CineCrossroads: “Genie, Make a Wish,” “Some Like It Hot,” and “The Wild Robot”
The weekend is almost here — it’s the perfect time to choose a film that will set the mood. In the new edition of CineCrossroads, Eastern magic, brilliant Hollywood classics and a touching story about what it means to be a mother come together. Qazinform News Agency correspondent wishes you a wonderful viewing experience.
Series of the week — Genie, Make a Wish (2025)
This fantasy drama immerses viewers in a world where ancient curses, Eastern legends, and personal demons intertwine. The genie Iblis, trapped inside a lamp for 983 years, finally gains freedom and meets the most unusual lamp owner he could imagine. Ki Ka-yeon, a young woman incapable of feeling human emotions, lives by a strict schedule and prefers order to spontaneity. She doesn’t know what love, compassion, or joy are, but she knows how to keep her life under control.
When she unexpectedly releases the genie whose existence was once destroyed by a wish from her past incarnation, their fates collide. Iblis desperately needs Ka-yeon to make three wishes, yet she wants nothing: she has money, no emotions, and an inner emptiness stronger than any magic.
An entire Eastern world comes to life on screen — deserts and Dubai skyscrapers, flying carpets and lamp-shaped houses, spirits and the angel of death, shapeshifting panthers and the vivid colors of the old city. The cast makes the story pulse with life: Kim Woo-bin creates a portrait of an impulsive, vulnerable, yet charming genie, while Suzy delivers a striking performance as a woman who lives without empathy but still searches for herself.
Classic pick — Some Like It Hot (1959)
Two musicians, saxophonist Joe and double bassist Jerry, accidentally witness a mob massacre. Fleeing from gangsters, they disguise themselves as women and join a female jazz band heading to Florida.
On the train they meet Sugar, a singer and ukulele player (Marilyn Monroe). Trying to keep their disguise and save their lives, the heroes fall into a chain of hilarious and absurd situations. Joe pretends to be a wealthy millionaire to win Sugar’s heart, while Jerry unexpectedly becomes the romantic target of an actual millionaire, Osgood Fielding III.
The film plays with themes of identity, social roles, and romantic expectations, revealing the idea that love and acceptance matter more than external rules and conventions.
When Jerry finally confesses to Osgood that he is actually a man, Osgood calmly replies: “Nobody’s perfect” — one of the most iconic lines in film history.
Family choice — The Wild Robot (2024)
One of the most moving animated films of recent years — a story that brings viewers back to childhood and reminds us what true kindness means. Roz, a robot designed to assist humans, ends up by accident on an uninhabited island. She knows nothing about nature, animals, fear, or care, and there she will learn what it truly means to live.
Roz destroys a goose nest and accidentally causes a family’s death, but one egg survives. A tiny gosling hatches from it, and this fragile life becomes the emotional core of the entire film. Roz learns to be a mother, a teacher, a protector. She becomes part of an ecosystem that initially rejected her.
The story sounds simple, but it contains tremendous depth, showing that to be alive is not just to exist. It is to care, to make mistakes, to lose, to change, and to see beauty even in what once frightened you.
Earlier, CineCrossroads covered the mystical detective Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the subtle romantic drama The Remains of the Day, and the animated adventure Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
