It's My Duty: Customs Frontline (2024) Review

Director: Herman Yau

Notable Cast: Jacky Cheung, Nicholas Tse, Karena Lam Kar-Yan, Liu Yase, Francis Ng, Kenny Kwan Chi-Bun, Carlos Chan Ka-Lok, Michelle Wai, Ben Yuen Foo-Wah, Michelle Yim

 

Considering that director Herman Yau has been one of Hong Kong’s most prolific directors since the early 1990s, it’s fascinating how he has transformed his career to match what the market is looking for. His most recent stint combines a love letter to golden-age 1980s HK action and a craving for Hollywood-style spectacle. He still occasionally slides back to dramatic thrillers or horror films, but he has mostly stuck to his “guns” in recent years. 

 

After dropping four (!) large-scale action flicks in 2023, he’s back with Customs Frontline, which is receiving quite a bit of international press. Featuring two icons of Hong Kong cinema with Nicholas Tse and Jacky Cheung, Customs Frontline follows in the footsteps of some of his previous action blockbusters like The White Storm 3, Moscow Mission, and Shockwave 2. It’s bigger than life, filled with soapy melodrama, and brimming with action sequences that border on refreshingly insane. So, despite a thinly threaded script and characters that feel more like caricatures than people, it’s hard to deny that Customs Frontline doesn’t entertain. It does have a giant ass boat tear through other boats and docks in the neon glow of the Hong Kong skyline. There’s that. 

 

The Fight for Freedom: Escape (2024) Review

Directed by Lee Jong-pil

Notable Cast: Lee Je-hoon, Koo Kyo-hwan, Hong Xa-bin, Seo Hyun-woo, Song Kang, Esom, Shin Hyun-ji, Lee Ho-jung, Jang Yo-hoon

"I'm going there to fail as much as I desire." - Lim Kyu-nam

Relations between North and South Korea have been explored via cinematic offerings for as long as the tensions began in real life. There have been many gems, some hidden and others praised universally, for the portrayal and explorations on-screen that highlight the intricacies and nuances between two very different countries and the powers that be, which ultimately shape how the citizens of each nation exist. If you want to see any films on this topic, you don't have to dig far. South Korea has been putting out titles for as long as I can remember, and a quick online search will give you an entire landscape of outings to explore. I will admit sometimes these films range in quality, and almost always, they have a very nationalistic leaning, which is to be expected to an extent, and Escape is no different in that regard. It sings its own praises quite loudly, but being a thrill ride that is meant to entertain first and foremost, this movie excels at delivering the goods. Escape is a taut thriller that keeps the tensions mounting to anxiety-inducing levels.

Bite Sized Frights: Tastes of Horror (2024) Review

Directors: Ahn Sang-hoon, Yoon Een-Kyoung, Kim Yong-gyun, Lim Dae-woong, Chae Yeo-jun

Notable Cast: Chang Seung-yeon, Oh Seung-hee, Jang Ye-eun, Shin Eun-soo, Kim Ho-jung, Kim Tae-hun, Jo Jae-yun, Yoon Hyun-min, Jang Gwang, Son Jina, Lee Joo-young, Kim Joo-ryong, Choi Su-im, Park Jin-a

 

In the final segment of Tastes of Horror, two young women face off in a perverse eating contest live online. Both are part of the mukbang movement, a live online show where people eat things for their viewers, and their online rivalry is taken to grotesque new heights by the end, resulting in abusive reveals that showcase the horrors beneath. It’s fitting that this final story in this South Korean horror anthology, titled “Gluttony,” would take a darkly humorous look at the horrors underneath the entertainment. If anything, “Gluttony” acts as a kind of thesis statement for the film, despite coming in at the end, and highlights its strengths. 

