Warning: Do Not Play (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Searching for one cursed horror flick

Posted on August 17, 2019 by kaist455

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South Korean film “Warning: Do Not Play” is a little mystery horror flick alternatively creepy and amusing for its main target audiences. While being as sinister and ominous as required, the movie often throws some wryly amusing moments to be savored, and we gladly go along with that as enjoying its several nice scary scenes.

In the beginning, the movie observes the very difficult situation of its heroine. While she once was regarded a promising new filmmaker thanks to her debut work, Mi-jeong (Seo Ye-Ji) has been struggling to write the screenplay for a horror movie to be produced, and now she is told that she must complete and then submit the screenplay within two weeks.

And then she hears about an interesting urban legend from one of her juniors. Around several years ago, there was a student film which really scared the hell out of the audiences, and, according to this tale, the guy who made this film in question claimed that the film was directed by a ghost. Becoming quite curious about this mysterious film, Mi-jeong goes to a college where that student allegedly studied, but she does not get any clue about the movie as she does not even know who that guy is.

However, of course, Mi-jeong subsequently comes across a few pieces of information about the movie. As talking with several students, she gets some background knowledge, and she also comes to learn that it was supposed to be shown at a certain well-known film festival in South Korea, but the festival archive does not have anything except its trailer – and that certainly makes her all the more curious about it.

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While she keeps trying to get more information about the movie, she receives a phone call from Jae-hyeon (Jin Seon-kyu), a guy who directed the movie. When Mi-jeong meets him, he solemnly warns her that she should not delve more into what he supposedly made, and he does not say anything else besides that, though it is quite apparent that he is hiding something from her.

The mood subsequently becomes more insidious as Mi-jeong finds where Jae-hyeon lives and then sneaks into his shabby residence, which is, not so surprisingly, full of bad signs here and there. Besides lots of burning candles, there are a number of disturbing drawings on the walls, and it seems he is really afraid of whatever is associated with his movie.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Mi-jeong eventually gets a chance to watch Jae-hyeon’s movie – and that she comes to feel like being disturbed and threatened by some unknown dark force. As strange things begin to happen around her, she is often reminded of a certain dark moment in her past, and then there comes a tense scene where she suddenly finds herself alone and helpless in the dark at one point later in the story.

And she gets to know more about the production history of Jae-hyeon’s movie. At that time, he and several other students tried to make the movie at an abandoned movie theater, but the movie theater has been known as a haunted place, and there is a small creepy moment shown via what Jae-hyeon briefly shot with his video camera. I later learned that the movie theater shown in the film is actually a real one which has been abandoned for years, and it goes without saying that this location brings some extra authentic insidiousness to the screen.

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As slowly increasing the level of tension and creepiness on the screen, director/writer Kim Ji-won, who previously debuted with “The Butcher” (2007), keeps holding our attention with more curiosity and dread. Is there really a ghost in that movie theater? What did really happen to Jae-hyeon and his colleagues? And what is exactly going on around Mi-jeong?

While we come to muse more on these and other questions, there eventually comes a moment when we behold what is shown in Jae-hyeon’s movie, and Kim and his crew pull all the stops as Mi-jeong comes to take a fateful step into the abandoned movie theater. If you are familiar with many recent South Korean horror films, you will probably not that surprised by what is presented during the climactic sequence, but you will not be disappointed at least. Sure, there are several predictable moments to jolt you, but the overall result is as tense and scary as expected, and then you will get amused by what follows after that.

The few main cast members of the movie are effective in their respective parts. While Seo Ye-ji is engaging as a heroine who cannot help but driven her curiosity despite the sense of dread accumulating around her, Jin Seon-kyu looks suitably scared and disturbed as required, and Ji Yoon-ho is also solid in his small but crucial supporting role.

In conclusion, “Warning: Do Not Play” is an enjoyable genre piece which plays well with its familiar genre elements, and I was entertained enough during its 86-minute running time. Although it may look rather modest to you at first, it did its job as well as intended, and it will certainly remind you of how it is often hard and difficult for those horror movie directors to scare and entertain audiences out there.

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Wiener-Dog (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): Four short stories around a dog

Posted on August 15, 2019 by kaist455

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I cringed and winced from time to time as watching “Wiener-Dog”, the latest work of Todd Solondz. While it is relatively less edgy and uncomfortable compared to his previous works such as “Welcome to the Dollhouse” (1995) and “Happiness” (1998), the movie often strikes us hard with its mean, vicious sense of humor, and I must warn you in advance that there are several moments which may repulse you for good reasons, but you may also admire its dry but empathetic presentation of human misery and unhappiness via four different short stories revolving around one little dachshund dog.

At the beginning of the first story, we see that dog in question taken to a suburban family. Danny (Tracy Letts) thinks that it will bring some support and comfort to his young cancer-surviving son Remi (Keaton Nigel Cooke), and Remi is certainly is excited to have a pet dog to play with, but Danny’s French wife Dina (Julie Delpy) does not like welcome the dog much from the beginning. Some time later, she takes the dog to a local veterinarian for getting it spayed, and there is a darkly amusing scene where she tells a rather morbid tale for emphasizing to her son the necessity of getting his dog sterilized.

