Showing posts with label South Korea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Korea. Show all posts

Monday, February 22, 2021

93 Nations Submitted Entries for the "International Film" Oscar at 93rd Academy Awards

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILMS ELIGIBLE FOR 93RD OSCARS® ANNOUNCED

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced feature films eligible for consideration in the International Feature Film category for the 93rd Academy Awards®.  Eligibility lists by category can be viewed at Oscars.org/93rdFeatureEligibility.  Complete 93rd Academy Awards rules can be found at Oscars.org/rules.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Ninety-three countries have submitted films that are eligible for consideration in the International Feature Film category for the 93rd Academy Awards.  An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes) produced outside the United States with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track.  Lesotho, Sudan and Suriname are first-time entrants.

Earlier this year, the Academy’s Board of Governors voted to expand the shortlist from 10 to 15 films.  Academy members from all branches are invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must meet a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.  The shortlist of 15 films was announced on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.

93RD ACADEMY AWARDS® ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION IN THE INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM CATEGORY:

Listed in alphabetical order by country:
Albania, “Open Door”
Argentina, “The Sleepwalkers”
Armenia, “Songs of Solomon”
Austria, “What We Wanted”
Bangladesh, “Sincerely Yours, Dhaka”
Belgium, “Working Girls”
Bolivia, “Chaco”
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Quo Vadis, Aida?”
Brazil, “Babenco - Tell Me When I Die”
Bulgaria, “The Father”
Cambodia, “Fathers”
Cameroon, “The Fisherman’s Diary”
Canada, “14 Days, 12 Nights”
Chile, “The Mole Agent”
China, “Leap”
Colombia, “El Olvido Que Seremos (Memories of My Father)”
Costa Rica, “Land of Ashes”
Croatia, “Extracurricular”
Cuba, “Buscando a Casal”
Czech Republic, “Charlatan”
Denmark, “Another Round”
Dominican Republic, “A State of Madness”
Ecuador, “Emptiness”
Egypt, “When We’re Born”
Estonia, “The Last Ones”
Finland, “Tove”
France, “Two of Us”
Georgia, “Beginning”
Germany, “And Tomorrow the Entire World”
Greece, “Apples”
Guatemala, “La Llorona”
Honduras, “Days of Light”
Hong Kong, “Better Days”
Hungary, “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time”
Iceland, “Agnes Joy”
India, “Jallikattu”
Indonesia, “Impetigore”
Iran, “Sun Children”
Ireland, “Arracht”
Israel, “Asia”
Italy, “Notturno”
Ivory Coast, “Night of the Kings”
Japan, “True Mothers”
Jordan, “200 Meters”
Kazakhstan, “The Crying Steppe”
Kenya, “The Letter”
Kosovo, “Exile”
Kyrgyzstan, “Running to the Sky”
Latvia, “Blizzard of Souls”
Lebanon, “Broken Keys”
Lesotho, “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection”
Lithuania, “Nova Lituania”
Luxembourg, “River Tales”
Malaysia, “Roh”
Mexico, “I’m No Longer Here”
Mongolia, “Veins of the World”
Montenegro, “Breasts”
Morocco, “The Unknown Saint”
Netherlands, “Buladó”
Nigeria, “The Milkmaid”
North Macedonia, “Willow”
Norway, “Hope”
Pakistan, “Circus of Life”
Palestine, “Gaza Mon Amour”
Panama, “Operation Just Cause”
Paraguay, “Killing the Dead”
Peru, “Song without a Name”
Philippines, “Mindanao”
Poland, “Never Gonna Snow Again”
Portugal, “Vitalina Varela”
Romania, “Collective”
Russia, “Dear Comrades!”
Saudi Arabia, “Scales”
Senegal, “Nafi’s Father”
Serbia, “Dara of Jasenovac”
Singapore, “Wet Season”
Slovakia, “The Auschwitz Report”
Slovenia, “Stories from the Chestnut Woods”
South Africa, “Toorbos”
South Korea, “The Man Standing Next”
Spain, “The Endless Trench”
Sudan, “You Will Die at Twenty”
Suriname, “Wiren”
Sweden, “Charter”
Switzerland, “My Little Sister”
Taiwan, “A Sun”
Thailand, “Happy Old Year”
Tunisia, “The Man Who Sold His Skin”
Turkey, “Miracle in Cell No. 7”
Ukraine, “Atlantis”
Uruguay, “Aleli”
Venezuela, “Once upon a Time in Venezuela”
Vietnam, “Dreamy Eyes”

All dates and rules for the 93rd Academy Awards are subject to change based on national guidelines, state-mandated government orders and Academy-determined best practices.

Nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards will be announced on Monday, March 15, 2021.

The 93rd Oscars® will be held on Sunday, April 25, 2021, and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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ABOUT THE ACADEMY:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a global community of more than 10,000 of the most accomplished artists, filmmakers and executives working in film. In addition to celebrating and recognizing excellence in filmmaking through the Oscars, the Academy supports a wide range of initiatives to promote the art and science of the movies, including public programming, educational outreach and the upcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

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Thursday, September 17, 2020

Negromancer Book Review: "BTS: Blood, Sweat & Tears"

BTS: BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Tamar Herman
DESIGN: Evi-O Studios
ISBN: 978-1-97471-713-2; hardcover; 7.875 x 10.5 (August 2020)
312pp., Color, $27.99 U.S.

BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears is a new hardcover book about the worldwide musical phenomenon known as BTS.

