Korean Cinema Thread [Personal favorites, Critically Acclaimed, Recommendations, etc]

[A Tortured Duckling]

Hey Guys,

I have been getting more and more attached to Korean films, and can't get enough of them. I am always looking for "Top 10-20" lists, "Best of ..." lists, reading reviews, checking blogs, etc to find new material that sounds like something i'd be interested in. However, this all feels rather impersonal to me, and i just don't feel confident following a poorly written blog post into actually purchasing a Korean Blu-ray. I'd much rather come here, read the individual threads, find opinions / ask questions, and base my final decision on your opinions, considering most of these films are blind buys for me.

Now, i am certain i'm not the only one in this situation, and i know for a fact there are several people on this forum whom i consider an authority on Korean film. These people have seen so much, know about the history, keep up with past, current and future releases, and always have valuable, informative and helpful input. Thus, i decided to create this thread, for the sake of myself and others whom are a lot less informed.

The idea is for everyone to start off with their favorites, or most watched / memorable, and even movies you hate, of which you know other people love. It'd be great to see some added personal impressions and opinions on said films, in terms of why you think it's great, or why you think it's horrible. Basically, i'd love for this thread to become the "Go to" for people like me, whom are consistently scrounging each individual film thread and outside source to find sufficient information on what's available, what to watch, and make a final purchase decision. Whether you have watched 150 Korean films, or 2 Korean films, please feel free to contribute and feed this thread with your input!

[TheArcane]

Well i'll do a short list of my top movies (the order is random)

1. Taegukgi
2. A Moment To Remember
3. The Classic
4. My Sassy Girl
5. Memories Of Murder
6. Oldboy
7. A Bitter Sweet Life
8. Welcome To Dongmakgol
9. Joint Security Area
10. Failan
11. The Good The Bad The Weird
12. Sunny
13. A Dirty Carnival
14. Save The Green Planet
15. When I Turned Nine
16. My Dear Desperado
17. The Man From Nowhere
18. I Saw The Devil
19. Il Mare
20. The Devils Game
21. Fighter In The Wind
22. Sympathy For Mr Vengeance
23. The Chaser
24. No Mercy

I'm sure i've forgotten some that should be in there.

[DrewPa]

Great idea! I'm in you same situation all the movies I've bought so far are Blind Buys

I know that maybe it wont help you because you already have the title from CJ Ent. But I could post two words regarding the movies I've already seen:

White Night: The way to better appreciate this movie is to watch it as a sort of an "Almodovar Melodrama" in Korean sauce more than a Thriller... anyway it's a rather average movie and imo it does not deserve all the good reviews it received from the press... anyway for being the director's first feature is not so bad.

Spellbound: A cute romantic comedy with ghosts... far from being flawless, I enjoyed it very much.

Bleak Night: the originality of this movie consists in the fact that the problem of teenagers bullying is view more from the side of the offender than of the victims. I really liked it.

Dancing Queen: a comedy that could be interesting for the non-korean audience in order to know how "modern" the country is now, especially regarding some subjet (women's right, for instance)... otherwise it's a light comedy acted and with some song performed by Uhm Jung-hwa, a very popular Pop-Star in her country, surnamed "Madonna of Korea".

Helpless: as White Night, another K-movie based on a Japanese Novel... good as a melodrama, with a better mistery plot on it... I've largely preferred this one.

Radio Star: a history of a male friendship narrated delicately... A rather funny and cute movie, not particulary original in any way.

Deranged: the first Korean Thriller about a killing mass disease... not bad, definitely better than contagion as a genre movie lol.

R2B: A sort of korean answer to Top Gun with 25 year of delay, starring the K-Pop superstar "Rain". I was impressed by the quality of action scenes (and a bit worried about how the North Korean are described... they still hate each other this much? ). But the plot, despite some funny moments, are the most predictable one can conceive.

Hope it will be of any help to someone.

