Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): Ant-Man returns – with his partner

Posted on July 7, 2018 by kaist455

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While looking relatively modest compared to other recent Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) movies, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is a solid lightweight fun. Although it initially takes some time as trying to juggle many different story elements together during its first half, the movie eventually gets things rolling during its second half, and it delights and excites us while also making us have some expectation on what may come next after this.

The story begins at the time point which is around 2 years after what happened in “Captain America: Civil War” (2016). After spending some time in a prison for getting involved with Captain America, Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) came back to San Francisco on condition that he would be on house arrest, so he has been stuck in his current residence for almost two years while occasionally spending some time with his young daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), who currently lives with Scott’s ex-wife Maggie (Judy Greer) and Maggie’s boyfriend Paxton (Bobby Cannavale). As his house arrest period is nearly being over now, Scott is looking forward to being around his daughter more often than before, and he is also ready to work more with his three ex-con colleagues who have been running a small security company with him.

But then, as shown from the prologue scene of the movie, there comes a serious matter he must deal with. During the climax of “Ant-Man” (2015), Scott was hurled into the Quantum Realm as getting quite smaller, and his eventual safe return from that alternative dimension showed Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) a small possibility that Dr. Pym’s wife Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), who was vanished into the Quantum Realm many years ago after her heroic last-minute sacrifice, is still alive. Although they have been currently hiding from the US government since Scott was arrested and then incarcerated, Dr. Pym and Hope have steadily studied and worked on that possibility during last two years, and now they really need some help from Scott, who turns out to be more involved in this matter than he thought at first.

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Although he is well aware of the risk of being sent back to jail, Scott agrees to help Dr. Pym and Hope, but, of course, they soon come to face several big problems. While they certainly have to avoid getting arrested by an FBI agent who has been monitoring Scott, they also have to evade the pursuit of a black market dealer who wants to acquire Dr. Pym’s precious technology by any means necessary, and then there is a mysterious figure nicknamed “Ghost” (Hannah John-Kamen), who is literally like a ghost due to an increasingly unstable physical condition which is later revealed to be associated with Dr. Pym’s research.

As busily handling these and other characters in the film, the screenplay by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari loses some of its narrative momentum at times, but it diligently provides to us many humorous moments at least. Occasionally reminiscent of “Innerspace” (1987), the movie has a lot of fun with making various objects smaller or bigger, and that was enough for me to forget the law of conservation of mass and my rudimentary knowledge on quantum mechanics for a while. Yes, the Quantum Realm in the movie sometimes looks quite ridiculous in my inconsequential opinion, but I will not deny that I was amused by its outrageous aspects including the appearance of a certain micro-animal called Tardigrade.

Director Peyton Reed, who previously directed “Ant-Man”, did a good job of drawing the engaging performances from his main cast members. Deftly utilizing his everyman persona, Paul Rudd, who has shown his considerable comic talent since his supporting turn in “Clueless” (1995), is alternatively sincere and funny, and he is also complemented well by Evangelin Lilly, who is equally fine as bringing feisty spirit to her character. While ably supporting Rudd and Lilly, Michael Douglas provides a touch of class as required, and the same things can be said about Michelle Pfeiffer, who does not disappoint us at all when her character appears as expected later in the story.

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In case of the other notable performers in the film, most of them have each own moment to shine. While Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale, and Laurence Fishburne are rather under-utilized, Walter Goggins is seedy and sleazy as the main bad guy of the movie, and Hannah John-Kamen is effective as an antagonist character desperately driven by an understandable motive. As Scott’s plucky daughter, Abby Ryder Fortson has a sweet scene with Rudd when their characters happen to have an honest and serious conversation, and Randall Park has a small amusing moment when his FBI agent character shows an unexpected side behind his by-the-book attitude.

As they did in the previous movie, Michael Peña, Tip “T.I.” Harris, and David Dastmalchian provide some of the biggest laughs in the film. While Harris and Dastmalchian are clearly having a ball with their respective roles, Peña, who drew my attention for the first time via his small but significant supporting role in “Crash” (2004), virtually steals every scene of his, and he is simply uproarious during one particular scene involved with a certain type of drug.

Although it is not something as ground-breaking as “Black Panther” (2018), “Ant-Men and the Wasp” provides a nice change in contrast to the ponderous seriousness of “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018), and I enjoyed its cheerful sense of humor and vibrant personality. It does not exceed my expectation exactly, but it still gives us a fair share of fun and entertainment, and I am totally fine with that.

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Sunset in My Hometown (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): A rapper coming back to his hometown

Posted on July 6, 2018 by kaist455

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South Korean film “Sunset in My Hometown” is a mixed bag whose weak elements are covered by its strong elements to some degree. Although it is too corny and predictable at times and I am not sure about whether its mix of comedy and melodrama is entirely successful, I was entertained by a number of humorous moments at least, and the overall result is a fairly engaging comedy drama peppered with some nice pieces of rap music to appreciate.

In the beginning, we meet Hak-soo (Park Jung-min), a struggling young rapper who has not yet gotten a big break despite his hard efforts. During last six years, he has participated in a TV talent show for aspiring rappers, but he already failed five times in a row, and we see him failing again as he becomes too emotional about a subject chosen for the final competition.

Not long after this another embarrassing failure, Hak-soo receives a call from his rural hometown which he left around 10 years ago. He is notified that his old father had a stroke and is sent to a local hospital, but he is not particularly willing to go there because he and his father have not been not exactly close to each other. As revealed to us later in the story, his father was frequently absent mainly due to his criminal life, and Hak-soo still feels angry about what his father did to him and his mother in the past.

