Deep Cover (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): Improv squad

Posted on June 17, 2025 by kaist455

“Deep Cover”, which was released on Amazon Prime in last week, generates laughs from its outrageous story premise as much as possible, and I enjoyed that. While this is another typical “fish-out-of-water” comedy film, the movie shows more wit and humor than expected, and it will certainly make you giggle or chuckle more than once (Full Disclosure: I did).

At first, we are introduced to its three different main characters: Kat (Bryce Dallas Howard), Marlon (Orlando Bloom), and Hugh (Nick Mohammed). While Kat is a struggling stand-up American comedian who works as an improvisation theater teacher in London, Marlon is an unemployed method actor who often takes his acting a bit too seriously, and Hugh is a meek IT worker who desperately wants to be, well, funny.

Not long after Marlon and Hugh join Kat’s improvisation theater, Kat is approached by a cop who gives an offer she cannot refuse. The cop wants Kat and two other performers to help his little sting operations, and Kat accepts the offer because 1) she and her fellow performers will be paid enough for each operation and 2) she surely needs some challenge at present. Although Marlon and Hugh are not exactly ideal acting partners for her, she persuades them to join her in this risky but interesting acting challenge, and they soon embark on their first sting operation.

Of course, Kat and her acting partners do not click that well with each other at first, but then they find some chemistry among them, and then they deliver a much bigger success than their handler expected. They subsequently find themselves involved with a number of important criminal figures, and that is where their handler pushes them into more challenge. Now they have to be undercover agents for him, and Kat and her acting partners must take much more risk than before as approaching to their main target.

Steadily maintaining the enough level of tension along the story, the screenplay by Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly, Ben Ashenden, and Alexander Owen has a lot of fun with how Kat and her acting partners manage to survive via their improvisation skill. While Kat is usually the one who sets the ground for their acting, Marlon holds the ground with his total professional commitment, and Hugh surprises himself as well as his acting partners as demonstrating that he is actually a good actor. In fact, he is so good in his improvisation that he somehow makes himself look really like a dangerous criminal, and that leads him to an unlikely chance of romance, though he can be killed at any moment if he is not careful.

Meanwhile, the movie gradually raises the stake for its three main characters as they eventually meet their main target, who is incidentally one of the most powerful and dangerous criminal figures in the town. This figure in question shows them that he is definitely not someone to mess with, and Kat and her acting partners become all the more nervous as their situation becomes a lot more complicated and perilous than expected.

Nonetheless, the movie does not lose any sense of humor while continuing to generate more laugh and amusement for us. At one point, Kat and her acting partners are tasked with handling the aftermath of a killing just because they are supposed to be hardcore criminals, and we are amused by how much they struggle to hide their frantic desperation from their criminal associates. I was also tickled by Kat’s very awkward (and risky) encounter with her friends at one point in the story, and that leads to one of the most hilarious moments later in the film,

Like any good comedy film, the movie depends a lot on the good comic timing among its main performers, who are funny and engaging in each own way as deftly generating the comic momentum among them. While Bryce Dallas Howard imbues her character with enough pluck and charm, Orlando Bloom, who seems to become more interesting as he is aging away from his famous role in Peter Jackson’s the Lord of the Rings trilogy, demonstrates the unexpected side of his acting talent, and Nick Mohammed, who has been more notable thanks to his Emmy-nominated supporting turn in Apple TV+ comedy series “Ted Lasso”, holds his own place well between his two co-stars.

In addition, the movie places a bunch of recognizable performers here and there in the story. As a criminal who turns to have some soft heart, Paddy Considine has his own small comic moments, and so is Sonoya Mizuno, who was memorable in her small but crucial supporting performance in Alex Garland’s “Ex Machina” (2014). In case of Sean Bean and Ian McShane, they surely know well how to play their seedy archetype roles as veteran performers, and McShane gladly chews every moment of his in addition to exuding enough menace as required.

In conclusion, “Deep Cover”, which should not be confused with Bill Duke’s 1992 film “Deep Cover”, is a solid comedy movie packed with enough wit and humor, and director Tom Kingsley, who previously made “Black Fond” (2011) and “The Darkest Universe” (2016), did a commendable job on the whole. In short, this is one of the better products from the major streaming services during this year, and you will not be disappointed if you just want to have some big laughs.

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One of Them Days (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): One eventful day of theirs

Posted on June 16, 2025 by kaist455

“One of Them Days” is a colorful comedy film about one bumpy adventure of two African American ladies. Right from the beginning, you will have a pretty good idea about how the movie will roll its story and characters to its expected finale, but it is constantly buoyed by a series of effective comic moments, and, most of all, it is held together well by the talent and presence of its two good lead actresses.

At the beginning, we see how things look promising for Dreux (Keke Palmer) on one day, a young black woman who has diligently worked as a waitress at some local diner of one neighborhood in LA. Thanks to her diligence as well as resourcefulness, Dreux finally gets a chance for promotion, and all she will have to do now is making some good impression during the upcoming interview to be held at PM 4:00.

However, alas, she soon faces a big problem due to her best friend/roommate Alyssa (RZA), a struggling artist who has not sold any of her paintings yet. Alyssa is supposed to hand their rent to their rather strict landlord, but, unfortunately, her useless current boyfriend took it for financing another idiotic business plan of his, and now she and Dreux will be evicted out of their shabby apartment building if they fail to pay the rent, which is no less than $ 1500, within 8 hours.

