Showing posts with label korean movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label korean movies. Show all posts

Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Ultimate List of the Best and Worst Korean Movies


The movies that started it all....

1. Joint Security Area (2000)
2. Attack the Gas Station (1999)
3. My Sassy Girl (2001)
4. Memories of Murder (2003)
5. Bad Guy (2001)
6. A Bittersweet Life (2005)

The 6 movies listed above were some of the very first Korean movies I watched, back in 2005. I had never seen a Korean movie prior to 2005, so I have no strong nostalgic memories, as with American movies. However, despite the recent introduction, I feel that Korean movies are superior to most Hollywood movies. How so? Korean directors can make a movie about 4 guys attacking a gas station and somehow make it just as interesting and as memorable as Star Wars or Terminator. What is this “somehow”? Through strong character development. Clearly, there are no advanced special effects, so something else must be strengthened. American movie producers tend to have access to vast amounts of money, so they don't need to hire talented actors or get a good script. American movies just need a good special effects team, the results of which can be seen in movies like The Matrix and Transformers.
So, what types of American movies most resemble Korean movies? Anything with no or minimal computer graphics and strong character development. If you like The Shawshank Redemption or Fargo, then you'll probably like Korean movies. Both of those movies invoke memories of the characters and their struggles. Neither relied upon computer animations. They had real people.
Unfortunately, a truly terrible Korean movie was shown in American theaters ‑ D‑War. Do you know why it was shown in American theaters? Because it had good special effects. It's important to understand that I sometimes love movies with special effects, such as The Matrix and Transformers. This is because I understand the point of those movies is not to develop characters, but to wow audiences with explosions and compelling visuals. These types of movies typically are not that interesting when special effects are absent. A primary example is The Lord of the Rings, which was terribly boring, just like D‑War. Only when the computer took over was I able to maintain an interest. Another example of only watching the computer was Peter Jackson's King Kong. A counter example is The Incredible Hulk, which was interesting when the computer took over and when it signed off. And why? Because Edward Norton is a very talented actor.
In evolutionary terms, the origin of my interest in Korean movies can be traced back to the 6 listed at the top. Evolution helps us understand where things come from and its use is not exclusive to biology. I am using evolution to explain an interest. Biological evolution tends to keep things that work, such as gills and eyes. The evolution of my interest in Korean movies also retains things that work, such as an emotional response. The type of emotional response I get when watching a Korean movie is much stronger when watching an American movie. A strong emotional response is retained for a longer time and has more salience than a weak emotional response. I'm not arguing that Korean movies are more emotional than American movies ‑ I'm telling you what actually happens in my mind. Something else may happen in the mind of someone else, although they may not be willing to tell you about it, and you would never know.

I have watched 287 Korean movies since 2005 and arranged them into three tiers, with each tier organized chronologically. I purposefully organized them chronologically because each movie within its respective tier is as good as the others, in my opinion.

I've linked to the first two movies. You should be able to learn more about everything I have listed through these websites:

  1. ASIANDB
  2. Korean Film Org
  3. Han Cinema

Tier 1 - Transcendent (90)

These are all films that I feel are better than “very good”, which in my mind translates to “transcendent”. I didn’t pick these because I feel my opinion will be universally approved; it is personal. I feel these are transcendent, but you may not.