 

A Wicked Web: Infested (2024) Review

Director: Sébastien Vanicek

Notable Cast: Théo Christine, Sofia Lesaffre, Finnegan Oldfield, Jérôme Niel, Lisa Nyarko, Marie-Philomène Nga, Emmanuel Bonami, Abdellah Moundy, Mahamadou Sangare, Xing Xing Cheng

 

If you don’t like spiders, you should skip this one. Regardless, it would be best if you were warned that this is one of the best creepy-crawly films I’ve ever seen. Sébastien Vanicek makes his feature film directorial debut with Infested (Vermines in the original French) with a shiver-inducing tour de force that will leave audiences itching and staring into the dark spaces of their homes for years to come. After the success of his debut, Vanicek has been tapped to direct the next Evil Dead film, showing a meteoric trajectory for this young terrifier.

 

Kaleb (Théo Christine, Play 2019, Gran Turismo 2023) struggles to make ends meet and find meaning in his gritty urban life in Paris. After his mother's death, he and his sister Lila (Sofia Lesaffre, Lila Ganglands 2021, Les Misérables 2019) struggle to manage their meager inheritance, which Kaleb looks to subsidize by fencing shoes of questionable sourcing and pursue his lifelong dream of opening a reptile and insect zoo.

 

Directors in Focus: Kim Sung-soo | The Flu (2013)

Director: Kim Sung-soo

Notable Cast: Jang Hyuk, Soo Ae, Park Min-ha, Yoo Hai-jin, Ma Dong-seok, Lee Hee-jun, Cha In-pyo

Ten years after Director Kim made Please Teach Me English, he emerged from the shadows to unleash his most commercial effort to date, the disaster blockbuster, The Flu. Admittedly, this was around the time I had become introduced to the director; even though I had seen Beat quite a few years prior, I just was unaware of who he was and hadn't made the connection at this point in time. In his decade of absence from film, Kim dedicated his time to teaching more extensively at university to aspiring young visionaries. Still, the world definitely hankering for a comeback, and while stylistically, this may not be what the diehard fans of the esteemed director were waiting for, The Flu came out swinging at the box office, and was smashing success for the team. Regardless of the popularity or the anticipation of one of Korea's film giants returning to directing, how does the quality of this piece hold up? Upon revisiting this one, which I liked before, and living in a post-COVID world, let's just say how this all unfolds onscreen, I found it all the more harrowing and challenging to watch this go around.

All You Have to Do Is Listen: Monolith (2024) Review

Director: Matt Vesely

Notable Cast: Lily Sullivan

 

There are ways to balance a budget for a film. Limited locations, limited characters, limited visuals. All of these are valid ways of telling a story as long as the creativity in its narrative can carry the weight of the film. Yet, it’s shocking how far Monolith takes it. One star. One location. And that’s essentially it. It’s about as minimalist as possible before someone starts filming in the void. And since it’s about a podcaster, one might argue that it does occur in the void. 

 

Still, as Monolith unfolds, it's strangely hypnotic following a journalist's investigation, played by Lily Sullivan, about mysterious black “bricks” that have been arriving at various people’s homes. Slowly (very, very slowly) but surely, the narrative adds subtle layers to its mystery. It’s a film that asks many questions, rarely provides answers, and loves manipulating the information provided to its audience through the questions the main character asks—or doesn’t ask. 

 

Come Back Home: Polar Rescue (2022) Review

Director: Lo Chi-leung

Notable Cast: Donnie Yen, Han Xue, Jia Bing, Tang Xu, Hou Tianlai, Guangyu Xu, Lin Chenhan, Hu Ming

 

Donnie Yen has been increasingly thoughtful about transitioning his career from an utterly badass action star towards a more traditional dramatic actor in his most recent career phase. Sure, he’s still going to unleash hell in action films like Raging Fire and Sakra, but even those films showcase a dynamic actor shifting his career focus to some degree.

This makes a film like Polar Rescue, titled Come Back Home for its original release back in 2022, such a unique film in the Hong Kong star’s filmography. It’s mostly a dramatic role for him and, for one of the few times in his career, he’s not an utter badass. On one hand, that means that his regular fanbase may find Polar Rescue a bit too different and not action-packed enough – or at all. On the other hand, it is something new for those who enjoy his performances to bite into. 