As Dreux and Alyssa try to find any possible option for them, we get to know more about their friendship as well as their contrasting personalities. While Dreux is relatively more serious and thoughtful, Alyssa is often impulsive and thoughtless, and they frequently cannot help but bicker with each other – even while trying to stick together for handling their impending matter as soon as possible. Some of the most humorous moments in the film come from their rocky relationship dynamics, and Keke Palmer, who has been more prominent thanks to her wonderful recent supporting turn in Jordan Peele’s “Nope” (2019), and SZA, a musician whose real name is incidentally Solána Imani Rowe, did a good job of conveying to us how much their characters are accustomed to each other.

Once its two main characters and their faulty relationship are established, the screenplay by Syreeta Singleton doles out one episodic comic moment after another for our amusement. There is a silly but undeniably hilarious scene involved with a certain feisty black woman who gets involved with Alyssa’s crummy boyfriend, and then there is an equally funny scene where Dreux and Alyssa try on a local loan company which promises a quick money with a very, very, very high interest (My personal advice from some real experience: Be careful with any kind of loan even if you are quite desperate, because loan is bound to get increased in one way or another unless you are really careful and frugal). My personal favorite scene is the one where Janelle James, who has been mainly known for her Emmy-nominated supporting turn in American TV sitcom series “Abbott Elementary”, makes a brief appearance, and its eventual payoff moment will certainly tickle you for a bloody good reason.

Although it extends its deadline a bit later in the story, the movie keeps bouncing with spirit and humor – even when Alyssa and Dreux inadvertently find themselves threatened by a notorious local gangster boss. It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that our two ladies will eventually find a way to get enough money to solve their impending trouble, but you will be surprised a bit by how they eventually come upon that solution, and you will certainly root for them more than before.

While their characters go up and down together as expected, Palmer and SZA deftly complement each other with good comic chemistry from the beginning to the end, and they also provide some gravitas as fleshing out their respective characters with more human details. As observing more of how serious she is about that precious chance of promotion, we come to understand and care more about Dreux and her sincere aspiration, and then we also come to sense more of how much she has been supported by her imperfect best friend. Although she is your average walking trouble to her best friend’s annoyance and frustration, Alyssa remains loyal and true to Dreux, and, what do you know, she actually turns out to be much more helpful than expected later in the story.

Palmer and SZA are also supported well by a number of various supporting performers who have each own moment to shine around them. Katt Williams effortlessly steals the show as a homeless dude who gives Dreux and Alyssa a bit of wise warning before they go to that loan company, and Lil Rel Howery does not disappoint us at all with his skillful comic timing even though he only appears in one single scene. While Aziza Scott brings some comic tension as a crucial supporting character in the story, Patrick Cage is well-cast as an unlikely love interest for Dreux, and Maude Apatow, who is the elder daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, is also effective as a new neighbor in Dreux and Alyssa’s apartment building.

On the whole, “One of Them Days” is pretty predictable at times, but it delivers some good laughs thanks to not only its two wonderful lead actresses but also the competent direction of director Lawrence Lamont, who incidentally makes a feature film debut here after making several music videos. Although it does not exceed my expectation, the movie amused and then entertained me enough at least, so I will not grumble for now.

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Life Is Beautiful (1997) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): As a clown as well as a father

Posted on June 15, 2025 by kaist455

I cannot help but marvel at what is so cheerfully, masterfully, and touchingly done in Roberto Benigni’s 1997 Oscar-winning film “Life Is Beautiful”, which was re-released in South Korean theaters early in this month. This is a very special film which dares to attempt one inherently tricky stunt between drama and comedy, and the result still beautifully works as a comic fable of luck, defiance, and love.

The first half of the film is quite lightweight to say the least, but it is actually very crucial in establishing the ground for its comic hero, who can be regarded as a sort of holy clown for good reasons. Although he may look a bit too silly and annoying at first, Guido Orefice, who is played by Benigni himself, is always good at charming others around him thanks to his good nature as well as his rather incredible luck and clever acts of improvisation, and the first half of the movie presents a series of comic situations where he somehow gets away with one thing after another for our smile and amusement.

At the beginning of the story, which is set in 1939, Guido and his friend have just arrived at a little town for working along with Guido’s aging uncle at a local hotel, and that is how he comes across a pretty young female schoolteacher named Dora (Nicoletta Braschi). Although their first encounter is not exactly romantic, Guido soon finds himself quite attracted to Dora, and, what do you know, he comes to appear in front of Dora again and again thanks to not only several wily moves from him but also some good luck for him.

Yes, his active romantic pursuit may look a bit creepy to us these days, but Benigni’s ebullient spirit, which incidentally contributed to one of the most memorable moments at the 1999 Academy Awards when he won a Best Actor Oscar (The movie also won in Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Dramatic Score in addition being nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, by the way), is simply infectious on the screen. Just watch how effortlessly he bounces from one comic moment after another, you can easily see why Dora comes to like and then fall in love with his character even though he is a total stranger to her from the very beginning.

Playing her character as straight as possible, Nicoletta Braschi ably complements her co-star who is also her husband, and her earnest performance comes to function as the solid counterpart for her husband’s irrepressible comic energy. Besides his sincere presentation of love, Guido always surprises Dora as managing to bring a little but precious bit of magic and romance to those private moments between them, and this eventually prompts her to walk away from her lousy fascist fiancé for marrying Guido instead.

