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Reviews
The Light Between Oceans (2016)
A beautiful story with beautiful performances
"You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day, all the time. You have to keep remembering the bad things. It's too much work."
All of us fallen human beings, living in a fallen world, have experienced hurt and have seen pain, leading us to make wrong decisions; but God, through love, brings us together more than anything.
This 2016 film by Derek Cianfrance, which is an adaptation of a novel, is beautiful, with a story that's woven to tug at your heart and feel for the characters. The leads (Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Rachel Weisz) were great at their performances, the music is touching and moving, and the cinematography is excellent.
La sociedad de la nieve (2023)
Powerful film of love between friends during the darkest of times
Where is God during the darkest of times? Where is God when it seems he doesn't answer any of our prayers? Where is God, when we are trapped in the snow and high mountains? These questions were asked of the Uruguayan people who suffered a plane crash in the Andes mountain range in 1972, where out of 45 people, 29 died, and the surviving 16 had to survive hostile weather conditions and lack of food and water for 72 days. And it would be understandable why they must have asked those questions, and we would be hypocrites if we say we haven't asked them.
This powerful film by J. A. Bayona is made with great performances and script and excellent music and cinematography, even though its mature themes and disturbing images have made it absolutely heartbreaking and painful (but also hopeful and emotional).
The film is also a powerful testament to the truth of the Bible verse spoken by Jesus: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
The Laundromat (2019)
A humorous film about the sad reality of human greed
"God passed a law against greed, but that didn't stop people from breaking it."
This 2019 film based on a book exposing the 2016 Panama Papers, which detailed a financial criminal scandal of tax evasions that affected many people In the United States is disliked by critics and by a majority of those who watched it.
But for me it was quite enjoyable and informative (brought about Scott Z. Burns' script) and quite stylish and humorous (through Steven Soderbergh's direction), with great performances from Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, and Antonio Banderas.
The message of the movie is even better.
Surely, the meek will inherit the earth. Not now, but it's only a matter of time.
Gerald's Game (2017)
Hard to watch but worth it
At first glance, you would think that this would be a sexy thriller, but it actually turned out to be an insightful character study of a woman who experienced hard things, and trying to keep them in have affected her negatively, but later also learned to survive because of them, becoming stronger in the process.
Mike Flanagan was excellent in his direction and writing, and the performance of Carla Gugino was one for the ages.
They say this 2017 film is a faithful adaptation of Stephen King's 1992 novel, and if this is so, then I would say that King is an excellent writer of thrilling and suspenseful fiction, not relying on scares and some gore, but on the characters themselves, studying their thinking, emotions, and how the words they've and experiences they've gone through affected them and turned them into the persons they are now. As a result, you glean insights about life and the human experience. I think I would like to put him on the list of authors I'm going to read, God-willing.
Golda (2023)
The burdens a leader carries
Though the execution of the plot could be better, this historical film ably portrays the leadership of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir during a time when her nation faced an existential challenge, with all the struggles, mistakes, heartaches, and burdens that a leader has.
The film seems to be faithful to the events as they happened. The music is also appropriate for dramatic feel of the film. The writing and execution could be better (to make it feel more high-stakes and emotionally affecting), but overall it's a good film.
Helen Mirren was excellent in the title role, and she almost singlehandedly carried the whole film.
Convicting a Murderer (2023)
More than showing that Avery is guilty
The series is meticulously made, with great attention to detail, comprehensive interviews, and never-before-seen audio and video clips and court documents that belie the claims of Steven Avery and insinuations of the 'Making A Murderer' filmmakers, that Avery is innocent and that the police enforcement is corrupt. Candace Owens is a force in this film. They showed both sides of the argument and provided the facts that the Netflix film intentionally left out.
This film also shows the truth of the power of media to affect people's minds and lives, particularly for evil. It also shows how it's easy to fool people, and how difficult it is to convince them that they were fooled.
Pinocchio (2014)
An excellent series
It has been a while since we've watched a Korean series, and now that we've watched one again, I'm reminded why we have come to appreciate them: well-rounded characters, great premise and execution, sophisticated plot, moral messages, excellent performances, good humor, intelligence and emotion. Pinocchio is no exception.
Pinocchio is a series that shows that truth, however we try to hide it, will come out in some way and some day-it's the promise of God. In some sense, we are all Pinocchios-liars, whose lies will be revealed.
Direction is excellent, and Lee Jong-Suk, Park Shin-Hye and Jin Kyung with the entire cast, delivered great performances.
American Underdog (2021)
Relatable, touching, inspiring, beautiful
What a beautiful, biographical story of an NFL quarterback who made mistakes, learned humility and love and patience, and was given a dreamlike victory in the sport that he's passionate about, and gave God the glory for it.
I teared up so many times watching this film, as I identified with the titular character, I who am now a husband and a father and trying my best to be good at both, while doing ministry, which is what I am passionate about. By God's grace, I can be all good at them, only by this grace.
Great script, direction, characters, and performances by Zachary Levi and Anna Paquin.
Pig (2021)
Surprisingly beautiful drama
Despite the title and how it appears, don't be fooled: this is a beautiful, meaningful story of essentially us: how loss affects us and how we deal with it. The story and the writing and the acting (esp. Of Nicholas Cage) are affecting-I didn't expect to be touched and be brought to tears. Thank you Lord for this film!