Things look fine for a while after that, but, of course, a big trouble eventually occurs thanks to a small act of misjudgment by Remi, and its consequence is not so pretty to say the least. In the end, his father decides that the dog must be removed from the house, and Remi is saddened and devastated by this loss of his, while coming to learn a bit about life and death from his mother.

After being taken to the local veterinarian, the dog is soon going to be euthanized, but Dawn (Greta Gerwig), who was the miserable young heroine of “Welcome to the Dollhouse” and currently works as a nurse for that veterinarian, feels pity toward to the dog, and she eventually takes him to her residence. Thanks to her generous care, the dog gets better than before, and it soon becomes a good companion in Dawn’s drab daily life.

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On one day, Dawn comes across Brandon (Kieran Culkin), her former schoolmate who used to bully her during their school years but actually liked her more than he admitted. Although their awkward reunion seems momentary at first, Brandon subsequently suggests that she should go to somewhere in Ohio along with him, and Dawn does not reject his suggestion at all because, well, she still has some feeling toward him.

As spending more time with Brandon and the dog on the road, Dawn comes to like him more, and he also seems to be willing to get closer to her, but we soon sense how problematic his life is. For some purpose, he drops by several places, and there is a brief but crucial shot showing what he is hiding from Dawn. When he and Dawn eventually arrive at their destination, Brandon shows his better side, and Dawn becomes optimistic about their growing relationship, but we cannot help but worry about what may happen next due to his personal demons.

At the end of the second story, the dog is handed over to a certain young couple close to Brandon, but then the third story shows the dog belonging now to Dave (Danny DeVito), a scruffy middle-aged film school teacher whose daily life in New York City has been going nowhere for years. While he has hoped that a screenplay written by him will be sold in Hollywood someday, he only receives empty promises from his former agent and his successor, and this increasingly hopeless status certainly affects him a lot. At one point, he is told that he is not particularly regarded well by his peers and students due to his negative attitude, and that makes him feel all the more miserable.

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After a cringe-inducing scene where he finds himself mocked and humiliated by some hot-shot filmmaker who once studied under him, Dave becomes far more frustrated and exasperated than before, and that eventually leads to a funny but disturbing moment, which is followed by the melancholic ending with some ambiguity. Although he has been less prominent than before during recent years, Danny DeVito did a good job of balancing his character well between pathos and humor, and he surely gives the best performance in the film.

In the last story, which is the weakest part of the film in my inconsequential opinion, the dog now belongs to a blind old lady called Nana (Ellen Burstyn). When she is being taken care of by her caregiver as usual, her granddaughter visits along with her artist boyfriend, and it soon becomes clear to us that she comes to Nana for getting some money for her artistic boyfriend. While she eventually hands a check to her granddaughter, Nana does not hide her acerbic sides at all, and that certainly makes her granddaughter a bit uncomfortable.

The following scene showing Nana going through a dreamy introspective moment is rather sappy on the surface, but then the movie slaps us hard during its last several minutes. According to the IMDB trivia, many audiences actively showed their negative reactions to this moment when the movie was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2016, and I think you will likely be quite horrified if you are an animal lover.

Although it is not wholly successful, “Wiener-Dog” is still an interesting piece of work supported well by its various main cast members, and it surely shows us that Solondz has not lost any of his edgy artistic touch. Like “Welcome to the Dollhouse” and “Happiness”, the movie is not something I am willing to revisit again, but, considering its more effective moments which will linger on your mind for a while, it deserves more attention and appreciation at least.

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Catfight (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): Morbid, vicious, and, yes, violent

Posted on August 15, 2019 by kaist455

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“Catfight” is a morbid and vicious black comedy about the violent conflict between two different characters. Although it simply observes from the distance how these two characters respectively go up and down while occasionally clashing hard with each other, the movie mostly works thanks to its wry sense of humor as well as the committed performance from its two leading performers, and we cannot help but laugh more and more as the story sways back and forth between them.

During the first act, the movie quickly establishes its two main characters and their respective current situations. While they were once close college friends a long time ago, Veronica (Sandra Oh) and Ashley (Anne Heche) have been quite distant to each other for many years, and we observe how different their lifestyles are. While Veronica has living a cozy and luxurious life with her rich husband and their adolescent son in a posh apartment located in the Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, Ashley has been a struggling artist living with her partner Lisa (Alicia Silverstone) in the Brooklyn neighborhood, and she has been quite frustrated as her artistic career has been going nowhere mainly due to her rather provocative painting style.

During one evening, Veronica and her husband go to the birthday party of his close associate/friend who is going to help his business a lot, and that is where she happens to come across Ashley, who happens to be serving the guests there along with Lisa. When they recognize each other, they seem to be glad to meet each other at first, but then their old mutual bad feelings are awakened as they talk more with each other, and we are not so surprised when they eventually come to fight hard with each other outside the party place due to some unfortunate coincidence accompanied with drug, alcohol, and, above all, grudge.

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Now I should be a little more careful about describing what happens next for not spoiling your entertainment, but I can tell you instead that the screenplay by director/writer/editor Onur Tukel has lots of fun with how things get completely turned upside down for both Veronica and Ashley after their first catfight. While Veronica is shocked to find herself hitting the bottom without anyone to help her except her ex-housekeeper, Ashley becomes more confident than before as her life and career advance more than before, and she is also going to have a baby as her partner has always wanted.