The second half of the movie begins with how happy Guido and Dora are with their little son several years later, but we observe more of how things have become gloomier for Guido and many other Jewish people in the city. Nonetheless, Guido remains optimistic and spirited as usual while constantly covering the harsh reality from his son – even when he and his son and uncle are inevitably taken along with other Jewish people to a concentration camp located somewhere in Italy.

Around this narrative point, the screenplay written by Benigni and his co-writer Vincezo Cerami enters a very, very, very risky territory. Quite determined to protect his son as long as possible, Guido lies to his son right from their first day at the concentration camp that they and others around them are playing a long-term hide and seek game for winning the first prize, and his innocent son does not have any problem with going along with that.

This is not very realistic to say the least, but, as I said earlier in this review, the movie is intended as a fable instead of a realistic Holocaust drama film. As he did in the first half of the film, Guido simply continues his daring comic dance between sheer luck and smart improvisation, and the concentration camp is just another test on how far he can go with that. Like those artist characters of Ernst Lubitsch’s “To Be or Not to Be” (1942) or the master of ceremony in Bob Fosse’s “Cabaret” (1972), he simply makes a defiant stance against fascism in his own humorous but courageous way, and there is undeniable poignancy in that – especially when he keeps his usual attitude despite finally being at his wits’ end.

More than 25 years have passed since the movie came out, but it is still remarkable to observe how the movie somehow succeeds in striking the right balance with its very sensitive story materials. Around the time of its initial theatrical release, the movie was understandably criticized a lot for trivializing the grim history of the Holocaust, but I must point out that 1) it wisely avoids being too dark and gloomy for its comedy and 2) it also indirectly recognizes the horror and despair of the Holocaust from time to time. Just look at a brief but clearly tragic moment involved with Guido’s uncle, and you will see that the movie is indeed serious about its historical subject even while doing its tricky genre stunt along with its comic hero.

In conclusion, “Life Is Beautiful” is a sublime mix of comedy and drama which has endured the test of time fairly well after going through all the hoopla surrounding it at that time. Unfortunately, Benigni’s career got crashed down to a considerable degree because of the critical failure of his very next film “Pinocchio” (2002), but “Life Is Beautiful” remains as his crowning achievement nonetheless, and, considering its current IMDB ranking, I believe it will be continued to be loved and cherished by audiences as before.

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Pierrot le Fou (1965) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Two abstract figures on the run

Posted on June 15, 2025 by kaist455

In my inconsequential opinion, any serious young movie enthusiast is bound to be fascinated with the works of Jean-Luc Godard at first. After all, he is one of the greatest filmmakers in the cinema history besides being one of the most prominent members of the French New Wave during the 1950-60s, and some of his notable works including “Breathless” (1959) and “Vivre sa vie” (1962) have been quite influential for many years.

However, as getting older and more experienced besides having each own taste, some of those young movie enthusiasts may eventually feel more distant to many of Godard’s works just like I often did during last 20 years. Oh, yes, I once did enjoy some of his stylish experiments including “Contempt” (1963) and “Weekend” (1967), but then my reliable bullsh*t detector was turned on as I was subsequently quite baffled and frustrated with his several later works including “Goodbye to Language” (2014), and I came to observe many of his films with more skepticism and reservation while still admiring his undeniable contribution to the art of cinema.

In case of his 1965 film “Pierrot le Fou”, whose recently remastered edition happened to be released in South Korean theaters early in this month, it is an admirable exercise in style which unfortunately did not engage me as much as it did when I watched it for the first around 20 years ago. While it is certainly as distinctive as you can expect from your average Godard film, you can clearly sense that there is not enough substance to support its stylish genre game, and it also sadly reflects more of how Godard began to regard himself too seriously around that time in contrast to many of his fellow French New Wave filmmakers including François Truffaut (Full Disclosure: I like him much more than Godard).  

The movie, which is based on Lionel White’s rather obscure novel “Obsession”, is about two contrasting figures who somehow get involved with each other despite having nothing common between them. At first, we are introduced to a middle-class writer named Ferdinand Griffon (Jean-Paul Belmondo, who feels less cocky compared to his breakout turn in “Breathless”), and the early part of the film quickly establishes how much he has been discontented and frustrated with his current status. While he has lived quite comfortably thanks to his rich wife, he was recently fired from his job at some broadcasting company without much prospect at present, and he has been wondering whether he should seriously try on a writing career someday.

Ferdinand’s hollow state of existence is mainly reflected by one evening party which he reluctantly attends along with his wife. A lot of talks and discussions are exchanged among him and many others at the party, but our eyes are drawn more to how Godard presents this sequence with a lot of visual touches, which, at least to me, do not seem to serve any particular purpose on the whole just like the rather gratuitous exposure of female breasts or the brief appearance of a certain legendary American filmmaker.

Anyway, Ferdinand eventually decides to commit a bit of transgression along with his ex-lover Marianne (Anna Karina), who happens to be associated with some unspecified criminal scheme when Ferdinand returns to her. When he enters her apartment, there is the body of a murdered man, but he does not seem that alarmed at all by that or several guns in her apartment, and he eventually runs away along with Marianne even though there is not much love or attraction between them from the start. 

When they are not running away, he and Marianne often talk about whether they really love each other or not, but their rather disjointed conversations make them look more like puppets to be manipulated by Godard in one way or another. For instance, they frequently mention a lot of American culture stuffs ranging from Laurel and Hardy movies to William Faulkner and Raymond Chandler, and there are even several supposedly comic scenes where they attempt to embody some of these stuffs for no apparent reason.

