A Brighter Tomorrow (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A angry and bitter Moretti movie

Posted on June 2, 2024 by kaist455

Nanni Moretti’s latest film “A Brighter Tomorrow” is unusually angry and bitter compared to many of Moretti’s mild and gentle works such as “Caro diario” (1993). As a seasoned filmmaker who does not approve much of the current cinema trends, he has a lot of things to grunt and complain about in front of the camera from the beginning to the end, but the result is unfortunately rather dull and polemic in my trivial opinion despite several whimsical comic moments you can expect from Moretti.

As he has frequently done in his movies during last 30 years, Moretti plays someone probably not so far from himself. This time, he plays a middle-aged left-wing filmmaker named Giovanni, and the story begins with how Giovanni is preparing for his latest film along with several crew members of his including his wife/producer Paola (Margherita Buy, who was excellent in Moretti’s previous film “Mia Madre” (2015)). His new movie is about a Hungarian circus troupe invited to a little Italian town shortly after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was started, and its story also focuses on the relationship development between the two prominent local communist party members in the town.

Just like many other movie productions, the production of Giovanni’s new film soon becomes quite frustrating for not only him but also his crew and cast members. While his lead actress often clashes with him for her occasional improvisations, the crew member responsible for many different period props often annoys Giovanni for his glaring frequent mistakes, and his bumbling French colleague/producer, played by Mathieu Amalric, turns out to be much more unreliable than Giovanni and others imagined.

And there is also a big crisis in Giovanni’s private late. As shown from a little moment with her psychiatrist, Giovanni’s wife has been losing more of her patience with her husband, and she actually begins to consider seriously about leaving him soon. Because he needs her support as usual while beginning to shoot his latest film, she chooses to stand by him for a while at least, but then she only finds herself becoming more frustrated than before due to her husband’s ego and self-absorbance.

This negative aspect of Giovanni is evident when he comes to the set of another movie produced by his wife. Right from the beginning of the shooting, he shows a strong disapproval on the gratuitous depiction of violence, and this subsequently leads to one annoying scene where he interrupts and then stops the shooting of the last scene to the dismay of his wife and her director. If such a thing happens in real life, Giovanni would get instantly kicked out of the set within a few seconds, but he is somehow allowed to make his point again and again for more than several hours, and that is surely frustrating to watch for us as well as every other person on the set.

To be frank with you, I would tell Giovanni that he should mind his business first, considering that how the production of his latest film keeps getting into one trouble after another. While his actress continues to stick to her impromptu improvisation, there are also other problems including the one involved with animals to play those animals of the Hungarian circus troupe in Giovanni’s films, and then there eventually comes a serious finance problem which may terminate the production once for all.

Getting cornered more and more by the increasingly production problems, Giovanni eventually considers getting some financial help from Netflix, but he soon gets more frustrated to see how much he will have to compromise in exchange of getting enough money to restart the production. Needless to say, Moretti does not pull any punch at all in showing his contempt toward Netflix and many other streaming services out there, but this scene feels rather blunt and hollow without leaving much impression on the whole.

At least, the movie sometimes shows some whimsical moments to enjoy as going back and forth between Giovanni’s movie and its production process. While things eventually get rolling to the relief of everyone on the set, the mood becomes a bit more relaxed than before, and there is a sudden moment of music and dance as Giovanni is reminded again that he still can go on despite all those current problems in his life and career.

Now this may remind you of many other movies about filmmaking ranging from Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2” (1963) to François Truffaut’s “Day for Night” (1973), but Moretti’s movie looks rather middling compared to these two great films as often failing to balance itself between its two different narratives. Despite Moretti’s usual amiable presence, his character is sometimes a bit too obnoxious and self-absorbed to care about, and the narrative of his character’s movie and its production process is also too superficial to engage us. While Moretti tries to show some gesture of hope and good will around the end of his film, that does not mesh well with the rest of the film, and that causes more dissatisfaction for us.

In conclusion, “A Brighter Tomorrow” is not as successful as intended, but it shows us at least that Moretti is still willing to continue as usual despite being over 70 at present. Sure, I would rather recommend his better films such as “The Son’s Room” (2001), but it is certainly nice to see him keeping working as before, and I sincerely hope that whatever will come next from him will be more enjoyable than this sour piece of ranting.

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Dream Scenario (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): From dream to nightmare

Posted on June 2, 2024 by kaist455

“Dream Scenario” pushes its preposterous surreal story idea as much as possible, and I often enjoyed that during my viewing. Steadily anchored by one of better performances from its lead actor, the movie doles out a series of dryly absurd moments to be appreciated, and the result is a wry comic fable of social fame and notoriety.

Nicholas Cage, who looks meeker and more inconsequential than usual thanks to some makeup, plays Paul Matthews, a plain college professor who has often been daunted by almost everyone around him. While his college class is not that popular, he is not so highly regarded by his peers as well as his family members, and there is a little humorous moment when he pathetically attempts to persuade one of his more famous peers to recognize his contribution to her latest academic article.

And then, as shown from the opening scene, something very, very, very, weird starts to happen to Matthews. When a few people around him tells him that they saw him appearing in their respective dreams for no apparent reason, he does not pay much attention to that, but, what do you know, even total strangers also begin to recognize him for the very same reason. Once an old friend/colleague of his publishes an article on this inexplicable happening, he becomes quite famous around not only US but also the whole world, and he is surely glad to see that he is now finally getting some attention.