BTS (also known as the Bangtan Boys) is a seven-member, South Korean boy band.  The group was first put together, beginning in 2010, by “Big Hit Entertainment,” a South Korean entertainment company.  The members of BTS are RM – leader and rapper; Jin – vocalist; Suga – rapper; J-Hope – rapper; Jimin – vocalist; V – vocalist, and Jungkook – vocalist.  The members write and produce much of their recorded musical output, and while BTS was initially a hip hop group, the members have embraced a wide range of musical genres.

BTS's debut musical recording was the “single album,” 2 Cool 4 Skool.  A June 2013 release, it contained seven singles and two “hidden tracks.”  August 2014 saw the release of the group's debut, Korean-language studio album, Dark & Wild.  December 2014 saw the release of their debut, Japanese-language studio album, Wake Up.  In December 2015, BTS's 2015 album, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2, became the group's first album to make the “Billboard 200” United States' album sales chart.  On May 27, 2018, BTS's third studio album, Love Yourself: Tear, debuted at the number one position on the Billboard 200 chart.  It was the first time a Korean album had topped the U.S. album sales chart, as well as being the highest charting album by an Asian musical recording act.

And there is something... almost... magical about them.  BTS's music videos are visually striking with dazzling effects, imaginative production design, and alluring colors  Their songs embrace familiar hip-hop and electronic popular music (“electropop”) sub-genres.  They also sing R&B-inspired ballads, which should be familiar to fans of Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.  BTS's music also sounds like something different and new – sounds from a future that is leaving behind the funky phantoms of pop anthems past.  And a seven-member boy-band slash vocal group is just hard to ignore.

Well, BTS has a story to be told, and the New York City-based journalist, Tamar Herman, is telling it in the new hardcover, illustrated book, BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears.  Part music-bio and part analysis, this new book is a thorough exploration of BTS's approach to music in the age of globalization, as this super boy band has brought Korean music to the world.  Focusing on the members, the music, and the fans, Tamar Herman brings forth the extraordinary story of these young K-pop idols:  Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, V, Jimin and Jungkook to life as they transcend the limitations of language, geography, and genre in a way not seen since, perhaps, The Beatles.

THE LOWDOWN:  Author Tamar Herman starts her book, BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears, with an informative “Intro” and  first chapter, “BTS Meets the World.”  In Chapter 1 is a crucial subsection, entitled “What is K-Pop?”  Herman uses this essay to inform the readers about the basics of “K-pop,” including that it is more of a brand than a genre of music.

As such, Herman explains how BTS has used songwriting to distinguish itself within the brand.  Two members of the group were already writing songs before joining BTS.  With other members writing songs plus a dedicated team of songwriters, the group has been able to evolve its songs and sound.  Through their own songwriting, BTS produces music and performances that rally against societal norms, express poetic ideas of romance, and praise self-acceptance in the face of adversity.  Being involved in the songwriting also allows BTS to stand out both within K-pop and within the larger, crowded, global music scene.

Overall, this book has over 80 photographic images, most of them color and many of them oversize.  Herman goes into exacting detail about BTS's collaborators, and she breaks down the group's albums, song-by-song.  Herman puts such effort into talking about BTS's music that this book, BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears, is as much a reference book as it is an overview of the band's public life to date.

It is through Tamar Herman's analysis of the who, what, when, and how, as well as the analysis of the music that BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears stands out as a serious book about a group that is serious about its music, it performances, and its public face.  BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears is a thorough exploration of an extraordinary musical act and is certainly not some thrown-together paperback looking to make a quick buck off BTS's fame.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of BTS who are looking for a book that will take them inside BTS and its music will want BTS: Blood Sweat & Tears.

https://www.viz.com/viz-media
https://www.tamarherman.com/
https://twitter.com/TamarWrites
https://www.instagram.com/tamarwrites/

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.



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Thursday, July 30, 2020

VIZ Media Goes Behind the Scenes with K-Pop Phenoms, BTS

BTS: Blood, Sweat & Tears - The Most Influential Influencers in the World

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—One is a music phenomenon adored by millions of young people. The other is America’s leading authority on BTS, K-Pop, and East Asian entertainment. In BTS: Blood, Sweat & Tears, Forbes and Billboard writer Tamar Herman goes behind-the-scenes of today’s biggest pop band – South Korea’s BTS.

BTS has conquered Western music charts and social media on their way to being the biggest boy band in the world. With record-breaking firsts including a history making LIVE performance on SNL, plus three Billboard No. 1 albums within a year, their music and messaging has gone on to transcend the limitations of language, geography, and genre, in a way not seen since The Beatles.

The story told in BTS: Blood, Sweat & Tears is both inspiring and inspirational—whether rallying against societal norms, expressing poetic ideas of romance, or praising self-acceptance in the face of adversity, BTS have woven a thick foundation of meaning throughout their discography.
Part music-bio, part analysis, this book is a thorough exploration of the supergroup’s approach to music in the age of globalization as they've brought Korean music to the world. With a focus on the members, the music, and the fans, Tamar Herman has brought the extraordinary story of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, V, Jimin and Jungkook to life.

