Kimi (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): It is useful indeed…

Posted on March 1, 2022 by kaist455

Steven Soderbergh’s latest film “Kimi” is as taut and efficient as you can possibly expect from him. As usual, he made it with a relatively modest amount of production budget, but it is another distinctive work of his to be admired for the skillful handling of mood and narrative, and I was surprised to find myself more engaged than expected even though I could clearly discern what it was going to do right from the very beginning.

After the prologue scene which gives us some background information on what its story is about, the movie focuses on the daily life of a young female technician named Angela Childs (Zoë Kravitz). Due to some bad incident in the past, she has struggled with anxiety and agoraphobia, and her psychological condition has been considerably worsened due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. At least, she can do her work at her apartment, but that is not so easy at times due to the frequent noises from the apartment right above her residence, which happens to be going through a remodeling period.

Her employer is a promising technology company which has been getting lots of attention in public thanks to its smart speaker product named “Kimi”. Angela’s main job is handling numerous verbal communication errors between Kimi devices and their buyers, and we watch how she monitors and then solves one case after another for the more accurate verbal communication between Kimi devices and their buyers.

Because the audio data streams delivered from millions of Kimi devices out there are usually full of mundane stuffs ranging from paper towel to a certain song by Taylor Swift, Angela does not pay much attention to her latest case at first, but then her ears come to sense something odd. Although loud music is played in the background, she confirms that there is really something wrong in what she has just heard, and what follows next is a neat variation of that famous audio manipulation scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” (1974). As she focuses more and more on that disturbing sound in question, she is convinced that some unknown woman was seriously assaulted as accidentally recorded by her Kimi device, and she comes to feel that she must do anything about that right now.

However, Angela soon finds herself facing a number of obstacles in front of her. Because of her current psychological problems, she is not so willing to go outside, and she does not even want to go to her dentist even though she is advised that she must go to her dentist considering her increasingly serious dental problem. She actually has been sexually involved with a young dude who happens to be a prosecutor, but, alas, he is currently unavailable due to his busy schedule. When she reports what she discovered to her supervisor, his supervisor is not so amused because he does not want to get the company into any possible legal trouble. After all, as shown from the prologue scene, the company is about to have a very important moment which will bring much more money to the company, and its CEO has been quite occupied with maintaining its promising appearance as much as possible.

Nevertheless, Angela becomes more determined to get to the bottom of the situation, and the screenplay by David Koepp gradually builds up tension around her. Thanks to a friendly co-worker of hers, she can access more to whatever was recently recorded from that Kimi device in question, and what she comes to uncover is not so pleasant at all. There is indeed a conspiracy, and it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Angela consequently finds herself in a big danger as she attempts to report this to anyone who might help her.

As the mood becomes more urgent and desperate along the story, Soderbergh, who also edited and shot the movie for himself under pseudonyms as before, accentuates the heroine’s growing anxiety and paranoia via a number of nice technical touches including deliberately tilted camera angles. As our heroine desperately tries to evade the figures apparently chasing after her, the movie provides us several tense scenes including the one unfolded around a big public demonstration, and the level of suspense on the screen is steadily maintained by the effective score by Cliff Martinez

In the end, everything in the story predictably culminates to a climactic scene where our heroine must be more active for her survival, but Soderbergh and Koepp still have some good surprises for us. At one certain point, our heroine cleverly uses her Kimi device for her considerable advantage, and that actually made me consider buying a smart speaker just in case, though I still do think smart speakers are still not good enough for recognizing my mumbling speech pattern.

As the center of the movie, Zoë Kravitz, who appeared in a number of notable recent films including “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015), ably carries the film as giving what may be the best performance in her growing acting career. Never exaggerating her character’s vulnerable aspects, she also brings enough pluck and intelligence to her character, and that is the main reason why we come to brace ourselves for what is being at stake for her character during the climactic scene.

On the whole, “Kimi” is an enjoyable genre piece to be savored for its slick efficiency as well as Kravitz’ solid lead performance, and Soderbergh delivers another small but commendable achievement here. Although he may never reach again to the level of that huge critical/commercial success of “Erin Brokovich” (2000) and “Traffic” (2000), he has been quite steady and consistent during last 20 years, and that is pretty admirable to say the least, you know.

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Ted K (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): The detached observation of one disturbed figure

Posted on March 1, 2022 by kaist455

“Ted K” is a dry but intense film which will surely unnerve you for good reasons. As an austere character study based on the real-life story of one notorious bomber who is thankfully being incarcerated in a state penitentiary at present, the movie is often uncomfortable to watch for being as single-minded as its terrible hero, but it is handled with enough skill and tactfulness at least, while also anchored well by the presence and talent of its lead performer.

Sharlto Copley, who has steadily advanced since his breakout turn in Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9” (2009), plays Ted Kaczynski, a former college professor who has been known to us more as the “Unabomber”. As told to us at the beginning of the film, Kaczynski was once a promising math prodigy, but, mainly due to his antisocial personality coupled with his sexual frustration with women, he eventually threw away almost everything in his life in addition to quitting his college job. In 1971, he started to live alone in a self-made cabin located in the middle of some remote area of Montana, but his psychological condition only got worse during next several years. This came to fuel his disdain toward modern technology more and more, and that was the main motive of a series of horrible crimes committed by him later.

