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Author

James Y. Lee

James Y. Lee

Korean-American student screenwriter, playwright, and amateur film critic in the Chicago area. Writer of MovieBabble's Korean classics column, "Films from the Peninsula". Probably praises way too many 2010s films as "modern classics." CIC (Chicago Indie Critics) Affiliate Member.

  • ComedyReviews

    Tribeca Film Festival 2022 Review: ‘Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying’

    by James Y. Lee June 21, 2022
    by James Y. Lee June 21, 2022

    It brings me no joy to report that an indie comedy film evidently made in earnest did not resonate or connect with me, but Parker Seaman and Devin Das’s debut feature, Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying, is…

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  • ComedyReviews

    Tribeca Film Festival 2022 Review: ‘Babysitter’

    by James Y. Lee June 20, 2022
    by James Y. Lee June 20, 2022

    There’s a certain type of fascination in watching a film where you can immediately tell that other people’s enjoyment of it will be almost entirely predicated on how much they’re able to live with its…

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  • ReviewsThriller

    Tribeca Film Festival 2022 Review: ‘The Integrity of Joseph Chambers’

    by James Y. Lee June 16, 2022
    by James Y. Lee June 16, 2022

    Expanding on the thematic foundation established by his previous feature, The Killing of Two Lovers — a film in which a father of four, emasculated by his wife’s relationship with a new partner in the midst of a…

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  • HorrorReviews

    Tribeca Film Festival 2022 Review: ‘Rounding’

    by James Y. Lee June 15, 2022
    by James Y. Lee June 15, 2022

    Hot off the heels of winning the SXSW Audience Award with his charming, witty, and near-universally loved directorial debut, Saint Frances, writer-director Alex Thompson’s return to the silver screen appears to be a complete tonal shift,…

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  • HorrorReviews

    Tribeca Film Festival 2022 Review: ‘Family Dinner’

    by James Y. Lee June 14, 2022
    by James Y. Lee June 14, 2022

    A devious recipe of psychological manipulation, profoundly unsettling family dynamics, and grisly horror that never quite feels like it coalesces into a full meal, Peter Hengl’s Family Dinner is certainly one of the more interesting horror…

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  • Series

    Films from the Peninsula: ‘Aimless Bullet’

    by James Y. Lee March 30, 2022
    by James Y. Lee March 30, 2022

    The absurdly long-overdue second installment of Films from the Peninsula has finally arrived! In keeping with this column’s aim of recommending classics in Korean film history (the first of which was Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine), I’ve chosen…

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  • DramaReviews

    Sundance Film Festival 2022 Review: ‘Happening’

    by James Y. Lee January 25, 2022
    by James Y. Lee January 25, 2022

    Adapted from author Annie Ernaux’s quasi-memoir of the same title, and having instantly propelled itself into a modern canon of films about the stark realities of abortion — among them being Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3…

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  • AnimationReviews

    ‘Belle’: A Wildly Ambitious, Melodramatic Trip Through “U”

    by James Y. Lee January 14, 2022
    by James Y. Lee January 14, 2022

    Underneath the surface of most films about online life are commonplace themes about appearances and authenticity: the consequences of anonymity, the rapid spread of misinformation, the ways that social media limits expression of our genuine…

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  • DramaReviews

    New York Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Parallel Mothers’

    by James Y. Lee October 10, 2021
    by James Y. Lee October 10, 2021

    To discuss Pedro Almodóvar is to acknowledge not just the transgressive streak of his early filmography, but also the post-Julieta change of pace that the Spanish auteur has undergone with his latest few works. With…

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  • DramaReviews

    New York Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Ste. Anne’

    by James Y. Lee October 7, 2021
    by James Y. Lee October 7, 2021

    Manitoban filmmaker Rhayne Vermette’s Ste. Anne is a fascinating directorial debut — a loosely constructed tapestry of hypnotic sounds and grainy cinematography, and an enigmatic 80-minute experience that operates in pure abstraction. Unfolding a series…

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  • DocumentaryReviews

    New York Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Returning to Reims’

    by James Y. Lee October 6, 2021
    by James Y. Lee October 6, 2021

    Capturing the spirit and history of the French working class over the past 70 years is a gargantuan task of historical retelling and curation — especially if it’s through an 80-minute documentary strung together solely…

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  • DramaReviews

    New York Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Outside Noise’

    by James Y. Lee October 3, 2021
    by James Y. Lee October 3, 2021

    Daniela (Daniela Zahlner) can’t sleep lately. After spending some time traveling in New York and returning to Berlin, she’s slowly come to the realization that her continued insomnia isn’t just from her jet lag anymore,…

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  • Retrospectives

    New York Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Hester Street’

    by James Y. Lee September 27, 2021
    by James Y. Lee September 27, 2021

    It’s only fitting that New York City‘s biggest film festival has chosen to premiere Cohen Film Collection’s new 4K restoration of Joan Micklin Silver’s Hester Street — a film so obviously tied to the city’s legacy…

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  • DramaReviews

    Melbourne International Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Genus Pan’

    by James Y. Lee August 14, 2021
    by James Y. Lee August 14, 2021

    To say that a two-and-a-half-hour-long film is on the shorter side of a director’s filmography may sound like a deeply confused claim, but for Filipino auteur Lav Diaz — whose works are less like films…

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  • DramaReviews

    Melbourne International Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Days’

    by James Y. Lee August 11, 2021
    by James Y. Lee August 11, 2021

    Few snippets of on-screen text in modern foreign cinema have been as intriguing as the opening blurb of Tsai Ming-liang’s latest film, Days — “This film is intentionally unsubtitled.” — not just because it points to a…

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  • Action/AdventureReviews

    ‘Escape from Mogadishu’: The Latest from South Korea’s Biggest Action Director

    by James Y. Lee August 7, 2021
    by James Y. Lee August 7, 2021

    Calling Ryoo Seung-wan one of the most successful South Korean directors of his time is not an incredibly far stretch — even when comparing him to his more acclaimed contemporaries — thanks to just how…

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  • DocumentaryReviews

    Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Enemies of the State’

    by James Y. Lee July 16, 2021
    by James Y. Lee July 16, 2021

    Take one look at, say, Netflix’s vast documentary catalog, and you’ll instantly realize that the true-crime documentary genre has found itself in a state of oversaturation. From the litany of same-ish docs on streaming services…

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  • DocumentaryReviews

    Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Holy Frit’

    by James Y. Lee July 11, 2021
    by James Y. Lee July 11, 2021

    Eccentricity and innovation have always been defining features of any given artist — even more so for documentaries that specifically go out of their way to train a lens on them. Whether it be the…

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  • Retrospectives

    ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’: 35 Years Later, Life Still Moves Pretty Fast

    by James Y. Lee June 11, 2021
    by James Y. Lee June 11, 2021

    I: Context It’s difficult to name a director more influential to the teenage film landscape than John Hughes; for that matter, it’s difficult to name a director who left such a tangible mark on Hollywood…

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  • Features

    Films from the Peninsula: ‘Secret Sunshine’

    by James Y. Lee May 13, 2021
    by James Y. Lee May 13, 2021

    Intro It’s no secret that Korean cinema is having a bit of a moment these days — whether it be due to the wild success of Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, the recent love for Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari,…

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