Small-Minded Places: Gokseong (The Wailing)
Parochial village mentality, rumours and superstition bleed together into the Lynchian Gokseong, a South Korean film that asks us to reconsider our beliefs.
Category: The Breakdown
Recaps, analysis, etc.
Tough Guys, Gangsters, and Delinquents in Asian Pop Culture: Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Big atonements for big sins: is there really any sympathy for Lady Vengeance?
Tough Guys, Gangsters, and Delinquents in Asian Pop Culture: Ong Bak
The tough guy from the countryside will break your bones.
Tough Guys, Gangsters, and Delinquents in Asian Pop Culture: Battle Royale
Would you kill your best friend?
Tough Guys, Gangsters, and Delinquents in Asian Pop Culture: Portland Street Blues
Out of all the gangster movies, Portland Street Blues is the one that often feels like it has real-life stories of poor and working class people at its core.
Tough Guys, Gangsters, and Delinquents in Asian Pop Culture: The Mission
Can you betray the bonds of brotherhood and still consider yourself a man?
Tough Guys, Gangsters, and Delinquents in Asian Pop Culture: Crows
“There’s nothing wrong with being a crow. Compared to a poor bird that’s been caged and has forgotten how to fly, crows are much better. Being a crow is good enough for me.”
Tough Guys, Gangsters, and Delinquents in Asian Pop Culture: Young and Dangerous
The movie that launched a thousand (and more) haircuts.
Goblin Style and Fashion Review, Part 2
Let’s admire Sunny and Duk-Hwa’s glamourous touch and shake our heads over Eun-Tak’s clothes.
Kenichi Matsuyama Series: Ikari (Rage)
I spent the entire two and a half goddamn hours cringing in fear because it’s one of those movies where ANYTHING horrible can happen to the characters. Even in the final three minutes before the credits, I was expecting a last-minute suicide or something.