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The art of posing.
Ssawoomeui Gisool (The Art of Fighting)
Starring Jae Hee (3-Iron) / Bae Yoon-sik (President's Last Bang)
Director Sin Han-sol
Karate Kid on steroids. There's more reason to the punches here than some homoerotic ringside action, it's the survival of the poorest where people risk getting beat up for bread. There's also less mush and more street zen; Bae Yoon-sik's miyagi is gangsta cool and the coin-throwing wrist action is believably fatal. Expecting more though would ruin all the fun. This is engrossing predictability at its glossiest with unpredictable bone-cracking in gravity-defying decibels, and a surprising hint of sadness at the futility of the struggle. With wit that bounces off walls and a subtle handle on irony, The Art of Fighting could have aspired for more but it seems to be content with being just entertaining. ***
No, I'M Lady Vengeance!
Orora Gongjoo (Princess Aurora)
Starring Uhm Jung-hwa (Crazy Marriage) / Moon Seong-geun (Virgin stripped Bare by Her Bachelors)
Director Bang Eun-jin
Princess Aurora delivers the chops, the stabs to the groin (I kid you not) and more importantly, a furious motive that (partially) eclipses Lady Vengeance's orchestrated arthouse-ready flamboyance. Uhm Jung-hwa seduces and shocks and carries the movie with sheer intensity. The violence seems random at first, from the first blood spray in a mall's bathroom to the ultimate scissor fighting match in a technoposh bachelor's pad, but the movie's last 30 minutes weave the loose ends together toward a logical, but a little too predictable end. If there's anything the movie lacks, it's humor, and some parts are laughable for all the wrong reasons (the breakdown bit while operating heavy machinery is just hilarious). But for every stumble, we are rewarded with moments of brilliant brutality that more often than not even the score. ***
Dolls with big heads are my favorite type of women.
Saedu Moobi (Sad Movie)
Starring Jeong Woo-seung (A Moment to Remember) / Im Soo-jeung (...ing) / Cha Tae-hyon (My Sassy Girl) / Sin Min-ah (Volcano High) / Lee Ki-woo (The Classic) / Yeom Jeong-ah (Tale of Two Sisters)
Director Kwon Jong-gwan (S-Diary)
Not exactly a sad movie. With a cast of pretty boys and girls, how can it not be fun? Cute and cuddly puppy pieces --- the romcom parts made me blush and sigh like a school girl, fuck it --- cursed with sobby fates. Anything beyond that is just plain adoration. So let's just talk lighting. Filtering is luminous. Glowy. Mostly shot in available light, this movie's little world is literally bathed in dreamy softness, ultimately making the ending more pointless. More sad. **1/2
The first cut is the deepest.
Sonnimeun Wangida (The Customer is Always Right)
Starring Seong Ji-roo (Super Family) / Seong Yeon-ah (The Intimate) / Myeong Ke-nam (Address Unknown)
Director Oh Ki-hyeon
A dark past is a bitch if you're a middle-aged barber who has a wife who would rather sell insurance than sleep with you. Especially if that deep dark secret involves screwing a minor and running her over at the end of the evening and a stranger struts in and bitch slaps you with blackmail. In turns funny and excruciatingly desperate, "the Customer is Always Right" rolls along interestingly enough --- with a few Park Chan-wook splices along the way --- until it reaches a satisfyingly surprising, twisted roundabout end. You know the razor will cut and the blood will spurt but the wait in between the sharpening and shaving is priceless. *** 1/2
The art of posing.