Nevertheless, Hak-soo eventually returns to his hometown, but he only comes to find that his father is not as ill as he seemed. Although it is apparent that Hak-soo’s father wants to reconcile with Hak-soo, that is the last thing Hak-soo wants for now, and even Seon-mi (Kim Go-eun), an old high school colleague whose ailing father happens to share the same room with Hak-soo’s father, cannot persuade him to stay with his father for a while.

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Hak-soo is going to leave the town on the next day, but, what do you know, he only finds himself staying there longer than expected because of one absurd moment of misidentification. While drinking with his three old high school friends, he is suddenly arrested by the local police just because he looks like a criminal suspect they are looking for, and then he is ordered not to leave the town for several days at least.

While accordingly stuck in the town, Hak-soo comes across several other figures from his past besides Seon-mi and his aforementioned three friends. They are Mi-kyeong (Shin Hyun-bin), another old high school colleague on whom Hak-soo once had a crush; Won-Joon (Kim Joon-han), a local newspaper reporter who was Hak-soo’s senior; and Yong-dae (Go Joon), who was often bullied by Hak-soo during their childhood but now becomes a local mob boss who is surely your average macho guy. When he encounters Hak-soo, Yong-dae becomes quite determined to settle his old score with Hak-soo, and that leads to a funny scene which will probably remind you of a certain infamous scene in “Oldboy” (2003).

In the meantime, we get to know more about Seon-mi’s old feelings toward Hak-soo through a series of flashback scenes. While she appreciated his artistic sensibility which inspired her to be a writer, she did not attract his attention much as looking plainer than Mi-kyeong, and she was certainly frustrated a lot with that. When she saw him from the distance during one evening, she let out her feelings in front of him, but he was only flabbergasted while not recognizing her much, and he remains rather oblivious to her affection even when he reads her first novel, which turns out to be quite more successful than it looks at first.

Eventually, the movie comes back to that serious relationship problem between Hak-soo and Hak-soo’s father. We get an expected dramatic moment when they lash out at each other, but it feels rote and contrived to say the least, and how they later come to get a bit closer to each other is one of the least convincing aspects of the movie.

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The movie works best whenever it has a fun with rolling its various supporting characters around Hak-soo. I was amused by many of its hilarious moments generated from the comic interactions between Hak-soo and other characters in the film, and I particularly liked how the movie cheerfully goes all the way for broad comedy when Hak-soo comes to have a duel with Yong-dae later in the story.

As the story about a rapper, the movie naturally provides several rap songs as required, and these songs mostly function well in the context of the story. Park Jung-min, who drew my attention for the first time through his impressive supporting turn in “Bleak Night” (2010), is believable in his few rap performance scenes in the film, and I was not so surprised to learn later that he partially participated in the production of these songs.

Park’s earnest lead performance is supported well by a bunch of good performers. While Kim Go-eun and Shin Hyun-bin bring life and personality to their characters, Jang Hang-sun provides some gravitas as Hak-soo’s father, and Kim Joon-han, Jung Kyu-soo, Jung Sun-chul, and Go Joon are also fine in their respective supporting roles.

“Sunset in My Hometown” is directed by Lee Joon-ik, who is known for not only historical drama films such as “King and the Clown” (2005) and “Anarchist from Colony” (2017) but also intimate comedy films such as “Radio Star” (2006) and “The Happy Life” (2007). Belonging to the latter category, “Sunset in My Hometown” pleased me as much as intended, and I came to forgive its notable flaws in spite of some reservation. It is not perfect at all, but it did its job anyway, so I guess I should not be grouchy in my final assessment.

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Seoul Searching (2015) ☆☆☆(3/4): Their summer camp in South Korea, 1986

Posted on July 2, 2018 by kaist455

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I hate summer camp. That is what initially came to my mind during my viewing of “Seoul Searching”, which is about one eventful summer camp in South Korea, 1986. The movie initially made me wince as evoking my dreadful personal memories of summer camps, and I also cringed as observing its numerous broad stereotypes and blatant clichés, but then I came to enjoy its mood and spirit while also caring a bit about its unruly but colorful adolescent characters.

During its prologue scene, the movie gives us the brief background information about a real-life South Korean summer camp for young adults of Korean descent from various countries including US. Its main purpose was having these kids learn more about their cultural heritage, and I heard later that director/writer Benson Lee actually participated in this summer camp in 1987.

The story begins with many different adolescent boys and girls of Korean descent arriving in Seoul, and we are introduced to some of them one by one. They are Sid (Justin Chon), your typical punk kid from US; Grace (Jessika Van), your average Madonna wannabe from US; Mike (Albert Kong), an uptight military school student from US; Sergio (Esteban Ahn), a gregarious (and horny) boy from Mexico; Klaus (Teo Yoo), a decent lad from Germany; Kris (Rosalina Leigh), an adapted girl from US; and a trio of rappers from US, who never stop annoying us with their ridiculous bravado.

While Mr. Kim (Cha In-Pyo) and other summer camp teachers expect camp participants to have a meaningful time as learning about their parents’ cultural/historical background, camp participants are determined to have a fun right from their very first day, and we soon see several boys trying to sneak into the section for girls. Thanks to Klaus, alcohol comes handy to them, and the mood certainly becomes jollier as they and several girls enjoy alcohol and music, though many of them suffer hangover in the next morning.