 

It’s a shame Polar Rescue isn’t a better movie for Yen to showcase his acting skills. 

 

Lead Them to Paradise: Dune: Part Two (2024) Review

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Notable Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Lea Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling

 

Simply ending Dune: Part One on an emotional beat but with no actual resolution to most of its threading or characters is perhaps the one thing I struggled with in the first part of this two-part space opera epic. Denis Villeneuve is a master craftsman, but it's a bold choice when the second half of his film was never green-lit at the time. So, it’s with a relative sense of relief that Dune: Part Two DID get green-lit. Whew. Now I can watch the whole movie. Thanks, box office numbers and strong cult development on home video.  

 

However, the hype is very real going into Dune: Part Two - enough so that I struggled to find tickets for an IMAX screen on opening weekend to see the film on the biggest and loudest screen possible. The first part of this adaption of the Frank Herbert science fiction classic is damn near universally hailed as a masterpiece already, and now that Villeneuve and the team get to finish the story, I was on the hype train. Could the Dune duology be the iconic auteur director’s pinnacle?

Considering the immense critical praise and stunning box office numbers for Dune: Part Two, it might be safe to say that, yes, people are saying as much. Although I found Dune: Part Two to not be as strong as its predecessor in finding its balance, it is a high water mark for cinema thus far in 2024 and another slab of deliriously engaging and fantastical cinema. Gorgeously crafted, meticulously paced, and powered on the continuing themes of its predecessor, Dune: Part Two is Villeneuve making a statement. A statement about his career, the world we live in, and that the space opera crown no longer sits on the brow of Star Wars. 

 

First Battle Is Last Battle: Born to Fly (2023) Review

Director: Liu Xiaoshi

Notable Cast: Wang Yibo, Hu Jun, Zhou Dongyu, Xu Kaicheng, Bu Yu, Yosh Yu, ZHai Yujia, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Pan Binlong

 

In the wake of the subsequent hole left by China “banning” the release of Top Gun: Maverick, it’s no real shock that they would race to release their version of the jingoistic military meets school film that Tom Cruise’s jet-soaring sequel provided the world. While these kinds of propaganda-laden films are already a stock commodity for the Chinese market, I’d be lying that Born to Fly didn't perk up my interest. 

 

However, a limited theatrical release in the US and a Blu-ray release from our friends at Well Go USA definitely made me curious. While the film does have some merits in its dramatic choices and features an intriguing angle regarding the school and its test pilots, it always stays on the ground, burdened by hollow emotional stakes and a by-the-numbers narrative.

 

Not So Itsy: Sting (2024) Review

Director: Kiah Roache-Turner

Notable Cast: Ryan Corr, Alyla Browne, Penelope Mitchell, Robyn Nevin, Noni Hazlehurst, Jermaine Fowler, Silvia Colloca, Danny Kim

As long as I can remember, I've always really loved horror. Both films and books, or even games, for that matter. It's just a genre that is ever expansive and there are so many ways to enjoy it, and just as many possibilities on sub-genres and the themes spread throughout the many mediums that have represented all things spooky. I like my horror in a multitude of different ways and gravitate towards extremely serious stuff, but I also like lower-budgeted outings and schlock from the many decades that the genre has existed within cinema (since the beginning, really). So, when I heard there was a big spider creature feature launching in 2024 in cinemas, I knew I had to seek it out. My expectations were actually non-existent, as I really knew nothing apart from the fantastic and effective poster (the one displayed above this opening), and I am so glad it was that way. You essentially get an apartment building in New York that is snowed in due to a really bad winter storm. Our tenants are not many, but more on that later. We have a core family of four, and the daughter has taken in a mysterious pet spider, and let's just say, this spider isn't your average arachnid. He grows by eating, and the bigger he eats, the bigger he gets. Let the creepy crawly chaos commence!