Best known in the US of A for THE HOST, Bong Joon-Ho is probably my favorite Korean director and he’s named Bong for Christ’s sake. From February 25 – March 1, BAM will be hosting a full retrospective of his films with him present. Here’s the line-up:

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MEMORIES OF MURDER (Feb. 25 @ 7:30pm) – I couldn’t like David Fincher’s ZODIAC after seeing BJH’s MEMORIES OF MURDER. Based on Korea’s first real-life serial killings that took place in the tiny town of Hwaseong back in the 80’s, Bong mixes cop thriller with a sense of slow-burning outrage and the kind of painful, immediate emotional intensity that I felt was missing from ZODIAC. Whereas ZODIAC is a superior account of what happened (This happened, then this, then this) it always felt to me like an assemblage of facts with a cool, detached directorial presence behind it. MEMORIES OF MURDER, on the other hand, is a story and it’s one where you can feel the director fumbling in the dark until he finds his voice and lets out a long, outraged howl. Starring Song Kang-Ho, this was a massive hit when it was released and it’s the one movie that’ll make you rethink all those cliched serial killer conventions. (read some reviews) (watch the trailer)

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MOTHER (Feb. 26 @ 7pm) – Bong’s latest is the story of a mother in a rural town whose mentally disabled son is accused of the murder of a local schoolgirl. Believing, despite all evidence to the contrary, that her son is innocent, the mother (played by Kim Hye-Ja) sets out to prove that her boy didn’t do it and in doing so she unravels a dark, gothic web of sin. Kim Hye-Ja is regarded as the face of motherhood in Korea, having played more mothers on TV and in movies than you would think is humanly possible and MOTHER is her finest hour, a tour de force for this 69-year-old actress. Magnolia will be releasing the film theatrically on March 12. (read a review) (watch the trailer) (see a list of theaters for the national release of MOTHER)

With director Bong Joon-Ho present.

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THE HOST (Feb. 27 @ 6:30pm & 9:30pm) – the movie that put Director Bong on the map overseas, THE HOST is the monster movie you always wanted to see: smart, funny and with a kick ass monster in the starring role. Song Kang-Ho, Bae Doo-Na and Byeon Hee-Bong star as the poor, lame, uninspired monster killers. They’re a dysfunctional family who has to get it together to rescue their daughter from the snorky beast. A monster-sized hit in Korea it’ll please everyone from genre enthusiasts to arthouse poseurs. (read a review) (watch the trailer)

With director Bong Joon-Ho present.

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BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE (Feb. 28 @ 6:50pm & 9:15pm) – this is it! The one movie in this series that you HAVE to see. Bong Joon-Ho’s first movie is virtually unseen and it’s his best film by a country mile. Bae Doo-Na stars as a maintenance worker in a suburban housing estate investigating the murders of a a bunch of yappy lap dogs. One of Korea’s best actors, Lee Seong-Jae, stars as an out-of-work college lecturer desperate to get back onto the lecture circuit by any means necessary. Deeply funny and acquiring a surprising depth towards the end, this may be your only chance to see this movie on the big screen and you should leap on it with both feet. (read more) (watch the trailer)

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BONG JOON-HO SHORTS (March 1 @ 7pm) – three short films by BJH will play: SINK AND RISE, INFLUENZA and SHAKING TOKYO.

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Tickets and showtimes.

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Comments (0) Feb 10 2010

The big news this week is that on Tuesday, February 9 @ 7pm the Korean Cultural Service will be holding a free screening of the intense Korean thriller, BEAUTIFUL, with its director, Jun Jai-Hong, in attendance. The movie is based on a script by Kim Ki-Duk (THE ISLE) and Jun is one of his assistant directors making his directorial debut with this story of a beautiful woman who is sick of being hassled by guys because she’s good looking. Her solution? Destroy her own beauty by any means necessary – and it all ends very, very, very badly. Sexual politics tinged with plenty of body horror, it’s intense psychological horror like you’ve never seen. (read a review) To attend the screening, just rsvp to the Korean Cultural Service: rsvp underscore cine at koreanculture dot org. It’ll be held at the Tribeca Cinemas (down on the corner of Varick and Canal).

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Also opening this weekend on Feb. 5 is the new Jackie Chan movie, THE SHINJUKU INCIDENT. A so-so thriller, it’s a visually rich morality tale about the rise and fall of a Chinese gangster (Chan) in Japan. No stunts, and the action is of the big brawl variety, it’s a tamped-down, very reserved performance for Chan and it’s playing in Manhattan at the Loews Village Seven on the corner of Third Avenue and 11th Street. (read a review) (showtimes)

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Incredibly, HOUSE, the 1977 psychedelic masterpiece from Japan, is still playing at the IFC Center. It’s a runaway hit that came from nowhere and is making big bank. (read a review) (tickets and showtimes)

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3 IDIOTS is still the biggest Bollywood box office hit of all time and it’s still playing all over the five boroughs. (showtimes)

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Ram Gopal Varma’s news media thriller, RANN, is still playing in the city. (showtimes)

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Up at the ImaginAsian the Bollywood film ISHQIYA is playing. This romance/thriller flick is getting rave reviews (you can read one of them here, and another of them here) and being called “…explosively raw, ribald, gritty, grimy, and, most of all, real.” (tickets and showtimes)

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Film Forum’s 100th birthday party for Akira Kurosawa wraps up this week with a run of Kurosawa’s last acknowledged masterpiece, RAN. (showtimes and tickets)

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Comments (0) Feb 02 2010