In addition, Marianne often calls Ferdinand “Pierrot” without explaining anything to him or us. As far as I can see, she simply enjoys his annoyance and bafflement from that, and Anna Karina, who incidentally divorced Godard around the time when the movie came out, did a good job of imbuing her character with some mischievous spirit.   

As the movie aimlessly bounces from one point to another along with its two main characters without much narrative momentum to hold our attention, Godard peppers the story here and there with a series of superficial political statements which do not stick that much to us on the whole. At one point later in the story, he has his two lead performers do a silly comic sketch supposedly satirizing the geopolitical situation in Vietnam during the 1960s, but I think this can be a bit too crude and insensitive for Asian audiences now. In short, this is probably another example showing the increasingly glaring artistic limits of a European white male filmmaker during that period.

In conclusion, “Pierrot le Fou” is fascinating to some degree at times, but I do not think it is as great as “Breathless” or “Vivre sa vie”. Nevertheless, you need to check it out if you are a serious movie enthusiast willing to watch and learn more, and, regardless of whether you will like it or not, it will show you more of Godard’s filmmaking style in addition to helping you shape your own opinion on his works. Like there are dog persons and cat persons, there are also Godard persons and Truffaut persons, and please let me know which kind of person you are.

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How to Train Your Dragon (2025) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Is this really necessary?

Posted on June 15, 2025 by kaist455

“How to Train Your Dragon”, the live action movie version of the 2010 animation film of the same name, is fairly enjoyable but also quite unnecessary in my humble opinion. Although this is a competent product which will probably satisfy most of its target audiences, it sadly does not bring anything particularly new or fresh to the story and characters, while only reminding us again of how live action film cannot usually surpass animation films in terms of mood, style, and detail.

Above all, my mind remembers too much of how much I was entertained and electrified when I watched the 2010 animation film for the first time. Shortly after returning from my little trip to Chicago and the 2010 Ebertfest in April, I was quite exhausted and depressed after the inevitable end of all those fun and excitement during that glorious time (I met and talked a lot with Roger Ebert and my fellow Far-flung foreign correspondents, for example), but then there came two special films which rejuvenated me to a considerable degree. First, I watched the restored version of Fritz Lang’s great silent film “Metropolis” (1927) at the 2010 Jeonju International Film Festival, and then I watched the 2010 animation film, which was incidentally released in South Korean theaters not long after that.

I must confess that I gave the 2010 animation film only three stars out of four as regarding it as another usual Hollywood blockbuster animation film, but, what do you know, it has grown on me along with its two subsequent sequels which are equally entertaining. Besides its colorful characters to remember, it is also packed with a lot of style and personality to be savored, and its dragon flying sequences are as spirited and exciting as the ones in James Cameron’s ambitious SF blockbuster film “Avatar” (2009). Not so surprisingly, I watched it no less than three times during its first several weeks in South Korean theaters, and I always enjoyed every minute of it without getting bored at all.

However, the live action film version does not engage or amaze me that much even though having all the same elements to be mixed in the pretty much same way. While there are some additions and variations here and there in the film, its overall result still does not distinguish itself a lot from its animation film version, and that made me want to revisit the 2010 animation film version more than before.        

In addition, there are a number of main elements in the live action film version which are unfortunately deficient in comparison. For instant, its meek but resourceful young hero Hiccup (Mason Thames) feels plainer and more colorless, and this will probably make you appreciate more of how Jay Baruchel’s nerdy but likable voice performance imbues a considerable amount of spirit and personality to Hiccup in the 2010 animation film version.

And look at all those broad supporting characters surrounding Hiccup in the live action film version, who often just look like a group of performers doing their job in front of the camera instead of feeling like real characters to observe. Yes, their counterparts in the 2010 animation film look quite cartoonish at times, they are much more memorable as bringing some extra humor and personality to the story.

As a matter of fact, only Gerard Butler, who reprises his role from the 2010 animation film, seems to understand the task given to him and his fellow cast members in the live action film version. As Hiccup’s macho father who is also the chieftain of their Viking clan living in one remote island, he gleefully chews every scene of his in the film with Scottish accent (Don’t ask me whether this is ethnically or culturally accurate or not), and he also brings some inner sensitivity to his character as he did wonderfully in the 2010 animation film.

In case of all those dragon characters in the film, they certainly look as realistic as possible thanks to good special effects, but, not so surprisingly, they do not have enough sense of awe and wonder compared to their animation counterparts. Director/writer Dean DeBlois, who co-directed and co-wrote the 2010 animation film, and his crew members including cinematographer Bill Pope try their best here, but I must point out that Hiccup’s accidental pet dragon Toothless and many other dragon figures look a lot more colorful and interesting in the 2010 animation film. In the live action film version, they are just a bunch of well-made CGI figures, and Toothless somehow looks a bit less charming here to my little disappointment.

The live action film version will not probably let you down in case of its several dragon flying sequences, but they are almost exactly identical to what we already experienced from the 2010 animation film version, and the score by John Powell, who was deservedly Oscar-nominated for the 2010 animation film (His score should have won instead of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ tacky hipster electronic linoleum score for David Fincher’s “The Social Network” (2010), by the way), is pretty much same except some necessary orchestral modification. Even though he is simply demanded to repeat one of his greatest career achievements here, Powell admirably sticks to what made his 2010 score so special, and his another solid effort ironically drew me back more to the 2010 animation film.    

