Movie Update!

I'm heading to another film festival tomorrow, it's going to be my last in Korea which is a little sad to say the least!

The film festival is about 2 hours from Seoul in Jecheon, I'm really excited about heading along as well as the films the website says there is a market area with crafty stuff. I can't wait.

But this post is to update you on films I have seen, rather than films I am going to see! So here's the films I've watched recently:

Film 42 - Cellular

This is a rather brainless movie I watched whilst returning on a long bus trip on a teachers overnight trip. It's all about crooked LA cops kidnapping the family of a real estate agent who caught them up to no good (on camera) . It's fairly horrible.

Film 43 - Down Terrace

Down Terrace is one of the best black comedies I've seen in ages, it's about a fairly working class crime family. One of the family members has just returned from the courts, escaping conviction and they want to find out who in their circle has been talking and letting their secrets out. This movie is pretty dark and has a pretty impressive body count. I loved it - but only because I have a pretty dark sense of humour.

Film 44 - Confessions

This is another incredibly dark, but beautifully shot Japanese film. It's the story of a teacher, whose young daughter has been drowned at the pool at the school she teaches at. The teacher knows two of her students are responsible for the death of her daughter but knows the justice system will allow the boys to walk free due to their age. The rest of the film is about four characters confessions about what really happened and the fall out of the girls drowning. It's a another dark movie, but it's so beautifully made.

Film 45 - Death Bell 2

Death Bell 2 is a Korean Horror film, if you're a horror film fan then it's just good fun. If you're not a horror fan then you won't like this film. It's a pretty simple plot - the brightest students at a high school are taking part in a school "camp" (by camp I mean additional study!) to better prepare them for university.

However - many of these students are responsible for a past wrong (it's a fairly BIG wrong too) and those that have suffered are out for revenge.

Film 46 - House of the Devil

I loved this film so MUCH! It's a relatively new film but it really has the feel of a 1970's style horror - helped by the fact it's set in that time. Even the opening credit's have a delightfully cheesy 1970's feel to them. It's a pretty basic story - a college girl is moving into her first apartment but is finding getting the money together a little difficult. She takes a job, which she thinks is babysitting but is actually looking after an older woman. She accepts a huge amount of money for one nights - it's also the night of a rare eclipse and things end up becoming very weird.

Film 47 - Monsters

When I started watching this film I thought - "not another cheesy monster movie". But it's not really a monster movie at all. The setting is that a US satellite that fell to earth on the boarder between the US and Mexico bought with it some rather nasty creatures from out of space. The US and Mexican governments are now trying to contain these creatures.

But, as I said, the movie isn't really about monsters. It's about how people survive when everything goes wrong.

A photographer is trying to get the daughter of the media CEO her works for out of Mexico and back home to the US as the monsters are going a little crazy. The story is about their journey - it's an amazing movie and you quickly forget about the cheesy monsters.

Film 48 - Gintama

Gintama is a Japanese Anime I found fairly entertaining. There's way too much going on in the story for me even to remember now! But I do clearly remember being surrounded by Korean Fan Boys and Fan Girls whilst watching it.

Film 49 - The Lost Boys

I watched Lost Boys in my hotel in Vietnam one day - it's one of the best vampire films - ever!

Film 50 - Crackerjack

An Aussie Comedy I watched in the hotel in Vietnam - to be honest it's not the best Aussie comedy I've ever seen - but it still made me laugh. Plus Fred Dagg plays the bad guy - go Kiwi!

Film 51 - The Prestige

A completely amazing film set in Victorian England where two magicians seem to do battle over the years to have the most incredible trick, as well as try and work out how their opposition makes their magic work. Plus it has David Bowie. Everything is better with David Bowie.

Movies 37, 38 & 39

It's time for another movie update - last weekend we actually watched quite a lot of movies.

First up was "The Runaways" - I didn't know much about The Runaways before watching this movie apart from the fact Joan Jett was part of the group. I also didn't know very much about the movie itself.

I really liked this movie, there's nothing like a group of girls kicking rock n roll butt, even if the band ends up falling apart in the movie.
The next movie we watched was "Splice" which I have been looking forward to watching forever. It's basically a tale about what happens when genetic research goes too far.

A couple of scientists are working on "splicing" different species, eventually they add human DNA to the mix and things get a little complicated when they make a totally new "creature".