Deep Blue Night 3-1-1985
Chil-su and Man-su 11-16-1988
Gagman 6-24-1989
Sopyonje 4-10-1993
The Day a Pig Fell into the Well 5-4-1996
Green Fish 2-7-1997
No. 3 8-2-1997
The Snare 11-1-1997
Christmas in August 1-24-1998
The Power of Kangwon Province 4-4-1998
The Quiet Family 4-25-1998
Birdcage Inn 10-31-1998
Attack the Gas Station 10-12-1999
Peppermint Candy 1-1-2000
Barking Dogs Never Bite 2-19-2000
The Isle 4-22-2000
Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors 5-27-2000
Joint Security Area 9-9-2000
Plum Blossom 10-14-2000
Pisces 10-21-2000
Address Unknown 5-26-2001
My Sassy Girl 7-27-2001
Raybang 11-2-2001
Bad Guy 1-11-2002
Turning Gate 3-22-2002
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance 3-29-2002
Marriage is a Crazy Thing 4-26-2002
Painted Fire 5-10-2002
Oasis 8-15-2002
Jail Breakers 11-21-2002
Memories of Murder 4-25-2003
A Tale of Two Sisters 6-13-2003
A Good Lawyer’s Wife 8-14-2003
Plastic Tree 8-29-2003
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring 9-19-2003
Untold Scandal 10-2-2003
Once Upon a Time in High School 1-16-2004
Samaritan Girl 3-5-2004
Woman is the Future of Man 5-5-2004
Spider Forest 9-3-2004
3-Iron 10-15-2004
S Diary 10-22-2004
Possible Changes 3-18-2005
A Bittersweet Life 4-1-2005
A Tale Of Cinema 5-26-2005
Rules Of Dating 6-10-2005
Whispering Corridors 4: Voice 7-15-2005
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance 7-29-2005
You Are My Sunshine 9-23-2005
Princess Aurora 10-27-2005
The Customer is Always Right 2-23-2006
Forbidden Quest 2-23-2006
Family Matters 3-24-2006
A Bloody Aria 5-31-2006
A Dirty Carnival 6-15-2006
No Mercy For The Rude 8-24-2006
Woman on the Beach 8-31-2006
Tazza: The High Rollers 9-27-2006
Ad-Lib Night 11-30-2006
Big Bang 3-14-2007
A Shark 5-10-2007
Secret Sunshine 5-23-2007
Black House 6-21-2007
Changing Partners 8-15-2007
Off Road 8-30-2007
Beautiful 2-14-2008
The Chaser 2-14-2008
Sorry 8-16-2008
The Divine Weapon 9-4-2008
My Dear Enemy 9-25-2008
My Friend and His Wife 11-27-2008
Private Eye 4-2-2009
Breathless 4-16-2009
Thirst 4-30-2009
Like You Know It All 5-14-2009
Mother 5-28-2009
Thirsty, Thirsty 6-4-2009
Possessed 8-12-2009
Paju 10-28-2009
Today and the Other Days 10-29-2009
Visitors 11-12-2009
HaHaHa 5-5-2010
The Housemaid 5-13-2010
Poetry 5-13-2010
I Saw The Devil 8-12-2010
A Desire to Kill 8-26-2010
Bedevilled 9-2-1010
Oki’s Movie 9-16-2010
Mother is a Whore 3-31-2011
Nameless Gangster 2-2-2012


Tier 2 - Decent to Delightful (146)

These all range from good to very good, in my opinion.

