Reviews Archive

  • [New York Asian Film Festival 2011 Review] A mystical and magical concoction, much like the doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) dish that it revolves around, Lee Seo-goon’s second feature The Recipe hinges on a brilliant bit of narrative misdirection. Choi Yu-jin (Ryoo Seung-ryong), the producer/host of a sensationalistic TV expose...

    Review: The Recipe (Lee Seo-goon / 2010)

    Posted on June 30, 2011 | No Comments
    [New York Asian Film Festival 2011 Review] A mystical and magical concoction, much like the doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) dish that it revolves around, Lee Seo-goon’s second feature The Recipe hinges on a brilliant bit of narrative misdirection. Choi Yu-jin (Ryoo Seung-ryong), the producer/host of a sensationalistic TV expose...

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  • The night before he is released from prison Gwang-pil tells a fellow inmate the story behind his ten year incarceration. As a young boy Gwang-pil ran the streets with his friends Dal-soo and Sang-moon, picking pockets and stealing to make their money. During a failed attempt to rob a warehouse...

    Review: Forever With You (Yoo Hyeon-mok / 1958)

    Posted on June 26, 2011 | No Comments
    The night before he is released from prison Gwang-pil tells a fellow inmate the story behind his ten year incarceration. As a young boy Gwang-pil ran the streets with his friends Dal-soo and Sang-moon, picking pockets and stealing to make their money. During a failed attempt to rob a warehouse...

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  • Jang Yoon-hyeon’s previous film – the popular Tell Me Something (1999) – played out, in many ways, like a ‘greatest hits’ thriller with horror elements in its generous lifting of ideas from the likes of Se7en (David Fincher, 1995), Kiss The Girls (Gary Fleder, 1997) and Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven,...

    Review: Some (Jang Yoon-hyeon / 2004)

    Posted on May 29, 2011 | No Comments
    Jang Yoon-hyeon’s previous film – the popular Tell Me Something (1999) – played out, in many ways, like a ‘greatest hits’ thriller with horror elements in its generous lifting of ideas from the likes of Se7en (David Fincher, 1995), Kiss The Girls (Gary Fleder, 1997) and Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven,...

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  • The 14th feature from Kim Ki-duk, better known in the West for his “extreme” psycho-sexual dramas, The Isle (2000) and Bad Guy (2002) is a remarkably restrained affair. The story centres on a love triangle between a disaffected housewife Yeon (Park Zi-a), her adulterous husband (Ha Jung-woo) and a death...

    Review: Breath (Kim Ki-duk / 2007)

    Posted on May 25, 2011 | No Comments
    The 14th feature from Kim Ki-duk, better known in the West for his “extreme” psycho-sexual dramas, The Isle (2000) and Bad Guy (2002) is a remarkably restrained affair. The story centres on a love triangle between a disaffected housewife Yeon (Park Zi-a), her adulterous husband (Ha Jung-woo) and a death...

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  • AKA Jeon Woo Chi: The Taoist Wizard The world comes close to being thrown into complete chaos when the ‘Pipe of the Prophecy’ is lost by a group of Taoist monks who manage to accidentally free a group of demons who can only be restrained by the instrument. Trickster, schemer...

    Review: Woochi – The Demon Slayer (Choi Dong-hun / 2009)

    Posted on April 23, 2011 | No Comments
    AKA Jeon Woo Chi: The Taoist Wizard The world comes close to being thrown into complete chaos when the ‘Pipe of the Prophecy’ is lost by a group of Taoist monks who manage to accidentally free a group of demons who can only be restrained by the instrument. Trickster, schemer...

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  • In the near future, the government of Japan enforces an injection in preschoolers that randomly causes death in the minority of them upon reaching adult hood (anytime between the ages of 18-25) in an effort to boost good citizenship and force a meaningful life. Messengers appointed by the government deliver...

    Non-Korean Review: Death Notice – Ikigami (Tomoyuki Takimoto / 2008)

    Posted on March 28, 2011 | No Comments
    In the near future, the government of Japan enforces an injection in preschoolers that randomly causes death in the minority of them upon reaching adult hood (anytime between the ages of 18-25) in an effort to boost good citizenship and force a meaningful life. Messengers appointed by the government deliver...

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  • It was last years blockbuster smash in Korea, won a stack of awards at the Korea Film Awards and opened last years London Korean Film Festival, The Man From Nowhere is now getting it’s UK DVD release. Reviewed twice on the site, with one rating the film as fun but...

    DVD Review: The Man From Nowhere (Lee Jeong-beom / 2010)

    Posted on March 23, 2011 | 1 Comment
    It was last years blockbuster smash in Korea, won a stack of awards at the Korea Film Awards and opened last years London Korean Film Festival, The Man From Nowhere is now getting it’s UK DVD release. Reviewed twice on the site, with one rating the film as fun but...

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  • Young Deok, 1950. The North Korean People’s Army is on the verge of overwhelming the South. Drafted as a student soldier in the 3rd Infantry Division, Oh Jang-beom survives an attack on the town and flees without personally firing a shot. While regiments are diverted to the Nakdong River, a...

    Review: 71 Into the Fire (Lee Jae-han / 2010)

    Posted on March 12, 2011 | No Comments
    Young Deok, 1950. The North Korean People’s Army is on the verge of overwhelming the South. Drafted as a student soldier in the 3rd Infantry Division, Oh Jang-beom survives an attack on the town and flees without personally firing a shot. While regiments are diverted to the Nakdong River, a...

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  • The significance of music in the highly iconographic films of Kim Jee-woon is seldom touched on but well worth consideration. He regards the music soundtrack as a component art form and treats it with equal respect to the moving image. The use of contemporary radio hits in The Quiet Family,...

    Film Music and Kim Jee-woon: A Bittersweet Life Original Soundtrack

    Posted on March 11, 2011 | 3 Comments
    The significance of music in the highly iconographic films of Kim Jee-woon is seldom touched on but well worth consideration. He regards the music soundtrack as a component art form and treats it with equal respect to the moving image. The use of contemporary radio hits in The Quiet Family,...

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  • Review Sky Blue is a Korean animated science fiction film that was simply not as big a hit as it should have been. Released in 2003 and with a $30 Million budget, it disappointingly mostly just did the festival circuit, before finding somewhat of a home on DVD. There is...

    Review: Sky Blue (Kim Moon-saeng / 2003)

    Posted on March 8, 2011 | No Comments
    Review Sky Blue is a Korean animated science fiction film that was simply not as big a hit as it should have been. Released in 2003 and with a $30 Million budget, it disappointingly mostly just did the festival circuit, before finding somewhat of a home on DVD. There is...

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