BTS BY THE NUMBERS:
• The band’s YouTube account has 29.5 million subscribers, and their Instagram and Twitter
accounts have more than 25.4 million and 20.5 million followers, respectively

• “Boy with Luv,” which features American pop singer Halsey broke a YouTube record when it
sailed past 100 million views in less than 48 hours. Today, it is the most-streamed K-pop song ever on Spotify reaching over 380 million streams — where the BTS catalogue has already hit the eight billion stream mark

• The group’s third hit record, Love Yourself: Tear reached number one on the US Billboard 200 in
May 2018, the first K-pop album to do so, and today, the band has since had three other No. 1 albums
in the US

• The band is signed to South Korean music mogul Bang Si-Hyuk's Big Hit Entertainment (Bang
Si-Hyuk's estimated net worth is $770 million)

• Based on the success of BTS, Big Hit's net worth of $4.65 Billion ranks amongst Korea's
top-grossing companies along with Samsung, Hyundai, and Kia

• BTS scored three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart in less than a year. They are the first band to do so since The Beatles


ABOUT VIZ MEDIA, LLC:
An international authority on manga for more than three decades, VIZ Media is leading the way in
what’s now, new and next. Reaching one in four millennials and half of all GenZ manga readers, VIZ
is at the forefront of America’s Japanese pop-culture phenomenon, which today dominates multiple
industries from publishing and animation to film and gaming. VIZ is proud to be the #1 destination for manga in America and home to some of the most prestigious anime brands driving the industry.
Combined with a market share footprint larger than household names collectively, VIZ has pivoted
from a localization company to a market leading pop culture publisher and producer.

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Saturday, February 15, 2020

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from February 9th to 15th, 2020 - Update #28

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

Support Leroy on Patreon:

INDIANA JONES - From Newsarama:  "Indiana Jones 5" may begin filming as early as April 2020, says Harrison Ford.  The film is due for release July 9, 2021.

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JAMES BOND - From Variety:  Grammy-winner Billie Eilish released the audio of her theme song for the next James Bond film, "No Time to Die" (due April 10th).  Once again, the song is a collaboration with her Grammy-winning older brother, Finneas.

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MOVIES-COMICS - From BleedingCool:  Bong Joon Ho's storyboards for his Oscar-winning film, "Parasite," have been collected a graphic novel.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Actors Jake Johnson and Omar Sy, who were supporting actors in 2015's "Jurassic World," will return for the third film in the series, which is due June 2021.  Neither appeared in the second film, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" (2018).

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TELEVISION - From THR:  Fox has ordered a pilot for a TV series in which a teacher and three students attempt to re-enact the classic 1980s film, "The Goonies."

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Universal and Blumhouse's "The Hunt" has a new release date, March 13, 2020.  The film was originally slated for September 2019, but it was pulled after controversy about its plot - elites hunting ordinary people.

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MOVIES - From IndieWire:  Here is a first look at Wes Anderson's next film (his 10th), The French Dispatch," via 5 images.  It will debut at Cannes in May and hit North America July 24th, 2020.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Laurence Fishburne will jion Liam Neeson for the action-adventure film, "The Ice Road," which Jonathan Hensleigh will write and direct.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Dee Rees will write and direct a feature film adaptation of George Gershwin musical, "Porgy and Bess" for MGM.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 2/7 to 2/9/2020 weekend box office is "Birds of Prey" with an estimated take of 33.25 million dollars.

From Patreon:  Leroy Douresseaux reviews "Birds of Prey."

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Ava DuVernay is directing a documentary about the slain rapper, Nipsey Hussle.  Netflix has won the rights to it after a reportedly fierce bidding war.

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TELEVISION - From Deadline:  CBS is considering a "CSI" revival event miniseries in time for the 20th anniversary of its debut on CBS.

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OSCARS - From Deadline:  This link will give you a complete list of winners at the 92nd Academy Awards.

From YahooEntertainment:

From YahooEntertainment:  Joaquin Phoenix remembers his late brother, actor River Phoenix, who died in 1993 at the age of 23.

Winners in select categoreies:

Best motion picture of the year:
"Parasite" Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, Producers

Performance by an actress in a leading role:
Renée Zellweger in "Judy"

Performance by an actor in a leading role:
Joaquin Phoenix in "Joker"

Achievement in directing:
"Parasite" Bong Joon Ho

Performance by an actress in a supporting role:
Laura Dern in "Marriage Story"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role:
Brad Pitt in "Once upon a Time...in Hollywood"

 Adapted screenplay:
"Jojo Rabbit" Screenplay by Taika Waititi

Original screenplay:
"Parasite" Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won; Story by Bong Joon Ho

 Best animated short film:
"Hair Love" Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver

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MOVIES - From CinemaBlend:  Vin Diesel would like Oscar-winner Judi Dench to join the "Fast and Furious" franchise.

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CULTURE - From THR:  "Hollywood's Black Problem on the Set" - Apparently, there is a shortage of Hollywood and film industry makeup artists and hair stylists who know how to work with African-American performers' natural hair and skin tones.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Legendary Entertainment is developing another reboot of the 1974 horror film, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."  Director Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes remade (or rebooted) the film with "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in 2003.

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OSCARS - From YahooEntertainment:  Superstar songwriter Diane Warren recently received her 11th best song Oscar nomination - for the song, "I'm Standing with You" from the film, "Breakthrough."  She did not win with her previous ten nominations, making her the most nominated woman in Oscar history never to have won.  She says, "I don't ever expect to win" ... but she'd like to.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  The veteran stage and screen actress, Lynn Cohen, has died at the age of 86, Friday, February 14, 2020.  She was best known for playing the role of "Madga" on the HBO TV series, "Sex and the City" (1998-2004) and the 2008 and 2010 film versions of the series.

From THR:  The stage, film, and TV actress, singer, and dancer, Paula Kelly, has died at the age of 76.  The African-American performer's best known film appearances include "Sweet Charity" (1969) and "The Andromeda Strain" (1971).  She received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, one of them for one of her best known TV roles, "Theresa" in the miniseries, "The Women of Brewster Place" (ABC, 1989).


