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Wrath of Man (2021)
Pretty emotionless movie
For me, having some emotional connection to characters is the main catalyst for tension building in a good revenge action movie. Almost all the characters in Wrath of Man are one dimensional and pretty horrible in the end. It's pretty obvious this movie is designed that way. So for me, it was a pretty tensionless movie. There were no stakes in the end. Sometimes I'm in the mood for this kind of movie though but it isn't something I'd readily recommend.
Rectify (2013)
This was drawn out to its detriment
This series takes its sweet time for the little content it carries. Often the drawn out portions of the show are in relation to people not sharing with others about what is going on with them or character scenarios that don't further the plot and aren't interesting. I found the overuse of the characters not being open and honest confounding and it made it hard to empathize much with their plight. The youngest son points out how crazy his family is for not talking about what's going on multiple times, to no avail. Although, even he doesn't push too hard to understand what's going on. It's only the last few episodes (ep 29 and 30) where people open up to each other just to wrap up the series. The series was a disappointed because of this.
Private Life (2018)
Funny and depressing in the right ways
My wife and I both loved this movie. The humorous elements were pitch perfectly sparse but brilliantly funny and any conflict in the movie seemed removed from all the normal troupes. Both Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti were perfectly cast.
A movie with a realistic ending and one that I appreciated.
Yunhui-ege (2019)
Understated tale of forbidden love
I watched this movie because I am a fan of the Korean band Se So Neon who did the song Winter on the movie's OST. The video for the song gives you a good sense of the movie itself. Although the plot isn't overly dramatic and there wasn't a lot of tension, I felt that the actors made me care about them and there is just enough plot to get to know what motivates them. A lot of emotions is shown through expression rather than through talking which is something that I appreciate in Asian films.
I recently watched two other Korean movies with female protagonists House of Hummingbird and Kim Ji-young: Born 1982. There is one thread that seems to run through them all and that is Korea's cultural view of women. In all 3 of these movies there was mention or implication that the boy's in the family were the most revered among the siblings. It's maybe more examined in the two other movies I mentioned but it is something that had affected the mother in this story when she was a teenager. I have been living in Korea for a number of years and often wonder if that male centered ideology is changing with the new generations having kids of their own. I hope so.
Tenet (2020)
Playing Early in Korea
I was surprised to see it playing here in Korea but I took the risk and went to my local theater.
The trailer reveals the stakes involved so I am not giving much away but I will say this I didn't feel a lot of tension based on those stakes. My attention was mostly focused on the developing story rather than having any time to process the dire consequences of our protagonist's possible failure. The plot can be overwhelming and confusing at times. A lot of the exposition happens in quick conversations so important details are easy to miss. Although, the movie doesn't honestly require you to understand everything to enjoy it. I didn't experience irritation over my confusion. I allowed the movie to take me along it's journey.
Kenneth Branagh had a difficult role in playing the "ultimate" villain. In my opinion, his character was a weak-point of the movie. His motivation seemed unbelievable to me. There wasn't a lot of time spent developing his character to make his intentions believable. I think the same goes with all the characters really.
I will say that I was not bored in the least throughout the whole runtime. It definitely is an engaging movie but one that could've benefit from more time fleshing out the characters which would've made the stakes seem higher and elevated the movie.
I did like it enough to know that I will re-watch it at some point (mostly to pick up the finer confusing details) but I may wait until there is a streaming release for it.
An (2015)
A subtle heartfelt gem of a movie
Sweet Beans contains the best aspects of what I love about Asian cinema. Poignant moments of emotion without too much dialogue or upfront exposition. It's not a perfect film but it is close. If you like "Shoplifters" or "House of Hummingbird" than I think you will like this.