Movies and Videos of 2024

Movies

Sansho the Bailiff

As this smooth yet simple story drew to a close, I fell into a brief reflection. I thought about what human duty is, and about what one must ultimately hold on to in the midst of a life full of suffering.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Audrey Hepburn plays the guitar and sings “Moon River.” There is only one scene where the guitar appears, only one scene where she plays it. Yet the guitar stays with her until the very end. Was it impossible to throw away because she had left it on the front seat of the taxi, just out of reach? I found myself thinking about the anchors of life.

Late Spring

After watching this famous film, only a few scenes come back to me. A man and woman riding a bicycle. The subtle expression on the father’s face as he says he will remarry. The scene where she buries her face, unable to finish peeling an apple. As if I had lived their lives myself, the scenes of the film are etched into my mind like my own memories.

The Rules of the Game (1939)

This film, which somehow manages to weave together a chaotic plot, is remarkably modern.

North by Northwest

You meet eyes, you clasp hands, I pull you toward me. This is the beginning and the end of all emotion. For this, what have you sacrificed, and what will I cast aside? A film with an exquisite ending. One thing is certain: if you’re good-looking, every problem resolves itself smoothly.

Sabrina

There’s something new I want to try. Let’s take a boat to Paris.

Vertigo

Several times a day, I think to myself: if only I had one more chance! But chances are granted as rarely as such wishes are heartfelt. So if I were given one more chance with these very hands? What’s done is done. I can only hope I have the courage to let go of my regrets.

The Seven Year Itch

A film I watched on Jo Kang-hyun’s recommendation. He said Marilyn Monroe was utterly lovable. Indeed, there was that iconic Hollywood scene, for instance the one where she clutches her skirt over a subway grate. But I didn’t find Marilyn Monroe particularly attractive. I like pretty women but not the ditzy charm, and the screen is full of pretty women wherever you look. Even so, the reason her appeal is still talked about among people fifty years after her death is worth pondering. The disconnect of a real, living actor playing someone other than themselves; the nature of film as a medium that, with a single shooting and edit, preserves a moment forever; Hollywood’s powerful influence and its image of being for the masses, and so on. Laid out like this it all sounds trite, but my conclusion is this: people who fancy themselves clever, who in truth have merely soaked up a lot of ink without being genuinely brilliant, try to confirm their relative superiority by looking down on those who seem foolish. They never realize that all of this is nothing more than a game played in the palm of those who perform foolishness. Just like the psychiatrist in this film, who spins an interesting tale but is in fact interested only in money and makes no effort to hide it, while the protagonist doesn’t doubt him for a moment.

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Fight Club

When the protagonist spouts some trivial nonsense, his followers say, “It’s a necessary thing.” And then they pick up a knife to cut off his testicles… A man’s worth is not because of those two balls he’s had since birth. It’s determined by the beliefs he has upheld his whole life. If you die without a single fight, without a single scar, how can you call yourself a man? This is an age in which living as a man is held in contempt. It’s an age in which all the values that once made a man a man have become objects of ridicule and emblems of barbarism. But since this is an age in which those who don’t even think of fighting to defend their beliefs are the mainstream, the current outcome is only natural. I wish for the downfall of the weak.

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John Wick

A B-grade movie that gathered A-grade actors to shoot A-grade action.

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Dune: Part Two

Some emotions seem to be inscribed in humanity’s genes. The mystery of the desert is precisely one of them. I felt as if, upon stepping into the vast desert, I might come to some realization. I, too, dreamed such dreams while watching the film Lawrence of Arabia and reading the novel The Alchemist. And after more than a decade, what I finally saw when I went to the desert was an unexpected sight. In the desert, the Israeli army was conducting military exercises.

While Dune: Part One focused on showing the beauty of the desert, Dune: Part Two focuses on the madness of humanity. Before such immense madness, nature simply shrinks. The desert, the sandstorms, and even the sandworms. In the scene where the army of fanatics riding sandworms breaks through the sandstorm and the concrete wall, I even felt a sense of déjà vu about the current Israel-Palestine war. Going further, is it too much of a stretch to find traces of Muhammad in Muad’Dib? If the message of this film is that the madness inscribed in humanity’s genes will remain unchanged even after ten thousand years, that is truly a sad thing.

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The Silence of the Lambs

The lamb is myself, and the silence is helplessness. Helpless as I am, I hear someone’s scream and don’t know what to do. To overcome this, I must borrow the power of madness. Even if it is the most terrifying horror this world has ever known.

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Exhuma

Fun and emotion must be immediate. If lengthy explanation is needed, it’s proof that something is going wrong.

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Kingsman

When your head is full of clutter, you need a movie that requires no brain.

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Anemone

Amid an unrealistic plot, a strangely realistic level of detail stays alive, lending it persuasiveness.

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Documentaries

Node.js

A chance idea gave birth to Node.js. The motive was nothing grand. It certainly wasn’t money. It started simply from the thought, “Hey, this is pretty good.” And then many developers flocked to it. They bit and chewed and tore and tasted and enjoyed it, advancing the project. Node.js became a great success. A successful project turns into profit. And so there were attempts to claim control over the project. But in the eyes of the developers, this was an unacceptable thing to do. And they thought: it’s open source anyway, so why not just swap out the signboard? The dispute soon came to an end. Open source is freedom, and freedom does not submit. As long as there is the lively activity of voluntary contributors, that is enough.

Looking back, the past ten years have been the age of open source. Now, if the age of AI arrives, will open source projects be enough? Most open source projects are established through the voluntary contributions of developers. Of course, developers are people too, and they’re not the sort who blindly enjoy working for free. And AI costs a lot of money. Whether the dominance of big corporations will run rampant once again, or whether another kind of world will unfold, I’m extremely curious.

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Variety Shows

Culinary Class Wars

An homage to the cooking battle manga that was popular thirty years ago.

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