My Prediction on the 97th Academy Awards

Posted on February 27, 2025 by kaist455

I have often grumbled a bit about how the Oscar season has been predictable during the last two decades. Especially after the season got shorter and tighter around 20 years ago, it has been much easier to detect whether there will be any sudden surprise from the outcome of the ceremony, and I can only remember a couple of times where I was genuinely surprised as watching the ceremony on live TV (Remember when Tilda Swinton quite unexpectedly won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “Michael Clayton” in 2008?)

In case of this year, the Oscar race has been quite dramatic week by week. At first, “Anora” seemed to be a definite front runner, but then there came a considerable chance for “The Brutalist” and “Emilia Pérez” after the Golden Globe Award ceremony. However, both of them subsequently suffered each own controversy while “Anora” rose again with its resurgence in PGA, DGA, WGA, and the Critics’ Choice Awards, and now “Conclave” suddenly becomes another possible winner after showing more prominence at the BAFTA Award ceremony and then winning the Best Ensemble award at the SAG Award ceremony a few days ago.

So, what will happen during the upcoming Oscar ceremony on March 2nd? As usual, there are a number of categories about which I am quite certain, but then there are also many other categories about which I am still scratching my head. Nevertheless, I am still having a fun with checking how much accurate or inaccurate I am in this trivial Oscar season game, and you can try to outguess me if you want, though there is no prize for that.

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Mickey 17 (2025) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): More than one Pattinson presented by Bong Joon-ho

Posted on February 27, 2025 by kaist455

Bong Joo-ho’s films always have his own offbeat sensibility to be cherished. Even his phenomenal Oscar-winning film “Parasite” (2019), which is incidentally the most mainstream work in his career, shows that odd and interesting quality at times behind its almost perfect genre exercise, and his latest film “Mickey 17” continues that trend. While it initially looks like another typical Hollywood SF flick on the surface, the movie also cheerfully wields numerous offbeat touches here and there along with its fearless lead performer, and it shows us that Bong will continue to go his way even after the unexpectedly enormous success of his previous film.

Robert Pattinson, who gives his most humorous performance since his deliberately hammy supporting turn in David Michôd’s Netflix film “The King” (2019), plays Mickey Barnes, a young man who has been a literally expendable employee of some big corporation. He and many other people were sent to some inhabitable alien planet located somewhere in the space, and the first act of the film shows and tells us how he has got himself cloned again and again during last several years. Whenever he is sacrificed as a human guinea pig in one way or another, Mickey gets promptly cloned and then injected with the memories from his previous self via some high-tech equipment, and he has been already cloned no less than 16 times at the beginning of the story.

As he is probably going to die soon as “Mickey 17”, the story, which is based on Edward Ashton’s SF novel “Mickey7”, frequently goes back to how things were pretty bad for Mickey even before that. He and his friend/business partner Timo (Steven Yeun) could be killed by some very vicious loan shark at any point, so they decided to join the space travel just for getting away from that loan shark as far and quick as possible. Unfortunately, there was no other option for Mickey except being hired as an “expendable” to be cloned and then discarded during the space travel and the following colonization of that alien planet.

The whole process is supervised by Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), a superficial politician who will instantly remind you of not only that orange-faced prick currently living again in the White House but also a certain egomaniacal South African billionaire associated with that prick. This dude is so vain and obtuse that he does not realize at all that he is often controlled and manipulated by his devious wife, who certainly enjoys every moment of being the power behind the throne unless she is occupied with making any new delicious sauce to be savored.

While certainly toiling a lot under the corrupt leadership of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall just like many others in the spaceship, Mickey found some solace from Nasha Adjava (Naomi Ackie), a young woman who incidentally works in the security department. As shown from several flashback scenes, Nasha actually cares a lot about Mickey besides being carnally attracted to him, and there is an amusing moment as they discuss a bit on how to get more pleasure from their developing relationship.

Although its first act often feels a bit slow as looking like merely warming up for whatever may follow next, the movie is constantly buoyed by Bong’s distinctive offbeat touches. Just like “Okja” (2017), it does not hesitate to go for sheer absurdity and ridiculousness, and this brings some unconventional qualities to its familiar genre territory. The resulting quirky sense of black humor is often contrasted with the inherent pathos in Mickey’s gloomy human condition, and the juxtaposition between these two different elements brings some extra personality to the story and characters, though the result is not always successful in my inconsequential opinion.

It certainly helps that the story is driven by another rich performance from Pattinson, who surely has a ball here as playing more than one different version of his character. Just like his director, he frequently brings out an unexpected moment of humor or pathos as many different versions of his character struggle in one way or another along the story, and he ably holds the movie together even when the movie stumbles a bit during the last act where a lot of things happen here and there.