At first, the movie simply observes Kaczynski’s solitary lifestyle mainly revolving around his cabin. He does not interact with anyone else except some few persons living in a neighboring region, and he is mostly fine with that, but he is often furious about all the noises interrupting his own small world. For example, the loud noises from a nearby lumber mill annoy him at lot everyday, and he also hates the sonic booms caused by airplanes frequently flying over his territory.

We see how he responds to all these and other annoyances in his twisted ways. He happens to be annoyed by some winter vacationers on one day, so he invades into their vacation house not long after they left, and then he damages the house to considerable degree. When he later works at that lumber mill for earning a bit, he comes to hate that lumber mill more than before, and he eventually commits an act of sabotage at one night.

Whenever Kaczynski pours his angry thoughts and feelings on paper, the screenplay by director/co-producer/co-editor Tony Stone and his co-wrtiers John Rosenthal and Gaddy Davis delves a bit into its troubled hero’s mind as quoting the excerpts from the actual writings from Kaczynski. Although he is clearly a smart and intelligent guy, his writings are more or less than the angry ramblings of a lunatic shouting against the wall, and he comes to feel more like a ticking bomb as his writing becomes more hostile and aggressive with growing anger and malice toward modern technology.

Unfortunately, there is no one to help or stop Kaczynski, and the movie frequently emphasizes his increasingly isolated status to us. At one point, we see him talking to his mother on the phone, but we do not hear whatever she is saying to him. Later in the story, he calls his brother and then asks him to send some money, but he does not ask nicely at all, and we can only imagine how much that disturbs his brother at the other end of the line.

There are actually a few moments of respite for him via a certain female figure, but the movie promptly reveals how delusional his mind really is, and we subsequently get several intense scenes showing more of his growing paranoia about modern technology. Even at that point, the movie still maintains some distance between itself and its hero, but Copley, who also participated in the production of the film, thoroughly embodies his character’s mental confusion and torment, and we come to regard Kaczynski with more dread and nervousness as he goes further with his act of terror.

During its second half, the movie naturally focuses on what Kaczynski committed during 1978-1995, but it wisely avoids any cheap thrill while sharply recognizing the horrific aspects of his serious crimes. There is a chilling scene where he targets some ordinary guy just because this guy happens to be running a computer shop, and we are chilled further as observing how Kaczynski casually moves from one target after another without getting caught for many years.

Of course, there eventually comes a point where he makes a big misstep as demanding more attention from the public, but, again, the movie sticks to its detached attitude as usual. When Kaczynski comes to learn that his 35,000-word manifesto is presented to the public via two major newspapers as demanded, he is naturally exalted, but that does not change his pathetic existence at all. In case of the expected finale, this part is presented with considerable restraint, and I appreciate how the movie does not resort to any unnecessary sensationalism even at that point.

Overall, “Ted K” is definitely not something you can casually watch on Sunday afternoon, but I recommend it mainly for Stone’s competent direction and Copley’s committed acting. Like Justin Kurzel’s recent film “Nitram” (2021), which is also a cold-blooded character study inspired by one very disturbed real-life figure who committed an atrocious act of terror, the movie simply observes with objective detachment, but the result is disturbingly tense and powerful to say the least, and you will not forget it easily after watching it.

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Nitram (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A distant but chilling character study by Justin Kurzel

Posted on February 25, 2022 by kaist455

Jusitn Kurzel’s new film “Nitram” is a distant but chilling character study based on the real-life figure who perpetrated a shocking mass shooting incident in Tasmania, Australia in 1996. Although it is a pretty uncomfortable experience to say the least, the movie works mainly thanks to its dry and austere storytelling approach and several good performances to be appreciated, and I admired its strong elements even while often horrified and repulsed by its many disturbing moments during my viewing.

During its early part, the movie gradually establishes the constantly troubling daily life of a deeply disturbed lad named Nitram (Caleb Landry Jones). Although his parents, played by Judy Davis and Anthony LaPaglia, have tried their best for having their son under control, they are usually frustrated and exasperated whenever their son makes another trouble, and all they can do at present is tolerating his frequent mood swings in addition to occasionally taking him to his psychiatrist for his medication.

As his parents have one headache after another due to his uncontrollable behaviors, Nitram tries a bit to be more social and useful, but his pathetic attempts only show us more of what an unpleasant creep he really is. He tries to do surfing just like other local lads, but, as his mother dryly points out, he does not know how to surf, let alone how to swim. He also attempts to earn some money for him via lawn-mowing, but nobody is particularly eager to hire him in his neighborhood.

And then there comes an unexpected change for him when he comes to a house belonging to a middle-aged woman named Helen (Essie Davis). She hires him without asking much, and he does some lawn-mowing as expected while spending more time in her house. He soon comes to leave his parents’ house and then begins to stay in her house, and his parents are certainly flabbergasted, though they do not expect that much from this change.

What follows next is a sort of morbid variation of “Sunset Boulevard” (1950). Although she is a former actress who has been behind her glory days, Helen is affluent enough to support herself and her many pets in the house, and Nitram seems content to be kept by her because she is impulsive and childish just like him. Although the movie does not delve that deep into how much they are actually close to each other, their relationship seems to be working well for both of them, and we get some cheerful moments as Helen wields her flamboyant sides in front of Nitram.