Angels on the Streets 2-19-1941
The Insect Woman 1972
Yeong Ja’s Heydays 2-11-1975
The Ball Shot By a Midget 10-17-1981
Knee to Knee 1984
The Entertainer 1985
Mulberry 2-8-1986
Winter Wanderer 1986
Hello, God! 1987
Youth Sketch 1987
Our Sweet Days of Youth 1988
Come, Come, Come Upwards 1989
General’s Son 1990
The Road to the Race Track 12-21-1991
Passage to Buddha 5-18-1993
Two Cops 1993
The Taebaek Mountains 1994
Two Cops 2 4-27-1996
The Contact 9-13-1997
Downfall 9-13-1997
Whispering Corridors 5-30-1998
Shiri 2-13-1999
Nowhere to Hide 7-31-1999
Tell Me Something 11-13-1999
Whispering Corridors 2: Memento Mori 12-24-1999
The Foul King 2-4-2000
Secret Tears 6-3-2000
Real Fiction 6-24-2000
I Wish I Had a Wife 1-13-2001
Bungee Jumping 2-3-2001
Running 7 Dogs 2-3-2001
Love Her 3-17-2001
Friend 3-31-2001
Failan 4-28-2001
Indian Summer 5-5-2001
Humanist 5-12-2001
Summer Time 5-26-2001
Kick the Moon 6-23-2001
Say Yes 8-17-2001
My Wife is a Gangster 9-28-2001
Guns and Talks 10-12-2001
Take Care of My Cat 10-13-2001
Hi Dharma 11-7-2001
Last Witness 11-16-2001
Flower Island 11-24-2001
Public Enemy 1-25-2002
No Blood No Tears 3-1-2002
A Funny Movie 4-12-2002
Bet on My Disco 6-6-2002
Break Out 7-17-2002
Phone 7-26-2002
Wet Dreams 11-6-2002
The Coast Guard 11-22-2002
A Bizarre Love Triangle 12-6-2002
Sex is Zero 12-12-2002
Save the Green Planet! 4-4-2003
Whispering Corridors 3: Wishing Stairs 8-1-2003
Into the Mirror 8-14-2003
My Wife is a Gangster 2 9-5-2003
Acacia 10-17-2003
The Road Taken 10-24-2003
Do You Like Spring Bears? 10-24-2003
The Greatest Expectation 10-24-2003
If You Were Me 11-14-2003
Oldboy 11-21-2003
Happy Naked Christmas 12-17-2003
Silmido 12-31-2003
Taegukgi 2-4-2004
The Big Swindle 4-15-2004
The Doll Master 7-30-2004
Hypnotized 8-6-2004
R-Point 8-20-2004
Three...Extremes 8-20-2004
Ghost House 9-17-2004
Some 10-22-2004
Wet Dreams 2 1-14-2005
Another Public Enemy 1-27-2005
The President’s Last Bang 2-3-2005
She’s on Duty 3-17-2005
Crying Fist 4-1-2005
Blood Rain 5-4-2005
The Bow 5-12-2005
Green Chair 6-10-2005
The Red Shoes 6-30-2005
Heaven’s Soldiers 7-15-2005
Welcome to Dongmakgol 8-4-2005
The Wig 8-11-2005
Cello 8-18-2005
Duelist 9-8-2005
The King and the Clown 10-29-2005
Art of Fighting 1-5-2006
Running Wild 1-12-2006
If You Were Me 2 1-13-2006
Holiday 1-19-2006
Vampire Cop, Ricky 2-9-2006
Bewitching Attraction 3-16-2006
My Scary Girl 4-6-2006
Bloody Tie 4-26-2006
Don’t Look Back 7-13-2006
The Host 7-27-2006
D-day 8-3-2006
Dasepo Naughty Girls 8-10-2006
Time 8-24-2006
Like A Virgin 8-31-2006
Mission Sex Control 9-28-2006
Righteous Ties 10-19-2006
Cruel Winter Blues 11-9-2006
I’m a Cyborg But That’s OK 12-7-2006
My Wife is a Gangster 3 12-28-2006
This Old Garden 1-4-2007
The Show Must Go On 4-5-2007
Beyond the Years 4-12-2007
Paradise Murdered 4-12-2007
Breath 4-26-2007
Hwang Jin Yi 6-6-2007
May 18 7-25-2007
Epitaph 8-1-2007
Love Exposure 10-18-2007
Shadows in the Palace 10-18-2007
Desert Dream 11-8-2007
Forever the Moment 1-10-2008
Once Upon a Time 1-30-2008
The Game 1-31-2008
Girl Scout 6-5-2008
Life is Cool 6-12-2008
My Mighty Princess 6-26-2008
Rough Cut 9-11-2008
Truck 9-25-2008
Crush and Blush 10-16-2008
Iri 11-13-2008
Portrait of a Beauty 11-13-2008
Scandal Makers 12-4-2008
Frozen Flower 12-30-2008
Turtles Run 6-11-2009
Lifting King Kong 7-1-2009
Tidal Wave 7-22-2009
The Sword With No Name 9-24-2009
Attack the Gas Station! 2 1-21-2010
Nice Shorts 1-21-2010
Moss 7-14-2010
The Man From Nowhere 8-4-2010
The Unjust 10-28-2010
Hanji 3-17-2011
Moby Dick 6-9-2011
Poongsan 6-23-2011
Silenced 9-22-2011


Tier 3 - Abysmal (55)

These are films that I either did not like or disliked so much that I could not finish watching them. These are the stinkers of Korean cinema, in my opinion.

