Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bibimbap]

my favourites:

silmido
old boy
sympathy for mr vengeance
jsa
spring summer fall winter and ... spring
my little bride
samaria

really over-rated:
the classic
my sassy girl

[Neil]

Oldboy
The Presidents Barber
Chingu

[Paula May]

I finally saw Taeguki last night at a DVD bong, it was an excellent movie.

My other two choices would be Silmido and and JSA, for my top three. I also enjoyed Please Take Care of My Cat, My Little Bride, Crazy First Love and Please Teach Me English, but then I like a good romantic comedy now and then!

I haven't seen Old Boy yet, or Memories of Murder, but they are both at the DVD bong and after reading these reviews, I will definetly have to check them out.

[Cedar]

1. Oasis (I cried and pounded the floor during the second to the last scene- my strongest emotional response to a movie in my life).

2. Mr. Vengeance (I liked this more than Old Boy, actually, perhaps cause of my favorite actor, Song Gwangho)

3. My Wife is a Gangster (I can't help it, I love women kicking serious-a*s movies)

[Mashimaro]

[ajstew]

Well, I have to say that for all I had heard about "Silmido"... that I didn't think it was that great. It looked cheaply made, especially the final scenes. It also drug on for far too long... I mean let's be honest, there really wasn't much of a story there in the first place, and certainly not enough to stretch it out to that length.

As for "Oldboy"... decent... but nothing out of the ordinary. I've got to admit, the beginning and present parts of the movie were intriguing, but the idea of revenge based on that highschool incident cheapened the movie, and certainly lowered my opinion of it.

[bibimbap]

yeah, song gwangho rocks.

he's what made 'memories of murder' such a good flick.

silmido was great because it wasn't a blockbuster. it's got strong characters (maybe too much machismo) and a great story. reminded me of the classic ensemble hollywood flicks, 'the great escape' and 'magnificent seven'

[tomwaits]

2 odd ones I haven't seen mentioned.

Rewind: Story of a guy running a video store getting secret love letters.

Ray-Ban: Quirky story about a group of Seoul cabbies.

Prison flick about the N Korean symathizers was good and the one about the painter.(Chilwaeson?) And the comedy about the guy who sleeps (isn't sure) with the gangstas sister. I'm bad with titles!

[jazblanc77]

Has noone seen "Wonderful Days"? What an awesome movie! Definitely my number one. I would put Taegukki in second place. In third and other consecutive spots, I don't know.

[komtengi]

[shawner88]

Hmph, granted it wasn't the greatest movie, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Chib Eu Ro (The Way Home) with the little rotten Seoul boy who goes out and lives with his traditional Grannie in the country. It was even out in the states for a bit in select theaters. It's one of those movies you don't even need subtitles in English to understand. I liked the cinematography of the Korean countryside, but I didn't like seeing the little monster pushing his grannie over and stealing her hairpin.

I also liked The Good Lawyers Wife.

I couldn't stand Old Boy or Silmido. Too long and over the top.

[the_beaver]

[skinhead]

What was the first Korean film you ever saw?

I saw "Two Flags" on SBS (Aust) about 15 years ago. The story was about this single woman living in an isolated house just north of the demarcation line during the Korean war, and she's humping soldiers from both sides, slides the SK flag up the pole when the southern boys come to town , and the NK flag when the locals arrive, hides a North Korean refugee ajoshi then humps him, marries him and then he gets shot to death, and then some other stuff happens and the film eventually ends. I thought it was kinda strange. Kind of a strange film. Then I went and lived in Korea, and that shit ain't strange any more.

[Len8]

Saw "Address Unknown" a while back. Was recomended to me by the owner of a video pang. He had lived abroad and spoke English fluently.

It's a well done movie and the story is interesting. Anyway it's all about a half black half Korean kid and his mother. The mother is constantly checking the mail, but all she gets is her returned letters marked "address unknown". Trying to find the father of her son of course. The movie is a bit of an eye opener, because it makes fun of a lot of stuff that koreans would rather we didn't know.

Owner of the video shop had papered over all the windows to the video rooms, so it was a popular hangout for couples wanting to have an hour or two of passion. Sometimes it got bit noisy in the opposite rooms, so I wasn't alwaus able to follow the videos

[Chillin' Villain]

1. Manner Zero ("Poomhaeng Zero")- Only Korean comedy I've liked from start to finish... high school in the eighties.... so much works well in this movie- the characters are pretty funny, the music all fits, etc, etc... Yoo Seung-beom (plays Joong-pil, the main character) is hilarious... Has its weird Korean moments (as it should), but is just a great flick all-around. Can't recommend it enough!

2. Old Boy- Enough has been said. If for anything, I choose this because of the huge build up in the laser-pointer/purple box/photo album scene... Good lord, the music, the camera, EVERYTHING = PERFECT in that scene. I was throwin' stuff around the room in my cathartic daze...

3. Beat- Kinda slow and depressing, and a few too many fight scenes for my taste, but a good depiction of the hopeless teenager... Maybe not so accurate, but it has its moments...
....oh yeah, and an oh-so-young KOH SO-YOUNG....She's enough!
<still missing the Ji-hyun/So-young Giordano commercial...>

Finally saw Taegukki last week, and although it was well-produced and portrayed that era pretty well (like I know how it really looked! ), a couple things just annoyed me.... The fighting scenes just started getting gratuitous and boring after a while (and I LIKE violent movies usually), and friggin' WON BIN.... Seriously, I realize people don't like fighting and war and stuff, but could anybody sound MORE like a whiney Kangnam chick while out in the middle of a battlefield? Unlikely... I was seriously waiting for him to whine at Chang Dong-geun, "Oppaaaaa! Way geu-lay?!?" Hahaha...

(That said, I would like to admit that I would promptly wet myself if put in the middle of an Imjin River battlefield.)