BABY AND I (2008)

Joon-su is a spoiled, arrogant high school student with wealthy parents; an only child who specializes in starting fights, mouthing off to teachers, and getting suspended from school.  More rebel than criminal, his aberrant behavior still comes home to roost one night in a grocery store, when he turns long enough to select a bottle of wine off a shelf - and turns back to find a baby has been left in his shopping cart, along with a note saying he's the father and the boy is his responsibility now.  Worse yet, Joon-su returns home to find his parents have run away (!) thanks to his rotten behavior, cutting off his credit card and all communication.  With the help of his buddies, and a new girl to school who is smitten with him, Joon-su first tries to find the mother ... then a way to ditch the baby ... before ultimately becoming determined to be the best dad he can be.  Sweet and funny, Baby and I (aka Baby and Me) is a wonderful film nowhere near as predictable as you'd think.  And I dare you not to fall in love with that kid. (not rated)  A-

BABY AND ME trailer

MARATHON (2005)

I have never, in my life, had an experience that moved me as much as watching Marathon.  Writing this, even just looking at the poster causes my heart to overflow all over again, thudding in my chest.  Based on a true story, Cho Seung-woo - in an Oscar-worthy performance you have to see to believe - stars as Cho-won, a young man born with autism who only seems to find his center of calm in running.  His mother, a force to be reckoned with who has always been there for Cho-won (even at the expense, at times, of her husband and Cho-won's younger brother), signs him up for a big marathon, and to prepare him for it harasses an ex-marathon winner, doing community service for a DUI, into being his coach.  Simple yet profound, heartbreaking and indescribably life-affirming, again I have never experienced anything as magical and one-of-a-kind as Marathon - in film, or in real life.  It's a movie that reaches into your heart and wraps it up like a gift from God. (not rated)  A++

MARATHON (full movie!)

SAD MOVIE (2005)

Don't let the title fool you; while it fits the film and may not make many rush to see it initially, for the first three-quarters of the film Sad Movie is funny, engaging, romantic, and introduces viewers to: the kindhearted slacker whose girlfriend of three years wants to break up ... the fireman who saves a young woman from a burning building only to fall in love with her older sister, who wants him to propose ... the rescued sister, whose job is to entertain kids dressed as Raggedy Ann (complete with over-sized headpiece), whose face is scarred so she won't even remove the head for the handsome street artist she's falling for ... and a mother, long-neglectful of her trouble-making young son, who finally receives a harsh wake up call.  A well-written collection of intertwining tales that will have you immediately caught up in these characters and their fates ... before, yes, the tears (many of them) start to flow.  A lovely, touching, must-see of a film that stresses the importance of loving and living to your fullest, always, while you still can. (not rated)  A

SAD MOVIE (full movie!)

FLY HIGH (2009)

Blown away by Kim Bum since the K-drama "Boys Over Flowers", I was anxious to see Fly High (aka Flight in South Korea).  Here he plays an aspiring actor who works at a gas station, in general leading a lonely life until one night in a club he finds a kindred spirit in a beautiful girl with whom he immediately falls in love.  When tragedy befalls her and she ends up in a care facility, mentally traumatized, all he wants to do is care for her ... and, sadly, must take work as a male host (read: gigolo) in a teahouse to support both himself and her care, telling her in his visits that his acting career is blossoming.  Kim is great here, but the film is somewhat a downer, with his character getting the snot beat out of him on more than a couple occasions ... and an ending that, literally within the last few minutes of the film, is nothing short of anger-inducing.  Nice performances, but with an ending that just blew it for me; watch Kim in The Gifted Hands (reviewed on this blog) instead. (not rated)  C-

FLY HIGH trailer (Korean only; could not find one w/English subs, sorry!)

