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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The Girl and the Spider (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): When her roommate is moving out

Posted on April 12, 2022 by kaist455

Swiss film “The Girl and the Spider” is deliberately opaque and ambiguous in the observation on one very mundane process for two days. When I watched it for the first time at last night, I often found myself baffled as trying to understand what is really going on between its several main characters, and I became quite impatient from time to time during my viewing. When I watched it again on the next day because I had wrong expectations due to its rather sinister title, I still found myself baffled as before, but I also came to appreciate its dry but skillful handling of mood and details, so I became a bit more relaxed than before as gathering whatever I observed and felt during my viewing.

The movie mainly revolves around two young women: Mara (Henriette Confurius) and Lisa (Liliane Amuat). As observing them and Lisa’s mother Astrid (Ursina Lardi) for a while, we come to gather that Mara and Lisa have been living together for some time, but now Lisa is moving out to some other apartment alone, and it is clear that neither Mara nor Astrid is pleased about this change, though the movie never specifies the reason at all.

As these three characters come into Lisa’s new apartment, we meet a number of other persons besides several workers employed by Lisa’s mother. The apartment still needs to be fixed and cleaned a bit more, but it is mostly clean and empty enough for Lisa to move in, and she seems to be happy to get this new place while being away from Mara and her mother.

However, it looks like there is something unresolved between her and Mara, who usually regards Lisa and others with enigmatic silence. At one point early in the film, she suddenly tells Lisa about a small personal experience she happened to have when they were spending some free time outside, and her vivid description of that moment intrigues us even though we have no idea on her motive behind it. Are she and Lisa actually more than merely close friends? If so, are they going through a sort of breakup now?

In case of Astrid, she seems to discern whatever is going on between her daughter and Mara, but she remains silent in her rather frigid appearance. Although it looks like she does not have any particularly hard feeling on Mara, we sense some distance between her and Mara. She seems to care about her daughter enough to help her moving to the new place, but their interactions signify nothing but some estrangement between them, and we come to wonder more about what really happened among these three main characters.

Meanwhile, the movie freely moves around these and several other characters as the moving process is continued. A neighbor living upstairs comes to the apartment along with her little daughter just for curiosity, and there is a little unexpected moment where we sense a bit of emotional attraction between this woman and Mara. Because there are still many other stuffs to be moved out from where they have lived together, Mara and Lisa go back there along with Lisa’s mother, and we observe how that place is also busy due to the ongoing moving process.

Mara and Lisa later hold a party there in the evening, and that is when the movie becomes a little stranger than before. As everyone invited to the party has lot of fun and drink, some of them come to feel some sexual attraction between them, and that subsequently leads to an odd moment featuring not only naked bodies but also a motorcycle helmet. In addition, we get a rather disturbing moment as the following night becomes dark and stormy, and you may wonder about whether there is any meaning on that.

All these and other things in the film are presented on the screen with a realistic sense of daily rhythm, but it occasionally slips a bit into the realms of imagination and fantasy. When Mara talks about a woman who is supposed to be the owner of a certain piano, we are not so sure about the veracity of her tale, but it is still interesting to listen to her, and this part is later developed into a little lovely moment around the end of the film.

Under directors/writers Ramon and Silvan Zürcher’s competent direction, the main cast members are convincing even when their characters feel quite elusive to us. Although we do not know much about their background, their understated acting conveys to us the subtle emotional undercurrents around them, and the Zürchers also did a good job of drawing natural performances from several child performers, who often steal the show around the adult cast members whenever they enter the screen.

On the whole, “The Girl and the Spider”, which won the Best Director award when it was premiered at the Encounters program at the Berlin International Film Festival early in last year, may require a considerable amount of patience from you, but you will probably admire it once you come to accept how it is about instead of struggling to figure out what it is exactly about. Although I am not that enthusiastic about it compared to many other reviewers and critics, its adamant ambiguity still lingers on my mind, and I think it will be interesting to see what its directors, who previously made a feature film debut with “The Strange Little Cat” (2013), will do next in the future.

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As They Made Us (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): As her father is fading away

Posted on April 11, 2022 by kaist455

“As They Made Us” is a mild comedy drama which mainly revolves around its heroine’s emotional struggle with her complex family issues. While it does not bring up anything particularly new from its familiar genre territories, the movie handles its story and characters with enough care and sensitivity at least, and it is also supported well by its engaging cast members, who did try their best in overcoming their clichéd roles.

