YNOT at the Movies

Founded in 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival is the longest running film festival in the Americas. Even though in 2016, the festival adopted a new name, SFFILM Festival, the original title remains as most people's reference point.

This year marks the 67th edition of the festival, and it continues a striking trend of downsizing its programming and duration. This year, the festival only has 22 narrative features and 14 documentary features, notably a handful of the selected feature films were also part of this year's Sundance Film Festival. The festival's duration is also cut almost by half compared to the past, and only lasts five days, April 24-28, 2024.

Over the past decades, the festival always opened and held screenings at the historic Castro Theatre, which is now under renovation. So this year the festival venues have a major shift to the north side of the city, and it will take place at the Premier Theater (the birthplace of "Star Wars"), the Marina Theatre, Vogue Theatre, the Walt Disney Family Museum, and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) in Berkeley. Following the festival run, May 2-4, at the Roxie Theater, the SFFILM Festival Encore Days program will screen award winners and a selection of films from the main program.

On Wednesday, April 24, the festival opens with the Bay Area filmmaker Sean Wang's semi-autobiographical directorial feature debut "Didi" (弟弟 | USA 2023 | in English/Mandarin | 90 min.), which won the Audience Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It tells a coming-of-age story of a 13-year-old boy's first happenings while growing up in a loving family in Fremont, CA.

The festival closes on Sunday, April 28, with another directorial feature debut but featuring a 93-year-old lady—Josh Margolin's comedy "Thelma" (USA 2024 | 94 min.). It tells the story of its titular character who fights back against a phone scammer.

(You may click on each still image for the corresponding screening or event's show time and ticket information.)

This year, the festival has two tribute programs to celebrate two outstanding artists—Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chiwetel Ejiofor and award-winning San Franciscan Joan Chen. On Saturday, April 27, after an on-stage conversation, Chiwetel Ejiofor's new film "Rob Peace" (USA/Brazil 2024 | 119 min.) will have its West Coast premiere. On Sunday, April 28, following an on-stage conversation, Joan Chen's directorial debut feature "Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl" (天浴 | China/USA 1998 | in Mandarin | 99 min.) will be shown on a 35 mm print.

Even though the festival's program is relatively smaller, this year's Asian films have a remarkable presence. Besides opening night's Asian American film "Didi" and the special screening of Joan Chen's "Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl", there are a few interesting Asian films or films telling stories about Asian Americans or Asia. Here are a few samplers.

---

• Black Box Diaries (Japan/USA/UK 2024 | in Japanese/English | 99 min. | Documentary)

  

  The #MeToo movement against sexual violence has made some progress in Western countries, but not much so in Asian countries like Japan. Named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2020, Japanese journalist Shiori Ito (伊藤 詩織) changed that status quo by publishing a book, "Black Box," in 2017 to criticize sexism in Japan's society and institutions based on her own experience as a rape victim. She also turns her courageous fight into a deeply personal and moving documentary, "Black Box Diaries."

  This powerful film chronicles her battle in Japan's criminal justice system, which is still upholding the outdated and unjust 110-year-old law toward rape victims. Instead of keeping silent as most of the sexual assault victims do in Japan, Shiori Ito went public and accused her predator, Noriyuki Yamaguchi, who is a high-profile Japanese journalist and a close personal friend to the prime minister Shinzo Abe. Over several years, she writes diaries to document the emotionally draining journey of seeking justice for herself and for other sexual assault victims, and candidly shares her personal story in this extraordinary documentary.

  ---

• Agent of Happiness (Bhutan/Hungary 2023 | in Dzongkha/Nepali | 94 min. | Documentary)

  

  What might be your answers if you are asked this question, "How happy and satisfied are you with life?" If that sounds like too big of a question to answer, how about answering some simpler questions such as "how many cows do you have?" or "do you have a TV?" or "how much sleep do you get?"

  That's how the Bhutan citizens are surveyed by 75 trained agents roaming the country to conduct the yearly census about happiness. The answers collected then are aggregated into a number, called Gross National Happiness Index, to measure the citizens' happiness.

  The fascinating documentary "Agent of Happiness" follows one of these survey agents, 40-year-old bachelor Amber Kumar Gurung, traveling around the beautiful mountain villages, and samples some of the answers from interviewed individuals. This engrossing film, co-directed by Bhutanese director Arun Bhattarai and Hungarian director Dorottya Zurbó, terrifically captures the daily lives of some of the characters and provokes us to question the credibility of such survey and whether it truthfully reflects the happiness of the nation's citizens.