[logboy]

http://www.koreafilm.org/feature/100.asp

http://www.koreanfilm.org/topten2000s.html

^ seen those?

anyway... i like lee chang-dong more than any other director from korea, i think. although there's some good straight-out entertainment (well, that's most of it) and lots of films that are quite long and twisty, some goes a little more substantial without being too hard to sit down and watch in a relatively light mood. would say that's where i place lee chang-dong. my favourite is 'peppermint candy', which gets a korean blu-ray release this week. it shows his roots as a writer, i'd say.

the one under-the-radar crime film which always springs to mind when i think of recent korean stuff would be 'no mercy'.

No Mercy (2010) Korean Movie Trailer - YouTube

hancinema and kobiz are reliable for news. i'd also say that you can't go wrong trawling youtube for trailers from any particular year.

[TheArcane]

Originally Posted by logboy

http://www.koreafilm.org/feature/100.asp

http://www.koreanfilm.org/topten2000s.html

^ seen those?

anyway... i like lee chang-dong more than any other director from korea, i think. although there's some good straight-out entertainment (well, that's most of it) and lots of films that are quite long and twisty, some goes a little more substantial without being too hard to sit down and watch in a relatively light mood. would say that's where i place lee chang-dong. my favourite is 'peppermint candy', which gets a korean blu-ray release this week. it shows his roots as a writer, i'd say.

the one under-the-radar crime film which always springs to mind when i think of recent korean stuff would be 'no mercy'.

No Mercy (2010) Korean Movie Trailer - YouTube

hancinema and kobiz are reliable for news. i'd also say that you can't go wrong trawling youtube for trailers from any particular year.

Ahhh No Mercy How did I forget

[crystal_sun]

nice thread...

I'm one of those Korean fanatics since 2005. Ever since then, Korean movies has been my favorite asian cinemas. I follow my favorite actress/actor, korean drama, movies, k-pop, etc. Our local station gets 24/7 Korean shows with English subtitle.

I think I have seen and own all my favorite movies and drama already.

It's very subjective as I might love something while you might find it mediocre.

My recommendation is for you to subscribe to Netflix for free the 1st month. It has tons of Korean movies and drama that you can preview for free. Check it out...

Keep in mind...A LOT of titles are still in DVD. Those are the ones that you should be watching...

FYI...most of the actors/actress start filming in Korean drama...and once they're popular, they move into movies.

Here is one that not too many people list...

Sunflower: - It's a very touching movie...the fight scene is very similar style to A Bittersweet Life and A Man From Nowhere.

sunflower (korean movie Trailer) - YouTube

[PGW]

Here's ten of my favorites (at least at the moment!), in alphabetical order.

The Bow (2005) - No list of this kind would be complete without a Kim Ki-Duk film on it. Some of his films are very difficult to watch due to their subject matter (and all of them are disturbing, to some degree), so do a little on-line research first. It was tough for me to choose between this one and "3-Iron" (which is probably a better film), but I tend to go back to this one more. There's a Taiwanese blu-ray, but I haven't seen it.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008) - Directed by Kim Jee-woon, who also did "A Tale Of Two Sisters" and "A Bittersweet Life," this is one huge entertaining kimchi Western starring some of the best male actors in Korea. If you don't enjoy this, I'm not sure you're breathing. The blu-ray from CJ Entertainment is flawless.

The Harmonium In My Memory (1998) - A relatively early film role for Byung-hun Lee (who went on to star in "A Bittersweet Life" and co-star in "The Good, The Bad, The Weird") and Jeon Do-Yeon, who's completely convincing as a schoolgirl smitten with her teacher (even though she was 25 at the time!).

Memories of Murder (2003) - A spell-binding police procedural and glimpse into Korean culture (or at least the culture that existed in the 1980's). Some people might be put off by the inconclusive ending, but I wasn't. Make sure you get the CJ blu-ray – it's a huge upgrade over the earlier DVD.

My Sassy Girl (2001) - It's hard to imagine a list of favorite Korean films without this crowd pleasing comedy on it. Of course, it's Gianna Jun's breakout role, and Cha Tae-hyun ("Speedy Scandal") is equally as impressive. It's a little over-long (particularly the director's cut), but certainly deserves a spot on the "must-see" list. If you like this, the pseudo-sequel "Windstruck" is a must. Unfortunately, neither of them have been issued on English-friendly blu-rays yet.