At first, we get to know how things have been rather frustrating for Abigail (Dianna Agron), a divorced mother who has tried to raise her two young sons alone. While she is taking a sabbatical period after having her professional career on hold, her daily life is constantly busy as taking care of lots of stuffs for her two kids, and she often has to depend on her ex-husband even though they are not a couple anymore. In addition, she also gets frequent calls from her mother Barbara (Candice Bergen) due to the deteriorating health of her father Eugene (Dustin Hoffman), and she cannot help but get annoyed whenever her mother makes a fuss over one matter after another.

However, it is quite apparent that her father does not have much time to live at present. Although her past memories of her father are not that good as reflected by brief flashback scenes, Abigail still loves her father nonetheless, she tries to do whatever is the best for her father as a good daughter, but that is not so easy as she finds herself often clashing with her mother over that matter. While she surely cares a lot about her husband, Barbara is sometimes more concerned about her feelings than her husband’s welfare, and that certainly exasperates her daughter a lot.

Anyway, Eugene is eventually taken to a hospice where he can peacefully spend the last several months of his life, but Abigail does not feel that relieved as there is still a certain family issue to be resolved. Many years ago, her older brother Nathan (Simon Helberg) left the family after having a big fight with Eugene and Barbara, and he has not contacted with them at all since that, but Abigail thinks he needs to know that his father will die sooner or later.

She eventually manages to talk with Nathan on the phone, and she later goes to a college where he has been teaching gardening as a lecturer with a doctoral degree, but Nathan is still reluctant about meeting his parents again. During their brief conversation scene, the camera only looks at Nathan and Abigail from the distance, but his conflicted feelings about his parents are palpable to us, and we come to gather that he feels still hurt about what he had to endure due to his parents.

That makes Abigail more muse on her equally complicated relationship with her parents. Although she got along fairly well with her parents compared to her older brother, she was also hurt a lot by her parents’ rather toxic relationship just like her older brother, and she also has felt some resentment for not appreciated much by her parents no matter how much she try to help and take care of them.

Meanwhile, there comes a little possibility of romance to her via a handsome landscaper working outside her house. While she prefers to be a mere employer to him, Abigail gradually becomes attracted to this dude, and it turns out that he is also quite interested in getting closer to her. As getting to know each other more, they become more attached to each other, and she even invites him and his parents to her father’s birthday party, though it turns out to be far less pleasant than she wishes.

Leisurely rolling from one episodic moment to another, the screenplay by director/writer/co-producer Mayim Bialik, who has been mainly known for her Emmy-nominated turn in TV comedy series “The Big Bang Theory”, brings some depth and humanity to its main characters. As urged by Abigail, Nathan eventually comes to reunite with his father, but he adamantly sticks to his condition for that nonetheless, and that leaves bittersweet feelings to both Abigail and Barbara. In case of Barbara and Eugene, they are indeed flawed in many aspects, but they still do love each other despite all those hard and difficult times between them, and there is a little poignant moment when Eugene confides his enduring love toward his wife while not aware that much of her presence.

When the story eventually arrives at the inevitable finale filled with sorrow and grief, the movie still sticks to its low-key mood as usual, and its main cast members convey to us well the emotional undercurrents around their characters. While Dianna Aagron, who is mainly known for her supporting turn in TV comedy series “Glee”, dutifully holds the center, Simon Helberg, Candice Bergen, and Dustin Hoffman imbue their respective supporting characters with a considerable amount of life and personality, and Bergen and Hoffman are effortless as a husband and a wife who sort of complement each other in one way or another.

Overall, “As They Made Us” is a fairly competent feature film debut by Bialik, and I appreciate several good performances in the film, but I must point out that there are many other movies which handle those complex family issues with more edginess and thoughtfulness. For now, Tamara Jenkins’ “The Savages” (2007) comes to my mind, and I sincerely recommend you to watch that overlooked gem instead, but I will not stop you from watching “As They Made Us” if you just want something mild.

