Category Archives: Movies

Review: High & Low – John Galliano

Posted on September 20, 2024 by philipbrasor

Several years ago, I read an article in the New York Times that explicated the financial circumstances surrounding the fashion industry. Most designer fashion houses, including quite a few high-end ones, constantly operate in the red, since their product is … Continue reading →

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Review: Songs of Earth

Posted on September 19, 2024 by philipbrasor

The scenery captured by four expert camera operators—one using a drone—in Margreth Olin’s documentary is undeniably other-wordly, even if the images are meant to convey the magnificence of nature in the raw. The reason has to do with the perceptions … Continue reading →

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Review: Bonnard, Pierre and Marthe

Posted on September 18, 2024 by philipbrasor

Director Martin Provost is known for his biopics of French women, both real and (semi-)fictional, and his latest extends the idea by studying the artistic evolution of Marthe de Meligny (Cécile de France), a factory worker who, by chance, meets … Continue reading →

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Review: A Human Position

Posted on September 14, 2024 by philipbrasor

It says a lot about this quiet, enigmatic Norwegian film that the main character, Asta (Amalie Ibsen Jensen), almost casually secures a job as a reporter at her small coastal town’s newspaper without the viewer registering much in the way … Continue reading →

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Review: Hit Man

Posted on September 13, 2024 by philipbrasor

Richard Linklater could be cited as one of those world-class directors who alternates idiosyncratic, arty films with mass-marketable, crowd-pleasing entertainments, and most people will probably slot Hit Man in the latter category, but it’s deeper than the description would let … Continue reading →

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Review: Breaking Point

Posted on September 12, 2024 by philipbrasor

It’s difficult to say if this 2023 British film’s release in Japan was meant to coincide with the 2024 Paris Olympics, which featured breaking (break dancing for you old-timers) as an official event for the first time. Likely not, but … Continue reading →

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Review: My Sunshine

Posted on September 6, 2024 by philipbrasor

Hiroshi Okuyama’s assured second feature could be slotted as a sports movie, since it adheres to many of the structural requirements of the genre, but eventually the viewer will realize that it only follows the plan in order to upend … Continue reading →

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Review: From Okinawa With Love

Posted on August 31, 2024 by philipbrasor

Like her subjects in the real world, Mao Ishikawa is a fringe figure in the world of Japanese photography. Though she’s won a number of major awards for her work, her subject matter is stubbornly circumscribed, concerned not just with … Continue reading →

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Review: Road to Boston

Posted on August 30, 2024 by philipbrasor

It’s often said that South Korean storytelling in movies and dramas is based on one theme, revenge, which gives the impression that the national self-image is one of eternal victimhood. It’s not an entirely fair evaluation, but the country’s history … Continue reading →

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Review: Monkey Man and Polite Society

Posted on August 23, 2024 by philipbrasor

Though they have little in common except the setting and Dev Patel as the lead, it’s easy to recognize the stylistic and thematic centrality of Slumdog Millionaire in Patel’s directorial debut. The latter is a classic tale of retribution, while … Continue reading →

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