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Along with them and other camp participants, the movie bounces from one comic episodic moment to another. There is an amusing moment when they and other students come across a bunch of students from Japan at that famous tourist site in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, and the movie later gives us an unexpected dramatic payoff moment when these two groups encounter each other again in some other notable tourist site. During one evening, Sid, Klaus, and Sergio sneak out of their camp for having more fun, but then they soon find themselves in a situation way over their heads, and that is another funny moment in the film.

Meanwhile, the movie shifts onto a more serious mode at times. Although frequently clashing with Mr. Kim, Sid comes to know more about Mr. Kim when they happen to have an honest conversation at one point, and that leads to the mutual respect between them. While clumsily trying to get closer to a girl named Sue-jin (Byeol Kang), Sergio comes to learn about her painful past, which incidentally reminds him of his own difficult past.

In case of Kris, the main purpose of her visit to South Korea is finding and then meeting her biological parents. Through Klaus’ kind help, she manages to find her biological mother and then eventually meets her biological mother as she has always hoped, but, not so surprisingly, her biological mother is not so willing to allow Kris to come back into her life, and that hurts Kris’ feeling even though she understands well her biological mother’s situation.

seoulsearching04Although its mix of comedy and drama is not always successful, the movie mostly maintains its sweet, optimistic attitude well. Many of its adolescent characters are broad and simple to say the least, but they are presented with distinctive personalities like many teenage characters of John Hughes’ adolescent comedy drama movies in the 1980s, and I was entertained by some of their colorful moments such as when Jessika and two other girls give an impromptu performance of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”. That moment looks rather silly at first, but their enthusiasm is palpable on the screen, and you will probably smile with amusement as watching their performance.

And I also enjoyed the camp party sequence where the adolescent characters in the movie show more of themselves through their changed attire. While we are not so surprised to see several romantic relationships fully blossoming among them, the movie throws a few surprises into this sequence, and I was particularly amused by when Sergio comes to find a right partner for him.

The cast of the movie, which consists of professional and non-professional performers, is uniformly good. While Cha In-Pyo supports the ground with his modest performance as required, the performers playing the summer camp students in the film relish each own moment to shine, and their resulting ensemble performance is sort of endearing.

In conclusion, “Seoul Searching”, which is currently available on Netflix, is an engaging adolescent comedy drama which works well on the whole as playfully handling heaps of stereotypes and clichés, and it entertained me enough to compensate for my initial negative reaction to the movie. I still hate summer camp, but this is a good summer camp movie at least.

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Morris from America (2016) ☆☆☆(3/4): African American father and son in Germany

Posted on July 1, 2018 by kaist455

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“Morris from America”, which received the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award when it was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2016, is plainer than I expected. As phlegmatically observing the bumpy struggle of its young hero in his new and alien environment, the movie gives us typical adolescent moments coupled with some interesting elements of cultural stereotype, and it is a bit shame that the movie does not delve deeper into its subjects, even though there are enough good things to engage and amuse us.

In the beginning, the movie shows us a private musical moment between a 13-year-old African American boy named Morris (Markees Christmas) and his widower father Curtis (Craig Robinson). They recently moved to Heidelberg, Germany as Curtis is hired as the new coach for a local soccer team, and Curtis hopes that his son will be all right in this new environment, but Morris is not so happy about this change as feeling lonely and isolated. Whenever he is not having a private German lesson with his generous tutor Inka (Carla Juri), he often goes around here and there in the city while listening to rap music, and we later get a brief amusing scene which shows how things look a bit different to him through the rap music he is listening to.

Concerned a lot about his son’s well-being, Curtis has Morris go to a local youth center where he may befriend other kids in the neighborhood, but Morris only finds himself feeling more isolated while also ridiculed by some kids. At one point, one of these kids jokingly calls him Kobe Bryant, and we are automatically reminded of how African Americans are frequently labeled by their stereotypical images.

Anyway, Morris does not give a damn about how he is perceived by other kids, but then he comes to pay attention to an older girl named Katrin (Lina Keller). Although their first direct encounter is awkward to say the least, Katrin also seems to be interested in befriending Morris, and she invites him to an evening party, but then he is embarrassed to find himself becoming the target of a small prank involved with a water pistol.

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Despite this embarrassing experience, Morris comes to spend more time with Katrin, and he later shares his passion on rap music with her when she brings him to her house. He has a cassette copy of his father’s old amateur rap performance, so he plays the cassette for listening to it along with Katrin, but, to his disappointment, his father’s performance is not exactly exciting for understandable reasons.

Meanwhile, he keeps trying to make his own rap music, but his attempt is not that successful. When Curtis happens to know about what his son has been writing, he scolds his son not for using vulgar words but for not being truthful in his lyrics at all, and his critical comment turns out to be right. When Morris later attempts to present his insincere rap in front of others at the youth center, he only comes to embarrass himself, and he also gets himself kicked out of the youth center.

After that narrative point, the screenplay by director/writer Chad Hartigan seems to wander aimlessly along with its struggling hero for a while, and it is disappointing that the movie does not explore more of Morris’ musical sensitivity, but the movie thankfully regains its narrative momentum when Morris happens to go to Frankfurt along with Katrin for a music concert. During that concert, he comes across a real chance to demonstrate his nascent musical talent in front of many people, and the result is better than he expected as he follows his father’s advice.

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The best scene in the film comes from when Curtis shows his son more of his sincere love and concern later in the story. At first, he merely seems to talk about one memorable time in his past, but he gradually and touchingly shows his deep understanding and empathy to his son, and Morris is reminded again of how much his father loves and cares about him.

