Archive for 'Korean' Category
Tokyo! by Michel Gondry, Leos Carax & Bong Joon-ho (2008)
8 January 2010An anthology film with director’s looks at the city of Tokyo! The trailer was amazing, and I was so looking foward to this, and was a bit let down. I loved Gondry’s surreal short, though it is incredibly strange, and Bong Joon-ho’s is at least interesting, but I did not at like the film of [...]
Thirst 박쥐 by Park Chan Wook (박찬욱) 2009
2 August 2009I am a huge Park Chan Wook fan, only not being a fan of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, but loving the rest of his films, so I was overjoyed to see Thirst before a Korean DVD was released, and even better to finally see one of his films in the theater. And I had a [...]
The Good, The Bad, The Weird 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 by Kim Ji-woon 김지운 (2008)
3 April 2009I can honestly say I have been excited for this film since I first heard about it, and with that much build up it could have easily been a disappointment, but instead it is one of the most ridiculously fun films I have seen in a very very long time. This film is a Western [...]
The Old Garden [오래된 정원] by Im Sang-soo [임상수] 2006
12 February 2009A beautiful film, and I love how it is told with scenes missing, and lacking normal exposition, and I like the material, dealing with the May 18th 1980 Gwanju Masacre in Korea, but the film kept me at a distance, and the ending did not fulfill me, so it is not nearly as good as May 18th, another [...]
The Bow 활 by Kim Ki Duk 김기덕 (2005)
9 February 2009Kim Ki Duk once again blows me away with his ability to make such a compelling film with so little dialogue, and once again with such a tweaked concept. This is a really impressively well made and enjoyable film, with performances that don’t need dialogue to bring them along. And yes the simple storyline is [...]
Eye for an Eye 눈에는 눈 이에는 이 by Ahn Kwon-tae (안권태) 2008
14 November 2008This huge new Korean movie with Ahn Kwon Tae who directed Friend and Typhoon and superstars Han Seok Gyu from Shiri and Cha Seung Weon did well at the box office, but overall was a real let down. Not much substance, and I really didn’t think the cop was any better than the criminal. Overall [...]
A Man Who Was Superman 슈퍼맨이었던 사나이 by Jeong Yoon-cheol (정윤철) [2008]
12 November 2008Jeon Ji-hyeon’s return to the screen in a very different role, and shows off her acting chops in this drama, and she is damn good in it too. A very different role, and she really does know how to move an audience. I hope she keeps making movies Korea, because I am sure Blood the [...]
My Mighty Princess 무림여대생 by Kwak Jae-Yong (곽재용) [2008]
12 November 2008The fourth film from Kwak, the director of My Sassy Girl, and still making movies with Sassy women, though this one is a silly modern Wuxia film with some cheesy wirework, but Sin Min-ah is super cute, and brings a real earnestness to the role that helps elevate the film, even with it’s storyline that [...]
Open City 무방비 도시 written and directed by Lee Sang-gi (이상기) [2007]
25 April 2008A slick looking, but overall mediocre crime drama involving gangs of ruthless pickpockets, though seemingly no other type of criminals. And if this is what modern pickpockets are like, they might as well just kill you instead of maiming you! Brutal, makes me not want to go to Korea!! Not too impressive overall, damn I [...]
Lovers’ Concerto 연애소설 written and directed by Lee Han (이한) 2002
28 February 2008An enjoyable and quit depressing Korean Melodrama. I picked this up to see the performance of the beautiful Lee Eun-joo who was so great in Taegukgi and the Scarlet Letter (in with she played nude), and who shortly thereafter slit her her wrists and hung herself in a depression over those nude scenes. It really [...]
Happiness 행복 written and directed by Heo Jin-ho (허진호) 2007
23 February 2008Another sad romance from Heo Jin Ho. I enjoyed his Christmas in August and April Snow, and going in you know it is going to be a painful experience, and this one lived up to that. And I did enjoy this dark film, but honestly the biggest problem is that I just didn’t like the [...]
May 18 화려한 휴가 by Kim Ji-hoon (김지훈) 2008
22 February 2008A big budget epic, that was Korea’s highest grossing film, and I an see why. This is a fictional story based on the true events based on the Gwangju massacre that occurred between May 18th and May 27th, 1980 in South Korea in a period of martial law. An event where the exact fatalities are [...]
Time 시간 written and directed by Kim Ki Duk (김기덕) [2006]
3 February 2008Kim Ki Duk movies are always hard to watch, and this one was no exception, though certainly not as brutal as many of his earlier films. Still this has it’s hard moments. And while this film is ostensibly about Korean’s and their obsession with Plastic surgery, but in actuality is just obsession in relationships and [...]