Around Pattinson’s multi-faceted acting, Bong assembles a bunch of notable performers, who also embrace Bong’s offbeat sensibility as much as they can. As Mickey’s love interest, Naomi Ackie clicks well with Pattinson during several key scenes, and I was particularly tickled by when she demonstrates that she can be as sexy and daring as Zendaya in Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” (2024). While Steve Yeun is suitably obnoxious as Mickey’s opportunistic friend, Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette are quite committed as chewing every scene of theirs as much as Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhard in Michael Lehmann’s “Hudson Hawk” (1991), and Holliday Grainger, Anamaria Vartolomei, Thomas Turgoose, Cameron Britton, and Steve Park are also well-cast in their small supporting roles.

In conclusion, “Mickey 17” is another interesting work from Bong, who is incidentally already working on the next work to be released around the next year. While it does not reach to the level of his better works including “Parasite”, it is equipped with an ample amount of wit, style, and personality besides being commendable for its top-notch technical aspects including the cinematography by Darius Khondji. It did not surprise me a lot, but it amused and entertained me much nonetheless, and, just like many of Bong’s works, I may look back on it more as time goes by.

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Nickel Boys (2024) ☆☆☆1/2: A singular African American film to admire

Posted on February 26, 2025 by kaist455

My late mentor/friend Roger Ebert said that the movies are like a machine that generates empathy, and that is quite true in case of RaMell Ross’ latest work “Nickel Boys”, which was recently Oscar-nominated for Best Picture. Quite closely sticking to the viewpoints of two plain African American adolescent boys at the center of the story, this singular African American film often generates powerful human moments along their sad and poignant story, and their poetically empathic qualities will haunt your mind for a long time after the movie is over.

At the beginning, a series of free-flowing episodic moments establish the character background of one of those two African American boys in the story. His name is Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse), and we observe how he has grown up under his caring grandmother Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) in Tallahassee, Florida during the early 1960s. As the Civil Rights Movement is beginning in the country, Elwood naturally becomes more aware of the racial discrimination against him and many other African American people around him, but that does not deter him at all from his growing hope for doing something great in the future, and his grandmother is certainly willing to support her grandson’s hope and ambition as much as possible.

When he subsequently gets an opportunity to go to a college for promising young African American students like him, both Elwood and his grandmother are certainly happy and excited. However, he inadvertently gets himself into a big trouble when he is heading to that college, and this unfortunate incident eventually sends him to the Nickel Academy, a big state reform school for juvenile delinquents which is actually the fictional version of one of the most notorious reform schools in US. 

Up to this narrative point, the movie seldom shows Elwood to us because, well, the camera of cinematographer Jomo Fray, who should have been Oscar-nominated for his exceptional work here in this film, virtually functions as Elwood’s subjective viewpoint. This may sound very limited and suffocating to you, but, as effortlessly and dexterously unfolding whatever he sees or remembers on the screen, the movie gradually immerses us more into his thoughts and feelings, and we become all the more empathic to his ongoing plight.

 We eventually see Elwood via another main viewpoint in the story, and that belongs to Turner (Brandon Wilson), one of the boys in the section for African American boys. When many of other boys are cold or hostile to Elwood, Turner willingly shows some kindness to Elwood, and that is the beginning of their friendship, which gradually becomes something they desperately hold onto as they and many other boys are frequently exploited or abused day by day under their heartless (and corrupt) White superintendent.

Never overlooking the systemic racism and corruption surrounding its two young main characters, the screenplay by Ross and his co-writer Joslyn Barnes, which is based on Colson Whitehead’s second Pulitzer-winning novel “The Nickel Boys” (His first Pulitzer-winning novel “The Underground Railroad” is already adapted into a superb TV miniseries by Barry Jenkins, by the way), handles the dark aspects of the story with enough thoughtfulness and restraint. We do not see much during some of the darkest moments in the film, but the human pain and horror inside them are succinctly and effectively conveyed to us nonetheless, and we become more aware of what may happen to Elwood and Turner at any point if they are not careful.

And that is why the occasional small moments of unexpected warmth and sensitivity shine and then touch us a lot. Ross and Fray did a commendable job of imbuing these wonderful moments with a considerable amount of lyrical realism, and this may sometimes take you back to those memorably beautiful moments in Ross’ Oscar-nominated documentary film “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” (2018).

However, the movie wisely does not resort to any easy closure for its two main characters’ story as another crucial viewpoint enters the picture later in the story. Although many years have passed since that horrible time at the Nickel Academy, older Elwood, played by Daveed Diggs, cannot help but feel quite troubled when he reads the articles on the belated discovery on many atrocities committed there, and the emotional scars on his heart and soul are evident to us even though the camera mostly observes him from the behind.

I will not go into details how the movie pulls out a little surprise and then one of the most moving endings I have ever seen during last several years, but I can tell you instead that I come to admire more of how Ross and his cast and crew members stick to his artistic vision to the end. While ably functioning as the heart and soul of the film, Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson are often harrowing in their unadorned performance, and they are also supported well by several notable performers including Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Jimmie Fails, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who always provides extra warmth to the story whenever she appears on the screen.

