Ok, as previously noted I like most Korean movies. Attack the Gas Station! was definitely a disappointment however, even moreso because it had come recommended as a “must see”. Well, there’s no accounting for taste I suppose. The whole film seemed rather pointless, psuedo-violence and sight gags repeated repetitively. For a film that I imagine was intended as a comedy (ok, Wiki says “satire”), the laughs were few and far between. The Netflix cover indicated it was a commetary on the “social turmoil in contemporary South Korea” (it was filmed in 1999). I must have missed that part. It took me two nights to get through it, as I fell asleep half way through. Here’s what Wikipedia had to say. If you appreciate what passes for comedy on Korean TV, perhaps you’ll like this film. As for me, I’ll give it a 1 rating, because I thought it sucked.
The other film I watched (again courtesy of Netflix) was Ditto. I knew what to expect from this one, as I had watched the American remake The Lake House. There were some pretty significant plot changes between the two, and I found the American version more satisfying. Anyway, the story is about a young Korean woman attending university in 1979 who is able to communicate with another student in the year 2000 via HAM radio, through some Twilight Zone type magic. What I found most interesting were the references to events in Korea during the late 70s of which I was vaguely familiar. Seeing them dramatized was pretty fascinating. I really didn’t like the ambiguous ending, but had I seen this version first, perhaps I wouldn’t have expected more. Anyway, other than being even a tad more melodramatic than the Korean norm, it was not a bad watch. Solid 3 from me on this one.
With this post I’ve innaugarated a new post category I believe is aptly named “movies”. Up next: Please Teach Me English. Bet you can’t wait!
(This is a long post. If you prefer such posts be sent by private email to you please lemme know).
John,
Thanks for the coverage of the Korean popular film culture. My former home was in northern Virginia (Pentagon duty) and having spent around 4 years or so in Korea while on active duty I thoroughly enjoyed the sizeable Korean presence in No VA to include the people, shopping, restaurants and grocery stores. So sizeable is the Korean presence in No VA, you may know, that some of the grocery stores rival the large American grocery stores in size and product availability and all of them have a collocated noodle shop on site as well as every Asian product a person could want.
In any case, having relocated some ten years or so ago to the south Florida area I’ve been pretty much in Asian food and Korean culture withdrawal for this whole time, and have to try to find it where I can, since the presence of Asian people here is very small in comparison and the restaurants (particularly good ones) are few and far between, as are the Oriental grocery stores for that matter. I’m not sure at what link of yours I saw the video clip about the guy teaching his girl about Chajangmyung (black bean noodles), the brand called Chapegetti, but it was the first time I had seen that product (and I enjoyed the clip too). I had earlier in VA used a different ‘instant noodle’ brand for that noodle dish but have really been missing it alot. I recently had a bowl of Chajangmyung, in fact, at a local Korean restaurant, one of the scarcely few better ones, and paid through the nose for it so I wasn’t eager to go back down that path. So yesterday when I saw your clip and the Chapegetti brand I searched online for it and low and behold I actually found it on Amazon.com, which really surprised me. So I ordered a box of that and of the (spicy) Shin Ramyon too. With the over $25 purchase free Amazon shipping it wasn’t a bad deal, particularly since the Chapegetti isn’t even available in the stores here. So, again, I thank you for posting access to those clips. In addition I watched the entire series of My Sassy Girl yesterday, clip by clip, and really enjoyed it as well. I also sent it to several friends who reported back that they were glad to have access and planned to view it too.
Sorry this is getting long but one last point to make. I don’t know if Armed Forces Network or the local cable companies in Seoul give you access to the American “Sundance” cable channel or not but I can tell you it’s one of my favorite sources of foreign films. To that end, on Sunday night at midnight every week Sundance channel airs a program called Asia Extreme. Each week a different Asian film is aired and they can be from anywhere in Asia. I’ve seen films from the Philippines, from China, Japan and Korea. There have been more from Korea, actually, than from any other place, and the quality is really very good. I do, however, tend to agree with your assessment that they can be sometimes melodramatic and even corny by our standards – I still enjoy them alot for the cultural aspects and the interesting approach. If you watch enough of them you can get a pretty good picture, as well, of the amazing and real progress being made in Korean infrastructure and life too. I usually record the movies and watch them at a more convenient time. Many, maybe half of them, are what we would call of the “thriller” or even “horror” genre, which I don’t care for as muchm, but I haven’t found any that I was unwilling to watch. In any case it’s a great source of Asian cinema and I wanted to try to let you and maybe your readers know about it.
Hang in there and keep up the great blogging.
Glad to see the ramping up in your blog presence and enjoying your daily posts.
Dennis (Dentoku),
in (reluctantly) SE Florida
Thanks, Dennis. No comment is ever too long, and I enjoyed hearing about your experiences. Glad this blog gives you a little taste of the Korea you miss. It does get into the blood somehow, doesn’t it?
I lived in NOVA for several years and was aware of the large Korean community in Annandale. Of course, it meant nothing to me then having not been exposed to Korean culture or food before actually moving here.
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed My Sassy Girl and shared it with others. Great movie.
Today I am leaving for my first ever trip to the east coast of Korea. As you know, springtime is the best time of year here, and we are having a glorious spring so far. It should be a beautiful trip and I’m making it an adventure by actually driving! Wish me luck.