Assassins (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): A close look into one infamous assassination case

Posted on August 15, 2021 by kaist455

Documentary film “Assassins” gives us a close look into one infamous assassination case which surprised many of us a few years ago. On February 13th, 2017, a certain prominent North Korean exile was assassinated right in the middle of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia, and it was all the more shocking that the North Korean government got away with that in the end while also getting considerable political benefits for its current head of state.

That assassinated figure in question is Kim Jong-nam, who was the eldest son of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. Around the 1990s, Kim Jong-nam had been expected to succeed his father just like his father succeeded his grandfather Kim Il-sung in 1994, but, due to one humiliating public incident that occurred in 2001, he become less likely to succeed his father, and he eventually left his country while his half-brother Kim Jong-un consequently gained more favor from their father.

When Kim Jong-il subsequently died in 2011, Kim Jong-un was only a 28-year-old college graduate at that time, but it did not take much time for him to take his country under full control. First, he did a swift and extensive purge upon his government as well as the North Korean military for solidifying his political status, and he did not even hesitate to execute one of his uncles, who was incidentally one of the most powerful figures in the regime of his father.

As Kim Jong-un’s older brother, Kim Jong-nam was certainly another potential political threat to Kim Jong-un, but Kim Jong-nam happened to be under the protection of the Chinese government. While fully supporting Kim Jong-un and his new regime, the Chinese government also wanted to keep Kim Jong-nam as a sort of political safety measure just in case, and Kim Jong-un and his North Korean government certainly did not dare to eliminate Kim Jong-nam as long as he remained in China.

However, as an international journalist interviewed in the documentary tells us, the situation became more perilous for Kim Jong-nam as he was frequently quite vocal about his opposition to his younger brother’s regime. He later pleaded to Kim Jong-un that he would be silent in exchange of safety and freedom for him and his family, but his assassination was eventually executed when he happened to be outside China at that time.

As many of you remember, the aftermath of Kim Jong-nam’s assassination was pretty messy to say the least. Once the Malaysian Police embarked on the investigation right after his death, a group of North Koreans were identified as suspects, but most of them already left Malaysia, and the rest of these North Koreans, who were held in Malaysia for a while, were later allowed to return to North Korea after the following diplomatic tug-of-war between the North Korean government and the Malaysian government.

Mainly for saving its face, the Malaysian government came to focus more on punishing Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong, two different South Asian women assumed to be manipulated and then exploited by those North Korean suspects. While Aisyah was from some rural area of Indonesia, Huong was from Hanoi, Vietnam, and, according to their respective testimonies, they even did not know about each other when they respectively did what they were hired to do as a part of “prank show”.

The documentary later details how each of these two unfortunate young ladies unwittingly got themselves involved in the assassination plan. As a poor woman who really needed money for herself and her family in Indonesia, Aisyah did not hesitate when one of the North Korean suspects approached to her with a seemingly lucrative offer. In case of Huong, she happened to get a similar offer while trying to find any breakthrough for her future acting career in Hanoi, and both she and Aisyah did not suspect anything while they subsequently ‘performed’ a number of pranks in several public spaces including Kuala Lumpur International Airport. After all, they got paid as much as promised, and what they did looked pretty harmless on the surface.

However, what Aisyah and Huong were instructed to do on that fateful day of February 2017 was not harmless at all. They simply caught Kim Jong-nam off guard as suddenly approaching to him from the behind and then touching his face via their hands, but their hands were respectively covered with the two different components of VX nerve agent. Once these two components were mixed on Kim Jong-nam’s face, the resulting VX nerve agent, which can be very lethal even in a very small amount. swiftly worked upon his body, and he eventually died only a few hours later.

As following the subsequent trial of Aisyah and Huong during its second half, the documentary sharply points out how unjust their legal situation was in many aspects – and how impertinently the North Korean government evaded any responsibility while further solidifying its political status. With no one to threaten his position, Kim Jong-un has continued his reign during next several years, and the Chinese government and other powerful governments around the world quickly sanctioned him as another major international political player.

On the whole, “Assassins” feels rather incomplete as its main subject is still a story to be continued, but director/co-producer Ryan White did a competent job of presenting the main subject with enough intrigue and information. As a South Korean audience who is fairly familiar with how dangerous and aggressive the North Korean government has been during last 61 years, I must tell you that what is shown in the documentary did not surprise me much, but it is still an engaging documentary nonetheless, and I recommend it especially if you are interested in knowing more about its main subject.

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Free Guy (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Enjoyable but derivative

Posted on August 14, 2021 by kaist455

“Free Guy” is an enjoyable but derivative product reminiscent of too many other similar films out there. Its story premise will surely take you back to a number of movies associated with video games, but it does not try to go further than the numerous influences from these senior films ranging from “Tron” (1982) to “Ready Player One” (2018), and I was not surprised or impressed much despite some entertaining moments in the film.

At the beginning, the movie sets up its artificial main background through the cheery viewpoint of its nice ordinary hero. For Guy (Ryan Reynolds), everyday feels pretty much same as he wakes up and then goes to his mundane workplace, but he has no problem with that at all, and the same thing can be said about everyone else in the city including his best friend Buddy (Lil Rel Howery). No matter how frequently their city is smashed by certain figures everyday, they are not so shocked at all while following their respective routines as usual, and the movie generates some laughs from this absurd comic setting.

