Hanbando (2006) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Eric Choi) I had my doubts about “Hanbando” from the very beginning. It was clearly a nationalistic film, the sort of patriotic movie that exploits a very current situation in order to grab an audience. In this case, the issue is the continuing confrontation between South...

August 13th, 2006 | Read More

The Host (2006) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Eric Choi) Finally, a movie that is so refreshingly entertaining that it puts most blockbusters to shame. “The Host” is the new film by director Bong Joon-Ho (“Memories of Murder”), and besides being one of the best films I’ve seen all year, it deserves...

August 11th, 2006 | Read More

Gagman (1989) Movie Review

“Gagman” was the debut feature by Korean director Lee Myung Se, best known for “Nowhere to Hide” and “Duelist”, now finally released on DVD. Lee’s works have a tendency to divide critics, as many are arguably exercises of style over substance, being more concerned...

July 28th, 2006 | Read More

Typhoon (2005) Movie Review

“Typhoon”, the latest effort from “Friend” director Kwak Gyeong Taek, was very much a flagship release for the domestic South Korean market, having the highest budget in the nation’s history and having been shot on various locations, including Pusan, Thailand, and Russia...

July 12th, 2006 | Read More

Vampire Cop Ricky (2006) Movie Review

Every once in a while, a film comes along with a premise that is simply astounding in its brilliance. The Korean “Vampire Cop Ricky”, which follows a useless, corrupt policeman who turns into a vampire whenever he gets an erection, is one such film. Amazingly, director Lee Si Myung (also...

May 23rd, 2006 | Read More

Holiday (2006) Movie Review

“Holiday ” is based upon an actual incident whose roots lie in the Korean government’s preparations for the 1988 Olympics, which saw them destroy countless neighbourhoods to make way for new developments in order to impress foreign visitors. In most cases, these neighbourhoods were...

May 16th, 2006 | Read More

Shadowless Sword (2005) Movie Review

In 2000, director Kim Young-jun wowed and befuddled viewers and critics alike with “Bichunmoo”, a swordplay movie with a ton of action but an undecipherable storyline. Kim’s follow-up, 2005’s “Shadowless Sword”, fairs much better in the screenplay department, in that...

April 17th, 2006 | Read More

Running Wild (2006) Movie Review

“Running Wild” marks the debut of Korean director Kim Sung Soo, apparently the prot’g’ of ‘Mr. Vengeance’ himself, Park Chan Wook (director of “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” and “Old Boy”). Thankfully “Running Wild” is not simply...

April 13th, 2006 | Read More

The Unforgiven (2005) Movie Review

“The Unforgiven” marks the debut of Korean director Yoon Jong-bin in impressive fashion, having won several awards at the 2005 Pusan Film Festival, including the FIPRESCI and NETPAC prizes. What is most remarkable about this feat is the fact that the film is actually the director’s...

February 27th, 2006 | Read More

Never to Lose (2004) Movie Review

There have been a lot of films done in the “Lethal Weapon” style of moviemaking, many of them by imitators right here in the United States , but Americans rarely get the chance to see how it’s done in the rest of the world. Thanks to import video merchants, American viewers can...

February 18th, 2006 | Read More

Antarctic Journal (2005) Movie Review

“Antarctic Journal” apparently took five years to complete, a fact which suggests that debut Korean writer-director Im Pil-sung possesses the same dogged determination and endurance as his characters. The film is difficult to categorise, being equal parts supernatural mystery, psychological...

February 17th, 2006 | Read More

Mr. Socrates (2005) Movie Review

“Mr. Socrates” is the first film proper from Choi Jin Won, whose only previous credit of note was co-directing “Memento Mori” (the sequel to influential teen horror “Whispering Corridors”), and is another in the long line of hip, stylised crime dramas which have been...

February 15th, 2006 | Read More

Diary of June aka Bystanders (2005) Movie Review

Kyung-soo Lim’s “Diary of June” enters a Korean market already well treaded by films about formerly docile women on the road to bloody, and sometimes shocking vengeance. Counting among this suddenly popular subgenre is Park Chan Wook’s much-hyped “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance”...

February 11th, 2006 | Read More

HAAN Han Gil Su (2005) Movie Review

While the attack on Pearl Harbor has been depicted in films from the American and Japanese perspective, few people know of North Korea ’s involvement in the events that took place on Dec 7, 1941 . Now the efforts of Haan Kil-Soo, an unsung hero of World War II, finally comes to light in...

February 7th, 2006 | Read More

The Showdown (2005) Movie Review

Here’s a secret about the low-budget Korean martial arts movie “The Showdown” — it starts off poorly, proceeds even worst, but by the halfway point the film starts to morph into something respectable. Not a great movie by any stretch, mind you, but nevertheless strangely enjoyable....

January 31st, 2006 | Read More

Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005) Movie Review

“Welcome to Dongmakgol” proved to be the sleeper Korean hit of 2005, earning enough to become the fourth biggest grossing domestic film of all time, as well as being chosen as the country’s entry for the Oscars. However, the film’s success has not spread beyond its native shores,...

January 13th, 2006 | Read More

Princess Aurora (2005) Movie Review

As the proverb goes, there’s nothing more dangerous than a mother determined to save her endangered young. But even more dangerous than that? A grieving mother with nothing left to live for except revenge. The kind of bloody, “best served cold” type of revenge that will make you squirm...

January 10th, 2006 | Read More

The Duelist (2005) Movie Review

Approximately 8 minutes into Myung-se Lee’s “The Duelist”, it suddenly occurred to me (accompanied by a feeling of dread) that the film’s star, Ji-won Ha was channeling her character from “Slave Love” (aka “100 Days with Mr. Arrogant”), except this time...

December 27th, 2005 | Read More

April Snow (2005) Movie Review

If you’re into Asian movies even just a little bit, then you’ve probably heard of the South Korean drama “April Snow” at least once (or a few hundred times, give or take) throughout 2005. The film has been hyped every which way across the Asian continent, and its leading man practically...

December 20th, 2005 | Read More

The Big Scene (aka Murder Take One, 2005) Movie Review

“The Big Scene” is the latest film from Korean director Jang Jin, best known for the abstract gangster comedy “Guns and Talks”, in which he attempted to present a new spin on the usual hitman movie formula. Here, Jin does the same, trying to reinvigorate the traditional detective...

December 7th, 2005 | Read More