On the whole, “Nickel Boys” is definitely one of the best films of last year, and Ross surely advances further than what he achieved so remarkably in “Hale County This Morning, This Evening”. With these two exceptional works, he firmly establishes as one of the best American filmmakers at present, and he will be always remembered for their significant achievement, regardless of whatever may come next from him in the future.

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Lucca’s World (2025) ☆☆(2/4): She’s simply trying her best for her son…

Posted on February 25, 2025 by kaist455

Netflix film “Lucca’s World”, which was released in last month, is unabashedly sincere and sentimental without much honesty or human depth for becoming something more than “the disability of the week” movie. The movie is certainly pleasant and appealing to some degree, but I observed its story and characters with accumulating skepticism and cynicism during my viewing, and that was not a good sign at all.

As shown from the very beginning, the movie is a fictional presentation of the unbelievable real-life story of Bárbara Anderson (Bárbara Mori) and her first son Lucca (Julián Tello). When she is about to give birth to her son, Anderson is certainly hopeful and excited to say the least, but, alas, she and her son come to have a very serious medical situation at the time of her delivery, and this unfortunately leads to considerable brain damage to him.

As a result, Lucca has suffered a serious case of cerebral palsy during next several years, and we see how Anderson and her husband have devoted a lot of themselves to Lucca’s welfare. While she continues to work for supporting the family instead of her currently unemployed husband, she is always ready for more help and support to her dear son, and her second son is also quite supportive of his disabled older brother.

Nevertheless, things later get direr for Lucca and his family due to his more frequent seizures, and then Anderson happens to learn about a certain newly developed medical treatment which may actually help Lucca. Although nothing is definite at all about this new medical treatment which is incidentally being developed in some private clinic in India, Anderson soon becomes determined to take a chance with that, and this naturally leads to more financial burden on her and her husband. 

Nevertheless, her husband supports her determination as usual, and what follows next is how Anderson and her husband try to get their son to that private clinic in India as soon as possible. Although Lucca’s doctor understandably shows some sensible skepticism, he eventually provides some guide on how to handle Lucca’s increasingly fragile medical condition during the long flight to India. In case of Anderson’s husband, he gets the money enough for the family’s trip to India via the mortgage on their big apartment, and Anderson certainly appreciates her husband’s efforts.   

Even when she and her family eventually arrive in that private clinic in India, Anderson is not totally sure about whether she is really doing the right thing for her dear son, but, what do you know, her son actually shows considerable progress after going through a number of treatment sessions. Needless to say, she and her husband rejoice for this unexpected outcome, and then she considers getting her son treated more in Mexico.

Around that narrative point, the screenplay by director Marina Chenillo and her co-writer Javier Peñalosa unfortunately becomes quite shaky to our distraction. As trying more for the government authorization on using that new medical treatment on her son, Anderson comes to sense that there is something very suspicious about a Mexican doctor supposedly trying to get the authorization on the upcoming clinical trial in Mexico and US, but the movie is rather murky about this character to the end, and I also became all the more skeptical after coming to learn more about how much it actually fictionalized its real-life story. Sure, as shown to us at the end of the film, Lucca did show considerable progress after having that medical treatment in question, but, folks, I must emphasize that there has not been any official confirmation on whether his progress was directly resulted from that medical treatment, which I came to find all the more questionable after reading a recent Guardian article quite critical on the movie. 

Furthermore, the movie merely scratches the surface in case of whatever Anderson and her family have endured for more help and support to Lucca for many years. Except one scene where she faces how her longtime devotion to Lucca negatively affects her professional career, we do not get to know that much about her own emotional toil, and that is why those supposedly feel-good moments later in the story where Anderson come to accept more of Lucca’s medical condition are quite contrived instead of giving more human dept to the story and characters. 

At least, the main cast members of the film try their best, and their good efforts sometimes compensate for its many weak aspects. While Bárbara Mori carries the movie well with her earnest performance, Juan Pablo Medina dutifully stands by her as required even though there is not much to do for him except looking considerate or concerned, and young performer Julián Tello holds his own small place well between his two adult co-stars.   

 Overall, “Lucca’s World” is not totally intolerable because of some sincerity inside it, but I must point out that there are many better films out there which handle their inherently melodramatic medical matters with more thoughtfulness and sensitivity. In my humble opinion, not many of them can top the emotional power of George Miller’s Oscar-nominated film “Lorenzo’s Oil” (1992), and I sincerely recommend you to watch that excellent movie rather than watching this blandly passable Netflix product.

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The Gorge (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): What lies between them

Posted on February 25, 2025 by kaist455

“The Gorge”, which was released on Apple TV+ a few weeks ago, focuses on its two main characters first before eventually going for your average video game action, and I must confess that I enjoyed this process more than expected. While it is a bit slow in building up the story and characters at first, the movie is supported well by not only enough sense of fun but also the good chemistry between its talented lead performers, and we actually come to root for their survival.