During its first half, the screenplay by director/writer/editor has some cheerful fun with how Matthews keeps appearing the dreams of many others – and how he clumsily tries to capitalize on that. While he simply appears here and there in others’ dream with no control over that, he keeps getting more and more popular as one of the latest celebrities to watch, and he even finds himself invited by a colleague who has ignored him for years just because of thinking that he is not so important. He later decides to use his growing popularity for publishing a book of his at last, but he does not even begin to write that, and he becomes quite frustrated with his meeting with a bunch of PR company people who do not seem to understand at all what he actually wants. He subsequently comes to have a little private moment with one of them, and he seems attracted to this woman at first, but he eventually steps back because he does not feel right about that.

Meanwhile, there comes another unexpected thing for him. His avatar in the dreams of many others somehow becomes quite vicious and violent, and now Matthews finds himself disliked and hated a lot by many people out there, though he has absolutely no control over the circumstance. As things get worse and worse for him day by day, he tries to deal with this growing trouble as much as possible, but, not so surprisingly, he only comes to make the circumstance all the worse.

Still not explaining anything about its hero’s extraordinary situation, the movie sticks to its detached attitude while occasionally catching us off guard. Many of the dream and nightmare scenes are mostly plain and realistic except some surreal touches, and we come to discern more of how Paul’s presence affects many others’ unconsciousness. They are just amused by seeing him there in their dreams, but then they are scared and traumatized by him later in the story, and there is a bitter comic moment when Paul and a therapist try to calm down some of these people without much success.

As his character is cornered more and more during the second half of the story, Cage surely has lots of stuffs to do, and, as many of you know, he is always good whenever he is busy with doing many things on the screen. Without any unnecessary exaggeration, he is believable in his character’s longtime desperation and frustration, and that becomes the solid ground for several big comic scenes where his character comes to embarrass himself a lot more than expected. With Cage constantly holding the film together, the movie works as a cautionary tale about how one can easily be famous and then instantly become infamous on the Internet, and you will be more amused by how Borgli’s screenplay later pushes the story more with a Brave New World which I sincerely wish will never come true at least during my lifetime.

The main weakness of the movie is how many of supporting characters feel rather undeveloped compared to its hero. Julianne Nicholson has a few acerbic moments as Matthews’ no-nonsense wife, but she does not have much else to do, and the same thing can be said about Tim Meadows and Dylan Baker. In case of Michael Cera, who has diligently advanced since his nerdy appearance in TV comedy series “Arrested Development” and Jason Reitman’s Oscar-winning film “Juno” (2007), he brings some extra humor to the story as the self-absorbed CEO of the PR company Matthews deals with, and I would be more delighted if the movie utilized his character more.

In conclusion, “Dream Scenario” is another solid comedy film from Borgli, who previously drew our attention for his previous film “Sick of Myself” (2022). As shown from “Sick of Myself”, Borgli is a smart and competent director who knows how to push a comic story further for our entertainment and amusement, and “Dream Scenario” confirms to us that he is another interesting filmmaker to watch. The movie feels a bit like an acquired taste, and you will soon enjoy its comic moments once you go along with that, and it will surely remain in your unconsciousness for a while at least.

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Soup and Ideology (2021) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Eating together as family despite all that

Posted on May 29, 2024 by kaist455

Documentary film “Soup and Ideology”, which I belatedly checked out yesterday, presents a modest but intimate personal story closely associated with the dark past of the Korean history during the 20th century. As its Korean Japanese director tries to understand her aging mother, the documentary gradually reveals the longtime pain and sorrow inside her mother, and it is often moving to see how the mother and daughter in the documentary come to have some moments of understanding and acceptance.

At first, director Yang Yonghi, who won the World Cinema award at the Sundance Film Festival for her previous documentary “Dear Pyongyang” (2005), shows us what happened after the end of “Dear Pyongyang”, which was mainly about her attempt to understand her father’s staunch loyalty to North Korea and its dictators. After her father passed away in 2009, her mother came to live alone in their old residence, and Yang came to focus more on her mother as she occasionally visited a Korean neighborhood of Osaka where her mother lived for many years.

During its early part, the documentary summarizes how Yang and her parents became separated from many of their close family members. Around the 1960s when the conflict between North and South Korea became more intensified after the Korean War, many of Korean Japanese people had to choose between South and North, and Yang’s parents did not hesitate at all in siding with North Korea. As a matter of fact, Yang’s father was one of the prominent local figures associated with North Korea, and he and his wife even sent all of their three sons to North Korea just for showing more of their loyalty to North Korea.

Needlessly to say, this hurt Yang a lot, who was not so pleased about being separated from her three older brothers. One of them was actually forced to go to North Korea against his will just because of being selected as one of those human tributes to be sent to its dictator, and, not so surprisingly, he died rather early after struggling a lot with his resulting manic depression. In addition, many of their close family members were also sent to North Korea as a part of the ambitious nationalistic project during that time, and we can only imagine how things turned out to be really bad for them as well as numerous other Korean Japanese people, who erroneously believed that North was relatively better than South.

Nevertheless, Yang’s mother still sticks to her loyalty to not only her family but also North Korea and its dictators. Although she is now living on a small amount of pension, she often sent some money to her surviving family members in North Korea, and that often causes conflicts between her and Yang. To Yang, her family members in North Korea have been distant figures for a long time, but her mother still insists that she should not stop supporting them at all, and that surely makes Yang quite frustrated from time to time.