Meanwhile, we get a series of darkly humorous moments which frequently emphasize the warped reality surrounding the characters in the film. There is a blatant running gag involved with a crude TV comedy show which the supporting characters in the film always find funny to the bewilderment of Veronica and Ashley, and then we are also served with a number of whimsical elements including the childish but popular cartoon created by Ashley’s mousy assistant/apprentice Donna (Myra Lucretia Taylor), whose cheery artistic style does not fit that well with Ashley’s many disturbing works.

Although both Ashley and Veronica are not particularly likable characters to say the least, the movie keeps holding our attention as ruthlessly pushing them into more misery and hate, and we come to observe this process with some horrible fascination and curiosity. We do not care much about them, but we brace ourselves for what may happen sooner or later between them, and we surely get a load of uncomfortable laughs as they are fatefully back on their collision course later in the story.

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Of course, the movie depends a lot on the presence and talent of its two lead performers. While Sandra Oh, a wonderful Korean Canadian actress who drew my attention for the first time via her feisty supporting turn in Alexander Payne’s “Sideways” (2004), is reliable as usual, Anne Heche, whom I still fondly remember for her good supporting turn in Barry Levinson’s “Wag the Dog” (1997), is an equal match for Oh, and they are constantly believable whenever their characters push or pull each other on the screen. Never making any excuse or compromise on their problematic characters, both of them willingly go all the way as demanded even when the movie steps back a little during its last act, and the ferocious comic energy between them is why it works to the end.

Although the movie is basically the showcase of Oh and Heche’s acting ability, a few other main cast members in the film manage to hold each own small place around them. While Alicia Silverstone, whom you probably remember for her enjoyable performance in Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless” (1995), will definitely make your cringe when Lisa makes many of her friends feel awkward and miserable during the baby shower for her and Ashley, Myra Lucretia Taylor steals the show with her pitiful meekness, and Tituss Burgess, who recently got more prominent than before thanks to his Emmy-nominated supporting turn in TV sitcom series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, is also fun to watch in his brief appearance.

In conclusion, “Catfight”, which is currently available on Netflix, may be not for everyone, but you may enjoy it as much as I did if you are willing to appreciate its twisted aspects and the commendable efforts from Oh and Heche. As clearly reflected by its very title, the movie is not going to pull any punch, so please don’t complain later that I did not warn you in advance.

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Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): They work together again…

Posted on August 14, 2019 by kaist455

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I could not help but get a bit tired and numbed as watching “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”, a spin-off entry from The Fast and the Furious franchise. While it is not boring at all thanks to the amusing chemistry between its two engaging lead performers, the movie eventually begins to spin its wheels during its last act despite lots of bangs and crashes on the screen, and I felt rather dissatisfied as walking out of the screening room along with other audiences.

The movie mainly revolves around the two main characters of The Fast and the Furious franchise: DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and former MI6 agent Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). Although they once fought to death with each other in “Furious 7” (2015) because Shaw was personally quite pissed off about what happened to his younger brother at the end of “Fast & Furious 6” (2013), they eventually came to work together as shown from “The Fate of the Furious” (2017), and now they find themselves working together again here in this film although they still do not like each other much.

An assignment given to them is pretty urgent to say the least. Some powerful secret organization recently developed a deadly virus to wipe out most of the entire human race, and MI6 attempts to snatch the virus at the last minute, but the mission is disastrously failed as everyone except Agent Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Shaw), who is, yes, Shaw’s younger sister. While she manages to take away the virus from the minions of that secret organization in the end, she soon finds herself on the run as wrongfully accused of deliberately botching the mission, and, to make matters worse, she does not have much time as she has no choice but to become the living carrier of the virus just like Thandie Newton’s character did in “Mission: Impossible 2” (2000).

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Although they clash with each other once they meet each other again in London, it does not take much time for Hobbs and Shaw to realize what is really going on, because they also find themselves in grave peril along with Hattie not long after she is captured to be interrogated by Hobbs. That secret organization already sends a bunch of henchmen including a guy named Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), and Lore, who once worked with Shaw but is now turned into a cyber-genetically enhanced super-soldier, is not someone who can be easily stopped at all.

As Hobbs, Shaw, and Hattie try to evade Lore and his goons and find a way to save her, they surely go through many risky moments as expected, and the movie does not disappoint us as serving us with two big vehicle action sequences. Both of them are surely as outrageously fun as required, and director David Leitch, who unofficially co-directed “John Wick” (2014) and then moved onto “Atomic Blonde” (2017), did a skillful job of maintaining the high level of thrill and excitement without losing our attention.

However, many of entertaining moments in the film come from the rocky interactions between Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, who are no stranger to going back and forth between comedy and action. Right from the beginning, the movie makes lots of fun from how different their characters are from each other, and Johnson and Statham willingly go for more laughs as their characters constantly bicker with each other like two big boys who still need to learn how to get along with each other.

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And their numerous comic interactions throughout the film are further enhanced by several notable supporting performers in the film. Although basically functioning as a no-nonsense female character stuck between our two tough but incorrigible dudes, Vanessa Kirby shows her considerable comic talent as balancing herself well between her two co-stars, and she also demonstrates that she can be as tough and gritty as, say, Charlize Theron in “Atomic Blonde”. In case of two certain recognizable performers appearing in the movie, they are clearly enjoying their respective juicy moments as fully utilizing their comic talent, and Helen Mirren, who previously appeared briefly in “The Fate of the Furious”, has a little more fun than before.