SONG OF THE SEA (2014)

From the director of The Secret of Kells, this beautiful animated Oscar nominee is the story of a six-year-old girl named Saoirse and her slightly older brother Ben, who has never quite forgiven his sister since their mother died the night Saoirse was born.  They still live in the same lighthouse with their still-grieving father, but on the night both children are finally spirited away by a grandmother who's convinced her son his lighthouse is no life for children, the kids learn that Saoirse is the last of the selkies - the only creature alive who can free the magical creatures still trapped in this world, sending them home at last.  But time is against them, and making their way back to the sea to save both Saoirse (who grows weaker with every moment) and those like her, the kids find opposition in a crone named Macha who steals feelings from creatures' souls ... and has different plans for the tiny selkie.  Beautiful to look at, Song of the Sea is also a wonderful, mythical tale of heart, hope and the importance of family - no matter who you call "family." (rated PG)  A-

SONG OF THE SEA trailer

DACHIMAWA LEE (2008)

A crazy, frantic Airplane!-style spoof of Korean spy movies from the 1980's, Dachimawa Lee is a short, round-faced Korean James Bond who fights villains with his martial arts and various spy weapons, while at the same time also wooing the various women who fall under his spell, all of whom seem smitten by him.  Here he's out to get the Golden Buddha, a small, cheap statue sprayed gold whose real value lies in the list of Korean secret agents hidden inside; a list the Japanese are determined their hands on.  The film is funny, even laugh-out-loud in spots (the part with the airplane propeller is worthy of an "OMG" moment, alone), but even at 99 minutes it feels a bit long, thanks to a segment in the middle - when Lee gets amnesia - that drags things down a bit.  Nowhere near the frenetic lunacy of Airplane!, but still an enjoyable spoof that fans of the action-spy genre especially should enjoy. (not rated)  B-

DACHIMAWA LEE trailer

HIGHWAY STAR (2007)

Korea's version of country music, "trot" is more in style/appearance in the vein of lounge singers like Wayne Newton.  Hugely popular by those who embrace it, it's fairly scorned by those into more "serious" music ... and this wonderful, funny comedy-romance opens when a singer from the sticks, rock-and-roller Bong Dal-ho, is thrilled to finally be discovered by two music producers who come into the club where he's performing.  Elated, he heads to Seoul - only to learn, once there, that his new mentors only help shape and train trot singers!  Signed to an iron-clad contract, Dal-ho's forced to cut both his hair and on-stage style severely - though when he finally gets his TV debut, shame forces him at the last minute to don a mask and sing incognito!  The gimmick works, to Dal-ho's horror, making him an overnight sensation stuck performing the very music he loathes - now seemingly with no way out.  The comedy here is wonderful, the romance touching but light, and Cha Tae-hyun is lovable as Dal-ho.  A very funny "feel-good" film. (not rated)  A-

HIGHWAY STAR trailer

MADHOUSE (1974)

Vincent Price and Peter Cushing have been scaring me since childhood - especially Cushing in Hammer horror films, some of which also featured Christopher Lee keeping me up many a long and freaked-out night as Dracula.  In Madhouse, Price plays actor Paul Toombs, most famous for his creation of "Dr. Death" in a series of low-budget horror films, who years after going mad due to the murder of his young fiancee (it was assumed by many that he'd killed her), is now free and trying to resurrect his career with the help of his friend, writer Herbert Flay (Cushing), when a series of murders emulating killings in his old Dr. Death films begin to occur all over again.  A great premise, but sadly the film topples under the weight of a bad script, worse special effects, and irritating plot holes.  The ending is kind of cool, and it was great to watch Price be Price (Cushing's role is minor by comparison, and the film suffers from that, too), this one can be skipped except by the most ardent of Price/Cushing fans. (rated PG)  D+

MADHOUSE trailer

LOST RIVER (2014)

Ryan Gosling has always been a little ... left of center, let's say, though I have a feeling many who see Lost River (his writing/directorial debut) will feel the man's trolley has completely slipped its tracks.  The film was heavily derided (even laughed at) at Cannes, and to say it isn't easy to categorize is an understatement.  Gosling, quite obviously influenced by Nicolas Winding Refn (his Drive/Only God Forgives director) filmed this bizarre, surreal "dark fairy tale" in what looks like a war-ravaged Detroit, the city here playing Lost River - a town nearly all residents have long ago abandoned, since it was created via the opening of a dam whose reservoirs flooded out a bunch of smaller valley cities to form this one, and its lake.  Christina Hendricks ("Mad Men") stars as Billy, a single mom of two boys who's three months late on her mortgage, and to keep her home has to take a job at the creepiest club ever, where acts of carnage are committed onstage for those who get off on watching (indeed, the most disturbing scene in the film is when Billy seemingly - and painstakingly - slices off her own face).  Meanwhile, her son Bones (Iain De Caestecker of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."), along with a girl named Rat (Saoirse Ronan) who lives in the next house over, works to release the curse they feel Lost River is under, after Bones finds the underwater cities beneath their man-made lake ... all while Bones continues trying to elude the insane Bully (Matt Smith), who is after Bones for stealing "his" copper from the town, and who has the tendency to use scissors to cut off the lips of those who cross him (swear to God).

