Burning (2018)

I've done it again. I saw a movie, Lee Chang-dong's Burning (Korean: 버닝 Beoning), knowing absolutely nothing about it other than it received a lot of praise at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and that many people I follow on Twitter loved it. I guess I should stop following those people because this movie is trash. 

The story revolves around Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in), a deliveryman who, while out on a job, runs into Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo), a girl who used to live in the same neighbourhood as a kid. They catch up on old times and she asks him to take care of her cat while she's away on a trip to Africa. When she returns, she introduces to Jong-su Ben (Steven Yeun), an enigmatic young man with an odd hobby. 

The first problem with Burning is the plot. There's simply not enough going on to fill the film's two and a half hour long running time; it takes forever to kick in and when it finally does, it is so boring and uncompelling, I couldn't care less about putting the pieces together and finding answers; major plot points are either unexplained or turn out to be completely useless; some subplots, specifically that with Jong-su, have no purpose whatsoever other than filling up time. 

The second problem is the characters. The writers spent too much time with dull, useless details and very little to write three-dimensional characters and actually develop them —there are moments that seem to be there to build some character development, but they just don't and as a result, the characters are dull and uncompelling —Steven Yeun's mysterious young man being the only exception as I was curious to find out more about him— and I wasn't emotionally invested in any of them. Moreover, Hae-mi, the main female character, is nothing but a plot device, one that shows her breasts for no other reason than pleasing a part of the audience. 

The performances are probably Burning's only saving grace. Yoo Ah-in does a pretty solid job as the lead, a young, unexpressive deliveryman who aspires to be a writer and feels inadequate. Jeon Jong-seo does a good job as the plot device young woman searching for the meaning and purpose of life. It's Steven Yeun that leaves the most impact as he really succeeds at creating a mysterious character. 

CGV Arthouse

Actually, I shouldn't have said the acting is the film's only saving grace as the cinematography is quite stunning. Overall though, Burning is a boring piece of trash. A misogynist film made for men to enjoy. It does not surprise me that all the people praising this on Twitter were guys. 

The Star (2017)

As I've said a couple of times in the past, there isn't a lot to choose from when it comes to animated Christmas/holiday movies. The limited choice isn't the only reason I watched The Star though as the film has a stellar cast and I was intrigued in seeing how they would present the nativity story to kids. 

As I just said, the film is yet another retelling of the first Christmas, but it's different than your typical story as it follows Bo (voiced by Steven Yeun), a small but brave donkey who finds the courage to break free and go on the adventure of his dreams. When Mary (voiced by Gina Rodriguez) gets pregnant with God's baby, word spreads out, and the king's henchman hunts them down, Bo, with the help of a sheep (voiced by Aidy Bryant) and a dove (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), tries to save them.

While it's not biblically accurate —acutally, it's mostly fantasy. I mean even more fantasy than the Bible—, the story has quite creative, inventive twists, them being telling the story from the animals' point of view and changing things a little bit in order to make a more suspenceful and compelling story for everyone to enjoy while also learning something about Christ. Unfortunately, the idea is poorly executed and the story isn't particularly engaging nor entertaining. It's pretty dull, to be honest. I have to give the filmmakers credits for not making the film too much of a religious thing though. 

The characters, on the other hand, are quite lovely and fun. The problem here is that there are too many of them so not only it's hard to remember their names —I'm not even sure they all had names— but most of them don't get the screen time they deserve, especially the camels, which are fun but sadly so underused. Also, some characters are just there and add absolutely nothing to the story, which is a huge shame because there was so much potential with the evil king. 

Sony Pictures Releasing

The voice work is easily the aspect that stands out the most about The Star as each actor do a good job at bringing on the screen sympathetic and likeable characters. Steven Yeun carries the film quite well as Bo, the donkey, and Keegan-Michael Key's comedic timing and delivery are the only things that save the dove. 

At last, the visual aspect. While it looks good from a distance, whenever there's a close up of a character, whether it's an animal or a human, the film looks old, almost like a film from a decade ago. The movements aren't that great either. They did a pretty good job with the animals but the humans are stiff. 

Sorry to Bother You (2018)

I've seen Sorry to Bother You on my Letterboxd homepage many times but, despite it having Tessa Thompson, whom I love, I never bothered watching it, mainly because some of those Letterboxd ratings/reviews were pretty bad. Then Allie over Often Off Topic reviewed it, she talked about how she liked the film, and she really made me want to see it. 

The film is set in an alternate present-day version of Oakland and follows Cassius "Cash" Green (Lakeith Stanfield), a young African-American telemarketer who starts using his white voice and quickly rises through the ranks of his profession. He soon finds himself with plenty of money and no morals as it turns out that the company he works for is completely unethical.

I really liked the idea — the economy is ruined, everyone struggles to find a job so someone creates a company that provides food and shelter for lifelong work contracts— and I was interested in seeing how it'd play out. Unfortunately, it was dreadfully executed and it ended up being tremendously stupid, something that gets more and more ridiculous and uncomfortable to watch as the "plot" moves forward, excruciatingly boring and ultimately unwatchable. It is supposed to deliver a message about the working class and the loss of one's identity, but it gets lost in.

The characters are pretty bad too. Actually, to be fair to awfully written character, I should say Sorry to Bother you features non-existing characters as they have no dimension nor depth whatsoever. Although they aren't presented as caricatures —maybe they would have worked better if they had—, they lack any emotional depth and therefore I didn't sympathize with any of them, nor care about them.

The performances, however, aren't as terrible as one would expect with so little to work with. Lakeith Stanfield gives a solid performance in the lead role as he handles the transition from timid loser to selfish prick very well. Tessa Thompson is equally good as Detroit, Cash's girlfriend, although what sticks the most is her earrings. As for Armie Hammer, who is the only one who is given a character that is presented as a caricature, he's definitely having more fun than I had while watching this crap.

As for the film's style, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it as it's very weird and ambiguous, just like the meaning of the film. The camera work is kind of bizarre, which doesn't necessarily mean bad, but here, I'm more inclined to think that as it is flat and detached as if it was the work of someone who does not like films.