신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin

Movie rental of the week: DOOMSDAY

This movie was not very good. It was basically a mash-up of The Road Warrior and 28 Weeks Later and Omega Man and a little bit of the second Resident Evil movie.

Friday Night Bad Action Movie

Last night my friends E, L, and I continued our sometime tradition of Friday Night Bad Action Movie.

I'm not a fan of the look of live action capture, but BEOWULF (Robert Zemeckis, written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary) (acclaimed graphic novel writer and writer of PULP FICTION respectively) looked entertaining. And it had a cast with a lot of personality (Ray Winstone--love him!--Anthony Hopkins, Crispin Glover--as Grendel--Brendan Gleeson...John Malkovich...)...

We laughed, and laughed some more. It was not a good movie! But it had its entertaining moments. and Ray Winstone is a delight. Perfect as Beowulf. Here he is below...with, as the Star Tribune said, a body that is a cross between Sean Bean (Boromir from LOTR) and Hulk Hogan.

If you rent this, watch the Special Features so you can see Crispin Glover tearing little stuffed rag dolls in half in motion capture. It's hilarious, and only slightly disturbing.

DVD of the week...Curse of the Golden Flower

Fabulous opera! Gorgeous, stylized, epic. Gong Li is mesmerizing as the doomed Empress, of course!

El Orfanato

This was a good movie--I recommend it! It uses a lot of contemporary horror conventions and/but they work; I also see it as an inheritor of The Omen...it's earthy, scary, moving...a somewhat problematic narrative of The Mother archetype...but still very worth seeing. A beautiful film.

Movies seen in movie theaters! OMG!

I don't get out to theaters all that often. But, this week I went to see THE MIST dir. by Frank Darabont and then yesterday I saw AMERICAN GANGSTER dir. Ridley Scott. They were both pretty good. Not great. Some great moments. (I'm very excited about AVPR!!!! That's Aliens vs. Predators...and who knows what the R stands for. My friend suggested "rocks"...as in AVP rocks!)

Highlights THE MIST:
Marcia Gay Harden (see her in MILLER'S CROSSING), Thomas Jane (see him in THE CAVE), Laurie Holden (see her in SILENT HILL!), Toby Jones (see him in INFAMOUS), Frances Sternhagen, Andre Braugher (tons of things--great actor!)... It's sad, Braugher has a (SPOILER...) role where he gets to chew some scenes but he leaves in act I...and the conflict between him and Thomas Jane's character (the white guy hero...yes, it's shocking but true!) seems contrived. It does get the ball rolling though. I applaud King / Darabont for their (sort of) subtlety in dramatizing the underlying racial tension...although I don't applaud them for making Braugher's character (a big shot city lawyer) seem paranoid, as though he is seeing racial motivations where there are none. Jane's character is just an innocent good guy. You know, which is sometimes the case. But...anyway, it's a good King flick. I think 1408 starring John Cusack (who is great in it!) is a tighter, more compelling movie with a more real, psychological conflict than (SPOILER...) a rift between universes (opened by the US military).

Highlights AMERICAN GANGSTER:
Chiwetel Ejiofor!!! Here's his filmography...go see DIRTY PRETTY THINGS asap! He was also great in SERENITY, CHILDREN OF MEN (small part, though)...the man has range. The music was great. The evil Chinese doctor from "Alias" has a small part as a wise heroin production lord. Um, yeah.

