The Little Things (2020) ☆☆(2/4): A mediocre police procedural with wasted talents

Posted on February 20, 2021 by kaist455

“The Little Things” is a bland and trite police procedural which disappoints us a lot because of several reasons. While it is mostly slick and competent on the surface, its story is another run-of-the-mill noir drama about flawed detective heroes, and its characters do not have much depth to hold our attention despite the efforts from its three distinguished main cast members who certainly deserve better than this in my inconsequential opinion.

After the chilling opening scene involved with a young woman who suddenly finds herself in a terrifying situation in the middle of one night, the movie, which is incidentally set in California, 1990, introduces us to Joe “Deke” Deacon (Denzel Washington), a middle-aged man who has worked as a Deputy Sheriff of Kern County. On one day, Deacon is ordered to go to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and then retrieve some important police evidence from there, and that looks like a simple job to be done within a day, but then he finds himself staying longer than expected in the Los Angeles County due to a minor procedural problem.

As Deacon meets his several old colleagues who are still working in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, we gradually get to gather that he was once one of the most brilliant cops working there. Not so surprisingly, he is later taken to a recently discovered crime scene where he may give some useful insight or observation, and he surely shows others that he is still a good detective who can notice little things to help solving the case, which is incidentally the brutal and bloody murder of a young woman who lived alone in her apartment,

Looking around the crime scene, Deacon comes to notice that there are considerable similarities between this murder case and an old unsolved one which has haunted his mind for years as reflected by occasional flashback shot shots. As a matter of fact, this murder case may be the latest strike from a mysterious serial killer who has terrorized the county during last several months, and Deacon is convinced that this serial killer is the suspect he tried but eventually failed to find at that time.

Although that failure of his led to bitter outcomes in his life as well as his career, Deacon becomes determined to find and then catch the killer who is still out there, and we see how he works on that personal task step by step. Once he gets a small clue which looks rather inconsequential but may be quite crucial, he promptly follows that clue, and that eventually leads him to the discovery of a possible prime suspect.

In the meantime, the movie also focuses on Detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), a young cop who has been in the charge of the investigation of the ongoing serial murder. Although he initially does not welcome much Deacon, Baxter gradually comes to appreciate the extra help from Deacon, and he even invites Deacon to his family home for a little early breakfast. When another young woman is gone missing, Baxter is more pressured than before as also coming to care more about the case, and he becomes more willing to examine that possible prime suspect found by Deacon.

However, director/writer/co-producer John Lee Hancock’s screenplay begins to falter around the narrative point where that prime suspect in question enters the picture as required. As Deacon and Baxter try to find any concrete evidence to arrest their prime suspect, the prime suspect, who looks quite suspicious to say the least, seems to be enjoying all the attentions from Deacon and Baxter, and what follows next is a predictable cat-and-mouse game between them and their prime suspect. While there are several suspenseful moments, there is much surprise for us as they are handled in rote and contrived ways, and we are not so surprised even when we later come to learn more of why Deacon is so haunted by his old case.

Even though their characters are more or less than mere plot elements, the three main cast members of the movie try as much as they can do for filling their respective roles. Ably embodying his character’s dogged determination, Denzel Washington did an admirable job of conveying to us his character’s darkness, and I like how he brings some nuances to a certain small but crucial scene between his character and a supporting character who was deeply involved in handling his old case. While he is stuck in a thankless counterpart role to complement Washington’s character, Rami Malek is convincing in the gradual accumulation of anger and frustration inside his character, and it is a shame that the movie does not utilize his talent more. As the prime suspect in the story, Jared Leto, who was inexplicably nominated for this movie by the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild several weeks ago, looks as sleazy and creepy as demanded, but there is really nothing he can do besides that, and, to be frank with you, he frequently tries too much for covering that.

Overall, “The Little Things” does not impress me much due to its weak storytelling and thin characterization, and my mind keeps going back to a number of better movies such as David Fincher’s “Se7en” (1995) and “Zodiac” (2007), which are still around the top of their genre field even after many years since they respectively came out. Compared to these two excellent films, “The Little Things” is merely little and insignificant, and I assure you that you do not have to bother at all.

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Godmothered (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): She comes a bit too late…

Posted on February 20, 2021 by kaist455

“Godmothered”, which was released on Disney+ in last December, is a lightweight fantasy movie which turns out to be a bit better than expected. While it is surely reminiscent of another Disney fantasy film “Enchanted” (2007) in many aspects, the movie cheerfully bounces from one funny comic moment to another, and it is also supported well by the presence and talent of its two very good comic actresses.

Jillian Bell, who previously drew my attention with her funny performance in “Brittany Runs a Marathon” (2019) and “Sword of Trust” (2019), plays Eleanor, a young and plucky student living in a fantasy world named Motherland. For many years, Eleanor and other students have studied under their teacher Moira (Jane Curtin), and she is eager to be a certified fairy godmother someday, but, alas, everyone else knows too well that their school is on the verge of being shut down along with Motherland as there has not been much demand of their magical service these days. While trying to keep going as much as possible, Moira is not so particularly enthusiastic about teaching her students, and most of her students do not expect much from her while cynically waiting for their upcoming occupational transition.

Nevertheless, Eleanor does not give up at all as heartily supported by her close friend Agnes (June Squibb). When it looks like she must do anything for saving her school and Motherland, Eleanor looks into an abandoned old archive containing lots of written requests for fairy godmother, and, what do you know, she eventually comes across a touching letter from a little girl living in Boston, Massachusetts. Fully convinced that helping that girl in question will help not only her but also Motherland, Eleanor promptly walks into a portal leading to our world, though she has not fully learned and mastered her magical power yet.

