Author: Harrison Chute

I've been mistaken for a man

No Frills, Just Gills | Orang Ikan (2024) Review

July 27, 2025

I’d been following Orang Ikan for a while now, from an early Bloody Disgusting preview through to its retitling for U.S. distribution as “Monster Island.” Bleh. I’ve spent a nontrivial amount of time – washing dishes, staring into oblivion – pondering over which title to go with for the inevitable review on this site. It’s important! Reason one: this is a monster movie, and therefore a throwback. After the golden age of the 1980s, the spirit carried on in the Sci-Fi Channel Originals of my youth. These made-for-TV movies were sort of a keep-away game: “How much of this monster movie can be about anything other than the monster?” Special effects are expensive, and the movies were not. For me, they were exercises in frustration. Some off-screen kills in the beginning, a whole lot of bullshit in the middle, and the monster appears at the very end. And yet, I can’t deny how acutely interesting something called “Dinocroc” was to my 11-year-old brain. The second reason is that “Monster Island” is unspecific and vaguely patronizing, not that I can properly pronounce “Orang Ikan.” Now, this is a movie set during World War II, so the legendary fishman might not be the only monster lurking in the jungle. … More No Frills, Just Gills | Orang Ikan (2024) Review

Chisato Gaiden | Ghost Killer (2024) Review

July 22, 2025

Action maestro Kensuke Sonomura finally nails it as director on his third attempt – with a little help from his friends. After a baffling debut, Hydra, and its unremarkable follow-up Bad City, I’d have to be a real sucker to stick around for whatever came next. Well, “Akari Takaishi” is always a compelling argument, the ex-idol actress with a fairly standard career – TV dramas, manga adaptations, animation voiceovers – but for the occasional Baby Assassins title, which intervene on her filmography like a running joke. In fact, it’s Ghost Killer that comfortably proves her participation in Baby Assassins wasn’t a one-off (or a four-off, to be fair). Equally crucial is a script by Yugo Sakamoto, the creative braintrust behind, well, Baby Assassins. As a screenwriter, he may be rough and tumble, but his work here is surprisingly disciplined. Ghost Killer may be the most technically sound accomplishment between either filmmaker. … More Chisato Gaiden | Ghost Killer (2024) Review

IT’S HERE

July 11, 2025

Well, August 26th. I kept seeing news stories about this yesterday and was getting angry like, “I know this is a movie, you don’t have to keep telling me — WAIT. This is a release date announcement!” and just about wept. Ghost Killer is also coming out soon, in a couple of weeks. … More IT’S HERE

Thrice | KPop Demon Hunters (2025) Review

July 6, 2025

I have a friend who’s a bit of a troll. She wanted to watch KPop Demon Hunters and wanted more, perhaps, for me to watch it. Her logic was sound: “You like K-pop!” to which I noted I also like movies, and that doesn’t mean I’m rushing out to watch F1 this weekend. Nor for that matter, Elio, live-action Lilo & Stitch, or live-action How to Train Your Dragon – really, guys? Three at the same time? Anyway, my logic here is sounder: those movies are for babies. Of course, I’ve enjoyed movies for babies, especially when I was a baby, as well as movies empty of thought or weight. One doesn’t need to approach a work of art or entertainment in the exact same way each time, and we understand this implicitly, setting different expectations based on genre, content rating, and so on. Still, a lot of the criticisms I have for KPop Demon Hunters can be brushed aside with “It’s a kids’ movie,” leaving me in the impossible situation of having watched a movie I wasn’t meant to watch. … More Thrice | KPop Demon Hunters (2025) Review

K-Drama Report: Queen’s House – Art by Other Means

June 24, 2025

As is mentioned just about anytime we talk about K-dramas here, the taxonomy of Korean television is complicated, inconsistent, infuriating. I’ve seen some people call Squid Game a K-drama, but to my mind, K-dramas are the romance shows – to which there is no further sufficient term. We’ve seen how these are not like the American soap operas of quantity over quality, all weird frame rates and embarrassing storytelling, were anyone paying attention. No, K-dramas sport high production values and command A-list talent. Like IU! Sure, even the best of them can be emotionally manipulative and turn on plot contrivance, but they’re not trash. They’re not disposable, and how dare you insinuate otherwise? Believe me, if they were, I’d be honest about that. Honesty? It’s the only thing I have left. … More K-Drama Report: Queen’s House – Art by Other Means

Swan Lake of Blood | Ballerina (2025) Review

June 7, 2025

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is a strong contender for “movie with the worst title of the year,” and incidentally, the subtitle (supertitle?) is both strength and weakness. My question, from the moment the film was announced in 2019, was “Why does this have to be a spin-off?” There’s nothing about a ballerina-turned-assassin that screams John Wick any more than it does La Femme Nikita or 2023’s own Ballerina, though the lead character in that one wasn’t the titular ballerina. In fact, 2025’s Ballerina starts on the most stock-standard note: her father is killed, and she seeks revenge. That’s every action movie! It’s also why the original John Wick was such a breath of fresh air: action movies are bad. … More Swan Lake of Blood | Ballerina (2025) Review

When Stars Align

June 6, 2025

It happened. Friend, it finally happened. For a while, I’ve been meaning to write at least two blog segments (these posts are supposed to come in threes), one about Irene & Seulgi’s new release Tilt and the other about issues facing international fans of K-pop, so this new development would’ve completed the match-three puzzle and into this world a blog post’d be born. But I’m afraid I can’t do that. This one stands alone. Last July, I’d mentioned that Gyuri of Kara opened a YouTube channel seemingly with the express purpose of one day inviting on her idol Seulgi of Red Velvet. As she’d express how much she’s been a longtime fan, I’d watch Seulgi hang out with countless other idols – including Gyuri’s own groupmate Youngji. What a traitor! I know how hard it is for such in-demand people to coordinate their schedules, but finally, the stars aligned – Seulgi has a new album to promote, and it’s Gyuri’s birthday. … More When Stars Align

The Beach Episode | Sonatine (1993) Review

June 3, 2025

It’s rare for a film to give the sense that we, the audience, are seeing the world through the director’s eyes. Typically, great direction serves the story, but in this case, the director may be the story, doubling as the lead actor. As his character Murakawa, Takeshi Kitano observes. Along with countless static shots of people standing by, sitting still, waiting, we look at a lot of Murakawa looking. More than that, Sonatine, like Kitano’s earlier film Boiling Point, moves to its own rhythm. Proceeding without a lot of dialogue, it establishes a unique language with what we see and when we see it. Often, what we see is a shocking instance of violence. For my money, Sonatine has the most effective jump scare in any non-horror movie. I practically leapt out of my seat. And yet, it’s also irreverent and tender, melancholy and affecting. It’s phenomenal. … More The Beach Episode | Sonatine (1993) Review

The Streak

May 28, 2025

When BTS went on hiatus on account of military service, I will admit to worrying about the future of hallyu. Surely, one day, this fever will break, right? Trends never last. It would help, I think, if some of the key players became household names in, say, America, the way they have in other countries. Understandably, Korean names are more difficult to remember and pronounce than, for example, Japanese names. Back in the day, we had the crossover efforts chronicled on this site — “Gianna” Jun in Blood: The Last Vampire, Lee Byung-hun in GI Joe and Red — and they didn’t really go anywhere. Well, they went back to Korea. Remember Choi Min-sik in Lucy? What do you mean no? Jesus, live-action Blood comes up way too often on this website. … More The Streak