Unfortunately, the movie gets weakened whenever it becomes relatively more serious and emphasizes the importance of, yes, family, and that frequently happens during its last act. While it certainly goes for full-throttle mode around that narrative point, the overall result is merely overlong and excessive without enough sense of fun, and the final moment between Lore and our trio is rather anti-climactic to say the least.

In addition, Lore is not particularly memorable as the main villain of the story, and it is really disappointing to see Idris Elba wasted in a bland and humorless role. Sure, he looks as menacing and formidable as we can expect from this intense and charismatic actor, but that is all he is demanded to do in the film, and you will probably come to miss his far more electrifying performance in “Pacific Rim” (2013).

In conclusion, “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” is fairly competent as your typical summer blockbuster action flick, but it did not satisfy me as much as “Furious 7” or “Atomic Blonde”. Therefore, I give the movie 2.5 stars, but it will entertain you as much as you paid if you just want no more than big, loud action scenes. After all, that has been the whole point of the Fast and the Furious franchise, hasn’t it?

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Light of My Life (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Father and daughter in apocalyptic world

Posted on August 14, 2019 by kaist455

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“Light of My Life”, the first feature movie directed by Casey Affleck, is a simple but effective apocalyptic drama driven by the strong relationship between its two main characters. While it does not bring anything particularly new to its genre territory, the movie is fairly engaging enough in terms of mood, storytelling, and performance, and we come to observe its two main character’s hard and difficult journey with care and interest.

The movie opens with its two main characters spending another night together somewhere in a remote forest. Inside their small tent, a man played by Affleck tells his daughter Rag (Anna Pniowsky) a bedtime story inspired by Noah’s Ark, and we cannot help but a bit amused as she frequently sees through whatever her father tries to concoct for entertaining her, though she eventually comes to become more involved in her father’s story.

As they continue their journey on the next day, we gradually gather the details of their gloomy apocalyptic world. Several years ago, the female population of the human society was almost wiped out by a sudden worldwide epidemic, and the human society has been slowly declining since that epidemic without much possibility of reproduction. While Rag’s mother, played by Elizabeth Moss in several brief flashback scenes, died not long after she gave birth to her daughter, Rag fortunately happens to be immune to the disease, and her father has been trying a lot for protecting her for any possible danger. They avoid strangers as much as possible, and he always has her disguised as a boy whenever they need to go to a more populated area.

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Of course, things get less easy as Rag is about to enter her adolescence. While it becomes difficult to hide her gender from others, Rag has been pretty tired of disguising herself as a boy. When she and her father come across a seemingly abandoned house at one point, she is delighted to find a number of objects for girls in one of the rooms in the house, and she manages to persuade her father to allow themselves to stay in this house for a while.

However, there is still the constant danger of being exposed to others, and we accordingly get a calm but tense scene where he and Rag are suddenly approached by a group of strangers on one day. Becoming more concerned about his daughter’s safety, Rag’s father has no choice but to move to another remote region along with her as soon as possible, and there is a painful moment when he comes to commit a wrong deed to a young guy even though that guy shows him and his daughter the kindness of a stranger.

Although it lags from time to time, the movie keeps engaging us with its mood and details, and Affleck, who also wrote the screenplay, shows here that he has learned much as collaborating with several notable flimmakers such as David Lowery. Thanks to cinematographer Adam Arkapaw, the movie is shrouded in the palpable apocalyptic atmosphere coupled with a grey sense of despair and desperation, and that aspect is further accentuated by the sparse score by Daniel Hart, who has worked with Lowery in several films including “A Ghost Story” (2017) and “The Old Man & the Gun” (2018).

When it eventually arrives at a certain spot where we are introduced to a few other figures in the story, the movie continues to focus on the relationship between Rag and her father, and that is the main reason why its rather contrived finale works to some degree. You may be disappointed if you expect a clean-cut ending, but the final shot of the movie is poignant as reminding us again of how strong the relationship between Rag and her father is, and we are touched more as observing what has been changed in their relationship in the end.

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I must point out that, due to his alleged sexual harassment during the production of his mockumentary film “I’m Still Here” (2010), it is often uncomfortable for me to watch Affleck playing a guy devoted to his daughter on the screen, but I also have to admit that he demonstrates here again that he is a subtle actor who can effortlessly convey his character’s emotions and thoughts without any exaggeration. During one particular scene later in the story, we can sense how much his character is reluctant to answer a question thrown at him, and his character’s eventual answer is delivered with considerable dramatic weight even though he does not seem to strive for anything.

In addition, Affleck lets his co-star Anna Pniowsky gradually shine beside him. Although her acting career is rather short, Pniowsky is simply marvelous as effectively complementing Affleck, and her commendable unadorned performance here in this film deserves to be compared with Thomasin McKenzie in “Leave No Trace” (2018), which incidentally also revolves around a strong but isolated father and daughter relationship.

Reminiscent of several other similar films including “Children of Men” (2006) and “The Road” (2009), “Light of My Life” is not that fresh to say the least, and it also requires considerable patience from you due to its slow narrative pacing, but it is still worthwhile to watch in my humble opinion. Yes, it is certainly not something to entertain you on Sunday afternoon, but you will probably be impressed by its several good things nonetheless.