It goes without saying that Eleanor is quite disoriented and confused right from when she manages to arrive at a spot not so far from Boston. Her cheerful innocence, which is not that different from that of Amy Adams’ fairy tale heroine in “Enchanted”, surely baffles several people she happens to encounter on her way to that little girl in Boston, and Bell is effortless in her character’s many comic mistakes and misinterpretations. 

Anyway, Eleanor finally arrives at where she can find that little girl, but it turns out that she came a bit too late, because that little girl is now a single mother who has been busy with her work as well as raising her two kids alone. When she meets Eleanor for the first time, Mackenzie (Isla Fisher) initially thinks Eleanor is a sort of joke, but she subsequently comes to see that Eleanor is really a fairy godmother she requested many years ago, and she eventually takes Eleanor to her family residence as it is apparent that Eleanor will probably not survive even one night alone outside.   

Mackenzie wants Eleanor to stay low as much as possible in the basement, but Eleanor soon embarks on making the mood of house a little cheerier than before, and she also meets Eleanor’s two kids and older sister, who all welcome Eleanor after beholding her magical power. Thanks to her, their house becomes much more colorful than before, and they come to have a stray raccoon willing to be a bit of help in taking care of domestic matters.

Meanwhile, Eleanor accompanies Mackenzie while Mackenzie is working outside, and she instantly sees that there is some attraction between Mackenzie and one of her co-workers. She sincerely attempts to help generating more attraction between Mackenzie and that dude, but, of course, that only leads to a series of hilarious moments including the one involved with a video footage clip which later goes viral on the Internet.

The situation becomes a little more serious than before when Moira belatedly comes to learn of where Eleanor is and what she is doing now, but the screenplay by Kari Granlund and Melissa Stack continues to maintain its sweet and cheerful spirit as developing its main characters more along the story. While Mackenzie and her family come to reveal the personal sadness still around them, Eleanor later comes to reflect on what exactly she is attempting to do, and, around the expected climactic moment involved with one of Mackenzie’s kids, we accordingly get a nice moment of mutual lesson between our world and Eleanor’s fantasy world.

Now this is surely predictable to the core, but director Sharon Maguire did a competent job of presenting the story and characters with enough humor and sincerity, and it is entertaining to watch how Bell and her co-star deftly complement with each other. Isla Fisher, who has always been fun to watch since her uproarious supporting turn in “Wedding Crashers” (2005), dutifully sets the ground for Bell’s showier acting, and she and Bell are also supported well by a number of good performers including Jane Curtin, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Santiago Cabrera, Artemis Pebdani, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and June Squibb, who steals the show every time she appears on the screen.  

In conclusion, “Godmothered” is your average wholesome Disney product for family audiences, but it is charming and engaging enough to earn some good laughs at least. It may not be that refreshing, but it is still enjoyable thanks to the game efforts from Bell and Fisher, and I think you should give it a chance before this winter is over.

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Those Who Remained (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Between two different war survivors

Posted on February 14, 2021 by kaist455

“Those Who Remained”, which was the Hungarian entry for Best International Feature Film Oscar and then made the December shortlist in 2019, is a dry and melancholic character drama unfolded between two different survivors of the World War II. Calmly focusing on the gradual development of their strained relationship, the movie slowly and tentatively empathizes with their respective damages from the war, and it also manages to sidestep some uncomfortable aspects of their emotional bond.

At first, we get to know the daily life of Dr. Körner Aladár (Károly Hajduk), a fortysomething Jewish gynecologist who has worked in a local hospital after he survived the Holocaust. Although the movie does not specify what happened to him and his lost family several years ago, it is apparent that Aladár is still haunted by that irreversible loss of his, and he simply prefers to be alone when he returns to his small shabby apartment where he has lived by himself.

On one day, a 16-year-old girl named Wiener Klára (Abigél Szõke) comes to his hospital office along with her grandaunt for medical examination and treatment. It seems she has some adolescent development problem, but that problem is soon solved thanks to Aladár, and Klára approaches to him several days later. Although she is not so pleased with the result of his treatment, she is interested in spending some time with him, and Aladár subsequently lets her into his residence even though he has no particular interest in her at all.

Aladár and Klára simply talk for a while, and then, as her new friend to talk with, he kindly takes her to where she lives with her grandaunt, but then the situation becomes a little more complicated than expected. On the very next day, Klára comes to Aladár’s apartment again, and she notifies to him that she was kicked out of her home by her grandaunt because her grandaunt happened to see them hugging each other for a while before Klára left for her home. After talking a bit with Klára’s grandaunt on the phone, Aladár manages to convince her that there was nothing serious about his physical interaction with Klára, but then, because her grandaunt decides to give her up to some degree, he agrees to have Klára in his apartment as long as she wants to stay there.

After that point, Aladár finds himself getting involved with Klára much more than expected. As becoming her de facto guardian instead of her grandaunt, he meets a number of her schoolteachers who all have been quite frustrated with her wild and willful behaviors in addition to her poor test scores, and he willingly tries to help her a bit on her school study.