Monday, December 19, 2016

Las Vegas Film Critics Name "La La Land" Best Picture of 2016

The Las Vegas Film Critics Society (LVFCS) is a non-profit organization that describes itself as “progressive” and “dedicated to the advancement and preservation of film.”  The LVFCS membership is comprised of “select” print, television and internet film critics in the Las Vegas area. The LVFCS presents its "Sierra" awards each year for the best in film, including The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award, which is named for the late Academy Award winning actor.

2016 Sierra Award winners were announced Friday, December 16, 2016.

2016 Sierra Award winners:

Best Picture
La La Land

Best Actor
Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea

Best Actress
Natalie Portman – Jackie

Best Supporting Actor
Michael Shannon – Nocturnal Animals

Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis – Fences

Best Director
La La Land

Best Adapted Screenplay
Nocturnal Animals

Best Original Screenplay
La La Land

Best Cinematography
La La Land

Best Film Editing
Moonlight

Best Score
La La Land

Best Song
“City of Stars” – La La Land

Best Action Film
Captain America: Civil War

Best Documentary
O.J.: Made in America

Best Animated Film
Kubo and the Two Strings

Best Foreign Language Film
The Handmaiden

Best Costumes
The Witch

Best Art Direction
La La Land

Best Visual Effects
The Jungle Book

Best Comedy
The Nice Guys

Best Horror/Sci-Fi
The Witch

Best Family Film
The Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Best Ensemble
Hidden Figures

Breakout Filmmaker
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Youth in Film
Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea

William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award
Kirk Douglas

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Monday, March 2, 2015

Review: "Snowpiercer" is Unique and Thrilling

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

Snowpiercer (2013)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  South Korea
Running time:  126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, language and drug content
DIRECTOR:  Bong Joon Ho
WRITERS: Joon-ho Bong and Kelly Masterson; from a screen story by Joon-ho Bong (based on the comic book,  Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand, and Jean-Marc Rochette)
PRODUCERS:  Tae-sung Jeong, Wonjo Jeong, Miky Lee, Tae-hun Lee, Steven Nam, and Chan-wook Park
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Kyung-pyo Hong
EDITORS:  Steve M. Choe and Changju Kim
COMPOSER:  Marco Beltrami

SCI-FI/DRAMA/ACTION

Starring:  Chris Evans, Song Kang Ho, Tilda Swinton, Ko Asung, Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Ewen Bremner, Vlad Ivanov, Marcanthonee Jon Reis, Emma Levie, Allison Pill, and Ed Harris

Snowpiercer is a 2013 South Korean science fiction film from director Bong Joon Ho.  The film is based on a series of French graphic novels that began in 1982 with the first book, Le Transperceneige (Snowpiercer).  Snowpiercer the movie takes place on a class strife-ridden train that is the only home of the last humans alive on Earth.

At the beginning of Snowpiercer, we learn that humans made an attempt to halt global warming by spraying the chemical, CW-7, into the atmosphere.  That backfired, and the result was the start of an ice age so severe that almost all life on Earth was destroyed.

The only human survivors are now living in Snowpiercer, a massive train that travels on a globe-spanning train track.  However, a rigid class system pervades Snowpiercer with the elites living in the front of the train; people useful to the elites occupying in the middle; and the utterly poor and destitute inhabiting the tail of the train.

In the year 2031, the tail inhabitants prepare to launch another rebellion against the elites.  Although past rebellions have failed, this new rebellion may have finally found the one man who can lead the poor people to the very front door of Wilford (Ed Harris), the creator of the train.  This new leader's name is Curtis Everett (Chris Evans), and he has a plan to get past Snowpiercer's security system and its armed guards.  In order for his plan to work, however, Curt must rely on Nam Kung Min Soo (Song Kang Ho), a drug addict who doesn't speak a word of English, and also on his kooky daughter, Yona (Ko Asung).

Snowpiercer is one of the best films of 2014.  Everything about it is high-quality, especially its beautiful cinematography and its production design, which is both imaginative and inventive.  Considering the narrow spaces with which production designer Ondrej Nekvasil had to work, he managed to recreate a diverse cross section of modern humanity's interior living environments in a way that is almost too impressive for words.

The ensemble cast is also excellent, with Tilda Swinton delivering a splendid performance as Mason.  This is a character that is so odd that anyone other than a highly-talented and skilled actor would fumble.  My favorite performance, however, is that of Chris Evans as Curtis Everett.

Evans began his rise as a movie star by showing his ability to be funny or to deliver light comic flourishes whenever a film in which he appeared desperately needed some genuine humor.  He was often the saving grace of 20th Century Fox's 2005-2007 Fantastic Four film franchise.  Evans then showed that he could be an action movie star in Marvel Studio's Captain America films by bring dramatic heft and gravitas to both Captain America films and to Marvel's The Avengers, in which he also appeared as Captain America.

In Snowpiercer, Evans puts a lock on leading man status.  He looks like a leader, and, in this performance, he carries and embodies this film's social commentary in Curtis Everett's physicality and his emotions, and especially in his spirit.  Evans leaves no doubt that he is not only the real deal as a movie star, but also as an actor.