1. Toussaint (2009) (pre-production)   
2. Three Way Split (2008) (pre-production)   
3. Redbelt (2008) (completed)     .... Mike Terry
4. Tonight at Noon (2007) (completed)     .... Lee/Evans
5. American Gangster (2007)     .... Huey Lucas
6. Talk to Me (2007)     .... Dewey Hughes
7. Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006) (TV)     .... Ian Carter
8. Children of Men (2006)     .... Luke
9. Inside Man (2006)     .... Detective Bill Mitchell
10. Kinky Boots (2005)     .... Lola
11. Slow Burn (2005)     .... Ty Trippin
12. Serenity (2005)     .... The Operative
13. Four Brothers (2005)     .... Victor Sweet
14. Melinda and Melinda (2004)     .... Ellis Moonsong
15. Red Dust (2004)     .... Alex Mpondo
16. She Hate Me (2004)     .... Frank Wills
17. "The Canterbury Tales" .... Paul (1 episode, 2003)
        - The Knight's Tale (2003)  TV episode     .... Paul
18. Love Actually (2003)     .... Peter
19. 3 Blind Mice (2003)     .... Mark Hayward
    ... aka Three Blind Mice (UK: DVD box title)
    ... aka Une souris verte (France)
20. Twelfth Night, or What You Will (2003) (TV)     .... Orsino
21. "Trust" .... Ashley Carter (3 episodes, 2003)
        - Episode #1.3 (2003)  TV episode     .... Ashley Carter
        - Episode #1.2 (2003)  TV episode     .... Ashley Carter
        - Episode #1.1 (2003)  TV episode     .... Ashley Carter
22. Dirty Pretty Things (2002)     .... Okwe
23. "Murder in Mind" .... DS McCorkindale (1 episode, 2001)
        - Teacher (2001)  TV episode  (as Chiwetal Ejiofor)   .... DS McCorkindale
24. My Friend Soweto (2001)     .... Soweto
25. Mind Games (2001) (TV)     .... Tyler Arnold
26. It Was an Accident (2000)     .... Nicky Burkett
27. G:MT Greenwich Mean Time (1999)     .... Rix
    ... aka G:mt (Ireland: English title)
28. Amistad (1997)     .... Ens. Covey
29. Deadly Voyage (1996) (TV)     .... Ebow

Self:

1. Children of Men: Visions of the Future (2007) (TV)     .... Himself
2. "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" .... Himself (1 episode, 2006)
       - Episode #3.56 (2006)  TV episode     .... Himself
3. "Breakfast" .... Himself (2 episodes, 2005-2006)
       - Episode dated 28 November 2006 (2006)  TV episode     .... Himself
       - Episode dated 3 October 2005 (2005)  TV episode     .... Himself
4. The Ultimate Heist: Making 'Inside Man' (2006) (TV)     .... Himself
5. "The Film Programme" .... Himself (1 episode, 2005)
   ... aka Film '72 (UK)
   ... aka Film '73 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '74 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '75 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '76 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '77 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '78 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '79 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '80 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '81 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '82 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '83 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '84 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '85 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '86 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '87 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '88 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '89 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '90 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '91 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '92 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '93 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '94 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '95 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '96 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '97 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '98 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film '99 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film 2000 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film 2001 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film 2002 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film 2003 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film 2004 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film 2005 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film 2006 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film 2007 (UK: new title)
   ... aka Film of the Year (UK: teaser title)
       - Episode dated 3 October 2005 (2005)  TV episode     .... Himself
6. Why Shakespeare? (2005) (V)     .... Himself
7. Ceremonia de apertura del festival de cine de San Sebastián (2004) (TV)     .... Himself
8. The Orange British Academy Film Awards (2003) (TV)     .... Himself

Currently reading: Seoul Searching: Culture and Identity in Contemporary Korean Cinema

Movie of the last-night: Silent Hill

VACANCY: Horror rental of the week

   

   

Director: Nimród Antal

Writer (WGA):Mark L. Smith (written by)

Release Date:

20 April 2007

How can you escape...if they can see everything?

Plot Outline:

A young married couple becomes stranded at an isolated motel and finds hidden video cameras in their room. They realize that unless they escape, they'll be the next victims of a snuff film ...

----

I found it scary, because it seemed totally plausible. Generally, I'm not a fan of horror movies with a torture theme (too realistic) and prefer monster and sci-fi horror. Luke Wilson was appealing. Kate Beckinsale was also completely serviceable. I kept waiting for her to go all killer like she is in Underworld. She kind of gets there. Frank Whaley as the motel manager is believable. Nice hair.

An Inconvenient Truth

I finally saw An Inconvenient Truth. Well, I napped through the first half, but the second half was pretty good. I thought it was very clear, and would be a good teaching tool. I did cringe when Gore went through his list of American accomplishments (...we had the moral fiber to end slavery...votes for women...etc.) as though they just materialized out of our ethical superiority and vigorous will, instead of of bloody and protracted battles with his cohort--white men in government. But, that aside, I think it was well done. I was intrigued because it was directed by the director of Deadwood, which I thought was always beautifully shot. Not as much cursing, drinking, or "coolies" in An Inconvenient Truth.

New Kim Ki-duk Movie

They’re All Through With Love, Yet Searching for More

LifeSize Entertainment

Seong Hyeon-ah as a woman who changes her face in “Time.”

