Kim-Tae Yong's Family Ties 가족의 탄생 is a modern masterpiece

I knew nothing about Kim Tae-Yong's Family Ties, but was spurred to watch it due to Koreanfilm.org's (mostly) positive review. While it is called Family Ties in English, I believe its more literal translation is The Birth Of A Family, a title which seems initially meaningless until I gradually realized what was this ensemble film about, and it's really cleverly constructed, but I'll try to keep things spoiler-free.

OVER THE HEDGE

Dreamworks' latest foray in 3D animation. Besides Antz and the (good but somewhat overrated) Shrek films, most of Dreamworks' 3D animated films had been rather mediocre. My greatest annoyance about these films had always been the pop cultural references. They are admittedly funny in the Shrek movies, but usually fall flat, or seem awkward in others. Seriously, these pop cultural jokes are so jarring that they really take away my enjoyment of the film, making me feel unnecessarily cynical whilst watching a children's film. What's the point? Oh right, score some easy laughs from older members of the audiences, but it removes the sense of timelessness that we see in most Pixar productions.

Perth Premiere of Murali K. Thalluri's '2:37'

Two days ago, right after I discovered this joyous event, I attended the Perth premiere of an Australian film called 2:37 at Leederville's Luna Theaters with Kelly and Agnes. I was eager to attend it because director Murali K. Thalluri (a bloke same age as I) would be there for a Q and A session hosted by my teacher of last semester's Directing Actors class, Annie Murtagh Monks (who innovated this rehearsing tool for actors called the Visual Thought Learning method that I wrote about here).

First, the film summary (via IMDB because I am a lazy bastard, but at least I'm filling in the names of cast members, make sure to correct me if you find any errors):

Yumiko Kurahashi's The Woman With The Flying Head and Other Stories

This message is an urgent one, to alert you of something you, and the world, needs to know about:

A writer of great importance and originality, as yet more or less unknown -

My short film Vertical Distance is shown to new film students in Murdoch university!

It all happened yesterday evening as I was walking out of my flat to attend the Perth premiere of Australian film 2:37 (will post about this in great detail on my next entry) when I ran into an acquaintance (our more appropriate relationship would be... he is the boyfriend of a friend's friend) who attended the screening of my short film, Vertical Distance (screenshots here) last semester. The conversation was like this:

M. Night Shyamalan's LADY IN THE WATER, starring... M. Night Shyamalan, really.

The following factors may help you enjoy Lady In The Water more:

Conversation on THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON

Justin: The problem with this film, from my perspective, is that it failed to convince me that Daniel Johnston was a genius.

Four Eyed Monsters. Slacking Off From Script Revisions. Conflicts. The Loneliness of Art.

My course coordinator/ teacher/ lecturer/ supervisor, Melanie (whom I always known as Melanie Rodriga, but was apparently credited in films she's involved in as Melanie Read!), sent me an email few days ago after reading the latest draft of the Girl Disconnected screenplay. She loved it and was very encouraging, telling me that it has huge potential to be very magical, meditative and emotional. What struck me most was her description that Girl Disconnected was like a futuristic Alice In Wonderland meets Chungking Express. It's funny that throughout the past few months of developing Girl Disconnected, Alice In Wonderland was the LAST thing in my mind, even though I did draw ideas and influences from children stories and childhood imaginations ("I want to fly to the moon and see Chang Er, yippee!"). Guess it's a subconscious thing.

King and The Clown 왕의 남자 is a tearjerker bromance film

King And The Clown is currently the top-grossing film in Korean history, I would've had a lot to say. But I don't, everything that has to be said has already been covered by tons of websites and articles out there about this cultural phenomenon (but if you are interested, this special feature detailing the history of 90s Korean cinema that leads to the making of this film is worth reading). Directed by Lee Jun Ik (who did the great Hi, Dharma!), this film is regarded to many as Korea's Brokeback Mountain for its homosexual overtones. Yet unlike the stageplay it was based on, the relationship between the two male clowns Jang-sang and Gong-gil (Kam Woo-seong and Lee Jun-gi) is very chaste. So in truth, this film is not Brokeback Mountain gay, it's more Lord of the Rings Frodo and Sam gay. (Bromance)

Ssunday Seoul 썬데이 서울

Ssunday Seoul 썬데이 서울 is an omnibus film consisting three different stories. And well, I got it because it means getting three films for the price of one, and I vaguely remembered it being reviewed by Lovehkfilm.com and Koreanfilm.org. Unfortunately, what I forgot was that both reviews were rather negative.

My Scary Girl 달콤, 살벌한 연인

My Scary Girl is a surprise hit in Korea this year, shot in HD, and made with a budget of $800 000, it ended up grossing more than $2 million dollars in the box-office. (it was pretty much an experiment by two companies in low-budget filmmaking) Curious by its success (and this review here), and intrigued by its title (obviously a reference to my all-time favourite Korean romance, My Sassy Gal) I acquired the film in methods I won't divulge here.