Nobody's Daughter Haewon: Some Slices of Life Aren't Filling

At one point in Nobody's Daughter Haewon, the title character (Jung Eun-chae) is perusing a copy of Norbert Elias' The Loneliness of the Dying. And death is a topic that strangely informs Hong Sang-soo's rambling slice-of-life drama about a student actress without meaningful direction. Her mother (Kim Ja-ok) is moving to Canada; her ex-lover (Lee Sun-kyun) is married with a new baby; an American professor (Kim Eui-sung) spontaneously takes her out for coffee. Haewon is basically examing what she's going to do before she dies: Will she see her mother again? Will she continue this farce of a relationship with her former professor? Will she marry a random guy she meets in a park?

An unexpected encounter with the one-and-only Jane Birkin argues for living a free life (especially if you're pretty). Will Haewon too inspire a designer purse? Will she end up in a movie directed by Martin Scorsese? Will she compete in a Miss Korea pageant? When you're young, anything seems possible. And in a way, life truly can go in many directions. Much like a Hong Sang-soo film. Reviewimg his canon, I wouldn't say this one ends up in the most interesting or enlightening place -- or that the performances are as thrillingly naturalistic as they can be despite the long shots in profile and the scenes fueled by alcohol -- but Nobody's Daughter... is nobody's total waste of time. And nothing is a secret.

Broker: How to Pick a Good Movie

When people are struggling to pick a movie, they often default to the algorithms as calculated by Netflix or ChatGPT. The wiser cineastes focus on a director, and if you were looking for a great Korean movie, you'd be well served by defaulting to the ouevre of Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho or, for the artier among you, Kim Ki-duk. But a better method yet is to zero in on an actor -- specifically, Song Kang-ho who must have one of the most consistently rewarding filmographies in cinematic history. That he's paired up with Japanese writer-director Hirokazu Koreeda (Shoplifters) for Broker may come as a surprise; that he's delivering a beautifully nuanced and heartbreaking performance in this one too is not.

For Song, Koreeda has crafted an intricate tale about human trafficking, chosen families, self-sacrifice and forgiveness. Song plays an estranged dad involved in an adoption scam operation with a former orphan (Gang Dong-won). Their shady business gets complicated when the mother (IU) of an infant they've stolen from a church's baby drop wants a cut of any potential profits. In hot pursuit of the criminals are a pair of cops (Bae Doona and Lee Joo-young) who find themselves caught offguard by the poignancy of their trio under surveillance. It may all tie up a little too neatly at the end but Broker is excellent for nearly it's entire two hours. I laughed, I cried, I'd recommend.

The Woman Who Ran: Post-Marital Research

I haven't seen a Hong Sang-soo film for awhile so it's a bit of a readjustment getting into his rhythm and flow. I know from past experiences, however, that sometimes what looks like a meandering improvisation adds up to something quite substantial. I knew to be patient! Yet what to make of the initial conversations in The Woman Who Ran re: the beauty of a cow's eyes, the bullying by a neighbor's rooster, or the ethics surrounding the feeding of stray cats? Before you've figured that out, Hong has shifted to a completely new scene: gone is the divorcee (Seo Young-hwa) who appears to be in a lesbian couple; in her place is a Pilates instructor (Song Seon-mi) navigating the challenges of dating in middle age. The topics shift from animals to money: a rent deposit, her million-dollar-savings, her successful business... See a connection yet? I didn't.

Which brings us to the final reunion at Cafe Emu where our protagonist (Kim Min-hee) has one more "girl talk," this time with an old friend (Kim Sae-byeok) who now runs a movie theater. This last encounter has the least amount of dialogue but it's also when the movie comes together. For each of these reunions finds our drifting diminishing her feelings from her unseen husband. The random meet-ups suddenly register as a testing of the waters for a possible future, always with an awareness that the men in these other women's lives are uniformly irritating: a demanding neighbor, a stalking poet (Ha Seong-guk), and a self-important author (Kwon Hae-hyo).

KPop Demon Hunters: Gonna Be Golden

Serious question: Why hadn't I heard about the famous names associated with the global sensation that is KPop Demon Hunters? Why wasn't my social media feed flooded with mentions of Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), Lee Byung-hun (I Saw the Devil), and Joel Kim Booster (Fire Island)? I realize they're not the point — and certainly not the stars — but I might've streamed this animated musical sooner had I known the talent providing the voices to the supporting cast. I'm loyal to actors I like that way. And since nobody did clue me in, I'm awfully late to this Netflix and chill party. Well, better late than never.

For KPop Demon Hunters justifies its status as the most-viewed original film in the history of Netflix and you won't have a hard-time understanding why its break-out tune "Golden" has been nominated for a MTV Video Music Awards in the category, Song of Summer — Korean lyrics in tact. It's plot is pure popcorn: Three gal pals (Arden Cho, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo) who are rockstars by day, demon-slayers by night find saving the world getting harder when their enemies take the form of an impossibly irresistible boy band, helmed by a dreamy lead singer (Ahn Hyo-seop). Troubled pasts, forbidden romance, catchy tunes, a three-eyed magpie, a clumsy tiger, and some seriously tested loyalties... KPop Demon Hunters has all that while it telling a sing-a-long tale of redemption. You're my soda pop. My little soda pop.