The most amusing moment in the documentary comes from when Yang subsequently introduced her fiancé to her mother. Just like her husband, Yang’s mother often said that they opposed to having a Japanese son-in-law, but she cannot help but delighted when Yang’s Japanese fiancé visits her house along with Yang during one hot summer afternoon. She gladly prepares her special stuffed chicken soup for her daughter and future son-in-law, and the mood becomes more casual as she talks more with him while eating their little meal together in her kitchen.

Yang’s fiancé, who incidentally serves as the producer of the documentary, is understandably amazed by his future mother-in-law’s political belief – and how much that has influenced her daily life. At one point, we see the photographs of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, the father and son dictator of North Korea, hung high on the wall of her living room, and I must confess that I rolled my eyes a bit as a hardcore anti-North Korea liberal guy.

Nevertheless, Yang’s mother is still a gentle and likable human figure, and I was touched by how willingly Yang’s fiancé listens to her more as they spend more time together. As Yang’s mother points out at one point later in the documentary, they are still a family who can eat together regardless of their different political opinions, and her plain words of wisdom will remind you of that undeniable value of humane tolerance.

Not long after Yang marries her fiancé, Yang’ mother begins to show the signs of Alzheimer’s disease, and that is certainly a devastating news for Yang and her mother. Even though she and her husband show more care and attention, Yang’s mother gets more faded in her deteriorating mind, and this becomes worse and worse day by day.

Meanwhile, Yang’s mother also comes to talk more about what happened to her when she was just a young girl in the 1940s. As Japan was ravaged by the World War II in 1945, she and her two siblings were sent to Jeju Island of South Korea where many of her family members resided, but the island was turned upside down by the Jeju Uprising and the following massacre in 1948. While she managed to escape along with her siblings and then went back to Osaka, she lost many of family members and neighbors, and this painful incident still hurts her a lot even though its memories are being faded just like many other memories of hers from the past.

The most poignant moment in the documentary comes from when Yang’s mother can finally visit Jeju Island along with her daughter and son-in-low for attending the memorial ceremony for the massacre. As getting to know more about the massacre, Yang begins to understand and empathize with her mother more than before, and there is a little bittersweet melodramatic moment when they come to connect with each other more than ever.

Overall, “Soup and Ideology” presents a powerful family story to remember, and you may also want to watch Yang’s previous documentary “Dear Pyongyang” for getting to know about her family. In my humble opinion, this is one of the best documentaries I have ever encountered during last several years, and I think you should check it out if you happen to have a chance to see it.

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Civil War (2024) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): America Under Fire

Posted on May 27, 2024 by kaist455

Alex Garland’s latest film “Civil War” is a chillingly powerful dystopian war drama. Starting with a grim story promise which may not be that implausible considering the ongoing polarization inside the American society, the movie takes its time for immersing us more into its main characters’ perilous journey across the country torn apart by a civil war, and you will be alternatively amused and horrified by what and how it is about.

The story is mainly told via the viewpoint of a small group of war journalists reporting on the second civil war in US. Mainly due to the president who seems quite dictatorial (He is serving his third term in addition to dissembling FBI, by the way), the country has been divided into several different parts, and you may be amused to see that Texas and California come to band together for fighting against the president despite their considerable social/political differences.

Anyway, the president has declared that his government and military will soon win and then end the war, but many of war journalists working in New York City are understandably skeptical because the country has been going down into more chaos and uncertainty. Not so surprisingly, the value of dollar has gone down to the bottom, and many people in the city are suffering from the frequent lack of food and water while the city is occasionally struck by suicide terror attack. I do not know whether such a dystopian situation can really happen there someday, but, folks, nothing seems totally impossible to us these days, especially after that outrageously shocking political rise of Donald J. Trump.

When her fellow journalist Joel (Wagner Moura) suggests that they should go to Washington D.C. for interviewing the president, Lee (Kirsten Dunst) is reluctant because she does not think that is possible, but she eventually agrees to join Joel along with two other figures: Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and Jessie (Cailee Spaeny). While Sammy is an older journalist working for the New York Times who has also been Lee’s mentor, Jessie is a young woman willing to learn and experience more via Lee, who has been incidentally a role model for many young female war photographers like Jessie.

As these four different journalists begin their journey across the country, the movie slowly and steadily doles out a series of gloomy moments showing how the country has been ravaged by the ongoing war. We see lots of ruins here and there, and we are horrified to see how the country is filled with numerous dangerous war zones. Think about the horrors of many different modern wars ranging from the Vietnam War to the Israel-Hamas War, and then imagine these horrors being unleashed onto the American society in full scales.

However, the movie takes a rather distant position to the horrors of war just like many other similar war journalism films such as “Under Fire” (1983) or “The Year of Living Dangerously” (1983). To Lee and her fellow journalists, this is just another war to be photographed and reported, and their weary detachment and cynicism are evident from how Garland and his cinematographer Rob Hardy phlegmatically presents several atrocious moments of cruelty and apathy on the screen. Everything in the film is handled with dry and stark objectivity, and that is further accentuated by the sparse score by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, which mostly sticks to its restrained mode without glorifying anything on the screen.

