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Category Archives: Korean
Man on High Heels (2014) Review
Director: Jang Jin Cast: Cha Seung-Won, Oh Jeong-Se, Lee Som, Go Kyung-Pyo, Shin Sung-Hun, Jo Bok-Rae Running Time: 125 min. By Paul Bramhall In many ways the gangster genre is to the Korean movie industry what the heroic bloodshed genre was to the Hong Kong movie industry of the 90’s. Ever since Korean cinema gained international recognition in the late 90’s, every year we can be guaranteed a hard hitting … Continue reading
Traffickers (2012) Review
AKA: Traffikers Director: Kim Hong-Sun Producer: Won Hyun-Jae Cast: Im Chang-Jung, Daniel Choi, Jo Yoon-Hee, Oh Dal-Su, Jo Dal-Hwan, Jung Ji-Yoon Running Time: 111 min. By Kelly Warner They say that truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense. What they left out is that films based on a true story also have to make sense, regardless of whether that ruins the truthiness of the tale (my … Continue reading
No Tears for the Dead (2014) Review
Director: Lee Jeong-beom Cast: Jang Dong-Gun, Kim Min-Hee, Kim Hee-Won, Kim Jun-Sung, Go Woo-Lim, Ju Young-Ho, Jang In-Seop, Lee Seung-Chan, Park Sang-Hun, Brian Tee Running Time: 116 min. By Paul Bramhaull Director and writer Lee Jeong-beom quickly came to the attention of action movie aficionado’s in 2010 with the release of The Man from Nowhere. A Korean movie starring Won Bin as a mopish pawn shop attendant with a tragic … Continue reading
Kundo: Age of the Rampant (2014) Review
Director: Yun Jong-Bin Cast: Ha Jung-Woo, Kang Dong-Won, Lee Kyung-Young, Lee Sung-Min, Jo Jin-Woong, Ma Dong-Seok, Yun Ji-Hye, Ju Jin-Mo, Song Young-Chang, Jeong Man-Sik, Kim Byung-Ok, Kim Jong-Gu, Kim Seong-Gyun Running Time: 137 min. By Kelly Warner I went into Kundo: Age of the Rampant expecting something like a Korean take on the Robin Hood tale. What I got was a Tarantino-infused post-modern historical action movie that tries to be … Continue reading
Posted in Korean, News, Reviews
Tagged Gang Dong-won, Ha Jung-Woo, Ma Dong-seok, Yun Jong-Bin
Snowpiercer (2013) Review
Director: Bong Joon-ho Cast: Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt, Ed Harris, Ko Ah-Sung, Luke Pasqualino, Alison Pill, Adnan Haskovic Running Time: 126 min. By Kelly Warner In 2013, three of South Korea’s top directors stepped onto a bigger stage with their English-language feature film debuts. Jee-woon Kim (I Saw the Devil) went the big studio route with the Arnold Schwarzenegger comeback actioner The … Continue reading
Posted in Asian Related, Korean, News, Other Movies, Reviews
Tagged Bong Joon-ho, Ko Ah-Sung, Song Kang-Ho, Tilda Swinton
Flu, The (2013) Review
Director: Kim Sung-Soo Cast: Jang Hyuk, Soo Ae, Park Min-ha, Yoo Hae-jin, Ma Dong-seok, Lee Hee-joon, Kim Ki-hyeon Running Time: 121 min. By Kyle Warner Films about deadly outbreaks are cinema’s new favorite kind of disaster movie. I guess it’s easy to understand why. Movies about floods and tsunamis remind us too much of the recent disasters in New Orleans and Japan. Earthquakes make for grim stories, not blockbuster entertainment, … Continue reading
Posted in Korean, News, Reviews
Tagged Jang Hyuk, Kim Sung-Soo, Ma Dong-seok, Park Jung-Min
Moebius (2013) Review
Director: Kim Ki-Duk Writer: Kim Ki-Duk Producer: Kim Ki-Duk, Kim Woo-Taek, Kim Soon-Mo Cast: Cho Jae-Hyu, Seo Young-Joo, Lee Eun-Woo, Lee Eun-Woo, Kim Jae-Rok and Kim Jae-Hong Running Time: 88 min. By Paul Bramhall Kim Ki-duk has remained one of Korea’s most discussed and controversial directors over the last 15 years. His movies usually portray the dark side of human nature with tales dictated by the sex and violence that … Continue reading
Suspect, The (2013) Review
