Tag Archives: Real-life figure

Voices (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): Personal memories of a massacre

Posted on April 6, 2025 by kaist455

South Korean documentary “Voices” simply listens to the testimonies from a bunch of people traumatized in one way or another by the massacres during the Jeju uprising during 1948 ~ 1949. Focusing more on the female victims and survivors, the … Continue reading →

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The Match (2025) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): The competition between a mentor and his pupil

Posted on March 30, 2025 by kaist455

There are several factors preventing me from being really entertained by South Korean film “The Match”. While it did a fairly good job of presenting a series of intense Go matches on the screen, the movie feels rather unbalanced as … Continue reading →

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Origin (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A Writer’s Journey

Posted on March 25, 2025 by kaist455

Movies about writers and ideas are not usually something really engaging or compelling to watch, but Ava DuVernay’s latest film “Origin” is one of those rare exceptions. In addition to being a touching human drama to observe, the movie also … Continue reading →

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I’m Still Here (2024) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A family under the dictatorship in Brazil

Posted on March 13, 2025 by kaist455

Walter Salles’ latest film “I’m Still Here”, which recently won a Best International Film Oscar, calmly but powerfully observes a real-life personal struggle under the dictatorship period in Brazil during the early 1970s. While never overlooking the grim and horrific … Continue reading →

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No Other Land (2024) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): “We have no other land”

Posted on March 10, 2025 by kaist455

Documentary film “No Other Land”, which won the two awards including the one for Best Documentary at the Berlin International Film Festival early in last year and then won a Best Documentary Oscar in last week, calmly and thoughtfully follows … Continue reading →

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Porcelain War (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): Artists in the middle of the ongoing war in Ukraine

Posted on March 10, 2025 by kaist455

Documentary film “Porcelain War”, which won the U.S. Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival early in last year and then was recently nominated for Best Documentary Oscar, looks at the activities of several Ukrainian artists in … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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Maria (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): Callas during her last days

Posted on February 20, 2025 by kaist455

Pablo Larraín’s latest film “Maria”, which was released on Netflix in US a few months ago, simply walks here and there around its famous real-life female figure. As the last entry in Larraín’s trilogy after “Jackie” (2016) and “Spencer” (2021), … Continue reading →

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Better Man (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): Robbie Williams presented as an ape (no kidding)

Posted on February 17, 2025 by kaist455

“Better Man” is another typical musician biography drama film with one notable difference. While it is surely filled with predictable ups and downs as illustrating the life and career of British musician Robbie Williams, the movie presents Williams as a … Continue reading →

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