As shown from the trailer of the movie, Guy and his fellow citizens are actually the non-player characters (NPC) in a very popular online video game, and we soon see what has been going on in the real world outside the game. Thanks to its growing popularity around the world, Antwan (Taika Waititi), who is the owner of the company behind the game, has earned lots of profit, but the game was actually based on what he stole from two young aspiring computer program developers Millie (Jodie Comer) and Walter (Joe Keery) several years ago. While Walter chose to work under Antwan, Millie has tried to sue Antwan for his intellectual theft, and, as “Molotov Girl”, she has been searching around here and there inside the game for finding a certain evidence to prove that Antwan did steal what she and Walter created via their artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.

When Guy happens to notice Molotov Girl on one day, she looks like a dream girl he has yearned for, and that leads to a big change in his daily life. After a series of decisions including the one involved with another attacker at his workplace, he finds himself beholding a hidden reality in a way which will remind you of those memorable moments in John Carpenter’s “They Live” (1988), and, as adjusting himself more to this new reality, he is alternatively awed and delighted by what he is capable of. Once he understands what he needs to do for approaching to the much higher gamer level of Molotov Girl, he goes all the way without any inhibition, and his exponential rise in the game soon comes to draw the attention of millions of online users around the world.

After Guy saves her game avatar from her latest peril, Millie finds herself attracted to his sweet and earnest sides while having no idea on his true identity, and we accordingly get an amusing romantic scene where they come to have a little sweet time together. Even when she belatedly comes to learn that Guy is actually the outcome of the digital evolution of what she and Walter created, Millie still cares a lot about Guy, and she becomes determined to save him and his world when her evil opponent attempts to cover up his intellectual theft by any means necessary.

During its last act, the movie throws lots of actions into the screen as expected, and that is the point where it becomes less entertaining than before. You may be tickled by a heap of cultural references including the one associated with the brief appearance by a certain recognizable actor, but the climax part of the film still feels overlong and predictable on the whole, and its handling of Guy and Millie’s emotional matter is rote and contrived while not giving us much surprise in the end.

At least, the movie is not boring thanks to the good comic chemistry between its two lead performers. Even before “Deadpool” (2016) and its 2018 sequel, Ryan Reynolds showed his considerable comic side in Marjane Satrapi’s morbid comedy film “The Voices” (2014), and he deftly handles several uproarious moments in the film while also giving a bit of gravitas to his likable character. As his counterpart, Jodie Comer, who has been mainly known for her Emmy-winning turn in British TV drama series “Killing Eve”, ably complements Reynolds whenever they share the screen together, and her performance surely brings some necessary spirit to the movie like Reynolds’.

In case of the supporting cast members in the film, they are mostly stuck in thankless functional roles. While Joe Keery and Utkarsh Ambudkar are wasted due to their flat supporting characters, Taika Waititi chews his every moment a little too much as the main villain of the story, and Lil Rel Howery, a gifted comedy actor of whom I have grown fond as watching his several small but notable supporting turns in “Get Out” (2017) and “Judas and the Black Messiah” (2021), steals the show as usual even though he is only required to play your average best friend character.

Directed by Shawn Levy, who is mainly known for “Night at the Museum” (2006) and its two following sequels, “Free Guy” is competent enough to engage us during its 115-minute running time, but it does not distinguish itself enough due to the glaring lack of its own style and personality. Although it turns out to be a bit better than I expected when I watched its trailer in last year (It is one of many Hollywood blockbuster movies whose theatrical release was postponed for more than one year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, by the way), it does not linger much on my mind, and my mind is already readying itself for anything more impressive or entertaining.

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Vivo (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Not as colorful or lively as its music background

Posted on August 10, 2021 by kaist455

Netflix animation film “Vivo”, which was released on last Friday, is not as colorful or memorable as required by its music background, and that is a shame considering a number of notable talented folks assembled here for its production. While it is often buoyed by its fairly commendable songs, the film does not have enough style and personality for being more than a merely passable musical story, and my mind kept going back to several better alternatives while not caring that much about its weak characters and predictable storyline.

The opening part of the film, which is set in Havana, Cuba, is engaging thanks to an odd but interesting pairing of two different talented artists. While Lin-Manuel Miranda, who has been a big household name to many of us thanks to his Broadway mega hit “Hamilton”, is jolly in his spirited voice performance as a kinkajou named Vivo, Juan de Marcos González, a Cuban musician who has been a key member of the Buena Vista Social club, effortlessly brings warmth and wisdom to Vivo’s old, hearty musician owner Andrés, and their distinctive voice actings complement well each other when they perform the first musical number scene in the film together.

Since he happened to be found and then raised by Andrés several years ago, Vivo has been Andrés’s dependable musical partner, and he has been pretty content with his life with Andrés, but there comes an unexpected news for Andrés. Many years ago, Andrés was quite close to a young talented female singer named Marta (voiced by Gloria Estefan, who is another inspiring casting choice in the film), and she was also in love with him even though they did not express their mutual feeling that much. When Marta subsequently left for US for a bigger career success promised to her, Andrés did not stop her at all because he did not want to stand on her way to success, and that seemed to be the end of their love story as many years passed, but, what do you know, Marta still does not forget Andrés at all as shown from the invitation letter for her upcoming farewell concert to be held in Miami, Florida.

Understandably excited and delighted by Marta’s invitation, Andrés promptly embarks on preparing a special song to be performed by Marta, and Vivo reluctantly supports Andrés’ decision to travel to Miami, but, alas, Andrés suddenly dies not long after that. Vivo subsequently mourns for Andrés’ untimely death along with many folks who enjoyed Andrés’ music in their neighborhood, and that is how Vivo comes across Andrés’ American grand-niece Gabi (voiced by Ynairaly Simo), who has just come to Havana along with her mother Rosa (voiced by Zoe Saldana) for attending Andrés’ memorial.