Two main performers in the movie support well their film even when it stumbles. Newcomer Markees Christmas holds the center well in his unadorned performance, and I was impressed by how effortlessly he clicks well with his co-star Craig Robinson. Right from their first scene, they quickly establish the strong relationship between their characters, and they are constantly engaging in their interactions on the screen. Robinson, who has been mainly known for his comic talent since he played a supporting character in TV sitcom series “The Office”, shows his unexpected serious side here in this film, and I was certainly surprised and entertained by that. While occasionally becoming a little humorous as required, he did a good job of gently conveying to us his character’s feelings and thoughts, and his understated performance deservedly received the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Although I think it could be more improved to some degrees (the supporting characters besides Katrin and Morris’ tutor are mostly broad stereotypes, for example), “Morris from America”, which is currently available on Netflix, is still an admirable work on the whole, and I had a mildly pleasant time with it. Like any good coming-of-age drama, it surely let me sense how much its hero grows up through his experiences in the end, and that is enough for me.

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Set It Up (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): How they distract their bosses

Posted on July 1, 2018 by kaist455

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“Set It Up”, which is currently available on Netflix, is a conventional romantic comedy with some fun stuffs to enjoy. Again, we are served with two different characters who pull and push each other until they come to realize they are really attracted to each other, but the movie mostly works thanks to not only the comic chemistry between its engaging two lead performers but also several witty moments to be savored, and the result is fairly enough to compensate for its notable shortcomings.

After the opening scene which amusingly shows the constantly busy life of many assistants working in New York City, the movie focuses on Harper (Zoey Deutch) and Charlie (Glen Powell), two assistants who have been quite frustrated and exhausted because of their respective bosses. Harper has hoped to write good sports articles someday as a legitimate journalist, but she has been stuck in her current position as busily assisting her boss Kirsten (Lucy Liu), who demands a lot from Harper as the editor-in-chief of an influential online sports news website. Charlie has desired to go further in his financial business career, but he has been so far merely toiling for Rick (Taye Diggs), a cocky, successful financial broker who occasionally shows his volatile temper to Charlie and whoever happens to be around him.

Although both of them work in the same building, Harper and Charlie have never come across each other as spending most of their time on their works, but then they come to have your average Meet Cute moment through a small coincidence during one late evening. When Harper comes down to the lobby for getting the delivered dinner for her boss, she belatedly realizes she does not have the cash to pay for it, and that is when Charlie hurriedly comes into the scene. He also needs to get the dinner for his boss as soon as possible, so, after a few minutes of negotiation between him and Harper, they come to divide that delivered dinner for their mutual benefit.

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When they later see each other again, Harper and Charlie casually share their many difficult moments under their respective bosses for cheering up each other a bit, and then they come upon a rather brilliant idea for making their life a little easier. As hard-working assistants, they know almost everything about their respective bosses, so they decide to manipulate Kirsten and Rick into a possible romantic situation which may distract them enough to make them less demanding than before.

Although their first attempt to set Kirsten and Rick together is not so successful to say the least, Harper and Charlie make some advance when they have Kirsten and Rick be around each other during a Major League baseball game, and, what do you know, their plan turns out to be far more successful than they ever imagined. While they still need to manipulate Kirsten and Rick more, Kirsten and Rick seem to be genuinely fallen in love with each other, and they also become nicer to their respective assistants, who are certainly pleased to have chances to enjoy each own personal time. While Charlie is happy to spend more time with his current girlfriend, Harper finally has a date with some nice guy, and she even considers going further with that guy.

Of course, we soon come to see that there is a certain mutual feeling growing between Harper and Charlie, who still regard each other as friends/accomplices even after spending their precious free weekend together. Although there eventually comes a predictable plot turn which separate them to some degrees, we all can see that Charlie and Harper are destined to be with each other, and we certainly cheer for them when they respectively make an active forward step as expected. While Zoey Deutch, who previously played minor supporting roles in several films including “Everybody Wants Some!!” (2016), is disarmingly plucky, Glen Powell, who also appeared in “Everybody Wants Some!!” and played a notable supporting role in “Hidden Figures” (2016), effectively complements his co-performer with his likable appearance, and their many scenes in the movie are delightful to watch thanks to their effortless comic chemistry.

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As the other couple in the story, Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs have lots of fun with their broad characters. While he is not entirely convincing in his role, Diggs is effective in his few crucial scenes with Liu, and Liu gives the most entertaining supporting performance in the film as confidently chewing her several juicy scenes with Deutch. In case of other supporting performers in the movie, Meredith Hagner and Pete Davidson fill their conventional roles as required, and I was particularly amused by the brief but hilarious appearance of Titus Burgess, who recently became more prominent due to his scene-stealing supporting performance in Netflix sitcom series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”.

I must point out that the screenplay by Katie Silberman shows weak points from time to time. I was relieved to see that the movie does not lag during its obligatory third act, but this part still feels quite predictable while also being less fun compared to the first two acts, and I think the supporting characters in the film could be depicted with more depth and personality for generating more laughs for us.

Anyway, “Set It Up” is marginally better than most of countless romantic comedy films out there, and it did a good job of constantly entertaining us under director Claire Scanlon’s competent direction. It does not bring anything new to its genre, but it is a solid Netflix product packaged with enough charm and wit, so I mildly recommend it to you.

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Outside In (2017) ☆☆☆(3/4): After his release

Posted on July 1, 2018 by kaist455

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“Outside In”, which is currently available on Netflix, is a somber but intimate character drama revolving around one complex emotional circumstance. While its two main characters try to deal with this circumstance of theirs, the movie gives us a number of small but sensitive moments which show us more of their long emotional relationship, and it is poignant at times to see how much they care about each other.

