movie

<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498353/">Hostel 2 IMDB Link</a>

How I saw it. Workprint DVD

Opens in Korea. Unknown

Opens in USA. June 8, 2007

Plot. 3 beautiful college students are tricked into entering a hostel where the 'hosts' like to torture, rape and murder. Following a geographical tour of Slovakia, three women are lured into a hostel by a handsome young man who sells them to the twisted masters, who tie them up and bring upon an unthinkable world of pain.

Note. Workprint - A workprint is a rough version of a motion picture, used by the film editor(s) during the editing process. Such copies generally contain original recorded sound that will later be re-dubbed, stock footage as placeholders for missing shots or special effects, and animation tests for in-production animated shots or sequences.

To be honest, I was not a huge fan of the first one so I had planned to pass on this one, until I got a chance to see a workprint of the film.

The film really did not have any surprises for me. I knew who was going to live and who was going to die. Yes it was that easy. The film telegraphs every kill and by the end I kept waiting for the film to be over.

People are going to call this a horror film. I kept wondering, how far until the line of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snuff_film">Snuff Film</a> will be crossed by actually doing it to a live person for a so called horror film?

When you see how one of the girls is killed, it reminded me about the "urban legends" of a snuff film.

I can see how some fans of horror are going to love this film, but I will not be one of them. If you loved the first one then please see part 2. If you hated the first then please pass on this one.

Grade: C

Variety Review of Secret Sunshine Luna Park review Secret Sunshine IMDB Link Opened in Korea. 17 May 2007 Plot. Plot Synopsis : A woman by the name of Shin-Ae and her only child move to the small town of Milyang, South Korea. Her husband has recently passed away and she has decided to start life anew back in the hometown of her deceased husband. While entering Milyang, Shin-Ae’s car breaks down along a rural highway. She is able to get the local mechanic in Milyang, named Jong-chan, to come out to her car and start it once again. Although they come from different social backgrounds, the pair hits it off and seems to find comfort in each other’s presence. Tragedy soon strikes Shin-Ae again with the abduction of her only son. As Shin-Ae deals with another inexplicable tragedy she receives help from her friend Jong-chan to try to find the light that is buried somewhere within the darkness of her life. Lee Chang-dong's SECRET SUNSHINE won a much more interesting prize than just bags of money at the box office -- it picked up the Best Actress Award at Cannes, for the lead Jeon Do-yeon. This is the first time for a Korean actor to win the top prize at one of the three major European film festivals (Cannes, Berlin, Venice) since Kang Soo-yeon won at Venice for THE SURROGATE WOMB, way back in 1987 (Korea Pop Wars) How I saw the film. CGV I wanted to see a film that had just won a major award at Cannes and Jeon Do-yeon wining the Best Actress award really peaked my interest. I must say that her award was well earned, when you finally see her make the final cut, it just hurts to see what one was a beautiful lady, has now crossed over to the darkness of insanity. I really had high hopes for this film it was a shame that when I left the theater the good intentions had left. It was really hard to say what kind of a film this was. Was it a rejection of the Korean Christianity movement, was it a kidnapping, was it a murder story or was it a love story? Now as most of the readers know, I was a police officer for 7 years. So when I saw the crime scene in the film, my mind went over very fast and stated the kidnapper must be....... Guess what, I was right. I was hoping that they would cover this part of the film more but it just seemed too rushed. Now for the Male actor lead of this film. Song Kang-ho he first caught my attention in 2 of my favorite Korean Films, JSA and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance I believe that we are watching a good actor turn into a great one before our eyes. I want to see his next film, A Korea Western called, The Good, the Bad, and the Weird The film had all of the makings of a great film, that was until the last 30 minutes of the film. What ever flow it had, just became lost due to some very bad editing. The end was so muddled that these 2 good actors could not save this film. The film is worth a look but that is it. Grade C-

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End IMDB link Opened in Korea. 23 MAY 2007 How I saw the film. CGV Digital. Plot. After Elizabeth (Keira Knightly), Will (Orlando Bloom), and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) rescue Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from the the land of the dead, they must face their foes, Davey Jones (Bill Nighy) and Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander). Beckett, now with control of Jones' heart, forms a dark alliance with him in order to rule the seas and wipe out the last of the Pirates. Now, Jack, Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, Tia Delma, and crew must call the Pirate Lords from the four corners of the globe, including the infamous Sao Feng (Chow-Yun Fat), to gathering. The Pirate Lords want to release the goddess Calypso, Davey Jones's damned lover, from the trap they sent her to out of fear, in which the Pirate Lords must combine the 9 pieces that bound her by ritual to undo it and release her in hopes that she will help them fight. With this, all pirates will stand together and will make their final stand for freedom against Beckett, Jones, Norrington, the Flying Dutchman, and the entire East India Trading Company. Opening Weekend in USA. $139,802,190 4,362 Theaters Opening week in Korea. 2,713,300 tickets sold. It is now the All-time king for most tickets sold on an opening weekend here in Korea. HEAVY SPOILER ALERT REVIEW. This is what a summer blockbuster should be. the film had a great plot, one heck of a rogue hero and in the end it was a love story that the audience could relate with. If you have not seen part 1 or 2 yet, please do before you see part 3. The film will not make any sense. The film starts with the pirates going to Singapore to make a deal with Sao Fang. The deal goes bad and we are soon left to see if they can save Captain Jack. To me Johnny Depp was made to play this role. By this film you can feel that he is comfortable and enjoys this role. Next we are shown Jack's new home in Davey Jones locker and his decent into madness. You see the return of his ship and then you see the Captain return. His is a rouge and a scamp, but you just can not help yourself but to cheer for him. You see that a huge battle will soon take shape and when you see it, it shown that they actually used naval tactics to show this battle. What I also liked about the film was the love story between Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. You finally see how their love unfolds and how it grew. Please watch all of the credits for a little surprise about their love story. The film is a great popcorn flick that one will enjoy watching a few times. Please see it while its playing in Korea. Grade A Bootstrap' Bill Turner: One day on land and ten years at sea. It's an awfully high price to pay. Will Turner: Depends on the one day.

