Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on September 11th, 2023
Korean horror has picked up in the last twenty years tenfold. From films like Bedevilled and Thirst, they took on the revenge and vampire themes that a lot of classic horror films are built upon. But honestly, I've been most impressed with films like The Wailing and Train to Busan. The latter bred new life into the very tired zombie genre and made a darn watchable film, while The Wailing knew exactly what buttons to push when it comes to religion but then used that to make an interesting and thought-provoking film. That's why when I saw that we had a copy of Seire, I knew I had to review it, even though I probably would be too scared to write about it for a few days. I'm so glad I did.
According to the legend of samchil-il, 21 days after childbirth, the baby is vulnerable to bad luck, curses, and evil spirits. One of the most popular of the methods to keep out those spirits is to wrap the home with rope to keep outsiders out. No taboo is to be broken no matter how difficult it may be. For if you do, then you will suffer a horrible fate.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 2nd, 2018
Much to the dismay of probably most of my family and friends, I like to watch lots of weird films. Films directed by David Lynch, Planet of the Apes movies, and Johnny Mnemonic (I freaking love that movie) among many others I have watched over and over again. This is even more true with animation as I love to find clever styles that goes beyond convention and still produce a wonderful and thrilling story. So today, I review Satellite Girl and Milk Cow, a Korean animation film that is sure to test the boundaries of my fondness for weirdness. Is it too much for this critic or is it right in my sweet spot? Let's find out.
Above the Earth, we see various satellites circle the great planet. One of those satellites is named KITSAT-1 who takes pictures of the Korean Peninsula and provides other measurements. But like all things, KITSAT-1 has started to break down and stop working. Instead she uses her time to focus in on various sounds, sounds like a boy playing a wonderful song on a piano at a lonely club. The sound captivates her so much, she decides to speed towards Earth to seek it out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 2nd, 2018
Much to the dismay of probably most of my family and friends, I like to watch lots of weird films. Films directed by David Lynch, Planet of the Apes movies, and Johnny Mnemonic (I freaking love that movie) among many others I have watched over and over again. This is even more true with animation as I love to find clever styles that goes beyond convention and still produce a wonderful and thrilling story. So today, I review Satellite Girl and Milk Cow, a Korean animation film that is sure to test the boundaries of my fondness for weirdness. Is it too much for this critic or is it right in my sweet spot? Let's find out.
Above the Earth, we see various satellites circle the great planet. One of those satellites is named KITSAT-1 who takes pictures of the Korean Peninsula and provides other measurements. But like all things, KITSAT-1 has started to break down and stop working. Instead she uses her time to focus in on various sounds, sounds like a boy playing a wonderful song on a piano at a lonely club. The sound captivates her so much, she decides to speed towards Earth to seek it out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 16th, 2010
Manchuria, the 1930s. The Japanese army has just acquired a treasure map, and are transporting it across the desert wastes by train. But the man who sold the map wants it back, and engages a snappily dressed killer (Byung-hun Lee) to steal it back. He is, of course, the Bad. He stages a spectacular (and spectacularly violent) train robbery. As fate would have it, at precisely the same moment, the Weird (Kang-ho Song) is also robbing the train, and the Good, in the form of a bounty hunter (Woo-sung Jung) is on board, too. The Weird makes off with the map, and what follows is a series of chases as the various factions scramble to get that map.
Director Ji-woon Kim's tribute to Serio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly follows its model's characterization, with the leads' cold-eyed killer, wacky scoundrel and cold-eyed hero clearly standing in for Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach and Clint Eastwood, only much prettier. The financial motivation and the setting of a country in chaos is similar, too. But while the film was a huge hit in Korea (outgrossing, it seems, the likes of The Dark Knight), it lacks the heart and brilliance of Leone's film. There are some wonderful moments during the train robbery and other set pieces, but the film gets draggy in between. The tone is a little uneven, too – the intent seems to be entertaining, cartoonish violence, but the dismissive ways in which women are killed smacks rather uncomfortably of genuine misogyny. There's a lot of visual pleasure to had here, but to ultimately mixed effect.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 1st, 2007
I’ve always been fascinated by ocean life much more than space. Sure, planets and stars are cool, but growing up I was reading books about sharks, not supernovas. That interest in the wonders of the sea has never really faded, so you can imagine that I was pretty stoked to watch IMAX: Deep Sea.
Unfortunately, I missed this one in theatres when it was IMAX: Deep Sea 3D. The only thing three-dimensional about this DVD release is the sweet lenticular slipcover. If you stare at the cover while you turn it slowly, a shark appears to swim up to have you for lunch. Nice.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 16th, 2006
Synopsis
Mu-ju is trying to adjust to life again after surviving a terrible accident. Life is still hard, as her eldest daughter suffers from something like autism, and she is having trouble landing a permanent position as a teacher at a music school (plus, a former student has it in for her). The aforementioned eldest daughter becomes obsessed with a cello, and a mute housekeeper moves in, and terrible things begin to happen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 27th, 2006
Synopsis
Private Kang (Jan Dong-kun) is a coast guard – i.e. a soldier tasked with watching the South Korean coast for spies from North Korea. He is obsessed with shooting one, even though it is extremely unlikely that he will encounter any. One night, he sees movement and opens fire, killing not a spy, but a teenager having a tryst with his girlfriend. The boy isn’t just shot – he’s riddled with bullets and then blown to pieces with a grenade. No surprise, then, that the girl is traumatized to the p...int of insanity. When Kang realizes what he has done, his mental state disintegrates rapidly as well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 9th, 2006
Synopsis
Tae-suk is a young man who breaks into people's home while they are away. He lives there in their absence, but doesn't steal anything, and fixes odds and ends while he's there. During one such break-in, it turns out that owner's wife is there, and a love affair begins between the two. When the abusive husband returns, Tae-suk winds up killing him with the title instrument, and the lovers flee.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 14th, 2005
Let’s face it. Hollywood isn’t taking enough chances these days. In the era of film franchises, sequels and remakes, Hollywood has become too predictable, leading to mediocre reviews for most big releases and even worse box office returns. Many film goers have looked to independent and foreign films to challenge them, and for good reason. Foreign films march to the beat of their own drum, use complex themes and imagery to tell their story, and they usually keep you guessing until the very end. The same can be said f...r Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.
Sympathy hails from Korea, a country not known for its movie making abilities until Chan Wook Park’s Oldboy showed up on the radar last year. Being that Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is part of the “Vengeance Trilogy” that includes Park’s Oldboy and Lady Vengeance, Sympathy is surely going to gain some late momentum as curious fans of Oldboy start digging beneath its surface and find this 2002 film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2005
Phone director Byeong-ki Ahn admits he wanted to take the premise of Ringu and incorporate cell phones as the primary transmitter of terror instead of VHS tapes. (Just when these vengeful spirits will make the jump to DVD is uncertain -- and when they do, will it be Blu-Ray or… oh, I’ll save it for another time.) Anyway, he puts together an impressive-looking package with this horror tale, but unfortunately, the film itself falls flat on the wings of derivative, copycat storytelling.
Ji-Won H... is a hard-nosed journalist, who, we soon learn, has blown a sex scandal wide open and made a slew of enemies in the process. Does she care? Of course not. But someone has a mind to make her, as a series of harassing phone calls from a deep-voiced male leads her to believe someone wants her real dead, real soon.
![The Good, the Bad, the Weird [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-good-the-bad-the-weird-blu-r-large.jpg)