The Terrorist 1995
The Eternal Empire 1-28-1995
The Gingko Bed 2-17-1996
Piano Man 5-24-1996
The Soul Guardians 8-15-1998
Motel Cactus 10-25-1997
The Ring Virus 6-12-1999
Doctor K 10-1-1999
Black Honeymoon 3-11-2000
Nightmare 7-29-2000
Dead if Recorded 8-26-2000
Butterfly 10-13-2001
Volcano High 12-8-2001
Out of Justice 12-21-2001
2009 Lost Memories 2-1-2002
Four Toes 5-17-2002
Yesterday 6-13-2002
Family 8-23-2002
Can’t Live Without Robbery 9-27-2002
Unborn But Forgotten 11-15-2002
H 12-27-2002
Tube 6-5-2003
The Uninvited 8-8-2003
Natural City 9-26-2003
Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield 10-17-2003
Arahan 4-30-2004
Face 6-11-2004
Bunshinsaba (Ouija Board) 8-5-2004
None Of Your Cheek! 12-3-2004
Antarctic Journal 5-19-2005
City of Violence 5-25-2006
Arang 6-28-2006
Apartment 7-6-2006
Bloody Reunion 8-3-2006
Cinderella 8-17-2006
Dark Forest 8-17-2006
How the Lack of Love Affects Two Men 11-16-2006
Small Town Rivals 3-29-2007
The Cut 7-11-2007
Muoi 7-25-2007
D-War 8-1-2007
Return 8-8-2007
M 10-25-2007
The Guard Post 4-3-2008
The Good, The Bad, The Weird 7-17-2008
Death Bell 8-26-2008
Dream 10-9-2008
Written 12-26-2008
Five Senses of Eros 7-9-2009
Chaw 7-15-2009
Whispering Corridors 5: A Blood Pledge 8-12-2009
Yoga Class 8-20-2009
Secret Reunion 2-4-2010
Outlaw 3-18-2010
Traffickers  8-29-2012
Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , ,

Friday, August 26, 2011

Two Powerful Korean Films

     I will never forget the first time I watched a movie by Hong Sang-Soo. I had started at the beginning of his filmography, with The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996).


Front Cover


Back Cover


      My first 3 viewings of The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well were not good enough. I was still recovering. By now, a full 5 years after having had watched it for the first time, I am able to cope with it. What the hell are these people doing? What is the plot? What is happening!? And that's it! This film is about regular people going about their regular activities. This is a masterstroke of psychological film making. One deep powerful stroke into your ephemeral thought center that caresses your neurons for days, weeks, months, years. This is definitely specifically designed for the INTP personality or for anyone that values thinking. Most people will not be able to watch this film and feel that anything truly remarkable has happened. And you, the reader, might be wondering how a film showing regular people doing regular things can be so powerful. 

     The second film by Hong Sang-Soo I had watched is the 2nd in his filmography:


Front Cover


Back Cover


     The plot of The Power of Kangwon Province does exist, provided one sits through the whole film and pays very close attention. This is not a typical movie, where one can accept phone calls, grab a bite to eat, leave a swirl in the toilet, pick their toenails, etc. You have to sit there and shut out everything else in your life and pay attention. You will be rewarded. 

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Korean Movie - The Customer is Always Right

     I take enormous risks when I watch movies. I haven't sat down and figured out the ratio, but the amount of bad movies I watch exceeds the great movies. I consider the bad movies the price I have to pay in order to find the gems. I don't consider the money to be the price I have to pay - no. The actual price is all the crap I have to be exposed to. This is the same with books, music, and to some extent - women.
     I won't be telling you about the crap because I don't want to talk about it or even think about it. The other night I sat down and watched The Customer is Always Right, completely unaware as to whether it would blow me away or ruin my day. The best word I can use to describe this movie is "magical", but with a caveat. If you're not really into Korean movies and haven't seen the early works of Lee Chang-Dong, then you might be less entranced. I don't want to potentially spoil anything, so I won't name the exact movie you should watch first.