Meanwhile, it becomes clearer to us that, as an adolescent girl who becomes more aware of her growing sexuality, Klára wants more than simple comfort from Aladár. During their first night in Aladár’s apartment, she blatantly attempts to get closer to Aladár, but he does not allow that at all with sensible tactfulness, and then we come to sense more of the emotional tension between them as they spend more time with each other in his apartment.

Now the situation could be quite creepy considering the wide age difference between these two main characters in the film, but the screenplay by director Barnabás Tóth and Klára Muhi thoughtfully and sensitively builds up its two main characters and their complex relationship. Regardless of what exactly he feels behind his quiet and taciturn façade, Aladár lets Klára learn more of his traumatic past, and there is a poignant scene when Klára comes to have a moment of empathy on Aladár as a girl who has also struggled a lot with the loss of her dear family members including a younger sibling of hers.

However, the emotional situation between Aladár and Klára remains as tricky as before. While Aladár remains tactful as before despite being a little tenderer to Klára, Klára seems to be quite willing to cross the line as showing more affection and attention to him day by day, and he becomes more nervous even though he cannot help but feel happy to have her right next to him.

And there is a good reason for his growing nervousness. As the country is swept by the Russian communism just like most of Eastern European countries during that period, everyone becomes more cautious and discreet than before, and it goes without saying that there are some people regarding Aladár and Klára with understandable suspicion. At one point later in the story, Aladár is surreptitiously warned by one of his old colleagues, and we subsequently get a tense nocturnal scene where Aladár and Klára come to get an indirect experience of what will possibly happen to them if they are not so careful about their complicated relationship.

Compared to what has been carefully built up along the story, the finale feels rather anti-climactic, but it comes to us as the eventual arrival point for our two main characters, who are deftly embodied by the two lead performers of the film. While Károly Hajduk dutifully holds the ground, Abigél Szõke is relatively more expressive as required by her feisty character, and it is always interesting to watch how they subtly convey to us their contrasting characters’ complex thoughts and feelings churning below the surface.

Overall, “Those Who Remained” may require some patience from you, but it is worthwhile to watch for its mood, details and performance. Yes, it is actually a very familiar tale of human connection, but you may come to appreciate its plain but succinct storytelling while touched by its several quiet but achingly human moments, and it will probably linger on your mind for a while after it is over.

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Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Wacky, wacky, wacky!

Posted on February 14, 2021 by kaist455

There are lots of silly and wacky moments in “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar”, a decidedly absurd comedy film which is surprisingly funny and likable even when it goes all the way for surreal outrageousness and sheer corniness. Considering that it often depends on numerous unexpected gags and jokes popping here and there around its two incorrigibly quirky and chatty heroines, I will be as discreet as possible in my description of its plot, but I strongly recommend you not to read further if you really want to get laughs and guffaws from the movie as much as possible.

The two heroines of the movie in question are Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig), two fortysomething ladies who have been each other’s best female friend since they grew up together in some plain midwestern town. For many years, they have closely worked at some big local furniture shop, and they have even lived together in their cozy current residence since both of them happened to lose their respective husbands some time ago, but, alas, their manager notifies on one day that their workplace will be soon shut down. While they are surely at a loss after hearing this bad news, Star and Barb try to hide this from the members of their private female club, but, not so surprisingly, their attempt only leads to a worse outcome thanks to their irrepressible chattiness.

As they are later comforting each other while concerned a lot about the impending uncertainty in the rest of their life, Barb and Star come to have a bold idea on how to enliven themselves more. There is a wonderful resort area called Vista Del Mar in Florida, and, according to their mutual friend who has recently been there, it looks like a place quite liberating and energizing – especially to women in mid-life crisis like Barb and Star.

Fortunately, Star and Barb can afford to go and then stay there for a while, so they instantly pack up their respective suitcases, and they soon arrive in Vista Del Mar. When they come to a big and posh hotel at which they are supposed to stay, they are greeted by a bunch of employees welcoming them with a big moment of music and dance, and you can easily see that the movie is really ready to do anything to tickle us more and more.

Although it subsequently turns out that there was a serious fault in their room reservation, Star and Barb remain quite optimistic nonetheless, and they soon get luckier than expected as a newly vacated room is offered to them in the end. In addition, they get one wild evening at a hotel bar shortly after meeting a hunky dude named Edgar (Jamie Dornan), and, mainly thanks to a big special cocktail they and this guy drink together, they heedlessly hurl themselves into a series of dizzy but exciting moments accompanied with a certain infamous Oscar-winning song performed by Celine Dion, which has been pretty tiresome to me after I heard it countless times during early 1998 (You know why, by the way).

In the meantime, the movie also focuses on the progression of a certain diabolical plan to be unfolded on the upcoming festival day in Vista Del Mar. As already shown to us at the beginning, Edgar is deeply involved in this evil plan as emotionally attached to its resentful mastermind, and he is fully ready to follow the instruction given to him, but then the situation gets quite complicated as he lets himself associated more with both Barb and Star, who respectively try to attract him while quite oblivious to what he is going to commit sooner or later.

As steadily rolling its main characters further into their increasingly loony circumstance, the screenplay by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, who were previously Oscar-nominated for their witty and hilarious screenplay for “Bridesmaids” (2011), diligently throws one uproarious moment after another, and many of them are quite effective thanks to the priceless comic timing between Wiig and Mumolo, who effectively play against each other as fully understanding their silly but ultimately lovable heroines to the core. Yes, Barb and Star are incorrigible in many aspects, but they are undeniably warm and spirited in addition to being really funny and engaging in their interactions, and you can easily imagine them doing a genuinely entertaining schtick together in Las Vegas. Moreover, their longtime relationship is actually sort of sweet and touching at times, and Wiig and Mumolo ably imbue their characters with some depth even during their silliest moments in the film.