In the end, the movie becomes more about the gray moral areas of professional journalism, and Lee’s emotional arc comes to take the center along the story. While she is a weary professional who has nearly seen all, she is also reminded that she still has the heart to bleed, and that is how she comes to bond more with Jessie, who probably reminds Lee a lot of who she once was at the beginning of her professional career. Kirsten Dunst, who has been one of the most interesting actresses working in Hollywood during last 30 years, did a good job of embodying her character’s weariness and vulnerability, and Cailee Spaeny makes an interesting contrast with her throughout the film.

In case of Joel and Sammy, they also find themselves affected by the horror of war in one way or another. As a more seasoned professional, Sammy is often quite cautious, but then he finds himself taking a big risk later in the story because, well, he has no other choice from the start. While simply focusing on his ambitious mission, Joel is eventually cornered to his breaking point just like others, and the movie throws more bitter irony upon him around the point when he and others arrive at Washington D.C. at last. While Wagner Moura is effective as his character’s seemingly laid-back attitude crumbles more and more along the story, Stephen McKinley Henderson provides the stable ground for his co-stars, and several notable performers including Nick Offerman and Jesse Plemons are also solid in their brief appearances.

In conclusion, “Civil War” is another compelling work from Garland, who made a stunning directorial debut with “Ex Machina” (2014) and then moved onto “Annihilation” (2018) and “Men” (2022). While it does not reach to the haunting qualities of “Ex Machina” and “Annihilation”, it is relatively more engaging at least than the interesting but ultimately jumbled experiment of “Men”, and I admire how it sticks to Garland’s ambitious vision to the end. In short, this is one of more fascinating movies of this year, and I think you should check it out as soon as possible.

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Monkey Man (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): A gritty and intense debut feature film by Dev Patel

Posted on May 27, 2024 by kaist455

Dev Patel’s debut feature film is a gritty and intense genre piece to be admired for several good reasons. On the surface, this is basically another your typical revenge drama driven by lots of action and tension, but it is packaged with enough style, technique, and ideas to distinguish itself, and the overall result is one of more impressive debut works of this year.

The first act of the movie gradually establishes its taciturn hero played by Patel. He is a poor low-class lad living inside a big city, and this character setting will surely take you back to Patel’s breakthrough turn in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008), but this young dude is quite different although he also has a lifetime goal to pursue behind his back. Have been deeply traumatized by what happened to him and his mother many years ago, he has been looking for a chance for his personal revenge, and now it seems he is almost close to the final stage of his vengeful plan.

We see how he prepares step by step. While often earning his meager living as an underground wrestler figure to be defeated to the cheers of many audiences around the ring, he approaches to a certain powerful criminal figure connected with the main target of his revenge, and then he gets employed at a high-class brothel place belonging to that criminal figure in question. Mainly thanks to a small-time criminal hanging around his workplace, our hero subsequently gets promoted bit by bit, and he soon finds himself serving some of very influential figures in the city.

One of such disgusting figures is a corrupt police chief who turns out to be the main target of our hero as shown from the occasional flashback scenes which show more of our hero’s personal motives. Along with a certain prominent political figure, the police chief has been supported a lot by some popular religious leader with lots of money and influence, and we come to gather that these two figures are mainly responsible for our hero’s lifelong trauma.

Once he acquires a gun from some underground arms dealer, our hero is ready to go all the way for his vengeance, and that is where the movie unfolds its major action sequence. Patel and his crew members including cinematographer Sharone Meir bring a substantial amount of style, mood, and energy to this electrifying sequence, and the editing by Dávid Jancsó, Tim Murrell, and Joe Galdo effectively immerses us into the increasingly chaotic situation instead of merely choppy or frantic.

The screenplay by Patel and his co-writers Paul Angunawela and John Collee surprises us as shifting itself to a slow and reflective mood around the middle of its plot, and that is where things get more interesting. As its hero comes to get some time for more reflection and preparation thanks to the unexpected generosity from a certain group of marginalized people, the movie tries a bit of social commentary coupled with some distinctive cultural elements which are mainly represented by a local myth associated with the title of the movie, and it eventually becomes something more than an Indian variation of those John Wick movies.

Although the story stumbles to some degree as heading to its eventual climactic part, the movie still works as not only a character drama but also an action film, and Patel demonstrates here that he is a competent filmmaker who knows how to engage and then thrill us. Even when lots of things happen across the screen, the movie never loses its focus on story and characters, and we come to care about whether its hero eventually accomplished his personal mission in the end.

In addition, Patel, who looks brawnier than usual here in this film, demonstrates here that he can be a pretty good action movie hero just like Keanu Reeves in those John Wick movies. While filling his rather broad archetype character with enough presence and personality, he willingly throws himself into many of physical action scenes in the movie, and his considerable commitment generates enough intensity for driving the movie to the end.

Around Patel, the movie has a bunch of colorful performers who dutifully fill their respective spots in one way or another, and my only complaint is that the movie often does not provide enough space for character development for that. While young actor Jatin Malik provides some poignancy during the occasional flashback scenes, Sharlto Copley and Pitobash are suitably cast in the two seedy underground characters associated with Patel’s character, and Sikandar Kher, Ashwini Kalsekar, and Makarand Deshpande are well-cast as the main villains of the story. In case of Sobhita Dhulipala and Adithi Kalkunte, they manage to leave some impression despite their under-developed parts, and Vipin Sharma and Zakir Hussain have some fun with their substantial supporting roles.