The early part of the film patiently and succinctly establishes the two main characters of the story. After the opening scene, we meet a young ex-marine dude named Levi Kane (Miles Teller), and the movie provides a bit of background information on how he was selected as an ideal candidate for a certain clandestine operation supervised by the shady figure played by Sigourney Weaver, who certainly brings some authority to her character as she did around the end of “The Cabin in the Woods” (2011).

What Levi is supposed to do seems pretty simple on the surface. After being taken to some unknown remote area, he is going to replace his predecessor played by Sope Dirisu, who gamely handles a thankless job of explaining the mission during his brief appearance. During one year, Levi will work as the guard on a big and tall watchtower looking over a wide gorge full of fog, and he must be watchful about something inside the gorge all the time. According to his predecessor, his job is pretty much like guarding the gate of hell due to whatever exists beneath the foggy surface of the gorge, which is incidentally nicknamed “hollow man”.

Anyway, as he begins the first days of his mission, Levi becomes more aware of another watchtower on the opposite side of the gorge, which is also guarded by someone who has just arrived there just like him. That figure in question is a young woman named Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy), and, as shown from her first scene early in the film, she is also a mercenary with a particular set of skills. Just because she is quite bored, she tries a bit of communication between her and Levi, and, what do you know, something instantly clicks between them as they admire their respective first-rate snipe skill.

As days and months go by without much event, Levi and Drasa come to find more emotional comfort from each of them, and the movie throws some humorous touches on how they kill time together at times. If you remember how Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy became more prominent via their respective breakthrough turns, you will certainly be tickled by when their characters play chess – or when they try a bit on banging drums.

Meanwhile, Drasa and Levi become more aware of what kind of threat they must handle from time to time. While they are fortunately equipped with a number of good weapons for defending their respective watchtowers, those “hollow men” still frequently climb along the walls of the gorge, and they look certainly as aggressive and frightening as those zombie figures in those Resident Evil flicks.

Nevertheless, as the people who probably experienced a lot of danger in one way or another, Levi and Drasa continues their mission as usual, and their mutual affection only grows stronger as they work together for fighting against the “hollow men” from time to time. In the end, Levi decides to do something quite risky just for one real good time between him and Drasa, and, not so surprisingly, that unfortunately leads to a very, very, very perilous circumstance for both of them.

Around that point, the movie naturally becomes a little less interesting as its two lead characters come to learn a lot more about the gorge than expected. Yes, Drasa and Levi shoot a lot of hideous CGI figures popping out here and there around the screen, and what we accordingly get is pretty much like the slick demonstration clip of a latest video game to sell – especially whenever it is accompanied with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ electronic score.

However, the film manages to distinguish itself from those Resident Evil flicks and many other similar action thriller movies to some degree, because it keeps focusing on the characters in the story as usual. While it surely provides a number of competent action sequences under director Scott Derrickson’s skillful direction, the movie also brings extra depth to its two main characters as they stick together more for their survival, and that is the reason why we continue to care about them even when they are chased by a lot of grotesque CGI figures.

Right from their very first scene, Teller and Taylor-Joy are effortless in their characters’ interactions while also filling their archetype roles with each own presence. While Teller hits the right note between intensity and amiability, Taylor-Joy is often charming with her own impish quality, and we can clearly see why Teller’s character cannot easily take his eyes away from her character from the beginning.

In conclusion, “The Gorge” is a solid piece of entertainment which has enough good elements besides the game efforts from its two lead performers. Although there is nothing particularly new or fresh here for you especially if you are familiar with its numerous similar predecessors, the movie has a fair share of fun within its modest playground at least, so I will not grumble for now.

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The Last Stop in Yuma County (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Stuck in a diner together

Posted on February 24, 2025 by kaist455

“The Last Stop in Yuma County” is a simple but effective genre piece to entertain you. While clearly influenced by the works of Quentin Tarantino and Coen brothers, the movie plays its genre game mostly fair and straight, and the overall result is fairly engaging even though you will quickly have a pretty good idea on what will eventually happen in the end.

At first, the movie succinctly establishes its small and simple main background, which is your average American roadside diner located somewhere in a remote region of Yuma County, Arizona in the 1970s. When a knife salesman played by Jim Cummings arrives at a gas station/motel right next to the diner on one day, he is only notified by the owner of the gas station that there is not any gasoline at present, and he has no choice but to wait at the diner for the upcoming arrival of the gasoline delivery truck.

The diner is opened not long after his arrival, and we get to know a bit about a waitress who happens to run the diner alone by herself on that day. She has been married to a local sheriff, and it looks like they are fairly happy in their marriage, though her husband still does not prepare much for the upcoming 17th anniversary for their marriage.

As the knife salesman continues to wait for the gasoline delivery truck at the diner, two more people arrive at the diner. They also need to fill the gasoline tank of their car just like the knife salesman, so they also come to wait at a spot not so far from where the knife salesman is sitting, and then we sense something fishy about these two guys.