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All the Old Knives (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): One treacherous dinner between them

Posted on April 11, 2022 by kaist455

“All the Old Knives”, which was released on Amazon Prime in last week, works best whenever it revolves around the increasingly uneasy interactions between its two main characters. Both of them need to be discreet as much as possible because they cannot trust each other that much despite their close relationship in the past, and we cannot help but wonder more about their true motives and emotions below the surface as the story is unfolded step by step.

They are Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) and Celia Harrison (Thandiwe Newton), and a series of flashback scenes in the film show us what happened when they were working for CIA in Vienna 8 years ago. At that time, they were romantically involved with each other, and they were about to be more serious about their relationship, but then something terrible occurred. An airplane was hijacked by a bunch of terrorists, and, despite the diligent efforts from many CIA officials in Vienna including Pelham and Harrison, those terrorists eventually came to kill all the people in the airplane including themselves.

Quite devastated by this horrific outcome, Harrison promptly left CIA and then has led a fairly normal family life in California during next 8 years, but then she is approached by Pelham, who still works in CIA in contrast. Some time ago, the figure behind that hijacking incident was eventually captured, and it was revealed from this figure that there was actually someone who leaked some crucial information to those terrorists. Pelham is subsequently ordered to investigate a number of people who worked along with him during that time, and it seems that Harrison is one of the prime suspects because of her rather unexplained departure from CIA right after the hijacking incident.

When Pelham and Harrison later meet for a dinner at one posh restaurant looking over a beach, they cordially interact with each other at first, but Pelham soon comes to reveal his real intention, and Harrison is not so surprised about that. As they talk more about what they and others did at that time, they become more guarded to each other, and we cannot help but notice someone in the background, who may be the figure with whom Pelham talked on the phone before coming to the restaurant.

As its two main characters are shrouded in more caution and suspicion, the screenplay by Olen Steinhauer, which is based on his novel of the same name, frequently bounces amid different time points. We see how Pelham and Harrison came to fall in love with each other while serving for their country, and we also observe how things were urgent and desperate for them and many other CIA officials in Vienna at that time. They all did try their best, but then they unfortunately lost their only chance to save those hostages in the airplane because of that information leak, and one of them even committed suicide not long after that.

The movie also gives us a number of brief flashback scenes involved with those hijackers terrorizing their hostages, and that is where the movie stumbles more than once. In addition to often feeling gratuitous and redundant, this overtly sensational part does not fit that well with the overall low-key tone of the film, and I think the movie could be more well-rounded if it instead paid more attention to how the main characters of the film were affected by the incident in one way or another.

Although you can easily guess the answer to its main mystery even before the movie arrives at its last act, its two lead performers still engage us via their own presence and talent. As shown from several acclaimed films including “Hell and High Water” (2016), Chris Pine, whom I still dearly remember for his laid-back supporting turn in “Bottle Shock” (2008), has steadily demonstrated that he can do a lot more than playing Captain Kirk in the recent Star Trek series, and he effortlessly embodies the gray human qualities of his character. On the opposite, Thandiwe Newton, who has been always dependable since her breakout performance in “Flirting” (1991), is solid as her co-star’s equal acting match, and I would not complain at all if the movie just observed whatever is going on between their characters instead of resorting to all those unnecessary flashback scenes.

In case of several other cast members in the film, they are mostly under-utilized on the whole, though they did their best for filling their respective spots. While Laurence Fishburne is merely required to look stern and serious in his brief appearance, Jonathan Pryce manages to leave some impression as another possible prime suspect besides Newton’s character, and the special mention goes to Orli Shuka, who is quite chilling during a certain crucial scene around at the end of the story.

In conclusion, “All the Old Knives”, which is directed by Janus Metz Pedersen, does not bore us while maintaining its poker face along with its main characters for a while, but it eventually fizzles once it unfolds every card held behind its back, and that is disappointing compared to what is so competently developed before that point by Pine and Newton. Watching these two wonderful performers slyly pushing and pulling each other on the screen was a pleasure for me, but their good efforts are not served that well by the film on the whole, and I would rather recommend Louie Malle’s little masterwork “My Dinner with Andre” (1981) instead. It is just simply about two people talking over a dinner from the beginning to the end, but that is a much more interesting and fulfilling experience, and I urge you to check it out if you have not watched it yet.