DVD Front Cover


DVD Back Cover


     I'm going to tell you about the actors.
  • 성지루 (Seong Ji-Ru) is the barber in the scan. He is gullible and timid; he breaks down and is thwarted easily. It took me a long time to recognize him, since he acted very differently from his role in A Good Lawyer's Wife. In that movie, he played the seriously mentally disturbed person that rambled nonsense. 
  • 이선균 (Lee Seon-Gyun) is the man blowing the bubble in the scan. I was very surprised to watch his role in this movie because he was essentially an alpha male; very calm, assertive, assiduous, easily able to kick the crap out of people, successful with the ladies, etc. A total bad-ass. He normally plays a sexually frustrated character that can't talk to women without stuttering, or he's psychologically abusive to women.
  • 명계남 (Myung Gye-Nam) is the man with the sunglasses. He's the mystery character, he's the customer, and he's always right. 
  • 성현아 (Seong Hyeon-Ah) is the woman in the picture. I remember her playing a psychologically disturbed person in Time who used plastic surgery as her source of paramount satisfaction. She also played the mother in the closed-loop paradox horror movie Cello. In this movie, she is a manipulative sex-crazed maniac that is content with nothing and upset with everything. 
     Sadly, I can not tell you why I loved this movie so much. There is much I can not reveal, due to the fact it's spoiler-heavy. The fact that I have seen so many Korean movies definitely made this a far more interesting experience, because I was able to compare how these people act compared to what else I have seen them in. Ultimately, this movie is mysterious. The man in the sunglasses had me stumped beyond hope. Well, here's the gist of it. I can tell you this much...the barber did something very bad...and somehow...the man in the sunglasses found out.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Two Korean Movies - The Snare and Say Yes

     Youtube is a great place to find out what movies to watch. In my particular case, I like to watch Korean movies, and there are plenty of such lists on Youtube, even genre lists. I found a video that listed the top 69 (!) R-rated Korean movies and I had watched 22 of them. The #1 movie on that list was The Hole. I found the list credible since all 22 of the movies I had seen were indeed quite good. However, I had never seen the #1 movie, so I watched it last Saturday night. It was easy to find because it was already contained in my physical collection.
     Before I proceed, I have to talk about the title of the movie. The original Korean title is 올가미, which does not mean "the hole" in English. I looked up 올가미 in my Korean-English dictionary and here is the definition: a noose; a snare; a lasso; a rope; a trick; a cheat; a trap. I couldn't find The Hole listed at Han Cinema or Asian DB, but I did find The Snare listed as Asian DB. Asian Media Wiki decided to use the title on the DVD case and here is their entry. Take note that IMDB also lists it as The Hole. I have decided to officially call it The Snare, since Asian DB uses that title, plus that is the correct meaning of the Korean word.
     Anyway, I have posted the DVD front and back covers, so you can see for yourself.

The Snare (1997)

DVD Front Cover


DVD Back Cover


      I can understand why someone would rate this as the best R-rated Korean movie. It ventures into taboo territory in the form of perverse emotional desire, which makes the viewer feel rather uncomfortable. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't mention the exact nature of the emotional abnormalities. I was constantly surprised and I would call this "original". I very, very, very seriously doubt this will ever be remade by Hollywood, due to the uncomfortable nature of the content. 
     As for the picture quality of the DVD, it varies between low and high resolution. Some scenes look like VHS quality and others are clearly DVD quality. I don't know how that works, but it doesn't in any way alter the viewing experience. The movie is shocking enough that it could be in black and white and it wouldn't make a difference. There is an oddity to report about the DVD. The soundtrack is actually available through the on-screen menu. I have never seen anything like that before. 