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Their Finest (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): Making a propaganda film during the World War II

Posted on August 12, 2019 by kaist455

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In 2017, no less than three movies associated with the Battle of Dunkirk came out. While Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” (2017) intensely focused on the battle itself, Joe Wright’s “Darkest Hour” (2017) observed the urgent political situation in Britain around that time, and then there was Lone Scherfig’s “Their Finest”, which came out earlier but then, unfortunately, was quickly overshadowed by the other two films.

The story, which is based on “Their Finest Hour and a Half” by Lissa Evans, is mainly set in London in 1940. Since the Battle of Dunkirk, London and its citizens have suffered the frequent air raids by Nazi Germany, and the British government has accordingly tried to boost public morale and national pride during this very gloomy time, but its Ministry of Information has not had much success in making propaganda films as shown from the opening scene. It is apparent that they need someone who can not only write well but also give some fresh insight and perspective, and that person in question is Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton), a young woman who soon shows her considerable creativity and writing skill once she gets hired to work along with two male screenwriters who do not particularly welcome her at first.

One of them is Tom Buckely (Sam Claflin), and it does not take much for him and Catrin to develop a productive professional relationship as he comes to appreciate Catrin’s wit and talent more and more. At one point, he is quite impressed as watching how Catrin quickly makes some crucial modification on one particular dialogue scene in a short film they are working on, and then she is assigned to check out whether there is any good potential in a reported story about two brave twin sisters who allegedly sailed their father’s boat to Dunkirk just like many other civilians willingly going there for saving soldiers during that desperate time.

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Once she meets these two twin sisters, Catrin comes to learn that their story is not that inspiring at all, but she decides to make a good fictional tale out of their story anyway, because, well, their story is bound to be fictionalized in one way or another. She and her two colleagues soon embark on writing a suitable screenplay, and the Ministry of Information is ready to support the production of their movie, even after everyone comes to learn later that Catrin was not entirely honest in her report on the twin sisters’ story.

Of course, Catrin and her colleagues and superiors subsequently face a number of setbacks as preparing for the production of the movie. When the War Office demands some extra changes for making the film more appealing to American audiences, they have no choice but to follow the demand from the War Office. For instance, they have to include an American character in the movie, so they come to hire an American soldier who recently becomes famous thanks to his heroic deeds for the Royal Air Force, but, alas, he turns out to be a pretty bad actor, and that certainly becomes quite a big challenge for them when they begin to shoot the film in a rural beach town far from London.

Fortunately, Catrin finds an unlikely help from Ambrose Hilliard (Bill Nighy), an aging movie actor who was once quite popular but has been struggling a lot with the current downturn of his career. When his agent Sammy Smith (Eddie Marsan) suggested that he should play a rather shabby supporting role in the film, Hilliard was not particularly eager to play that role at first mainly because of his remaining pride, but he eventually agrees to accept the role thanks to his agent’s sister Sophie (Helen McCrory), a no-nonsense lady who takes over her brother’s business shortly after his unexpected death. Once Catrin promises to him that she will make his character richer and meatier, Hilliard gladly does some acting lesson for that American soldier, who surely gets improved a bit to everyone’s relief.

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Meanwhile, Catrin and Buckley become more drawn to each other as keeping working together, but there is one problem on her side. She is living with a struggling artist who has been her de facto spouse, and, though their relationship recently becomes quite strained, she is still willing to maintain their relationship as much as she can. How this difficult situation of hers is resolved later in the story will probably not surprise you much, but then the screenplay by Gaby Chiappe takes a sudden unexpected narrative turn, and that is the main reason why the finale, which is apparently influenced by Preston Sturges’ “Sullivan’s Travel” (1941), is quite poignant.

Steadily balancing the film well between melancholic wartime atmosphere and lightweight comic spirit, Scherfig, who previously made “An Education” (2009), draws good performances from its main cast members. While Gemma Arterton and Sam Claflin click well with each other on the screen, they are surrounded by a bunch of dependable performers including Jack Huston, Helen McCroy, Eddie Marsan, Richard E. Grant, Jake Lacy, and Jeremy Irons, and the special mention must go to Bill Nighy, who steals the show as usual while effortlessly going back and forth between humor and pathos throughout the film.

Although it may look modest compared to “Dunkirk” and “Darkest Hour”, “Their Finest” is still enjoyable thanks to Scherfig’s competent direction and the engaging efforts from her cast and crew members, and I appreciate its fresh female perspective on a familiar historical subject. In short, it is good enough to make an interesting triple feature show along with “Dunkirk” and “Darkest Hour”, and I guess I should try that someday.

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Tower (2016) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): That horrible summer day in Austin, Texas

Posted on August 11, 2019 by kaist455

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On August 1st, 1966, a guy named Charles Whitman went up to the top floor of the University of Texas Tower in Austin, Texas, and then he committed one of the most atrocious shooting incidents in the American modern history. When his reign of terror was finally over after 96 minutes, 16 people were dead while three dozen people were injured, and the whole nation was shocked and devastated by this heinous act of violence.

Mainly driven by the testimonies from a group of various witnesses who happened to be there during that terrible summery day, documentary film “Tower” attempts to give us a vivid and visceral presentation of the incident, and the result is quite harrowing thanks to its thoughtful attitude mixed with a surprisingly effective storytelling approach. Through its skillful combination of testimonies, archival footage clips, and animation, the documentary takes us right into the confusion and terror during the incident, and it gives us a number of emotionally powerful moments while never losing its focus on the human dimensions of its subject.