  Even though happiness is what Amber and his colleague Guna Raj Kuikel talk about with others all the time while traveling around, he almost never smiles and seems very unhappy himself. Amber serves as the only caregiver for his aging mother, he desperately looks for a woman to marry, and he is frustrated of not being granted citizenship which is causing all kinds of hardship for him.

  For others interviewed by them, the results can vary widely. For example, the man who has three wives and 11 children in four years sounds really happy; so does the young couple who don't have much but adore their two young sons. However, a 17-year-old girl who has helped her alcoholic mother since she was twelve has a heavy burden on her young mind; so is the transgender woman who worries about her future and next life.

  The happiness index is calculated based on 148 questions in 9 categories. Some of the questions range from silly to ridiculous, and others should have been only asked by a licensed therapist. The film doesn't explain the details about how the happiness index for each individual is calculated, nor tell us why some are asked one set of questions while others are offered with different ones. More interestingly, some of the answers appear to be randomly determined by Amber and his colleague Guna. Observed from the interviews in the film, I can certainly conclude that the survey is neither statistically valid nor scientifically sound. The claim that 93.6% of Bhutanese are happy this year, an increase of 3.3% from last year, is severely doubted.

  Despite that the happiness index numbers are questionable, the film offers a glimpse of how Bhutanese live on top of the mountains and the unique culture they cherish and embrace. Some of the citizens don't seem to have much material possession, but they are content with what they have and they appear very happy with their lives. That clearly echoes the wisdom from one Chinese proverb: "Happiness lies in contentment" (知足者常乐).

  Even if a number can measure one's happiness, it's probably not the number Amber and other agents are coming up with.

  ---

• Sidonie in Japan (Sidonie au Japon | France/Germany/Switzerland/Japan 2023 | in French/Japanese/English | 95 min.)

  

  Quite often, a movie about ghosts in Japan falls into the horror genre. But there is nothing scary in the director Élise Girard's drama "Sidonie in Japan." It tells a story about a French author going to Japan for a book tour, only to encounter the ghost of her late husband, while developing a bit of affection toward her publisher of her book's Japanese translation.

  Sidonie Perceval (Isabelle Huppert)'s book was just translated and published in Japan. Invited by her publisher Kenzo Mizoguchi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), she comes to Japan for a book tour, accompanied by Kenzo who acts almost like a bodyguard.

  Sidonie appears to have never been to Japan before, nor knows much about Japanese customs. She mimics hotel workers' bows and feels strange by Kenzo's behavior. However, the two quickly find something in common—they are both survivors of personal tragedies. Sidonie has lost not only her parents in a car accident, but also her husband Antoine Percevel (August Diehl) in another car accident, and she survives those accidents unscratched. Kenzo has lost his relatives tracing back multiple generations.

  Soon after Sidonie arrives in Japan, she starts to see her late husband Antoine showing up around her. Even though Antoine is a ghost figure and doesn't have any physical form other than an image, he is able to communicate with Sidonie and tries to help her to come to a closure. Meanwhile, Sidonie begins to have some feelings toward Kenzo. A productive trip, isn't it?

  Élise Girard unfolds her story in a low-key manner that's quite fitting for some of the scenery locations in Japan, for example, a cemetery or a river bank lined with cherry blossom. However, the story lacks the emotional gravity as in "All of Us Strangers" (2023) which has a similar setup about reconnecting with loved ones in a ghost form.

  The romance between Sidonie and Kenzo also seems to be a little forced, and there is little chemistry between the two on screen. Perhaps the director Élise Girard already realized that, and she chose to use still images to display the intimacy of these two characters, rather than live actions. It makes you wonder if the romance is real after all, like the ghosts.

  ---

• The Cats of Gokogu Shrine (五⾹宮の猫 | Japan/USA 2024 | in Japanese | 119 min.)

  

  Labeled as "Observation Film #10," the director Kazuhiro Sôda's new mesmerizing documentary "The Cats of Gokogu Shrine" is definitely observant and inquisitive about stray cats living at the site of Gokogu Shrine (五⾹宮) in the seaside town of Ushimado (牛窓) in Japan. But his camera, as curious as those cats he filmed, extends beyond the playful cats into the surrounding aging community.

