Blog Topic
Film & Drama
Essays on films and dramas as ways to read society, relationships, and narrative.
Netflix Review: Cham Gyoyuk — More Addictive Than Bitter Americano
Top 10 in 85 countries, 1 in 19. This is not a corporal punishment fantasy — it is a longing for someone who refuses to give up.
Annotating Concrete Utopia: The Questions This Film Asks
A reading of Concrete Utopia as a film about disaster, community, survival ethics, class boundaries, and whether utopia can exist.
Netflix Kill Boksoon: Between Nam Haeng-sun and John Wick — Four Thoughts
Netflix Kill Boksoon — four things the film made me think about.
The Power of True Story: A Review of the Film Rebound
There are many reasons we love movies. One of the best is when reality turns out to be more dramatic than fiction.
Get Out: An Unreal Film About Reality — A Heavy Question That Still Has No Answer
How far can difference be accepted? A film that borrows the genre of horror-thriller to pose a deeply serious question.
Netflix Recommendation: Black Dog — A Drama Like a Cold, Slightly Bitter Iced Americano
Black Dog is a drama I didn't expect much from — and then got completely absorbed in.
Notes on The First Slam Dunk (Spoilers)
'The true power of sports lies in the fact that it is a story without a script.'
Philomena: Plain, Yet Heavy
A review of Philomena as a restrained but heavy story about loss, faith, forgiveness, and the long search for truth.
The Martian: Chicago Cubs, Beer, and the G2
Notes on The Martian, from NASA geek culture and the Chicago Cubs metaphor to beer, loneliness, and China's role in the story.
An: Sweet Red Bean Paste — A Life Story
An (Sweet Bean) — Director: Naomi Kawase. Cast: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida. Released 2015 (France, Germany, Japan).