Saving My Hubby (2002) - Certainly no masterpiece, still (like "Speedy Scandal" and "My Wife Is A Gangster") I enjoyed this silly comedy for what it is – a popcorn movie. In it, Bae Du-na (or Doona, if you prefer) chases all over Seoul, with her baby in tow (if she hasn't lost it) in order to save her good-for-nothing husband from gamblers. Actually, I prefer her in "Linda, Linda, Linda" – but that's Japanese, not Korean.

Secret Sunshine (2007) - Another Jeon Do-yeon film, written and directed by master director Lee Chang-Dong. This one will put you through the emotional wringer, but the actress puts on one of the most intense performances I've ever seen in a film. Better yet, it's been issued by Criterion in a wonderful blu-ray edition. The same director's "Poetry" is a close runner-up.

Sunny (2001) - Only the second film from Kang Hyeong-Cheol, who did "Speedy Scandal," this has it all – laughs, tears, amazing acting, script and direction. What more could you ask out of a film?

Taegukgi (2004) - This high budget film about the Korean war will both amaze you and tear your heart out. I'm generally not drawn to war films, or films about the Korean conflict ("J.S.A." left me cold), but this one was very, very good.

A Tale Of Two Sisters (2003) - Kim Jee-woon directs this horror film which, I think, became a classic in the genre on the day of it's release. I think everyone's waiting for a decent blu-ray of it – the one that is available looks worse than the Korean DVD!

Also, if you're just starting out, don't ignore the television dramas, which they've got down to a fine art. When I first saw "Dae Jang Geum" some years ago, I came out on the other end of 54+ hours of drama saying: "I think this might just be the best thing I've ever seen... period." They're highly addictive, though, so beware!

[black coffee]

Originally Posted by crystal_sun

Here is one that not too many people list...

Sunflower: - It's a very touching movie...the fight scene is very similar style to A Bittersweet Life and A Man From Nowhere

Great choice. Sunflower is one of my absolute favorites, maybe even my favorite Korean film. I could die a happy man if this ever got a blu-ray release.

Some films I think are under-appreciated that haven't been mentioned:

Save the Green Planet - Crazy sci-fi, drama, comedy... this movie is really hard to describe, but man is it awesome.

A Family - Really touching drama about a father and daughter.

...ing - As far as tearjerkers go, I always preferred this film over A Moment to Remember. Sacrilege!

My Lovely Week - Really cute, funny, and sad. It's basically a bunch of stories all very loosely connected. I enjoyed this one a lot.

My Scary Girl - Very fun black comedy. It's like My Sassy Girl except darker. Definitely check out if you like rom-coms.

My Dear Desperado - Comedy/Drama about a mis-matched pair that fall in wuv. It looks cliche, but it's actually a pretty good little movie.

No Mercy for the Rude - Quirky little film. Haven't seen this in awhile, but I remember enjoying it.

My Mother is a Mermaid - Nice movie starring the always great, Do-yeon Jeon.

[Yasujiro Ozu]

Originally Posted by crystal_sun

nice thread...

I'm one of those Korean fanatics since 2005. Ever since then, Korean movies has been my favorite asian cinemas. I follow my favorite actress/actor, korean drama, movies, k-pop, etc. Our local station gets 24/7 Korean shows with English subtitle.

I think I have seen and own all my favorite movies and drama already.

It's very subjective as I might love something while you might find it mediocre.

My recommendation is for you to subscribe to Netflix for free the 1st month. It has tons of Korean movies and drama that you can preview for free. Check it out...

Keep in mind...A LOT of titles are still in DVD. Those are the ones that you should be watching...

FYI...most of the actors/actress start filming in Korean drama...and once they're popular, they move into movies.

Here is one that not too many people list...

Sunflower: - It's a very touching movie...the fight scene is very similar style to A Bittersweet Life and A Man From Nowhere.


sunflower (korean movie Trailer) - YouTube

This is one film I am waiting for a Bluray release. The Asians have a knack for making unusual themes work and work very well. Must watch film. The ending is a tad over the top and could have been done better although the film overall is superb.