Co-writer and director Bong Joon Ho (or Joon-ho Bong) gives Snowpiercer visual scope, creating a big picture in a setting that is both intimate and claustrophobic.  Bong shows that science fiction can be more than just imaginative and speculative about the future.  It can and should speak to the modern condition; the genre wants to be more than just escapism.  I still wish that Snowpiercer had spent more time with more of its amazing cast of characters.  That does not keep me from declaring that this is a unique science fiction film because its themes and ideas are both non-fiction and important.

8 of 10
A

Tuesday, February 24, 2015


NOTES:
2015 Black Reel Awards:  1 nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture” (Octavia Spencer)


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Boston Online Film Critics Name "Snowpiercer" as Best Picture of 2014

The Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) was founded in May 2012.  According to the group, BOFCA fosters a community of web-based film critics and provides them with a supportive group of colleagues and a professional platform for their voices to be heard. They collect and link to their reviews every week at a website that also features original content by members, including filmmaker interviews and spotlights on Boston’s vital repertory film scene.

By widening professional membership to writers working in new media, BOFCA aims to encourage more diverse opinions in the field. The Boston Online Film Critics Association has gathered together critics writing for publications that collectively receive over 15 million impressions/page views per month. BOFCA is present on social media year-round with members’ film articles and essays.

The 2014 Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards:

BEST PICTURE: SNOWPIERCER

BEST DIRECTOR: Alejandro González Iñárritu, BIRDMAN

BEST ACTOR: Brendan Gleeson, CALVARY

BEST ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Edward Norton, BIRDMAN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, SNOWPIERCER

BEST SCREENPLAY: John Michael McDonagh, CALVARY

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (Belgium)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: LIFE ITSELF

BEST ANIMATED FILM: THE LEGO MOVIE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: BIRDMAN

BEST EDITING: James Herbert & Laura Jennings, EDGE OF TOMORROW

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Mica Levi, UNDER THE SKIN

BEST ENSEMBLE: BIRDMAN


THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:

1. SNOWPIERCER

2. UNDER THE SKIN

3. BOYHOOD

4. ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE

5. THE BABADOOK

6. TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT

7. BIRDMAN

8. CALVARY

9. INHERENT VICE

10. SELMA

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Friday, November 29, 2013

Comic That Inspired New Chris Evans' Flick "Snowpiercer" Coming to America

TITAN COMICS RELEASES SNOWPIERCER – THE GRAPHIC NOVEL THAT INSPIRED THE NEW CHRIS EVANS FILM!

Translated from the highly acclaimed French classic, soon to be a major motion picture starring Captain America star Chris Evans!

Titan Comics is proud to announce a world-first English translation of the acclaimed French comic, in a pair of graphic novels hitting stores in early 2014 ahead of the US release of the film! Volume 1: The Escape is released January 29, 2014, with Volume 2: The Explorers following February 25, 2014

Coursing through an eternal winter, on an icy track wrapped around the frozen planet Earth, there travels Snowpiercer, a train one thousand and one carriages long. From fearsome engine to final car, all surviving human life is here: a complete hierarchy of the society we lost…

The elite, as ever, travel in luxury at the front of the train – but for those in the rear coaches, life is squalid, miserable and short.

Proloff is a refugee from the tail, determined never to go back. In his journey forward through the train, he hopes to reach the mythical engine and, perhaps, find some hope for the future…

The thrilling original graphic novels have been adapted into an astounding new film directed by Joon-ho Bong (The Host), starring Chris Evans (Captain America), Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia, We Need To Talk About Kevin), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliott, The Adventures of Tintin), Ed Harris (A History of Violence, The Abyss, Apollo 13) and John Hurt (Hellboy, V For Vendetta, Alien, Doctor Who), and distributed in the U.S. by The Weinstein Company, and due for release in Q1 2014

Check out the trailer here.

Written by the late Jacques Lob, winner of the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, and Benjamin Legrand, the author of numerous thriller novels, screenplays, and comic scripts, Snowpiercer is illustrated by Jean-Marc Rochette, who has worked across a variety of projects and genres, from science fiction comics to children’s cartoons – including adaptations of Voltaire’s Candide and Homer’s Odyssey.

Retailers can order Snowpiercer vol. 1: The Escape from November PREVIEWS (order code: NOV131240). Snowpiercer vol. 2: The Explorers will be available to order from December PREVIEWS.

To keep up-to-date with news about Snowpiercer join Titan Comics on Facebook or follow @comicstitan on Twitter.

For more information about Titan Comics, visit www.titan-comics.com

About Snowpiercer Vol.1 The Escape
From fearsome engine to final car, all surviving human life is here: a complete hierarchy of the society we lost.

The elite, as ever, travel in luxury at the front of the train – but for those in the rear coaches, life is squalid, miserable and short.

Proloff is a refugee from the tail, determined never to go back. In his journey forward through the train, he hopes to reach the mythical engine and, perhaps, find some hope for the future…

Translated from the highly acclaimed French classic, soon to be a major motion picture starring megastar Chris Evans.

Jacques Lob/Benjamin Legrand/Jean-Marc Rochette
Details: HC, 8x11, 112pgs, B/W, $19.99/£14.99
Released: January 29, 2014
Diamond PREVIEWS order code: NOV131240

About Snowpiercer Vol.2 The Explorers
A second train also travels through the snow on the same track, its inhabitants living in constant fear of crashing into the first Snowpiercer.

And from this second train, a small group of scavenging explorers emerges, risking their lives in the deadly cold...

Benjamin Legrand/Jean-Marc Rochette
Details: HC, 8x11, 144 pgs, B/W, $24.99/£19.99
Released: February 25, 2014

About Titan Comics
Titan Comics, a new venture from publishing giant, Titan, offers the best in original creator-owned comics alongside new and classic graphic novels.