When he learns that Gabi and Rosa are from Key West, Florida and will soon go back there, Vivo decides to stow away to Florida via their return trip. Once he arrives in Key West, it looks like all he will have to do is going to Miami for meeting Marta by any means necessary, but, of course, things get a bit complicated when he is discovered by Gabi, who becomes quite enthusiastic about helping Vivo once she sees what he is trying to do. Although her mother, who is as forceful and stubborn as just like her daughter, expects her to join those local girl scout troopers selling cookies out there, Gabi wants to pay more attention to music as remembering her absent father, and helping Vivo certainly looks like a big exciting adventure to this plucky ebullient girl.

At first, it seems that their adventure will not be that long because all they need is a bus ride to Miami, but, of course, the situation soon becomes quite complicated when Gabi and Vivo come across a trio of sassy girl scout troopers, who become very zealous about taking Vivo away from Gabi as following their strong eco-friendly belief. While trying to evade these girl scout troopers, Gabi and Vivo inadvertently get themselves stranded in the middle of the wetland area of the Everglades, and it does not take much time for them to realize how dangerous it is to wander around in such a vast remote wildlife region like that.

This interlude part feels rather redundant in my humble opinion, but it is not entirely without amusement. You may be amused a bit by the scene involved with a pair of roseate spoonbills voiced by Brian Tyree Henry and Nicole Byer, and the mood becomes a bit tense when Vivo later encounters a giant anaconda voiced by Michael Rooker, who has a little small fun with his character’s vicious nature despite being under-utilized even compared to his brief recent appearance at the beginning of “The Suicide Squad” (2021).

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Vivo and Gabi eventually come to find a way to arrive in Miami right before Marta’s farewell concert is started, and we surely get a moment of poignancy as Marta is doing what her old lover wanted for years, but the screenplay by director Kirk DeMicco and his co-writer Quiara Alegría Hudes, who previously collaborated with Miranda in “In the Heights” (2021), suffers from its rote storytelling and thin characterization. In case of a number of songs written by Miranda, they are as good as you can expect, but I doubt whether you will hum them as much as the key songs from “Hamilton” and “In the Heights” – or his Oscar-nominated song for Disney animation film “Moana” (2016).

On the whole, “Vivo” is a bright and cheerful musical animation film decorated with nice musical moments, but it does not leave us much impression in the end, and, though I watched it early in this morning, my mind is already beginning to forget it without much regret. In fact, I would rather recommend Oscar-nominated animation film “Chico & Rita” (2010), which handles not only Cuban music and cultural background but also its own bittersweet tale of star-crossed lovers well with more energy, style, and poignancy. Believe me, you will have a much more productive and entertaining time with that overlooked animation film.

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The Green Knight (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): An unorthodox medieval fantasy tale

Posted on August 7, 2021 by kaist455

David Lowery’s new film “The Green Knight” is an unorthodox medieval fantasy tale you have to experience for yourself. Based on the 14th-century poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, the movie alternatively baffles and amazes you as calmly and thoughtfully delivering one uncanny magical moment to another along its seemingly simple narrative, and the overall result is quite stunning to say the least. To be frank with you, even at this point, I am actually scratching my head on what exactly its key moments are about, but, as reflecting more and more on these sublime moments, I find myself quite willing to experience the whole movie again for more understanding and appreciation.

After the prologue scene which boldly promises something different from usual medieval fantasy tales, the movie promptly introduces us to Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), and we see how this carefree lad happens to get himself involved into a very serious circumstance. Shortly after he comes to the Christmas banquet held inside the court of the king who is also Gawain’s uncle, the banquet is suddenly disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious magical figure called, yes, the Green Knight (Ralph Ineson), and the Green Knight has a challenge to be accepted by any of the king’s knights. If he is struck down by the knight who accepts the challenge during the following duel, that knight will get his green ax in addition to gaining considerable wealth and fame, but, of course, there is a catch (Isn’t it ever?). On the very next Christmas, the Green Knight will wait for that knight at a spot called Green Chapel, and he will give back the exact same blow to that knight.

When all of the king’s noble knights do not come forward, Gawain bravely comes forward instead, but, what do you know, the challenge turns out to be much easier than expected. The Green Knight virtually lets himself decapitated by Gawain, so everyone is relieved for a while, but, not so surprisingly, the Green Knight is promptly revived and then disappears away from the scene, while also reminding Gawain of the inevitable consequence of choosing to accepting his challenge.

As amusingly pointed out to us after that, one year quickly passes, and Gawain is certainly quite depressed about his approaching doom. The next Christmas is approaching day by day, and there is nothing he can do except accepting what is demanded by the Green Knight, so he eventually comes to begin his journey after getting himself prepared by not only his uncle but also his mother. Although his mother incidentally does not get along that well with her brother like her paganism and his Christianity, both she and her brother respectively do as much as they can for Gawain, and we accordingly get an oddly interesting moment of the juxtaposition between two contrasting religions.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that our hero will come across a series of difficulties and plights during his journey, but the Lowery’s screenplay often catches us off guard while leisurely taking its time. As Gawain struggles more and more along his difficult journey, the mood around him becomes increasingly dreamy and hallucinogenic, and we are served with several haunting scenes including the one involved with a young woman and her barren residence. While I am not so sure about what this scene actually means, it is still quite mesmerizing thanks to its ethereal spookiness, and it also become a bit poignant when Gawain does a little brave act of mercy for her.

