Tag: Slice of Life

REVIEW: ‘Minari’ is a beautiful, emotional immigrant story

Definitions of the American Dream can sometimes vary, but when you see it, you know it. An audience can see it clearly in this picture.

“Minari” tells the story of David (Alan Kim), a young boy whose Korean family is moving to Arkansas. His father Jacob (Steven Yeun) and mother Monica (Han Ye-ri) both get positions at a local chicken hatchery for employment, and settle in at a rural home. Along with his parents, David’s family also includes his sister Anne (Noel Kate Cho) and grandmother Soon-ja (Youn Yuh-jung).

As the film goes on, it’s shown that Jacob intended to use his job at the hatchery to get some footing, and that his main plan is to create a farm on his property, where he will grow Korean vegetables. As he plants more crops, Jacob hires a neighbor, Paul (Will Patton), to help with the process. The film follows the family trying to establish their life in Arkansas and the struggles that come with it.

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REVIEW: ‘The Assistant’ is a superb film

This is a movie with fewer words than others, but it has a lot to say.

The movie follows the main character Jane (Julia Garner) as she goes about her day at work in a New York City film production company. Jane is one of three assistants working for the company’s boss, and she’s clearly at the bottom of the totem pole.

Along with working in a rather thankless job, Jane also begins to notice signs of sexual abuse taking place in the office. What’s worse is that many of her coworkers seem to have a level of awareness, but are largely staying quiet about the whole thing.

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REVIEW: ‘Gloria Bell’ glows thanks to Julianne Moore

Director Sebastian Lelio had some experience going into this project, since “Gloria Bell” is actually a remake of his own 2013 Chilean film “Gloria.”

Gloria, played in the American version by Julianne Moore, is a woman who frequents disco dance clubs in Los Angeles on a regular basis. Having been divorced for about a decade, Gloria visits the clubs and mingles with some of the guys there, with the hope of maybe sparking a new relationship in mind.

During one of her outings, she meets Arnold (John Turturro), another divorcee who’s also looking for a new relationship. The two hit it off and begin dating each other. However, they find out that they might not be the most perfect match.

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REVIEW: ‘Eighth Grade’ is a top tier coming-of-age film

Even though the only social media platforms I had in grade school was MSN Messenger and MySpace, I was still able to relate to much of what was going on in this feature. I think that will be the same for many people who watch this picture.

As one might guess, the movie is about the eighth grade. More specifically, it’s about Kayla (Elsie Fisher), a young girl going through the final days of her eighth grade year. She has her own Youtube channel where she gives out advice and often acts confident in front of the camera. However, in reality Kayla is much more of a shy and awkward person who appears to be an introvert.

As the days go by, Kayla experiences what most middle-schoolers go through, from school drills to dealing with other students. Through those experiences, the audience gets to know quite a bit about what the character is living through, both emotionally and mentally.

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