This film had a couple of cringe worthy scenes, but generally, it was awesome. The special effects in this film are amazing.

If you're a horror or sci fi fan then this film is totally worth seeing.The last movie I watched was "Pontypool" which I also knew nothing about before I watched it. Basically it's another zombie viral outbreak, but this time the outbreak is spread by the English language! Yes, certain English words have become infected and if you use them you will become a zombie.

The film is set largely in a radio station studio - you don't see a lot of the zombies but you do get to hear what's happening outside.

It's a great idea but a little bit difficult to pull off in film, but I think this film really does it well.Finally, in a couple of weeks, Rich and I will be going to the Puchon Internation Fantastic Film Festival. I'll let you more about this soon but it should be an amazing weekend of crazy films.

Movie update - Movies 33 & 34

It's time for another movie update! The first movie is a Korean film called "Three Iron" which we recently watched on TV without subtitles. This isn't due to our Korean language skills greatly improving (sadly) , but rather due to the fact that the film has limited dialogue and what dialogue it does have is pretty easy to understand.

It's the story of one of those guys who put's fliers on everybodies doors here in Korea (every time we return to our apartment, the door is plastered with fliers for food, gyms, beauticians and even prostitutes!).

Basically, he puts the fliers on people's doors and comes back later to see if they have been pulled off - if they haven't been pulled off he figures the owners must be away. He spends a few days in the person's house or apartment, fixes the stuff that is broken, does the cleaning and cooks himself and meal or two and then moves onto the next house.

It may sound like a boring premise but it's actually really amazing - it really gives you an insight into the life of everyday Korean homes and people.

One day he "let's himself in" to a beautiful house, but it turns out the wife is still there (and has been beaten by her husband). She isn't scared and doesn't want him to leave but instead follows him around the house and then joins hime. This is after he meets her husband and hits a few golfballs at him with a three iron (her husband is not a nice guy).

Yes, it turns out that this nomad is actually a golf fan as well and practices his game in parks with a golf ball attached to wire.

Anyway, the movie just gets more and more dreamlike from here as their relationship develops and they visit other people's homes and life gets crazier and crazier.

This is a really incredible movie and the cover really doesn't do it any justice!
The next movie I've seen recently is "The Ghost Writer" which is a Roman Polanski film.

It's basically an espionage type thriller, a ghost writer goes to help a former British Prime Minister write his memoirs but it seems that something isn't quite right with the whole situation. Especially as the former Ghost Writer was found dead in the ocean (and he was a great frend of the Ex-PM).

The movie (and I assume the novel it's based on) takes a few digs at Tony Blair and UK/US relations in general and it was a good movie, except for one thing, the horrible accents!

There were so many American actors with horrible English accents and vice versa it was a little painful! I'm sure all this was lost on the Korean audience but it made me cringe a little.

Movie Update - Movies 28 - 32

It's time for yet another movie update, I've actually watched quite a lot of movies in the last week or so but still feel like I'm falling behind in my movie viewing!

First of all is "Twin Peaks - Fire Walk with Me". Recently, Rich and I completed watching Twin Peaks season 1 & 2 and decided it was time to watch the film. I hadn't heard good things about the film and it was made two years after the last TV series but it's a prequel to the TV series.

The film wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, some of my favourite characters from the TV show weren't in the movie, but overall it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it did tie up a few lose ends from the TV series - but it didn't explain everything. But then with Twin Peaks I think that there isn't an explaination for a lot of things.The second film I watched was "Zombieland" - I've been wanting to watch this one for a long time, but I just never seemed to get around to it. This movie is great, it doesn't take itself series at all, which is what I like in a horror movie. There's some awesome zombies and Bill Murray - what more could anyone want in a movie?I always find that the best way to follow up a zombie movie is with a good vampire movie. In this case the movie is "Daybreakers". I missed this movie when it played in the cinema here, so I was happy to finally have a chance to see it. It turns out in the future, basically everyone has chosen to become a vampire which means there's not much left to eat. This movie is basically about some vampires trying to manufacture artificial blood for sale and other vampires trying to become human again. There's so pretty awesome vampire moments in this one - especially when they are testing the fake blood. I also love what becomes of malnourished vampires.
Next up is the Classsic "The Godfather" which I was lucky enough to see on the big screen at CGV at Yongsan. This movie is awesome, all kinds of awesome. I love it.
In a side note, my friend Joseph told me that Marlon Brando refused to accept the Oscar he won for this film due to the treatment of the Native American people. Instead a Native American woman called Sacheen Littlefeather accepted the award on his behalf. This makes Marlon Brandon even more amazing - if that's possible.
The final movie on the list is a fairly cheesy kids film I watched on a Sunday night whilst I was crafting. According to the movie, there are some people who can read books aloud and they come alive - literally. A while ago the Dad in the story (I forget the characters name but it's Brendon Frazer) reads a book to his daughter and in the process he releases one of the characters from the book. The only problem is, when you release one character from the book, someone from our world gets dragged into the book. In this case his wife was dragged into a book called "Inkheart" the movie focussed around the guy trying to release his wife from the book and the evil characters from the book basically trying to take of the world. It's an easy no-brainer watch for a Sunday night.