Launching in July 2013, Titan Comics has already captured the imaginations of readers, reviewers and retailers with its strong focus on quality, creativity and diversity of genre!

Each new release will also be available on the iPhone, iPad, Web, Android and Kindle Fire.

To keep up-to-date with news on all these new series and future releases from Titan Comics, visit www.titan-comics.com

Connect with Titan Comics:
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Friday, July 26, 2013

Review: "The Lake House" is a Good House (Happy B'day, Sandra Bullock)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 208 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Lake House (2006)
Running time:  98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some language and a disturbing image
DIRECTOR:  Alejandro Agresti
WRITER:  David Auburn (based upon the film Il Mare by Eun-Jeong Kim and Ji-na Yeo and produced by Sidus)
PRODUCERS:  Doug Davidson and Roy Lee
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Alar Kivilo, A.S.C. C.S.C.
EDITORS:  Lynzee Klingman, A.C.E. and Alejandro Brodersohn
COMPOSER:  Rachel Portman (with contributions from Paul M. van Brugge)

FANTASY/ROMANCE

Starring:  Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dylan Walsh, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Christopher Plummer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Willeke van Ammelrooy

The subject of this movie review is The Lake House, a 2006 fantasy romance movie starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.  In the film, a lonely doctor, who lives in 2006, begins a time-spanning romance with a frustrated architect, who lives in 2004, by exchanging letters through the mailbox at an unusual lakeside home.

Improbable and peculiar it may be, but The Lake House is the kind of romantic movie that deserves to have the adjective, “magical” describe it.  Having an enchanted mailbox bring the film’s lovers together is strange.  Never mind that the movie’s time travel hook is illogical, and ignore that the two leads communicate in a way that even the film admits is impossible.  This is about love.  Based upon the Korean film, Siworae (Il Mare is its international title.), The Lake House is an old-fashioned tale of star-crossed lovers who, like Romeo and Juliet, romance against all odds – even against the laws of science.

After moving away from her peaceful lakeside home – a glass house built on stilts over a lake north of Chicago, a lonely physician, Dr. Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) mails a letter back to the lake house asking whoever will be the next tenant to forward any of her stray mail to her.  It is a winter morning in 2006.  That next tenant seems to be a frustrated architect, Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves), who is confused that someone claims to have lived in the lake house before him since he is the first person to ever live in it.  After several more letters back and forth, Kate, on a lark, asks Alex, “What day is it there?”  Alex responds, April 14, 2004.

They discover that they occupy the lake house, but two years apart – Alex in the past and Kate in the present.  The mailbox at the lake house allows them to communicate across two years difference in time.  Now, they must unravel the mysteries of this wrinkle in time that allows their extraordinary romance to live before its too late, but if they meet and try to join their separate worlds, they may lose each other forever.

The acting isn’t great, and sometimes it’s, at best, lamely professional.  Reeves, best known for his stiff speaking style, spends much of the film looking pained, as if constantly on cue from director Alejandro Agresti (an Argentinean known for his film, Valentin).  Bullock’s contribution is to spend the film looking forlorn, lonely, or winsome.  Still, the two are movie stars, and they know how to work the camera, which loves them and makes them look good on the big screen.

Over a decade ago, Reeves and Bullock were a hot screen pair in the hit action film, Speed, an edge-of-your-seat thriller that appealed to the adrenaline junkie in moviegoers.  Back then, many of us ignored any of Speed’s flaws in logic because we had a good time watching it.  This time, with The Lake House, Reeves and Bullock try to get us to ignore logic again.  If the viewer responds favorably to that fundamental romantic impulse – our love affair with the love story, we’ll ignore how things about this film nag us and enjoy the romance.

7 of 10
B+

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Updated:  Friday, July 26, 2013



Sunday, September 9, 2012

Winners at the 69th Venice Film Festival Announced

Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" Wins, Then Loses the "Golden Lion"

Kim Ki-duk's "Pieta" Wins the Golden Lion

Founded in 1932, the Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world.  The 69th edition just ended... with some controversy.

Apparently, there is a new rule for the festival's film awards.  The film that wins the "Golden Lion," which is the Venice Film Festival's top prize, cannot win other awards.  The jury (with Michael Mann as this year's President of the jury) initially awarded the Golden Lion to Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, which focuses on an L. Ron Hubbard-like figure.  The jury had also awarded the film other awards.  In order to give The Master several trophies, the jury had to reconsider the Golden Lion, so they gave it to Pieta, a film by Korean director, Kim Ki-duk.

Official Awards of the 69th Venice Film Festival

• VENEZIA 69

GOLDEN LION for Best Film to PIETA by Kim Ki-duk (Republic of Korea)

SILVER LION for Best Director to THE MASTER by Paul Thomas Anderson (USA)

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to Paradies: Glaube by Ulrich Seidl (Austria, Germany, France)

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actor to Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in the film THE MASTER by Paul Thomas Anderson (USA)

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actress Hadas Yaron in the film LEMALE ET HA’CHALAL by Rama Bursthein (Israel)

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD for Best New Young Actor or Actress to Fabrizio Falco in the films BELLA ADDORMENTATA by Marco Bellocchio (Italy) and È STATO IL FIGLIO by Daniele Ciprí (Italy)

AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY to Olivier Assayas for the film APRES MAI by Olivier Assayas (France)

AWARD FOR THE BEST TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTION (CINEMATOGRAPHY) to Daniele Ciprì for the film È STATO IL FIGLIO by Daniele Ciprì (Italy)


