Movies

Yep, agreed.

TBH as much as I love it, I'm also getting a bit sick of all the talk around the non-issue of Parasite's subtitles and I'm thinking of shining a light on some other Korean films. Has anyone on here seen My Sassy Girl? Took me years to catch it but finally saw it a few weeks ago. Pretty great if you're pre-disposed to be a sucker for clever 00s rom-coms.
 
Clint Howard said:
Uhh.. what? What a rude fucking edit. I asked a genuine question and then cheered a person who responded. What the fuck is your problem?
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1)You asked a highly loaded question based on a mountain of presuppositions to an audience that almost uniformly stands in opposition to those whom you supposedly were asking the question. You then cheered the type of answer that it absolutely appears you were seeking because it is pretty much the only type of answer you’re going to get here. So from the perspective of someone who is deeply involved in gun culture, in no way does your question appear to be from a place of honest inquiry.

2) Why would you ask such a politically charged question in the movie thread? Why not take it to the politics thread where it really belongs?
 
zombie.modernist said:
Yep, agreed.

TBH as much as I love it, I'm also getting a bit sick of all the talk around the non-issue of Parasite's subtitles and I'm thinking of shining a light on some other Korean films. Has anyone on here seen My Sassy Girl? Took me years to catch it but finally saw it a few weeks ago. Pretty great if you're pre-disposed to be a sucker for clever 00s rom-coms.
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I need to check it out; it's a name that's floated around since Parasite's win.

In general, it's been great seeing people bring up more South Korean films they enjoy, though it's a little silly when the only suggestions they can dredge up are more Bong films (which are all great, but it may be worth sampling the full breadth of the nation's cinema).

If I had to put up a suggestion of a South Korean film to check out, I'd say peep The Handmaiden; it's fire.
 
Bull Shannon said:
I need to check it out; it's a name that's floated around since Parasite's win.

In general, it's been great seeing people bring up more South Korean films they enjoy, though it's a little silly when the only suggestions they can dredge up are more Bong films (which are all great, but it may be worth sampling the full breadth of the nation's cinema).

If I had to put up a suggestion of a South Korean film to check out, I'd say peep The Handmaiden; it's fire.
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Also, although they are often recommended in the past, so not news to many, the Vengeance trilogy by the same director, Chan-wook Park, is also great. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance
 
Bull Shannon said:
I need to check it out; it's a name that's floated around since Parasite's win.

In general, it's been great seeing people bring up more South Korean films they enjoy, though it's a little silly when the only suggestions they can dredge up are more Bong films (which are all great, but it may be worth sampling the full breadth of the nation's cinema).

If I had to put up a suggestion of a South Korean film to check out, I'd say peep The Handmaiden; it's fire.
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Thanks for the reminder. I need to catch Handmaiden, Thirst and I'm a Cyborg to round out my Park filmography. I am a big fan of JSA, and was super into the vengeance ones back in 2010ish and long overdue for a new watch of them!
 
EvanBenner said:
I'd add Train to Busan
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That's a fun one too! Just so slickly done it's really incredible. I'll add a few more of my favorites, nothing obscure at all, but I don't usually see these get as much hype as they should:

JSA: Joint Security Area: Talked about this earlier, but really amazing film, my personal favorite of Park Chan-wook's that I've seen. Sort of an evolution of A Few Good Men's take on the Rashomon formula but with a much stronger emotional core due to the more dire political context. Great early performances from Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun and Lee Young-ae. (On Kanopy (shitty transfer), or Korean Blu Ray)

Save the Green Planet: A totally batshit insane genre-hopping mess that somehow gels. Much crazier than Park's work IMO and more genre-bending than Bong's, if not as polished and cohesive. If you're into the vengeance theme and crazy action / horror / sci-fi vibes this one is killer. (on Kanopy, or OOP Kino DVD that can be had for ~$3)

A Taxi Driver: A pretty straightforward historical drama about the Gwangju Uprising, but it's just done so well it puts Hollywood's attempts at this genre to shame. It's entertaining and heartbreaking, and probably the best performance from Song Kang-ho I've seen. (on Hulu)
 
Still gotta recommend Burning. It's my favorite film from 2018, and one of my favorites of the decade. Slow burning (sorry), but completely enthralling. It also tackles class issues in a much different way than Parasite, but the parallels between the two in terms of similarity are kinda there. It's not as fun as Parasite is, but both deal with some aspects of South Korean culture, both involve main characters of different class standings, and both shift genres leading to satisfying and unexpected endings.


I have also seen Oldboy but never got around to the others in that series. I remember being kinda obsessed with it in high school though. Never saw the American remake, and I don't think I'm missing anything there. Oh, how much you wanna bet though that Parasite winds up getting an American remake at some point?
 
Bennnnn said:
Oh, how much you wanna bet though that Parasite winds up getting an American remake at some point?
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Ugh. I hope the flop of the American Oldboy taught Hollywood a lesson on what they can and can’t adapt from Korean. AFAIK the only moderately successful American remake of a Korean film has been The Lake House which wasn’t a smashing success itself. I guess I’m being optimistic though, because who the hell thought it would be a good idea to remake Turist / Force Majure with Will Ferrell?
 
We watched La La Land with the kids tonight. I forgot how much I liked that movie when it came out. Moonlight was great too and very deserving but part of me wishes La La Land won the best picture that year.
 
zombie.modernist said:
Ugh. I hope the flop of the American Oldboy taught Hollywood a lesson on what they can and can’t adapt from Korean. AFAIK the only moderately successful American remake of a Korean film has been The Lake House which wasn’t a smashing success itself. I guess I’m being optimistic though, because who the hell thought it would be a good idea to remake Turist / Force Majure with Will Ferrell?
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As far as I know, that Force Majeure remake takes all of what was good out of it, which seems about right for an American remake of an already good film.

Sidenote: don't know if anyone listens to the podcast Unspooled, but to briefly explain what it is, Amy Nicholson and Paul Scheer are going through the AFI list to top 100 movies of all time. Sometimes though they break format and do other episodes. They just did a great series on their picks for Best of the Decade, and just this week they devoted a whole episode to Parasite. Really recommend the episode, and the podcast in general.
 
Bennnnn said:
As far as I know, that Force Majeure remake takes all of what was good out of it, which seems about right for an American remake of an already good film.
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Not shocked. I am fully aware of how pretentious this sounds, but I don't think a lot of Americans "get"
Östlund's sense of humor because it's so Swedish. Most of the reviews of The Square really proved that to me. Will Ferrell's humor is so quintessentially American, not that I dislike him at all (I grew up with his movies) it just seems like a massive mismatch. That's sort of what bothers me about most American remakes, they just seek to aggressively normalize the film into our culture rather than celebrating what works across the cultures.
 
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