     The second movie I feel compelled to blog about is called 세이 예스 in Korean, which is a spelling of the English "Say Yes".  So the title is rather straightforward and means the same thing in both languages. Why am I mentioning this movie in the same blog post as the above movie? They were both made by the same director. I had seen Say Yes several years ago and something happened that was not supposed to happen. In other words, I was thoroughly shocked.
Say Yes (2001)

DVD Front Cover


DVD Back Cover


     Besides the thing that was not supposed to happen, there was something else that shocked me. 박중훈 (Park Joong-Hoon) plays a psychologically demented and manifestly violent character that torments the lives of others. He is normally a comedian. Consider for a moment watching Jim Carrey playing a violent hard-edged murderer that stops at nothing to make his human prey suffer. Wouldn't it be strange to watch the jovial Carrey kill people?
     The main theme in this movie, as in The Snare, is torment. Someone, for a reason they consider rational, has decided to torment other people. The torment is far more physical than psychological and there is no concern for the comfort of the victims. 
     These are both "hard-hitting" movies and I would recommend them if you enjoy being shocked.
Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: , ,

Sunday, July 17, 2011

My two favorite Korean movies.

     Out of the 200+ Korean movies I have watched since 2005, I have to rate these as my picks for the #1 position.

Attack the Gas Station! (1999)

DVD Front


DVD Back


     Attack the Gas Station! was one of the very first Korean movies I watched, almost exactly 6 years ago. It has an original story (not a remake of anything), the actors are risible, and it gets better with each viewing. Some of the actors in this movie have gone on to star in many more films, and some have previously starred in many films. Who attacks the gas station?
     These are the four ragtags on the DVD front above:

     1. 이성재 (Lee Seong-Jae) He's standing third from the left, in the front. He plays the leader of the gang and has starred in several other K-movies I like:
     2. 유오성 (Yoo Oh-Seung) He's the one holding the stick and plays the enforcer of the gang; he does the heavy beating, when necessary. The only other movie I've seen him in that I liked was Friend (2001). He also starred in several movies before this, and I've seen one of them and it was horrible: Terrorist (1995).

     3. 강성진 (Kang Seong-Jin) He is standing on the far right in the image above and plays a crazy guy addicted to music. If he doesn't hear music, then he'll start smashing things and beating people. This actor is one of my favorite comedians in Korean cinema. I also like him in the following movies:
     4. 유지태 (Yoo Ji-Tae) He's jumping on the far left in the image above and plays a fairly taciturn role, only deigning to make a ruckus when he sees complicated words. He spends most of the time making nude art. He's also the most well-known of the four hoodlums. I have enjoyed his acting ability in these other Korean movies:
     Who else is in this movie? These are the big three. (I don't know how to extract their images from the DVD.)

      1. 유해진 (Yoo Hae-Jin) He plays the leader of a competing gang of thugs that collects money from one of the gas station employees. Yoo Hae-Jin has been in many Korean movies that I have enjoyed.
     2. 김수로 (Kim Soo-Ro) He plays the leader of the motorcycle gang and initially meets the ragtag four when they order out for Chinese food, as he is the delivery driver. I have enjoyed his antics in these other movies:
     I also want to mention that Kim Soo-Ro played a small role in Taegukgi (2004). His role was near the end of the movie, where he had suspected communists kneel down in front of pits, to prepare for execution. It felt strange to see him playing such an evil character, after having seen so many of his comedic roles.

     3. 김응수 (Kim Eung-Soo) This man has been in every Korean movie. There must've been a time when I once randomly selected a few movies to watch and he appeared in each one. In Attack the Gas Station!, he plays the role of one of the two police officers you first see, and yells at Kang Seong-Jin for drinking a can of Pepsi. He usually plays a bad guy in movies; someone that yells a lot and becomes angry easily. It's rare to see him do anything nice and I've never seen him with a leading role.

