Year: 2023

Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, beginning Tuesday January 24, available by clicking here. You can also catch it later on demand on Spreaker, Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser and Jiosaavn ...
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“Broker” (“Beurokeo”) (2022). Cast: Song Kang-ho, Dong-won Gang, Doona Bae, Ji-eun Lee, Lee Joo-young, Seung-soo Im, Ryu Kyong-soo, Ji-yong Park. Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda. Screenplay: Hirokazu Kore-eda. Web site. Trailer. When we think of the concept of “family,” we most often consider it as something made up of those with whom we’re developed our closest bonds. This has traditionally been built on a basis of biology, but, over time, we’ve seen that change. And, in some cases, it’s become something that may arise as a result of unexpected circumstances, sometimes exceedingly unfathomable ones. So it is in the delightfully new quirky Korean comedy-drama, “Broker” (“Beurokeo”). Baby Woo-sung (Ji-yong Park) is about to embark on a grand adventure, even if he is unaware of it and doesn’t understand or appreciate the impact it will have on him and his future. Late one rainy night, the boy’s mother, So-young (Ji-eun Lee), approaches a church that’s been equipped with a “baby box,” a secure depository where the parents of infants who are unable or unwilling to care for their young can safely leave their children in the hands of those who will nurture and protect them until they’re ready to be put up for ...
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“Living” (2022). Cast: Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Adrian Rawlins, Hubert Burton, Oliver Chris, Michael Cochrane, Anant Varman, Zoe Boyle, Lia Williams, Jessica Flood, Jonathan Keeble, Patsy Ferran, Barry Fishwick, Tom Burke, Nichola McAuliffe, Thomas Coombes. Director: Oliver Hermanus. Screenplay: Kazuo Ishiguro. Source Material: Akira Kurosawa, screenplay, “Ikiru” (1952). Web site. Trailer. Willingly taking ourselves out of our comfort zones is something that may make many of us squirm in discomfort. As creatures of habit, we like our lives filled with familiarity and predictability. So, when we find ourselves faced with having to make adjustments in light of our conditions, we might rail against those circumstances, especially if we feel the pressure of time constraints squeezing us into unexpected (and not necessarily welcome) alterations. Those are the limitations thrust upon a long-inflexible public official whose advancing years force him into changing his life path in the endearing new drama, “Living.” Mr. Rodney Williams (Bill Nighy) has spent years perfecting the practice of turning life into an unrelenting routine. The aging, button-down civil servant for London’s Department of Public Works lives out virtually every day in the same unchanging manner, executed with impeccably clocklike precision. He seems perfectly content ...
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Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, beginning Tuesday January 10, available by clicking here. You can also catch it later on demand on Spreaker, Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser and Jiosaavn ...
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“The Whale” (2022). Cast: Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, Ty Simpkins, Sathya Sridharan, Jacey Sink. Director: Darren Aronofsky. Screenplay: Samuel D. Hunter. Play: Samuel D. Hunter, The Whale (2012). Web site. Trailer. Compassion is something we could all use more of these days. That’s especially true for those who are trying to resolve difficult personal challenges. They need backing when it comes to helping them sort out the issues they face. But how do we offer support, particularly when we see others engaging in what we believe to be self-destructive behavior? Such are the questions raised in the gripping new drama, “The Whale.” English professor Charlie (Brendan Fraser) has a full plate to address, both literally and figuratively. The reclusive creative writing instructor teaches classes remotely from his dimly lit, claustrophobic apartment in the small college town of Moscow, Idaho. However, Charlie’s students never get to see him on screen; he perpetually claims that his laptop camera is out of order, a repair that never seems to get fixed. In actuality, though, Charlie is embarrassed to be seen online. As a 600-pound morbidly obese man, he’s ashamed of his appearance and can’t bear others seeing what he ...
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