Kurosawa’s ‘Ikiru’ Comes Back to Life in ‘Living’
'Living' dives into many themes that we can all understand regardless of our cultural backgrounds. We can see this through the shared similarities between 'Ikiru' and 'Living'.

Death is a moment whose reverberation endures for the living. Three students from the Audio-Visual team are shooting a documentary on a schoolmate who has recently committed suicide. It is intended to convey a ‘positive message’ to the entire school about the importance of life. During interviews, the students notice some discrepancies in the testimonies, particularly those by a prefect and a teacher, while friends of the deceased seem to be withholding some inconvenient truth. Should the team pursue the truth, or act as the school’s propagandist? Filmed in a mocumentary style, The Handbook of Suicide Prevention challenges and exposes the hypocrisy and suppression that haunt adolescence.
'Living' dives into many themes that we can all understand regardless of our cultural backgrounds. We can see this through the shared similarities between 'Ikiru' and 'Living'.
In the film adaptation, director Jon M. Chu turns each musical number into a massive show stopper, with grand set pieces and a wealth of diverse dancers. Yet, in this attempt to show reverence for the people of the Washington Heights barrio, Chu, or maybe more specifically those in charge of casting, left out a crucial part of the community, Afro-Latinos.
"Terrace House" improves on the standard reality TV format by affording its cast privacy, freedom, and respect.
Netflix’s new comedy drama, Don’t Say Good Luck, is a heartwarming tearjerker as well as a love letter to the transformative power of being a theater kid. Directed by Julia Hart, Don’t Say Good Luck follows Sophie (Sunny Sandler), a theater kid who finally gets the lead role in her school’s production of Waitress - just as she finds out her mom Elizabeth (Melanie Lynskey) is dying of cancer. While the singing is by no means spectacular and Sandler’s acting is stiff, the film is grounded in the moving performance of Lynskey as a mother who wants nothing more than for her daughter to achieve her dreams, even if she can’t be there to see them.
The Fog follows more of a 1950s creature feature plot than a late-70s slasher with three legendary scream queens.
The film didn’t have to be as long as it is. It just dragged on and on with scenes that had no substance. Every so often we get an action scene, and even those isn’t that fun.