Tag Archives: Murder

The Wild Goose Lake (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): He’s going nowhere…

Chinese film “The Wild Goose Lake” is a slow but stylish crime drama packed with tangible atmosphere and palpable seedy realism. Although I felt rather distant to its story and characters throughout its 110-minute running time, I also could not … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Innocence (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): A daughter who returns to her shady hometown

South Korean movie “Innocence” is a compelling mix of detached courtroom mystery drama and heated family melodrama. Although the mystery at the heart of the film is a bit too easily solved, the movie still holds our attention as its … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blow the Man Down (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): A little crime comedy drama in Maine

“Blow the Man Down”, which won the Best Screenplay award at the Tribeca Film Festival early in last year and then was recently released on Amazon Prime Video, is a little crime comedy drama packed with enough local mood and … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

21 Bridges (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): One eventful night in NYC

“21 Bridges” is so predictable in terms of story and characters that I could see its every move and turn in advance as your average seasoned moviegoer. For example, we have a cop hero with some dubious background, and then … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Motherless Brooklyn (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): An offbeat neo-noir film from Edward Norton

“Motherless Brooklyn” often frustrated me but engaged me enough at least. Although I sometimes struggled to gather what is exactly going on around its inherently flawed detective hero throughout most of its running time, I enjoyed a number of offbeat … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Knives Out (2019) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A deliciously entertaining whodunnit

Rian Johnson’s latest film “Knives Out” is a deliciously entertaining whodunnit which will delight any devoted fan of mystery novels like me. While I could see through its wily, dexterous handling of plot elements at time, I was really caught … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Kill Team (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A conflicted young solider facing war crime

“The Kill Team” is a passable war drama film which does not show or tell me anything particularly new about what has been committed during War on Terror. Partially based on a shocking real-life case of war crime in 2010, … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Knife+Heart (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): Who’s killing her gay porn actors?

French film “Knife+Heart” is a cheerfully gaudy and goofy mix of cheap gay porn flicks and campy giallo horror movies of the 1970s. Although it is a bit shame that the movie does not try to be something more than … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Crooked House (2017) ☆☆(2/4): A pedestrian Agatha Christie mystery flick

Watching “Crooked House” is one of the most joyless movie experiences I have ever had during recent years. Thoroughly flat and tedious in terms of storytelling and characterization, the movie bored me from the beginning to the end, so I … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Svaha: The Sixth Finger (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): A South Korean Occult Story

South Korean film “Svaha: The Sixth Finger” is filled with gloomy spookiness from the very beginning, and it did not disappoint me at all. While I am still not sure whether I understood all of its numerous religious details, this … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment