Thirst

Director : Chan Wook Park
Starring : Kang Ho Song, Ok Bin Kim, Hae Sook Kim
2009

Chan Wook Park has made three of my favorite movies so I was really excited to see his latest work. Thirst is the story of a Catholic Priest who does a lot of volunteering at the local hospital. Everyone he visits and prays for seems to be dying of the disease EV. Unable to deal with all of the suffering surrounding him, Sang-hyeon travels abroad to take part in an experiment that involves giving men the terminable EV in hopes that one of the cures they try works. Sang gets the EV, grows some very grotesque blisters all over, loses fingernails and then dies. Only problem though is he starts praying again in front off all the docters while his heart remains dormant.

Sang returns back to Korea and is declared a living Saint by some of his followers for being the only one of 500 to survive the experiment. Back at the hospital, a woman rushes to him asking if he could pray for her son who has cancer. Sang does and then accompanies them home for dinner. It is revealed that Sang used to be friends with the family in his youth and they rehash their friendly relationship. Everything is getting back to normal for Sang but he still seems a little off. Since the experiment, something just hasn't been right with him. Maybe it's that sunlight burns him and he drinks blood. That's right, Sang is a Vampire.

Along with the usual vampire attributes, Sang gets urges to do things he would never do before. One of these urges is bang the wife of the dude who had cancer. That's had cancer because he was miraculously healed soon after Sang's prayers. Sang was a celibate through the church for his entire life so I guess he decided to get out all his humpin during the duration of this movie. Seriously from about the 45 minute mark to the 1 hour 20 minute mark its just the two of them getting freaky. Eventually they come up with a plan to kill the husband which they carry out, this sends the mom into shock and she almost dies, then the now former wife, Tae-Ju starts going crazy and wants to die. Sang kills her but brings her back as a vampire like that was the plan all along. From here out Tae-Ju goes crazy/mad with vampy powers and Sang begins to regret everything. I'll cut it off here and leave the rest for you to see.

Rating : 3 stars. There are some things I liked but this movie didn't live up to the hype at all. I definitely recommend watching the movie alone or with someone you are really comfortable with because it could get really awkward watching all the sex with your parents or siblings. The chick is pretty hot though when she isn't looking crazy. There are some things I would've liked the movie to either explain or go into deeper. One is the ghost of the husband randomly haunting them and then not showing up anymore. Another is how they lose their morals once becoming vamprized. Is the fact that Sang used to be a priest and on a higher moral level than Tae Ju explain why he doesn't become completely swelled with evil like her? The ending of this movie is really predictable too. As soon as they both became vampires you can tell whats happening. Recommendation : if you have seen a lot of movies similar to this (im talking about foreign not vampire movies) then you might want to watch this. If not, don't make this your introduction.

Best Scene : Everything involving the ghost haunting them. When Sang runs up the stairs completely soaked, you don't know whats real and what isn't. That was kind of cool

Quotes : "Grant me the following in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Like a leper rotting in flesh, let all avoid me. Like a cripple without limbs, let me not move freely. Remove my cheeks, tht tears may not roll down them. Crush my lips and tongue, that I may not sin with them. Pull out my nails, that I may not grasp nothing. Let my shoulders and back be bent, that I may carry nothing. Like a man with tumor in the head let me lack judgment. Ravage my body sworn to chastity leave me with no pride, and have me live in shame. Let no one pray for me. But only the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me."

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Trailer

Lo

Director : Travis Betz
Starring : Jeremiah Birkett, Ward Roberts, Sarah Lassez
2009

Lo is one of the cleverest movies of 2009. It might be the very definition of a dark comedy. Lo a low budget indie film that's setting 90% of the time in a dark room. Movie starts out with the main charachter, Justin, sitting in the middle of a pentagram preparing some satanic ritual. He isn't the big scary dude in a robe you imagine though, he is a quirky shy looking guy. After lighting some candles and saying the magic words, he summons the demon Lo. He lets out some menacing growls while crawling in to build up a scare but instead cracks jokes. I really didn't know anything about this movie so this definitely caught me off guard.

