YNOT at the Movies

The last film I watched in 2006 is a great (older) Korean film: "Joint Security Area" ("공동경비구역 JSA").

Joint Security Area (JSA) is where the North Korean and South Korean military face to face in the DMZ.

In this film, two North Korean soldiers were killed in the JSA. To avoid a bigger conflict or even war to be ignited from this incident, a female Korean Switzerland officer investigates both sides on behalf of neutral countries. Her finding only reveals bigger secret that reflects the pain and inhumanity rooted in the separation between the North and South Korea.

"Joint Security Area" is made by director Park Chan-wook (박찬욱) who also made the fantastic "Oldboy." Just like "Oldboy," I am profoundly touched by his characters.

Mr. Park allows us to look deep into these soldiers' heart. They are simply human, all Korean. But unfortunately, they are put into two opposite camps to be enemy of each other. They start to fight for ideology and politics. It's incredible sad that they are force to fire at each other simply because they are born on the different sides of the DMZ.

It reminds me another great film with similar subject set in World War II: "A Midnight Clear" and another good film set in World War I: "Merry Christmas" ("Joyeux Noël").

When will we stop fighting? I think my wish for 2007 would be the peaceful unification between North and South Korea, between Mainland China and Taiwan etc... I am hopeful, as John Lennon wrote:

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

In deed, I am a dreamer too.

My rating: 9 out of 10.

Tonight, I giggled through a hilarious Chinese film called "Crazy Stone" ("疯狂的石头"). It is the closing night film at the Pusan Film Festival this year.

In "Crazy Stone," three thieves try to steal a valuable jade that is tightly guarded by a security chief. But the security guards are not the only obstacle these thieves are facing. An extremely unlucky internationally known master thief is also trying to get a hand on this piece of precious jade. What would be the final destination of this piece of crazy stone?

Although the story line might seem familiar as in "Ocean's Eleven," but this is funnier Chinese comedy. During the process of stealing this piece of jade, comic moments never ends and the audience never gets a break from laugh.

There have been many comedies from China recent years led by director Feng Xiaogang (冯小刚). But "Crazy Stone" is a pleasant surprise and funniest comedy from a new director Ning Hao (宁浩). Now I have to finish his other film which is quite different in style.

I am very picky on comedies, but this film works for me, because not only it's funny, it's hilarious.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

"Notes on a Scandal" brilliantly tells a story about two teachers in a British high school. Judi Dench plays the older teacher who "makes notes" on a secret she discovers about a new art teacher in school. Friendship becomes obsession; she goes on a conquest of her mind game.

What can I say? There is only one Judi Dench. She can be enough reason for us to see this film. She is absolutely fantastic creating this aging jealousy yet powerful character. It's fascinating to watch how the relationship between these two main characters develops with twists and turns.

The music is a very important to this film to create dramatic effects. Sometimes it's a little over the top. And the plot is not flawless. For example, how in the world Judi Dench can be so lucky to find out the secret but not everybody else in the school? Even Judi Dench has been actively searching for details of her interest, I don't think that's possible. But luckily, this film is about these characters and not much about what the secret is and who discovers it. And once again, Judi Dench for Oscar!

My rating: 9 out of 10.

We went to see "The Good Shepherd," A very very long film, almost three hours.

In "The Good Shepherd," Edward Wilson, played by Matt Damon, believes in his country above everything else, and joins the newly founded CIA after the World War II ends. He trusts no one and makes huge sacrifice, including his family life.

While sometimes the film's characters are interesting, but it's really a not that much happening boring film. It could have been a great spy film with all the twisted and surprising plots. But the film is just not very engaging. Matt Damon can be a pretty darn good agent if he goes out in the fields running around as in "The Bourne Identity." However, if he sits in a office wearing the big glasses giving orders and being a father, he puts me in sleep.

My rating: 5 out of 10.

Tonight, I went to see "The Pursuit of Happyness."

I went to see this film not because I am so interested in Will Smith's performance, nor to be inspired by the claimed "true story." I went to see it because I wanna see what San Francisco looks like in the film, especially I ran into their shooting a few times in the city last year.