This is the first (hopefully only) time you'll read a review on this blog that breaks my commandment-like constraint of length (normally I want anyone coming here to be able to zip through reviews in under a minute) - not just because this film is so hard to classify, but also because I wanted to make it clear how much I feel Lost River is worth seeing.  It's strange, violent, very surreal, even had me squirming in my seat a few times, and early on I had decided I didn't like it; all true.  But I stuck with it, and by the end had grown to appreciate Gosling's effort at trying to make an unconventional film that has power.  One that isn't mainstream or straightforward or even pleasant; often, while watching it, I found myself feeling bad - tainted - as grubby and violated as the town of Lost River looks here.  I cared about Bones and his mom and brother, about Rat and her grandmother, and Bully ... well, Bully just freaked me the hell out, period.  The bottom line is, the fact that a 95-minute film had this kind of hold, this kind of power - caused these kinds of sensations in me, repulsive as some of them were - says an incredible amount about the film itself.  About the power film can possess, in general.  And while no masterpiece, maybe not even a particularly great film, I can appreciate and even respect Gosling for what he set out to do.  Even more so because I found myself so caught up in all the weirdness, all the way. (rated R)  B-

LOST RIVER trailer

THE HOUSE AT THE END OF TIME (2013)

The first supernatural thriller to be made in Venezuela, The House at the End of Time is about a wife and mother of two sons, Dulce (Ruddy Rodriguez), who was arrested thirty years ago for the murders of her husband and 12-year-old son Leopoldo (though the boy's body was never found).  Too old and frail to remain in prison, Dulce has been released - guards included - back to the dilapidated, abandoned home where it all took place, to live her final years.  But the house has been waiting for her; not just the ghosts of the past, but also apparitions she begins seeing around her home - one of which carries a butcher knife.  The film is incredible, twisting and turning on itself until toward the end, when blatant confusion turns into a finale that will have you recommending this film to anyone who will listen.  For fans of The Others, The Orphanage, Pan's Labyrinth, or the Korean Hansel & Gretel - you have a wondrous experience waiting for you here. (not rated)  A-

THE HOUSE AT THE END OF TIME trailer

INTERSTELLAR (2014)

Clocking in at eleven minutes short of three hours, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar - co-written with his brother Jonathan - is a sci-fi epic set in the near future, on an earth clouded in dust and ravaged dry by drought, about an ex-pilot-turned-farmer named Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) who is given one last chance to fly when he becomes part of a team sent to explore a wormhole that's mysteriously appeared in space, which (what's left of) NASA believes might contain the answer to mankind's survival.  The film's cast is a who's who of fine actors (both to the film's credit and disservice), and while much of the plot may cause nerdgasms in sci-fi nuts, the brothers Nolan also bring it down nicely to a human level, via the relationship between Coop and his devoted, very similarly-minded daughter, Murph.  That said, while an amazing achievement and visually stunning, I found the film overlong and the ride more informational than engaging.  Beautifully made, but more for fans of the genre (most of whom, deservedly, seem to worship the film) than anyone. (rated PG-13)  B

INTERSTELLAR trailer  

REINCARNATION (2005)

Directed and co-written by Takashi Shimizu, the man behind the Ju-on/Grudge films, Reincarnation is a moody creepfest about a young, up-and-coming actress, Nagisa Sugiura, who lands her first big role in a horror film chronicling the real-life events of a local professor who suddenly went on a murderous rampage at an isolated hotel twenty years before, killing eleven people including his own kids.  The film opens with quick shots of various people we don't know seeing ghosts, and when the crew of her film takes to the real hotel for "atmosphere," the visions Nagisa has also been having escalate,  as do the deaths - the film part horror, part psychological suspense (except for maybe the creepiest doll in cinema history; let's not forget her!) as it builds toward a genuinely satisfying "reveal" at the end that may confuse you if you aren't paying attention.  Not Shimizu's best, but still better than most of the horror coming out of the States today, and an eerily fun time. (rated R)  B-

REINCARNATION trailer