The movie opens with a 38-year-old guy named Chris (Jay Duplass) experiencing his first day outside the prison after many years of incarceration. Around 20 years ago, he was arrested and then incarcerated in the prison after unfortunately getting involved in a serious criminal incident, and we later come to gather that he was not exactly responsible for what happened at that time, though the movie is rather vague about the incident in question.

Anyway, he is glad to be released from the prison mainly thanks to his old high school teacher Carol (Edie Falco), who worked hard for the release of her former pupil while frequently corresponding with him. When he arrives at his brother’s residence, Carol and many other people warmly welcome his return, and it looks like things will get a lot better for him.

However, like any ex-con who has just released from prison, Chris feels awkward and lonely while trying to adjust himself to the life outside the prison. As reflected by a couple of scenes where he attempts to get accustomed to advanced technology, things have changed a lot, and he does not know what to do next for his new life while often reminded of his current legal status. He has to be honest about his past while looking for jobs, and he also routinely goes to a local police station for drug test.

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Naturally, he goes to Carol for emotional support and comfort, but Carol is not very willing to give that to him because he is free now and she has a family to take care of. Although she has been estranged from her husband as well as her adolescent daughter as focusing a lot on getting Chris released from the prison, she believes she still can fix her family problem, so she tactfully handles Chris when they come to have a private conversation in her car at one point.

Nevertheless, she clearly sees that Chris really needs help, so she allows him to get a bit closer to her family. While her husband is not so pleased about this, her daughter Hildy (Kaitlyn Dever) becomes interested in Chris because, well, she sees a fellow loner from him despite their considerable age difference. She shows him her private place located inside a nearby forest, and he is impressed a lot by her artistic sensitivity shown from her modest installation art piece.

As carefully establishing and then developing its main characters bit by bit, the screenplay by director Lynn Shelton and her co-writer Jay Duplass, who also participated in the production of the movie along with his brother Mark Duplass, never hurries in its leisurely narrative pacing, and it is a small pleasure to watch how its two main characters tentatively approach closer to each other. Although he is well aware of Carol’s complicated situation, Chris cannot help but want more support and comfort from her, and Carol finds herself more conflicted on what she exactly wants even while trying to solve her family problem. When she is frustrated with her family more than ever, she decides to go for whatever is wanted by her and Chris, but she still maintains her no-nonsense view on their relationship, and she later reminds him of why they should be practical about their circumstance.

Like any good character drama films, the movie depends a lot on its main performers, and they are engaging in their nuanced low-key performances. Edie Falco, who has not yet gotten any significant breakthrough in movies despite her acclaimed performance in TV drama series “The Sopranos” and TV comedy series “Nurse Jackie”, is fabulous whenever she conveys her character’s conflicted emotional state via subtle touches, and I especially like how she deftly handles a certain scene where her character frankly talks to Chris about her and his life. The scene is a little blatant in my inconsequential opinion, but Falco delivers it with honesty and sincerity, and we are accordingly touched at the end of this scene.

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On the opposite, Jay Duplass did a commendable job of embodying the quiet sadness and awkwardness of his character. Steadily maintaining his character’s withdrawn attitude, he lets us understand his character’s growing emotional need, and we come to emphasize more with Chris as also discerning what Carol sees from him. I must say that the frequent shots of Chris riding his old bicycle are a bit too obvious, but Duplass brings considerable emotional depth to these symbolic moments, and he shows here that he is an actor as good as his brother.

In case of the supporting performers, their characters are less developed in comparison, but they are believable as the parts of the mundane daily life surrounding Chris and Carol. As another crucial part of the story, Kaitlyn Dever holds her own small place well around Falco and Duplass, and Ben Schwartz provides some humor as Chris’ loser brother.

As a movie slowly driven by its characters, “Outside In” will require some patience from you, but it is rewarding on the whole thanks to Shelton’s competent direction and her lead performers’ fine acting, and you will appreciate its nice intimate moments. It is surely your typical American independent drama film in many aspects, but it did its job well anyway, and I will not deny that I was moved in the end.

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Unsane (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): Is she really going insane?

Posted on June 30, 2018 by kaist455

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Steven Soderbergh’s latest film “Unsane” deals with one hell of nightmarish circumstance which will surely make you wince at times for good reasons. What if you are suddenly committed to a mental hospital? What if you continue to get stuck there with no quick way out? And what if you are the only one who can see a serious possibility of danger coming onto you? Although this is a familiar thriller premise, the movie gradually grips our attention as steadily accumulating tension on the screen, and we come to fear for what may eventually happen to its increasingly desperate heroine.

After the ominous opening scene, we meet Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy), a young woman who has been hiding her big personal problem from others around her. She has been stalked by a guy whom she happened to meet while working at a hospice, and she recently moved to a new place and got a new job shortly after petitioning for the restraining order on him, but she still struggles with how much she was harassed by him. At one point, she sees him passing by her workplace, but she is not so sure about whether that is real or not. When she later meets a guy for a quick sex, the mood is initially casual and pleasant, but then she cannot help but think of her stalker, and she has no choice but to reject the guy in the end.

Frustrated with her constant fear and agitation, Sawyer eventually goes to a mental hospital for getting some psychiatric help. During her private time with a counselor, she lets out what has been tormenting her for a long time, and the counselor seems to be willing to help her as much as possible. At the end of their counseling time, Sawyer is asked to sign her name on some release documents for her prompt therapy, and she does not mind that at all as hoping for getting better as soon as possible.