In conclusion, “How to Train Your Dragon” may entertain you as much as you pay for your ticket, but I am still asking myself whether this is really necessary from the start. At this point, it is quite possible that those two sequels of the 2010 animation film will also be adapted into live action film, and, folks, that prospect makes me depressed more instead of being actually excited or interested.

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Bring Her Back (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): Their insidious foster mother

Posted on June 14, 2025 by kaist455

Danny and Michael Philippou’s latest horror film “Bring Her Back” is an intense and compelling experience which actually made me cringe more than once during my viewing. Just like their previous film “Talk to Me” (2023), the movie is quite willing to explore that dark territory of personal trauma and grief, and it admirably held my attention to the end even though it disturbed and horrified me more and more along the story.

The story mainly revolves around Andy (Billy Barratt) and Piper (Sora Wong), two underage half-siblings who suddenly become orphaned after the unexpected death of their widower father. Because there is not any close family member around them, Andy and Piper soon find themselves under the supervision of a local social worker, and their social worker promptly decides that Andy and Piper should be under foster care before Andy becomes old enough to apply for the guardianship on his younger half-sister.

The selected foster mother for Andy and Piper is a single woman named Laura (Sally Hawkins), who looks ideal for both Andy and Piper on the surface. When Andy and Piper arrive at her house incidentally located in the middle of some remote forest area, Laura cheerfully welcomes Andy and Piper, but Andy cannot help but feel awkward for good reasons. Laura seems to care a lot about Piper because Piper is visually impaired just like Laura’s dead daughter, but she pays relatively less attention to Andy, and Andy is also often disturbed by the presence of Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), another foster kid in Laura’ house who, according to Laura, has been mute due to some unspecified trauma.

Because he knows well that he can be separated from his younger half-sister at any chance, Andy chooses to try to adjust himself to the new environment of theirs as much as possible, even while becoming more aware of their foster mother’s insidious sides. At one point, Andy and Piper attend their father’s funeral along with Laura, and Laura pushes Andy into showing a bit more respect and affection to his dead father’s body, even though that turns out to be the last thing he wants to do right now.

 And we observe a number of suspicious signs from Laura and her house. There is a shabby warehouse not so far from an empty swimming pool in front of the house, and it is apparent that she does not want Andy or Piper to go inside that small building. There is a mysterious white line circling around the house and its little surrounding space, and we come to see later that this is not a mere perimeter at all. Above all, there is also a certain disturbing video tape clip shown to us a bit at the beginning of the movie.

Along with their cinematographer Aaron McLisky, the Philippou brothers steadily dial up the level of creepy tension on the screen. Laura and her house are frequently shrouded in gloomy ambience, and this often makes a chillingly ironic contrast to how Laura makes everything sound fine and good in front of Piper, who is often oblivious to what is happening around her and her older half-brother.

Needless to say, Andy becomes more desperate as coming to sense more of how Laura manipulates both him and Piper for putting more distance between them. Besides touching more on Andy’s traumatic relationship with his dead father, Laura does not hesitate to commit some truly nasty things to him, and Andy consequently finds himself pushed toward more anxiety, dread, and desperation.

 Around the narrative point where we get to know more about what Laura has been planning behind her back, the movie doles out a series of grim moments of shock and horror. It will definitely jolt you a lot with a considerable amount of extreme violence and gore during these moments, but these moments are also fueled by recognizable human motives and emotions, and that is the main reason why we remain engaged in what is being at stake for the main characters around the end of the story.

The main cast members of the film are all effective in their respective parts. While Billy Barratt holds the center with his earnest performance, young newcomer Sora Wong is solid even though she did not have any previous movie acting experience, and they are also believable in the relationship dynamics between their characters along the story. On the opposite, young performer Jonah Wren Phillips looks so convincing in several key scenes of his that you may need to be assured that he was not physically or mentally harmed at all during the shooting, and Sally Hawkins totally surprises us as demonstrating another side of her immense talent via her against-the-type casing. At first, Hawkins looks as cheery and comforting as she did in “Paddington” (2014) and its 2017 sequel, but she soon effortlessly dives into the darker sides of her character without any hesitation, and the result is another stellar performance to added to her impressive career.

On the whole, “Bring Her Back” is another good genre piece from the Philippou brothers, and I appreciate how they skillfully handle the story, mood, and characters to generate enough intrigue and horror for us. With “Talk to Me” and “Bring Her Back”, they show us that they are another interesting filmmaker to watch, and I will certainly look forward to watching whatever may come next from them.

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Miyazaki: Spirit of Nature (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): The spirit and philosophy behind his works

Posted on June 3, 2025 by kaist455

Documentary film “Miyazaki: Spirit of Nature”, which happens to be released in South Korea in last week, focuses on the art and philosophy behind the works of Hayao Miyazaki, who has been regarded as one of the greatest animation filmmakers of our time. Broadly looking over many of his notable works, the documentary presents to us his caring ecological view on nature and humanity inside these remarkable animation films, and we are reminded again of the deeply humanistic aspect of Miyazaki and his works.

At the beginning, the documentary opens with how things were pretty intense when Miyazaki and his Ghibli employees were working on “Princess Mononoke” (1997). Despite their full-throttle efforts, there were still lots of things to do for them, and, above all, Miyazaki struggled a lot on the finale. As many of you know, “Princess Mononoke” is the most ambitious work in his whole career, and he was not so sure about how to end his story even while the rest of the film was completed day by day.

