herbiehancock

Original Title : Banchikwang Year : 2000 Director : Ji-woon Kim Writer : Ji-woon Kim IMDb : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261552/ Genre : Comedy, Action synopsis: Dae-Ho is an unproductive bank clerk who is late to work every morning and the object of his manager's frustrations. He was a fan of TV wrestling as a child, but can't get out of a headlock. He finds a local wrestling trainer and through a series of events eventually starts to train. He is slowly transformed as he begins his second job as the cheating villain wrestler known as the Foul King. He starts to stand up for himself in odd ways that are not really in his own best interest. Events get out of hand as conflicting influences come together. All good things must come to an end, and Kang-ho Song month(plusalittleextra) is one of those things. And what better way to end than a film about pro-wrestling?? Really, the film uses pro-wrestling more as a backdrop and vehicle for showing a common salaryman's issues with ...

Original Title : Milyang Year : 2007 Director : Chang-dong Lee Writer : Chang-dong Lee , Chong-jun Yi (novel) IMDb : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0817225/ Genre : Drama synopsis: Sin-ae moves with her son Jun to Miryang, the town where her dead husband was born. As she tries to come to herself and set out on new foundations, another tragic event overturns her life. Two things on the top here... One, I am not exactly sure how to review this film. The major plot points are really the shifts in the main character's "religious journey" instead of just events happening. For this reason, you may want to assume that there are spoilers contained within. I will try my best though to keep it spoiler-free. To be fair though, it is difficult to spoil this film as the performances are the driving force as opposed to the actual events. Secondly, the posters for this film are goddamn atrocious. This is the most understated, quiet Kang-ho Song film I will review here. In trying to figure...

Original Title : Gwoemul Year : 2006 Director : Joon-ho Bong Writer : Chul-hyun Baek , Joon-ho Bong , Won-jun Ha (as Jun-won Ha) IMDb : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468492/ Genre : Sci-Fi Thriller synopsis: On 09 February 2000, the American military base of Yongson releases toxic chemicals in the drain to the Han River under the direct order of an arrogant coroner. Six years later, a mutant squid monster leaves the water and attacks people on the side of the river. The teenager Park Hyun-seo is carried by the creature and vanishes in the river. While grieving her loss, her slow father Park Gang-du; her grandfather and owner of a bar-kiosk nearby the river Park Hie-bong; her aunt and archery medalist Park Nam-Joo; and her graduated unemployed uncle Park Nam-il are sent by the army with all the people that had some sort of contact with the monster to quarantine in a facility. During the night, Gang-du receives a phone call from Hyun-seo telling that she is alive in a big sewage nearby t...

Original Title : Choyonghan kajok Year : 1998 Director : Ji-woon Kim Writer : Ji-woon Kim IMDb : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0188503/ Genre : Dark Comedy synopsis: A family decides to buy a lodge in a remote hiking area. Their first customer commits suicide and the distraught family buries his body to avoid the bad publicity. But their luck gets worse, the bodies start piling up, and the family becomes frantic to rectify the situation. While not exactly a Kang-ho Song vehicle, I threw on The Quiet Family last night and had quite a different experience than the previous films I have covered here this month. Faster paced, less stylistic and darkly funny, this one was quite enjoyable! (Obviously the other flicks have been enjoyable for me, just not in the same way) No delicate shifts going on this time. Right off the bat you get a good sense of the direction this film is headed. A family has purchased a somewhat remote lodge along a hiking trail, work hard to fix it up, but then get no cu...

Original Title : Salinui chueok Year : 2003 Director : Joon-ho Bong Writer : Joon-ho Bong , Kwang-rim Kim , Sung Bo Shim IMDb : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0353969/ Genre : Crime, Drama synopsis: South Korea in 1986 under the military dictatorship: Two rural cops and a special detective from the capital investigate a series of brutal rape murder. Their crude measures become more desperate with each new corpse found. Based on a true case. Kang-ho Song month, limited as it may be, rolls on with another fantastic entry in Memories of Murder. This film, for various reasons, took me forever to finally finish, at no fault whatsoever to the film itself. But I am so glad I finally finished it today! Since it is his month here afterall, we will start with Mr. Song and his again phenomenal performance. He plays a rural detective, Doo-man Park, who is a little chubby, a little lazy, and a little too sure of his investigative skills. What has fallen into his lap in his little Korean village is a s...

Before I begin here, I want to thank Mr. Coffin Jon of Varied Celluloid (a weekly genre-centric videocast on Livestream) and Large William of The Gentlemen's Guide to Midnite Cinema for helping me out with Korean name structure (?) this week. I honestly had no clue which name was first or last, and was calling people by their first names instead of last simply out of confusion. So Mr. SONG, this is your theme month. And Jon and Will, this review is dedicated to you both! Original Title : Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA Year : 2000 Director : Chan-wook Park Writer : Seong-san Jeong , Hyeon-seok Kim , Mu-yeong Lee , Chan-wook Park , Sang-yeon Park (novel "DMZ") IMDb : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0260991/ Genre : Drama synopsis: In the DMZ separating North and South Korea, two North Korean soldiers have been killed, supposedly by one South Korean soldier. But the 11 bullets found in the bodies, together with the 5 remaining bullets in the assassin's magazine clip, amount...