By MATT ZOLLER SEITZ

Published: July 13, 2007

Stephen Sondheim once said that melodrama and farce were his two favorite forms of theater because “they are obverse sides of the same coin.” Kim Ki-duk, the Korean writer and director of “Three-Iron,” has minted a cinematic example of that coin with “Time,” a tale of big-city 20-somethings and the masks they wear. Throughout, Mr. Kim flips between soapy melodrama and dry, self-aware comedy. The effect is thrilling and disorienting, like walking on a trampoline.

The film starts and ends with the same scene: a woman clad in a long coat, sunglasses and a surgical mask (an echo of “Dressed to Kill”) leaving a plastic-surgery clinic and colliding with our heroine, See-hee (Seong Hyeon-ah). The impact causes the patient to drop and break a framed photograph. See-hee promises to repair it and takes it along to a coffee shop, where she’s meeting her boyfriend, Ji-woo (Ha Jung-woo).

Clearly, their relationship is doomed. See-hee accuses Ji-woo of growing bored with her and having a wandering eye, paranoid accusations that she thinks are confirmed when Ji-woo checks out a waitress, then interrupts their conversation to exchange insurance information with a young woman who dinged his parked car. When the lovers’ quarrel reaches a Jerry Springer pitch and See-hee stomps out of the coffee shop, the driver tells Ji-woo, “She must love you very much; I envy you.”

See-hee, a self-loathing basket case who once said, “I’m sorry for having the same boring face every day,” goes to the clinic glimpsed in the opening and signs up for a new face. Then “Time” switches its focus to poor Ji-woo, who knows only that his girlfriend suddenly moved away without saying goodbye. He doesn’t realize that the cute new coffee-shop waitress with the suspiciously similar name Seh-hee (Park Ji-yun) seems familiar for a reason.

As “Time” follows Ji-woo through familiar big-city mating rituals — karaoke, speed dating, thwarted one-night stands — en route to an uneasy relationship with his new/old love, it becomes clear that Mr. Kim has more on his mind than the ethics of nose jobs.

“Time” has been described as a comedy about the hollowness of relationships in a global consumerist culture, and it certainly is. The film’s three lead performances, by Mr. Ha as Ji-woo and by Ms. Seong and Ms. Park as the two incarnations of his lover, are fearlessly honest, so attuned to contemporary anxieties about sex, love and social status that the characters’ unhappiness is as squirm-inducing as the movie’s close-ups of sliced flesh.

But while the film’s cultural context is of the moment, its depiction of romantic desperation is timeless. Many scenes end on the same uneasy note, a mix of cynical dissatisfaction and desperate, almost childlike neediness. This, too, is reminiscent of Sondheim, specifically the title “Sorry-Grateful,” a song from “Company.” Like Sondheim’s Nixon-era swingers, Mr. Kim’s clueless, self-absorbed 21st-century materialists are miserable in love, and they can’t get enough of it.

Mr. Kim repeats ideas, situations and shots with musical precision. He puts certain sentiments in the mouths of different characters at different times. He lets pivotal moments play out through scrims or partitions, or as reflections in mirrors or windowpanes, depriving them of emotional solidity. He shows characters donning actual or metaphoric masks (getting new faces, moving to new places, starting new relationships) and then becoming depressed when these alterations alter little. As Sondheim’s married men sing in “Sorry-Grateful,” “Everything’s different, nothing’s changed/Only maybe slightly rearranged.”

The flyspeck insignificance of the characters’ narcissism is expressed through a recurring setting: a sculpture garden that includes a pair of giant hands topped by a connected series of increasingly small iron squares that seem to vanish against the sky. The film’s oft-repeated image of lovers photographing themselves in those palms, naïvely trying to immortalize their affection, is the closest the director comes to a moral: Don’t obsess over surfaces, because your life is not really in your hands.

“Time” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It has frank sex, nudity and gory documentary images of plastic surgery.

Opens today in Manhattan.

Written (in Korean, with English subtitles), produced, directed and edited by Kim Ki-duk; director of photography, Sung Jong-moo; music by Noh Hyung-woo; art director, Choi Keun-woo; released by LifeSize Entertainment. At the Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 97 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Seong Hyeon-ah (See-hee), Ha Jung-woo (Ji-woo), Park Ji-yun (Seh-hee) and Kim Sung-min (Doctor).