On the whole, “Monkey Man”, which could have been sent directly to streaming service by Netflix if it had not been for a last-minute intervention from Jordan Peele who subsequently served as one of its producers, is a solid action flick, and Patel made a commendable directorial debut here. Like many other first-time directors, he understandably tries a little too much as if it were his last movie to make, but he succeeds in showing another side of his considerable talent, and it will be interesting to see whether he will advance further from this striking starting point.

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The Blue Angels (2024) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A promotional film with lots of terrific stuffs

Posted on May 26, 2024 by kaist455

Documentary film “The Blue Angels”, which was released on Amazon Prime a few days ago after getting a limited theatrical release in US, is basically your typical promotional film with lots of terrific technical stuffs to admire. While I was watching the documentary during this Sunday afternoon, I often wondered how many of its memorable moments were actually shot, and that was almost enough to make me overlook its by-the-book promotional presentation.

The main subject of the documentary is the US Navy and Marine Corps flight squadron called “The Blue Angles”, which was established shortly after the end of the World War II. For more than 75 years, this flight exhibition squadron has steadily done a number of heart-stopping airshows here and there in US, and the documentary focuses on how the veterans and newest members of this squadron go through another highly demanding year.

At first, we observe the members of the squadron preparing a lot before their another season is about to begin in January. They practice together two or three times every day for honing their aviation skills more and more, and they gladly show and tell us about how precise they must be in their flight maneuvers to demonstrate in public. In case of one particular flight maneuver, their jet fighters must be very close to each other in addition to being aligned well together, and there is an amusingly intense moment when the members train themselves on this flight maneuver together as visualizing it together in their minds. This moment may look a bit ridiculous on the surface, but they are totally serious in every imagined movement of theirs, and you will admire more of their sheer professional dedication.

Once these pilots are up in the air, the documentary rolls out a series of astonishing shots which are certainly worthwhile to watch via big screen. Cinematographer Jessica Young and her two ariel directors of photography did one heck of job in closely and vividly conveying to us how it feels like being inside one of these speedy jet fighters, and you may not be surprised to know that the cinematography of the documentary was helped a lot by what was specially developed for that amazing cinematography of “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022). As a matter of fact, Glen Powell, who played one of the key supporting characters in that film, actually served as one of the producers of the documentary.

Compared to these awesome visual moments of the documentary, its more down-to-earth moments look relatively trite in comparison. We get to know a bit about several members of the squadron, but they are more or less than your typical model pilots mostly defined by their pride and dedication. At one point, we get some glimpse into the family life of one of the squadron members, but this private moment feels a bit too neat in my humble opinion, and the same thing can be said about the part focusing on the apparent risks of airshows and some human loss caused by these big risks.

Anyway, the documentary keeps impressing us with its technical prowess, and, as a nerdy guy who has a deep aversion to height, I often cringed more than once during my viewing. I still remember when several jet fighters get extremely close to each other as orderly flying together as required, and I cannot possibly forget several dizzy scenes where the squadron members deliberately turn their jet fighters upside down as the part of their maneuvers. If I had watched the documentary in a big IMAX theater as intended by director/co-editor Paul Crowder, I would definitely be on the edge of my seat from time to time.

Needless to say, the new members of the squadron go through lots of rigorous selection process just like its predecessors, and we get some observation from this highly selective procedure. Every year, many top candidates around the country apply for that, and the selection committee certainly must be careful and thoughtful about which candidate is the best one to train and depend on. We subsequently see how the eventually selected pilots go through their following training process, which surely tests a lot on whether they do have the right stuffs for those risky airshows. For example, they all have to do endure the higher levels of gravity one by one, and, not so surprisingly, most of them get fainted during their first trial.

The documentary also briefly observes how these and other pilots of the squadron are constantly supported by numerous mechanics and technicians in the squadron. Just like the pilots, all of these mechanics and technicians are confident and dependent in one way or another, and their close personal/professional relationships with the pilots are evident from how they closely work along with the pilots from the beginning to the end.

In conclusion, “The Blue Angels” did its job as much as intended, and I appreciate that to some degree, but I wish it would go beyond the merely slick promotion of its main subject (With those frequent slow-motion shots, it often feels like your average Michael Bay flick, by the way). Now I am reminded of that famous question from late American film critic Gene Siskel: “Is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch?” Yes, it may be more interesting to watch a documentary on how hard the members of the cinematography department of “The Blue Angels” worked together, and I will gladly watch it if it ever comes out someday.

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The Beach Boys (2024) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): The history of the Beach Boys

Posted on May 26, 2024 by kaist455

Documentary film “The Beach Boys”, which was released on Disney+ on two days ago, looks over the history of the Beach Boys, one of the legendary American bands during the 1960s. While it is fairly informative to anyone not so familiar with the Beach Boys (Full Disclosure: I am one of such persons), the documentary often feels like merely parading one fact and another without providing enough insight and perspective on its main subject, and this seriously flaw is not even compensated by the timeless quality of many notable songs of the Beach Boys.

Mainly revolving around the new interview clips from several surviving members of the Beach Boys, the documentary starts with how their band got started in 1961. Even they were very young at that time, Bryan Wilson and his two brothers Carl and Dennis already showed considerable interest and talent in music as growing up under their parents who were respectively associated with the American pop music industry, and they and their cousin Mike Love often hanged around with each other as enjoying composing and playing music together. They eventually became determined to take a chance with their musical talent under the support and encouragement of Bryan and his brothers’ parents, and they and a friend of theirs, Al Jardine, came to present themselves as the Beach Boys, though they did not like their band name that much just because it sounded rather corny to them.