The documentary begins with how everything looked fine and usual for one of the witnesses presented in the documentary and her boyfriend on that fateful day. After taking a class exam, they had a lunch together, and then they went outside, and that was when she was suddenly shot and then collapsed on the ground. While she was trying to grasp what exactly happened to her, her boyfriend was also shot and then died, and that was the beginning of her long, torturous nightmare in broad daylight.

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With gunshots being continued and several more people getting shot, the area surrounding the tower was quickly thrown into sheer panic and disorientation. In case of a witness who was a teenager boy at that time, he was abruptly shot while he was delivering newspapers with his younger cousin, and then we hear about how a college employee got himself involved in the ongoing emergency circumstance more than expected. At first, he just wanted to make a phone call for telling his wife that he was okay, but he subsequently found himself going inside the tower as looking for a phone, and there is a rather amusing moment which shows his little act of defiance to the shooter at the top of the tower before his eventual entrance into the tower.

The testimonies of these and other witnesses in the documentary are mostly read by actors, who also performed for the recreation of the witnesses’ recounts via rotoscope animation. The resulting animation scenes may look a bit plain at first, they generate undeniably striking emotional urgency as frequently intercut with archival footage clips which were actually shot during the incident, and we accordingly get more absorbed into the increasingly intense mood surrounding the tower during that time.

One of the most harrowing moments in the documentary comes from that aforementioned pregnant woman, who had to lie down still on the hot concrete ground for more than an hour for her survival even though quite devastated by her immense personal loss. She saw many people looking at her from the distance, but nobody was willing to come out and then help her because they were understandably afraid of getting shot, and she had no choice but to endure her grueling circumstance alone – until one young brave woman came and then lay down near her for supporting her.

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And then we see more cases of human bravery against unspeakable evil. In case of one college student who came into the scene along with his friend just for mere curiosity, he rose to the occasion when he clearly discerned that something had to be done for that pregnant woman in danger, and she was eventually rescued thanks to the valiant act of this dude and a few other people. In case of two police officers who managed to go inside the tower and then approach quite close to the shooter on the top of the tower, they simply focused on what should be done as soon as possible despite being very afraid, and the sequence depicting their eventual confrontation with the shooter is quite tense to say the least with the ironic utilization of a certain famous classic piece by Claude Debussy on the soundtrack.

The documentary, which is partially based on Pamela Colloff’s 2006 Texas Monthly article “96 Minutes”, also shows us the aftermath of the incident, and that is where it becomes more moving. Some of the witnesses in the documentary are directly shown to us, and there is a very poignant moment when one of them tells us how she has moved on with her life since the incident. Although she is sometimes reminded of what she lost because of the incident, she has had a good life on the whole, and she even shows a little pity toward the shooter, whom she already forgave a long time ago.

Directed and produced by Keith Maitland, who also worked as the co-cinematographer, “Tower” is a respectful and touching tribute to the victims and survivors of the University of Texas tower shooting in 1966, and its subject certainly resonates with those numerous mass shooting incidents in the American society. As shown from the two recent mass shooting incidents which happened several days ago, nothing much has been changed during last 53 years except getting worse and worse, and you may find yourself becoming more concerned as observing what is shown at the end of the documentary.

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Jesus (2018) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A simple but haunting coming-of-age drama

Posted on August 10, 2019 by kaist455

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Japanese film “Jesus” is a simple but haunting coming-of-age drama to be admired for not only its sensitive coming-of-age tale but also its thoughtful handling of its religious subjects. While it is often a little playful as observing how its innocent young hero becomes more serious about his religious belief, the movie seldom feels silly or mawkish in its detached but empathetic attitude, and that is why we come to observe his drama with more care and attention during its somber but undeniably powerful last act.

During its 20-minute prologue, the movie succinctly establishes a big environment change experienced by Yura (Yura Satô), a young boy who happens to move to some rural region along with his parents. While they live in a cozy house belonging to his grandmother, he still feels awkward, and his awkwardness is more apparent when he is later introduced to his new classmates at a local Christian school.

As going through the daily routines along with his schoolmates at this Christian school, Yura comes to know a bit about Christianity, and he soon becomes very serious about what he and others at the school are supposed to believe. As a matter of fact, he begins to see the vision of Jesus appearing as a tiny figure, and his nascent Christian belief is gradually developed further as his several prayers to Jesus are answered sooner than expected.

During one of these prayers of his, Yura asks for a new friend to hang around with, and then he accidentally comes across Kazuma (Riki Ôkuma), who is incidentally one of his classmates. As spending more time together, they become friendlier to each other, and there is a lovely moment when they go outside during one night for watching the meteor shower in sky. They do not expect much at first, but then Yura prays to Jesus, and then, what do you know, they soon behold the sky filled with falling meteors.

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As Christmas comes, Yura suggests that they should go together to a cabin owned by Kazuma’s mother, and they subsequently go to that cabin along with her. Although the cabin does not look that good on the surface, its interior is warm and bright enough for their Christmas dinner, and we later get an ambiguous moment which implies that Yura’s occasional vision of Jesus may be also shared with his best friend.