  Apparently, the cats around Gokogu Shrine are quite well-known. People from near and far frequently come to feed, pet, and adore these stray cats. But as complained by the locals, they only come to feed them but don't take care of the poop from these cats. They also create a wrong impression that people can abandon their cats here, because they will be fed often by other people.

  We hardly see any young people in the film. A group of most elderly volunteers maintain the shrine, tend the plants, look after each other, clean after the cats, and even neuter the cats to control the population. They also share their life stories and their candid opinions about these cats.

  In this film, the director Kazuhiro Sôda subtly captures the daily details and slowly assembles them into a complete mosaic that is both fascinating and mesmerizing. His filmmaking style is strikingly similar to how the legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman makes his films, except Sôda's film is much shorter and he sometimes interacts with the subjects he is filming while on camera, which Frederick Wiseman never doe.s

  Regardless of whether you are a cat lover or not, after watching this documentary, those cats at Gokogu Shrine will stay with you for a long time, as well as those kind elderly people who take care of nature and the living. You wonder what their future will be like.

  ---

• Great Absence (大いなる不在 | Japan 2023 | in Japanese | 152 min.)

  

  As we live longer, dementia has become more and more prevalent, especially in Japan which has about five millions people suffering from this terrible disease. Based on his own experience, the Japanese director Kei Chika-ura's poignant sophomore feature "Great Absence" unfolds a son's quest to reconnect with his estranged father who suffers from dementia. It's heartbreaking to see how an intelligent and romantic mind can completely slip away.

  The film opens with an amusing scene of the police raiding a home after a hostage situation is reported. By the end of the film, that amusing scene has become profoundly somber, because the call is made by the elderly physicist Yohji (Tatsuya Fuji), whose dementia has become so severe that he can no longer make any sense, nor take care of himself.

  After he is admitted to a medical facility, his estranged son Takashi (Mirai Moriyama), an actor playing in a contemporary play, is summoned to sign some legal documents. It turns out that it has been years since the father and son connected. When Takashi was young, Yohji left his family for his first love Naomi (Hideko Hara), and Takashi lost touch with Yohji. Even when Takashi got married to Yuki (Yôko Maki), Yohji was absent.

  Now, when Yohji completely loses his mind, Takashi begins to piece together who his father Yohji really is. It is almost like a detective job for him because it's too late for him to talk to Yohji directly. He can only look for clues from Yohji's love notes attached to Naomi's diary, the sticky-notes posted all over the house to remind himself about daily tasks, and the surviving friends who used to know Yohji. It's a way for Takashi to search for the father he lost, twice.

  In this slow burning film, the director Kei Chika-ura vividly brings the devastation of dementia to the front and center, and develops a moving father-son relationship. Using a structure of going back and forth in time, he carefully reveals some of the mysteries his characters encounter and intentionally leaves the rest unresolved, just like life itself.

  Winning the best actor award at last year's San Sebastian Festival, Tatsuya Fuji gives a calibrated and arresting performance as the aging professor. He was also the fantastic lead actor in Kei Chika-ura's directorial feature debut "Complicity" (コンプリシティ　優しい共犯 | Japan 2018). The rest of the cast are also terrific, especially Mirai Moriyama as Yohji's son, Takashi.

  The film could have been shortened from its two and half hour running time. Takashi's contemporary play scenes seem unnecessary to be included, because they only distract from the main story, and don't add anything to the Takashi character. We already learn so much more about him, and feel his pain and sorrow when we hear him recite Yohji's love notes to Noami.

Lying off the coast of West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, Fernando Po (now renamed Bioko) was used by the Nazi Germany as a refueling hub for their U-boats that controlled the Atlantic during World War II. In 1942, the British government's Special Operations Executive (SOE) organized a secret mission named Operation Postmaster to sabotage this base, which would clear the way for US ships to join the fight against the Nazis. However, the mission was not actually authorized not by the British government, but secretly by the Prime Minister Churchill himself.

The director Guy Ritchie fictionalized this impossible mission into an entertaining action comedy, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" (USA/UK/Turkey 2024 | 120 min.). As if watching skilled game players playing a video game, a group of unconventional fighters kill Nazis on screen like no others. Even if you don't believe that it can be that easy, you still can't help but cheer for them.