Nevertheless, once their band succeeded in drawing more attention with their several early songs such as “Surfin’ U.S.A.”, the rest was the history. During next few years, the Beach Boys swiftly rose to the top of the American Pop industry, and the documentary examines a bit on how the sunny and cheerful Californian spirit in many of their hit songs resonated a lot with the youthful and optimistic mood inside the American society during the early 1960s. With Bryan and Mike respectively functioning as the main composer and lyricist of the band, the band kept going up and up, and it surely looked like the sky was the only limit for them.

However, the members of the Beach Boys soon came to face the necessity of change and maturation around the middle of the 1960s. As not only US but also the whole world were swept with the immense enthusiasm toward the Beatles, Bryan and other members of the Beach Boys certainly felt much more pressured than before, and their subsequent attempts for more change and innovation often caused the clashes between the Wilson brothers and their father, who eventually became a major obstacle to confront as their domineering manager/producer. As all of the Wilson brothers admit, their father was frequently not only demanding but also quite abusive to them, and this might be one of the contributing factors to Bryan’s subsequent mental illness problem.

Anyway, Bryan and his band members kept things rolling for them during next several years. Quite impressed by Phil Spector’s ground-breaking album producing method, Bryan decided to produce a new album in his own way, and he eventually became more focused on album recording after having a big incident of mental breakdown due to the demanding tour schedule of the band. Although his resulting albums including “Pet Sounds” were relatively less successful, his undeniable musical genius was recognized much more than before, and that made the Beach Boys look and sound cool enough to compete with the Beatles for a while.

However, things quickly changed for the boys around the late 1960s, where American pop music became more rebellious as the American society went through a rocky period of social/political turbulence after the beginning of the Vietnam War. The music of the Beach Boys came to be regarded as old-fashioned as a result, and Bryan and his brothers felt hurt more when their father casually sold all the copyrights of their old hit songs.

In addition, the Beach Boys also unfortunately got involved with one of the most notorious incidents during the late 1960s. Around that time, Dennis, who happened to be the wildest one in the bunch, got himself associated with a certain infamous figure who was quite interested in becoming a successful pop musician someday. Dennis willingly introduced this figure to the producer of his band, but the producer understandably avoided this figure, and that eventually led to the aforementioned incident, which was virtually the death knell for the liberal social/political mood in US during the 1960s.

All these and other things in the documentary may satisfy you enough, and I will not deny that I absorbed its presented materials with some interest, but the documentary still looks like your average musician biography documentary nonetheless. Even though Bryan Wilson and his several colleagues look quite willing to open themselves in front of the camera, the documentary seldom delves into their personality and humanity to my dissatisfaction, and this deficient side made me want to revisit Bill Pohlad’s biopic “Love & Mercy” (2014), which is often harrowing as closely looking into the two different troubling periods of Wilson’s life and career.

Overall, “The Beach Boys”, directed by Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny, is informative and engaging to some degree, but I cannot help but wonder whether it could be more insightful about its main subject. Yes, it is certainly poignant to see the surviving members of the Beach Boys eventually gathering later in the documentary, but I still do not feel like getting to know them more in the end, and that is a disappointment.

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The Idea of You (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): Her cumbersome romance with a star

Posted on May 26, 2024 by kaist455

“The Idea of You”, which was released on Amazon Prime early in this month, is an intimate romantic comedy film which turns out to be more than the gender-reversal version of “Notting Hill” (1999). While we already have a pretty good idea about what and how it is about, the movie surprises us with its thoughtful handling of the story and characters, and we come to care more about the romance inside the story than expected.

Anne Hathaway, who has steadily advanced with her stellar career even after her Oscar-winning supporting turn in “Les Misérables” (2012), plays Solène, a divorced woman who has run her little art gallery in LA. For her upcoming 40th birthday, Solène is simply going to have a solitary but peaceful private time outside the city while her adolescent daughter Izzy (Ella Rubin) will spend some time at Coachella along with her close friends, but there comes an unexpected problem at the very last minute. Her husband was supposed to take Izzy and her friends to Coachella, but he happens to have some urgent business schedule change, so Solène has to do the job instead.

While Izzy and her friends are not very enthusiastic about a certain British boy band they are about to meet, Solène is not particularly interested about that either, but then she happens to encounter a member of that British boy band in question when she mistakes his trailer for a toilet. While she is naturally quite embarrassed about her mistake, Hayes (Nicholas Galitzien) is totally cool about that, and Solène and her daughter get to know a bit about this hunky dude during their subsequent meeting with him.

Anyway, it gradually turns out that Hayes is actually smitten with Solène. To her surprise, he suddenly shows up at her gallery, and, after looking around here and there in the gallery, he eventually decides to buy everything inside it. Although knowing well that he is just trying to impress her in a rather superficial way, Solène also cannot help but attracted more to Hayes, and she comes to show him more of what has been stored by her while also teaching him a little on how to regard artworks with more attention and consideration.

In the end, Solène find herself inviting Hayes to her suburban house, and he comes to show more of his growing feelings toward her. While being more aware of many differences between them besides the considerable age gap, she eventually lets herself go along with the mutual attraction between them. Although she later tries to believe that it was just one headless moment of sexual urge to be forgotten sooner or later, she still cannot say no when he later invites her to join his upcoming Europe concert tour, and she surely sees more of how famous he really is.

