"Cinephilic" Tendencies
Running out of stuff write about, I always return to post what I watch recently this past month. Most were documentaries about shady business or politics, forensic shows, travel shows, stand up comedies, British period dramas and foreign films. Some were good or barely tolerable. I'll touch on a few that I've seen starting with five dramas from abroad.
The first five come Asia: China(1), Japan(1), and Korean(2); and the last one was from Sweden. Four out of the five movies I liked and the other one I did not go past thirty minutes.
The first movie is Castaway on the Moon begins with a man, Kim Seung-keun, decides to jump off the bridge. He survives the fall and awakens on an island in the river, not too far from where he was initially. With a dead cellphone and poor luck, he decides to live on the island unknown to any until a female recluse, also Kim Jeong-yeon, spots him with a telescope. An relationship sparks off in a form of pen-pals via writing on sandy bank and messages in a bottle. It has a mix of drama and comedy. The viewer gets to see how the characters progress. With Seung-keun, there was his regret of not enjoying black bean noodles, so he decides to make it from scratch. Jeong-yeon comes out slowly from her shell (the closet with bubble-wrapped interior) after interacting with Seung-keun. They represent, at times, us when we feel useless, alone, and detached from people around us. I can't help, but root for the marooned man to cultivate the vegetables and self-worth.
The synopsis of this romantic comedy gave me clue and my sister did warned me. The Art of Seduction is a Korean flick I never want to continue finishing. I got really annoyed with the two main characters whom I find had no redeeming attribute or their reason for being "players". I find the female character's methods of getting a guy akin to that of a sociopath catching the latest victim. Instead of striking up a conversation with a male, let's wreck his car to grab his phone number. As for the other male character, he's an sleazeball with his fake library to make him a pseudo-intellect. The two of them are cowards when comes to breaking up. They have to resort to an elaborate form of deception to scare them off. Supposedly, it's supposed to be funny, yet I hardly let out a chuckle. I don't see much of a plot and hardly any character growth to make me care for them, even if a cow suddenly dropped on one of them. I kind of wish a heifer did drop twenty minutes into the movie.
13 Assassins is a Japanese remake that takes place in the mid 1800s. It reminds me of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, but only the premise of hiring skilled warriors. The sadistic, Naritsugu, has an entire family killed even though he was the one who committed the transgression. As the last straw for his heinous actions, Sir Doi asks Shinzaemon to rally up a group of samurai to take him down because Naritsugu would gain a higher position. This would be disastrous for Japan. After months of planning, training, journeying, and setting up the ambush, there's forty minutes of a gorefest. This flick was enjoyable to watch with the beautiful scenery and choreography. I was really convince they were actually warriors. They really did make it authentic (according to my limited knowledge of Japanese history) where the women had blackened teeth. Freaky to look at, yet that was considered attractive according to I remembered from seventh grade world history.
Sometimes books adapted into movies has become a way of gaining profit especially those that come in a series. Another one is where a foreign film is gets an American adaption. I can only think of two films and there from Northern Europe: Let The Right One In and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I haven't read both novels nor watched the American versions. I did watch the original adaptions. Recently, I watched the latter of the two. I knew I would like this because it has a murder mystery and a badass character, Lisbeth Salander. There were scenes of sexual abuse which were uncomfortable to watch. I'm amazed how strong Salander was able to pull through, but there are moments of vulnerability or mental instability.
Last, but not least (how cliche), I go onto a Chinese film called. A Beautiful Life. Two unlikely people fall in love. The female character, Li Peiru, comes off as bitch for taking advantage of policeman Fang Zhengdong's kindness. After a failed affair with a married man (thank God), she grows appreciate the cop and his family. Tragedy ensues among the two, but they manage to be together proving love can conquers all. One minor gripe in this film is can drag on, but I can deal with that. The story does come off too schmaltzy at times especially when the music comes in. It's a touching film to watch and a better alternative to The Art of Seduction; although it is not much of a comedy.
I'm not a film buff/snob, but I do try to be open-minded to different genres. It takes a great deal of willpower to not spaz out on some romantic comedy and the gruesome images in certain horror films (Saw, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Audition).