Joint Security Area (2000)

Another effort by one of my favorite directors Mr. Chan-Woon Park. This tale that starts out which seemingly going to be a male testosterone induced shoot out fair twists into a tale of friendship, honor and war. I was watching this expecting an action flick but I was not disappointed. I liked how this movie with it's Rashomon-esque story telling is able to bring us from scene to scene glued to the edge of our seat.

Probably the only thing that would stop me from giving this one it's usual gold star rating is the ending that seems to be a tad too convenient (no spoilers here just watch it) and the final act that devolves somewhat into over the top acting and melodrama. Minus a few points there, but then as that takes points off from this movie the talented Mr Kang-Ho Song who plays Sergeant Oh. It's a nuanced performance who can only be pulled off by a an actor in his league good stuff +1 point there. I just loved all his screen time (as with all his movies).

Some other colleagues of mine says that this movie is unfocused, unbelievable with a humanist message. Is it all of that ? Yes. Does it make it any less better for me ? No.

In summary I give this a 7.0/10.0. It's a good watch and would trump most of the usual hollywood bs coming out these days. A word of thanks to the Korean movie industry for keeping this reviewer interested in movies :).

Touch the Sound (2003)

This is a documentary about Evelyn Glennie a famous figure in the music industry in Britain. This is her story and it focuses around her relationship with movie. Evelyn has lived a life of music and is currently a percussionist. What is remarkable about Evelyn is the fact that she is almost 80% deaf. This movie is however not about Evelyn the remarkable deaf musician rather it focuses on Evelyn the artist and the musician.

I found the different types of instruments and the way the they are employed in this movie very interesting. Anything and everything from a roll of paper thrown through the air can be used as an instrument. Evelyn who narrates the documentary, says she likes to keep herself open to any sort of sound that comes to her and this is evident in the numerous 'jamming' session they have throughout the documentary. I like how this documentary is presented. They do not focus in her handicap and if not because of the fact that it's mentioned during the course of the documentary I would not even have guessed that Evelyn is special.

During her school days (around 8) Evelyn was told that she is going deaf and that a career in music was not in the cards for her. She said that is not something she could accept as 30 mins earlier she could play anything and now a new fate has just been dealt to her. Her fortitude of Evelyn and her family in dealing with this heart breaking news is amicable. I wished that I had the inner strength these people had as this was not even treated as an issue to them, infact all throughout, Evelyn actually just says that her way of inputting music is just different and she is in now way less of a musician. Based on the fact that she is recognized as one of the leaders in a field goes to show she speaks for a position of experience.

The music in this documentary is infectious and sparse as they were got my feet tapping a few times while watching this. The music is haunting, tapping, unique and good all wrapped in one. The narrative style in this documentary works and is both personal and introduces us to the world that Evelyn lives and thrives in everyday.

The director, Thomas Riedelsheimer also directed another documentary called 'Rivers and Tides'. Will check that out soon.

Good watch, thanks cinebanter. 8/10

Hunger (2009)

I had Hunger for a long time but just somehow did find the time or situation to watch it, which in retrospect I think is good because this is not an easy movie to watch. Mc Queen's debut effort that highlights situations surrounding the 1981 hunger strikes, offers or forces on us a stark and unflinching view. We are thrust into the slammer together with Fassbender's Bobby Sands which marks the start of his matryrical task that ends in his eventual death.

For a debut effort Mc Queen as a director shines here with some prophetic touches. An example of this is his understanding of how to elicit emotions with the most basic of scenes. A grimace, a frown even the movement of the iris is not wasted here. Mc Queen also understands very well when a visual might actually weaken the message that is trying to be put forth resulting in us never ever seeing Tatcher here but the strength of what she says in my opinion is so much the stronger because of that.

The scenes of the effects of the hunger strikes on the strikers is not for the faint of heart. If the boy scout of a weakened Gandhi at the height of his hunger strikes gets you bawling then you will be devastated here. The sites of scenes of bed sores, think bodies nearly sent the food in my tummy on it's anti-peristaltic journey! This is definitely not a talky movie and the dialog is as sparse as the sound track which I think is appropriate and stands to heighten the effect of creating that prison atmosphere. The only sounds that the audience will hear most of the time is the sound of scraping, clanging and the sounds of prison doors closing. This is a great choice by Mc Queen as I think those sounds are already enough to solidify the bleakness and the hopelessness of prisoners in the prison. A note about about sparse dialog, the movie culminates in a 20 minute (really!) unbroken take of the conversation of Sands and a priest. The patience and the restraint that Mc Queen and the writer Enda Walsh (Mc Queen co wrote) is testament to the a master's stroke in film making. The dialog also moves the plot forward and from it we gain insight into the background and the reasons of the whole act.