Naturally, Solène prefers to keep their burgeoning romance in secret, and Hayes has no problem with that, but then she comes to discern more of how things can be quite burdensome for both of them if their romance is exposed in public at any chance. No matter how much they try to keep their relationship hidden behind them, the people around them begin to notice bit by bit, and the other issues surrounding their relationship also often put a strain on their romance.

Nevertheless, both Solène and Hayes feel happy and comfortable whenever they are together in private. The movie, which is based on the novel of the same name by Robinne Lee, provides a series of private moments between them which are handled with enough care and sensitivity. While Solène becomes more aware of how she still desires sex and romance despite being 40, Hayes comes to have more reflection on what he should do with his life and career in the future, and Solène sincerely supports his little artistic project.

I must tell you that it is initially a little difficult for me to accept Hathaway as a plain normal suburban mother due to her inherent star quality, but she compensates for that with a solid performance packed with enough emotional nuances to be observed. While occasionally showing some sense of humor, Hathaway, who also participated in the production of the movie, diligently holds the film to the ground with a substantial amount of gravitas, and we accordingly become more engaged in her character’s emotional journey along the story.

On the opposite, Nicholas Galitzine, a British newcomer who recently drew our attention with his nice comic performance in “Red, White & Royal Blue” (2023), effectively complements Hathaway, and their low-key chemistry on the screen is one of the key factors in the success of the movie. In case of several supporting performers around them, Ella Rubin has a good moment when her character has a honest private conversation with Solène later in the film, and Annie Mumolo and Reid Scott bring some extra humor to the story during their brief appearances.

“The Idea of You” is directed by Michael Showalter, who wrote its adapted screenplay along with Jennifer Westfeldt. As shown from his previous works such as “The Big Sick” (2017) or “Spoiler Alert” (2022), Showalter is a good filmmaker who knows how to mix comedy and drama well enough to amuse and then touch us, and “The Idea of You” is surely the latest example of that. The overall result is still a bit too predictable, but it has enough wit and heart at least, and that is enough for me for now.

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Anyone but You (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Destined to romance despite all that

Posted on May 26, 2024 by kaist455

Like most of countless romantic comedy films out there, “Anyone but You” will not surprise you that much if you are your average seasoned moviegoer like me. Right from its conventional Meet Cute moment, the movie is thoroughly predictable no matter how much its two main characters dislike each other on the surface, and you may be tempted go along with that for a while, as appreciating the good chemistry between its two lead performers who deserve better materials considering their considerable charisma and talent.

At first, we are introduced to Beatrice “Bea” Messina (Sydney Sweeney), and the opening scene shows how this young pretty woman comes across Ben (Glen Powell). When she needs to take care of her imminent bladder problem as soon possible at a coffee shop, this handsome lad generously gives her a little unexpected help, and this rather silly situation leads to the first date between them although they do not know anything about each other as two total strangers.

In the end, Bea and Ben’s date eventually culminates to one wonderful night between them, but, of course, there comes a little problem between them. Mainly because she recently broke up with her ex-boyfriend, Bea is not so sure about whether she can continue to meet Ben, and her following impulsive departure certainly lets him down. Quickly regretting about her thoughtless action, she returns to Ben’s residence, but then she changes mind again when she overhears what Ben says to his best friend about her.

Of course, Ben and Bea come across each other via another sheer coincidence. Bea’s older sister is going to marry her longtime girlfriend at last, and, what do you know, Ben’s best friend is actually the younger brother of the future bride of Bea’s older sister. When they are officially introduced to each other in front of others, both Bea and Ben are not so pleased to say the least, but they decide to hide any hard feeling between them just for Bea’s older sister and her future bride.

It turns out that they will have to do this act of pretension of theirs a bit longer than expected. Bea’s older sister is going to have a wedding in Sydney, Australia where she will be wholeheartedly welcomed by her future parents-in-law, and Ben and Bea subsequently find themselves on the same airplane when they go there. Again, they feel bitter and awkward about each other, and the situation becomes a bit more awkward for Bea due to a little incident which happens in the middle of the flight.

As watching the considerable animosity between Ben and Bea, Bea’s older sister and several others around them decide to concoct a little scheme not so far from William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”. They attempt to make both Bea and Ben believe that there are still some affection and longing between them despite their ongoing antagonism, but Bea and Ben are too smart to be deceived from the beginning, and they actually are rather amused by that.

Nevertheless, understanding well the good intentions behind the scheme, Ben and Bea agree to go along with it while looking oblivious to that on the surface, and the movie accordingly serves us a number of funny moments. At one point, they decide to give some spark to their fake romance, and I must admit that I never expected to behold a sort of cross between “Titanic” (1997) and “Open Water” (2003).

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that this ongoing act of pretended romance gradually becomes something genuine between Bea and Ben. When Bea’s ex-boyfriend and Ben’s ex-girlfriend conveniently appear, you will have a pretty good idea on how these two supporting characters lead to another trouble between Ben and Bea, and the movie will not surprise you at all in the end.

