I swear I almost watched KPOP DEMON HUNTERS before it was a big deal. Some of the guys in the Action For Everyone circle were talking it up when it first hit Netflix last summer. During the time I put it off it became a cult phenomenon, then just a mainstream hugely popular thing that all children know about and that honestly I’m sick of hearing about. I’m very aware of how uncool it is for me to watch and/or review it at this late date, but I’m the type that is so cool that it doesn’t faze me to be uncool. So I will admit that my mother-in-law watched it before I did. That’s how cool I am.
I’m sure most of you know this, but in case you don’t, this was a movie made by Sony Pictures Animation (makers of the SPIDER-VERSE and HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA series), but I guess they got cold feet about releasing it and just sold it to Netflix, where luckily it somehow became the rare streaming movie to actually make a mark. It got so popular by word-of-mouth that two months later they did theatrical screenings of a sing-along version and it was the #1 movie for the week. The soundtrack is certified platinum and nominated for five Grammies, and I think the movie is basically guaranteed to win the best animated feature and best original song Oscars, even with SINNERS competing for the latter.
I don’t really get why it’s that big of a deal, but I liked it. A couple minutes into the prologue I was definitely sold on the premise: the human world has always been at war with the demon world, who steal our souls to empower their king Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun, I SAW THE DEVIL). But every generation there is a trio of warriors “born with voices that could drive back the darkness.” They’re not only trained to fight, but to use the power of singing to create a protective barrier called the Honmoon. Their music “ignites the soul and brings the world together,” generating powerful magic, with the ultimate goal of creating an impenetrable “Golden Honmoon” that would block out demons forever. (read the rest of this shit…)
CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT is a movie that I heard about last Christmas but it wasn’t on video yet. Some people were really flipping for it and that’s really all I knew about it, so I checked it out when I saw it was on blu-ray this week.
EIGHTH GRADE is a beautifully true high definition close-up on the most awkward of ages. You don’t feel like a kid anymore, but the high schoolers you’re about to be tossed in with seem like adults, and you haven’t even caught up with the kids your own age. If you’re Kayla (Elsie Fisher, a voice in the DESPICABLE ME film saga) you pride yourself on knowing how to conquer life – in fact your hobby is creating Youtube videos giving friendly, positive advice – but really you feel like every single other person knows what they’re doing and you don’t.
