South Korean Movie Reviews »
My Boss, My Hero (2001) Movie Review
It probably behooves me not to take everything I see in movies seriously, as cinema is at best fictional versions of the truth, and at worst pure fabrications of some fevered writer’s imagination. Still,...
Read More »My Beautiful Days (aka 24, 2002) Movie Review
Far be it for me to tell an established filmmaker what to do, but perhaps the next time director Jong-jae Im decides to make a movie he should choose a protagonist that is actually...
Read More »Two Cops 3 (1998) Movie Review
“Two Cops 3″, as the title indicates, is the third installment in a popular series that focuses on two cops as they fight crime side by side. Part 3 has strayed from the previous...
Read More »Mr. Iron Palm (2003) Movie Review
The South Korean movie “Mr. Iron Palm” is an undeniable Romantic Comedy, and as such its ending is inevitable from the opening frame. We know, for instance, that Korean expatriate Iron Palm (In-Pyo Cha)...
Read More »Public Enemy (2002) Movie Review
Despite a very graphic suicide (a bullet through the head) popping up early in “Public Enemy,” the rest of the film takes a dramatic shift toward comedy. Not long after the suicide, a cab...
Read More »Tell Me Something (1999) Movie Review
“Tell Me Something” is an interesting thriller about a serial killer who is offing (and then dismembering) the ex-lovers of a beautiful young woman. Not satisfied with just cutting them to pieces while they’re...
Read More »Soul Guardians (1998) Movie Review
The biggest problem with Kwang-chun Park’s “Soul Guardians” is that there is a feeling that the filmmakers are not entirely sure about the kind of movie they wanted to make and what sort of...
Read More »Legend of Gingko (2000) Movie Review
The actual title of “Legend of Gingko,” as revealed in the movie’s opening sequence, is actually “Legend of Gingko Tree.” Which brings me to this point: I don’t think the actual Gingko Tree shows...
Read More »Say Yes (2001) Movie Review
If movies have taught me anything (and to be honest, they’ve taught me very little, natch), it’s never to drive cross-country without either a gun or a really big bodyguard. I bring this up...
Read More »
2009: Lost Memories (2001) Movie Review
Si-myung Lee’s “2009: Lost Memories” is a science fiction movie in the guise of an action flick. Its main premise hangs on a Time Travel concept of altering past events in order to shape...
Read More »Surprise (2002) Movie Review
A t the risk of being accused of ethnic bashing (which, by the way, I have been accused of, natch), let me say that I find the way Korean women talk to be a...
Read More »Nightmare (aka Gawi, 2000) Movie Review
The South Korean horror film “Nightmare” is a slasher film in the vein of “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” with heavy doses of supernatural elements ala the Japanese film “Ring.” It’s a...
Read More »Nowhere to Hide (1999) Movie Review
The tactics used by the cops in Myung-se Lee’s “Nowhere to Hide” to extract information from suspects would make the cops on TV’s “NYPD Blue” blush. They are, in a word, hardcore, and beating...
Read More »Volcano High (2001) Movie Review
“Volcano High” (or “Volcano High School”) is a South Korean action/comedy picture that utilizes a lot of the special effects pioneered by their American counterparts, and employs elements of Hong Kong farce comedy and...
Read More »
Bad Guy (2001) Movie Review
There has been so many South Korean and Japanese gangster films that they deserve a subgenre of their own — the Traditional Asian Gangster films, which exists only from South Korea and Japan. Why...
Read More »
Last Witness (2001) Movie Review
Chang-ho Bae’s “Last Witness” is a Crime Drama that deals with the Korean War (1950 — 53), a favorite subject of many South Korean films. I can only guess that the North Koreans favor...
Read More »
Joint Security Area (2000) Movie Review
Chan-wook Park’s “Joint Security Area” (“JSA”) tells the tale of 5 soldiers — 3 North Koreans and 2 South Koreans — who become involved in a bloody gun battle one cold night while manning...
Read More »A.f.r.i.k.a. (2001) Movie Review
The South Korean movie “A.f.r.i.k.a” is a Chicks on the Run film, a subgenre that is often associated with Road Movies, since the two subgenres often features combined conventions. Chicks on the Run films...
Read More »Christmas in August (1998) Movie Review
Jin-ho Hur’s “Christmas in August” is the 1998 forerunner to his masterpiece “One Fine Spring Day”, and just like the other film, “Christmas” explores the human condition and sheds light on the power of...
Read More »Art Museum by the Zoo (1998) Movie Review
Jeong-hyang Lee’s “Art Museum by the Zoo” is not a very original movie. Let’s get that out of the way first, shall we? You’ve seen the exact same formula being played out in countless...
Read More »