New Years Resolution Update - Movies 25, 26 & 27

I'm not sure if my new years resolution is going all that well, in fact I feel as if I should have watched twice as many films by now! But who knows maybe I will still make it to 110 movies by 31 Decemeber.

Here's a few films I have watched recently, first of all, Robin Hood. I really liked this film, it wasn't the typical Robin Hood story that TV shows and movies are usually based on - in fact it focuses on the story just before the "legend" begins.

Second is a Korean film, the English title is "Poetry". It's not often we get to see new Korean films but some of the cinema's in Seoul have started playing a few showings of current films with English subtitles which is just awesome. Poetry was a good movie but not a feel good movie - it deals with a grandmother and her grandson (who she is raising). Her grandson has committed a rather horrible crime with his friends and the grandmother finds herself dragged into a plan by the other boys fathers to deal with the "problem" with money. At the same time she's trying desperately hard to write a great poem for her poetry class. Like I said, this movie doesn't leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside but it does have something really important to say.
Finally, on Saturday we saw the remake of "Nightmare on Elm Street", I've been wanting to see this for a while as it's a remake rather than another sequel and I was interested to see how the new film would interpret the original story. Unfortunatly, I have to say I really do prefer the old movie. Like a lot of new horror movies, this version of an old story is really dark, no great one liners and everything is so so serious and dark.

Movie Update - 22, 23, 24

Lately, my New Years resolution hasn't been going too well. Largely due to the fact that lately Rich and I have been watching Twin Peaks season one and season two.

I have been to the cinema to see a couple of films though. The first is a film I was really skeptical of but it turned out to be surprisingly good. The original version of "The Crazies" was directed by one of my favourite directors - George A Romero - but I didn't think it was a very good movie.

I thought I'd give the remake a shot and headed to the cinema to watch it, and much to my surprise it's a fairly good horror movie. It's not going to ever be in my top ten horror films but it has some really good scenes and strangely enough I think it's much better than the original.

Next is Kick Ass - this is the sort of movie I would never ever pay my hard earned money to see in a cinema in New Zealand but when your English language movie options are limited you do crazy things.

The film isn't that bad, it has some pretty funny parts and some very violent and grim parts.

I decided to leave my brain at the door and enjoy the general silliness of this film.

Finally, I watched the orginal Iron Man movie. Largely because Iron Man II is currently screening in Korea and we decided if we were going to watch Iron Man II we should really watch the first one.

I'm not completely convinced I want to watch Iron Man II after seein the first one.

Film 20 - The Dark Night

Film number 20 of my new years resolution challenge (110 films in 2010) was The Dark Night, which I watched on Korean TV last Friday night after a long week at school followed up by eating way too much at a teachers dinner.

What more can I say? This film is awesome. I'm not much of a superhero fan - but Batman is awesome - much more awesome than Spiderman.

Shutter Island

Movie number 18 in my year of 110 movies is "Shutter Island" which Rich and I went to watch on Friday night with Joseph and Valerie. It's been a while since we had one of our Friday night movie and dinner sessions with Joseph so it was really good to catch up with him as well as watch the movie.

The movie itself was a good thriller - not really a horror like I originally thought. There is a good twist to the plot but I think we all latched onto this pretty early on but it didn't really matter.

I essentially found the film fairly unsettling which I think it's supposed to be - it was a good way to spend my first Friday night out since recovering from being sick.