"The Pursuit of Happyness" tells the story of real life Christopher Gardner, who once was homeless and later became a stock broker. That is, he found happiness.

So, I guess the definition for Mr. Gardner is to become a stock broker or to be rich. Good for him. I wish the movie shows how he becomes happier after he becomes a stock broker.

The movie actually spends most of the time to show how Mr. Gardner struggled to survive with his five years son after they were evicted from their apartment, and how hard he tried to break into the corporate world. I am not sure I would call either activity as "pursuit of happiness."

Of course, I wasn't inspired.

All I was paying attention throughout the film is to identify the set locations. Oh, that's Chinatown! That's Duboce Park! That's Bank of America Building!

So obviously, I was busy during the film, for complete different reason.

I couldn't believe that it's just a few seconds scene when Will Smith ran down a BART station. That BART station in the film is a fake one, and they built it just for that scene.

Last year, when they were making the film, they removed trees and dig a big hole in Duboce Park. Then they built stairs and put up a BART sign for couple weeks.

After the shooting, the hole is flattered, and temporarily removed trees were moved back, surrounded by new sod. All these trouble is just for Will Smith to run down for a few seconds.

Wonder why it costs millions to make a film?

My rating: 4 out of 10.

Even it's cold, it doesn't damp my determination to stay in line at the Embarcadero Theatre tonight for the pre-screening of Clint Eastwood's second World War II saga this year "Letters from Iwo Jima." (It will open on Dec. 20, 2006).

Almost entirely played by Japanese actors (with English subtitle), from the Japanese soldier's perspective, "Letters from Iwo Jima" tells a story of the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II when the Japanese soldiers tried to defense the island from American's invasion in 1944.

Clint Eastwood is a great artist and it's simply an exhilarative experience watching his work. The use of the color in this film gives the images an archived feel. With the terrific performance, this is a piece of masterful filmmaking work and story telling.

In "Letters from Iwo Jima," we get to know some of the Japanese soldiers not only just as the enemy, we also get to know them as human beings. We get to know their love for their families, we also know that they are loyal to the emperor and proud to perform their duty to the country. It's fascinating to see how Clint Eastwood humanizes these characters through the brutality of war.

When I was watching it, I can't help but to think of these American soldiers in Iraq at this moment. It doesn't matter which side you are in a war battle, one thing is sure that you are in hell.

The Japanese general is played by Ken Watanabe (渡辺 謙) and the adorable Kazunari Ninomiya (二宮和也). I think Zhang Yimou should take notes to learn how Clint Eastwood successfully casting a big star and a famous singer. Lets remake "Curse of the Golden Flower" with these two.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

I went to a pre-screen of China's Oscar contender for best foreign film "Curse of the Golden Flower" ("满城尽带黄金甲", opens on Dec 22).

This is the latest epic film by director Zhang Yimou (张艺谋) with stunning visual and a weird story.

"Curse of the Golden Flower" ("满城尽带黄金甲") is set in China's Tang Dynasty. It tells a story about the royal family: the Emperor, the Empress, and their three Princes, among other servants.

I will not say much about what's happening among these characters, because that's the whole movie is about: the secret. Everyone has a secret, so are these characters. The more secret we learn, the more shocking the story gets. It becomes so weird that I started to giggle in the theatre. Well, I wasn't alone. Others did too.

Zhang is a master for creating spectacular scenes that would wow all of us. He succeeded in this film as well, except I don't understand why they built this giant platform right in front the Emperor's palace. It's so hight that the Emperor sits at about the same level as the roof of his palace. Have you seen somebody sits on top of their garage door? That's what I was thinking when I saw it.

Gong Li (巩俐) plays the Empress. Of course that's an unhappy character. I have never seen any happy character Gong Li ever played. And before this film, I didn't know that she has big boobs too. When she was walking with the incredible costume in this film, I can't help but to notice how her boots were shaking up and down half way out of the costume.

