Film 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...

    Continue Reading...

  • 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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  • 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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  • Sang-hyeon, a priest who is questioning his faith, volunteers to help in the search for a vaccine for deadly virus by being injected himself. Almost dying, he suddenly makes a miraculous recovery. As he recovers he develops characteristics of vampirism and as he develops a relationship with a young girl...

    Review: Thirst (Park Chan-wook / 2009)

    Posted on March 3, 2011 | No Comments
    Sang-hyeon, a priest who is questioning his faith, volunteers to help in the search for a vaccine for deadly virus by being injected himself. Almost dying, he suddenly makes a miraculous recovery. As he recovers he develops characteristics of vampirism and as he develops a relationship with a young girl...

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  • A psychopath kills a woman. An innocent woman. A beautiful woman. Imagine the plight of her soon-to-be-husband, who loves her and dotes on her. That is the premise. I Saw the Devil is the revenge. Review If one were to ask me the greatest script ever written, or the most...

    Review: I Saw The Devil (Kim Jee-woon / 2010)

    Posted on March 1, 2011 | No Comments
    A psychopath kills a woman. An innocent woman. A beautiful woman. Imagine the plight of her soon-to-be-husband, who loves her and dotes on her. That is the premise. I Saw the Devil is the revenge. Review If one were to ask me the greatest script ever written, or the most...

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  • Uijeongbu, the present. Interior decorator Kang Jung-won begins the long journey home on the Seoul subway. As he sleeps, a single mother and her two daughters board, seating themselves nearby. At the last stop, he wakes to find the girls are dead and their mother missing, but in his panic...

    Review: The Uninvited (Lee Su-yeon / 2003)

    Posted on February 28, 2011 | 2 Comments
    Uijeongbu, the present. Interior decorator Kang Jung-won begins the long journey home on the Seoul subway. As he sleeps, a single mother and her two daughters board, seating themselves nearby. At the last stop, he wakes to find the girls are dead and their mother missing, but in his panic...

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