Moneyball in Theaters Thursday (Wide Release)

MONEYBALL

Directed by: Bennett Miller

Starring: Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jonah Hill

Where: CGV Dongnae, CGV Busan-dae, CGV Seomyeon (near Home Plus), CGV Daehan (in Seomyeon), CGV Centum City, CGV Asiad, CGV Nampo, CGV Daeyeon

We’ve seen it a hundred times before: that hackneyed old story of a struggling sports team that gets turned around by the tough-talking, but inspirational coach and goes on to win the championship. Now, I don’t know how closely “Moneyball” fits into this mold, and how much it attempts to put its own spin on the time-worn sports drama, but given the fact that it’s already shaping up to be an Oscar contender, I figure it’s worth knocking off my ever-growing and interminable list of movies to watch.

Drive in Theaters Thursday (Wide Release)

DRIVE

Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan

Where: Lotte Cinema Seomyeon Lotte Department Store, Lotte Cinema Seomyeon Migliore, Lotte Cinema Dongnae, CGV Seomyeon, CGV Dongnae, CGV Busan-dae

“Drive” took home the prize for Best Director at Cannes back in May, and went on to receive widespread critical acclaim during its release in the US, garnering an impressive 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But this isn’t your typical arthouse festival film that film critics and cinephiles fawn over while regular moviegoers turn their nose up. With rising star Ryan Gosling in the lead, and a plot that seems to promise plenty of action and car chases, it should be accessible to everyone.

Busan Cinema Center Opens to Motherload of Film Series

BUSAN CINEMA CENTER MOTHERLOAD OF FILM SERIES (unofficial title)

Where: Busan Cinema Center

When: November 10 – December 31

When I first heard about the Busan Cinema Center, the architectural monstrosity in the middle of Centum City built for the Busan International Film Festival for the price of 1,678.5 hundred million won (I’m not even gonna bother trying to figure how much that is in dollars, but it sounds like a lot), I couldn’t help but wonder what purpose it would serve during the other 355 days of the year. But it seems like it will be put to more than good use, as it’s offering 200-plus films for screening until the new year. And at a mere 3,000 won per ticket, this is an excellent opportunity to catch up on those all-time-classics that escaped you, in the ideal setting of a proper movie theater. I did the dirty work of sifting through the seemingly interminable list of films to find out which ones can be viewed by an English-speaking audience, so it wouldn’t hurt to leave comment just to reassure me that all that effort wasn’t made in vain.

For screening times, visit the Busan Cinema Center website. It’s extremely difficult to navigate for anyone who can’t read Korean, so I’m going to try to explain how to find the information you need if you care to see one of the movie being screened. There are eight different sections to the film series, which my shoddy Korean and Google Translate essentially translate to Assorted Classics, Carte Blanche (whatever that means), Epic Banquet, Animation Paradise, Beloved 21st Century Films, Korean Movies, the Audience’s Choice, and Cannes Critics Week 50th Anniversary Exhibition, and next to the picture logo for each section (which I’ve conveniently inserted into this post for cross-reference) are a turquoise button and a pink button. To find the screening time of the film you wish to see, click the pink button next to the picture logo and that will bring you to the list of films being shown in that section. Scroll through the list of films to find the one you wish to see – the screening time is in red at the bottom. I wish there was an easier way, but unfortunately the English version of the website amounts to little more than Busan Cinema Center = cinematic awesomeness, which I would tend to agree with if only it wasn’t so difficult for us fair-skinned Busan residents to understand the programming schedule. Anyway, I hope this blog post helps. Here’s the list of films:

ASSORTED CLASSICS

English Language Films:

A Trip to the Moon (George Mieles, 1902)/The Great Train Robbery (1903)/An Andalusian Dog (Luis Bunuel, 1929) Silent

The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin, 1915) Silent

The Adventurer (Charlie Chaplin, 1917) Silent

Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton, 1923) Silent

Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924) Silent

Moana (Robert J. Flaherty, 1926) Silent

The Last Command (Josef von Sternberg, 1928) Silent

The Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929) Silent*

City Streets (Rouben, Mamoulian, 1931)

Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks, 1939)

The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940)

Fantasia (1940) Silent

Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941)

Tex Avery’s Collection (Dump-Hounded, Who Killed Who?, Swing Shift Cinderella, King-Size Canary, Bad Luck Blackie, Little Red Riding Hood)

Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945)

Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)

The Fugitive (John Ford, 1947)

On Dangerous Ground (Nicholas Ray, 1952)

Band Wagon (vincent Minelli, 1953)

All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955)*

Man of the West (Anthony Mann, 1958)

Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1964)

Wavelength (Michael Snow, 1967)

Ride in the Whirlwind (Monte Hellman, 1965)

