Author Archives: philipbrasor

Review: Soulmate

Posted on February 20, 2024 by philipbrasor

This mainstream Korean melodrama, based on a popular 2016 Chinese film, was reportedly completed before the pandemic and didn’t receive a proper release in Korea until last year. It chronicles the decades-long relationship between two women starting in adolescence, when … Continue reading →

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Review: Beau Is Afraid

Posted on February 16, 2024 by philipbrasor

Though one could categorize Ari Aster’s third feature as a horror film, it’s decidedly different in tone and effect than his first two, Hereditary and Midsommar. Those were more conventional horror films in that the viewer was meant to identify … Continue reading →

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Review: The Night Owl

Posted on February 10, 2024 by philipbrasor

The thing about Korean historical dramas is that they tend to go over the same dozen stories. Ahn Tae-jin’s hit, The Night Owl, is based on the one about the 17th century Joseon crown prince, Sohyeon (Kim Sung-cheol), who was … Continue reading →

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Review: Close Your Eyes

Posted on February 8, 2024 by philipbrasor

Victor Erice’s first new feature in 30 years opens with another movie called The Farewell Gaze, about an old man who hires another man to go to China and retrieve the daughter he never met. This movie-within-the-movie, we learn, was … Continue reading →

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Review: Five Nights at Freddy’s

Posted on February 7, 2024 by philipbrasor

Since I’m not a gamer I don’t have anything useful to say about whether this feature film is anything like the popular and reportedly very violent video game it’s based on, but the plot is such a mash-up of conflicting … Continue reading →

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Media watch: A 1945 marine tragedy comes back to haunt the Japanese government

Posted on February 5, 2024 by philipbrasor

Last week the Gunma prefectural government removed a monument from a park in the city of Takasaki that commemorated Korean laborers mobilized to work in the prefecture during World War II. The monument was installed in the park in 2004, … Continue reading →

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Review: Ghost Tropic and Here

Posted on February 3, 2024 by philipbrasor

The films of 39-year-old Belgian director Bas Devos share three traits: a square aspect ratio, credit sequences where all cast and crew are presented on one materializing screen instead of a scroll, and an almost total lack of tension. This … Continue reading →

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Review: Stop Making Sense

Posted on February 2, 2024 by philipbrasor

There’s very little to say about the 40th anniversary 4K restoration of the late Jonathan Demme’s 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense that hasn’t already been said except that if you plan to see it you really ought to see … Continue reading →

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Review: Dumb Money

Posted on February 1, 2024 by philipbrasor

I’m a sucker for dramatic features that take place in the worlds of business and finance, especially if they’re based on true stories, since I figure I get education along with my entertainment. That credo, however, presupposes that the movie … Continue reading →

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Review: Sound of Silence

Posted on January 27, 2024 by philipbrasor

When horror movies could no longer top themselves in terms of gross-out imagery and the split-second timing of jump scares, filmmakers had to think of newer ways to frighten us. As one solution, they’ve mostly replaced the visceral with the … Continue reading →

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