The movie continued to baffle me more during my viewing, but it still held my attention nevertheless thanks to Lowery’s effortless handling of atmosphere and narrative, and the technical aspects of the movie are simply superlative. While the production design by Jade Healy and the costume design by Malgosia Turzanska are commendable for bringing considerable gritty realism as well as sublime touches of imagination to the movie, cinematographer Andrew Roz Palermo delivers numerous awesome visual moments to behold for mood and details, and these visually impressive moments are further enhanced by the effective medieval score by Daniel Hart, who previously collaborated with Lowery in “Pete’s Dragon” (2016), “A Ghost Story” (2017), and “The Old Man & the Gun” (2019).

As the human center of the movie, Dev Patel, who has steadily advanced since his breakthrough turn in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008), is compelling in his character’s gradual development along the story. While never staying away from his character’s human weaknesses, Patel brings substantial emotional intensity to a number of crucial scenes which depend a lot on his talent and presence, and we come to care more about his character’s supposedly inevitable end – and whether he really has any chance to survive his second encounter with the Green Knight.

Around Patel, Lowery places a number of various notable performers, each of whom has each own moment to shine. While Alicia Vikander has the most fun via her two different roles, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Joel Edgerton, Ralph Ineson, Erin Kellyman, Barry Keoghan, and Sarita Choudhury are also well-cast in their respective roles, and Keoghan, who drew my attention for the first time via his small but memorable supporting role in “’71” (2014), reminds me again that he is one of the most interesting new actors to watch at present.

On the whole, “The Green Knight” is definitely not something you can watch on Sunday afternoon just for casual fun, but it will be a very rewarding experience for you if you are ready for something different from recent fantasy blockbuster films while also understanding well what it boldly attempts to do. In short, this is one of the best films of this year besides being another admirable work from Lowery, and I urge you to check it out as soon as possible.

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Jallikattu (2019) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A mass rampage surrounding one water buffalo

Posted on August 7, 2021 by kaist455

“Jallikattu”, which was selected as India’s submission to Best International Film Oscar in last year, is one hell of experience you have to see for yourself. At first, it simply looks like a merely chaotic absurd comedy revolving around one big silly hunt, but then it is gradually turned into something much more intense and ambitious, and I must tell you that I was quite mesmerized by a number of awesome moments during its last act.

The opening sequence promptly sets the tone of the film along with a series of edgy percussive sounds and disturbing vocal sounds on the soundtrack. Jumping from one close-up shot from another, the movie introduces us to a various bunch of people living in a rural village located in some remote mountain area of Kerala, India, and the repetitive shots of the daily work of a local butcher and his assistant Anthony (Antony Varghese) let us gather how important his routine daily supply of water buffalo meat is to many of village folks.

When the butcher and his assistant are about to slaughter his latest water buffalo during one early morning, a little trouble happens. Although we do not see how that exactly occurs as the camera thankfully observes them from the distance, that water buffalo to be slaughtered runs away anyway, and then it inadvertently causes a big fire in the middle of the village. Once they manage to extinguish the fire in the end, many people in the town soon embark on finding and then killing the water buffalo because they do not want it to cause any more trouble.

However, the situation turns out to be a bit more challenging than expected. While it does not take much time for the village people to find the water buffalo in the forest surrounding the village, the water buffalo keeps evading them, and it continues to cause more troubles in the village. Like “Jaws” (1975) does not show that shark much during its first act, the movie also often restrains itself from showing its water buffalo on the screen, and that is why this water buffalo’s occasional sudden appearance is dramatically effective as shown from one tense action sequence unfolded on the main street of the village.

Anyway, it becomes quite clear to the villagers that they need some more extra help, but the local police officers are not particularly willing to use their firearms just because they are not allowed to do that without any official permission. When a local poacher named Kuttachan (Sabumon Abdusamad) enters the picture later, the villagers are certainly delighted and excited, and this dude, who looks as confident as Robert Shaw’s character in “Jaws”, announces to them that he will track down and then kill the water buffalo within a short time.

However, it is subsequently revealed to us that there is an old grudge between Kuttachan and Antony, and the movie goes back to when Antony worked along with Kuttachan under the local butcher. Because he and Kuttachan were vying with each other for getting the affection of a certain young woman, Antony decided to play dirty a bit, and Kuttachan, who was consequently kicked out of the village at that time, still does not forgive what Antony did to him at that time.

As these two characters frequently conflict with each other, the villagers zealously keep hunting for the water buffalo as before, and the movie steadily accumulates more tension and anxiety on the screen as pushing them further into more frenzy and madness. When a group of people from some other village come later in the story, the mood becomes all the more volatile in the village as these people often clash with some of the villagers, and, again, the local police do not do anything about decreasing the tension among people – until something really serious inevitably happens to their vehicle.

Although it is initially a bit confusing for us as the screenplay by S. Hareesh and R. Jayakumar, which is based on Hareesh’s short story “Maoist”, busily bounces around so many different characters besides Antony and Kuttachan, director Lijo Jose Pellissery and his crew members keep holding our attention via their impressive technical achievements. The cinematography by Girish Gangadharan is astounding in its fluid and masterful camerawork during several impressive extended shots in the film, and the editing by Deepu Joseph dexterously sets the staccato narrative rhythm of the film along with the deliberately blatant score by Prashant Pillai. In case of the water buffalo in the film, I have no idea on how much of it is real or CGI, it functions fairly well as one of the crucial elements in the story, and you may actually come to feel sorry for this unfortunate animal, which does not seem to have any malice at all while simply trying to follow its survival instinct.

So far, I have restrained myself from describing the consequences of the mass human madness so vividly and absurdly depicted in the film. I can only tell you that the movie virtually goes all the way for sheer chaos and horror along with its numerous human characters during the last act, and the result is utterly intense and overwhelming to say the least. I will not go into details here, but, in my humble opinion, what is so strikingly and singularly presented on the screen around the end of the film may be appreciated a lot by Werner Herzog, who once said our civilization is starving for new images.

