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Entries Tagged as 'Song Kang-ho'

The Good, the Bad and the Weird (2008, Kim Ji-woon)

January 2nd, 2009 · 1 Comment

The Good, the Bad and the Weird, if the title is any hint, is an homage to Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns. Kim Ji-woon borrows liberally from all three of the Clint Eastwood films, taking a scene from one then, a little later, one from another. He takes it further than just a cheap reference–at one […]

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Tagged: CJ Entertainment· Kim Ji-woon· Kim Min-suk· Song Kang-ho· ★★★

The Host (2006, Bong Joon-ho)

January 3rd, 2007 · No Comments

If the original Godzilla (the Japanese version, before Raymond Burr) was about the United States as a nuclear power, The Host is a metaphor for the United States as a terrorist state. Or maybe it’s not a metaphor. It’s just about a situation involving Americans and they act with complete disregard for the safety of […]

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Tagged: Baek Chul-hyun· Bong Joon-ho· Ha Won-jun· Park Hae-il· Showbox· Song Kang-ho· ★★★★

Memories of Murder (2003, Bong Joon-ho)

June 11th, 2006 · No Comments

So all Song Kang-ho needs is a good movie… Well, not quite. In my Foul King post, I accused Song of being the weak link in Korean cinema and maybe he’s not. Maybe he just makes some bad choices. Still, in Memories of Murder, he plays a well-intentioned buffoon of a detective facing a rural […]

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Tagged: Bong Joon-ho· CJ Entertainment· Kim Kwang-rim· Shim Sung Bo· Song Kang-ho· ★★★

The Foul King (2000, Kim Ji-woon)

May 17th, 2006 · 1 Comment

The Foul King is supposed to be a comedy, but I only laughed once, about an hour in. It’s not about South Korea’s leading stand-up comedian (which I thought it was). It’s about a wrestler who cheats (and gets fouls for that cheating). The film’s structured not around a traditional sports movie, instead it’s about […]

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Tagged: Jang Jin-young· Kim Ji-woon· Song Kang-ho· bom Film·

Joint Security Area (2000, Park Chan-wook)

November 22nd, 2005 · No Comments

If you try one Korean film, please don’t let it be Joint Security Agency. It’s like hearing alcoholic liquids are good and drinking rubbing alcohol instead of wine.
Maybe that’s a little harsh, but Joint Security Area is a really big piece of shit. It’s not without some merits, some of the acting is good–but a lot […]

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Tagged: CJ Entertainment· Jeong Seong-san· Kim Hyeon-seok· Lee Mu-yeong· Park Chan-wook· Park Sang-yeon· Song Kang-ho· ⓏⒺⓇⓄ

Antarctic Journal (2005, Yim Phil-sung)

November 16th, 2005 · No Comments

I guess this film has gotten some bad reviews. Or just excessively mediocre ones. It’s not quite populist enough–it sets itself up as a supernatural thriller set in Antarctica, but it’s all really about internal human conflicts and some creepiness sure. I’m trying to think of a good way to describe it and I suppose […]

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Tagged: Bong Joon-ho· Showbox· Song Kang-ho· Yim Phil-sung· ★½

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