As the war goes on and the British is on the blink of losing to Nazi Germany in 1941, with the support from Churchill (Rory Kinnear), a secret service officer M (Cary Elwes) and the creator of the 007 character, Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox), summons ex-con Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill) to form a team on a secret mission to destroy German's U-boat supplies in Fernando Po. Because it's unauthorized by the British government, if they are caught by the British at sea, they will be in prison; if they are caught by the Germans, they will be tortured to death.

Gus gladly takes on the task, besides the cigars on the table. He assembles the members of the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, named by Churchill, in no time: a ship navigator expert Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin); an underwater bomb installation specialist Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding), a.k.a. the Frogman; a master planner Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer); a killing machine Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson), a.k.a. The Danish Hammer. Before they sail off for their mission, they have to rescue their master planner Geoffrey from the Nazis' interrogation cell. That seems way easier to do than what they are about to accomplish later.

The ministry also gets intelligence from two spy agents: a glamorous Jewish actress Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González) who manipulates the Nazi officer Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger), and a well-connected black casino owner Heron (Babs Olusanmokun) whose parties are magnets for the Nazis officers and soldiers.

Even though they are surrounded by the Nazis, they are able to carry out their grand scheme without a scratch, and pave the way for the US to join the war.

The director Guy Ritchie takes the lighter approach on this life and death ordeal that was an almost impossible mission. He wants to make a comedy more than a thriller. Actually, there is hardly a thrilling moment in the film because all the Germans are portrayed like zombies. As if they are either blind or deaf, they are too dumb to notice all the killings around them when the Postmaster team trespasses anywhere they want to. Any verbal exchange with the Nazis is like delivering lines in a stand-up comedy club.

If it were that easy to fight against the Nazis, World War II would not have lasted that long. But this film uses that event as an entertaining material to let the audience have a good time with the team they are rooting for. It's like you are watching a game in a sports bar, how can you not have a good time when you see your team winning on screen, all the time?

This film is not a history lesson, nor is it a thrilling mission impossible or 007 installment, it's just an exhibition of a fun game that you can't help but to cheer on.

"The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" opens on Friday, April 19, 2024.

Sports are never solely about the competition of physical ability, they are also about the rivalry of intelligence and psychology. The Italian director Luca Guadagnino splendidly illustrates this in his latest drama "Challengers" (USA 2024 | 131 min.). The movie unfolds a fascinating game played by three tennis players both on and off the court over a period of 13 years. It superbly reveals their mind-games which are as fierce as the physical game on the tennis court.

The film opens on a sun-soaked tennis court in 2019. A heated match takes place on the court between the big-shot Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and washed-up Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor), and Art's wife and coach Tashi Donaldson (Zendaya) is nervously watching the game in the audience. The vivid close-ups convey the intensely racing minds of the trio, and their minds are somewhere more than just on the court chasing the tennis ball.

Immediately, the film flashes back to 13 years ago in 2006 when Art and Patrick were 17 years old, teamed together playing on the court as a duo. During a tournament, they meet the strikingly charismatic player Tashi and both fall for her hard. The bond between Art and Patrick since their childhood starts to crack, and Tashi's emotional control over the two boys begins.

As if shuffling a stack of memory cards, the film constantly goes back to a certain time from the present or the past. Both Art and Tashi go to Stanford and Patrick drifts away. But like a tennis match, the battle between Art and Patrick over Tashi continues to win and lose on both sides. Even though Patrick and Tashi are a couple at first, it's Art who eventually marries Tashi and they have a daughter together.

After Tashi ends her tennis career, she becomes Art's coach and helps to make Art a rising tennis star. She wants Art to fulfill the ambition in tennis that she fails to accomplish. When Art's performance deteriorates, Tashi arranges for him to go to a less competitive tournament to build some confidence. But when Patrick, who is completely broke, also shows up at the tournament, things get way more complicated than everyone has expected. So who will win?

As in his previous film "Call Me by Your Name" (2017), the director Luca Guadagnino is masterful in portraying subtle emotions when the main characters interact with each other. He shows little interest in the technicality of playing tennis, he only uses tennis as the vehicle to unveil the psychological tensions among his characters. But that doesn't mean the tennis match is not thrilling to watch. Quite the contrary, with the superb cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, who is also the collaborator of Luca Guadagnino's previous films, the tennis matches on screen are absolutely exhilarating.