In conclusion, “Jallikattu” is unforgettable for its stupendous intensity coupled with a dark sense of humor, and it also shows us a bit of another distinctive cultural side of India as one of the recent notable offerings from Malayalam cinema, which is the Indian film industry based in the southern state of Kerala. Yes, as reflected by several scenes in this impressive Mollywood film, there are a considerable number of Christian communities over there, and that will certainly remind you again of what a complex country India really is.

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The Dry (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): A dry but compelling outback mystery thriller

Posted on August 6, 2021 by kaist455

Australian film “The Dry” is a dry but compelling outback mystery thriller to be admired for several good reasons. Besides its solid plot which ably handles its two main mysteries, the movie is fully shrouded in the palpable sense of locations and people, and we find ourselves more immersed into its vast and remote rural background while also wondering more about what will be eventually revealed along the story.

After the calm but chilling opening scene, the movie begins to unfold the story via the viewpoint of a federal agent named Aaron Falk (Eric Bana). Many years ago, Aaron and his father left their rural hometown for some serious incident, but now he is requested to return to his hometown because of the funeral of his close friend, and he does not feel that comfortable about that in addition to being disturbed by the circumstance surrounding his friend’s death. It seems that, for some unknown reason, his friend killed his wife and their young son before committing suicide later, and the town is still reeling from the shock from this horrible incident when Aaron arrives before the funeral.

Although many years have passed since that old incident associated with him, there are some people who do not welcome Aaron’s presence much, and Aaron certainly prefers to leave as soon as possible once the funeral is over, but then he is held by the desperate request from his dead friend’s parents. He is not so sure about whether he can actually do anything for them, but he has no choice but to accept their request mainly because the dead friend’s father knows something about that old incident.

As Aaron reluctantly embarks on unofficially helping the investigation supervised by the local police sergeant, we get a series of flashback scenes showing the relationships among Aaron, his dead friend, and two girls who were close to them. Around that time when that old incident occurred, these four kids frequently hung around with each other outside, but then one of these two girls was found dead at a spot where they usually spent time together. For a reason to be revealed later in the story, Aaron was instantly regarded as the prime suspect, so he lied along with his friend for avoiding getting arrested, though their lie did not help him that much even though he was not arrested in the end.

While he looks around here and there for his informal investigation, Aaron comes to see that his dark past remains much alive in the town. That dead girl’s father and her cousin recognize Aaron with instant malice and hostility, and they do not have anything good to say about Aaron’s dead friend either. In case of Gretchen (Genevieve O’Reilly), who was the other girl in the group, she seems to be glad to see Aaron again, but it also looks like she has something she would rather not tell him for now.

Meanwhile, Aaron begins to sense a number of questionable things about the circumstance surrounding his friend’s death. There is a little but suspicious matter involved with shotgun shells supposedly used by his friend for killing himself as well as his two family members, and then Aaron subsequently discovers something which can be a crucial clue pointing at a certain person in the town. Is it possible that his friend and his two family members were actually murdered by someone else? If so, what was the actual motive behind that?

Deftly going back and forth between its two main mysteries, the screenplay by director/co-producer Robert Connolly and his co-writer Harry Cripps, which is based on the novel of the same name by Jane Harper, gradually throws more intrigue and tension into the story, and the movie holds our attention further with its vivid and distinctive local atmosphere, which is conveyed mainly via the calm but ominous shots of wide landscapes dried by many days of drought. As already shown from many other notable films including “Walkabout” (1971) and “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (1975), there is always something quite uncanny about the outback region of Australia, and cinematographer Stefan Duscio did a commendable job of capturing that striking quality well on the screen.

What is finally revealed during the last act of the film may not surprise you that much especially if you are an avid reader of mystery novels like me, but the movie keeps engaging us as before, and it is also supported well by the solid performances from its main cast members. Although he has been less prominent during last several years, Eric Bana, who also serves as one of the producers of the movie, is still a good actor as before, and his effective low-key lead performance carries us well from the beginning to the end of the story. In case of the other cast members, Genevieve O’Reilly brings some warmth to her several key scenes with Bana, and Keir O’Donnell is also fine as a local police officer who may not be so good in his job but does care about doing as much as he can about his latest case.

I must confess that I did not expect that much when I watched “The Dry” at last night. I felt rather tired right after watching “The Suicide Squad” (2021), but then I was surprised as finding myself intrigued and invigorated a lot by its mood, storytelling, and performance, and I eventually felt more satisfied with it than “The Suicide Squad”. To be frank with you, I think you will have a more productive time if you watch this modest but competent genre piece instead of “The Suicide Squad”, and I assure you that you will not be disappointed at all.

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The Suicide Squad (2021) ☆☆1/2 (2.5/4): More or less than adding “The”

Posted on August 6, 2021 by kaist455

I observed “The Suicide Squad” with occasional mild amusement while not feeling much care or enthusiasm. As the sequel to one of the most disappointing entries in DC Extended Universe (DCEU), it is definitely an improvement in comparison in many aspects, and I could discern that the cast and crew members of the movie clearly had some fun during its production, but the movie did not click that well with me nonetheless, mainly because I found myself often displeased about its blatantly mean and vicious sides instead of embracing and enjoying them like many critics and audiences.

During the opening sequence, the movie does a sort of cleaning job in a spectacularly gory and violent way. Under the command of Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), a bunch of nasty criminals including Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) are pushed into an extremely perilous mission set up by their ruthless supervisor Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), and we get to know these figures a bit as they are sent to some small South American island country, but then, what do you know, most of them turn out to be not only expendable but also quite inconsequential in Waller’s cold-blooded scheme.