The documentary subsequently moves back to Miyazaki’s early years, which were the main source of inspiration for his two last animations film “The Wind Rises” (2013) and “The Boy and the Heron” (2023). While the former reflects his longtime fascination with airplanes, the latter is partially inspired by his old childhood memories of World War II, and its autobiographic aspect is particularly reflected well by that strikingly horrific air raid scene early in the story. Even though he was only 4 years old at that time, he vividly remembered one air raid which happened around the end of the war, and that was certainly the origin of his lifelong pacifism.

Anyway, Miyazaki’s artistic talent and sensibility were suppressed during next several years as he was pushed into that demanding education process just like many other Japanese boys around his age, but there came a moment which changed his life forever. In 1958, he encountered a popular local animation feature film at a local movie theater, and, after being so impressed by this animation film, he eventually decided to make an animation film for himself someday.

Of course, the road to becoming an animation filmmaker was not so easy for Miyazaki, but then he gradually showed his potential as befriending the two people who became quite important for his career. One of them was none other than Isao Takahata, who would be regarded as another great Japanese animation filmmaker besides Miyazaki. He and Miyazaki instantly clicked well with each other as working together at Toei Animation, and they also shared a lot of progressive left-wing social/political beliefs between them via the labor union activities at their workplace.

The other one is Toshio Suzuki, a producer who was another crucial figure in the foundation of Studio Ghibli besides Miyazaki and Takahata. When his first animation feature film “Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro” (1979) miserably failed at the local box office, Miyazaki was quite disappointed to say the least, but then Suzuki suggested that he should try a bit on ‘manga’, a Japanese term for graphic novel. This led to Miyazaki creating what would be the basis for his next animation feature film “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” (1984), whose considerable box office success brought Miyazaki back in business.

In not only “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” (1984) but also his several subsequent films including “My Neighbor Totoro” (1988), Miyazaki steadily emphasizes that important relationship between humanity and nature, and this aspect became all the more prominent in “Princess Mononoke”, which is occasionally quite dark and horrifying as willingly exploring more into the conflicts between nature and humanity. Although more than 20 years have passed since I belatedly watched it on one summer day of 2003, I still remember many of its bold and striking visual style, and I am also quite touched by its surprisingly complex drama which is not afraid to recognize both the better and worse sides of its several conflicting main characters.

Because it seemed that he pushed himself and his employees to the limit during the production of “Princess Mononoke”, Miyazaki soon announced his retirement, but, what do you know, this just turned out to be the first of his several retirement announcements to be rebuked sooner or later. As peacefully working alone by himself as he always wanted, he soon got an idea for “Spirited Away” (2001), which incidentally brought him his first Oscar besides being another commercially successful work in his career.

Around the point when he gave us “Ponyo” (2008), Miyazaki became more concerned about how things have become more alarming for the next generations, and that was probably why he came out of his retirement again via “The Boy and the Heron”, which garnered him the second Oscar. I am still not so sure about whether this film is one of his best works, but its finale has haunted me more as his sincere statement to the next generations, and its original Japanese title certainly emphasizes that: “How Do You Live?”.

Overall, “Miyazaki: Spirit of Nature”, directed by Léo Favier, could show and tell more in my humble opinion, but it did a competent job of giving us the overview on Miyazaki’s artistic career and life philosophy within in its rather short running time (86 minutes). If you want to know more about Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, I will recommend documentary film “The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness” (2013) instead, but this is also enjoyable enough on the whole, and you will certainly come to hope that Miyazaki still can amaze and surprise us again despite going through the final chapter of his life and career at present.

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Hi-Five (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): A lively South Korean superhero film

Posted on June 2, 2025 by kaist455

South Korean film “Hi-Five” have some silly but cheerful fun with its colorful genre elements, and I enjoyed that more than expected. While this is another familiar superhero origin tale, the movie is funny and spirited with a lot of wit and personality to be savored, and you may hope for a possible sequel to follow after watching its finale.

At the beginning, the movie quickly establishes how its several different main characters happen to acquire each own superpower via one certain coincidence among them. Each of them received an organ transplant, and all of their respective transplanted organs came from one unidentified person who seems very special considering what occurred right after the organ donation process.

Anyway, one of these organ receivers is a girl named Wan-seo (Lee Jae-in), who had a serious heart problem before her heart transplant. While her overprotective father Jong-min (Oh Jung-se), who has run a little Taekwondo academy, is still quite concerned about his daughter’s physical condition, Wan-seo wants more fun and freedom besides being eager to play Taekwondo again, and then she is delighted to discover that she somehow becomes quite strong and fast after her surgery.

As she willingly tests more of this unexpected superpower of hers, Wan-seo is approached by a young struggling writer named Ji-sung (Ahn Jae-hong), who also came to have his own superpower after receiving a lung transplant. Thanks to his new lungs, he is now equipped with enormous lung power, and we see how easily he can blow away things with his mere breath. 

Ji-sung and Wan-seo subsequently look for the other people who also acquire each own superpower via that mysterious donor, and they soon come across two such people. Sun-nyeo (Ra Mi-ran) is just a meek yogurt seller, and she still does not know anything about what kind of superpower she acquired via her kidney transplant, though she is clearly marked on her body just like Ji-sung and Wan-seo. In case of a cocky lad named Ki-dong (Yoo Ah-in), he can see and manipulate electromagnetic waves thanks to his recent corneal transplant, and this superpower of his certainly helps him a lot when he tries a bit on those electronic gambling machines.