Because the movie already gives us a little obvious hint at the beginning of the story, it does not take much time for us to see that these two guys are the criminals who robbed a local bank early in the morning. Although they certainly try not to look suspicious to the two other people in the diner, one of them is virtually a loose cannon while the other one is intensely thoughtful to say the least. Needless to say, we can clearly discern a trouble to be ensued sooner or later among them and the two other people in the diner.

The situation become more tense as both the knife salesman and the waitress eventually realize that they are with very dangerous criminals, and then the plot thickens with more story elements to be added to the narrative step by step. Besides the owner of the gas station/motel who still has no idea on what is really going on inside the diner, there is an old Texan couple who also happens to wait at the diner just like the other customers, and there is also a banal young couple eager to follow the footsteps of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) or Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen in “Badlands” (1973).

Once all of its story elements are set and prepared, the screenplay by director/writer/editor/co-producer Francis Galluppi, who made a feature film debut here after making several short films and music videos, simply rolls them into one tricky situation after another. As some of the main characters try to outwit those two criminal figures, the movie provides several suspenseful moments including the one involved with three cups of hot coffee, and Galluppi and his crew members including cinematographer Mac Fisken did a commendable job of maintaining the level of tension beneath the screen.

Because we already know one crucial thing from the start, we naturally come to observe the main characters from the distance. Although many of these characters are more or less than broad archetypes, we still get some twisted fun from how their following desperate actions make the situation worse in one way or another along the story, and the movie deftly balances itself between black humor and some gravitas.

Needless to say, the movie depends a lot on the talent and presence of the main cast members, who sometimes did a little more than required by their respective parts for bringing a bit of extra personality to the film. Cummings, who has been one of the most dependable character actors since his little breakout film “Thunder Road” (2018), effortlessly embodies the neurotic qualities of his plain character, and we are not so surprised when one of the main characters says that his character looks like the hero of a certain famous Alfred Hitchcock film. On the opposite, Jocelin Donahue, who was once promising when she appeared in Ti West’s “The House of the Devil” (2009) but then unfortunately got herself crashed into “The Last Godfather” (2010), and Richard Brake, a seasoned character actor who has appeared in numerous films ranging from “Batman Begins” (2005) to “The Munsters” (2022), have each own moment to shine as the two other crucial main characters in the film, and you will be also delighted by several familiar performers including Barbara Crampton, Faizon Love, and Gene Jones, who was incidentally memorable as that unfortunate gas station owner in Coen brothers’ great film “No Country for Old Men” (2007).

In conclusion, “The Last Stop in Yuma County” may not bring anything particularly new to its genre territory, but it still works thanks to the skillful direction of Galluppi. He demonstrates here that he is another new promising American filmmaker to watch, and it will be interesting to see what may come next from him.

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The Painter and the Thief (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): One painter and her messy muse

Posted on February 23, 2025 by kaist455

Norwegian documentary film “The Painter and the Thief” observes a complex human relationship between two total strangers who happened to get involved with each other under one extraordinary circumstance. As alternating between their different viewpoints, the documentary makes us reflect more on human empathy and connection, and it is poignant to observe how its two human subjects came to understand each other more in the end.

Everything began from a small criminal incident which occurred at one art gallery in Oslo, Norway on one day of 2015. The two men broke into the art gallery and then stole the two paintings by a Czech female artist named Barbora Kysilkova, and they were eventually arrested not long after that, though neither of Kysilkova’s two paintings could not be retrieved even after their arrest.

When she came to learn about one of these two arrested criminals, Kysilkova became curious about who that person was, so she attended his following trial. He was a drug addict named Karl-Bertil Nordland, and, as reflected by a series of sketches accompanied with a piece of audio recording, she actually approached and then talked a bit to him when both of them were in the courtroom.

Some time later, Kysilkova approached to Nordland again, and she requested him to be the model for her latest painting. While not so willing to do that at first, Nordland eventually agreed to do some modelling for Kysilkova, and he could not help but become quite emotional when she later showed him his completed portrait. After that point, he and Kysilkova became close friends, and she also tried to understand more of how his life became quite messy. Despite experiencing some unhappiness during his childhood years, Nordland was a fairly promising young man, but then things went quite wrong – especially after he became a drug addict at some point.

Watching Nordland still struggling with his personal demons despite her help and support, Kysilkova became quite frustrated at times, and that also put considerable strain on her relationship with her Norwegian boyfriend. At one point, her boyfriend sharply points out the ethical aspects of how she regards Nordland as an artist, and she cannot help but become defensive as emphasizing that she really cares about Nordland.

The documentary also focuses on how Nordland felt about his accidental friendship with Kysilkova. While correctly sensing that she was often fascinated with his dark sides, he also appreciated her help and support, but then he became really incorrigible for not only Kysilkova but also a woman who was his girlfriend at that time. He was supposed to check himself into a local rehabilitation center, but he only ended up letting down these two good women, and that was when his girlfriend finally decided that enough is enough.