Have you ever seen a film, that you know you wanted to like but for some unknown reason you just couldn't? Well thats the story for me and Shrek 3.

The jokes were funny and the chemistry between Puss in Boots and Donkey is dead on. The plot is about what you would expect from a Shrek film. The music was well done and the song were the right ones for it. So what went wrong in this film?

 

Now for those of us who live in Korea, please see this film in English. I can really see no way that this film can even begin to be translated into Korean.

I just felt that there was nothing new and we had seen this before. If you love pop culture references, then this will be the film for you, but it just seemed way too much and it really dragged the film down. The sub plot about Prince Charming was a total waste and the addition of Artie and Merlin was just a time filler that just drug the film into a worse state that it should have been.

What else really hurt this film was Shrek and Fiona total lack of chemistry. The jokes were funny but it just left me flat.

After the film was over, I felt that I had just watched a flat film. It not either good nor is it bad. Its just a funny flat film, that will leave you wondering why did i see that and what the heck went wrong with this film.

Overall, it is good for one showing, after that, the jokes will fade and the story will go flat, fast.

Grade C-

Imdb link. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413267/

Opens In Korea. June 6th

How I saw it. Bad cam copy

Opening Weekend in USA. 118 Million $ (18-20 May 2007)

Imdb Link. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413300/

How I saw it. Digital CGV

Opens in Korea. 1 May 2007

Plot From Imdb. Peter Parker has finally found the balance he's longed for between his love for Mary Jane Watson and his responsibilities as Spider-Man. The city of New York and it's citizens are at last coming around and appreciating everything he has done as his crime-fighting alter ego, and Peter is in the running for a staff job at the Daily Bugle. However, everything Peter has worked for is about to unravel. Flint Marko, while fleeing prison, is caught in an accident that displaces molecules and is transformed into the Sandman, a new super villain who is able to change his body into any shape of sand he sees fit. When Peter learns of a connection between The Sandman and the murder of his Uncle Ben, he will stop at nothing as Spider-Man to capture him. But before Peter can do so he discovers a mysterious black substance has turned his suit black, and has brought forth a darker side of Parker and Spidey nobody has seen before. Peter begins to give into this new dark personality, starts to abandon the ones he loves the most and in turn, his best friend, Harry Osborn takes up his late father's mantle as The New Goblin. Quickly Parker begins a new romance with his lab partner, the beautiful Gwen Stacy but in doing so Peter sets off a rival Bugle photographer, a troubled young man by the name of Eddie Brock who is obsessed with Stacy. Little does Peter know the black substance has its sights set on Eddie else as well. Turning Brock into Venom, a foe that mirrors everything Spider-Man can do. Forcing Peter to become the strong-willed hero he has forgotten about if he hopes to defeat his greatest threat yet.

All I can say is…..WOW! They finally did it right!

As you can see by the plot, the film tries to cover allot in 136 minutes and they do it. The film reminds me of why I like to go to the movies. The film covers allot of the plots that make a good film into a great one. Revenge, Love, Lost, Redemption and Salvation are well shown in this film.

The only thing I really hated about the film was the use of Gwen Stacy. (For those who do not know, she was Peter Parkers first real love in the comic books) To have he used in this way, I thought, was a huge waste of time and such a disappointment. Now for the 2 cameos that I loved, Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee. In this film Lee makes a very interesting observation about Spider Man that I just loved. Bruce was just awesome in his small role.

The film takes us from Spiderman being a hero to everyone and then to a man who only wants revenge, and in the process, hurts everyone that he ever loved. Watch the shots of love gone wrong with Spiderman and Mary Jane. This is what made this film from a good film into a great one. The Venom shots were awesome; I just wish that he was in the movie more. The Sandman is shown as a tragic figure, who cannot forgive his past, and when he becomes the sandman it was well worth the buildup.

This will be Tobey’s last ride as Spiderman and we have no idea if, or what, #4 will be like. If this is the end of the trilogy then this film will stand out as the best of the 3. Please see it on the Big Screen and remember to try and see it in the IMAX.

Grade A (Uncle Ben wouldn't want us living with revenge in our hearts, it's like a poison. It can take you over and turn us into something ugly.)