In the meantime, we are also introduced to the two other remaining cases, Yak-sun (Kim Hee-won) comes to acquire a healing power thanks to his recent liver transplant, and this superpower of his becomes quite useful when one of his co-workers gets seriously injured at their workplace, which belongs to some rich and prominent religious cult group. The old leader of this religious cult group also recently received an organ transplant (It was a pancreas, by the way), and he soon turns out to be capable of sucking life force from others and then becoming younger in his body. 

Needless to say, once he becomes more aware of his superpower and then comes to learn about Wan-seo and her new friends, the cult leader becomes quite determined to absorb all the superpowers from them by any means necessary, and the movie provides several action sequences as Wan-seo and her new friends are accordingly threatened by the cult leader and his cronies. Around the midpoint of the story, we get a thrilling vehicle sequence amusingly accompanied with a certain famous song performed by David Bowie, and then there is a humorous physical action scene where Wan-seo must help her father a bit when he is supposed to fight against a bunch of thugs sent by the cult leader.

Above all, the screenplay by director/writer Kang Hyeong-cheol, who has steadily advanced his breakthrough hit film “Scandal Makers” (2008), did a solid job of juggling the different superpowers and personalities of its several main characters. While it takes some time as going through its warm-up process along with them, the movie eventually becomes more energetic and spirited once they are ready to function in one way or another along the story, and that is the main reason why we come to care about what is being at stake for them during the expected climactic part filled with lots of bangs and crashes as expected. 

It helps that the five main cast members click well with each other throughout the movie. While Lee Jae-in is the most prominent one in the bunch as her plucky performance functions as the center of the story, Ahn Jae-hong, Ra Mi-ran, Kim Hee-won, and Yoo Ah-in have each own moment to shine around Lee, and the effortless comic chemistry among these five different performers firmly carries the film to the end. In case of several other cast members in the film, Oh Jung-se, Park Jin-young, Shin Goo, and Jin Hee-kyung are well-cast in their respective supporting parts, and Oh steals every minute of his in the film in addition to balancing his role well between comedy and drama.

Unfortunately, the theatrical release of “Hi-Five” in South Korea was delayed for more than two years due to Yoo’s recent big drug abuse scandal, which may also prevent Kang from making two following sequels for completing his planned trilogy. At least, Kang demonstrates here again that he is a filmmaker who really knows how to generate a lot of laughs for us via witty storytelling and engaging characters, and I am sure that he will soon move onto the next step of his commendable filmmaking career.

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Bono: Stories of Surrender (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): Bono on Bono

Posted on June 2, 2025 by kaist455

Documentary film “Bono: Stories of Surrender”, which was released on Apple TV+ on last Friday not long after it was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, presents a series of personal stories from Paul David Hewton, an Irish musician who is mainly known as, yes, Bono. As a part of the promotion for his memoir “Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story”, Bono did a one-man stage show “Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief…” at the Beacon Theatre in New York City during 2023, and the documentary did a commendable job of presenting his personal performance with style and sincerity to hold our attention.

As a talented and well-experienced musician who has been prolific along with his fellow members of U2 during last several decades, Bono surely has a lot of personal stuff to tell and reflect on. He remembers well how unhappy he was as he and his father silently coped with each own emotional struggle after the early death of his mother – and how estranged he and his father became to each other during many following years. He also remembers how humble those early years of the band were, and he jokes a bit about how he and his fellow members did not click that well with each other at the very beginning.

The main reason why Bono became more reflective on his life and career than before is pretty simple. Several years ago, he happened to have a serious medical problem due to his inherently faulty heart condition, and he muses on how much that affected his perception of life. While occasionally showing some self-deprecating humor for our little amusement, he is quite frank about his feelings and thoughts in front of the audiences, and that makes me admire him more even though I do not know a lot about his musical career except a handful songs of U2 including those two Oscar-nominated songs (One of them was for Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York” (2002), by the way).

As getting older and then becoming a father later, Bono sincerely tried to get closer to his father, who seldom recognized his son’s talent and success that much even though he was also a fairly good singer. Yes, this is surely something we have seen from those countless musician biography films out there, but Bono presents his personal story about his father with that typical Irish sense of humor and a lot of heart. There is a little amusing episode about how his father remained unimpressed even after being told that his son might collaborate with a certain legendary Italian opera singer, and then we are all the more tickled as Bono flatly tells us about how his two fellow band members refused to meet that famous opera singer just because, well, they are your average hardcore punk rock dudes who do not give much damn about classic music.

All these and other personal stories are often mixed with a lot of music on the stage, and, of course, Bono performs a bunch of songs from U2 as expected. Although he is only assisted modestly by three musicians, he surely knows how to excite and galvanize his audiences, and all those lighting effects around him on the stage make the show look and feel like another big music concert of his at times.

In case of his long musician career, Bono certainly has several funny anecdotes to tell. Besides showing a lot of sincere appreciation toward his three members who have stuck together along with him for many years, he wryly reminisces about when their band could have got disbanded not long after their first world tour just because of their little personal matter involved with religious faith, and that is certainly one of the most humorous moments in the documentary. 

As U2 subsequently became a lot more famous and prominent than before, Bono and his colleagues were requested to participate in a Live Aid concert, and that was when he became interested in philanthropic activities. He talks a bit about what he and his wife witnessed when they visited one poor village in Ethiopia, and that experience inspired an important song from him while also making him all the more passionate about helping millions of people in poverty and hunger. 