LION OF THE FUTURE“LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM to KÃœF (MOLD) by Ali Aydin (Turkey, Germany) VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM CRITICS’ WEEK as well as a prize of 100,000 USD, donated by Filmauro di Aurelio e Luigi De Laurentiis to be divided equally between director and producer

• ORIZZONTI ("Horizons" - honors new trends)

ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST FILM (full-length films) to SAN ZIMEI by Wang Bing (France, Hong Kong)

SPECIAL ORIZZONTI JURY PRIZE (full-length films) to TANGO LIBRE by Frédéric Fonteyne (France, Belgium, Luxembourg)

ORIZZONTI YOUTUBE AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM to CHO-DE by Yoo Min-young (South Korea)

EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2012-EFA to TITLOI TELOUS by Yorgos Zois (Greece)


GOLDEN LION FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 2012 to Francesco Rosi

JAEGER-LECOULTRE GLORY TO THE FILMMAKER AWARD to Spike Lee

PERSOL AWARD to Michael Cimino

L’ORÉAL PARIS PER IL CINEMA AWARD to Giulia Bevilacqua

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Announcing Gulfstream, a New Film Production and Financing Company

Warner Bros. Signs Exclusive First-Look Deal with Producers Mike Karz & Bill Bindley’s New Gulfstream Pictures, a Partnership with Korea’s Redrover Ltd. and U.S. Private Equity Funds

Gulfstream Sets Up Shop at Warner Bros. to Develop and Co-Finance Tentpole Films

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. has signed an exclusive first-look deal with Mike Karz and Bill Bindley’s new film production and financing company, Gulfstream Pictures. The company gets its start with an initial multi-million-dollar development fund from Korea-based 3D stereoscopic leader Redrover Ltd. and a consortium of U.S. private equity funds.

Under the two-year pact, Gulfstream will be based on Warners' Burbank lot and will co-finance development with Warners with the option of co-financing the films, which will be distributed worldwide by Warners. Gulfstream is currently meeting with additional investors to complete the formation of a $200 million film fund, of which Redrover and the U.S. private equity funds are lead investors. Gulfstream plans to produce and co-finance two films per year.

Gulfstream’s first film is “The Nut Job,” a $45-million animated feature directed by Peter Lepeniotis for Redrover and Toonbox Entertainment, a top Toronto animation studio, which becomes a sister company to Gulfstream.

“Mike and Bill have been valued members of the Warner family for a long time,” said Greg Silverman, President of Production for Warner Bros. Pictures. “We're excited to extend our relationship to include Gulfstream and eagerly anticipate making more great movies together.”

Hoe-jin Ha, Redrover's CEO, said: “This opportunity is a historic step for the Korean film industry. We are very excited to set up this fund, supported by Warner Bros., and we look forward to co-financing many films through this partnership with Gulfstream.”

This new deal follows producer Karz’s long-standing relationship with the studio, where he produced such hits as “New Year’s Eve” and “Valentine’s Day,” the latter of which set box-office records, including the top-grossing romantic comedy weekend of all time and the top-grossing Presidents’ Day Weekend opening. Karz’s most recent film for Warners, “Thunderstruck,” starring the NBA’s Kevin Durant, is in theaters now.

Bindley and Karz are currently producing two films for Warners: “West Texas United,” a comedy with Russell Brand attached to star, and “Say Uncle,” a family comedy, with Bindley attached to direct. Bindley directed the Jim Caviezel-starrer “Madison,” a Sundance Film Festival favorite, distributed by MGM Pictures.


About Redrover Ltd.
Redrover Ltd. is a global leader in the 3D stereoscopic industry, founded in 2000 with the participation of college professors and researchers. Since then, Redrover Ltd., a publicly held company, has obtained patents from 30 countries, including Korea, and established a global network in major trading countries, including the U.S., Canada, China, and Japan. In 2008 Redrover began producing 3D stereoscopic animation movies and television series with its North American studio Toonbox Entertainment, and will continue producing two to four Korean films each year, beginning this fall with its first film.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

VIZ Cinema Announces Anime and Drama at New People for February



NEW PEOPLE PRESENTS SPECIAL THEATRICAL EVENTS FOR THE GARDEN OF SINNERS, KIM KI-DUK’S BREATH AND GANTZ IN FEBRUARY
 
VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE, the nation’s only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese and Asian film, presents a trio of special movie events taking place at the venue in February. Trailers, screening times and tickets are available at www.VIZCinema.com. The venue is located inside NEW PEOPLE at 1746 Post Street in San Francisco’s Japantown.

The month begins as Aniplex of America, Inc. and NEW PEOPLE present the U.S. premiere of the anime feature film, THE GARDEN OF SINNERS, on February 5th, to be followed by a discussion panel with key members of the movie’s production staff. This one-day-only event will celebrate the highly anticipated release of the film’s Blu-ray Box Set which will be released in North America on February 8th (a week after the Japanese release).

Also slated to screen on February 19th will be the acclaimed Korean director Kim Ki-duk’s romantic prison drama, BREATH, which will be followed by a reception with The Red Lantern: Bay Area Asian Cinephiles, based in San Francisco and the world's largest Meetup group for Asian films - http://www.meetup.com/sf-asian-film.

Finally, by popular demand, VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE will offer a special one-night-only screening on February 19th of the live-action sci-fi thriller GANTZ (in Japanese with English subtitles). GANTZ is based on the smash hit manga and anime series and was world-premiered at 334 theatres nationwide in January.