At least, the movie is often elevated by the game efforts from its two lead performers. While Sydney Sweeney, who has been more notable since her Emmy-nominated turn in HBO TV drama series “Euphoria”, effortlessly exudes charm and spirit in her amiable performance, Glen Powell, who has been more notable since his substantial supporting role in “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022), is equally engaging as her counterpart, and I can only hope that both of these charismatic performers will soon move onto better comedy films to support and utilize their presence and talent more. In case of a bunch of supporting performers around Sweeney and Powell, Dermot Mulroney, Bryan Brown, and Rachel Griffiths are dependable as usual, but they are often limited by their rather flat roles, and that is another disappointment in the film.

In conclusion, “Anyone but You” is a total bore at all, and director/co-writer Will Gluck did a fairly competent job on the whole. I was entertained to some degree when I watched it yesterday, but my mind kept rummaging my mental movie database for better romantic comedy films out there, and I must point out that there are already two good comedy films based on that famous play by Shakespeare. Both the 1993 version by Kenneth Branagh and the 2012 version by Joss Whedon are more enjoyable in comparison for having more wit, passion, and spirit, so I recommend either of them instead, but I will not stop from you watching “Anyone but You” if you just kill your spare time.

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Following (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): And then she dies…

Posted on May 25, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean film “Following” is a darkly amusing thriller about one creepy dude suddenly finding himself framed for what he did not commit just like many Hitchcockian heroes. While it is rather hard to care about its deeply unlikable hero, the movie still works thanks to its taut and efficient storytelling coupled with several good performances, and you may have some naughty fun from his increasingly desperate circumstance.

At first, we get to know a bit about the hidden lifestyle of a young man named Jeong-tae (Byun Ho-han). On the surface, he is a fairly successful model real estate agent who have received good words from many of his clients, but he has been hiding something quite creepy behind his back. Using the advantages from his occupation, he can easily sneak into the houses of the clients he dealt with, and he gladly tells us how much he enjoys peeping into the lives of those clients. As a matter of fact, he always collects a sort of souvenir whenever he sneaks into his latest target, and he even has a little private place where he prides over heaps of such items he has collected for a long time.

On one day, someone quite interesting happens to draw Jeong-tae’s attention. She is a young social media influencer named So-ra (Shin Hye-sun), and Jeong-tae finds himself attracted to not only her beauty but also her ongoing duplicity. On her Instagram account, she looks like a popular chic girl who has often flaunted her cool lifestyle coupled with some notable acts of philanthropy, but she actually lives in some shabby neighborhood of Seoul, and Jeong-tae cannot help but wonder more about whatever she is hiding behind her supposedly chic façade.

Although he closely watches on her during next several months, So-ra remains rather elusive, and that certainly frustrates Jeong-tae a lot, but, what do you know, there comes an unexpected opportunity later. So-ra visits Jeong-tae’s office because she wants to move to somewhere, and this surely makes Jeong-tae’s private mission all the easier than before. She gladly hands him the key card of her residence, and Jeong-tae soon embarks on watching and absorbing a lot from her private life.

However, of course, this supposedly lucky chance is subsequently followed by another unexpected happening. When he sneaks into So-ra’s house again, Jeong-tae is startled to discover her bloodied body in the living room, and he quickly leaves for the fear of becoming wrongfully accused and then getting his naughty hobby fully exposed in public.

Not so surprisingly, the situation becomes more confusing and frightening for Jeong-tae. When he later comes to So-ra’s residence along with his two clients who are going to be his witness, her body is gone without any trace. In addition, somebody seems to know everything about what he has been doing around So-ra, and this mysterious figure in question looks like quite determined to ruin his life once for all.

As Jeong-tae tries to find any possible way out in addition to attempting to identify his hidden opponent, the screenplay by director/writer Kim Se-hwi delves deeper into the very unpleasant aspects of social media. It goes without saying that So-ra was hiding a lot more than she seemed at first, and what she and a few associates of hers have done just for more attention and some benefit is quite nasty and deplorable to say the least.

Meanwhile, the movie provides a welcoming voice of reason and morality via a young female detective named Yeong-joo (Lee El), who instantly senses something quite fishy about So-ra as well as Jeong-tae as she starts the investigation on So-ra’s missing. Even though being often disregarded by her male supervisor, Yeong-joo eventually becomes more determined to the get to the bottom of her latest case, and that certainly causes more headache for Jeong-tae.

While we usually observe his character’s plight from the distance, Byun Ho-han, who has been more prominent since his breakthrough turn in “Socialphobia” (2014), keeps holding our attention to the end, and we come to pay more attention to whether his utterly disagreeable character will finally realize what the hell is really going on around him. Although her role seems rather thankless in comparison, Shin Hye-sun, who was terrific in “Innocence” (202), fills her part with enough presence, and we are more surprised and amazed by her character’s pathological narcissism to be revealed along the story. As the no-nonsense female cop who will not be fooled that easily, Lee El holds her own place well around the story, and you will certainly agree to her character’s sobering moral viewpoint on the case.

On the whole, “Following”, which should not be confused with Christopher Nolan’s debut feature film “Following” (1997), is a solid genre product which entertains us as much as intended. Although I think it delivers its eventual resolution a bit too easily, the movie is still satisfying for ably handling its story and characters, and you may also come to have some more critical view on social media and those numerous superficial influencers out there. Sure, I have used a number of social media applications for many years, but I have not given a damn about such banal and uninteresting figures nonetheless, and that will probably be continued for the rest of my life even if I become quite old-fashioned because of that.

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