However, their happiness does not last that long, and the second half of the movie observes how Nitram becomes more disturbed step by step as living with his parents again. After devastated by the failure of his business plan, his father becomes quite ill, and there is a shocking scene where Nitram makes a drastic attempt to make his father get up from a couch. What happens not long after that seems to sadden and devastate Nitram, but he makes another disastrous choice, and that puts more distance between him and his mother, who has already given him up after enduring so much anger and frustration for years.

Once Nitram happens to get a certain horrible idea later, the movie calmly shows his following preparation process, and it thankfully sticks to its restrained attitude during the inevitable finale. What he eventually commits is not shown much on the screen, but the final moment of the film still feels chilling and devastating nonetheless, and we are more chilled as coming to learn that gun control remains to be a serious issue in Australia despite some fundamental changes of gun control laws resulted from that horrible mass shooting incident.

Shaun Grant’s screenplay adamantly maintains its detached viewpoint on its hero without telling us much on what actually makes him tick, but Caleb Landry Jones, a young American actor who has been more notable thanks to his solid supporting turns in “Get Out” (2017) and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017), holds our attention via his committed acting, which incidentally received the Best Actor award when the movie was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in last year. Right from his very first scene, Jones effectively embodies many unnerving aspects of his increasingly alarming character, and the creepy intensity of his strong performance is one of the main reasons why the movie works.

In case of several other main cast members of the film, they did more than merely being counterpoints to Jones’ character. While Judy Davis, a wonderful Australian actress who has been always dependable since her breakout turn in “My Brilliant Career” (1979), is quietly unflappable as demanded, Essie Davis, who is incidentally Kurzel’s wife, has a very good scene with Davis as their characters have a little private conversation, and Anthony LaPaglia holds his own small place well as another substantial character in the story.

Although I have some reservation, “Nitram”, whose title is the first name of that real-life figure in backward, can be regarded as a sort of better alternative to “Joker” (2019) for handling its story and characters with more restraint and thoughtfulness, and it is surely another interesting work from Kurzel, who previously drew my attention with his two previous films “Macbeth” (2015) and “True History of the Kelly Gang” (2019). I recommend it mainly for its commendable acting and several admirable technical aspects, but I must emphasize to you again that this is a truly tough and disturbing work, so I will let you to decide whether you will watch it or not.

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Cyrano (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A mild musical elevated by Dinklage

Posted on February 24, 2022 by kaist455

What an interesting actor Peter Dinklage is. Since his memorable breakthrough turn in “The Station Agent” (2003), this little but undeniably versatile actor has steadily impressed us during last 19 years, and Joe Wright’s new film “Cyrano” reminds us again of Dinklage’s sheer talent and presence. Although the movie does not always work well, Dinklage’s enjoyable performance carries it to the end nonetheless, and that is more than enough for overlooking several glaring problems including its rather uneven second half.

The movie is based on the 2018 stage musical of the same name written by Erica Schmidt, who is incidentally Dinklange’s wife and also adapted her stage musical for the film. That stage musical was based on French poet and dramatist Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play “Cyrano de Bergerac”, and Rostand’s play was loosely based on the life of Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655), who has been regarded as an immortal literature figure of unrequited love for many decades thanks to the popularity of Rostand’s play.

In Rostand’s play, Cyrano is often hesitant about expressing his romantic feeling to a woman he loves just because he is always conscious of his rather big nose. In case of Dinklage’s Cyrano in the film, he is afraid of being rejected by her due to his short height, but his dwarfism does not stop him at all from being bold, brave, and eloquent in front of others, and the opening sequence shows how he daringly interrupts a stage performance because he cannot possibly allow the audiences to suffer another bad evening.

One of the audiences is a young woman named Roxanne (Haley Bennett), and she is the one for whom Cyrano has carried a torch for years. When she later comes to him for telling him that she has fallen in love with someone she saw in that eventful evening, he is quietly devastated to know that she is actually attracted to not him but Christian de Neuvillette (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a young man who recently joins his regiment. Nevertheless, he promises to Roxanne that Christian will be under his protection, and, what do you know, he comes to befriend Christian faster than he expected.

Discerning that Christian has been genuinely smitten with Roxanne since their accident encounter during that evening, Cyrano decides to help Christian wooing Roxanne more. Despite his sincere affection and passion, Christian is not so good at writing anything romantic enough to charm and dazzle Roxanne, so Cyrano comes to ghostwrite Christian’s letters to be sent to her, and, as a witty and articulate wordsmith, he does not disappoint both Roxanne and Christian at all.

The mood becomes more comical when Christian attempts to attract Roxanne more with Cyrano hidden from her sight, but then the situation becomes more complicated due to another man attracted to Roxanne. As a rich and powerful nobleman, De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn) can coerce Roxanne to be his wife, and Roxanne tries to be tactful with this despicable dude as much as she can, but then there comes a point where she makes a choice which will affect Christian as well as Cyrano forever.

As these four main characters bounce off each other during its first half, the movie provides a series of musical scenes, and Wright and his crew members including cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, who previously collaborated with Wright in “Atonement” (2007) and “Anna Karenina” (2012), work a lot for bringing a considerable amount of visual energy into these musical scenes. As often conscious of its showy technical aspects, we come to discern more of its artificial aspects, but, thanks to Wright’s competent direction, the movie is at least more tolerable than whatever we had to endure in Tom Hooper’s “Les Misérables” (2012).

In case of the music and lyrics of the film, which are written by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National, I must tell you that they are not memorable enough to linger on your mind, but Dinklage and several other cast members of the film sing their songs mostly well on the whole. In addition, there is also a nice surprise from Oscar-winning musician Glen Hansard (Remember “Once” (2006)?), who briefly appears at the beginning of a gloomy musical sequence in the second half of the movie.

I was a bit disappointed to see that the movie comes to fizzle during the expected ending, but Dinklage still holds the center as before, and his fellow main cast members are well-cast in their respective parts. While Haley Bennett, who has been more notable thanks to her harrowing performance in “Swallow” (2019), shines with enough pluck and spirit, Kelvin Harris Jr. is effective as a clueless but likable lad, and they are believable in their characters’ innocent obliviousness to what is going on among them and Cyrano. In case of Ben Mendelsohn, this wonderful Australian character actor demonstrates again that he is indeed born to play mean and petty villains, and I especially enjoyed how he deftly handles his sole musical scene with gusto and intensity just like Jeremy Irons did in Disney animation film “The Lion King” (1994).

Overall, “Cyrano” is a mild but entertaining musical movie thanks to the game efforts from its cast and crew members, and Dinklage did a commendable job of presenting his own version of Cyrano. While he will always be remembered for his Emmy-winning performance in HBO TV drama series “Game of Thrones”, he can certainly do many other things besides that, and, as my late mentor/friend Roger Ebert suggested at the end of his review on “The Station Agent”, there is no good reason why Dinklage could not play Braveheart.

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Strawberry Mansion (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A dreamland to be audited

Posted on February 23, 2022 by kaist455

It is difficult to describe what I saw from “Strawberry Mansion”, which is probably one of the quirkiest works I have ever seen during several recent years. Essentially a series of offbeat moments developed from its simple story setting, the movie will alternately baffle and amuse you from the beginning to the end, and you may scratch your head at times during your viewing, but you will also come to wonder what may come next from the filmmakers behind this impressively whimsical piece of work.

Right from the opening scene, the movie throws us into its strange futuristic background. It is around the 2030s, and, thanks to considerable technological advance, almost everything in human dream can be recorded and then taxed by the government. The hero of the story, James Preble (Kentucker Audley), has worked as a government auditor checking on whatever is dreamed by his human subjects, and, probably because of being well aware of how taxable dream can be, his dream is always unfolded inside a small and monotonously colored interior space. This solitary subconscious space of his is always visited by a jolly figure who often talks like a walking advertisement machine, so we are a bit amused to see James eating and drinking certain commercial stuffs recommended by this figure in his latest dream.

As James goes through another day as usual, there comes an unexpected change via his latest task. He goes to a house located in the middle of the remote spot, and this house belongs to Arabella Isadora (Penny Fuller), an old lady who baffles James a lot right from when she comes to see him at the front door of her residence. He is supposed to audit on many dreams of hers which have been left unchecked by his agency for years, but it turns out that she has recorded her dreams on heaps of VHS tapes (If you do not know what they are, please do some search on Google), and that means he is going to spend lots of time in her house for doing his job as usual.

While he stays at Arabella’s house for several days, James checks her past dreams one by one via a special equipment provided by her. As scanning one taxable object after another, he comes to notice a young woman who is clearly Arabella’s younger version, and he finds himself gradually smitten with her even though he knows well that she is just a fragment of Arabella’s subconscious experience.

In the meantime, the movie often catches us off guard as doling out one odd moment after another. There is a little humorous moment involved with a dancing skeleton, and there is also a weirdly romantic scene between Arabella’s younger self and a mysterious figure whose whole body is covered with lots of grass. As Dan Deacon’s synthesizer score is played on the background, we become more aware of how artificial these and other dreamy moments look on the screen, but we still observe them with curiosity nonetheless thanks to their vivid mood and details to be admired. Although it is clear that the production budget of the movie is considerably small, the movie still impresses us through numerous inventive touches reminiscent of those quirky works of Terri Gilliam and Michel Gondry, and we are not so surprised when the movie delves further into its fantasy background along with its hero later in the story.

For not spoiling your entertainment, I will not go into details on what happens during its second half, but I can tell you that the mood becomes darker with the appearance of a supporting character played by Reed Birney, a veteran character actor who recently drew our attention as one of the four main performers of “Mass” (2021). While his character looks courteous on the surface at first, it does not take much time for James to sense a sinister intention behind this character, and his negative impression on Birney’s character is wildly amplified as James subsequently comes to swing back and forth between dream and reality more than once.

Although it occasionally feels like running out of its narrative momentum during its second half, the movie remains anchored by enough gravitas under the competent direction of directors/writers/editors Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley, who previously worked together in “Sylvio” (2017). The story falters a bit during its climatic part, but Birney and Audley’s imaginative style goes wild as before, and I especially like a key scene where our hero must fight against what has been blocking his mind for years.

In case of Audley and several other main cast members in the film, they simply occupy their respective roles without overshadowing whatever is unfolded on the screen. As Audley is humbly holding the center as required, Penny Fuller and Grace Glowicki are convincing in their positive aura on Audley’s character, and Linas Phillips is also effective as another crucial supporting character in the story.

