cultural criticism
Inspired by writer-director Lee Isaac Chung’s own childhood, Minari is the portrait of a Korean American family struggling to succeed in rural Reagan-era Arkansas. Starring Steven Yeun and Han Ye-ri as Jacob and Monica, young Korean immigrants who have moved east from California to fulfill his dream of growing and selling Korean vegetables, the story is full of pathos, humor, and the... Continue Reading →
Highly-anticipated space opera Space Sweepers, originally slated for last summer, just released worldwide, and it’s exactly what I needed at this moment. South Korea’s first space sci-fi movie is set in a dystopian future where Earth is dying and the only place left to colonize is up, its world rife with the inequality that always accompanies... Continue Reading →
There have been so many American movies about the Vietnam War, or what this film pointedly calls the American War, that most Americans can probably list a few off the top of their heads. I don’t recall watching a big-budget Hollywood picture that features the experience of African American soldiers, who as Da 5 Bloods... Continue Reading →
I usually write my reviews within a day or so of seeing a movie, but I’ve been feeling end-of-year burnout after my first full year of grad school, and I just haven’t been able to make myself sit down and write—so here I am, a week after seeing The Rise of Skywalker. But maybe it... Continue Reading →
Memories of Murder is Bong Joon-ho’s 2003 retelling of the real-life Hwaseong serial murders which occurred from 1986-91 in the rural city of Hwaseong, in Gyeonggi Province. The case is known as the first instance of serial murders with a clear modus operandi in South Korea, and remains unsolved to this day, often drawing comparisons to... Continue Reading →
In the excruciatingly long run-up to this remake of the beloved 1992 classic, the question on most of our minds was why it needed to exist. But this current glut of live-action Disney remakes has already proved its profitability many times over, and the question of why is easily counted in billions of dollar signs.... Continue Reading →
They did it. They actually pulled it off. After Infinity War I was in shock and quite a bit of disappointment, to be honest—I’ve loved these movies, as have we all, and the conclusion of that one was a rude shock for reasons I’ve already listed; while I enjoyed a lot of the moments... Continue Reading →
There are many catalogues of heartbreak circulating right now, as there always are in the aftermath of a mass shooting, and which are a necessary part of processing the anger and grief we all feel. Waking up this morning was heavy. Friday prayer today was heavy. I don’t have the confidence to put into words... Continue Reading →
Three days from the end of his probation and a couple of minutes past his curfew, Collin (Daveed Diggs) witnesses a police officer shoot an unarmed black man. That trauma not only irrevocably changes him—it causes him to reexamine his choices and relationships in a way that not even his ordeal with the criminal justice... Continue Reading →
Sorry to Bother You is a brilliant, dizzying satire which at once feels impossibly out-there and far too close for comfort. It stars Lakeith Stanfield as Cash, unemployed, broke, and living in his uncle's garage with artist girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson, who is excellent as always). He gets a job at a call center to... Continue Reading →
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