THX 1138 (George Lucas, 1971)

McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)

Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg, 1973) in English & Italian

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Sam Peckinpah, 1973)

The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

The Outlaw Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood, 1976)

The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1983)*

Love Streams (John Cassavetes, 1984)

Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990)

Carlito’s Way (Brian De Palma, 1993)

Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes, 1998)

A Streetcard Named Desire (Elia Kazan, 1951)*

Running on Empty (Sidney Lumet, 1988)

Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)*

It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)

Foreign Language Films with English Subtitles:

Violanta (Daniel Schmid, 1978)

Happiness (Agnes Varda, 1965)

Chronicle of a Summer (Edgar Morin & Jean Rouch, 1961)

The Iron Gate (Youssef Chahine, 1958)

Tokyo Twilight (Yasujiro Ozu, 1957)*

The Cry (Michaelangelo Antonioni, 1957)

Pather Panchali: Song of the Little Road (Satyajit Ray, 1955)*

Death of a Cyclist (Juan Antonio Bardem, 1955)

Mysterious Object at Noon (Apitchapong Weeresthakal, 2000)

The Phantom Carriage

CARTE BLANCHE

English Language Films:

Papillon (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1973)

Opening Night (John Cassavetes, 1977)

Boy A (John Crowley, 2007)

Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953)*

The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)*

When Harry Met Sally (Rob Reiner, 1989)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994)

Written on the Wind (Douglas Sirk, 1956)*

The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

Blade Runner: Director’s Cut (Ridley Scott, 1982)

Stand by Me (Rob Reiner, 1986)*

Running on Empty (Sidney Lumet, 1988)

Dogfight (Nancy Savoca, 1991)

My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)

The Thing Called Love (Peter Bogdanovitch, 1993)

The Wild One (Laslo Benedek, 1953)

On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)

Guys and Dolls (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1955)

Apocalypse Now: Redux (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)*

Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)*

The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)

Funny Face (Stanley Donen, 1957)

Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch, 1984)

Bagdad Cafe (Percy Adlon, 1987) in English & German

Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997)*

Shadows (John Cassavetes, 1959)

The Train (John Frankenheimer, 1964) in English & German

Runaway Train (Andrey Konchalovskiy, 1985)

Foreign Language Films with English Subtitles:

Vagabond (Agnes Varda, 1985)

EPIC BANQUET

English Language Films:

The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)

The Ten Commandments (Cecil B. DeMille, 1956)

Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)

The Great Escape (John Sturges, 1963)*

Doctor Zhivago (David Lean, 1965)

Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)

The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

Heaven’s Gate (Michael Cimino, 1980)

ANIMATION PARADISE

English Language Films:

The Plague Dogs (Martin Rosen, 1982)

When the Wind Blows (Jimmy T. Murakami, 1986)

The Iron Giant (Brad Bird, 1999)

Mary and Max (Adam Elliot, 2009)

The Illusionist (Sylvain Chomet, 2010) in English and French

BELOVED 21ST CENTURY FILMS

English Language Films:

Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)*

The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)

Elephant (Gus Van Sant, 2003)

Coffee and Cigarettes (Jim Jarmusch, 2003)

Land of Plenty (Wim Wenders, 2004)

The Fall (Tarsem Singh, 2006)

The Wind That Shakes the Barley (Ken Loach, 2006)

I’m Not There (Todd Haynes, 2007)

Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, 2008)

KOREAN MOVIES

In Korean with English Subtitles:

A Wanderer Never Stops on the Road (Lee Jang-Ho, 1988)

Under the Sky of Seoul (Lee Hyung-Pyo, 1961)

THE AUDIENCE’S CHOICE

English Language Films:

Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)*

2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)*

Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)

The Mission (Roland Joffe, 1986)

Foreign Language Films with English Subtitles:

Goodbye South, Goodbye (Hou Hsiao Hsien, 1996)

CANNES CRITICS’ WEEK 50TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION

English Language Films:

K.E.S. (Ken Loach, 1969)

Foreign Language Films with English Subtitles:

The Life of the Dead (Arnaud Despleschin, 1991)

See How They Fall (Jacques Audiard, 1994)

A Common Thread (Eleonore Faucher, 2004)

*denotes recommendations

Bad Lieutenant in Theaters Thursday (Limited Release)

“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” came out in the States more than two years ago, but if you haven’t already downloaded it, then now’s a good chance to see it the proper way, on the big screen. The movie as a whole has serious flaws (Werner Herzog’s directing is shamelessly indulgent and it lacks the seediness of the original with Harvey Keitel), but Nicolas Cage gives a performance for the ages, and a number of individual scenes and lines stand out for their charmingly outlandish eccentricity.

