Korea, it’s your turn!
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Korean Line-Up is Go!
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ACTRESSES (2009, New York Premiere) – six of Korea’s biggest actresses play cockeyed versions of themselves in this real-time chronicle of a Vogue photo shoot gone wrong. Endlessly self-referential, it speaks the international language of celebrity and looks like the kind of project Andy Warhol would have come up with if he edited US Weekly. (watch the trailer)
***Director E J-Yong (DASEPO NAUGHTY GIRLS) will be at the screenings.
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BLADES OF BLOOD (2010, International Premiere) – from the director of KING & CLOWN (one of Korea’s most successful films of all time) comes this massive swordplay flick about a hero leading a coup against the king and the blind swordsman who sets out to stop him. Based on an award-winning manga, Like the Moon Escaping from the Clouds, it’s a posh swordplay epic that turns sword-fights into muscular beatdowns. Hwang Jung-Min is at his capering, gerning, unpredictable best as the blind swordsman, Hwang, but it’s Cha Seung-Won (KICK THE MOON, BLOOD RAIN) as Lee Mong-Hak, the revolutionary who’s drunk on power and killing everyone that gets in his way, who turns in the performance of his career. (watch the trailer)
***Official Closing Night Film
***Director Lee Joon-Ik will be at the screening.
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CASTAWAY ON THE MOON (2009, New York Premiere) – WHEN HARRY MET SALLY meets LOST by way of a J.G. Ballard novel…and it’s a romantic comedy! A businessman tries to kill himself by jumping off a bridge and instead winds up stranded on a deserted island in the middle of the Han River. Unable to swim, he might as well be stuck thousands of miles from civilization instead of a few hundred meters from downtown Seoul. His only hope of rescue? An OCD agoraphobe spying on him from her apartment. We all had reservations about this movie based on the description, but when we finally got around to watching it we were all blown away. If you let this one slip by you, you’re missing one of the freshest and most original movies in this year’s line-up. (watch the trailer)
***Director Lee Hey-Jun will be at the screening.
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CHAW (2009, North American Premiere) – a box office hit back in Korea, this bacon-flavored version of THE HOST is a send-up of JAWS only with a giant killer pig instead of a giant killer shark and, probably, a lot more pot got smoked while the script was being written. Simultaneously celebrating and satirizing the giant monster genre, it feels more like a movie from Joe Dante (GREMLINS, SMALL SOLDIERS) than from Steven Spielberg, but that’s a good thing. (watch the trailer)
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A LITTLE POND (2010, International Premiere) – one of the most controversial movies of the year, this all-star flick about the American massacre of Korean civillians at No Gun Ri in 1950 is a quiet, underplayed, life-goes-on account of the bloody incident, that unspools as gently as a Hou Hsiao-hsien film. Director Lee Sang-Woo avoids the easy cliches and instead makes a movie in which the main character is the Korean countryside itself, and when its face is spattered with blood it almost feels like blasphemy. (watch the trailer)
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MISE EN SCENE SHORT FILM PROGRAM – two 90 minute programs of short films from the genre film festival curated by E J-Yong, Park Chan-Wook, Kim Ji-Woon and Bong Joon-Ho. These short flicks pack more of a punch than many longer features, and it’s your chance to see Korea’s future filmmakers trying their hands at weird little romances, gore and animated films. The MSFF has become a bit of a talent farm for these directors, with many of the short filmmakers going on to bigger jobs on bigger productions, and it’s easy to see why: at their worst these short films are technically slick and well-made, at the very least. This year’s line-up is heavier on horror and comedy than it has been in past years and it has an unhealthy obsession with children and four-inch-tall women.
*** one of the directors will be here for the screening (we’re waiting to see which one)
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THE SCANDAL MAKERS (2008, New York Premiere) – why on earth are we showing a movie from 2008 in this year’s festival. Because it’s really funny. The highest grossing comedy of all time at the Korean box office (8.3 million admissions) this is crowd-pleasing mainstream entertainment at its best. A celebrity DJ (the radio kind, not the nightclub kind) has it all figured out, but then a woman shows up on his doorstep claiming to be his daughter. Worse, she’s got an alleged grandchild in tow. It’s already been optioned for a Hollywood remake with Barry Sonnenfeld (MEN IN BLACK) attached to direct, but the original gets this delicate formula right. (watch the trailer)
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SECRET REUNION (2009) – the director of ROUGH CUT returns with this two-hander for Song Kang-Ho (THE HOST) and Gang Dong-Won (THE DUELIST) playing retired spies battling it out long after their missions are over. It’s a throwback to 80’s style buddy movies (LETHAL WEAPON, 48 HOURS) set against the backdrop of the Cold War between North and South Korea. (watch the trailer)
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That’s it for Korea, but while we’re at it, here’s what we’re showing from Thailand and Indonesia (and watch for the IFC @ Midnights line-up on Tuesday, since there’re more Thai films there, as well).
