Tag Archives: Real-life figure

Road to Boston (2023) ☆☆(2/4): Running with tedious nationalism

South Korean film “Road to Boston” is so shamelessly corny and old-fashioned that I cringed a lot more than once while watching it yesterday. Here is a dramatic real-life story which is surely worthwhile to tell for good reasons, but … Continue reading

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Cassandro (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Meet Cassandro

“Cassandro”, which was released on Amazon Prime in last week, is less flamboyant while also being more earnest than expected. Based on the real-life story of a gay American-born Mexican luchador (professional wrestler), the movie sensitively focuses on its characters … Continue reading

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The League (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Leagues of Their Own

Documentary film “The League” looks over the mostly overlooked history of the African American baseball leagues during the early 20th century. As a guy not so knowledgeable about its main subject except, yes, Jackie Robinson, I observed the documentary with … Continue reading

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Citizen Ashe (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): More than a good tennis player

Documentary film “Citizen Ashe” looks into the life and athletic career of Arthur Ashe (1943-1993), a talented tennis champion who has been known mainly for being the first African American to win the US Open in 1968. Although he was … Continue reading

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Gran Turismo (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): From a gamer to a professional racer

The story promise of “Gran Turismo” sounded quite preposterous to me when I heard about the film a few months ago, and it is a shame that its unbelievable true story is reduced into a bland conventional underdog sports drama … Continue reading

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El Conde (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Pinochet the Vampire

Pablo Larraín’s new film “El Conde”, which was released on Netflix in last week not long after it was shown at the Venice International Film Festival, is a horror black comedy which depicts a notorious real-life Chilean dictator as a … Continue reading

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A Million Miles Away (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A migrant farmworker who became a NASA astronaut

“A Million Miles Away”, which was released on Amazon Prime in this week, is a rather tame presentation of one inspiring real-life story which deserves better in my inconsequential opinion. While the story itself is fascinating enough to hold my … Continue reading

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Bad Axe (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): An Asian Immigrant family in the time of COVID-19

Documentary film “Bad Axe” presents an intimate personal portrayal of one Asian immigrant family struggling to live and run their little business during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it is heartening to see how this family strenuously stick together for enduring … Continue reading

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It Ain’t Over (2022) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Inside Yogi Berra

To be frank with you, I only vaguely heard a bit about Yogi Berra once before watching documentary film “It Ain’t Over”. Berra was a legendary baseball player mostly known for his rather humorous quotes, and the documentary shows that … Continue reading

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Finding Yingying (2020) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Yingying Zhang is missing

Documentary film “Finding Yingying” focuses on the undeniably heartbreaking human aspects of one real-life missing case. Yingying Zhang, a graduate student at University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois who was only 26 at the time of her missing, is a … Continue reading

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