To be frank with you, I am not as enthusiastic about it as other reviewers and critics, but “Strawberry Mansion” is one of more distinctive works of this year, and it certainly deserves to be compared to many other offbeat fantasy films ranging from Gilliam’s “Brazil” (1985) to Gondry’s “The Science of Sleep” (2006), I still think the movie is more or less than a modest test run by its two filmmakers, but the overall result surely shows that they are talented filmmakers to watch, so I guess I can have some expectation on their next work.

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Together Together (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A little witty comedy about surrogate mother

Posted on February 22, 2022 by kaist455

I have some strong opinions on the gender ethical issues involved with surrogate mother, but I enjoyed a number of witty comic moments in “Together Together”. While never overlooking the complex nature of its two main characters’ relationship, this little but charming work lightly swings back and forth between comedy and drama as they respectively try to handle their complicated situation during their bumpy emotional journey, and the result is more sensitive and thoughtful than expected.

The two main characters of the film are Matt (Ed Helms) and Anna (Patti Harrison), and the early part of the film gradually establishes their tricky circumstance. While he is a divorced man in the 40s, Matt wants to have a child to raise without marrying someone again. Just because he prefers to have his own biological offspring instead of adoption, he comes to hire Anna, and she has no problem with being pregnant with his baby for next several months as a young healthy woman without any fertility problem. As a matter of fact, she once got pregnant and then gave up a baby several years ago, and it looks like she can do that again without much regret as before.

As everything is ready for him and Anna, Matt talks about that to several people around him including his parents, but, to his bafflement, Anna prefers to keep their deal to herself at least for a while, even though she will eventually not be able to hide her pregnancy anymore after the second trimester. While she is going to pay attention to her pregnancy as much as possible, she also wants to live her own life as usual, and we get a little amusing moment when Matt comes to learn that she can have an active sex life without much problem just like any other average pregnant woman.

Anyway, Matt tries as much as he can for supporting Anna and then getting a healthy baby of his own in the end. Besides preparing a room for the baby in his residence, he and Anna often go to a specialized therapist for more advice and counsel, and he also begins to attend a support group meeting while she attends the one for surrogate mothers like her.

Needless to say, Matt is basically exploiting Anna’s body in exchange of money, and that aspect is more apparent to us as we observe more of how he is on the verge of crossing the boundaries between them at times. Although they are supposed to stick to each other’s business, he gets involved into Anna’s private life more than he is allowed by her, and she is not so pleased because she has her own matter to deal with. She wants to restart her college education, and she is going to use the money from Matt for that, but she is still not so sure about her future, while also coping with all those emotional problems involved with her ongoing pregnancy.

As its two main characters comically struggle to set boundaries and then balance themselves within these boundaries, the screenplay by director/writer Nikole Beckwith, who previously made a feature debut with “Stockholm, Pennsylvania” (2015), leisurely moves from one episodic moment to another with considerable wit and humor. At one point later in the story, the mood becomes quite cheerful as Matt holds the baby shower party to be attended by his friends and family members, and even Anna and her parents are invited, but then we come to sense some strain when Anna becomes more aware of how others around her pay more attention to her baby than how she has been doing. After all, she is the one who carries the baby all the time, but she is not so appreciated much on the whole, and that certainly affects her relationship with Matt.

As the time for Anna’s delivery is getting closer and closer, the situation becomes more serious between her and Matt, but the movie wisely avoids rolling them into romantic situation. While Matt actually considers that possibility a bit, Anna makes it clear to him that getting more involved with each other emotionally is not practical to both of them at all. Sure, he comes to care about her with more appreciation for her biological labor, and she certainly appreciates that, but she sticks to her boundaries nonetheless.

During the expected finale, the movie remains true to its two main characters while leaving some unresolved matters to be handled by them in one way or another, and its two lead performers did a commendable job of conveying their complicated emotional status to us. Although he has been mainly known for a number of comedy films including “The Hangover” (2009), Ed Helms demonstrates a more serious side of his talent here, and his nuanced performance is matched well with an equally good performance by Patti Harrison, who ably takes the center along with Helms throughout the film. Helms and Harrison are also supported well by several notable supporting performers including Tig Notaro, Sufe Bradshaw, and Fred Melamed, and the special mention goes to Julio Torres, who often steals the show as Anna’s flamboyant gay co-worker.

In conclusion, “Together Together” is a modest but solid mix of comedy and drama, and I like how it handles its rather sensitive main subject with enough tactfulness and sensitivity. Around the end of the story, you will notice how much its two main characters are changed under their complex situation, and you may also wonder what they are going to do next. Sure, nothing is certain for them, but each of them did learn something, and that is important, isn’t it?

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Together (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Stuck together during the ongoing pandemic

Posted on February 22, 2022 by kaist455

Stephen Daldry’s BBC TV movie “Together” simply observes an ordinary couple who happens to be stuck together during the lockdown period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Although it often feels theatrical as its two main characters frequently break the fourth wall for speaking directly to us, the movie is supported fairy well by the good performances from its two talented lead performers, and we come to observe their characters’ dynamic relationship development with more emotional involvement.