While Wiig and Mumolo are certainly the main show of the movie, several other main cast members revolving around them provide each own juicy moment to be savored. James Dorman, who has been mainly known for “Fifty Shades of Grey” (2015) and its disposable sequels, demonstrates his unexpected comic talent here, and you will admire how willingly he throws himself into many absurd moments while also keeping his acting as straight as possible. As another crucial supporting character who enters the story later, Damon Wayans Jr. ably handles a small running gag given to him, and you will probably be delighted by the brief but very funny cameo appearance of a certain Oscar-nominated actor.

Competently directed by director Josh Greenbaum, “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” amused and entertained me many times during my viewing, and I admire how skillfully Greenbaum, Wiig, and Mumolo present many comic moments in the film with lots of wit, care, and confidence. I must confess that I initially responded to the truly outrageous finale with lots of disbelief, but I also laughed again as gladly going along with that, and now I am hoping for another funny adventure for Barb and Star.

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Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A revolutionary and his traitor

Posted on February 14, 2021 by kaist455

I must confess that I had some prejudice on the Black Panther Party when I was young and wild many years ago. Probably because of that brief comical moment in “Forrest Gump” (1994), I once regarded the Black Panther Party as nothing but a pesky and aggressive political group, but I subsequently got some enlightenment via several films and documentaries including “Night Catches Us” (2010) and “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” (2015), and I have discerned the considerable overlap between the Black Lives Matter movement and what was pursued by the Black Panther Party and some other African American political groups during that turbulent era.

Therefore, Shaka King’s “Judas and the Black Messiah” surely drew my interest as the story about one of the most prominent members of the Black Panther Party and a man who betrayed that person, but, after watching it at last night, I feel rather conflicted about whether it works as well as intended in terms of story and characters. It surely has a fascinating social/historical subject to show and tell us, and I appreciate its sincere efforts, but I must also point out that the result is not always successful dues to several weak aspects about which I will discuss a bit below.

After quickly establishing how things were gloomy and difficult for many African American people during the late 1960s, the movie, which is mainly set in Chicago, promptly moves onto how Bill O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) became an FBI informant around that time. After getting arrested for falsely assuming himself as an FBI agent during his botched robbery attempt, O’Neal is brought to a real FBI agent named Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), and Agent Mitchell gives him an offer he cannot possibly refuse. Instead of going to jail, O’Neal will have to work for Agent Mitchell, and their main target is none other than Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), who has been quite notable as the young and charismatic chairman of the Black Panther Party chapter in Chicago.

Once he infiltrates into the Black Panther Party chapter in Chicago as instructed by Agent Mitchell, O’Neal slowly comes to gain the trust from Hampton and other Black Panther members, and we observe Hampton and his colleagues’ many social/political activities via O’Neal’s viewpoint. In addition to helping and supporting their African American black community more than one way, Hampton and his colleagues also try to unite themselves and various local political groups together for resisting against the power that be, and there is a tense but amusing scene where Hampton and several other Black Panther members boldly come to a meeting full of poor white trash guys for, surprise, solidarity.

As he gradually becomes a key member of the group after Hampton is unjustly arrested and then sentenced to a 5-year imprisonment, O’Neal naturally becomes more nervous about his current status being precariously balanced between FBI and the Black Panther Party, but he only finds himself pushed further by his handler, who is also pushed more by his direct boss and J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen). As your typical bigot, Hoover is quite determined to crush not only Hampton but also the Black Panther Party by any means necessary, and he is already ready to go further around the time when Hampton later gets a temporary release.

This is surely a very tricky situation for O’Neal, but the screenplay by King and his co-writers Will Berson, Kenny Lucas, and Keith Lucas is frustratingly vague and ambiguous about what O’Neal exactly thinks and feels about his supposedly complicated circumstance. At first, he just follows whatever he is told to do by his handler, but then he seems to have some reservation on that as getting to know more of Hampton and the Black Panther Party, though the movie never clarifies his exact position on what is represented by Hampton or many other prominent African American activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X.

Lakeith Stanfield, who has always been an interesting actor to watch since his harrowing supporting turn in “Short Term 12” (2013), tries as much as he can for bringing human qualities to his character, but O’Neal in the film remains to be more or less than a cipher who becomes increasingly distant to us, and his several scenes with Jesse Plemons are perfunctory at best and artificial at worst. Plemons is a good and colorful actor to say the least, but he is unfortunately limited and bleached by his bland supporting role, and the same thing can be said about Martin Sheen, who is utterly unconvincing with lots of makeup in addition to being a glaring case of miscasting.

Fortunately for us, these and other flaws in the film are mostly compensated by the more energetic other half represented by Hampton and his colleagues, and Daniel Kaluuya, a British actor who has been more prominent since his breakout Oscar-nominated turn in Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” (2017), is simply electrifying and compelling in his strong nuanced performance which may garner him an Oscar nomination in next month. In case of the other notable main cast members in the film, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith, and Lil Rel Howery are well-cast in their respective parts, and Fishback is particularly poignant in her few intimate scenes with Kaluuya.