Shadows in the Palace (궁녀) by Kim Mi-jeong (김미정) 2007
15 January 2008An impressive looking film, and quite an epic for a first time director, though some of the impressiveness of the sets is reduced by knowing it was shot on the same set as The King and the Clown (for which Kim worked on as an Assistant Director). The film looked great and was well acted, [...]
Into the Mirror 거울속으로 written and directed by Kim Seong-ho(김성호) 2007
27 December 2007I picked this one up because Yoo Ji Tae has proven to be a good actor in the past (especially disturbing in Old Boy), and this is an enjoyable horror film with an interesting conceit, a world behind the mirror. A fun film with an enjoyable ending. I actually watched the Chinese Region 3 disc [...]
My Boyfriend is Type B (B형 남자친구) by Choi Seok-won (최석원) 2004
18 December 2007A typical and not so great Korean romantic comedy, and further showing the stereotype that Korean men seem to be quite the bastards. This guy doesn’t deserve this girl in the slightest. She is cute and nice and puts up with way too much from him. And the break into the one song is lame [...]
The Railroad 경의선 by Park Heung Shik 박흥식 (2006)
18 December 2007A really interesting art house film, not entirely successful, but certainly worth a watch. Combining 2 stories, one of adultery and one of tragedy and intertwining them into recovery for the 2 people involved. The stories are intercut, with us starting at the halfway mark and then going back to see what led us to [...]
Secret Sunshine (밀양) written and directed by Lee Chang-dong (이창동) 2007
9 December 2007The film that won the Prix d’interprétation féminine du Festival de Cannes for Jeon Do Yeon (best actress). This is a powerful and moving film about loss and it’s effects on people. This is an amazing film, and my only complaint is that it is all hand held and honestly I am getting really sick [...]
Hwang Jin Yi í황진이 by Jang Yoon Hyeon (장윤현)(2007)
15 November 2007Wow. Let me say that again, wow. This is a gorgeous and epic Korean period tragedy about the horrors of love within a caste system. It is based on a novel, but that Novel is in fact a fictionalized account of the life of an actual gisaeng (a Korean Courtesan much like a Japanese Geisha) [...]
Unstoppable Marriage (못말리는 결혼) by Kim Seong-wook (김성욱) (2007)
12 September 2007`Another Korean romantic comedy, this one being a modern Romeo and Juliet story, and it is silly and actually quite enjoyable. And Yoo Jin is literally sparkling in this film, and does a great job. This is fun because it doesn’t just follow the characters, but follows the battling of their parents. This is the [...]
The Wonder Years (열세살, 수아) written and directed by Kim Hee Jung (김희정) (2007)
28 August 2007I was excited to see this first film from female director Kim Hee Jung, but I was pretty disappointed by the film, with only the very ending giving any pulse into this dragged out tail, that feels longer than it’s 95 minute run time. There is just nothing new here, and the performance of the [...]
The Show Must Go On (우아한 세계) written and directed by Han Jae-rim (한재림) 2006
20 August 2007Song Kang-ho’s (송강호) next film after the Host was a must see, and this is quite an enjoyable film. At first I didn’t think it was much of a stretch for him character wise, but this is an enjoyable gangster film, that shows the hard life of a gangster and it’s affect on his life [...]
The Host 괴물 (Goi-mool) by Bong Joon-ho (봉준호) (2006)
29 July 2007I had been meaning to see this Korean Monster film since I heard about it, but was too busy when it was in the theaters , and then on Korean DVD, but when I heard about the US HD DVD I decided to wait on see on HD DVD, and I must say I was [...]
200 Pounds Beauty 미녀는 괴로워 by Kim Yong-hwa (김용화) 2006 ë ê´´ë¡ì by Kim Yong-hwa (ê¹ì©í) 2006
3 July 2007I had heard this was a bit hit in Korea, so I decided to pick it up, but I should have known that any Korean film about a woman getting plastic surgery to gain the love of the man she wants, would have to be painful to watch. This was one of two films I [...]
The Restless (중천 (中天) (Joong-cheon) by Jo Dong-oh (조동오) (2006)
5 June 2007I had read some good things about this film so I decided to pick it up. Certainly not the best characters, or depth, but this is a very enjoyable mythical martial arts adventure taking place mostly in Mid Heaven, the place between Heaven and Earth. While the character development is light, and the story mostly [...]