The story begins on the first day of the lockdown in UK in 2020. Right from when they enter the screen, it is pretty apparent to us that the couple, played by James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan, is having relationship problems, and both of them willingly tell us how much they are different from each other – and how much they cannot stand each other. Although they have been together for several years while also having a young son between them, it seems that they could be separated from each other without any hesitation if the lockdown were not imposed on them and many others out there.

As they keep talking to each other or us, we get to know more about a number of differences between them, which are clearly the source of their frequent personal clashes. While he is a businessman who has a rather conservative viewpoint despite having a working-class background, she is your average left-wing liberal who has worked in some charity organization, and it is rather amusing to see how they push and pull each other over several social and political issues.

To both of them (and many people in UK), it looks like the lockdown will be soon over, and he has a silly episode of his to tell. For his young son who incidentally has some signs of autism, he tried to buy aubergines at a local supermarket, but he could not buy aubergines just because the aubergines sent to the supermarket happened to be handled by an infected person. As the camera simply focuses on him for a while, McAvoy, who has been one of the most interesting British actors since his breakout supporting turn in “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (2005), steadily holds our attention as his character recounts more of his funny episode, and we are reminded more of how much our world was thrown into sheer panic as COVID-19 virus was swiftly spread around the world during that time.

As the lockdown is continued week by week, the couple certainly becomes more concerned than before, and she is particularly worried about her aging mother, who had been taken care of by a hired caregiver at her home but then eventually moved to a facility for old people mainly thanks to the caregiver’s persuasion. When her mother is subsequently taken to a local hospital due to COVID-19, she naturally comes to fear for the worst, and she finds herself more emotionally depending on her partner. As a matter of fact, they have become friendlier to each other as being stuck together with their son during last several weeks, and it seems that they may continue to live together even after the end of the lockdown.

However, the frustration and exasperation from the lockdown as well as the ongoing pandemic keep getting accumulated between them. While he comes to lose his computer business, she becomes devastated when there comes a time when she has to say goodbye to her mother, and we later get an intense monologue scene where she lets out her churning feelings in front of the camera. The screenplay by Dennis Kelly is rather blunt and heavy-handed during this scene, but this scene still works because Sharon Horgan, an Irish actress who has been mainly known for TV comedy series “Pulling” and “Catastrophe”, skillfully handles the whole gamut of her character’s emotions with care and empathy.

Around the narrative point where everything seems to be getting a bit better after vaccines finally come, the couple begins to think more about whether they can actually continue their relationship, but, not so surprisingly, there come a series of emotionally hurtful moments when they reveal several issues they have been hiding from each other, respectively. Truth indeed hurts, and both of them become quite morose, confused, and depressed while struggling to decide what to do with their relationship.

The movie, which was shot during only 10 days while the cast and crew members followed COVID-19 protocols as required, was set mostly inside one single setting, but it does not feel that stuffy while never losing the sense of confinement around its main characters. As the camera is often placed close to them, we come to feel more like another figure in the house, and, mainly thanks to the charismatic presence of its two lead performers, we do not mind listening to them even when they talk directly to us.

While it is basically a modest two-hander, “Together” is worthwhile to watch due to the good chemistry between McAvoy and Horgan on the screen. Considering that the COVID-19 pandemic is still an ongoing issue, I wonder whether the movie can have more perspective and insight if it is made several years later at least, but it will probably be remembered as one of notable films from the COVID-19 era, and I hope we will soon see the day when it will mildly remind us of how much many of us struggled during the pandemic.

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Scream (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): A slashing legacy sequel its franchise deserves

Posted on February 21, 2022 by kaist455

During last several years, we are served with a bunch of reboots and legacy sequels ranging from the recent Star Wars trilogy to “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (2021) and “Candyman” (2021), so it is rather fateful that now we come to get “Scream”, which is a legacy sequel to the 1996 film of the same name directed by late Wes Craven. While it surely plays another self-conscious (and bloody) genre game just like its four predecessors, the movie is an improvement compared to the disappointment of “Scream 4” (2011) as gleefully and thrillingly slashing at plenty of genre clichés and conventions, and it is probably the most enjoyable sequel in the franchise since “Scream 2” (1997).

After the clever opening scene which is basically a variation of that shocking opening scene of the 1996 film, the movie introduces us to its new heroine, who is surely bound to be the final girl who will have to endure and struggle a lot during the rest of the movie. For a hidden personal reason to be revealed later in the story, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) has been separated from her mother and younger sister for several years, but, after hearing the news on what happened to her younger sister, she immediately returns to her hometown, which has been rather notorious thanks to not only what happened in the 1996 film and the following three sequels but also a well-known popular horror film franchise inspired by that. As a matter of fact, that franchise has been continued more with the recent eighth flick, which will make you chuckle a lot at one point if you remember that toxic and unproductive hoopla surrounding a certain recent Star Wars movie.

Anyway, those golden rules of that franchise (and the Scream franchise, of course) make Sam quite watchful of a number of other characters around her. First, there is her boyfriend who volunteers to come to her hometown along with her, but Sam cannot trust him totally because, well, she is well aware of what happened in the first film and that incident behind it. In case of several high schooler characters who are incidentally her younger sister’s close friends, any of them can be a suspect, and they are all conscious of that as being quite familiar with that franchise.

