Tag Archives: Real-life story

Small Axe: Mangrove (2020) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): The Trial of the Mangrove Nine

Posted on June 11, 2021 by kaist455

During the latest Oscar season, there was a rather trivial controversy on Steve McQueen’s ambitious film anthology series “Small Axe”. While its first three films were respectively shown at a number of movie festivals including the New York Film Festival … Continue reading →

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A Long Way to School (2020) ☆☆☆1/2 (3.5/4): Mothers fighting against prejudices

Posted on May 17, 2021 by kaist455

South Korean documentary film “A Long Way to School” looks into a long fight of a group of courageous mothers who simply wanted their children with disabilities to have a special school closer to them. While it is often infuriating … Continue reading →

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The Boy from Medellín (2020) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A superstar back in his hometown

Posted on May 9, 2021 by kaist455

Documentary film “The Boy form Medellín”, which was released on Amazon Prime two days ago, presents a close look into one eventful week surrounding J Balvin, a Colombian raggaeton singer which has been quite popular around the world during last … Continue reading →

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The Courier (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): One British businessman turned into a spy

Posted on April 29, 2021 by kaist455

“The Courier”, which was simply released as “The Spy” yesterday in South Korean theaters, is a modest but engaging drama which is based on one of many interesting real-life stories from the Cold War era. Mainly revolving around one ordinary … Continue reading →

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The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021) ☆☆(2/4): She suffered and suffered….

Posted on April 10, 2021 by kaist455

Lee Daniels’ latest film “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”, which was released on Hulu in this February, is utterly trite and disappointing in many aspects. While surely intended to be a sincere tribute to the life and career of … Continue reading →

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My Octopus Teacher (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): One year with an octopus

Posted on March 30, 2021 by kaist455

It took some time for me to get interested in watching Netflix documentary film “My Octopus Teacher”, which somehow eluded me when it was released on Netflix in last September. Although I have often heard words of recommendation from others … Continue reading →

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Collective (2019) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A sobering Romanian documentary on massive systemic corruption

Posted on March 29, 2021 by kaist455

Romanian documentary film “Collective”, which was nominated for Best Documentary Oscar as well as Best International Film Oscar early in this month, is often sobering in its phlegmatic but angry chronicle of outrage and frustration toward alarming systemic corruption. It … Continue reading →

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The Mole Agent (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): The old mole operating at a retirement home

Posted on March 29, 2021 by kaist455

Documentary film “The Mole Agent”, which was recently nominated for Best Documentary Oscar early in this month (It was also selected as the Chilean entry for Best International Film Oscar and then included in the 15-film shortlist, by the way), … Continue reading →

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Helene (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): How she evolved more as an artist

Posted on March 23, 2021 by kaist455

Finnish film “Helene” is about the late life and career of Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946), who, as far as I can observe from her several notable works shown at the end of the film, deserves to be mentioned along with more … Continue reading →

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Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): A criminal who exploited the broken education system

Posted on March 19, 2021 by kaist455

Netflix documentary film “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal”, which was released on Netflix a few days ago, looks into an infamous bribery scandal which drew lots of public attention in 2019. As examining how those numerous incidents of … Continue reading →

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