     I lent Attack the Gas Station! to a co-worker and while he didn't care for it, he stated his cousin loved it; it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. My parents were able to tolerate it and I can't even get my friends to watch it. Some people just can't handle subtitles. Another thing I want to mention is the soundtrack. Occasionally, Korean movies will use music from video games. I heard music from Guilty Gear XX Reload during some action scenes in My Wife is a Gangster 3 and music from Outrun in Chilsu and Mansu. From what game did this movie borrow music from? G-Darius. At the very beginning, when they are preparing to raid the gas station, you can hear the beginning of the song G Zero #2 (track 1 on the arrange album). The rest of the music is pretty good and I would like to have the soundtrack, but it's OOP in Korea and quite expensive. My only complaint about the Attack the Gas Station! DVD is that the image is not anamorphic. It looks great on a standard 4:3 set and there is no way to fix the image on a 16:9 set without losing some of the image, unless you put the TV in 4:3 mode.


    
     A Dirty Carnival took me several viewings to comprehend. This is what you need to know:

     1. Gun control laws are very strict in South Korea.
     2. Gangsters that use guns are regarded as sissies.
     3. Gangsters need sponsors. A sponsor is a semi-legitimate businessman that needs someone to carry out his illegal activities.

     I had wondered about the paucity of guns and why the gangsters needed sponsors so badly. Once those basic things are understood, then this movie makes a lot more sense. It is very much unlike your typical gangster movie, involving the Mafia or the Yakuza. These gangsters have to fight and coerce people with knives and bats; they are thugs in suits. Have you seen 28 Weeks Later? Do you remember that horrifically cold scene at the very beginning, when the man left his wife behind? This movie is like that scene. It is cold, it ends cold, and it leaves a cold feeling. This is a hard hitting movie that doesn't use violence in the most extreme sense, such as that used in I Saw the Devil, but it effectively skewers any hope of happiness in your heart. 
     By the time I had watched this movie, I was far more familiar with Korean cinema and the actors involved, so this was quite dissimilar to Attack the Gas Station!, on many levels. I do want to mention that the director, Yu Ha, is one of my favorites. I also greatly enjoyed Marriage is a Crazy Thing and A Frozen Flower.

     In summary, my two favorite Korean movies are opposites. One is happy and the other is cold. This was not done on purpose. 


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Friday, January 14, 2011

More Good Korean Movies.

Here are some I've watched relatively recently (within the past year) that are excellent.


The first scan is from Thirsty, Thirsty. The original Korean title is Give Me Water. I've watched Thirsty, Thirsty 5 or 6 times just within the past year. It's a directorial debut and won the Best New Director Award in Asia. The story involves debt collecting and its intricacies, with more humor than is reasonable.


The second scan is from Plastic Tree. It is fortunate I have seen so many Korean movies. Before watching this movie, it is worth it to watch Plum Blossom and The Day a Pig Fell into the Well. I won't explain why, but you'll know why. I found this for $4 at the now defunct DVD From Korea website, and it was a bargain indeed. This movie completely blew me away. Don't worry about the cover; there is no possible way one can predict what will happen. This is an example of why Korean Cinema is numero uno.

  

This third scan is from Love Her. Not "Lover". But "Love Her". Wow, was this a masterpiece. If you want to see the complete psychological breakdown (the downward spiral) of a person, then look no further. A movie like this explains why some men say "All women are crazy.". I loved the soundtrack, too.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Monday, September 27, 2010

Ascetic

     Ascetic is not to be confused with aesthetics. Just leave it to some obscure Korean movie to improve my English vocabulary. I watched Come, Come, Come Upwards (1989) last night, which is about the lives of female Buddhists and, of course, asceticism.


     It's not my job to elaborate the difference between ascetic and aesthetics. I just wanted to point out I was forced to run to an English language dictionary while watching a Korean movie.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Friday, September 10, 2010

Angels on the Streets

     I finally got around to cracking open "THE PAST UNEARTHED: Collection of Feature Films in the Japanese Colonial Period". It's a 4 DVD box set of Korean films from the early 1940s. In 2004, the Korean Film Archives found them in China, in a vault. The first movie in the set is titled "Angels on the Streets"


     The picture and sound quality made the experience rather trying. I could barely hear the Korean above the static and the picture was very dark. Thankfully, the producers included quality English subtitles. The extensive booklet is also written in Korean and English. The movie is 73 minutes long and I watched it in two parts, to make the experience more tolerable. 
     This movie is about the street urchins, which refers to the thousands of homeless children. They are never referred to as angels in the film. While the quality of the movie left much to be desired, the story and acting were not so bad.
      At the end of the movie, all of the actors (all Koreans) got into formation and pledged allegiance to the Emperor of Japan, under the crimson eye of the Japanese flag. I seriously doubt that was voluntary.