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Metal Lords (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): It doesn’t rock that much

Posted on April 11, 2022 by kaist455

Netflix film “Metal Lords”, which was released a few days ago, often feels to me like watching too much of myself. No, I am not a heavy metal music fan at all, but one of my acquaintances recently advised me that my writing has been rather too repetitive from time to time, and that made me discern more of a number of glaring flaws in the film besides how heavy-handed my writing often is. Besides being quite predictable in terms of story and characters, the movie sometimes tries a little too hard to make a point on its main characters’ enthusiasm toward heavy metal music, and that was rather annoying instead of generating some laughs from me.

At the beginning, we are introduced to Kevin Schlieb (Jaden Martell) and Hunter Sylvester (Adrian Greensmith), and we get to know a bit about these two adolescent kids’ friendship. Although they are quite different from each other in many aspects, these two lonely teenagers have spent lots of time together in the basement of Hunter’s house for playing some heavy metal music, and they even already formed their own band, though they are its only members at present.

While Hunter prefers to be alone as your typical sullen teenager who has been deeply obsessed with heavy metal music, Kevin wants to hang around more with others in contrast, so he goes to a big evening party while reluctantly accompanied by Hunter. Although their experience of the party is not exactly pleasant, they come to learn that there will be soon a band competition at the school, and Hunter becomes quite determined to win at the competition after clashing a bit with another school band which happens to be playing at the party.

Kevin is understandably not so sure about how to prepare for the competition, but, as a kid with considerable musical talent, he gradually gets better once he starts to practice drums in the school, and then he comes across someone who may give some extra help to him and his friend. That person is a girl named Emily Spector (Isis Hainsworth), and, as listening to how skillfully she plays her cello, Kevin becomes convinced that she really should join his band.

Not so surprisingly, Hunter is not so pleased about having another member in their band, and he becomes more displeased as his best friend is getting closer to Emily. In his petty viewpoint tinged with misogyny, Emily is nothing but a trouble in his heavy metal paradise, and that naturally leads to the growing strain in his relationship with Kevin, who becomes more tired of how his friendship with Hunter has been going nowhere except more troubles for both of them.

Around that narrative point, the screenplay by D.B. Weiss, who is mainly known for HBO TV drama series “Game of Thrones”, attempts to push the conflicts among its three main characters to the level of absurdity, and that is where the movie becomes grating instead of amusing. While the scenes involved with Kevin and Emily’s budding romance are sweet and intimate, the scenes associated with Hunter’s increasingly troubled behaviors are merely distracting, and it is often alarming and embarrassing to see how he often goes over the top just for being true to the spirit of heavy metal. Observing how much he behaves like a big jerk with serious mental issues throughout the film, you may wonder about how the hell Kevin has tolerated Hunter for years.

At least, the better parts of the film compensate for its weak aspects to some degree. I enjoyed the tentative romantic relationship between Kevin and Emily, and there is a nice scene where Kevin plays drums while Emily dexterously complements that with her sensitive cello performance. At one point later in the story, Kevin finds himself tempted by some other girl, but then he receives a sort of advices from four certain figures which will be familiar to you if you know a bit about heavy meatal music, and that is the most humorous moment in the film in my trivial opinion.

In the end, the story expectedly culminates to the climactic point where our three main characters must band together for performing something awesome in front of many schoolmates of theirs, and the movie finally rocks enough while being predictable as before. Although there is still not much surprise except one nasty comic moment at the end of this climactic scene, the heavy metal song performed during this scene is fairly good and loud, and you may find yourself nodding with approval.

The three main cast members fill their broad archetype roles as much as they can, though not all of them are successful. Jaeden Martell and Isis Hainsworth click well with each other during several key scenes between their characters, and Hainsworth is especially effective when her character makes a very striking appearance around the climatic part of the film. In case of Adrian Greensmith, he is unfortunately demanded to overact without much substance to fill his character, and I wish he were instructed to dial down his acting a bit more.

Directed by Peter Sollett, “Metal Lords” is not wholly without enjoyable parts, but it is not entertaining enough to recommend, and my mind has been already rummaging out several other similar movies which did a better job in comparison. The first movie to come to my mind was a little Finnish comedy film called “Heavy Trip” (2018), and, as far as I remember, that comedy movie has much more wit and humor in addition to going all the way for more laughs. In fact, I feel some need to see it again, and I really think you should watch it instead.