Anyone with some knowledge on addiction surely knows well that every addict is bound to reach the bottom of their addiction in the end, and Nordland was no exception, though he was more fortunate compared to many of those unlucky addicts out there. Not long after tumbling into his drug addiction again, he got himself into a real big trouble, and that was when he actively grabbed a good chance for becoming clean and sober.

Simply letting the story of its two human subjects roll by itself, the documentary often vividly captures a number of honest and powerful human moments to observe. There is a harrowingly painful moment when Nordland clashes with his girlfriend over his ongoing addiction problem, and the emotional intensity of this moment is quite palpable to us even though we do not see much of him and his girlfriend. Just like Nordland, Kysilkova was willing to show a lot of herself in front of the camera, and that is why several private moments between her and her boyfriend are exceptionally truthful to say the least. Both of them clearly discern how complicated their relationship issues are, but they are evidently struggling to resolve these personal issues – even though they care a lot about each other.

The documentary later puts some tension on the screen when Nordland and Kysilkova become quite distant to each other later in the story, and that is where it becomes a bit contrived to our distraction. It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that they eventually meet again, but then the documentary pulls out another narrative turn as Kysilkova reveals what she recently discovered by sheer coincidence. This surely makes their story more dramatic, but I wonder whether director Benjamin Ree, who also served as the co-cinematographer of his documentary, could present this little but crucial moment of revelation in a more organic way.

Anyway, “The Painter and the Thief”, which won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Storytelling when it was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival around the beginning of 2020 (How distant that time feels to many of us now because of the COVID-19 pandemic!), is a solid documentary with enough interesting human qualities to be observed and appreciated, and I admired the thoughtful handling of its compelling human story even while recognizing its few notable weak points. Yes, it could be more improved in my trivial opinion, but I assure you that you will never forget its two human subjects after watching it.

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Paddington in Peru (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): Back in Peru

Posted on February 23, 2025 by kaist455

“Paddington in Peru” is as amiable and pleasant as it can be despite being a bit underwhelming at times. Although you may be disappointed to see that it does not reach the sublime comic level of “Paddington 2” (2017), the movie still has a fair share of joy and amusement mainly thanks to the game efforts from its main cast members, and you will certainly root for its gentle bear hero and his lovable human family.

The story is set in some time after what happened in “Paddington 2”. As continuing to live with Mr. Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville) and his family in London, Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) officially becomes a British citizen at last, but then there comes an unexpected news from Peru. It seems that his old aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton), who has resided in the home for retired bears in Peru, is not that well, so he decides to go back to Peru for checking on his aunt, and Mr. Brown and his family naturally accompany him.

However, when they eventually arrive at the home for retired bear, the Reverent Mother (Olivia Colman), a nun who is incidentally the supervisor of the home of retired bear, notifies to Paddington that Aunt Lucy was gone missing not long before Paddington and his human family arrive. When it turns out that Aunt Lucy possibly went to a certain mysterious place somewhere in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon region, Paddington becomes quite determined to get to the bottom of the situation, and Mr. Brown and his family come to join his following search.

Of course, as an insurance company employee quite fastidious about risk assessment, Mr. Brown is not so amused to say the least, but he cannot say no for a rather amusing reason. The new boss at his workplace has often emphasized embracing more risk, and that is the main reason why he agreed to accompany Paddington along with his family despite his initial reluctance.

However, no matter how much he tries to be calm and confident, Mr. Brown soon finds himself taking more risks along with his family than expected. For going into the middle of the Peruvian Amazon region, he and his family and Paddington have to get on an old ship belonging to a local dude named Hunter Cabot (Antonio Banderas), and what follows next will remind you a bit of Werner Herzog’s two great films “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” (1972) and “Fitzcarraldo” (1982). It is subsequently revealed that Hunter has been obsessed with discovering a lot of gold hidden somewhere in the Peruvian Amazon region, and, yes, the object of his longtime obsession is associated with wherever Aunt Lucy went. As this troubled dude eventually becomes more obsessive because of those ancestral ghosts who have haunted him for years (They are also played by Banderas, by the way), Paddington and his human family come to experience something not so far from the climatic part of “Fitzcarraldo”, and that certainly brings more laugh and some thrill for us.

While things eventually become a bit more serious as Paddington eventually arrives at that certain mysterious place as expected, the movie cheerfully continues to hop from one narrative point to another without being too serious at all. After all, how can you possibly be quite serious when the hero of the story is a talking bear adopted by one human family?

Above all, just like its two predecessors, the movie sincerely makes a good point on goodwill and kindness. While he often inadvertently causes small and big troubles for himself as well as others around him, Paddington is a likable figure full of goodwill and sincerity to affect others around him in one infectious way or another, and we can still see why he has been accepted and loved by his human family despite his occasional troubles.