THE GARDEN OF SINNERS
Saturday, 2/5 at 1:30pm – ONE DAY ONLY! Tickets: $15.00
(Directed by Ei Aoki, Takuya Nonaka, Shinsuke Takizaw, Japan, 49min, 58min, and 119min, Digital, Japanese with English subtitles)

After spending two years in a coma caused by a traffic accident, Shiki Ryougi awakens with amnesia. Inexplicably, she finds that she has also obtained the “Mystic Eyes of Death Perception” in which she can see the invisible lines of mortality that hold every living and non-living thing together. Working for a small independent agency, Shiki attempts to unravel the baffling mystery behind a series of abnormal, horrifying incidents, but are they a foreshadowing that leads to something even more tragic and ominous? Things are not what they appear to be on the surface, but what dark revelations lie underneath? This is a modern occult-action thriller where Shiki must tackle supernatural incidents with her special abilities while searching for a reason to live.

This screening will be immediately followed by a special discussion session with key members of the movie’s production staff.

BREATH
Saturday, 2/19 at 5:00pm – ONE NIGHT ONLY! Tickets: $12.00
(Directed by Kim Ki-duk, Korea, 83min, 2007, Digital, Korean with English subtitles)

On a cold winter day, after learning her husband has found a new woman, Yeon absent-mindedly heads for a prison where an inmate name Jin is confined. Although she doesn’t know him personally, repeated news of his suicide attempts on TV have subconsciously grown in her mind which now is leading her to seek him. Jin has no visitors and normally would not agree to meet a complete stranger, but hearing that it’s a woman, he accepts her request out of curiosity. Their first encounter is awkward. Yeon treats Jin like an old friend whereas Jin doesn’t open up so easily. To Jin’s surprise, Yeon comes back for a second visit…One day her husband follows her to the prison and witnesses an intimate exchange between Yeon and Jin. The jealous husband drags her home and tries to separate the new couple. While forced to be apart, time winds down for Jin’s execution. But the two are already attached to one another more than her husband assumed – more than life and death. And desperate Yeon finds a way to elude her husband and help Jin out of his misery.

GANTZ (English Subtitled Version)
Saturday, 2/19 at 7:15pm – ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Tickets: $12.00 (attendees will also receive a special GANTZ poster)
(Directed by Shinsuke Sato, Japan, 129min, 2011, Digital, Japanese with English subtitles)

GANTZ is based on a hit manga series created by Hiroya Oku and stars leading Japanese actors Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters from Iwo Jima) and Kenichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City). The film tells the story of two childhood friends that are accidentally killed while trying to save another man’s life. Rather than find themselves in the hereafter, however, they awaken in a strange apartment in which they find a mysterious black orb they come to know as “GANTZ.” Along with similar abductees, they are provided with equipment and weaponry and manipulated into playing a kind of game in which they are sent back out to the greater world to do battle with alien beings, all while never quite knowing whether this game is an illusion or their new reality.

VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Review: "Oldboy" is an Incredible Movie from South Korea

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 214 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Oldboy (2003)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: South Korea
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for strong violence including scenes of torture, sexuality, and pervasive language
DIRECTOR: Chan-wook Park
WRITERS: Chan-wook Park, Jo-yun Hwang, Chun-hyeong Lim, and Joon-hyung Lim; from a story by Garon Tsuchiya (based upon the comic book by Nobuaki Minegishi)
PRODUCER: Seung-yong Lim
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeong-hun Jeong
EDITOR: Sang-Beom Kim

MYSTERY/DRAMA/THRILLER with elements of action

Starring: Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu, Hye-jeong Kang, Dae-han Ji, Dal-su Oh, Byeong-ok Kim, Seung-Shin Lee, and Jin-seo Yun

Oh Dae-su (Min-sik Choi) was imprisoned, drugged, and tortured for 15 years, before his captor(s) mysteriously released him. Dae-su has no idea how or why it happened, and he doesn’t know whom he should hold accountable for his suffering. Seeking revenge on his captor(s), Dae-su gets help from a kindly waitress, Mi-do (Hye-jeong Kang), and an old friend, No Joo-hwan (Dae-han Ji). Dae-su also comes upon a valuable clue when a suave young businessman, Lee Woo-jin (Ji-tae Yu), starts butting into Dae-su’s life. Who is Woo-jin? Did he play a part in Dae-su’s imprisonment? And how does Dae-su’s past tie into everything? Dae-su only has five days to discover all the answers.

Showing the influence of both Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch, director Chan-wook Park created in his film, Oldboy, a story of revenge that is Shakespearean in its scope and has the flavor of pure, L.A. hardboiled noir, even though the story takes place in South Korea. Although the performances are excellent, in particularly the trio of Min-ski Choi, Hye-jeong Kang, and Ja-tae Yu who are all superb, Oldboy is an exercise in plot over character. Slick and brutally violent, it recalls Martin Scorcese’s Mean Streets with a splash of the Wachowski’s Brothers and Quentin Tarantino pulp crime work.

Park welcomes the viewer to engage his own mind in untangling this labyrinth of an insane and monumentally petty revenge. In that, Oldboy is the ultimate revenge flick, proving that more often than we’d like to believe, the object of a revenge plot really doesn’t know why his tormentor hates him. The victim may not even remember his alleged offense. Movie lovers with nimble minds and appetites for cinematic brilliance will like this complex and brutal mystery. Once again, a filmmaker from the Far East shows us that eye candy need not be just entertainment filler. It can also be a work of movie art.

9 of 10
A

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

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