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However, she soon comes to realize that she made a huge mistake. Not long after signing those release documents, she is suddenly taken to somewhere inside the hospital building, and then she finds herself confined within the hospital along with other patients. Flabbergasted and outraged by this abrupt change, she tries to get out of the building, but even the police cannot help her as she already gave up her rights through signing those release documents, and she is told that she must stay calm and quiet during next 24 hours for her possible discharge.

Of course, things do not go well for her right from the beginning. Mainly due to the physical clash with one of her fellow patients, her confinement period is extended to one week. No matter how much she tries to protest about this mistreatment, her doctor and nurses do not seem to listen to her at all, and it looks like all they care about is finding any reason to make her confined within the hospital longer with more medication.

At least, a patient named Nate (Jay Pharoah) shows some care and attention to Sawyer, and he later tells her about the systemic corruption inside the hospital. For getting more money via insurance claims, the hospital staff members deliberately keep many of their patients longer than necessary until their patients’ insurance money eventually run out, and Sawyer just happens to be their latest patient to be exploited.

While she tries to deal with this dour situation as much as she can, she is startled to see her stalker working as one of the nurses in the hospital. She naturally becomes panic whenever she confronts him, but nobody believes her frantic words. Is it possible that her mental state is actually far worse than it seemed at first? Or, is she still being stalked by him?

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As the screenplay by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer frequently toys with these two different possibilities, Soderbergh, who also shot and edited the movie for himself under psuedonym as usual, keep things rolling under his efficient direction. Shooting the movie in the 1.56:1 ratio with iPhone 7 Plus, he imbues the movie with not only palpable claustrophobic mood but also raw verisimilitude, and he continues to hold our attention even when the plot comes to lose some of its momentum during its last act. Although its production budget is only around one million dollar, the movie never looks cheap at all, and you may appreciate how Soderbergh maintains his own distinctive touches throughout the film despite its limited budget.

The solid acting from his performers adds more realism to the movie. Claire Foy, a talented British actress who has been more prominent thanks to her recent acclaimed performance in TV drama series “The Crown”, ably conveys to us the accumulating panic and dread inside her character, and she is also supported well by several notable performers including Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple, Amy Irving, Joshua Leonard, and Matt Damon, who briefly appears as an expert who gives Sawyer sound advices on how to get away from her stalker as soon as possible.

Overall, “Unsane” is another modest but interesting filmmaking exercise from Soderbergh, who announced his retirement several years ago but eventually returned to filmmaking as making “Logan Lucky” (2017). With that film and “Unsane”, he demonstrates to us that he is still a dexterous filmmaker who can try many different things, and I certainly hope he will keep going as before.

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Thoroughbreds (2017) ☆☆☆(3/4): Two dangerous suburban girls

Posted on June 30, 2018 by kaist455

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Alternatively disturbing and amusing in its clinical observation of adolescent amorality and apathy, “Thoroughbreds” works as a fascinating mix of character drama and adolescent thriller. While calmly observing its two teenage main characters slowly heading toward an inevitable narrative point, the movie chillingly examines the dark dynamics in their pathological relationship, and we cannot help but watch them with fascination even though we come to observe them from the distance without much care.

After the quiet opening scene which later turns out to be a prelude for something as gruesome as that climatic scene of “Equus” (1977), the movie moves forward to the awkward meeting between Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Amanda (Olivia Cooke). Although these two affluent suburban teenage girls were once close to each other, we sense the distance between them as they interact with each other, and that becomes more evident when Amanda flatly points out the actual purpose of their meeting. On the surface, Lily, who is an ambitious student ready to go further in her education course, is supposed to tutor Amanda as requested by Amanda’s mother, but she is actually paid mainly for hanging out with Amanda, who has been more ostracized by other kids due to her certain serious act of brutality.

Anyway, they come to spend more time together in a big, expensive house where Lily lives along with her mother and her stepfather, and Amanda show more of her sociopathic side to Lily. As a girl who has been comfortable with her dark side, Amanda frankly and casually admits how apathic she is (“It just means I have to work a little harder than everybody else to be good.”), and we get a darkly amusing moment when she demonstrates to Lily how easily she can pretend to be emotional with a few drops of tear.

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Rather than scared or disturbed, Lily becomes more fascinated with Amanda because, well, she sort of complements Amanda as a self-absorbed girl who is often too emotional about many things including her stepfather and her recent school problem. As a matter of fact, she was expelled from her private school due to an act of plagiarism, and her stepfather, who is not a very nice guy to say the least, is already prepared to send his stepdaughter to a private school for girls with behavioral problems.

As Lily becomes upset about this situation and comes to resent her stepfather more, Amanda phlegmatically suggests that Lily kill her stepfather. As frightened by that idea, Lily subsequently puts some distance between herself and Amanda, but then she changes her mind as being reminded again of how much she hates her stepfather, so they begin to talk more seriously about eliminating him as continuing to spend their idle time as usual.

They decide that they need somebody else to commit the killing, and Lily happens to know who might be able to do that. At a party which she attended along with her other friends, she came across a young small-time drug dealer named Tim (Anton Yelchin), and he seemed to be a guy who can do anything for money, but, not so surprisingly, he turns out to be a mere petty criminal struggling to earn his living everyday.

