Category Archives: Movies

Busan International Film Festival 2026, Oct. 9

Posted on October 9, 2026 by philipbrasor

One of the older venues being used to screen films at the festival is the Busan Community Media Center, which looks as if it were built in the 1970s or 80s. I’ve already seen several movies there this year. Obviously … Continue reading →

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Review: Digger

Posted on October 9, 2026 by philipbrasor

It isn’t difficult to determine director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s personal convictions regarding the state of the world as the overstuffed plot of Digger unravels. He is certainly a believer in deadly climate change as a function of human progress, and … Continue reading →

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Review: Resident Evil and Absolution

Posted on October 8, 2026 by philipbrasor

As someone who doesn’t play games, either literally or figuratively, I have no opinion on how faithfully the new Zach Cregger-helmed reboot of the Resident Evil franchise follows the Capcom classic, but I did see a few of the Paul … Continue reading →

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Busan International Film Festival 2026, Oct. 8

Posted on October 8, 2026 by philipbrasor

Since I arrived at the festival on its opening day, Tuesday, the weather in Busan has been great. Warm and sunny in the daytime and cool and dry at night. Nevertheless, my flight from Narita was slightly delayed and by … Continue reading →

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Review: Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Posted on October 3, 2026 by philipbrasor

There is a subgenre of documentaries that interrogates the act of filming so-called truth while ostensibly presenting something true. This Oscar-winning film is centrally about Vladimir Putin’s propaganda push to support his war against Ukraine as it is carried out … Continue reading →

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Review: Pompei: Below the Clouds and I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol

Posted on October 2, 2026 by philipbrasor

Documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi struck paydirt when he found a middle-aged female archaeologist to comment on her work in a storehouse for artifacts unearthed during digs of the legendary city of Pompei, which was buried under lava and ash after … Continue reading →

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Review: Disclosure Day

Posted on October 1, 2026 by philipbrasor

It was certainly inevitable that Steven Spielberg, after the most enviably productive career of any American film director in history, would try to summarize that career in various ways as he approached his 80s. His last movie was the highly … Continue reading →

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Review: Heart of the Beast and Hen

Posted on September 25, 2026 by philipbrasor

Loyal dog movies and TV shows were once a staple of American entertainment, but if Heart of the Beast feels too much like a throwback it tries to make up for its anachronistic vibe by centering the central human-animal relationship … Continue reading →

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Review: Broken Voices

Posted on September 19, 2026 by philipbrasor

Ondřej Provazník’s Broken Voices was inspired by a real life scandal surrounding the Prague-based children’s choir Bambini di Praga. In 2008, the choir’s leader, Bohumil Kulínský, was arrested for having sexually abused two dozen girls in the ensemble over the … Continue reading →

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Review: If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Posted on September 18, 2026 by philipbrasor

Only a few seconds into this harrowing black comedy by Mary Bronstein, the protagonist, a fortyish Long Island mother named Linda (Rose Byrne), says to her complaining young daughter, “I’m allowed to be sad,” a massive understatement that will prove … Continue reading →

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