In conclusion, “Judas and the Black Messiah” is not entirely without flaws, but it will make an interesting double feature along with Aaron Sorkin’s recent film “The Trial of Chicago 7” (2020), which incidentally overlaps a bit with “Judas and the Black Messiah”. Although the movie could be improved by more narrative and character development in my humble opinion, I recommend it anyway for the strong performances from Kaluuya and several other main performers, and you may come to reflect more on its important story subject which is still relevant even at present.

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Finding ‘Ohana (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A goofy but sincere Hawaiian family adventure flick

Posted on February 14, 2021 by kaist455

“Finding ‘Ohana”, which was released on Netflix in last week, is a goofy but sincere family adventure flick packed with enough fun and entertainment to hold our attention. While apparently wearing the influences from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) and “The Goonies” (1985) on its sleeves, the movie also tries to distinguish itself via its solid story and characters mixed with lots of cultural mood and details to be appreciated, and the overall result is engaging enough to make us smile and chuckle at those silly but amusing aspects in the film.

The story mainly revolves around Pili (Kea Peahu), a plucky little American girl of Hawaiian heritage who has lived with her mother Leilani (Kelly Hu) and her adolescent older brother Iaone (Alex Aiono) in a Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City for several years since they moved there shortly after her solider father’s death. The opening scene shows her participating in a local treasure hunt competition, and she is certainly excited when she eventually wins the competition, but, alas, instead of going to the Catskills along with her fellow treasure hunters, she ends up visiting Hawaii along with her family due to the deteriorating health condition of her grandfather Kimo (Branscombe Richmond), who has lived alone in his family house located in one of the main Hawaiian islands since his daughter left along with her children.

Both Pili and Ione are not so pleased about going to their grandfather’s house mainly due to the absence of Wi-Fi in the house, but they have no choice but to get accustomed to their current status, and things start to get better for them as they encounter a teenage girl named Hana (Lindsay Watson) and a nerdy little boy named Casper (Owen Vaccaro), who surely have lots of things to tell Pili and Ioane about the Hawaiian culture. While Kimo can be your average cranky old man at times, he is usually nice and hearty to his grandchildren, and Pili becomes enthusiastic when she happens to come across an old notebook belonging to her grandfather, which incidentally contains the information about some old hidden treasure hidden somewhere inside a big mountain in the island.

Although he does not seem to be that amused about his granddaughter’s discovery of his notebook, Kimo is willing to tell her more about the secret history of that treasure in question, and that makes Pili more interested in finding that treasure. When it looks like her mother will have to make a certain difficult financial decision for saving her grandfather’s house, Pili becomes determined to find that treasure as soon as she can, and it goes without saying that not only Casper but also Hana and Ioane come to get involved in her impromptu quest for that treasure.

Now this will surely take you back to the memories of “The Goonies” and those Indiana Jones movies, and I assure you that the movie will not disappoint you at all as throwing several humorous homages to them and other notable adventure flicks here and there throughout the story. At one point, we see a valley plain which looked pretty familiar to me, and, what do you know, one of the characters in the film points out that this place is one of the key locations used for the production of “Jurassic Park” (1993), which was another wonderful adventure film for me and many others in my generation in the 1990s.

Once Pili and her gangs enter a hidden cave which may be the tomb of some important Hawaiian dude in the past, the screenplay by Christina Strain diligently rolls its main characters from one risky spot to another as expected. At one point, they must move along a narrow ledge and then jump over a gap below which fiery lava is churning, and that leads to a hilarious moment as they nervously sing together for helping one of them overcome the fear of height.

As they go through one obstacle after another along the story, you may wonder how those pirates managed to build all these elaborate traps and contraptions, but the movie is funny and entertaining enough to make us overlook this aspect for a while, and it is also sometimes poignant as occasionally focusing on the growing emotional bond among its four main characters. While I think the finale is a bit contrived, it surprises us with an unexpected personal moment which I will let you see for yourself, and this moving moment surely resonates with the very title of the film.

The main cast members of the film are uniformly good as bringing considerable life and personality to their respective roles. While young performer Kea Peahu holds the center via her spirited performance, Alex Aiono, Lindsy Watson, and Owen Vaccaro have each own moment to shine around Peahu, and the same thing can be said about Kelly Hu and Branscombe Richmond, who provide some gravitas to the story as required. Although he just appears in a couple of scenes, some of you will be delighted to see Ke Huy Quan, and I must say that I became a bit nostalgic about how he stole the show in both “The Goonies” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984).

Overall, “Finding ‘Ohana”, which is directed by Jude Weng, is equipped with enough charm and personality, and it is surely an exemplary junior which deserves to be compared with “The Goonies” and other notable senior adventure flicks. As a seasoned adult audience, I frequently observed it with detached musing on a number of preposterous elements in the film, but I still could be entertained by its young main characters’ bumpy adventure and then touched by what happens to them around the end of the story, and I am sure that young audiences will enjoy and love this likable adventure flick more than I did.

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To All the Boys: Always and Forever (2021) ☆☆1/2 (2.5/4): Between her love and future

Posted on February 13, 2021 by kaist455

Netflix film “To All the Boys: Always and Forever”, which was released on Netflix yesterday, is the final chapter of the trilogy which began with “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” (2018) and then moved onto “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You” (2020). While the first film was rather refreshing as having an Asian American female teenager at the center of the story, the second film was merely passable as losing its main novelty, and the same thing can be said about the third film, which is just mild and predictable even while buoyed by its engaging main cast members.

