The romantic comedy. It’s a genre where a lot of people (especially men) will have mixed feelings about. The target audience are usually women and the stories are very predictable, although there are always exceptions to this rule who manage to do extra things to make them stand out (for example Forgetting Sarah Marshall or When Harry Met Sally). Is My Sassy Girl anything special? Continue reading
Hyeon-su Nam (Cha Tae-Hyun) is a succesful radio DJ, with a lot of listeners who regularly tune in to hear his show. Besides playing music he regularly has conversations with callers about their relationships. One of them is telling him that she has some issues with her father who has become a grandfather as well and he advises her to meet up with him and make him a meal.
When he finally gets home a young woman, Jeong-nam Hwang (Bo-yeong Park) is waiting in front of his door together with her son Ki-dong Hwang (Wang Seok-Hyeon). He thinks that they have the wrong address, but Jeong-nam tells him that she is his daughter and that he’s a grandfather too. It’s a dark cloud in Hyeon-su Nam’s perfect life which he really can’t get rid of soon Continue reading
Some years ago Quentin Tarantino shared his list of his 20 favorite movies since 1992, the year he started directing. There were three Korean movies on his list: The Host, Joint Security Area and Memories of Murder. Memories of Murder is about a police investigation into a number of serial killings that took place between 1986 and 1991 and is based on real events. Continue reading
An agent that has become a pimp, Women that disappear and a serial killer are the ingredients for The Chaser, a South Korean crime thriller. Joong-ho (Yun-seok Kim) runs an escort company and notices that a couple of the women he is using are not coming back. When he sends one of his girls, Mi-jin (Yeong-hie Seo), to a customer he finds out that he has sent her to the same customer the other girls went after they disappeared. He decides to track him down as he’s worried about Mi-jin. He managed to find him (a role excellently played by Jung-woo Ha), but there is no trace of the woman. When both of them are arrested it’s the start of an exciting search for the missing woman in a race against the clock. Continue reading
Revenge movies. It’s a genre in which South Korea seems to be specialised. At least that’s my conclusion after having seen several of them. These films are not afraid to show violence in all its gruesome detail and manage to shock and make you feel something while you are watching it. I Saw the Devil takes the revenge idea a bit further than expected as just getting revenge once does not seem to be enough. While you are watching you will feel uncomfortable about this story in which Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee (The Good, The Bad, The Weird)) wants to have revenge on a serial killer, Kyung-Chul (played by Min-sik Choi (Oldboy)), who has murdered his wife. Continue reading
The original title of this Korean movie is Madeo, which can be translated into two meanings, both mother and murder are possible as the characters in the language are the same. Hye-ja Kim stars in this movie, in which her son Yoon Do-joon (Bin Won) is being suspected of a crime. As Yoon Do-joon has some mental issues, it’s hard for her to find out if he really has committed the crime. As a mother she’s willing to do anything to find out the truth and get her son out of jail. Continue reading
I’ve been watching quite a lot of Korean movies lately and with almost every movie I’m pleasantly surprised by its quality. They have strong stories, are usually quite unpredictable and not comparable to the big Hollywood productions. Is The Man From Nowhere another movie which didn’t disappoint? Continue reading
Nope, it’s not a typo, this movie is really called The Good The Bad The Weird. It’s got nothing to do with Sergio Leone and you won’t see Clint Eastwood acting in it. Despite this it is very clear that The Good, The Bad and The Ugly has had a big influence on this Korean Western. South Korea has a big movie industry and manages to deliver some great quality film like Old Boy. Is this western just as good? Continue reading
Just imagine walking on the street, being kidnapped and being held in a normal apartment. You are free to move around the apartment and do you own things, but there is no way to leave. Every day you receive food through a hole in the door and every night you are forced to fall asleep as gas is injected into the room. You have no idea why you are there and how long it will be until you are released. Days turn into weeks, weeks slowly turn into years. What would you do if you are suddenly released after 15 years? Continue reading