Around the later part of the show, Bono becomes more self-reflective while recognizing his many flaws and regrets. As throwing himself more and more into his demanding profession, he often became distant to his wife, and he recognizes how much she had to cope with that while remaining as the light of his life as usual. In case of his father, he still did not open himself that much to his son even when he was going to die sooner or later, and Bono evidently feels bitter about that, even though he came to understand and accept his father to some degree as trying to spend more time with him at his favorite pub.

Nevertheless, Bono keeps the mood lightened up with more music, and director Andrew Dominik and his crew members including cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt competently handle those individual moments in the show. Shot in black and white film, the documentary is often visually fluid and striking, and you may come to want more even when it is about to be over.

Overall, “Bono: Stories of Surrender” is worthwhile to watch for not only its content but also its style and mood. Although it is rather short in my trivial opinion (86 minutes), it accomplishes as much as intended while never overstaying its welcome at all, and it will entertain you enough even if you are not so familiar with its main human subject.

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Big Deal (2025) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A conflict over one big soju company

Posted on June 1, 2025 by kaist455

South Korean film “Big Deal” presents a fictional story loosely based on the real-life business deal involved with one of the biggest South Korean alcoholic beverage companies in the late 1990s. While the story itself is fairly interesting, the movie sometimes falters due to several weak aspects including superficial characterization and blatant plot contrivance, and the overall result is rather disappointing despite some good efforts inside it.

The early part of the story is set in early 1998, when the South Korean economy was turned upside down due to an immense financial crisis which swept up East and Southeast Asia in late 1997. Many of those big corporations in South Korea come to face bankruptcy, and Gukbo Group, which is clearly the fictional version of Jinro Group, is one of such desperate cases. While its CEO, who has simply occupied his position just because of his father who founded the company, is pretty useless to say the least, Pyo Jong-rok (Yoo Hae-jin), a diligent executive who has worked for the company for more than 20 years, has tried really hard for finding any possible way to save the company, and then there comes a chance via a prominent global investment firm named Solqueen. Mainly represented by an ambitious South Korean employee Choi In-beom (Lee Je-hoon), Solqueen has an offer which Jong-rok and his boss cannot possibly refuse, and it seems that the company will be safe at least for a while.

Under his boss’ order, Jong-rok is surely ready to be friendly and cooperative to In-beom as much as possible, and that leads to a series of lightweight moments involved with a lot of drinking between them. While they have one drinking night after another with many bottles of soju manufactured by Gukbo Group, Jong-rok willingly lets In-beom and Solqueen look more into the current financial status of Gukbo Group, and it looks like the promising beginning of the productive partnership between the company and Solqueen.

However, as already implied to us from the beginning of the story, Solqueen actually has a sneaky plan behind its back. Using all the inside information about Gukbo Group, In-beom and his colleagues in Solqueen embark on the hostile takeover of Gukbo Group in 2003, and they are certainly willing to attain their goal by any means necessary. For example, they persuade a powerful local law firm to work along with them even though this law firm also represents Gukbo Group, and the head of this law firm does not have any problem with this serious legal violation at all because, well, he knows how to pull some strings for getting away with it.

After belatedly coming to learn of what In-beom and Solqueen have been planning behind their back, Jong-rok certainly feels quite exasperated and disillusioned, and, to make matters worse, he is reminded again and again that there is no one to help or support him. His boss, who turns out to be more selfish and untrustworthy, cares more about his power and money than what may happen to Jong-rok or many other employees of his company in the end, and this certainly makes Jong-rok have more bitter doubt about his lifelong devotion to the company.

Meanwhile, In-beom comes to have a fair share of disillusionment and frustration as observing more of how mean and ruthless his investment company can be, but he also finds himself driven a lot by his growing hunger for more success and recognition. After all, he is the one who proposed the takeover of Gukbo Group from the very beginning, and his boss already starts to dangle a tempting big reward in front of him.

The second half of the film becomes tense as the business conflict between Gukbo Group and Solqueen eventually leads to the following court battle between them, but the movie does not take side with either of them. While flatly recognizing how greedy and opportunistic Solqueen is, it clearly points out how corrupt and problematic Gukbo Group has been due to its lousy CEO, and it does not overlook at all how the outcome of this conflict will affect those thousands of employees in Gukbo Group.

However, the movie also becomes more deficient around that narrative point. Considering its inevitable ending, several plot turns later in the story are rather unnecessary, and the finale is delivered a bit too abruptly in my inconsequential opinion. The movie soon tries to compensate for this flaw via the following epilogue scene, but this is not mixed that well with the rest of the film due to learning a little too much toward sentimentalism.

At least, the two lead actors of the movie did an admirable job of carrying the story together. Yoo Hae-jin, who has been one of the most dependable character actors in South Korean cinema during last two decades, is believable with the accumulating anger and frustration behind his character’s mild appearance, and his good performance eventually functions as the moral center of the story. On the opposite, Lee Je-hoon is less distinctive compared to his co-star due to his relatively blander character, but he manages to acquit himself well at least, and several other main cast members including Son Hyun-joo, Choi Young-joon, Byron Mann, and Kim Ki-hae are well-cast in their respective supporting parts.

In conclusion, “Big Deal” is enjoyable to some degree, but it could delve more into the story and characters more as giving us more insight on its main subject, and I become more aware of its several flaws including the glaring lack of substantial female character. Although I am not a big fan of soju, I got interested in what the movie is about, and I was ready to be entertained, but, folks, I ended up being rather dissatisfied with how it is about.

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