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Snowpiercer (2013)
Snowpiercer (2013)
2013 | Sci-Fi
Dystopian sci-fi movie from the director of Parasite and that film about the giant pig. After an ecological disaster, the last remnants of humanity are stuck on a train doing endless circuits of the world. What will they do when the sausage rolls and toilet paper run out?

Almost certainly the best Korean-Czech graphic novel adaptation ever made, and a pretty good film in all departments - a faint structural resemblence to The Matrix Reloaded may unsettle some viewers, but it just about holds together, and any holes in the plot are largely excused by the fact the film is clearly meant to be intepreted metaphorically. Fine cast, many interesting ideas, well-staged action; should have been a much bigger hit.
  
Your House Will Pay
Your House Will Pay
Steph Cha | 2019 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Your House Will Pay is about racial tensions in LA, and it follows two families - one Korean-American, the other African-American - and the shooting of a black girl in the 1990’s. Shaun Matthews sister, Ava, was that teenaged girl, and the killing of another black teenager and the subsequent rallies and demonstrations bring back bad memories of that time. His family is trying hard to keep on the straight and narrow, especially after his cousin Ray is released from prison.

Grace Parks is a pharmacist in a Korean pharmacy and lives with her parents. She has a strained relationship with her sister who left home and refused to speak to her mother thereafter. She won’t, however, tell Grace why she won’t talk to their mother.

When a terrible crime happens, Grace is confronted with another crime that happened 30 years before, and the Parks family are forced to face the Matthews family.

I really loved this book - the build up and the slow reveal was really well done, I thought. It looked at a part of American life that I, as a white British female, would have little personal knowledge of - other than what I’ve read. It was so thought provoking. This isn’t an escapist read, and I could feel the tension coming off the page, but it was a page turner that I didn’t want to put down. I read this on The Pigeonhole, so due to the fact that they released a stave a day for 10 days, I HAD to wait 24 hours for each instalment!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for choosing such a great book for us to read!
  
The Sun is Also a Star
The Sun is Also a Star
Nicola Yoon | 2016 | Children
8
8.5 (16 Ratings)
Book Rating
Surprisingly bittersweet, well crafted
I was initially apprehensive with this book as I assumed it was for young adults, however I was surprised to find how well written and intricately constructed it was.

The narrative shifts between a young undocumented woman, originally from Jamaica but brought up in the U.S., and an American-born Korean, who find each other on her last day before she is deported. In between are segways of an unknown voice who delves into the different characters and their backgrounds. The book explores fate and free will and whether there is an overarching hand that shapes this.

Their romance resembles that of 'Before Sunset', which was enjoyable but obviously the dialogue in this novel is not as intelligent. It's bittersweet, coming-of-age, and takes you back to young love.
  
Dirty Laundry (Cole McGinnis #3)
Dirty Laundry (Cole McGinnis #3)
Rhys Ford | 2013 | Contemporary, Crime, LGBTQ+, Mystery, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
We are back in the thick of Cole McGinnis being a very dangerous person to be around. Everyone who gets close to him gets shot, and he usually ends up with pieces of their blood, bone and brain in his mouth. This time, there is a mystery surrounding a Korean fortune-teller and her clients, who are being killed off. I'll be honest, this confused me and I'm still not sure about the WHY of what happened.

Very well-written, and fast-paced with enough action to please everyone. This continues the series and the relationship between Cole and Jae-Min. Definitely to be read as part of the series and not standalone! Recommended.

* I received this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 20, 2016
  
#Alive (2020)
#Alive (2020)
2020 | Action, Drama, Horror
10
8.0 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
#Alive is a Korean zombie movie that focuses on the survival of Oh Joon-woo, a young man who is stranded in his family's apartment at the outbreak of the zombie virus and follows him as he tries to work out what is happening, how he can survive and how he can cope with the fact that his family is probably dead.
#Alive is defiantly a film of 3 parts, the first part focuses solely on Oh Joon-woo and his attempts at survival alone in his apartment as he struggles to cope with the zombies, running out of food and the lose of his family. The portrayal of Isolation and loneliness is very well done, leading up to what could almost be a very short film.
Then Oh Joon-woo meets Kim Yoo-bin, another survivor who lives in the apartments across the street from him. The isolation continues as the two find ways to communicate and survive but now there is hope.
The two are eventually forced from their apartments and have to meet up and move up as they try to find somewhere safe to survive.
#Alive is a film without a big main cast and this helps the sense of isolation and loneliness which is only increased by the fact that they spend most of the film separated by a street full of the undead.
Surprisingly #Alive manages to avoid becoming a love story. Normally when you have two survivors who meet in films like this they fall for each other and, at least part of the film is taken up by their relationship. However #Alive doesn't do this, Oh Joon-woo and Kim Yoo-bin obviously become friends but they are too busy surviving but their relationship doesn't overtake the main point of the film, survival.
There are moments of tension and relief in the film and they work well making #Alive a different type of film than a lot of other zombie films, including the other Korean zombie blockbuster, Train to Busan.
  