[mimurph1]

I spent most of last year working through the Korean Film Archive's youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/KoreanFilm

The channel is based off of their top 100 list:
http://www.koreafilm.org/feature/100.asp

Matching up the titles on the KOFA website to their youtube channel can be challenging, and not all films are available, but some of my favorites were Black Hair, Aimless Bullet, A Romantic Papa, Flame in the Valley, Deep Blue Night and A Road to Sampo. The two directors that I seemed to enjoy the most were Lee Man-Hee and Im Kwon-Taek.

I'll admit it was a struggle to go through the channel since a lot of the movies were poor quality and not very interesting to me. But I thought I'd share since it could be appealing to some to see how Korean cinema has progressed since about 1950.

[A Tortured Duckling]

Originally Posted by mimurph1

[Show spoiler]I spent most of last year working through the Korean Film Archive's youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/KoreanFilm

The channel is based off of their top 100 list:
http://www.koreafilm.org/feature/100.asp

Matching up the titles on the KOFA website to their youtube channel can be challenging, and not all films are available, but some of my favorites were Black Hair, Aimless Bullet, A Romantic Papa, Flame in the Valley, Deep Blue Night and A Road to Sampo. The two directors that I seemed to enjoy the most were Lee Man-Hee and Im Kwon-Taek.

I'll admit it was a struggle to go through the channel since a lot of the movies were poor quality and not very interesting to me. But I thought I'd share since it could be appealing to some to see how Korean cinema has progressed since about 1950.

This is really cool, man. I had no idea this was out there. It will most definitely help me, and give me a broader perspective on Korean film.

Thanks, a lot

[mimurph1]

All this talk about Sunny pressured me to buy from kimchidvd, first blind purchase I've made in a long time, hope I'm not disappointed

[Beefbowl]

Can't go wrong with So-ra Kang...well maybe Dream High 2

[ZeTi]

As everyone said before me ... Sunny is really a treat. Loved it from start to finish ... also saw it at least 3 times now. Just wonderful.

I think i got into Korean cinema mainly through my interest in Gangster movies ... Bittersweet Life and Shiri were the first i saw if i remember correctly. "A Bittersweet Life" pretty much blew me away and i loved this movie ever since. It's also one of my all-time fav. flicks.

I think the unique style of korean action cinema is what fascinates me ... it's like a perfect mix of Alain Delon "Le Samurai", Michael Caines "Get Carter" and Bruce Willis in "Die Hard".

[Matt_Stevens]

Originally Posted by ZeTi

Bittersweet Life and Shiri were the first i saw if i remember correctly.

SHIRI deserves to be released on BluRay. It was one of the biggest Koran hits of all time and deservedly so. It's crazy that this film is not available in High Def. It's the reason for my love of Korean cinema. It's the film that got me started.

[PGW]

"Shiri" is the first Korean film I bought, as well.

Unfortunately, I also bought the Special Edition of "2009 Lost Memories," and I can't say I'm a fan of the film. There are certain kinds of films the Koreans do very, very well... but science fiction isn't one of them (you can add "Natural City" to that list, too).

[wesslan]

Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens

SHIRI deserves to be released on BluRay. It was one of the biggest Koran hits of all time and deservedly so. It's crazy that this film is not available in High Def. It's the reason for my love of Korean cinema. It's the film that got me started.

Also watched Shiri among the first, such great movie. Now with Friends and JSA arriving not many old great ones is missing

[Dragun]

How are the prices for Blu-Rays in South Korea, when converted to dollars? I have a friend visiting Seoul, and I might ask her to pick up a couple of Blu-Rays if the prices aren't super high.

[Beefbowl]

Originally Posted by Dragun

How are the prices for Blu-Rays in South Korea, when converted to dollars? I have a friend visiting Seoul, and I might ask her to pick up a couple of Blu-Rays if the prices aren't super high.

I spend about $24 per movie. Not many places to buy blurays in korea though.

Sent from my SHV-E250S using Tapatalk 2

[jello_02]

Originally Posted by mimurph1

All this talk about Sunny pressured me to buy from kimchidvd, first blind purchase I've made in a long time, hope I'm not disappointed

haha, same with me. just ordered off ebay along with

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