Meanwhile, a bunch of horror films are constantly mentioned throughout the story, and that reminds me of how horror films has been more mainstream during last two decades. I will not deny that I smiled a bit when “The Babadook” (2014) and “It Follows” (2014) were mentioned at the beginning of the film, and there is even a humorous nod to a notorious classic horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Of course, the movie is surely ready for blood and violence whenever it suddenly shifts itself onto horror thriller mode, and we accordingly get several intense scenes including the one unfolded inside a curiously understaffed local hospital. Again, that scary figure in that familiar attire and mask comes and goes as terrorizing Sam or anyone who unfortunately happens to be a target to be taunted and then killed, and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who previously made “Ready or Not” (2019), skillfully plays with our expectation on whatever will happen next. As they gradually build up tension and narrative momentum on the screen, there comes one nice surprise after another, and then the movie surprises and delights us more as everything in the story eventually culminates to the climax part incidentally unfolded at a spot looking familiar to anyone who has watched the 1996 film.

The main characters of the movie are mostly broad archetypes as expected, but the screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick depicts them with enough wit and gravitas. While the strained relationship between Sam and her younger sister functions as the emotional anchor of the story, those high schooler characters around them are not just bland cardboard figures, and several familiar characters associated with the Scream franchise turn out to be much more than a perfunctory addition to the story.

As the center of the film, Melissa Barrera, who has been more notable thanks to her vibrant supporting turn in “In the Heights” (2021), gives a solid performance which diligently carries the film to the end, and she and Jenna Ortega are convincing as their characters struggle to deal with their old family issue along the story. Jack Quaid, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, and Jasmin Savoy Brown have some fun with their respective supporting roles, and Brown is especially hilarious as a character not so different from Jamie Kennedy’s character in the 1996 film.

In case of several familiar performers associated with the Scream franchise, I will not go into details here, but I can tell you instead that they do a lot more than merely evoking nostalgia. While Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette will instantly draw your attention as usual, I also enjoyed the brief appearance of Heather Matarazzo and Skeet Ulrich, who provide some extra connection between the movie and its four predecessors.

Overall, “Scream”, which only got limited theatrical release while also being available on local streaming services in South Korea in last week, is a fairly entertaining reboot/legacy sequel, and I was not so surprised to learn later that they are already planning to make another sequel. I have no idea on what we will get, but, considering how successful “Scream” is in many aspects, I guess I can have some expectation on that while also dreading the possibility of another Scary Movie flick.

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Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): The downfall of Boeing

Posted on February 20, 2022 by kaist455

Netflix documentary film “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing”, which was released two days ago, may make you think twice about getting on a Boeing airplane. As many of you know, the Boeing Company dominated the airplane manufacture industry for several decades since the era of the Jet Age began in the middle of the 20th century, but a couple devastating accidents in 2018 exposed what was going seriously wrong inside the company. Mainly pursuing for more profit and stock market value, the company willfully discarded its safety and manufacture standards step by step, and the resulting negligence tarnished its prestigious status a lot in the end.

At the beginning, the documentary focuses on what tragically happened on October 29th, 2018. Shortly after taking off from the Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, Indonesia, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea, and that resulted in the death of all of 189 passengers and crew aboard. This was a big shocking news mainly because that airplane was the latest model from Boeing and, above all, it was actually manufactured only several months ago.

Garima Sethi, the widow of Lion Air Captain Bhavye Suneja, calmly tells us how everything looked fine and normal during her last morning with her husband – and how much she was flabbergasted to hear the news on the crash not long after her husband left for his flight. She and many other people subsequently went to the airport as fearing for the worst, and then they were all devastated to learn that their worst fear turned out to be true.

As the following investigation was begun, many experts including Andy Pasztor, who worked as an aerospace reporter of Wall Street Journal at that time, were baffled as they looked into the flight record of Lion Air Flight 610. It is apparent that Captain Suneja and his co-pilot tried their best when their airplane kept being turned downward to the sea for some unexpected malfunction inside the flight control system, and Pasztor and other experts naturally wondered about how that fatal malfunction could happen.

The investigation eventually exposed a very serious flaw inside the new model from Boeing. There was a hidden safe measure called known as MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System), and, though this safe measure could lead to disastrous situations, Boeing deliberately hid the existence of MCAS from numerous commercial airlines and pilots as well as the US government just because it wanted its new model to be approved and then sold a lot as quickly as possible.

Of course, the executives of Boeing tried to avoid any accountability as much as possible, and they even had their lobbyists manipulate the public and media opinion on the crash of Lion Air Flight 610, but then there came another shocking incident only five months later. On March 10th, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed into the ground not long after its take-off from the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, Ethiopia, and, again, all of 157 passengers and crew aboard were killed as a consequence. Because Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 was also the same new model manufactured by Boeing, much more public attention was drawn to what was really wrong in its new model, and that eventually led to a US congressional inquiry headed by Peter DeFazio, a Representative of Oregon.

Along with several other interviewees in the documentary including Captain “Sully” Sullenberger, whose remarkable real-life story was the basis of Clint Eastwood’s “Sully” (2016), DeFazio and Pasztor willingly explain to us how things went seriously wrong in Boeing for many years. During its heyday period in the late 20th century, Boeing had floated on its prestigious status, but then it started to go down as competing with several other major companies including Airbus. When Boeing was merged into McDonnell Douglas, it looked like there would be a new period of success for Boeing, but, alas, that was when Boeing began to discard many of its safety and manufacture standards in the name of more profit and efficiency.