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Return to Space (2022) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): It’s awesome to return to space, but…

Posted on April 8, 2022 by kaist455

Netflix documentary film “Return to Space”, which was released yesterday, is engaging whenever it focuses on those numerous technicians and engineers working together for the common goal set by their wealthy but controversial employer. Yes, it is certainly awesome to return to space, and I am glad to see that these folks actually make some substantial progress for the future, but I cannot help but feel ambivalent about that whenever the documentary looks at their infamous employer.

That figure in question is none other than Elon Musk, who incidentally became the biggest shareholder of Twitter several days ago. Considering how this billionaire figure has received a fair share of both admiration and contempt, the documentary has already been regarded as a mere promotion piece for him and his company SpaceX, but the overall result thankfully stays away from him as much as possible, and it compensates for his hovering presence over the documentary to some degree via those wonderful moments captured from space.

During the early part, the documentary gives us some background information on Musk and his company’s ambitious private space project, which was started in the early 2000s. Around that time, NASA had been shutting down its space shuttle programs due to their enormous cost, so it started to consider the privatization of space programs, and that was where Musk and his company entered. Although he only had lots of money, Musk became quite interested in venturing into aerospace industry after meeting a German aerospace engineer named Hans Koenigsmann, and that eventually led to the foundation of SpaceX. Not so surprisingly, their first several attempts were not successful at all, but Musk’s engineers and technicians kept trying nonetheless as learning more from these big failures, and they finally succeeded in launching their rocket into space without any serious glitch.

The documentary pays some attention to why their eventual success was a revolutionary forward step in the aerospace industry. Unlike those rockets used for space shuttle launches, the rocket developed by the engineers of SpaceX can actually be recycled again and again, and, above all, it also can land back in the launching spot after it succeeds in sending the module into space. Thanks to this new technological advance, the cost for space rocket launch became quite cheaper than before, and that was how Musk came to be regarded as another technology innovator after Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

After that point, NASA came to lean more into collaborating with private corporations, and, of course, some notable figures including Neil Armstrong became quite concerned about that. Maybe aerospace technology will be much more advanced within a short period via this change, but Armstrong warned about the possible dark sides of privatization, and, as shown from one interview clip, Musk was quite hurt by the opposition from a man whom he supposedly regarded as one of his heroes.

The documentary does not overlook at all how Musk has often behaved like your average privileged Caucasian male jerk during recent several years, but it understandably regards this as mere eccentricities which come with his, uh, visions. I heard that he has Asperger’s syndrome, and that may explain a lot, but, folks, he still looks like an arrogant free-range rude in my inconsequential opinion. To be frank with you, as a guy who also has Asperger’s syndrome, I did often hurt others’ feelings due to my incorrigibly brutal honesty throughout 39 years of my life, but I also have been a bit more socially adjusted after learning valuable lessons from my many big mistakes, and that is why I have more contempt toward him these days.

Although Musk’s presence constantly distracted me during my viewing, I must confess that I also found myself observing the gradual progress of his pet space projects with some curiosity and admiration toward his numerous technicians and engineers. As far as I can see, these people really wanted to make some technology advance for our world, and their enthusiasm touched me a bit, but then I wondered whether their achievement will be just for Musk and some few other rich folks in the end.

The documentary also focuses a lot on two NASA astronauts, who are also quite engaging to observe as they prepare a lot for the launch and then handle the launch process with calm professionalism. While they are casual on the surface, they are also well aware of how things can go wrong at any moment, and that is particularly evident from when their space module is about to go through the docking process with the International Space Station. The process must be as precise as possible, and they and others are all relieved a lot once the process is completed.

Overall, “Return to Space”, which is directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, may not give you anything new if you are familiar with its main subjects, but it is not a total waste of time mainly thanks to its close and vivid presentation of those space projects of SpaceX. I have some reservation on where this technological/commercial advance will eventually take us during next several decades, but space remains awe-inspiring as usual for all of us, and I can only hope that the human race will truly deserve to go further into space. Sure, it will be wonderful to be an interplanetary species, but shouldn’t we fix our suffering planet first?

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