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Indonesian Line-Up
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MERANTAU (2009, New York Premiere) – if you thought Tony Jaa was awesome, then check out this rocking slab of exploitation b-movie action starring Iko Uwais, an ace practicioner of Silat, Indonesia’s martial art. Better at taking on big crowds of baddies than Jaa, and with the ability to crack a smile from time to time, Iko Uwais is the reason to see this flick which is a giant excuse for him to put evil Eurotrash slave traders in traction and to jump off of buildings. (watch the trailer)
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Thai Line-Up
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RAGING PHOENIX (2009, New York Premiere) – Jeeja Yanin, Thailand’s only female action star, burst onto the scene with CHOCOLATE and now she’s back in this flick where she learns how to combine muay thai beatdowns with sick B-boy moves. Truly jaw-dropping, and completely weird (the plot centers on a gang of kidnappers who steal women for their scent) it’s full of high impact kicks, lethal breakdancing and the discovery that the greatest martial art of all is “Drunken Muay Thai.” Come drunk, leave happy! (watch the trailer)
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On Monday, the Hong Kong and Chinese line-up is revealed, and on Tuesday we finish things off with our Midnights at IFC line-up featuring one world premiere and a movie you’ll never see anywhere else because no one else would dare show it. Plus, pink films!
You should play Chocolate again instead of Raging Phoenix. I was so looking forward to Yanin’s second movie and was severly dissapointed with it. Yay for everything else looking good!
The link for ‘SE Asian lineup” is linking here to the Korean films.
Oh, it’s the “(and more)” at the bottom.
I liked blades of blood had really good sword fighting in it, I actually liked it better than the directors other film that just came out battlefield hero’s.
Some very different movies from director Lee Hey-Jun.
I agree with the comment from Eric, Blades Of Blood has got some excellent sword fighting scenes. The storyline might be a bit predictable, but still an entertaining movie.
Strange how many movies are based on manga…
Traveling as I do frequently in the Far East I get to see a lot of Korean films and am amazed at just how much progress the Korean film industry has come on in recent years. At first glance to many western audiences many of these films seem simplistic in nature but the underlying power of many of their stories can be appreciated once you are familiar with the country and its culture.
David Winthorpe
Avid film goer and webmaster of
The Debt Assistance Center
Agreed Eric, Blades of Blood was excellent. Fight scenes were awesome. I’m definitely on board with you there. Cheers!
I thought I was the only person in the world to have watched the Scandal Makers, I saw it whilst in the US, none of friends in the UK have seen it … it was really funny and not at all what I’d expected!
I watched the trailer for Castaway on the Moon and even without being able to understand the language, I knew exactly what was going on. It really is atmospheric with great acting.
The Blades of Blood trailer you link to is no longer available, but I found several videos on YouTube. This film is an amazing epic.
Some really awesome action titles. I live in a small town in the US, and would probably not find these flicks in my local video store.
Its good to see the Korean movie expanding and growing like it is. Will be sure to check some of these titles.
“this bacon-flavored version of THE HOST is a send-up of JAWS only with a giant killer pig instead of a giant killer shark and, probably, a lot more pot got smoked while the script was being written.”
LOL…you’re probably right about the pot smoking.
Can’t wait to see Scandal Makers. Won’t be able to make the fest though so I hope it will show up on Amazon’s download service or NetFlix.
I watched CHAW when I was drunk once, with a Korean friend – awesome night.
Blades of blood is another great stuff from Korea.The directors of this film did an awesome job.
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I watched the trailer of Castaway On The Moon. It seems quite interesting,and I believe it can be mind-blowing. Time to watch Castaway On The Moon.
Taylor Timms
Author of Bikini Picture book!
I totally agree with you Stevens. Blades of Blood is one of my favorite action movie which I like to watch over and over again. Finally, we got a good action movie after a long time.
Jack Stephen
Webmaster of How To Get Girls
Korean movies are excellent! One of my favorites is a war movie named Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood Of War. The screenplay was awesome and the makeup (blood and gore) were nothing short of breathtaking.
In the past I never liked movies with subtitles, as I’m not too good at dual-tasking (trying to watch and read at the same time). But this movie was so good that it didn’t matter, even though there was a fair amount of dialog and a good many plots to follow.
Korean movies are good. I’ve watched the thriller The Housemaid by Lim Sang-soo. It was a very good movie.
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As a fan of Jaws, parodies, horror films, and Asian films, Chaw seems like it would be right up my alley. I watched the trailer, and I was surprised that it didn’t seem very campy, considering the content.
Ive seen A little Pond, this was an incredible movie, quite alot of disturbing scenes, actually very upsetting, couldnt stop thinking about it all week, it definitely leaft an imprint in my mind.
made me think can you imagine all the things we never learned about in history class. makes you wonder??
Blades of Blood was introduced to me by a friend who has a great interest in foreign films. All that sword fighting and violence really wasn’t for me, but I could appreciate the spectacle of the film.
I have a few favorite Korean movies last year. The top on my list is of course Blades of Blood. I love every sword fighting scene of the movie. Both actors were awesome!
Loise
My blog: Web Design Fort Lauderdale
Hey Richard, you’re not the only guy in the UK to have watched these films, there are a bunch of us who love all the fight scenes … Blades of Blood was excellent!
Jase
http://www.kiryokukaikarate.co.uk
It is great to see that more and more Korean films are starting to appear in the West. The style of these films is quite different to what we are used to in the States and I find them fascinating.
Sam – The Club Car and EZ GO golf cart guy.
@ Loise
“The top on my list is of course Blades of Blood. I love every sword fighting scene of the movie…”
I didn’t really like that movie overall, but I did think a lot of the sword fighting choreography was really enjoyable.
I just saw Raging Phoenix. I friend of mine is in the film industry and had a copy of it. This was a really crazy movie. Totally weird but in an interesting way. I thought the action scenes were pretty good.
If Blades of Blood is anything like that photograph, then I’d love to see it! There is nothing better than stylized fight sequences. Well, maybe a romantic comedy.
Raging Phoenix looks awesome! I love the concept of b-boy moves kicking butt… it seems like such a natural fit.