Anyway, we are soon introduced to the real team to accomplish the mission, which is led by Robert DuBois/Bloodsport (Idris Elba), a notorious mercenary who reluctantly accepts a deal with Waller due to his adolescent daughter’s recent legal trouble. He is accompanied with Christopher Smith/Peacemaker (John Cena), Abner Krill/Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2 (Daniel Melchoir), and Nanaue/King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), and it goes without saying that he and these four other criminals do not get along that well with each other right from when they are gathered together for the first time.

Their mission looks pretty simple on the surface. That South American island country, which was recently turned upside down by a big military coup d’état, happens to have a top-secret facility, and this facility has something which should not tumble into the wrong hands at any chance. Therefore, they must infiltrate into that facility and then destroy everything associated with its clandestine project before the new leader of the country, who incidentally does not like the American government that much, takes the full control of whatever is hidden inside the facility.

While DuBois and his problematic team members safely infiltrate into the island without much trouble, the situation becomes a bit more complicated than expected, and they keep having troubles in working with each other. While Dubois and Smith come to conflict a lot with each other on who should lead the team, Krill and Cazo are still struggling with their respective parental issues, and, as a humongous shark monster, Nanaue often cannot help but driven by his carnivorous nature.

Director/writer James Gunn, who previously directed “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) and its 2017 sequel, is no stranger to handling a bunch of oddball comic book characters, and the first half of the movie generates some good laughs from the disharmonious interactions among DuBois and his team members. There is a cheerfully violent scene where DuBois and Smith zealously compete with each other on eliminating a bunch of soldiers around them, and, depending on your taste, you will wince or laugh as beholding their casual killings. I was also amused a bit by DuBois’ aversion to a certain aspect of Cazo’s ability, and you may appreciate how the movie later delivers a big payoff moment to this.

During its second half, the movie throws lots of actions into the screen as expected, but, alas, that is the point where its level of fun begins to be decreased. Except the escape sequence driven by one of its main characters, many of key action scenes in the film feel rather unimpressive and pedestrian without enough wit or style to engage and thrill us, and the obligatory climatic sequence does not work as well as intended due to the incoherent mix of comedy, action, and a bit of certain genre element which incidentally takes me back to Gunn’s deliberately gross B-horror film “Slither” (2006). In addition, the movie is sometimes too mean and vicious to be compensated by its irreverent comedy, and it eventually left me with bad tastes even though I understood its intention of being as edgy and naughty as its main characters.

At least, the main cast members of the film fill their broad characters with considerable personality. Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, and Viola Davis dutifully fill their respective spots as required, and, as before, Robbie plays her cheerfully deranged character with gusto, though I must point out that her character was much more fun and interesting to watch in “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” (2020). In case of the other main cast members, Idris Elba is intense as usual while also demonstrating his comic talent, and he is supported well by John Cena, David Dastmalchian, Peter Capaldi, Daniel Melchoir, and Sylvester Stallone, who surely has more lines to say than Vin Diesel in “Guardians of the Galaxy”.

Overall, “The Suicide Squad” succeeds in cleaning up the mess left by its predecessor, but it is less entertaining than “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” or “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” (2021). I gave these two films three stars while giving two stars to “Suicide Squad” (2016), so I give “The Suicide Squad” 2.5 stars, but I think you will enjoy it more than me if you are not as tired of uncharacteristic superhero films as I have been these days.

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Pig (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Where is his pig?

Posted on August 4, 2021 by kaist455

“Pig” is as simple as its very title suggests, but it somehow came to hold my attention for not only what it is about but also how it is about. Mainly driven by its solitary hero’s quiet but strong determination, this little existential arthouse thriller film gave me a number of humble but thoughtful moments to savor and reflect on, and, above all, it is firmly anchored by one of the best performances in its leading actor’s bumpy career full of ups and downs.

The movie consists of three acts, and the first act introduces us to Rob (Nicholas Cage), a shabby reclusive dude residing alone in the middle of a remote forest area of Oregon. His main source of income is those wild truffles to be dug from the underground of the forest, and, yes, he has a little foraging pig to accompany and assist him during his routine truffle hunt in the forest.

As phlegmatically observing him going through his simple daily life, the movie lets us gather how much Rob cares a lot about his pig. Besides little treats to be given to it during the truffle hunt, he cooks a fairly nice meal for his pig with care and attention, and, as he quietly watches it eating that freshly prepared meal, we come to sense that his pig is more than a very good living tool for his truffle hunt.

Rob’s only connection with the world outside is Amir (Alex Wolff), a cocky urban lad who comes to Rob’s forest cabin by his fancy yellow sports car. He has worked as a supplier of those expensive cooking ingredients such as truffle, and Rob has been one of his most important sources of income, though they are not particularly close to each other despite a little connection between Amir’s family and Rob revealed later in the story.

Anyway, not long after their latest meeting, something unexpected happens to Rob on one day. A couple of figures suddenly break into his cabin, and they steal his pig before knocking him down with a blunt instrument. When he manages to regain his consciousness some later time, these intruders are already gone with his pig, and, despite the injury on his head, he soon becomes quite determined to retrieve his pig.

Now this looks like a setup not so far from a number of recent action flicks ranging from “John Wick” (2014) to “Nobody” (2021), but the screenplay by director/writer Michael Sarnoski, which is based on the story written by him and Vanessa Block, does not hurry itself at all. When it seems that he needs some help and assistance, Rob calls Amir without hesitation, and Amir soon finds himself taking Rob to a nearby city despite his reluctance.