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Sunday, November 1, 2009

신하균

     신하균, or Shin Ha-Gyun, is a talented Korean actor. I first saw him in 공동경비구역 JSA (Joint Security Area) back in early 2005, when I first started watching Korean movies. Last night I watched his 2008 thriller 더 게임 (The Game), which was equal parts funny and bizarre.
     In case you're not sure who I'm talking about, Shin Ha-Gyun played the green haired deaf-mute in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (If you haven't seen that, then what have you been doing? Get with it!)
     I've seen the following movies starring 신하균 :

반 칙왕 / The Foul King (2000)



공동경비구역 JSA / Joint Security Area (2000)



킬러들의 수다 / Guns & Talks (2001)



북수는 나의 것 / Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)



지구를 지켜라! / Save the Green Planet! (2003)



친절한 금자 씨 / Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)



웰컴 투 동막골 / Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005)



예의없는 것들 / No Mercy for the Rude (2006)

 


더 게임 / The Game (2008)







Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Korean Movies You Must Watch


     DA CREDE MIHI

     In other words, trust me. Watching these movies will make you feel better. I've watched around 180 Korean movies and these are some of the best, for any mature audience, that is, people that enjoy thinking. And sometimes, laughing. I could list 100 more, but I halted it at 8 movies. If you've never seen a Korean movie, any one of these would be a good start.

3-Iron


 A Good Lawyer's Wife


 Barking Dogs Never Bite

 

 Big Bang

 

 Gagman

 

 Marriage is a Crazy Thing

 

 Mulberry

 

 Tazza: The High Rollers

 


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,

Friday, September 25, 2009

Movies in 2009 so far.

     I've seen the following 2009 movies so far:

     Watchmen - This is based on a graphic novel I had naturally never heard of, since I have no interest in those things. However, the superhero antagonist (or protagonist, depending on the POV) is the most powerful I'm aware of, as he, Dr. Manhattan, can control the electromagnetic force.

     X-Men Origins: Wolverine - This movie partly explains the origins of Wolverine. I mention 'partly' because the actual mutation is not explained. Actually, there are two mutations. Wolverine has the extending claws and accelerated healing abilities, like an advanced amphibian. A possible explanation for the healing abilities can come about through pluripotent, or stem, cells. Amphibians revert the cells in a damaged area to stem cells.

     Star Trek - One can think of this in similar terms to X-Men Origins, since it focuses on the incipient days of our familiar friends in Starfleet. My only complaint was the lack of explanation for the red matter.

     The Uninvited - This is a remake of the Korean movie, A Tale of Two Sisters:


     Both the Uninvited and A Tale of Two Sisters are exceptional horror films, but I feel the Korean original is superior.

     Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen - Goodness, this was a load of crap. The computer graphics were amazing, but the story left me annoyed. Even the original cartoon from 1984 provided one with more cerebral material.

     District 9 - Wow! Finally! Something to blow my ass away! I loved the hyperviolence, along with the original story. I liked the way the origin of the aliens was not explained, leaving the viewer to speculate.

     Pandorum - I would not want to be stuck on The Elysium, the spaceship. While this movie hasn't given me a nightmare yet, it has given me numerous uncomfortable thoughts. Based on sheer terror, Pandorum ranks right with Alien. While people are calling the ending a 'shocker', I feel other parts of the story were more shocking. This is also similar to Event Horizon, Sphere, The Descent, and Sunshine. Except Pandorum is more terrifying and more realistic. In other words, the events that transpire in Pandorum are more likely to actually happen than the events in the other movies I mentioned. This movie is not 'far-fetched', and that's what adds to the terror.

 
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)