Several former Boeing employees interviewed in the documentary tell us how much their work environment was changed in Boeing. Mainly occupied with how to keep the stock market value of their company as high as possible, those new executives of Boeing decided to move the headquarters from Seattle to Chicago just because they did not want any interference from engineers and technicians in making important business decisions, and they also swiftly downsized the company just for decreasing the cost for manufacturing airplanes. As a result, the company was driven more toward profit rather than innovation, and there is a brief but amusing moment which shows us how that new model of Boeing is just a variation of one certain old model like many of its predecessors.

As calmly doling out one alarming fact after another, director Rory Kennedy also pays considerable attention to the family members of the victims of the two crashes, and the most emotional moment in the documentary comes from when some of these grieving people stand up together in the middle of the aforementioned US congressional inquiry. They did not say anything, but their silent presence certainly gave more shame for the CEO of Boeing, who happened to be there for his testimony in front of DeFazio and several other congress members presiding over the inquiry.

In conclusion, “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” presents its case as effectively as intended during its rather short running time (89 minutes), and what is later told to us in the epilogue will make you reflect more on its main issues for good reasons. Although it is only February, I can assure you that this is one of the better documentaries of this year, and I sincerely urge you to check it out as soon as possible.

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Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Their complicated friendship

Posted on February 19, 2022 by kaist455

Netflix documentary film “Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali”, which was released in last September, examines the complicated friendship between two famous African American figures in the 1960s. Starting from their respective early years, the documentary shows us how they came to befriend each other as two angry African American men and then became separated several years later, and the overall result is another engaging look into the African American history in the 1960s.

These two figures in question are none other than Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, and the early part of the documentary alternates between the early chapters of their respective life stories. Even when they were very young, both Malcolm and Ali, who was Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. during that time, often saw and experienced infuriating cases of racism onto African Americans, and that certainly shaped their defiant non-conforming attitudes toward the American society in the future.

In case of Ali, he initially tried his best as a young promising boxer when he participated in the 1960 Rome Olympics, and he won a gold medal there, but there came a shock on the system for him. While he was in Rome, he was surprised by the absence of racial segregation which he and many black people had to face in US everyday, and then he was quite disillusioned when he later came to see that winning the gold medal did not change anything in his constantly discriminated status.

While he let himself sponsored by a group of rich old white people, Ali slowly began his own rebellion behind his back. When he happened to encounter a big black Muslim organization called the Nation of Islam, he found himself drawn more to the Nation of Islam and its leader Elijah Muhammad, and he subsequently met Malcolm X, who was already a very prominent figure in the Nation of Islam around that time. There was a time when he was nothing more than a small-time street criminal, but Malcolm became quite devoted to the Nation of Islam during his incarceration period, and it did not take much time for him to become one of Muhammad’s closest associates thanks to his natural charisma and considerable intelligence.

Although their first meeting was not exactly cordial, Ali and Malcolm got closer to each other as they hanged around more with each other, and then there came a very important moment in Ali’s athletic career in Miami at one night of February 1964. Many people expected that he was just another challenger to be defeated by defending champion Sonny Liston, but, what do you know, Ali came to glory in a surprise upset, and the documentary suggests that Malcolm’s presence around Ali was crucial in that unexpected outcome.

However, though he came to Miami as a supportive friend, Malcolm also had the other motive behind his back. Due to his very unwise public comment on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963, he got suspended by Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, and he really needed somebody to help him regaining his position, so he opened himself more to Ali for getting Ali drawn more to the Nation of Islam – and him. As a matter of fact, before that historic match, he brought his whole family to Miami for introducing them to Ali, and he did not even hesitate to publicize his supposedly strong relationship with Ali.

As admitted in the documentary, what exactly happened between Ali and Malcolm around that time remains to be unclear even at this point. Shortly after becoming the new champion, Ali and Malcolm had a celebration party along with many others including Ali’s several friends including Jim Brown and Sam Cooke, and then they spent the rest of the day along with these several friends of Ali in a motel room. Whatever was exchanged among Ali, Malcolm, and several figures in the room where it happened is still a big question mark, and that later became the main inspiration for Kemp Power’s acclaimed stage play “One Night in Miami”, which was subsequently made into the 2020 feature film directed by Regina King.

After that point, Ali recognized his new religious belief while also getting that new name under Muhammad’s blessing, but, to Malcolm’s disappointment, he only got more distant from Malcolm. When Malcolm officially left the Nation of Islam, Ali sided with Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, and he did not say any kind word to Malcolm when they came across each other while separately touring around a number of African nations in 1964. While Ali openly criticized Malcolm more, Malcolm became more critical of Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, and that eventually led to his tragic death in February 1965.

I must point out that it falters a bit when it attempt to summarize Ali’s life and career during next 50 years within its last few minutes, but “Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali”, which is based on Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith’s nonfiction book “Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X”, is fairly interesting on the whole, and director Marcus A. Clarke did a competent job of juggling a bunch of different interview clips and archival materials. Although it does not go beyond what I have learned from a number of documentaries and movies associated with Malcolm and Ali, it did its job as well as intended at least, so I will not grumble for now as mildly recommending it.

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