After their romantic relationship was tested more than once in two previous films as some of you probably remember, Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter (Noah Centineo) are now about to graduate from their local high school together, and the movie opens with a cheerful sequence showing Lara Jean visiting Seoul, South Korea along with her father and two sisters. To be frank with you, Seoul does not look particularly awesome to me probably because I have been quite accustomed to Seoul for years as a South Korean, but everything in Seoul looks amazing and interesting to Lara Jean and her sisters, and they are also delighted when their father, Dr. Dan Covey (John Corbett), announces that he is finally going to marry a certain friendly neighbor to whom he has been close for a while.

While having this fantastic trip in Seoul, Lara Jean is looking forward to getting a letter of acceptance from Stanford University, one of several prominent universities she applied for. Because her boyfriend was recently accepted into Stanford via his athletic scholarship, she really wants to go there for being with him as usual, but, alas, it subsequently turns out that she will have to consider alternatives, and she naturally becomes conflicted when she has to inform of her boyfriend on the result of her college applications.

At least, she later receives a letter of acceptance from Berkeley University, which happens to be not so far from Stanford. While understandably disappointed to learn that they are not going together to Stanford, Peter is happy about her being accepted into Berkeley, and they remain optimistic about the next step of their relationship, though the situation may be a little more complicated if his lacrosse team ever happens to play against the Berkeley team.

However, there comes another problem not long after that. One of the universities for which Lara Jean applied was none other than New York City University, and she initially did not expect much from that, but, what do you know, her opinion on NYC University is quickly changed when she and her fellow schoolmates go to New York City for their field trip. While she is certainly pleased as having a little romantic time with her boyfriend during the first night of the field trip, she happens to get a little private tour into NYC University on the very next day, and she soon comes to sense that NYC University may be the best option for her future.

Of course, there subsequently comes a letter of acceptance from NYC University along with several pamphlets, and Lara Jean consequently becomes much more conflicted than before. She surely loves Peter, but, as a girl who is really passionate about English literature, she becomes attracted more to what she can possibly learn and experience in NYC University, and that eventually deteriorates her relationship with Peter, who also comes to have his own difficult personal matter as his father comes back into his life after many years of estrangement.

Around that narrative point, you will clearly see where the story and characters are going, and the screenplay by Katie Lovejoy, which is based on “Always and Forever, Lara Jean” by Jenny Han, does not have much surprise on that, but director/cinematographer Michael Fimognari, who previously directed “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You” (2020), keeps things rolling as the story moves from one expected moment to another. Although the story begins to trudge around the middle act, the main characters remain likable enough to hold our attention to some degree, and that is the main reason why its rather overlong finale works on the whole.

Like its predecessors, the movie depends a lot on the natural presence and talent of Lana Condor, who ably carries the movie as her character goes up and down along her another tricky emotional journey as demanded. In addition to being effortless during her several key scenes with her co-star Noah Centineo, Condor is also commendable in conveying to us a loving and enduring relationship between Lara Jean and her family members, and Anna Cathcart, Janel Parrish, and John Corbett give small but solid performances as Lara Jean’s ever-supportive family. In case of several other substantial supporting performers in the film, Madeleine Arthur and Emilija Baranac are effective as Lara Jean’s two differently acerbic classmates, and Henry Thomas also gives a brief but fine supporting performance as Peter’s estranged father.

In conclusion, “To All the Boys: Always and Forever” is less refreshing than “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”, but it is as mildly enjoyable as “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You” (2020) at least, and I gave it 2.5 stars considering that I gave 3 and 2.5 stars to its two predecessors, respectively. I think “The Half of It” (2020) is a far better Netflix teenage romantic comedy film featuring Asian American adolescent heroine, but I must recognize that film was possible because of the success of the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before film trilogy, and “To All the Boys: Always and Forever” provides a fairly nice ending to the trilogy at least.

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The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): An adolescent version of Groundhog Day

Posted on February 13, 2021 by kaist455

When I happened to watch the trailer of “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” a few weeks ago, I could easily discern what I was going to get from it. The movie, which was released on Amazon Prime a few days ago, is basically an adolescent version of “Groundhog Day” (1993) and other similar subsequent films out there, and, unfortunately, it does not exceed my initial expectation that much even though there are some genuine emotional moments coupled with obligatory life lessons for its two young main characters.

At the beginning, Lev Grossman’s screenplay, which is based on the short story of the same name written by him, quickly establishes how life has been virtually going nowhere for a high school kid named Mark (Kyle Allen). For some unknown reason, Mark always finds himself back on his bed in the same morning right before the next day is about to begin, and, as shown from the opening sequence, he has been pretty accustomed to everything around him ranging from his father’s morning greeting to the serial number to win the lottery of the day.

Recently, Mark has been interested in spending time with a girl whom he can save from a rather embarrassing happening at a local swimming pool, though he also knows too well that his efforts will eventually be futile at the end of the day he has lived through countless times. At one point, he manages to win that girl’s heart, but then he soon faces the limit on how much he can go with her before the midnight, and that certainly disappoints him a lot.

Anyway, when Mark tries again on her later, there comes an unexpected change. Somebody else enters the scene to prevent that aforementioned happening and then leaves the scene, and it looks like that person in question is also stuck in the time loop just like Mark. Naturally becoming quite curious about that person, he begins the search, and it does not take much for him to find that person because, well, that person is well aware of his presence for a while.