Among the trio, Tashi is clearly the top player off the court. She always has a clear strategy to advance her agenda and to manipulate the other two players. Zendaya's top-notch performance terrifically creates the mesmerizing character Tashi. Even though Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor are also excellent in the film, they definitely look unconvincing when they play their teenage-selves that are supposed to be dated more than a decade ago.

However, the film unnecessarily shuffles in time too frequently, which breaks the flow of the storytelling and sometimes even causes confusions about when and where a scene is happening. It could have been a much better film if it just progresses based on the timeline and allows the audience to absorb the dynamic relationship development among the trio.

"Challengers" opens on Friday, April 26, 2024.

It's no fiction that today's American political climate is as polarized as it has ever been. What if the country continues down this path beyond this year's election? The writer-director Alex Garland's unnerving drama "Civil War" (USA/UK 2024 | 119 min.) provides some hints. It vividly paints a horrific picture of what the divided America looks like when it slips into a civil war. It's an unsettling warning about that direr perspective to many people, like some of those in the film, who refuse to acknowledge that possibility.

When the film opens, the third term President (Nick Offerman) of the United States is practicing his speech claiming victory over the rebel—Western Force (WF), a California-Texas military force fighting against the government troops. However, on the war front, the WF is winning and taking over the country. Even though cities like New York City are not yet as ruined as today's Gaza, it's not too far off either.

The seasoned war photojournalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst) is right at the center of the war zone, taking pictures, even though it's unclear where her photos are going to be published and whether people still rely on newspapers or online sources to get news feed about the war.

Sensing the President's days in the White House are numbered, Lee wants to get an interview with the President. She begins her 875 miles journey driving to Washington D.C. with her colleagues Joel (Wagner Moura), a reporter for Reuters, Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), a reporter for the New York Times, and a young photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) who admires Lee as a role model.

The road trip is a horrific life and death ordeal. The big word PRESS printed on their vest and the van doesn't prevent them from being shot at and killed. It becomes disorienting even trying to figure out who is fighting whom and for what. Certainly, there are plenty of astonishing images for Lee and Jessie to capture on their cameras during the trip.

The writer-director Alex Garland unflinchingly shows us the unthinkable scenario, which actually is entirely possible. He intentionally left out the why and when the war in the film takes place, which makes it even more terrifying for the viewers to connect the dots with the current political reality. But what's missing in the film is any ideology or political statement, unless you consider anti-war to be one. As some of the characters in the film stated, they kill simply for the reason of not being killed.

Despite the fact that the film doesn't offer any insightful point toward this jarring possibility in the future of America, it does provoke one question, asked by one of the fighters (Jesse Plemons) waving an automatic rifle, "What kind of American are you?" The answer to this question seems to be at the center of the reason why the civil war broke out.

Kirsten Dunst gives an outstanding performance as Lee, the brave photojournalist, who makes us rethink about the purpose and meaning of press. When she is in a war zone, Lee appears to put her journalist duty on top of all other matters, including her own life. But do the photos she takes really matter in the fog of war? To whom? If a journalist is indeed apolitical and impartial, why would any side of a conflict allow them to be embedded within their side and even protect their safety? So it must be impossible to be neutral if you are a journalist reporting a war. Just open a newspaper or turn on the TV to see the ongoing war reporting.

If nothing else, this provocative film shouts loud and clear: You are warned, America!

"Civil War" opens on Friday, April 12, 2024.

The British director Ross Glass's sophomore feature "Love Lies Bleeding" (USA 2024 | 104 min.) is a blood-soaked neo-noir featuring a few mesmerizing characters. Its unpredictable and often shocking plot makes the film a fun watch, despite the unconvincing love affair between the two lesbian protagonists.

The film is set in 1989 in a sleepy town in New Mexico. Lou (Kristen Stewart) is the manager at a local gym decorated by numerous motivational posters. However, Lou is not motivated at all at work. She is dreadful about the clogged toilets and unruly gym goers. And, she is trying to quit smoking and break up with her on-and-off hookup, Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov), who is crazy about Lou.