Train to Busan (2016)
Train to Busan (2016)
2016 | Action, Drama, Horror
A zombie movie with a heart?
After reading some great reviews for this film (some on Smashbomb) I thought I would give this modern Korean zombie film a try.

Boy was I glad I did.

Nothing too complicated with the plot here. Just a straight escape the zombie hoard before they bite you and make you part of the global onslaught type thing.

The characters are not well explained for the most part, but you care about them anyways when bad things start to happen. Blood and guts are amped down in favor of tension instead which I liked. The chase scenes were great and keep me watching and on the edge of my seat.

For those who don't like foreign films no worries here. The action and story keep you going almost immediately and you forget you are watching and reading at the same time.

Highly recommended. (Find on Netflix currently).

  
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ClareR (5571 KP) Oct 8, 2018

Ooh, this looks good!!

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Andy K (10821 KP) Oct 8, 2018

I hope you'll like it.

I have been given an opportunity to review the book “Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice” by Adam Makos. I read this 420 book in two days, day one was while I was receiving my infusion of Rituximab. “Devotion” inspired me. It melted my heart. It gave me an adventure to be a part of. I deeply enjoyed reading about the friendship of Tom Hudner and Jesse Brown during the Korean War as pilots. I enjoyed reading the other stories of friendship between the soldiers of the war. What captivating me the most is the friendship between Brown and Hudner. One was a share croppers son and African American and the other was a rich kid from New England. How did these two become such great friends? Friendship and devotion like this was uncommon back in the 50’s, but it happened. This book is just as wonderful as “Unbroken” and just as powerful. So worth the time to read.
  
Minari (2020)
Minari (2020)
2020 | Drama
7
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Pleasant Enough
With it’s 6 Oscar nominations (including nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor), the drama MINARI has become a touchstone of films with Asian (or Asian-American) roots.

And…it is worthy of these accolades - and this place in history - for MINARI is a warm-hearted, loving look at a Korean-American family trying to make it’s way in the world in 1980’s Arkansas.

Written and Directed in Oscar Nominated fashion (for both categories), Lee Isaac Chung presents a realistic American family looking to forge a new living while still remaining true to their cultural roots.

Steve Yeun (THE WALKING DEAD) is Oscar nominated for his lead role of Jacob, who moves his family to Arkansas in the hopes to start a farm that specializes in Korean food. Yeun’s performance is earnest and sincere and I am happy for him that this performance is nominated. The rest of the family unit is strong - with the stand out being Yuh-Jung Youn as the Grandmother. She brings the most interesting and nuanced character to the screen and I wouldn’t be surprised if she pulls the upset and wins the Oscar for Supporting Actress. Finally, veteran character Actor Will Patton is a spark of energy as a local who helps Jacob on the farm.

And…that, ultimately, is the problem with this film. Writer/Director Chung spends most of his time creating the atmosphere and the characters, He fails to realize that there really is no compelling event to drive the plot forward. It’s a “fine” slice-of-life film and one that is enjoyable to watch with a strong, charismatic cast, but nothing really happens and that, finally, is a problem.

This is most certainly a deserving Oscar nominated film - especially in these pandemic times - with big budget Blockbuster films pushed to the sidelines, this type of quiet film is thrust to the forefront - and good for them and I’m glad that the spotlight is shining on this film. I just wish there was more plot and a more compelling reason to watch this film.

Letter Grade: B

7 stars (out of 10) and you can take this to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
HI
Hello, I Love You
4
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b>I listen to far too much kpop songs for my own good.</b> When I heard that <i>Hello, I Love You</i> is a book about kpop, I just <i>had</i> to read the book.

<b>I despise this. Katie Stout's debut novel isn't about kpop</b> – that's just a small element. It's just about <b>an American girl trying to run away from her past and ends up falling in love with a Korean superstar</b>. Oh, and <b>that Korean superstar is also running away from HIS past,</b> so hooray! Past runners colliding.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--1WHSx-iaa4/Vcu_9iIqSpI/AAAAAAAAE5w/ZOJm3UkK-e8/s1600/sigh.gif"><img src="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.bookblog.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/317/2015/08/sigh.gif"; width="188" height="200" border="0" /></a></div>
It's obvious <b>Grace didn't do much "research." She's tired of eating rice every day, and she wrinkles her nose in disgust at fish</b> – does she realize that <b>rice and seafood is quite <i>literally</i> associated with every part of Asian culture</b> or what? How else do Koreans or Japanese survive when they're surrounded by ocean all around (the seafood part)?

