“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 →

“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 →

The Boston Online Film Critics Association’s 2016 Awards

You’re aware, I imagine, that I am a member of BOFCA, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, and if you are aware of that, then you are also likely aware that every year, we vote, as critics groups do, to determine with authority which movies of the last 365 days were, in a word, “best.” … Continue reading →

Ranking Vengeance – The Films of Park Chan-wook

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 →

Review: The Handmaiden, 2016, dir. Park Chan-wook

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 →

Revenge is Mine: Park Chan-wook’s Obsession (pt. 2)

(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 →

The Cinematic Decade: My Top 25 of the 2000s (pt 5)

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 →

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 →

An open letter

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 →