Not only Gong Li. Almost all the female actors wearing costumes like a night gown that Cher would wear on stage, only it's about 1000 years ago. That's just absurd. Does Zhang Yimou lost his mind to let them wear gowns like that exposing their breasts?

Just like time, if you squeeze the breasts, you will have some.

I was surprised to see Jay Chou (周杰伦) in the film playing the second prince. He really should just sing. Actually none of the performance by male characters are impressive, except Yun-Fat Chow (周润发) playing the Emperor.

It is based on a famous play "Thunderstorm" ("雷雨") written by a great Chinese writer Cao Yu (曹禺). Unfortunately the film doesn't posses the power of the original play. I remember how I became overwhelmed by the play when I first read and saw it back in my high school days.

When I was watching this film, another great film "The Lion in Winter" kept coming back to me. It's also a story about the fascinating struggling among royal family members. Zhang's film definitely has an incredible story to tell, and it's up to the audience to believe it or not.

This is one of those fantastic looking films should be seen on a big screen. No, big screen TV doesn't cut it. Go to a theatre. I don't know how many chrysanthemum flowers Zhang used when making this film. What I do know is that next time when I make some chrysanthemum tea, it won't taste the same with the images from this film in mind.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

I watched a terrific Korean film "Blue Swallow" ("靑燕").

"Blue Swallow" is a story about the life of Korean's first female pilot Pak Kyeong-Won. Pak Kyeong-Won went to Japan to study aviation at the age of 16 in 1917. In 1933, despite the Korean's struggle to liberate from Japanese's cruel occupation and the tension preparing to go to war in Japan, she is determined to make a historical flight from Japan back to her homeland Korea.

I never anticipated that I would cry, twice, watching a small airplane flying on the screen. It's a very touchy and emotional film. Pak Kyeong-Won's passion for flying is inspiring, even she seems a little bit obsessed.

I never heard about this extraordinary woman before I watched this film, so I was having the same question in my mind as many others while watching this film: how could she totally ignore the fact that Korea people were suffering under Japanese occupation and simply pursed her dream to fly in Japan?

The film didn't really deal with this question, it just focuses on her zeal for aviation instead. And what a compelling story the film tells.

My rating: 9 out of 10.

I went to Mezzanine and finally I saw the "Colma: The Musical," hosted by the San Francisco Film Society provided with free (bad) beer.

I somehow managed to skip this film at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival this year. So tonight is the time to pay my due. It's kinda weird to be back to Mezzanine without guys dancing on the floor shirtless.

Alright, the movie. It's about three kids just graduated from High School in Colma, famous for grave yards. They seem not quite sure what they want to do with their lives, except one of them wants to be an actor. So they go party and of course, sing and dance around, because this is a musical.

Although there is some drama going on in the film (we are talking about 18 years old here), there is really not that much story to go by and I don't know how it actually stretches for two hours.

However, the music is indeed the catch of the film. It's energetic, it's fun, and it's very musical. I think the soundtrack might be more enjoyable than the film.

My rating: 6 out of 10.

Tonight, I went to see "Blood Diamond" at Metreon.

I want to see this film mostly because I want to see Leonardo Cappuccino (that's how I remember his name). Well, he didn't disappoint me, but the film did.

"Blood Diamond" tells a story about a South African diamond smuggler (Leonardo) in the 1990s in Sierra Leone. He helped to save the family of a black fish man, with the help from an American journalist. In return, he tried to get a big diamond the fish man found and hid.

So it's an action flick and things constantly blow up like in today's Iraq. Leo is running around in blood like a superman. They just kept fighting on screen for about two hours and half. I was exhausted. Is there anything new?

I do like some of the lines exchanged between the characters. But those are too rare moments compared to all the running and shooting.

Oh, yeah, it's supposed to be that way. After all, it's called "Blood Diamond."

Why the hell do people want to wear diamonds anyway?

My rating: 5 out of 10.

When the rain was pouring outside, I watched "Mrs Henderson Presents" starting the always fantastic Judi Dench.

What a marvelous entertaining film!