Lotte Cinema Centum City (Top Floor of the Lotte Department Store) Screening Times:

Thursday October 10 at 14:20, 21:35, 24:10; Friday October 11 at 14:20, 21:35, 24:10

Lotte Cinema Seomyeon (Top Floor of the Lotte Department Store) Screening Times:

Thursday October 10 at 11:00, 15:50, 20:40, 22:55; Friday October 11 at 11:00, 15:50, 20:40, 22:55

REMINDER: The Tree of Life (Finally) In Theaters Everywhere

THE TREE OF LIFE

Directed by: Terrence Malick

Starring: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn

Anyone following my blog knows that I’ve been waiting for “The Tree of Life” to come out for a very long time. The day has finally come, so now you can stop hearing me whine about it. For a longer preview, refer to my previous post.

Yours Truly to Appear on Busan e-FM for Weekly Segment of Cine Concerto

I got a gig appearing as a weekly guest on Cine Concerto hosted by Tina Park, the movie program of the local English radio station Busan e-FM. I’ll be on every Wednesday around 10:40 am to discuss a famous director, actor, actress, or anyone related to film. I did my first show today (Wednesday October 19) about Korean filmmaker Kim Ki Duk and it should be up on the website for you to stream by the end of the day. Here’s a link to the page where you can find the show. Hit the “Script Board” section and that should bring you to a list of shows organized by date. Once you get it to start playing, feel free to skip to about two-thirds of the way through since I only talk during the last portion of the show.

Big thanks to fellow film critic Thomas Bellmore, who helped me land the gig. He has a similar segment on the same program where he talks about all time classics on Monday mornings around the same time, so make sure to tune in then too!

Sleeping Beauty In Theaters Thursday (Limited Release)

SLEEPING BEAUTY

Directed by: Julia Leigh

Release Date: Thursday October 20 (Limited Release)

No, not that Sleeping Beauty. You’re gonna have to leave your kids at home for this one, as Julia Leigh’s “Sleeping Beauty” seems to turn the classic fairy tale on its head. The plot revolves around a young girl who’s offered a job as the subject in some strange sexual experiment where she’s poked and prodded at in her sleep. Its disturbing trailer created a lot of buzz before it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it divided critics and audience members; no surprise given its polarizing material. The film is only screening at the Lotte Cinema in Centum City (on the top floor of the Lotte Department Store) and the Seomyeon CGV (directly in between Beomnaegol Station and Jeonpo Station), so if you’re at all interested, don’t miss it because it might only be playing through Sunday.

Lotte Cinema Centum City Screening Times:

Thursday October 20 at 18:35 and 23:55

CGV Seomyeon Screening Times:

Thursday October 20 at 14:40 and 22:00, Friday October 21 at 15:10 and 22:30, Saturday October 22 at 14:40 and 22:00, Sunday October 23 at 14:40 and 22:00

Le Quattro Volte in Theatres Thursday (Limited Release)

LE QUATTRO VOLTE

Directed by: Michelangelo Frammartino

Release Date: Thursday October 20 (Limited Release)

Just when I thought I had this city all figured out, especially in terms of what it has to offer cinephiles like myself, I go and dig up an obscure independent theater that hadn’t popped up on my radar before. Housed in what’s referred to in Google Maps as the Catholic Center, the Art Theater C&C seems to be a small, one-screen movie theater along the lines of the Gukdo Art Cinema in Daeyeon. In fact, although the two theaters have some different selections, both seem to play the same kind of indie fare (domestic and international) that’s relatively hard to come by in Busan. Now, having never been there myself, I can’t guarantee that it has anything more than a projector, let alone a popcorn machine or anything else your typical multiplex has to offer. But what it does have is a selection of art-house movies you’d otherwise never get to see on the big screen, and for those of you living in the Nampo-Dong area, it beats taking the train all the way to the other side of town just to catch a flick.

Starting this Thursday, both the Art Theater C&C and the Gukdo Art Cinema will hold screenings of “Le Quattro Volte,” which won the top prize in the Director’s Fortnight sidebar competition at Cannes in 2010, and has since gone on to enjoy a successful festival run, limited distribution in movie theaters across Europe and North America, as well as widespread critical acclaim. It’s technically in Italian, but with little to no dialogue throughout the entire film, and having been praised mostly for its visuals and quiet, contemplative mood, the lack of English subtitles shouldn’t be a problem (but it’s worth noting nonetheless).