It looks like Rob’s pig was taken to some rich dude who has coveted it for a good reason, and Rob turns out to be capable of pulling some strings for more information and tips, though that requires some effort and strength from him at one point. When a certain underground figure declines to help him, Rob later shows how much he is determined to find his pig, and we accordingly get a tense and striking moment of suffering and endurance.

As the movie enters the second act, we get to know a bit more about Rob via Amir and several other characters who know him. While Rob is not someone like John Wick at all, we gradually come to gather that he was once at the top of his professional field before he walked away from his career and reputation for some personal reason. During his encounter with a certain dude who once worked under him many years ago, he quietly but sharply reminds that dude of how that dude’s life has lost what is really important in exchange of fame and success, and every word from his plain but deep wisdom strikes that dude hard while also making us reflect more on our own life. After all, many of us also often get lost in our life as blindly pursuing success and other superficial stuffs like that, don’t we?

So far, I have tried to be as vague as possible about Rob’s former profession. Although you will probably guess it right from the beginning of the first act of the movie, I will let you discover it for yourself and then observe how it is subtly developed into a crucial plot element in the third act, which mainly revolves around, this is not a spoiler at all, the figure who supposedly has Rob’s pig now. Firmly sticking to its calm and pensive mood as usual under Sarnoski’s confident direction, the movie delivers a modest but powerful dramatic moment when Rob fully demonstrates his particular set of skills.

Although he has often wasted his time on a bunch of bad movies during more than two decades, Nicholas Cage is still one of the most talented actors working in Hollywood, and the movie gives him a wonderful opportunity for reminding us of that undeniable fact. While he can go quite wild as shown from “Mandy” (2018) and “Color Out of Space” (2019), Cage can also dial down his usual intensity as shown from “Joe” (2013), and he is simply fantastic here as subtly and masterfully depicting his austere character’s humanity and resilience. In case of a few substantial performers around Cage, they duly occupy their small spots around him, and Alex Wolff is commendable in how he duly complements Cage without stealing the spotlight from him at all.

On the whole, “Pig”, which is incidentally Sarnoski’s first feature film, is an exceptional piece of work, and its modest but undeniably haunting qualities have grown me a lot after I watched it at last night. In my inconsequential opinion, this is one of the best films I saw during this year, and I assure you that you will be impressed by its simple but sublime aspects once you give it a chance.

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Pray Away (2021) ☆☆1/2 (2.5/4): How they damaged others out there

Posted on August 3, 2021 by kaist455

Netflix documentary film “Pray Away”, which is released on this Tuesday, mainly focuses on several survivors and former leaders of gay conversion therapy groups in US. Although it does not go that deep into many horrors and tragedies of gay conversion therapy, the documentary gives us a fairly good presentation of the deeply toxic aspects of gay conversion therapy, and it is often chilling to see how persistent gay conversion therapy is even at present.

During the early part of the documentary, several interviewees including Randy Thomas, who was one of the board members of a prominent American Christian gay conversion therapy group named Exodus, tell us about the early years of Exodus in the late 1970s. During that time, homosexuality was still regarded as a mental illness by many people including those influential Christian evangelists. Many LGBTQ people in churches naturally felt quite conflicted between their sexuality and faith, and their growing problem eventually led to the foundation of Exodus, which confidently promised many of them the salvation via being converted to heterosexuality.

As religiously devoted people, the leaders of Exodus did not have much doubt on whether they were actually doing right things, but they were seriously under-qualified as ‘therapists’. For example, most of them did not have any professional therapy qualification, and their so-called psychological theories on homosexuality were silly and ludicrous to say the least. They usually blamed bad parenting or relationship problems with parents, and that only made those therapy recipients feel all the worse about themselves.

Nevertheless, Exodus kept increasing its influence during next several decades as drawing more people willing to be converted, and, as some of you know, it even had a number of representatives who proudly presented themselves as “ex-gays” in public. In case of John Paulk, he was the shining emblem of gay conversion therapy as an ex-gay man who was not only saved by his Christian belief but also married an ex-lesbian woman, and it did not take much time for him to become the top spokesperson of Exodus.

Paulk, who is now living with his male partner at present, shows lots of regret and guilt during his interview, and the same thing can be said about Yvette Cantu Schneider, a bisexual woman who was another key figure of Exodus as an “ex-lesbian”. At that time when she came to join Exodus, she simply wanted some emotional comfort and support after watching many deaths caused by AIDS in the 1980s, but then she let herself live the life of lie and denial, and, just like many of her Exodus colleagues, she also caused more unhappiness and misery out there.

In case of Julia Rogers, her story is a heartbreaking tale of the cycle of emotional abuse. She came out to her conservative Christian mother when she was 16, but, not so surprisingly, she was quickly sent to a gay conversion therapy group associated with Exodus. After she was eventually “converted” by its leader, she subsequently found herself giving speeches for many other gay conversion therapy groups, and she remembers one particularly painful moment when she was persuaded to talk about a painful experience of sexual assault just for more emotional appeal in her speech.

Around the 2000s, Exodus and its numerous affiliates expanded its social influence further as being closely associated with many powerful conservative politicians including President George W. Bush, and its annual conference continued to draw more people as usual. Although homosexuality was not regarded as a mental illness anymore around that time, there were many opportunistic therapists eager to capitalize on gay conversion therapy, and Exodus and its affiliates did not mind using those scoundrels’ pseudo-psychology theories on homosexuality just because they would make gay conversion therapy look much more justified than before.

However, as the protests for the civil rights of LGBTQ people were continued on the opposite end, the American society and its people came to accept homosexuality more than before, and Thomas and many other figures of Exodus belatedly opened their eyes to the sins they had committed for years. After attending a group meeting of gay conversion therapy survivors, Thomas quit Exodus due to his growing guilt and regret, and Exodus was eventually shut down as more and more survivors came forward with their deep emotional scars and pains.