As usual, Ben Whishaw’s earnest voice performance brings a lot of heart and soul to Paddington, and his character is supported well by a bunch of good performers. Hugh Bonneville is a constant fun to watch as his fastidious character struggles to take one risk after another along the story, and he gives us one of the most hilarious moments in the film during one expected scene involved with a certain dangerous bug later in the story. Although it is a bit of shame that Sally Hawkins could not return here, Emily Mortimer is also fine as Mrs. Brown, and several other cast members in the film including Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Carla Tous, Hayley Atwell, and Imelda Staunton are also solid in their respective supporting parts.

Just like “Paddington 2” is often elevated by the scene-stealing villain performance by Hugh Grant, the movie is frequently energized by the colorfully hammy supporting performances from the two certain main cast members. While Antonio Banderas willingly chews a number of ridiculous moments as often looking as unhinged as Humprey Bogart’s hero character in Jonn Huston’s masterpiece “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948), Olivia Colman delightfully overacts throughout the film, and she even has a silly musical scene which will instantly take you back to Julie Andrews in Robert Wise’s classic musical film “The Sound of Music” (1965).

Overall, “Paddington in Peru”, directed by Douglas Wilson, is less impressive compared to “Paddington 2” in some aspects, but it is still recommendable for being funny and heartfelt enough to entertain and touch us. I do not know whether there will be another sequel, but I will not object to that at all as long as the franchise has its heart at the right place just like its furry hero.

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The Love Scam (2025) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Pleasant but no surprise

Posted on February 21, 2025 by kaist455

Italian Netflix film “The Love Scam”, which was released at the beginning of this year, is predictable to the core to say the least. Right from when its two main characters come across each other, you will quickly guess the rest of the story within a few seconds, and there is really not much surprise for you on the whole, but you may go along with its mostly watchable romantic comedy as long as you can forgive a lot of plot contrivance in the story.

 The movie, which is incidentally set in Napoli, Italy, begins with a comic premise driven by desperation. Vito (Antonio Folletto) is an earnest young man trying to support himself and his baby son after his son’s mother ran away some time ago, but, alas, he remains unemployed despite his sincere efforts, and that certainly does not look good at all to the social workers checking on him and his baby. 

And then things get all the worse for Vito and his young son thanks to his older brother Antonello (Vincenzo Nemolato), who has not been much of help as your average small-time crook. Antonello recently got himself involved with a serious financial matter, and Vito belatedly comes to learn that their apartment will be soon taken away by some company unless he pays a considerable amount of money within a very short time.

In the end, Vito and Antonello decide to visit that company in question, which turns out to be a prominent architecture company ready to demolish their old apartment building for building a hotel there. Because the owner of the company happens to be absent, they try to meet the owner’s daughter instead, but then they soon see how hard and difficult Marina (Laura Adriani) can be as often being quite focused on her company work.

After discovering that Marina actually has a soft spot for public charity, they quickly embark on planning their little scam. Although he is understandably quite reluctant at first, Vito certainly does not want to lose the custody of his young son, so he eventually agrees to disguise himself as someone who is supposed to be passionate about public charity as much as Marina.      

What follows next is a series of comic moments where Vito and Marina get drawn more to each other after their orchestrated Meet Cute moment. Although their first encounter is not so pleasant for both of them, Marina is initially quite annoyed as he keeps appearing around her, but, what do you know, she and Vito soon come to spend more time with each other. When Vito later lets her follow her personal passion toward cooking, she cannot help but feel happy and delighted, and she even agrees to work as the chef for his little charity meeting. 

Of course, Vito naturally feels more conflicted as, this is not a spoiler at all, he also falls in love just like Marina. What he and his older brother are doing to her is inarguably a cruel scam, and he knows that too well, but he keeps maintaining his fake identity anyway as he and his older brother are almost close to succeeding in their dirty scam.    

I must point out that this is rather uncomfortable to watch at times, but the movie keeps everything light and cheerful before the last act where the inevitable outcome of Vito and Antonello’s scheme is unfolded as expected. Yes, there is naturally an obligatory moment of heartbreak and disappointment. Yes, there is a mandatory sequence showing a bit of passage of time accompanied with background music. Yes, there is also a necessary moment when our two main characters realize that they still care a lot about each other.

Around that point, the story becomes more contrived with a certain supporting character functioning as a villain to be opposed by both Marina and Vito, and that is where the movie stumbles more than before. The new conflict during its last act is resolved too conveniently within a short time, and that is why the eventual happy ending feels rather artificial instead of being a real feel-good moment to embrace.

Anyway, the movie is supported mostly well by the engaging presence of its two lead performers, who instantly generate good comic chemistry between them during many of their key scenes in the film. Antonio Folletto makes his character sincere and likable even when his character manipulates or deceives Marina, and Laura Adriani is an effective counterpoint to her co-star. Her high-strung character surely feels unlikable at first, but Adriani gradually makes us care more about her as her character shows more heart and soul along the story, and we can clearly sense how much Vito is touched by that.