When a drifter Jackie (Katy O'Brian) comes to the gym pumping iron, Lou immediately falls for her. Jackie is hitchhiking to Las Vegas to participate in a bodybuilding competition. She is an opportunist, and will do anything to advance. She trades sex with JJ (Dave Franco), Lou's abusive brother-in-law, to get a waitress job at a shooting range, owned by Lou's estranged father, Lou Sr. (Ed Harris) who has hilarious long hair on the side of his bald head.

Is Jackie attracted to Lou in the same way as Lou is attracted to Jackie? Maybe or maybe not. But Jackie definitely prefers Lou's bed than the concrete underneath an overpass, and she is also delighted by the steroids Lou offered her, and she is going to need that before the competition.

Meanwhile, Lou's family is closely watched by the F.B.I. because of Lou Sr.'s criminal history. Just as the family secrets begin to surface, so do the dead bodies. Lou and Jackie end up on the run, far away from what they have planned for themselves.

The film has some scorching hot lesbian love scenes between Lou and Jackie. But that doesn't mean the love between the two is convincing. They are more likely falling in bed than falling in love. However, no one can mistake the obsession of Daisy toward Lou, who cannot love Daisy back the same way.

Even though the love part isn't quite plausible, the bleeding part is completely realistic in the film. It makes this film a fun memorable trip along the roads that Jackie and Lou are running on. There are many films that have bodies piling up constantly, yet the director Ross Glass makes her film as shocking and original as possible when blood is splashed.

There isn't much true love in the film, but plenty of bleeding.

"Love Lies Bleeding" opens in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday, March 15, 2024.

Three years ago, the writer-director Denis Villeneuve brought Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel to the big screen—the visually stunning "Dune: Part One" (2021). The fans have been eagerly waiting to see the rest of the story. The second installment, "Dune: Part Two" (USA/Canada 2024 | 166 min.) makes the saga even more exhilarating to experience.

I use the word "experience" instead of "watch" because not only will you be captivated by the staggering visuals, but you will also be literally immersing yourself into that fictional world on the big screen sitting in your seats vibrating from the sound effects and music.

Besides all those triumphant technical achievements as in the previous film (Part One won six Oscars in that regard), this Part Two tells an arresting story about power, politics, religion, identity, and love. Part Two really should have been made together with Part One, or at least the theaters should have re-released the previous film, so they can be watched continuously for the viewers to enjoy this grand epic in its entirety.

Part Two starts where Part One left off on Planet Arrakis, the sandy place with little water, a.k.a. Dune, where Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is fighting along with the Fremen against the brutal ruler Harkonnens. Harkonnens is led by the Baron (Stellan Skarsgård) with Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista) as his barbaric soldier. They are responsible for the murder of Paul's father, Duke Leto Atreides, in Part One. Paul seeks revenge by joining the resistance force led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem) from the South.

Paul's mother, the ambitious Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), has the ability to communicate with her unborn daughter and foresee the future. She wants the Fremen to believe Paul is the Messiah who will lead them to Paradise. She wants him to take over the throne from the Emperor (Christopher Walken).

But Paul falls in love with Fremen warrior Chani (Zendaya), and taking the throne means he has to sacrifice his love for her. He is also torn between revenge for his late father and preventing a prophecy he foresees that a holy war is going to be fought in his name. By his own actions, he proves himself to be a brave leader for the Fremen, despite his outsider status. He adopts a new name Muad'Dib Usul, and his reputation grows bigger and bigger and wins battles over the Harkonnens. Eventually, he takes on a duel with Baron's sadistic nephew Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) and checkmates the Emperor.

While the film is a grand showcase of sci-fi spectacles and wild imagination, Denis Villeneuve makes it even more engaging with the character development and an engaging story. The politics played out by the characters resembles those fascinating feuds in TV-series like "Game of Thrones." Even though he didn't make the film's plot a metaphor to our real world, yet the costume, the environment, the religious practice, and the language on that foreign planet remarkably resembles the Arabic region in the Middle-East, especially when there is a real war taking place in that region.

Timothée Chalamet's performance beautifully creates a towering figure born in a harsh living environment. His piercing stares deliver conviction, determination, and dedication. He makes Paul's love for Chani not only believable, but also heartbreaking.

As in Part One, we once again see the unique "sand walk" and the breathtaking "sand surfing" by clinching on sandworms, a giant creature traveling underneath the sand which can be called by tapping the ground. It's an ingenious type of transportation utilized by the Fremen on Dune, without any seat belt provided.

