“The Best Movies of the Year: Seeing Things We Shouldn’t in ‘Decision to Leave'”

Park Chan-wook’s protagonists make a decision to leave; I’m banking on you all to make a decision to READ. Continue reading →

“‘Squid Game’: Netflix’s Latest Phenomenon Turns Economic Inequality Into Propulsive Entertainment”

“Is that all this is to you? Some kind of squid game?” Continue reading →

“Before There Was Vengeance, There Was ‘Joint Security Area'”

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 →

Review: The Villainess, 2017, dir. Jung Byung-gil

I think I know a thing or two about South Korean revenge movies, and I think I know a thing or two about South Korean action movies, which means I’m uniquely positioned to write about The Villainess, a South Korean revenge-action movie. It’s pretty solid, if lacking in fight scenes; the quality is there, but the … Continue reading →

Review: The Wailing, 2016, dir. Na Hong-jin

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 →

TV Review: Jessica Jones, 1.07, “AKA Top Shelf Perverts”

“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 →

Review: I Saw the Devil, 2011, dir. Ji-woon Kim

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 →

Revenge is Mine: Park Chan-wook’s Obsession (pt.1)

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 →

Something Seasonal: Contemporary Films I’m Thankful For

November is a time of year to ruminate on all the things that we’re thankful for, and as we close in on the end of 2009, I find myself with a list containing innumerable pieces of my life that I’m grateful of. I have a wonderful fiancée with whom I have a fulfilling relationship; I … Continue reading →