Around Folletto and Adriani, most of the other main cast members of the film simply fill their respective spots except Vincenzo Nemolato, who has some scenes to steal as Vito’s trouble-making older brother. He and Biagio Manna, who plays Antonello’s criminal associate, provide some goofiness to the story as demanded, and there is an amusing moment when their characters hurriedly disguise a bunch of local people as the wealthy people to attend Vito’s fake charity meeting.

Overall, “The Love Scam”, directed by Umberto Riccioni Carteni, is not a very satisfying genre product without anything new or fresh in terms of story and character, but it is not a total waste of time mainly thanks to the good comic efforts from its two lead performers who deserve better in my inconsequential opinion. Yes, there are many better romantic comedy films out there, but I will not stop you from watching this mildly pleasant Netflix product if you just simply kill your spare time.

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The Sand Castle (2024) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): The family stuck in an island

Posted on February 21, 2025 by kaist455

Netflix film “The Sand Castle”, which was released in last month, is an allegorical drama gradually revealing the underlying reality surrounding its main characters. The overall result feels a little too broad and symbolic, and it seems to lose its direction before eventually reaching to its last act, but it works to some degree thanks to its competent direction and the sincere efforts from its main cast members.

The main background of the movie is a little flat island located in the middle of some sea area, and we soon meet its four current residents: Nabil (Ziad Bakri), his wife Yasmine (Nadine Labaki), and their two children Jana (Riman Al Rafeea) and Adam (Riman Al Rafeea). For some unknown reason, they have been stuck there for quite a long time, and Nabil and Yasmine have been trying their best for taking care of their children while also searching for any possible chance for leaving the island.

Although the situation has not been exactly hopeful, things are not totally bad for them at least for now. While they have to be careful about consuming the remaining food for them, they stay in an abandoned lighthouse which they make into a little shelter of their own. Via the searchlight and the radio equipment of the lighthouse, Nabil attempts to make a contact with anyone near the island day by day, but, so far, nobody has responded to his desperate calling.

While their parents keep trying to maintain the status quo for the family, Adam and Jana spend their daytime here and there in the island. Because Adam prefers to be alone as your average sullen adolescent kid, Jana usually plays alone by herself, and we observe how often she seems to be immersed in her own little fantasy.

However, it looks like whatever she sees and experiences is not just a pigment of imagination at all. When Jana is playing with her sandcastle at the beach of the island at one point, she finds something odd beneath the sand layer of the beach, and what she innocently commits next seems to cause a big trouble for her parents.

The mood becomes more unnerving as more strange things happen around Jana and her family. When he and his son try to get some seafood to eat, Nabil experiences something quite disturbing and then gets seriously injured. As his physical condition becomes more and more deteriorated, Yasmine and her two children become more desperate than ever, but they are still stuck in their isolated status with no one to come and then help them, and they also come to sense more of the ominous vibe surrounding them.

Around that narrative point, the movie baffles us more as the respective viewpoints of its four main characters become a lot more unreliable. As they struggle in one way or another, we get some fragments of memories and hallucinations along the story, and we naturally wonder more about what is exactly happening to them.

The screenplay by director Matty Brown, who made a feature debut here after making several short films, and her co-writers Hend Fakhroo and Yassmina Karajah never clarifies whatever is really happening in the story until the last act, which is incidentally followed by a bit of explanation on the real main subject of the story. This can be quite frustrating at times, but Brown and her crew members including cinematographer Jeremy Snell did a fairly good job of establishing the increasingly surreal atmosphere from the beginning, and I was a bit surprised to learn later that they actually shot the film in a real flat island near Lebanon.

In addition, the movie is supported well by the engaging performance from its four main cast members, who are effortless in their interactions throughout the story and provide some heart and soul to the movie. While Ziad Bakri and Nadine Labaki, who has been mainly known for her powerful Oscar-nominated film “Capernaum” (2018), hold the ground as required, Riman and Zain Al Rafeea, who are real-life siblings and also appeared together in “Capernaum”, are often harrowing as the movie reveals a bit more about their characters’ reality, and the latter is particularly good when her character inevitably confronts her suppressed memory later in the story.

In conclusion, “The Sand Castle” is interesting for being somewhere between M. Night Shyamalan and David Lynch, but it does not work as well as intended due to its rather thin narrative which only gets muddled with more confusion before arriving at the last act. During that part, we finally understand what the movie is really about, but we remain baffled and dissatisfied about how it is about, and I think the movie could be more coherent with more details in terms of story and characters.

Nevertheless, I must say that it is nice to watch something different from those soulless stuffs we usually get from Netflix month by month, and I think Brown is a promising filmmaker who may move onto better works later. Considering the good efforts shown from the movie, she has considerable potential in my humble opinion, and I sincerely hope that I will be more satisfied in the next time.

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