Nevertheless, as shown at the end of the documentary, gay conversion therapy has not been stopped at all in US even at this point, and this alarming status is mainly reflected via one ex-LGBTQ Christian group led by an ex-transgender guy named Jeffrey McCall, who seems to believe quite firmly that he was really converted by his religious faith. As one of the interviewees in the documentary points out, gay conversion therapy will never go away as long as there is hate toward LGBTQ people, and it is alternatively depressing and alarming to watch people like McCall continue to spread more misery and unhappiness in the name of faith and conformity.

On the whole, “Pray Away”, which is directed and co-produced by Kristine Stolakis, is rather uneven and unfocused as juggling too many different narratives within its 101-minute running time, but it is not entirely without merit. To be frank with you, it will probably not enlighten you that much if you have ever seen “Boy Erased” (2018) or “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” (2018), but I sincerely hope that its Netflix release will lead to more conversation on its relevant main subject.

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No Sudden Move (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A solid twisty crime noir by Steven Soderbergh

Posted on August 3, 2021 by kaist455

Steven Soderbergh’s new film “No Sudden Move” is a dry but twisty crime noir film to be savored and appreciated for a number of good reasons. While its plot is surely as amusingly convoluted as you can expect from its genre territory, the movie also skillfully handles it with considerable mood and efficiency, and it keeps us engaged from the beginning to the end even though we often struggle to grasp its complicated big picture.

The opening scene, which is intercut with a series of old photographs, sets the tone of the movie, which is set in Detroit, 1954. As David Holmes’ cheerful score is played on the soundtrack, we are introduced to an African American ex-con named Curt Goynes (Don Chaedle), and we soon see him being recruited for a shady blackmail job by a guy named Doug Jones (Brendan Fraser). All Goynes needs to do is going to the suburban house of some company accountant along with other two guys and then holding that accountant’s family in hostage for a while, and Goynes agrees to do that mainly because he really needs some cash for leaving the city as soon as he can.

At first, his job looks like an easy task to be done within several hours. Shortly after meeting his two accomplices, Ronald (Benicio del Toro) and Charley (Kieran Culkin), Goynes and these two criminals enter the accountant’s residence and hold the accountant’s family at gunpoint without much difficulty. Although he is quite baffled by what is happening to him and his family right now, Matt Wertz (David Harbour) complies with the gangs’ demand anyway, and he subsequently leaves the house along with Charley for getting something important which has been incidentally stored in his workplace.

Of course, as many of you have already expected, the circumstance soon becomes a lot more complicated than Goynes and his accomplices expected. I will not reveal more to you here, but I can tell you instead that Goynes finds himself not only sandwiched between two certain powerful criminal figures in the town but also pursued by Detective Joe Finney (Jon Hamm), who instantly senses something fishy right from when he enters the picture later.

Despite his increasingly perilous circumstance, Goynes decides to take more risk as being determined to get to the bottom of the situation. While he and Roland, who also inadvertently gets himself involved more with Goynes, attempt to find out who is really behind everything, the screenplay by Ed Solomon accordingly throws more plot elements into the story. For instance, Wertz turns out to have a pretty messy private matter behind his clean-cut appearance, and, as he keeps trying to get things under control, that puts more strain on his relationship with his wife Mary (Amy Seimetz), who has apparently known what her husband has been hiding behind his back.

In the meantime, that important object in question is gradually revealed to be much more than a mere MacGuffin, and we consequently come to regard the story from a wider perspective while also reflecting more on the importance of its period background. Around the narrative point where Goynes and Roland finally confront the figure at the top of their complex situation, the movie becomes a little preachy, but Solomon’s screenplay does not lose any of its edgy wit and humor at least, and it surely has several nice surprises to be unfolded as arriving at its neat ending.

As usual, Soderbergh serves as the unofficial cinematographer/editor of the film, and his distinctively lean and efficient handling of mood, story, and characters keeps things rolling even when we are confused as much as some of the main characters in the film. Although the production budget of the film was only around 8 million dollars, the movie is decorated with enough period mood, and Soderbergh also makes an interesting visual choice via fisheye lens, which feels a bit too distracting to our eyes at first but somehow works as a part of the style of the film.

The movie is packed with various performers having each own fun with their respective characters, most of whom are broad but vivid characters to remember. As the main center of the film, Don Cheadle ably holds the ground with his calm but intense performance, which incidentally makes a good contrast to his volatile breakthrough turn in Carl Franklin’s overlooked crime noir film “Devil in a Blue Dress” (1995). As his accidental accomplice who is not that clever in comparison, Benicio del Toro gives a laconic deadpan performance to complement Cheadle’s, and Brendan Fraser, Ray Liotta, Kieran Culkin, and Bill Duke are also solid as several other substantial criminal figures in the story. In case of the other notable cast members in the film, David Harbour, who has steadily impressed us since his Emmy-nominated supporting turn in Netflix series “Stranger Things”, is terrific as a pathetic man stuck in the situation way over his head, and Jon Hamm, Amy Seimetz, Julia Fox, and Noah Jupe did a good job of filing their small supporting parts with some life and personality.

Although he announced his retirement around the time when “Side Effects” (2013) and “Behind the Candelabra” (2013) came out, Soderbergh returned a few years later with “Logan Lucky” (2017), and he has diligently worked since then as cranking out a series of enjoyable films including Netflix film “High Flying Bird” (2019). “No Sudden Move” is certainly another nice work from him, and you should check it out if you admire his recent productive period as much as I did.

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