Category Archives: Movies

Review: Return to Seoul

Posted on August 10, 2023 by philipbrasor

What makes Cambodian-French director Davy Chou’s movie about a young French woman recklessly discovering her Korean heritage compelling is how attuned it is to not only to the character’s foibles, but how those foibles determine the purpose of her quest, … Continue reading →

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Review: The Survivor

Posted on August 9, 2023 by philipbrasor

Barry Levinson’s retelling of the story of Harry Haft (Ben Foster), a Polish Jew who survived Auschwitz by allowing himself to be used for entertainment purposes as a boxer, is a fairly conventional movie in that it plays on the … Continue reading →

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Review: Myanmar Diaries

Posted on August 5, 2023 by philipbrasor

There are no credits at the beginning or at the end of this collection of short videos made by amateur and professional filmmakers in the aftermath of the coup in Myanmar that took place February 1, 2021. Obviously, they would … Continue reading →

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Review: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Posted on August 4, 2023 by philipbrasor

For what it’s really worth, this is the first Transformers movie I’ve seen that I found entertaining. (I didn’t see the Bumblebee offshoot, which a lot of people liked.) Don’t get me wrong, I’m not categorically against movies about trademarked … Continue reading →

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Review: The Inspection

Posted on August 3, 2023 by philipbrasor

Given that this first feature by director Elegance Bratton is clearly autobiographical to a certain extent, it’s surprising how little distinctive detail it offers into the mind of a young gay Black man who decides to join the Marines as … Continue reading →

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Review: Rudeboy, the Story of Trojan Records

Posted on July 29, 2023 by philipbrasor

As fascinating as this docudrama about the legendary London-based indie label is, it necessarily leaves a whole lot out of the history of Jamaican music, which was the specialty of Trojan Records. Director Nicolas Jack Davies, a music video producer, … Continue reading →

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Review: The Kingdom Exodus

Posted on July 28, 2023 by philipbrasor

The story goes that Lars von Trier came up with the idea for his bizarre Danish TV show, The Kingdom, which ran for two 4-episode seasons in 1994 and 1997, after watching Twin Peaks, which makes perfect sense. Just as … Continue reading →

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Review: Mission:Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One

Posted on July 21, 2023 by philipbrasor

I certainly can’t be the first film writer to notice a connection between the meta subtext of the new M:I installment and the dual labor strikes currently blocking Hollywood productions, and it has nothing to do with Tom Cruise’s semi-scab … Continue reading →

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Review: Chess Story (The Royal Game)

Posted on July 20, 2023 by philipbrasor

Film adaptations of fiction that plays with form and structure offer unique challenges, and while I haven’t read the Stefan Zweig bestseller on which Chess Story is based, there are enough odd, disconcerting turns to the development to make me … Continue reading →

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Review: Saint Omer

Posted on July 14, 2023 by philipbrasor

There is a scene near the beginning of Saint Omer that suggests why director Alice Diop chose to render this tale, based on a real incident and a real trial, as a fiction film rather than as a documentary, which … Continue reading →

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