OldBoy

Back in 2004 I started reading Joblo, which is a movie review site.  It's technically more than just reviews, but that's the primary reason I visited the site.  On occasion my thoughts on a movie would differ, but for the most part I agreed with much that he wrote.  One of the first sections on the site that caught my eye back then was the Top 10 Films list he made available every year.

In 2004 his #1 movie was OldBoy a Korean flick that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.  Something about reading his review really got me interested in trying to watch it as soon as possible.  Unfortunately it had yet to be released in the US, so getting my hands on a copy would not be easy.  I resolved to just give it time to make its way to the US and then snatch it up.

Years went by and I completely forgot about the movie.  It wasn't until I read Dragonystic's post about the movie that my interest was rekindled.  From there I started checking the local stores, but still didn't have any luck.  My sister-in-law was working at a local bookstore that bought and sold movies, so I asked her to be on the look out.  This past weekend, nearly 9 months later, she brought me the DVD with a smile on her face.  Apparently a dude had brought in a shit ton of books, dvd's and cd's to try and sell.  Thanks dude.

Last night I watched the movie and must admit it is great; I really, really enjoyed the entire movie.  I didn't come away with quite the emotion that Dragon did, but I understand why he did and can see the reasons why it could happen, especially depending on your emotions at the time of the viewing.  I was hooked from beginning to end, which makes for a great viewing in my mind.

Something about the villain, Woo Jin-Lee, hooked me in to the movie completely; not to mention the great acting by Dae-Su and pretty much every character from what I can recall.  

I definitely recommend giving this one a spin if you manage to find a copy.  I would imagine it is available on NetFlix for those with a membership.  One quick word of warning...DO NOT watch the movie using the American dubbed voices.  It 100% destroys the feel for the movie hearing American voices dubbed over the characters.  I watched the movie with subtitles first and then wanted to see how the dubbed version would be, so I fired it up at the end.  The dubbing takes a beautifully crafted, downright mesmerizing movie and turns it into a joke.  And I guarantee if we try and remake the movie completely for the American market, we'll fuck that up too.

I plan to cross post this at CineJax also, since I rarely post there anymore and this is technically a movie post.

Until next time, may the felt be with you.