Grace's <b>research basically consisted of typing in "international boarding schools," clicking on the first result that seemed interesting and decided, "Why not? It's the way out."</b> She doesn't even know <i>why</i> she chose Korea. It's <b>all about running away from the past,</b> and that was probably repeated multiple times in the book. <b>I just want to throw a book at Grace and say, "Suck it up, buttercup."</b>
<blockquote>I've kept a big distance from it because it reminds me too much of my past, too much of what I left behind.</blockquote>
Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FXuDDyyknZc/Vcu_2-_rRRI/AAAAAAAAE5o/8E4pJbSzM1Q/s1600/angry-gif-o.gif"><img src="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.bookblog.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/317/2015/08/angry-gif-o.gif"; border="0" /></a></div>
I suppose I can't blame her because <b>the mom's worse – she's all, "Hi, Korea. I'm FARRR more superior than you."</b> *sticks nose up and saunters away in ten-inch heels* <b>If Grace is so "language impaired," she could have considered England, Canada, Australia or New Zealand where English is the primary language, thank you very much. -_-</b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D4yvObK8a5g/VcvAC60UhSI/AAAAAAAAE58/wJW7gAeQ96c/s1600/you%2Bgot%2Bproblems.gif"><img src="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.bookblog.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/317/2015/08/yougotproblems.gif"; width="320" height="180" border="0" /></a></b></div>
<b>
I'm not happy at all. I'm not even Korean. I'm Chinese and Vietnamese. I don't know if my Asian meter has been insulted or not.</b> I suppose I'll applaud Stout for trying to write a book about kpop, but that's about as far as I'll go for <i>Hello, I Love You</i>.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-hello-i-love-you-by-katie-m-stout/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Minari (2020) in Movies

Apr 23, 2021  
Minari (2020)
Minari (2020)
2020 | Drama
9
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Ensemble cast acting (2 more)
Music and Cinematography
Engrossing story
Abrupt ending leaves too much speculation (0 more)
A Korean Hillbilly Elegy, done right
In "Minari", a struggling Korean immigrant family - the Yi's led by Jacob (Steven Yeun) and Monica (Yeri Han) - leave California for Arkansas farmland to seek a better life. While employed sexing chicks at a factory, Jacob dreams of farming the land on which they live to improve their lives. But will his obsession for this dream stand between him and his family?

The tale is told through the eyes of young David (Alan S. Kim), who is struggling with a hole in the heart and doubts about his mortality. The arrival of Monica's mother (Yuh-Jung Youn) is resented by David, but the woman is wise (as well as foul mouthed) and perhaps the pair will eventually learn to respect one another?

Positives:
- Gloriously bucolic cinematography (by Lachlan Milne) frames an engrossing story of an immigrant family striving for the American dream. The fact that it is semi-biographical for the writer/director Lee Isaac Chung (also Oscar nominated for both) makes it all the more fascinating.

- All of the leading cast work fabulously as an ensemble. Steven Yeun and Yuh-Jung Youn have all the Oscar nomination glory (with Youn as the Grandmother odds-on to win the Supporting Actress award on Sunday). But Yeri Han is also great and the film wouldn't work unless the two child actors (Alan Kim and Noel Cho) delivered, which they do in spades.

- The music, by Emile Mosseri, is strikingly good and - deservedly - also Oscar nominated.

Negatives:
- The ending. Now, I'm all for leaving things in a thoughtful way, allowing the viewer to ponder on things. But this ending was a little too obscure for me. You need to understand (with thanks to this article) that the vegetable Minari purifies (water), grows in unfavourable soils and only really thrives in its second season. Now, forgive me for not being 'up' on my Korean plant botany, but this was too much of a leap for me. For the uninitiated (I assume 95% of the audience) the ending will feel abrupt and unsatisfying.

Summary Thoughts on "Minari":
Having watched "Hillbilly Elegy" and "Minari" on consecutive nights, I was struck by the unexpected parallels between the films (over and above the Yi's calling themselves "Hillbillies"). Both feature a dysfunctional family (though less so here). And both also feature a lead character, from an impoverished background, trying to better themselves and follow the 'American dream'. And front and centre is the growing relationship between a young boy and their grandmother.

But there the similarities end. For I just loved the simplicity of the story-telling in "Minari". No fancy flashbacks and disjointed timeline here. And a sense that you were really in on the journey of both Jacob and his farm and of the relationship between David and his Grandma.

This was heading at one point for a 10 star rating for me. But - for me anyway - the obscurity of the ending left me with a "WTF" feeling. So I've tempered my rating. Still a great film though, and recommended.

(For the full graphical review, please check out the post on One Mann's Movies on the web or Facebook. Thanks).