her father’s accident. Not long before his accident, he called a certain powerful business figure who is incidentally the owner of that big local construction company, and Hae-yeong becomes convinced that this figure is involved with the incident in one way or another.

Of course, as Hae-yeong attempts to confront this figure, she is reminded again and again of what a rich and powerful guy he is. This figure, who is incidentally your average fat cat, is beginning a campaign for becoming the next councilman of their neighborhood, and he is certainly not so pleased when Hae-yeong keeps approaching to him. Because he can lose the upcoming election because of her, he wants her to be suppressed as much as possible, and he surely has enough power for that.

What follows next is how our feisty heroine is constantly cornered in one way or another. No matter how much she tries to fight against her mighty opponent, nothing seems to be changed for her or her little brother, and she also comes to learn more of how problematic her father’s financial situation has really been. Maybe, as her aunt’s husband says to her with bitter resignation at one point later in the story, it is better for her and her little brother to step back and then give up while hoping for some mercy from her opponent.

Nevertheless, Hae-yeong is not someone who can easily step back at all, and her subsequent actions during the last act, which are already announced to us via the very title of the film, show us how far she is willing to go. She is quite reckless indeed, but we come to empathize more with her desperate defiance, and that is the main reason why the simple but effective climatic part of the film feels so cathartic.

As the edgy center of the film, Kim Hye-yoon is often electrifying as her character makes her stubborn stand against her opponent, and she is supported well by several other main cast members. While Oh Man-seok is as despicable as required by his supporting role, Park Hyuk-kown is well-cast as Hae-yong’s deeply flawed father, and young performer Park Si-woo holds his own little place well as Hae-young’s younger brother.

On the whole, “The Girl on a Bulldozer” is an engaging film distinguished by its lead actress’ strong performance, and director/writer Park Ri-woong made a solid feature film debut here. Although its epilogue part is rather redundant, the movie and its heroine do earn that at least, and you may find yourself hoping that things will get better for her in the future.

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The Outfit (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): The Cutter of Chicago

Posted on April 12, 2022 by kaist455

To be frank with you, it is not that easy to describe how much I enjoyed “The Outfit”, a small but undeniably dexterous thriller film which engaged me much more than expected. Because of many of its pleasures come from how it springs out one surprise after another along its seemingly straightforward narrative, I will try as much as possible for not telling you too much about its story and characters, but I strongly advise you not to read the following paragraphs if you really want to be entertained as much as possible.

At the beginning, the movie, which is set in Chicago, 1956, immerses us into a little but meticulous professional world inhabited by a middle-aged British cutter named Leonard Burling (Mark Rylance). Some years ago, Leonard moved to Chicago for some reason, and he has run a fairly successful shop in one neighborhood of Chicago, and there is a little criminal secret hidden behind his supposedly respectable clothing business. As a matter of fact, he has been associated with a local criminal organization, and his shop has often functioned as a stash house for that criminal organization. All he has to do is focusing on his work without paying attention to those daily criminal transactions inside his shop at all, and he has been quite content with that as long as he does not get involved in that too much.

Nevertheless, Leonard still sees and observes lots of things while he works as usual, and there comes a little discovery which may disrupt his small world. At one night, he accidentally finds out that Mable (Zoey Deutch), a young female clerk who has worked under him for a while, has been in a relationship with someone very close to the boss of that criminal organization, but he is not so surprised at all, and he simply maintains his professional composure in front of Mable as before. After all, this pretty lass has been so eager to get out of Chicago by any means necessary, and he clearly understands that.

However, that little matter is nothing compared to what happens next not long after that. When Leonard is about to end his another mundane working day and then close the shop, two members of that criminal organization suddenly come into the shop for a very urgent matter. One of them is seriously wounded due to gunshot, and Leonard is forced to do an emergency surgery on that wounded guy even though he is not qualified to do that to say the least.

Once he does the surgery as demanded, Leonard is told about what is going on outside. It has been suspected that there is an FBI informer working in that criminal organization, and a certain small object which will reveal the identity of that informer in question was subsequently obtained thanks to a powerful nationwide criminal syndicate, but there is one big problem. That object is wanted by not only that criminal organization but also its rivaling criminal organization, and that is how those two gang members were attacked not long after obtaining that object.

Anyway, things seem to be under control as that object is safely stored in Leonard’s shop for now, but, not so surprisingly, the circumstance takes a number of unexpected turns, and Leonard must tread carefully around those dangerous people associated with him. While it is gradually revealed that he holds some cards behind his back, what is being at stake for him and others is increased minute by minute, and it goes without saying that this can be his last night if he is not very careful at any point.

While most of its plot is unfolded mainly within Leonard’s shop, the movie never feels stuffy at all as slowly dialing up the level of tension under the confident direction of director/co-writer Graham Moore, who previously won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “The Imitation Game” (2014). Thanks to production designer Gemma Jackson and costume designers Sophie O’Neill and Zac Posen, the movie is packed with nice details to be appreciated, and cinematographer Dick Pope did a solid job of establishing the good period atmosphere on the screen. The editing by William Goldenberg is precise and succinct as steadily maintaining the narrative pacing of the film, and Alexander Desplat’s score adds extra tension to the screen whenever that is necessary.

Above all, the movie is firmly anchored by another superlative performance from Mark Rylance, a British actor who has been quite more prominent since his Oscar-winning breakthrough turn in “Bridge of Spies” (2015). As a stealthy master of understatement, Rylance slowly holds our attention as discreetly doling out nuances to notice, and he is quite compelling even when his character does not seem to signify anything to us. In the other words, this is another excellent work to be added to Rylance’s long and illustrious acting career, and that is more than enough for me to forget how much he was woefully wasted in “Don’t Look Up” (2021).

In case of several notable performers including Johnny Flynn, Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Simon Russell Beale, they have each own moment to shine while supporting Rylance as well as required. Beale, who drew my attention for the first time via his solid supporting turn in “The Deep Blue Sea” (2011), effortlessly exudes his character’s menace, and Deutch holds her own small place well during her several tricky scenes in the film.

Overall, “The Outfit” is one of the better genre films of this year besides being a commendable feature film debut by its director. Although it is rather modest on the surface, it is one of those well-made thrillers to be admired for mood, storytelling, and performance, and I am willing to revisit it someday just for entertainment.

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