That person in question is an adolescent girl named Margaret (Kathryn Newton), and Mark is certainly eager to talk with Margaret because, well, there has not been anyone for him to share his ongoing inexplicable plight with. Like Mark, Margaret is quite knowledgeable about what happens here and there in the town throughout the day, and she is willing to show him where and when they can see small but sublime moments to behold and appreciate again and again.

As they make a map reflecting the very title of the movie together, Mark becomes attracted to Margaret, and she seems to appreciate his company – especially when he gives her a little special experience at their high school, which has been conveniently empty due to the ongoing summer semester. When he later attempts to get a little closer to her, she does not seem to mind that at first, but then she puts some distance between herself and Mark, and he is certainly baffled about this.

Meanwhile, Mark becomes more active about finding any possible way to get out of his time loop, and the movie becomes less interesting than before as trying to explain his extraordinary situation too much. After having some intellectual conversation with one of his school teachers, Mark decides to test a possible solution, but, of course, that does not work at all (Is this a spoiler?), and Margaret chooses to walk away from him for a reason she is not so willing to tell.

As Mark belatedly comes to learn of how self-absorbed he has been in front of Margaret as well as his family, the movie takes a left turn while shifting its focus onto Margaret, and that is where the movie comes to gain some gravitas. It is eventually revealed that Margaret has quite a desperate personal fact which may be the origin of what has been happening to her and Mark, and you may come to wish that the movie told the story from her viewpoint instead of Mark’s.

Under Ian Samuels’ competent direction, the two lead performers of the movie ably carry their movie together. Although his character feels flat and bland at times, Kyle Allen is likable enough to hold our attention during the first act of the movie, and he is complemented well by the sensitive acting from Kathryn Newton, who deftly handles several key dramatic moments later in the film including the one where her character has a heartfelt talk with someone very close to her. Whenever these two good young performers interact with each other, their chemistry is palpable on the screen to say the least, and they deserve to be served by a better story in my inconsequential opinion.

The other substantial cast members of the movie are stuck in their underdeveloped supporting roles, though they try to fill their spots as much as they can. As Mark’s two family members, Anna Mikami and Josh Hamilton do more than required by their respective thankless roles, and Jermaine Harris brings some little humor as Mark’s best friend.

In conclusion, “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” is fairly adequate as a product for many young adult audiences out there, but it does not distinguish itself enough compared to its more successful predecessors, and the result is a bit too dissatisfying for me to recommend. In fact, I will not stop you from watching it if you just want to spend your free time, but I would rather recommend “Groundhog Day” or “Palm Springs” (2020) instead.

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News of the World (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): A conventional western starring Tom Hanks

Posted on February 11, 2021 by kaist455

Paul Greengrass’s latest film “News of the World”, which was released theatrically in US around the end of last year and then released on Netflix on other countries including South Korea yesterday, is a conventional western movie which takes a predictable journey along with its two strong characters. Although their journey will not surprise you much if you are a seasoned movie audience, the overall result is fairly solid under Greengrass’s competent direction, and it is supported well by the two engaging main performances holding its center well together.

Set in Texas, 1870, the movie begins with the opening scene showing us how Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks), who was once a member of the Confederate Army infantry unit, has earned his meager living since the end of the Civil War. As traveling alone from one remote town to another, he reads several newspapers in front of many people who cannot read, and these illiterate people are willing to pay 10 cents for hearing him entertainingly delivering any funny or interesting news from the outside world.

Not long after he leaves for some other town by his shabby wagon, Kidd comes across the remains of a smashed wagon on the road, which turns out to belong to some African American dude who happened to be hanged on a nearby tree. As he glances at the dead body of this African American guy for a while, it is clear to us that Kidd does not like this cruel act at all, though the movie does not delve that much into his personal viewpoint on the racist aspect of the Confederate.

Meanwhile, it is revealed that there was someone else in the ruined wagon, and that person in question is a little Caucasian girl who cannot speak English at all. According to the government document which Kidd discovers from the ruined wagon, she was the young daughter of a German immigrant couple killed by a local Native American tribe, and, as reflected by her Native American clothing, she was raised in that tribe for several years before she was recently taken by the Union Army.

When he is subsequently requested to take this little girl to a town where she is supposed to be handled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs representative staying there, Kidd is naturally reluctant, but, as a person of decency and compassion, he accepts the request anyway. Although it later turns out that he should accompany her longer than expected, he does not complain at all while trying his best, and the girl seems to begin to appreciate his efforts despite the language barrier between them.

Although the mood occasionally becomes intense during several scenes including the one where Kidd and the girl must stick together under a perilous circumstance, the screenplay by Greengrass and his co-writer Luke Davies, which is adapted from the novel of the same name by Paulette Jiles, leisurely rolls from one moment to another along with its two main characters. There is a gloomy sequence set in a miserable town under the control of some vicious old dude who tries to make Kidd read his deceitful local newspaper (Talk about fake news!), and then there is also a spectacular scene involved with a dust storm which suddenly comes upon our two main characters.

While it is clear from the beginning that Kidd cares about the girl more than he admits on the surface, the movie keeps holding our attention with its vivid period atmosphere and details, and Greengrass’ crew members did a top-notch job on the whole. While cinematographer Dariusz Wolski provides a number of splendid landscape shots I am willing to see on big screen someday, the restrained score by James Newton Howard effectively accompanies these beautiful moments without drawing too much attention from us, and the production design by David Crank and Elizabeth Keenan and the costumes by Mark Bridges are also commendable to say the least.