While leisurely gliding from one episodic moment to another, the movie maintains well its naturalistic mood with the sense of nostalgia, and I was not surprised to learn later that the movie is inspired by the childhood memories of director/writer/editor/cinematographer Hiroshi Okuyama. Like his young hero, Okuyama once attended a Christian school during his childhood years, and he did a very good job of conveying to us how a young innocent mind can be impressed a lot by religious elements. I was amused as watching several brief but humorous scenes where Yura spends some free time along with Jesus, and that somehow took me back to when I used to attend an American Christian meeting along with several local kids around 25 years ago. I must confess that I was not as serious as Yura during that time, but I surely tried hard in singing those English hymns at least, and that old memory still amuses me a lot.

And the movie also distinguishes itself with its unusually austere visual approach. Shot in 1.33:1 ratio, the movie often evokes the texture of classic filmmaking via a number of static but gorgeous shots, and its calm, patient observation during many long-take scenes induces more thoughts and reflections on what is happening below its seemingly calm surface. With its right balance of unadulterated innocence and considerate restraint, the movie often shines with plain but sublime beauty to linger on our mind, and I particularly like a brief poetic moment involved with one certain animal in the story.

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Because the movie is released as “I Dislike Jesus” in South Korea, I sensed in advance that something unpleasant would happen sooner or later, and all I can tell you is that I admire how the movie deftly handles a sudden narrative turn later in the story. While our young hero accordingly struggles with his little crisis of faith, the movie thankfully does not resort to any cheap sentimentality, and we are not surprised when Yura makes a very decisive personal action around the end of the story.

The movie is also supported well by the unadorned acting from its two young main performers. While Yura Satô ably functions as the heart and soul of the movie, Riki Ôkuma effectively complements his co-performer, and their effortless interactions on the screen surely show us that Okuyama is a talented filmmaker who knows how to handle child performers as well as, say, Hirokazu Kore-eda, who is, not so surprisingly, one of notable admirers of the film.

In conclusion, “Jesus” is a small but exceptional personal piece of work, and Okuyama surely made an impressive debut on the whole while also establishing himself as another interesting Japanese filmmaker to watch. Considering that it has been shown in a very few countries since it was released in Japan in this May, it really needs to be seen by more audiences in my trivial opinion, and I guarantee you that you will have a fairly engaging time with it.

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My Name Is KIM Bok-dong (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Her last defiant years

Posted on August 10, 2019 by kaist455

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South Korean documentary film “My Name Is KIM Bok-dong” looks into the last defiant years of an old lady who tried hard along with her fellow survivors for getting an official apology from the Japanese government for more than 25 years. Although they were quite afraid of being labeled as the victims of that heinous war crime committed by the Japanese military during the World War II, they bravely went out in public for reminding us of what should not be forgotten, and it is sometimes poignant to observe how they have kept trying despite many obstacles including their impending mortality.

At the beginning, we get to know a bit about the early life of Kim Bok-dong, who died at the age of 92 early in this year. When she was 14 in 1940, she and several young girls were promised that they would earn a lot as working in a factory outside Korea, but, as soon as they arrived at the place in question, they were forced into sex slavery as ‘comfort women’ for Japanese soldiers. She managed to survive and then returned to her hometown 8 years later, but she could not possibly tell anyone what she went through because, like many other survivors at that time, she did not want to be marked as a disgrace to her family and others.

However, during the 1990s, Kim decided to talk about her terrible experience in public along with a group of survivors, though that decision of hers caused considerable personal pain for her. As she had to recollect again and again what she had to endure during the war, she felt her old psychological wounds opened up again, and she also found herself disconnected from her siblings, who did not want to see her again as being ashamed of her.

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In the end, there seemed to be some progress for her and her fellow survivors as the Japanese government eventually promised the apology to them, but it eventually did not do anything to alleviate their painful memories of sexual abuse and exploitation. As a matter of fact, it still does not show any particular will to apologize for this atrocious war crime or admit its legal responsibility, and this still remains as a hot issue at present for many people in South Korea and Japan.

Feeling quite disillusioned, Kim decided to return to her hometown, and then she remained silent for more than 10 years, but then, around 2010, she came to change her mind. As the Japanese government led by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe became more aggressive in whitewashing the World War II history, she and her fellow survivors came out again for demanding the apology from the Japanese government again, and we see them participating in demonstrations along with many other activists despite their increasingly fragile physical condition.

As one of the more prominent members in the group, Kim went here and there in not only South Korea but also several other countries including Japan, and we see her recounting her horrible war experiences to many different people willing to listen to her. Thanks to the strenuous efforts from her and others, the comfort-woman stature was established in Glendale, California a few years ago, and then a similar one was also established right in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, where Kim and her fellow survivors held a routine demonstration along with a bunch of young activists.

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However, the South Korean government, which was led by President Park Geun-hye at that time, let them down a lot when it hastily reached to an agreement on the comfort women issue with the Japanese government in late 2015 while willfully disregarding what had been demanded by Kim and her fellow survivors for many years. As shown in the opening part of Miki Dezaki’s documentary film “Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of Comfort Women Issue” (2019), this agreement angered lots of South Korean people at that time, and there is a memorable scene where one of Kim’s fellow survivors angrily chides a high-ranking South Korean government official, who does not have anything to tell her except some empty platitudes.