A very rich lady Mrs. Henderson returned to London from India following his husband's death. She is so bored so she bought a theatre and presented shows featuring nude girls. And the theatre claimed to be "we never closed" (rhyming with "we never clothes") even during the air raids in World War II.

Judi Dench effortlessly brings Mrs. Henderson to life. She portraits one of the funniest and most interesting characters I have seen lately. The story is well developed and the script is hilarious. I never expect that I would laugh so loud when I was watching this British film.

Mrs. Henderson complained to her friend on her husband's death:

"It was most inconsiderate of Robert to die. What on earth am I supposed to do now?"

Well, she found herself a "lovely hobby": theatre.

Thank you Mrs. Henderson for the splendid entertainment. It's most lovely.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

I went to Kabuki Theatre for the pre-screening of "The Painted Veil." (It will open on Dec. 29.)

This is the third time (the other two films are made in 1934 and 1957, which I have seen none) to bring W. Somerset Maugham's novel "The Painted Veil" to the big screen.

Edward Norton plays a British doctor Walter Fane. In the film, there was a cholera breakout in Guilin (桂林), China in 1925 (which is a fiction, not true). Walter went to a small village in Guilin to help sick people and to research the disease. And, he brought his newly wed wife Kitty, played by Naomi Watts, with him.

During the hardship in China, they rediscovered themselves and each other.

"The Painted Veil" is a quite beautiful film, and I am not only talking about the breathtakingly gorgeous landscape. It terrifically develops the relationship between the two main characters with great details and precise control. All the performances in the film are excellent.

That being said, I feel that I am much an outsider observing events unfolding on the big screen. I never feel that I am touched or emotionally involved in any way with the characters.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

After a comedy, I watched a sad movie: a Hungarian film "Fateless" ("Sorstalanság").

Based on an Nobel Prize winning semi-autobiography, "Fateless" tells a story of a 14 years old Hungarian boy surviving at Buchenwald concentration camp during World War II.

Like any other concentration camp film, I want the movie to be over soon when I watch it, because I barely can endure what the characters are suffering on the screen. I want the horrific episode to end. That's exact the reason I didn't go to the theatre to watch this film last year, because it's just too much for me.

The cinematography is what makes this film worth watching besides the compelling story. Those images stay in my minds long after the film is over.

But still, I feel that I have seen many of this type of films. I don't want to be depressed by these stories any more.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

A Swedish film "Together" (Tillsammans) is the type of comedies I like. It's funny because its hilarious characters, especially how they talk to each other.

Set in the 70s, a bunch socialist hippies living in a commune and some of them have "open marriage/relationship," which really means that the wife can scream to her orgasm with another Marxist while her nicest husband and other kids listening next room. Another woman becomes lesbian because of her belief, not because her desire to woman, and she pretty much seduces any housewives walking into the door. She also walks around without wearing anything below her waist because she needs some air in that area. And there are many others...

None of these characters are perfect, but none of them are simple. Almost all of them are original and funny. We might think they are crazy, but that might be just what it's like in the 70s, especially in that house.

It's one of the funniest films I have seen lately.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

While I skip writing about some other films I watched last few days, I can't go to sleep without mentioning a Korean film called "산산이 부서진 이름이여." I have no idea what the English title should be because I watched it with Chinese subtitle.

Qian Hai (침해) is a 19 years old monk assisting the head monk Yi in the temple. Qian Hai was found on the beach by Yi when he was an infant, and he was adopted by the monks and grew up in the temple without accessing outside world.

One day Qian Hai met a young nun Miao Hun (묘흔) from another temple, and he begins his struggle to suppress his desire toward Miao Hun because even the thought itself is forbidden by the Buddhism teaching.

This film is very Asian. It conveys the emotions between the characters by how they look at each other, how they behave in front of each other, and then how they speak to each other. Many times, so much are being said without a single word but a deep look into the eyes.

This is a really sweet film with the precise and subtle performance by the very cute 최진영 as the young monk Qian Hai.

My rating: 8 out of 10.