The whole reasoning for Justin summoning Lo was to hire him in hopes he could return his girlfriend April, who was captured and dragged to hell. That is the main conflict of the film, Justin's inability to get his love back. Following this a series of really interestingly done flashbacks occur. Lo projects Justin's memory of how April and him met in the background for them each to watch. What makes it cool is that it's not a complete recreation, it's how Justin's mind remembers it.

Following this there are a few musical scenes that seem oddly place but I guess that goes along with the comedy aspect of everything. At one part Lo shows Justin what hell is like by bringing a squabbling couple back to talk. Somehow through all of their agony they say some really funny lines. Rest of the movie continues with Justin trying to get April back and Lo's comedic banter.

Rating : 4 stars. This movie is so different then anything I can remember seeing that it really makes an impact. Sure Justin and April's acting wasn't the best but the writing and indie elements make up for it. The actor playing Lo does a good job of being both disgusting pretty hilarious.

Best Scene : Lo and Justin's introductions to each other was awesome. Justin is trying so hard to not look terrified while Lo is pissed at being summonded out of hell. He takes out his anger on Justin by threating to eat him. While that doesn't sound funny in the least, the movie makes it so.

Quotes : It was hard enough finding pictures for this. No luck with quotes.

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Trailer

Memories of Murder

Director : Joon-Ho Bong
Starring : Kang Ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-Ha Kim
2003

Another night, another Bong movie. It is definitely a lot more fun to blog about good movies then the garbage ones. I saw the Host a couple nights ago and loved it. After looking up some reviews on Bong and everyone said that Memories of Murder is his best. Of course I ordered and watched it right away. Was it better than the host? I'm not sure. If I had to pick the better it would probably be Host but Memories of Murder is still a great film.

The movie is set in 1986 South Korea. Two detectives are investigating the first serial murders in the countries history. I'm pretty sure it's based on a true story. I don't know if it makes things more interesting for you or not but whatever. Detective Park begins the film by checking out the first crime scene. The cinematography in this scene rules. He is in the middle of a golden field with no buildings around and a set of train tracks. After a little while we learn that Park is no more than a thug with a badge. He has a reputation of bullying(torturing) suspects into confessions to solve his cases and he lives up to it. This is the second murder that the victim appeared in exactly the same way, tied up and raped. Yikes. In steps detective Seo. He is a big time investigator from Seoul who went to college. This is a big deal to the people in the tiny town. Park is of course jealous of this and heckles. They are two completely different breeds of cops. Park says he thinks with his legs meaning getting out in the field and mixing it up with people. Seo thinks with his brain, analyzing documents and putting together evidence. The first half of the film they hate each other and get into a couple of fights.

As the movie goes builds, the cops learn that all the murders happen on rainy nights when a certain song is played on the radio and the victims all have red clothes. They go through a number of suspects and it seems like whenever they make a breakthrough something happens to go astray and leave them with nothing. When they finally think they have found the killer at one point they have to let him leave due to lack of evidence. They keep the suspect under surveillance until one night when he eludes Seo. That night it rains, the song is played on the radio, and another woman is murdered. Following this are two of the best scenes I've seen in a movie. I won't even hint as to what happens.

Rating : Four stars. If not for the last two scenes, the movie would've been just pretty good. Because the detectives had such a hard time putting a case together, the movie moved really slow. Watching dead end after dead end left me wondering where they were going with it. The movie was about 2 and a quarter hours long. It would've been great if some things were cut and made into a hour 45 or 50 minute long flick. The based on a true story thing could be a factor though and they had to follow the history of the movie. Not sure. Another one of my favorite things about the movie is the way the characters transformed. Park was the cop out looking for a fight and Seo was very reserved but by the end and because of all the hardships of the case they eventually reversed. Of course the cinematography is what makes this movie worth watching too like other Bong movies.

Best Scene: The two at the end easily. Other than that the opening scene is really pretty. There is a scene where Park has to sign for his former partner to get his leg amputated because of tetanus. That was pretty brutal. Just think about having to sign a paper saying it's ok to have your best friends leg chopped off.

Quotes: There are a lot of good lines in this movie but with it being foreign, it's hard to find them online. The only one I could find is pretty funny though.
"Rape suspect: But... is wanking a crime?"

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Trailer