Country: Korea
Genre: Action/ Suspense
Director: Kwon-tae Ahn/ Kyung-Taek Kwak
Year: 2008

Rating:

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
As wonderful as Korean movies often are, and as technically proficient as they are in practically every area of filmmaking, there are some things that Koreans just can’t seem to pull off.
If they try to be cool and do something like pull off […]

Country: Korea
Genre: Drama
Director: Pil-Sung Yim
Year: 2005

Rating:

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
Antarctic Journal has an odd subject for a Korean movie. A group of explorers, led by Choi Do-hyung (Kang-ho Song) decide to go further into the Antarctic than any previous explorers. Why? Because, as one character notes, explorers live to put themselves in extreme situations and […]

Country: Korea
Genre: Action/ Martial Arts/ Drama
Director: Yun-ho Yang
Year: 2004

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
God knows there are plenty of flaws in Fighter In The Wind. During the first half of the movie, the fights are shot in such a way that you can barely make out the fight choreography. Writer/director Yun-ho Yang way overuses slow motion. […]

Country: Korea
Genre: Action/ Drama
Director: Ki-duk Kim
Year: 1997

Rating:

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
I am chagrined to admit that I sought out Wild Animals because it was written and directed by Ki-duk Kim, who is responsible for such elegant and provocative films as The Bow, 3-Iron, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter… and Spring, Bad Guy, and The Isle.
Wild Animals […]

Country: Korea
Genre: Action/ Drama
Director: Seok-beom Kang
Year: 2006

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MOVIE
When we first meet Tae-shik (Rae-won Kim), he’s on a train, writing in a little notebook, things like “I will never fight again” and “I will never drink again.” You see, Tae-shik has just gotten out of prison. He makes his way back to […]

Country: Korea
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Joon-ho Bong
Year: 2009

Rating:

WORTH A LOOK
Mother was Korea’s entry for 2009’s Best Foreign Picture for the Academy Awards, and you can kind of understand why. As the titular character, Hye-ja Kim gives a towering performance, easily dominating the entire film. She should be a shoe-in for any Korean acting awards. Writer/director Joon-ho […]

Country: Korea
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay/ Martial Arts
Director: Young-jun Kim
Year: 2005

Rating:

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
Shadowless Sword is a missed opportunity, and the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of director Young-jun Kim and screenwriter Paul Sheen.
The premise is pretty timeless. In 10th century Korea, the Balhae kingdom has been overthrown by invaders. There is a resistance […]

Country: Korea
Genre: Drama
Director: Ki-duk Kim
Year: 2001

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
So, what are we to make of Bad Guy, from director and poet of the perverse Kim Ki-Duk?
While in downtown Seoul, pimp Han-ki (Jae-hyeon Jo) fixates on college girl Sun-hwa (Won Seo). He sits down on a park bench next to her. When she finally notices […]

Country: Korea
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Martial Arts/ Romance/ Comedy
Director: Ha Yu
Year: 2004

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Once Upon a Time in High School is an unexpected delight. With that title, I was expecting a ton of martial arts and junior varsity gangster stuff, with comic overtones. Instead, Once Upon a Time in High School is a memory […]

Country: Korea
Genre: Action/Drama/Suspense
Director: Yoon-Hyun Chang
Year: 2004

Rating:

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
Some is proof that competent filmmaking is not enough — you have to have an elegant, concise script to go along with it.
Some begins with Seo Yu-jin (Ji-hyo Song) experiencing her own death. In her own mind, she rewinds to the present and wakes up.
Okay, […]

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