I was a little disappointed in this one. I thought that the visual effects were absolutely stunning and they obviously had a budget, but overall I thought that it lacked a little substance (and some of it wasn't very well thought-out and a little nonsensical). Overall I wound up being bored.

I could have given it a bit more of a chance, though. I admit it.

...

We watched Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance the other night.

And. WOW.

In some ways, Mr. Vengeance is a stronger film holistically than Oldboy was. I thought that the tone was consistent and I was completely riveted the entire time. Chan-wook Park is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorite directors of all time. I thought that Sympathy for Mr Vengeance was beautiful, tragic, and truly emotional. And, honestly, there was a moment where I shed a tear - And I don't really do that. If you're looking for atmosphere, emotion, clean direction, and a compelling set of characters - This is a perfect movie. His study of vengeance and motivation was intelligent and breath-taking. This movie might just be in one of my top 10 of all time.

A/A+
...

People who've seen Oldboy and Mr. Vengeance - Thoughts? Comparisons? Liked better? Worse? Chan-wook Park is simply brilliant.

I loved Oldboy. 9/10

Mr. Vengance.... I don't know. A tad too dark and cruel for me. 7/10


I have a feeling you will like Ji-woon Kim's (A tale of two sisters) "A Bittersweet Life".

And "Dog Bites Dog" if you haven't seen that already.

"Rattle rattle" 8/10

Nicely fast paced ghost short story with a delightfully scary ghost.

100% agree with you!:)

After seeing the Vengeance trilogy I have also become a big fan of Chan-Wook Park. Amongst them I love the Mr. Vengeance most, then Oldboy & Lady Vengeance. Though Oldboy was the most shocking film I've ever seen and Park delivered it in a magnificent way but the moral dilemma of the Mr. Vengeance touched me more deeply and I truly admire this film with my any other all time favorites in the world cinema. But besides this Vengeance trilogy I haven't seen Park's any other film. So I'm eagerly waiting to have more fascinating experience with his arts of films.

Btw, have you seen Joon-Ho Bong's Memories of Murder? I have seen it recently and I just only like to tell you now that besides Mr. Vengeance this was another brilliant Korean movies I have seen so far. If you haven't seen it yet, then I'm highly recommending you to please experience this masterpiece asap. I'm sure you'll love this one too.

I loved Oldboy too... I actually have a hard time comparing the two because it's clear that Chan-Wook-Park was trying to experiment with different kinds of vengeance and different versions of human disintegration. In a way, Mr. Vengeance reminds me a LOT of the classic Italian film The Bicycle Thief. Have you seen that one? Not quite as dark, but still incredible.

I'll have to check out "A Bittersweet Life." I thought that Tale of Two Sisters was great, though ran a little long... Though of COURSE Netflix doesn't have it. :( I'll have to find it somewhere else. Hmph.

Haven't seen Dog Bit Dog. Just added it to the queue. Just tried to look for Rattle Rattle, which you liked too, bout couldn't find it - Does it go by any other name?

I need to see Lady Vengeance! It's at the top of my Netflix queue right now, so hopefully either by the end of the week or the beginning of next week. Have you seen the short that he did for Three... Extremes? He did the second film, Cut, which was bloody but emotionally shocking at the same time. I thought it was brilliant.

I'll add Memories of Murder - I noticed that you graded it well on the previous page and meant to add it. I'll do that now. Thanks. :)

We watched The Maid the other night.

For the most part, I was fascinated. The plot revolves around a girl from the Philippines who travels to Singapore to live with and be the Maid of a Chinese family. It just so happens that it's July which, in China is "Hungry Ghost Month," the month where the Gates of Hell open and the Dead walk the earth.

The brief description sounds really silly, but it's not; I was fascinated about the depiction of Chinese belief and ceremony (the burning of paper money and prayers to appease the Dead as well as putting on Opera and reserving the front row "for the Ghosts"). The cultural aspect was truly interesting and I thought that the feeling of alienation was captured quite well.

As a ghost story/horror movie, there are definitely some creepy moments, but it turns a little Sixth-Sense-ish by the end of it.

I give it a B.

Makes sense.

It's the first of 3 short stories from a movie called "Unholy women".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0959314/

I saw it for free on this magnificent site:

http://asian-horror-movies.com/

:)

I really enjoyed Rattle Rattle it was very effective piece,although I thought they overdid the ghost effects towards the end.Out of the three stories I think Steel edges to the front for me,it is wonderfully weird!The Inheritance I found to be fairly dull,it was underpinned by a thoughtful story but it was not engaging enough imo.

Really.

I need to see the other 2 stories some day then.

And yes "rattle rattle" had a tendency to be almost laughable at times with the ghost keep showing up every other minute. But that was also what made it so damn entertaining. And the ending... didn't really make a lot of sense.

But what the fuck, it had a cool looking Ghost. what more do you really need. :)

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/3506/ratrat1au6.png

a funny little flick indeed. Thanks to Angra for providing the link. That's really a cool site. :)