So yeah: I really like Park Chan-wook movies, but if you know me, you know this. I like them so much, in fact, that I wrote a whole big darn list ranking his films by quality metrics for Birth. Movies. Death., and it’s pretty much 100% correct if I do say so myself. Cut sucks! I’m a … Continue reading
Drop everything: There’s a new Park Chan-wook movie in theaters. And when I say “drop everything,” I mean everything, because boy, The Handmaiden seriously wants to turn up your temperature. As I note in my review of the film, which you can read at Paste Magazine as long as you know how to click a mouse, the … Continue reading
(Note: I meant to pick this series up much, much sooner than I did, but as you can probably deduce my Top 25 of the Decade list demanded my full attention. You can take a look at the first entry in this two-part series here. Another note: This series is not spoiler-free in the slightest, … Continue reading
When did you first hear of Park Chan-wook? For those of my readership who haven’t heard this name, South Korean auteur Park technically began his career in film in 1992 with a movie called Moon is the Sun’s Dream. He followed up this entry– which was a critical and commercial failure– with a pair of … Continue reading
Park Chan-wook’s protagonists make a decision to leave; I’m banking on you all to make a decision to READ. Continue reading
Someone said “hey, let’s put a Park Chan-wook film out on Blu-ray,” and I responded with “I will take a copy and write about it.” Continue reading
It’s a quantifiable fact that I love the cinema of South Korea, thanks largely to the work of Park Chan-wook, whose magnum opus Oldboy remains one of my favorite movies of all time (of all time). But a decade and change after getting into Korean film, I have come to see Park as a gateway filmmaker, … Continue reading
“Finding good reference points for Jessica Jones outside of the obvious is a bit tricky. Yes, the show has very clear noir roots (or neo-noir, for all the pedants out there); sure, Krysten Ritter’s role suggests shades of Veronica Mars. There are even a few brushstrokes of Demme and Fincher in here, too, exhibited in … Continue reading
Coming down the home stretch of this series. For those just tuning in: Part one, part two, part three, and part four for your reading pleasure. 5. Knocked Up: Ben is a lovable stoner loser with no direction or genuine ambition; Alison is a career-oriented young woman who recently received an on-air promotion at E! … Continue reading
Everybody at some point creates a top ten list displaying the people, art, and so on that they favor and prize above all else, be it a list of favorite movies, restaurants, sports teams, musicians, athletes, and endless other options. Hell, some people make a living off of their top ten lists. The Top Ten … Continue reading
To: Big Willie and The Beard Hey guys! How’s it going? I hear you’re both doing pretty well these days– Will, you’re coming up in the cult of Scientology (Aren’t you? Or are you? You sure can’t make up your mind about that one!), and Steve, you’re coming off of an surprisingly unremarkable summer thanks … Continue reading
Well, I meant to share this on the ol’ blog sooner, but we’re only three days out from last month so I don’t think the delay is that great an infraction: Paste Magazine’s got their list of the best ten movies in theaters as of October, and you should go look at it! Great flicks, … Continue reading
Note: I wrote this review of Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin around two or so years ago, give or take, which is the blink of an eye in a cosmological context but close to a fucking lifetime in the context of film criticism born in the social media era. I’m sharing it here, now, for a couple … Continue reading
What do you do when you’re the person to make first contact with a highly advanced alien race from some unknown reach of the galaxy? Make room on your couch, pass the popcorn, and dig in for a movie marathon. Obviously. Continue reading
I tend to think that anytime I type a word about Oldboy, somebody out there inevitably will react with exasperation. “Good God, Andy,” that person future-writes, “shut up about Oldboy already, it’s been almost ten years since it came out, find another film to gush over, damn.” So I’m paranoid. Sue me. In defense of … Continue reading
It’s hard to talk about the New Wave of South Korean cinema without at the very least touching on revenge pictures. Blame Chan-wook Park; his vengeance trilogy represents three of the best-received South Korean pictures released during the movement’s surge in the early-to-mid 2000s, and Park himself stands out as arguably the most talked about … Continue reading
For those who have read this blog for a while (or who have read it very thoroughly in a minute passage of time), my interest in defining films that are personal and unique to my individual identity and perspective as a cineaste should be well known from my (admittedly minimal) Movies That Matter series to … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 