Nevertheless, Lily and Amanda do not change their plan at all, and there is a morbidly funny moment as they pressure Tim to accept their demand. Quite oblivious to how inadequate he is for their plan, they are willing to do anything for pushing him toward the killing of Lily’s stepfather, and he comes to see that he has no choice at all as being heartlessly cornered by them.

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I will not go into details on what happens next, but I can tell you instead that the screenplay by first-time director Cory Finley takes a few unexpected narrative turns while the movie continues to maintain its phlegmatic attitude as before. Although it occasionally shows its theatrical aspects, the movie effectively establishes its creepy atmosphere under Finley’s confident direction, and Finely and his crew members did a good job of constantly unsettling us. The cinematography by Lyle Vincent is smooth and precise with subtle visual touches, and the percussive score by Erik Friedlander adds more nervous feeling to the screen as suggesting whatever is churning below the surface.

Finley also draws the solid performances from his four main cast members. Anna Taylor-Joy, who drew my attention via her breakthrough turn in “The Witch” (2015) and then impressed me further with her good acting in “Split” (2016), is gradually unnerving as her neurotic character reveals more of her unlikable side along the story, and Olivia Cooke, who is quite different here from her recent appearance in “Ready Player One” (2018), is equally effective with her character’s detached sociopathy. As Lily’s unpleasant stepfather, Paul Sparks brings additional tension to the story as required, and Anton Yelchin, who unfortunately died shortly after the shooting of the movie, imbues his pathetic supporting character with considerable sympathy and nervousness.

Although it received many positive reviews when it was shown at the Sundance Film Festival early in last year, “Thoroughbreds” was released in US early in this year without much notice, and that is a shame considering that this is one of the notable debut works of this year. While I am not wholly enthusiastic about the movie, I admire Finley’s commendable handling of mood, storytelling, and performance, and I think it deserves to be mentioned along with other memorably disturbing adolescent drama movies such as “Heavenly Creatures” (1994).

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Brigsby Bear (2017) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): For his favorite show

Posted on June 25, 2018 by kaist455

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As a comedy about a young nerdy man who faces a sudden big change in his life and then attempts to handle that change via what he has been obsessed with for many years, “Brigsby Bear” is as whimsical as expected, but it is also a little too slight in terms of story and characters. Although I was amused by some of its humorous moments, I could not help but notice how superficial it feels as adamantly trying to be as optimistic as its naïve hero, and that was a major detraction for me besides a number of other weak points to notice.

In the beginning, we are introduced to a tacky educational children’s show named “Brigsby Bear”, and director Dave McCary has a fun with its old-fashioned aspects. As silly and corny as what I watched from TV during my childhood years, the show looks all the more hilarious as presented via old VHS footage, and I must confess that I became nostalgic as appreciating authentic technical details such as low video and audio quality.

Since he was very young, James (Kyle Mooney) has been a big fan of Brigsby Bear, and his small private room shows how much he has been devoted to the show as your average nerdy fanboy. As reflected by the shelves full of VHS copies, he has watched and recorded nearly every episode of the show, and he surely memorizes every important moment in the show such as when his bear hero defeats his arch-nemesis with a magic crystal and saves the day again.

As watching his following scenes with his parents Ted (Mark Hamill) and April (Jane Adams), we come to see that Brigsby Bear has been one of a few pleasures in his solitary life with his parents. They have lived together in an underground shelter located somewhere in a remote area, and James has been a good son to Ted and April, who seem to be protecting James from the outside world which, according to them, has been too hazardous for him due to some air pollution.

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On one day, James’ world is turned upside down. A bunch of police officers come upon the shelter and then promptly arrest Ted and April, and James comes to learn of a shocking truth about Ted and April shortly after he is taken to a nearby police station. As a matter of fact, they are not his biological parents, and they actually stole him from a hospital when he was a little baby. Thanks to the tenacious efforts of Detective Vogel (Greg Kinnear), Ted and April could be eventually tracked down, and now Vogel is ready to send James back to his real parents Greg (Matt Walsh) and Louise (Michaela Watkins), who are certainly overjoyed to regain their lost son.

As beginning to live with his real parents and his younger sister Aubrey (Ryan Simpkins), James naturally feels quite awkward, so he tries to get some comfort from Brigsby Bear, but, alas, it turns out that Brigsby Bear was one of many lies from his fake parents. Just for his fake son, Ted made every episode of the show at a make-shift studio not so far from their shelter, and he and April even made a fake version of Internet to convince James further that the show is real and has been watched by many people out there.

As a consequence, James becomes depressed for a while, but then a new possibility dawns upon him. While he is at a party along with Aubrey, he comes across a boy named Spencer (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.), and, as a fellow fanboy, Spencer becomes very interested in Brigsby Bear when James tells him a bit about Brigsby. He later shows James how easy it is to make movies these days, and that is how James comes to decide to make a movie which will bring the fitting ending to Brigsby Bear.

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While his real parents and his psychiatrist are not so sure about whether this attempt of his is good for his adjustment process, James is quite determined about his modest but ambitious project, and you may sort of admire his sincere efforts. Although he does not have any professional knowledge, he reads several books on filmmaking first, and then he diligently works on the screenplay while also making the storyboard for his movie.

And he is helped a lot by Spencer and several other supporting characters including Vogel. After generously letting James use some of confiscated show props including that big bear costume, Vogel finds himself more getting involved in James’ movie production, and there is a small funny scene where he revives his old aspiration in front of the camera.