If this movie's goal is to create interest in this infamous time in our history, then it succeeds on all fronts for me. I was so interested at the end of this of what caused the hunger strike that I started to try and learn as much as I could about the reasons and the results of the strike. Right from the start the story telling is very effective in creating interest and hooking us right into the plot, from the the prison guard washing his bruised knuckle, our curiosity is piqued not only what is this guys story, we want to find out what are the situations that caused the bruises.

Find a quiet spot and get in the right frame of mind to watch this. It's only about 90 minutes but it is not easy to watch. Try to however and I guarantee you will walk away rewarded. 10/10.

A-Team (2010)

I used to watch A-Team growing up and was a fan of the series then. I add the word then as it's strange, some movies that look so good then looks corny, worse unwatchable now. Did Liam's Hannibal was Quinton "Rampage" Jackson BA make this romp satisfying for a an ex 8 year old fan of The A-Team? Did he go Yayy! at the end when they finally play the A-Team theme song with the original intro to the show ? No, Yes, Yes and Yes.

This is a loud film with filmsy plot. As with all action movies based on 80 series, please leave do not attempt to watch this with your brain mounted and you will at least have a chance of enjoying this. I enjoyed it and was actually near to giving a shout out cheer right at the end. Most of the aspect of the show was captured in this 2010 remake. The loud, the zany and the crazy stunts. I especially like the aeroplane stunts in this one. Breath taking.

Acting on the whole was okay, the parts when this film did not work and I did not care so much for was the time it slowed down to a molasses place especially with the soul searching bit of BA trying to lead a life of peace! Leeson also looks out of place in this one. I guess he has played characters with a pained expression too long for me to accept him in a role like this. The Hannibal of old did not feel this way. Face, great! Murdock, spot on! BA during his !slow scenes great!

Oh ya, one stand out for me for this movie were the bad guys. They were actually quite efficient and capable! It's been quite a long time and a lot of action movies that I have seen that I thought the bad guy was cool. There were a few scenes featuring Pike which I found the baddie to be quite cool.

So give this one a whirl if you got an afternoon to kill like me during raya ... :)
5/10

The Good, The Bad and the Weird.

I used to be the sort of the guy who did not enjoy watching foreign movies. Boy was I a sorry fool then and the more so after I the great Korean offerings that were available such as The Host, The Chaser and Oldboy. All good stuff! So does, latest offering "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" elevates my love for Korean movies further or does will it bring it down a notch?

Well, I am happy to say it does not bring it down a notch. It does not really elevate it but I just love this movie. It's a rip roaring fun ride all the way! Much like a great rollercoaster ride also, the plot isn't much to write home to mom about, but then as I said, it's a rollercoaster ride. It's all about the ride! The action sequences, even for an action movie buff like me still manages to look fresh and bring me to the edge of my seat.

Actually this movie reminds me of those movie that Alam Tam and gang used to act with martial arts put in with just a simple plot to drive the action sequences along. I loved those movies growing up and this movie is reminiscent of that. The plot if you will is about the hunt of of a hidden treasure thanks to bungling thief played by Kang-ho Song, which is my favorite action from all of these Korean movies! I absolutely just love this guy when he is on screen. He can act comedy, tragedy and even the leading man when it comes to it. The whole movie almost revolves around his bungling character and he made me laugh every time he was on screen. Watch out for the end reveal of this character as he reveals a not so bungling side to his character. Totally believable too as he makes the switch.

Check this movie out if you haven't. If you are just tired of those plot plot plot movies and just want to cheer yourself up this is what you should go for! I give this good one a good solid 8.5/10.

A bit more about the movie via wikipedia.

Check out it's RT score.

The Dead Girl (2006)

Straight off I really liked this movie. A new director to me, Karen Moncrieff manages to take an otherwise run of the mill story line about a prostitute's death, and make it into something interesting and worth following. At the end of this I was invested in the life of this girl and it even got a bit (just a bit) dusty in my living room when I realize her eventual fate. The way this is told, it never bored me one minute which is quite a feat as I normally find this kind of depressing stories boring to the point of tears.

I guess you can say that Karen's writing with the directing and the editing manages to breath life and make us care for the rotting corpse the Toni Collette character stumbles upon at the beginning of this movie.

We are brought into the ride via the perspective of multiple characters akin to Pulp Fiction. I don't normally read into spiritual messages in movies, but I guess you could say that the God in this movie is a deistic one as the characters falter on their quests and the final scene of hope on the dead girl's face which you know will be cut short by her cruel death is just devastating. I love this way of story telling and I am giving this an 8 over 10.]

** Oh ya, the reason why I picked up this movie is because during one of the filmspotting interviews, Josh Brolin cited this movie as one of the ones he is proud of although it did wasn't like a huge blockbuster or a commercial monster. Thanks again Adam and Matty!