Above all, the movie is anchored well by its two lead performers, who eventually come to us as the soul and heart of the film. As many of you know, Tom Hanks is no stranger to playing good decent guys as exemplified by his recent Oscar-nominated supporting turn in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (2019), and he is effortless in embodying his character’s decency and integrity in addition to the deep human pathos beneath his ragged appearance. His co-star Helena Zengel, a 12-year-old year German actress who incidentally makes her international debut here in this film, gives an equally stellar performance which speaks volumes even during her wordless moments, and we will probably see more of her considerable talent during next several years.

In case of the other main cast members in the movie, they come and then go as bringing some colorful personality to the story. While Elizabeth Marvel is solid during her little intimate scene with Hanks, Mare Winningham exudes gentle kindness in her brief supporting performance, and I also welcome Bill Camp’s short but impressive appearance around the end of the film.

In conclusion, “News of the World” is less striking than Greengrass’ several notable works such as “United 93” (2006) and “Captain Phillips” (2013), but it is interesting to see him trying something different here, and I enjoyed its mood and performance enough to go along with its conventional aspects. Sure, it is not that fresh or great, but it is a fairly enjoyable genre piece, so I will not grumble for now.

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Malcolm and Marie (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): One bad night between them

Posted on February 11, 2021 by kaist455

“Malcolm and Marie”, which was released on Netflix shortly after having a limited theatrical release in US around the end of last month, trusts its two main performers but only ends up having them stuck in its frustratingly repetitive narrative. While it is surely nice to see these two promising performers demonstrating their considerable talent on the screen again, they are merely demanded to go up and down along the vicious cycles of emotional clashes between their characters, and we often feel like watching the artificial showcase of their acting ability instead of the authentic presentation of a real problematic human relationship.

The movie solely focuses on one rocky night between an African American couple, and the opening scene shows them returning to a big and posh modern house where they have lived together for a while. Malcolm (John David Washington) is a movie director who has just had the press screening of his latest work, and he is quite excited about lots of positive reactions from not only the audiences but also those reporters and critics, but his girlfriend Marie (Zendaya) is not so pleased for a good reason. It gradually turns out that she and her troubled life are actually the main source of inspiration for his movie, but her boyfriend did not express any gratitude or appreciation to her in public, and he does not seem to understand her resentful feelings at all.

While Marie makes some night snack for Malcolm as requested by him, their conversation comes to revolve mainly around how his career will be changed because of his new movie. Not so surprisingly, he mentions several certain African American filmmakers, and he rambles a lot about why he does not want to be regarded as another typical African American filmmaker. He is particularly sour about a LA Times movie critic who condescendingly praised him and his movie for being ‘political’, and that is the last thing he wants for now, though he has been planning to make a biopic of Angela Davis someday.

Marie initially listens to her boyfriend’s arrogant and self-absorbed rambling with patience and understanding, but then she comes to express her grudge and dissatisfaction on how Malcolm has mistreated and neglected her despite her contribution to his movie. She presses on him step by step, but he adamantly refuses to recognize his fault and then apologize to her, and the mood becomes more tense than before as they continue to pull and push each other. As two people who have known and lived with each other for some time, they certainly know where they can hurt each other most, and we are accordingly treated with several spiteful moments generated between their spiteful interactions.

This could lead to something sharply insightful or compelling, but the screenplay by director/writer/co-producer Sam Levinson, who is the son of Barry Levinson and has been mainly known for his acclaimed HBO teen drama series “Euphoria”, simply fluctuates between the affection and resentment between its two main characters again and again without much narrative momentum or character development, and this flaw is particularly evident during its second half. You may be amused a bit by Malcolm’s hilariously angry response to the first review on his movie, but that is more or less than the regurgitation of what he rambled before, and you may wonder whether Levinson has some real grudge against critics and reporters out there.

It is apparent that Levinson and his collaborators try something as raw and vivid as the works of John Cassavetes such as “A Woman Under the Influence” (1974), but Levinson’s screenplay does not provide much depth or substance to its two main characters, and the dialogues in the film often feel heavy-handed as they often feel like static statements instead of real emotional expressions. As a consequence, we only come to behold the performances instead of observing the characters, and that puts more distance between us and the movie.

At least, the movie is not a waste of time at all. Shot in grainy black and white film by cinematographer Marcell Rév, the movie is mostly competent in technical aspects, and that is admirable considering how limited the shooting condition for Levinson and his cast and crew members was in many ways as they strictly followed COVID-19 safety protocols. For example, no more than 12 people were allowed on the set, and the two main performers of the movie actually had to handle their makeup and costume for themselves.

And these two main performers ably carry the film together while diligently acting as required. Zendaya, who recently won an Emmy for her lead performance in “Euphoria”, shows us here that she can do a lot more than playing Spider-man’s new girlfriend, and she is especially good when her character deliberately corners and threatens Washington’s character later in the movie. In opposite, John David Washington, who has been more prominent thanks to “BlacKkKlansman” (2018) and “Tenet” (2020), functions as an effective counterpoint to his co-star, and he surely proves here again that he is a good actor who can have his own solid acting career even though his voice will always remind us of his famous actor father.

On the whole, “Malcolm and Marie” is a failed two-hander which is deficient in terms of storytelling and characterization, but I was not that bored mainly thanks to its two main performers. The overall result still feels dissatisfying to me, but I will not stop you from watching it if you simply want to watch how talented they are, and you will probably come to agree that they deserve better than this.

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