Nevertheless, Kim and her fellow survivors did not give up despite this another moment of disappointment and frustration of theirs. Although they were often reminded of how short their remaining life was, they kept going on as usual, and Kim showed considerable resilience even though she became a lot more weakened as time went by. Around 2018, she was diagnosed to have cancer, but that did not stop her at all. She continued to go to her usual demonstration site, and there is a touching scene where she visits a Korean Japanese high school in Japan for showing her constant support.

Although it loses its focus a bit during its last 30 minutes as showing what those valiant young activists did for Kim and her fellow survivors, “My Name Is KIM Bok-dong” still holds our attention via its earnest and respectful approach, and director Song Won-geun did a fairly competent job of presenting his human subject with considerable care and sincerity. It did not show me anything particularly new about comfort women issue, but it still works as a moving tribute to its human subject, and I was not so surprised when I heard some emotional response from the audiences sitting behind me during the screening held at last night. In short, this is another good documentary about comfort women issue, and, if you are not that familiar with that subject, I strongly recommend you to watch it along with “Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of Comfort Women Issue”.

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Wild Rose (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): The tale of a Scottish country singer girl

Posted on August 9, 2019 by kaist455

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“Wild Rose” is your average music drama which hits many familiar notes, but it distinguishes itself pretty well via its irrepressible spirit and personality. Right from the beginning, we can instantly see where it is heading along with its feisty heroine, but the movie often surprises and charms us with a number of wonderful moments to be appreciated, and it is also anchored well by its lively lead performance which may be one of notable star-making turns of this year.

When we are introduced to Rose-Lynn Harlan (Jessie Buckley) at the beginning, this brash Scottish lass is about to be released from a prison where she has been incarcerated for about a year due to some minor crime, and she is ready to follow her lifelong dream again. Since she was very young, she has aspired to be a successful country singer in Nashville someday, and she is quite determined to grab any opportunity for fulfilling her dream.

However, the situation turns out to be not that good for Rose-Lynn due to several reasons. When she returns to her neighborhood in Glasgow, her mother Marion (Julie Walters) welcomes her, but her two little children, who were taken care of by Marion during Rose-Lynn’s absence, are not particularly excited to see their mother again, and they are not so pleased when they will have to live along with her in a small flat. When Rose-Lynn returns to a local country club bar where she routinely performed before her incarceration, she is not welcomed much by its owner, and we soon see how she can often be her worst enemy because of her impulsive temper.

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Anyway, through her mother’s friend, Rose-Lynn comes to work in a big, luxurious house belonging to Susannah (Sophie Okonedo) and her affluent middle-class family, and it does not take much time for this generous lady to get swept by Rose-Lynn’s enthusiasm on country music. After listening to a lot of those famous country songs, she comes to appreciate more of Rose-Lynn’s considerable potential as a singer, and that is followed by an amusing moment when Rose-Lynn blatantly asks Susannah for the money for going to Nashville.

Of course, Susannah says no like any sensible person would under her circumstance, but she instead suggests a good plan for promoting Rose-Lynn’s talent. She sends several people a video clip of Rose-Lynn performing a song, and, what do you know, that video clip eventually draws the attention from a certain well-known figure in BBC, who subsequently invites Rose-Lynn to his radio show in London.

After having a wonderful time in London, Rose-Lynn becomes more determined about going to Nashville, and Susannah is surely willing to help her more. She plans an evening party for her friends who may contribute some money to Rose-Lynn, and it seems all Rose-Lynn will have to do is giving one hell of performance in front of these people.

However, as many of you already expected, Rose-Lynn later finds herself quite conflicted about pursuing her dream. While she comes to clash with her mother for being occupied more with her dream instead of taking care of her children, she also comes to feel guilty as she did not tell everything about herself to Susannah from the beginning, and it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that she becomes a lot more troubled than before around the time when she must be ready for singing in front of Susannah’s guests.

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While predictable at times, the screenplay by Nicole Taylor maintains well its balance between humor and sincerity, and it is certainly buoyed a lot by the strong personality of its heroine. Despite her many flaws, Rose-Lynn comes to us as an interesting woman to observe, and it is often touching to watch how she comes to grow up more during the bumpy journey toward her dream. Although the last scene of the movie may look a bit too convenient, the movie surely earns that moment via its gradual character development at least, and we certainly come to cheer a lot for her around that point.

The movie is also helped a lot by the engaging lead acting by Jessie Buckley, a young Irish newcomer who recently received considerable acclaim for her supporting turn in HBO TV miniseries “Chernobyl”. While deftly handling several music performance scenes for herself, Buckley also embodies well the human qualities of her character, and she is particularly wonderful when her character quietly comes to realize something important shortly after performing a song later in the story. In addition, Buckely is supported well by several notable supporting performers including Sophie Okonedo and Julie Walters, and Walters is dependable as usual while Okonedo imbues her rather thankless role with genuine warmth.

Directed by Tom Harper, “Wild Rose” is a crowd-pleaser as enjoyable as intended, and I was entertained enough by its story and characters as well as its music performance scenes. Yes, I do not have much interest in those country songs, but I did appreciate those wonderful musical moments in the film nonetheless, and I will not deny that I was both touched and amused by what its heroine demonstrates at the end of the film. After all, good country singers have each own story to tell, and now she has something to tell and sing about, doesn’t she?

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