It's a good idea to watch Part One again before going to see Part Two, because it really should have been one single film that runs over five hours continuously—that would be even more epic than they already are.

"Dune: Part Two" opens on Friday, March 1, 2024.

The Academy-award winning brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen teamed together and made many American classics, such as "Fargo" (1996) and "No Country for Old Men" (2007). After 18 films as co-writer-directors, the brothers decided to each make films on his own. The first solo directional work for Joel Coen is the stylish Shakespearean "The Tragedy of Macbeth" (2021), with his wife Frances McDormand playing the protagonist. On the other hand, Joel's brother Ethan Coen's first solo directorial work, "Drive-Away Dolls" (USA 2024 | 84 min.) which is co-written by his wife Tricia Cooke, is a completely different type of film. It's a campy lesbian farce that was originally titled "Drive-Away Dykes." The story line is too thin and far-fetched to be considered as a serious drama, it is not funny enough to be a comedy, and it's hardly thrilling.

In the film, the free-spirited and sex-positive Jamie (Margaret Qualley) breaks up with her cop girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein), and gets kicked out of the apartment. She convinces her restrained friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) to go on a road trip to Tallahassee, Florida with her in a drive-away car. Jamie wants to make the journey a sex-filled fun trip with lesbian bar hopping and BBQ tasting. Marian wants to just finish her book and revisit her childhood experience when she peeked at her neighbor's naked sunbathing woman.

Little do they know, the drive-away car that Jamie and Marian are supposed to deliver in Tallahassee has a briefcase in the trunk that belongs to a group of criminals, and the briefcase is involved in a murder at the opening scene of the film. Marina is irritated by Jamie's hook-ups along the way, and the criminals are chasing after them trying to get the briefcase back.

The predictable story is not only thin, but also dubious. Back in 1999, LGBTQ people could only meet others in locations such as local bookstores or gay bars. Yet, Jamie and Marina seem to have great luck being able to join lesbian orgies on the road. The criminals in the film are like clowns and you will feel even more ridiculous when you see what's in that briefcase that they have been chasing after. The director Ethan Coen does not even try to make you believe the plot, he wants the film to be campy and wild, but he is no comparison to John Waters in that regard.

The comedy in the film is as weak as the plot. I am not sure how many lesbian couples have a dildo mounted in their apartments, but if you think it's funny that Sukie tries to get a dildo off the wall when she kicks Jamie out of the apartment, then you might find the rest of the film funny.

If you are looking for a road trip movie featuring hilarious lesbian couples, check out the comedy gold "Cloudburst" (2011) with the wonderful late Olympia Dukakis, and stay away from this drive-away trip to Tallahassee.

"Drive-Away Dolls" opens in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday, February 23, 2024.

It's time for the annual top-ten list again. Here are the ten best films among the 210 feature-length narrative and documentary films I watched during the calendar year of 2023, no matter when and if a film was released in the US during 2023.

10. Children of the Mist (Vietnam 2021 | in Hmong/Vietnamese | 92 min. | Documentary)

    The documentary tells a devastating story about a thirteen years Hmong girl Di living in Northern Vietnam who tries to stay in school and escape an arranged marriage.

    

    ---

9. A House Made of Splinters (Denmark/Ukraine/Sweden/Germany/Finland 2023 | in Russian | 87 min. | Documentary)

   This is an incredibly touching and observant documentary about children who are removed from their home waiting for court's custody decision in Ukraine.

   

   ---

8. One fine morning (Un beau matin | France/UK/Germany 2022 | 112 min.)

   Léa Seydoux gave a mesmerizing performance playing a woman who juggling between her young daughter and her father who suffers dementia.

   

   ---

7. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (USA 2023 | 156 min. | My review)

   Tom Cruise beats any superhero and delivers breathtaking sequences in this exhilarating action thriller.

   

   ---

6. A New Old Play (椒麻堂会 | Hong Kong/China/France 2023 | in Chinese | 179 min.)

   This stylish film tells an epic story through a theatre troupe's evolving changes that reflect China's recent history.

   

   ---

5. All of Us Strangers (UK/USA 2023 | 105 min. | My review)

   The British writer-director Andrew Haigh masterfully crafts a deeply affecting and heart-wrenching story about a gay man's grief, love, longing, and loneliness in this charming film.

