Author: Harrison Chute

I've been mistaken for a man

Redefining What It Is to Be a Wendy

March 14, 2024

Last time we spoke of Wendy’s solo outing, it was her debut, 2021’s Like Water. That title track remains memorable, especially as a snapshot of a tumultuous time in Red Velvet history. Of course, I’m glad they went in a different direction with this one, “Wish You Hell” being more pop-punk — a soft Paramore, let’s say. Though for Mother Wenresa, that marks a stylistic departure (and a really good song). … More Redefining What It Is to Be a Wendy

Made It

March 4, 2024

It’s March now, so we’re nearing the end of the first quarter of our entertainment year, which is exactly how entertainment is measured. I have to say, of the titles I previewed in this earlier post, not one that I’ve seen has been good. I like Gyeongsong Creature, but it’s so deeply flawed that the flaws become its very substance, for one’s acceptance or rejection — I don’t think it cares either way. I found Echo to be empty, and True Detective: Night Country uneventful. One show I did not list was FX/Hulu’s Shogun, something I’d seen in snippets last year for my job and assumed, when it made landfall, it would be brushed off as hoary-old white-savior nonsense. Wow, how wrong I was. … More Made It

Flower Power Tower | Mechanical Violator Hakaider (1995) Review

January 15, 2024

Over the years, I’ve attempted to watch Mechanical Violator Hakaider three or four times, and only on the third or fourth attempt did I make it to the credits – not intact. I’d fallen asleep every time, so it was just a matter of picking up where I’d left off or deciding it had been too long and starting over. And I’d think, “How is this happening?” One of the strands running through this (strand-type) blog is the film’s director Keita Amemiya, whose career serves the hyper-specific, me-shaped niche of “non-kaiju tokusatsu and also R-rated violence,” with the bonus of an appreciation for action heroines (usually played by one actress, Yuko Moriyama). Hakaider could be the result of the slightest deviation from that formula, but I think its sleep-inducing powers speak to fundamental problems, and ironically may speak to Amemiya’s craft. … More Flower Power Tower | Mechanical Violator Hakaider (1995) Review

What-If Question | Past Lives (2023) Review

December 10, 2023

A critic shouldn’t be saying things like this, but I do want to establish or reestablish that a negative movie review isn’t necessarily me saying a movie is “bad.” Past Lives is very well acted, and it’s beautiful – notably shot on film – but my experience with it was minimal, and the subsequent evaluation remains confused. I don’t know what the writer/director was going for, though the later discovery that it’s semi-autobiographical surely explains a lot. The film opens on the climactic scene, in a New York bar at 4:00 a.m., as an Asian woman sits between an Asian guy and a white guy, with disembodied voices trying to guess at the nature of their relationship. We then rewind to 24 years earlier, when children Na-young and Hae-sung are friends in Korea, with the former moving to Toronto. Fast-forward 12 years, and they reconnect over social media but remain in different time zones. … More What-If Question | Past Lives (2023) Review

Tokyo Story Raids Again | Godzilla Minus One (2023) Review

December 2, 2023

The question isn’t about potentially overstating Godzilla Minus One with hyperbole, but rather which hyperbole to choose from? So far, I have “In terms of improving upon source material, Godzilla Minus One may be the greatest remake of all time,” and “I didn’t expect a Godzilla movie to make me cry, but here we are.” In terms of the first, I’d had the sense that I wanted to go into this one knowing as little as possible. I wasn’t as fixated on the advent of a new Godzilla movie as I had been for, say, a new Predator, because we were just recently gifted with a great installment. So, going in, I knew that Minus One took place directly after World War II – and that was pretty much it! Would this be a remake of the original, down to Serizawa and the Oxygen Destroyer? And most importantly, what would the titular monster mean this time? … More Tokyo Story Raids Again | Godzilla Minus One (2023) Review

DO NOT POST: “Chill Kill” Thoughts

November 21, 2023

First of all, I want to establish that there are no stakes here, and I am in no way disappointed or upset. Red Velvet is so far past the point of “they don’t have to do anything,” nearing a decade and having released a masterpiece in the after-years. They’ve given me everything; I don’t get to be disappointed or upset. Red Velvet doesn’t have to do anything, and so anything they do is a bonus – for which I’m grateful. Their latest album has been occasion for behind-the-scenes footage, and that’s always fantastic. The album itself? I haven’t finished it. I tapped out after four songs. Of those four, the title track “Chill Kill” was the best, where the others are shockingly low-key mood pieces. … More DO NOT POST: “Chill Kill” Thoughts

The Iron Horse has Lasers | Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) Review

November 8, 2023

After a surprising bump in quality with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, we’re back in business to close out the Heisei era with this, one of several series finales – like Futurama. The Showa era ended with Terror of Mechagodzilla, a return to the darker tone of the original movie, and the disjointed Millennium era had the explosive Final Wars, a special project for the 50th anniversary. Well, is Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, too, a special project? Did the filmmakers take a step back from what they’d been doing and say, “Let’s go out with a bang”? The film’s title might help us out here, bearing the typical “vs.” instead of something like The Final Chapter or maybe The End of Godzilla. No, it’s just another day, another monster. Consequently, this is a pretty low-key send-off, though at the very least, unlike Terror and Final Wars, it is a send-off. … More The Iron Horse has Lasers | Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) Review

Atomic Superwoman | Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) Review

November 7, 2023

The previous installment, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, was one movie too many. I’d actually forgotten it existed before embarking on this review journey more than a year ago. After watching Godzilla and Mothra, I was dreading it, while conversely looking forward to SpaceGodzilla, and so the two came to represent a binary in my mind. On one hand, you have a competent but generic Heisei Godzilla movie, one which introduces absolutely nothing new, and on the other hand, you have the movie where the tip of Godzilla’s tail is coming off. What better visual metaphor for a series that’s run its course? Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is exactly what I want from a long-running film franchise: “We’ve run out of ideas, so let’s make crap up.” It wouldn’t be competent but unhinged, and it wouldn’t be generic but, indeed, unhinged. … More Atomic Superwoman | Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) Review