Director: Won Shin-yun Writer: Lim Sang-Yoon Cast: Gong Yoo, Park Hee-Soon, You Da-In, Cho Seong-Ha, Jo Jae-Yun, Kim Sung-Kyun Running Time: 137 min. By HKFanatic When The Bourne Supremacy first hit theaters back in 2005, the close-quarters handheld camerawork and rapid editing during action sequences had some film-goers claiming they experienced motion sickness rather than popcorn thrills. Soon afterwards, the term ‘shaky cam’ began popping up in critical reviews, and … Continue reading
Restless, The (2006) Review
Director: Jo Dong-Oh Writer: Jo Dong-Oh Cast: Jung Woo-Sung, Kim Tae-Hee, Heo Jun-Ho, So E-Hyun, Park Sang-Wook, Kim Kwang-Il, Yu Ha-Jun Running Time: 105 min. By JJ Hatfield In 984 AD, the Kingdom of the United Shilla fell into chaos and ruin due to the corruption of the royal family who indulged themselves in luxury and excess as the people suffered and starved. Violence spread, revolts and war swept the … Continue reading
Fists of Legend (2013) Review
Director: Kang Woo-Suk Writer: Jang Min-Suk Producer: Son Jung-Woo, Jung Sun-Young Cast: Hwang Jung-Min, Yu Jun-Sang, Yoon Je-Moon, Jung Woong-In, Park Jung-Min, Gu Won, Park Doo-Sik, Lee Jung-Hyuk, Lee Yo-Won, Sung Ji-Ru, Ji-Woo, Kang Shin-Il, Kang Sung-Jin, Seo Beom-sik Running Time: 153 min. By oneleaf Fists of Legend is a Korean action-drama directed by mega hit-maker Woo Suk-Kang (Glove, Silmido, Moss, Public Enemy) and scripted by Min-Seok Jang (Secret Reunion, … Continue reading
Commitment (2013) Review
Director: Park Hong-Soo Writer: Kim Soo-young Cast: Seung-Hyun Choi, Han Ye-Ri, Kim You-Jung, Yoon Je-Moon, Cho Seong-Ha, Park Sung-Woong, Lee Ju-Sil, Jung Ho-Bin, Kim Sun-Kyung, Park Ji-Il Running Time: 113 min. By oneleaf Seung-Hyun Choi, more popularly known as T.O.P, the power rapper of the K-Pop super group Big Bang, stars as 19 year-old Myung-Hon Ri in Commitment. His previous film roles include Iris: The Movie (2010) and 71: Into … Continue reading
Confession of Murder (2012) Review
Director: Jeong Byeong-gil Writer: Jeong Byeong-gil Cast: Jung Jae-young, Park Si-hoo, Jeong Hae-gyoon, Kim Young-ae, Choi Won-young, Jo Eun-ji Running Time: 119 min. By Paul Bramhall As a huge fan of Asian action cinema, I found the 2008 documentary Action Boys, which followed the lives of a group of stuntmen in the Seoul Action School, to be hugely enjoyable. Such was my enjoyment that I visited the school in the … Continue reading
Save the Green Planet (2003) Review
Director: Jang Joon-Hwan Writer: Jang Joon-Hwan Cast: Shin Ha-Kyun, Baek Yoon-Sik, Hwang Jung-Min, Lee Jae-Yong, Lee Joo-Hyun Running Time: 117 min. By Alexander Leave it to South Korean filmmakers to provide us yet another wholly original, oft shocking, slickly produced, torture-filled revenge fantasy in the vain of Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and The Isle–yet this time with a sci-fi twist. And like 3-Iron, Arahan, JSA and a host … Continue reading
Bleak Night (2010) Review
Director: Yoon Sung-hyun Writer: Yoon Sung-hyun Cast: Lee Je-Hun, Seo Jun-Young, Park Jeong-Min, Jo Seong-Ha, Bae Jae-ki, Lee Cho-hee Running Time: 117 min. By HKFanatic Over the last decade, Korean cinema has made great strides into the Western market thanks to its tendency for big-budget commercial spectacle and ultra-violent revenge movies. “Bleak Night” is not one of those films. This nuanced and haunting story about three high school friends began … Continue reading
Doomsday Book (2012) Review
Director: Kim Ji-woon, Yim Pil-sung Writer: Kim Ji-woon, Yim Pil-sung Cast: Ryu Seung-beom, Kim Kang-woo, Song Sae-byok, Song Young-Chang, Kim Gyu-Ri Running Time: 115 min. By HKFanatic “Doomsday Book” is an occasionally awkward mish-mash of off-kilter comedy and big sci-fi ideas; its anthology format tells three stories in total. In development since 2006, the film represents a collaboration between two of South Korea’s most creative directors: “Hansel & Gretel’s” Yim … Continue reading
Posted in Korean, Reviews
Tagged Kim Jee-Woon (Kim Ji-woon), Ryoo Seung-bum, Yim Pil-sung
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