   

   ---

4. Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (ONODA 一万夜を越えて | France/Japan/Germany/Belgium/Italy/Cambodia 2021 | in Japanese | 173 min.)

   The film unfolds an incredible true story of a Japanese soldier stayed fighting in the jungle in the Philippines for another 10,000 days after World War II ended.

   

   ---

3. About Us But Not About Us (Philippines 2022 | in Tagalog/Filipino | 91 min. | My review)

   Even though the film is set entirely at a dining table over the conversation between two individuals, the twists and turns never stop from the beginning to the end, with high drama and raw emotions.

   

   ---

2. Oppenheimer (UK/USA 2023 | 180 min. | My review)

   Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Oppenheimer, the brilliant director Christopher Nolan tells the life story of the father of the atomic bomb.

   

   ---

1. Past Lives (USA/South Korea 2023 | 106 min. | My review)

   This movie beautifully examines the Yi-yun relationships among three kind souls who are poignantly intertwined together by their fate.

   

   ---

Until next year...

Even though American Samoa has been part of the United States for a long time, most Americans hardly have heard about this island nation in the Pacific Ocean. However, Some might have known its national soccer team's record 31-0 loss to Australia during the Oceanian qualifying match for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. To turn this worst soccer team around, an outsider, Dutch American coach Thomas Rongen, was hired and the team made a triumphant first ever win against Tonga in 2011 for the 2014 World Cup qualifier. This extraordinary underdog story was told in a documentary "Next Goal Wins" (2014). Based on this documentary and with deep affections to the Polynesian people and culture, the Academy-award winning director Taika Waititi's hilarious dramedy "Next Goal Wins" (UK/USA 2023 | 103 min.) is an immensely entertaining crowd pleaser. Not only will you root for this unique soccer team, but you will also appreciate the Polynesian culture you learn from this movie.

After the devastating and embarrassing 31-0 loss to Australia, with his wife Ruth's (Rachel House) support, the wise and humorous Tavita (Oscar Kightley), Head of the Football Federation of American Samoa (amongst many other job titles), decides to replace the coach to turn the team around. The gentle mannered coach Ace (David Fane) is replaced by hot-tempered outsider Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) who has no desire to be there, and has been dealing with alcoholism and his anger issues after losing his daughter in a car accident and divorcing her ex-wife Gail (Elisabeth Moss).

In a town next to the magnificent ocean beaches with a 20 miles per hour speed limit, the national soccer team's members are all non-professionals. Wanting to win a game but are unable to, they play mostly for the passion of the sport and for the spirit of the community. The non-binary team captain Jaiyah (Kaimana) is the soul of the team, who is also a waitress at Tavita's family restaurant. Other team members include Tavita's stubborn son Daru (Beulah Koale), a policeman Rambo (Semu Filipo), a high-school student Jonah (Chris Alosio), the always smiling Smiley (Ioane Goodhue), the original handsome goalie Nicky Salapu (Uli Latukefu) and the new obese goalie Pisa (Lehi Makisi Falepapalangi), the non-English speaking Samson (Hio Pelesasa), among other colorful characters.

Thomas doesn't really have any magic to make these amateur players win a game, and the expectation from Tavita is to just have one goal during a game. But together, they achieve great progress with an exhilarating win eventually. In the process, instead of Thomas coaching the team to play soccer, the Polynesian people teach Thomas to find happiness, as Tavita puts it: "like finding a little lost white kid at the mall and telling him which way to go."

From beginning to the end, the writer-director Taika Waititi kept the joyful and comical tone up and filled the movie with hilarious moments. The love for the Polynesian people and culture is evidently embedded in his storytelling. It's a delightful and eye-opening experience to see the lives portrayed based on real people on this exquisite island.

All the Polynesian cast are terrific in the film. While Michael Fassbender does a decent job playing the angry coach Thomas, he is obviously a miscast for this role. He is not quite the comedy type and many others such as Jeff Bridges, J. K. Simmons, or even Robert Downey Jr. could have been a better fit for this role.

This isn't really a movie about soccer, it's a love letter to the Polynesian people and their culture. When they play soccer on the lush green field surrounded by beautiful mountains, they are actually writing meditative poetry in their own language, with elegant songs, dances, and the warmth in their hearts.

"Next Goal Wins" opens in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday, November 17, 2023.