Of course, the circumstance becomes more serious during its last act, but the screenplay by Kyle Mooney and Kevin Costello somehow fails to generate enough emotional depth to engage us, and it is also hampered by thin characterization and contrived narrative. Most of supporting characters in the film are more or less than plot devices to be manipulated as demanded, and it is disappointing to see that notable performers like Mark Hamill, Greg Kinnear, Matt Walsh, and Claire Danes being under-utilized without many things to do, though it is a hoot to see Hamill doing something a lot different from Luke Skywalker.

Anyway, “Brigsby Bear” is not entirely without good things to enjoy. As the comic center of the film, Mooney did a fairly good job of balancing his character well between humor and pathos, and I was entertained to some degree by his endearing quirky performance. The movie is a bit too whimsical for me on the whole, but it is not boring at least, and I think some of you may like it more than me.

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Custody (2017) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): It’s not over for them yet

Posted on June 24, 2018 by kaist455

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Disturbing but undeniably gripping, French film “Custody” chillingly examines the problematic family relationship among its main characters. Right from its opening scene, we sense a trouble coming from the distance, and then the movie gradually dials up its level of suspense while more tightly grabbing our attention via a number of emotionally intense moments which will definitely scare and overwhelm you a lot. In my inconsequential opinion, this is surely one of the most terrifying movie experiences in this year, and you will not easily forget it after being knocked down by its sheer psychological terror.

During the opening scene, we meet Miriam (Léa Drucker) and Antoine (Denis Ménochet), a recently divorced couple who is going through a legal procedure for the custody of one of their two children. While their daughter Joséphine (Mathilde Auneveux) can live with her mother as she wants because she becomes 17 years old at present, their 11-year-old son Julien (Thomas Gioria) is not legally allowed to make his own choice, so the judge presiding over Miriam and Antoine’s case will decide what is the best for Julien after hearing the respective arguments from both sides.

As both Miriam’s lawyer and Antoine’s lawyer try their best to persuade the judge, it becomes apparent to us that Antoine is not a very good father and husband to his family. Although he may be sincere in his attempt to remain close to his ex-wife and their children, his wife clearly does not want to see him again, and neither do their children. There is an alarming medical report which indicates that he possibly inflicted a serious physical injury on his daughter a few years ago, and Julien always refers to his father as “that person” as shown from his written testimony. In addition, Miriam talks about how abusive and obsessive her husband can be, but there is no concrete evidence on that, and, not so surprisingly, Antoine denies everything she says in front of the judge.

It is eventually decided that Julien should spend every second weekend with his father, so we soon see Antoine waiting outside the house of Miriam’s parents, where she and her children currently are staying. As Julien is not very willing to go outside and see his father, Miriam tries to persuade her ex-husband to leave his son alone this time, but Antoine remains inflexible, and Miriam has no choice but to follow what is ordered by the judge.

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Now some of you may still have some reasonable doubt, but the movie soon makes a very clear point on how much Miriam and her children want to stay away from Antoine. Antoine tries a bit to be nice to his son at first, but it does not take much time for us to see that he is indeed an abusive bully as his ex-wife said, and we according get several cringe-inducing scenes as Julien quietly and desperately tries to endure his obligatory time with his father. When they come to the house of Antoine’s parents, the mood becomes a little brightened as Antoine’s parents do their best for cheering up their grandson, but there is a palpable sense of awkwardness among them, and then there comes an unnerving moment when Antoine secretly searches through his son’s backpack and then is reminded of how much he is disliked by his son.

Meanwhile, Miriam tries to begin an independent life free from her ex-husband. Thanks to her supportive sister, she can find a modest but cozy place for her and her children, and there is a small sweet moment as Julien and Joséphine playfully bicker over a room they both want. Believing that she is ready to enter adulthood, Joséphine wants to go further with her boyfriend, but Miriam wants her daughter to think more seriously about her life and career, and then there comes a calm but dramatically tense scene where Joséphine checks a certain physiological condition of her body in private. As the camera remains in its static position, nothing much is revealed via its limited viewpoint, but we cannot help but curious about what Joséphine is seeing – and how exactly she feels at that point.

As we come to wonder and worry more about what may happen next among its main characters, the movie carefully accumulates tension on the screen, and there inevitably comes a point where the circumstance becomes quite more serious than before. As Antoine shows more of his dark side, Miriam and Julian find themselves thrown into their old fear and dread again, and everything in the story eventually culminates to a striking sequence which will tighten up your body as reminding you of “The Shining” (1980) for a good reason.

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I later came to learn that the movie is a sequel to director/writer Xavier Legrand’s Oscar-nominated short film “Just Before Losing Everything” (2013). I have not watched that short film yet, but I can tell you instead that I admire a lot how masterfully Legrand handles his story and characters here in this debut feature film of his, and I have already decided to check out his short film as soon as possible for getting to know a little more about his characters.

Legrand also did a good job of drawing pitch-perfect performances from his main cast members. While Denis Ménochet, who was memorable in the opening scene of Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” (2009), is aggressive and menacing without any sign of overacting, Léa Drucker and Mathilde Auneveux are equally convincing in their respective roles, and Thomas Gioria deserves to be praised for holding his position well during his several demanding scenes with Ménochet.

“Custody”, which won the Silver Lion award for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival in last year, is not a pleasant movie at all, but it powerfully engaged me and then unsettled me as I watched it along with other audiences during this Saturday evening. We were all very quiet when the light was turned on after the movie was over, and its very last shot lingered on my mind for a while as I came out of the screening room. Is it finally over for them? It seemed so to me at first, but, to be frank with you, now I am not that sure as reflecting more on what will probably remain with them for the rest of their life.

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