Art Theater C&C Screening Times:

Thursday October 20 at 14:10, Friday October 21 at 16:10, Saturday October 22 at 10:30, Tuesday October 25 at 14:10, Wednesday October 26 at 16:10, Saturday October 29 at 10:30, Monday October 31 at 13:40

Gukdo Art Cinema Screening Times (more screening times to be announced):

Thursday October 20 at 18:00, Friday October 21 at 15:50, Sunday October 23 at 12:10, Monday October 24 at 14:20, Tuesday October 25 at 11:50, Wednesday October 26 at 18:00, Thursday October 27 at 15:40, Friday October 28 at 14:00, Saturday October 29 at 10:00, Sunday October 30 at 18:00

The Black Sheep of Korean Cinema Only Alienates Himself Further with Increasingly Slipshod Work

AMEN (Kim Ki-Duk, Korea) – 5/100

In a recent conversation with fellow Busan Haps film writer Thomas Bellmore, I explained that when choosing which movies to watch at BIFF, it’s important to consider one of two things: the director and the pre-festival buzz surrounding the movie. Let’s not forget, there are a whopping 307 films in this year’s lineup, and while the selection committee does receive a handful of submissions from world-renowned auteurs, by and large, the movies that get picked every year are made by unknown directors who couldn’t get their films accepted at more prestigious festivals like Cannes, Berlin, and Venice. Now, I hate to be so dismissive and I don’t mean to discourage you from occasionally going with your gut and walking into a movie cold, but if you’re anywhere as picky about films as I am, then you’re probably just setting yourself up for disappointment. Call me narrow-minded, but being adventurous at any film festival rarely pays off, let alone one as inclusive as BIFF.

That being said, my personal film selection strategy is really nothing more than a rule of thumb, and even some of the directors I admire most can go off the deep end and make something so utterly unwatchable it’ll test my loyalty as a fan. Enter Kim Ki-Duk.

As the black sheep of Korean cinema, Kim gets more respect abroad than in his native homeland. In fact, most Koreans outright dislike him even though they have a propensity to fawn over any national figure who’s been remotely successful on the world stage. I’ve always stood up for Kim against the criticisms of non-believers, but in the last five years, his work has been getting harder and harder to defend. Not since “Time” (2006) has he made a decent movie, a fact he’s apparently well aware of since in his this year’s earlier attempt at a comeback, “Arirang” (2011), he spends more than an hour and a half talking into the camera about his dwindling reputation and the creative block he’s suffered through over the last three year break he took from filmmaking.

In light of Kim’s recent funk, I went into “Amen” with guarded expectations, cautiously keeping myself from becoming too optimistic, while genuinely hoping it would mark his long-awaited return to form. Unfortunately, the downward spiral into the creative abyss continues as this latest effort represents a new low for the once brilliant director of “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring” (2003) and “3-Iron” (2004). Shot between April and June, with no script, no crew, and only one lead actress, this is precisely the kind of half-assed, low-budget art-film that gives film festivals a bad name.

Centered around an unnamed Korean girl who lands in Paris only to find out that her host has fled the country, the entire movie essentially amounts to Kim traipsing around Europe with a cheap digital camera as he follows his protagonist hopping trains back and forth between different cities. The weak plot is only made worse by clumsy camerawork, unpolished sound design, and choppy editing that would make most student films seem professional.

“Amen” could perhaps be interpreted as a mirror for Kim’s own current lack of direction, as it becomes clear within the first few minutes that he, and not just the protagonist of his movie, is who’s really lost. But if that was the director’s intention, he needs to spare us this introspective, self-pitying nonsense and get back to making real movies again.

In Busan, the Sixteenth Time’s the Charm

With the Busan cinematheque closed until November, and the dearth of quality movies in both mainstream theaters and at the Gukdo Art Cinema, it’s been a rough start to what’s typically referred to as the Oscar Season. But the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) is just around the corner, and like always, it will inject a temporary dose of world-class cinema to an otherwise provincial town.

This year promises to be a major milestone in the history of the festival. The official unveiling of the Busan Cinema Center, an ultra-modern cultural complex in the heart of Centum City, will undoubtedly create quite a hoo-ha, prompting local officials to make speeches and pat each other on the back, but to me, this means just one thing. Unlike previous years, BIFF will finally be held in one concentrated area of the city, a welcome change for cinephiles like myself who no longer have to ride the subway back and forth from Nampodong to Haeundae in between screenings, running up and down escalators to make it to the next movie in-time.  Whereas most other film festivals had this figured out from day one, in Busan, the sixteenth time’s the charm.

Advance tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies can be bought online starting Monday September 26 at 17:00, while tickets for general screenings go on sale Wednesday September 28 at 9:00. Only how remains a mystery: the guidelines on the website boil down to “visit and register Daum website.” My advice is to ask a Korean friend for help if you intend to buy tickets in advance, which I recommend for anyone who wants a guaranteed seat at a screening.

The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, USA)

Saturday October 8 at 11:30, Haneulyeon Theater, Code: 032

Wednesday October 12 at 16:00, Haneulyeon Theater, Code: 114

Have you ever been stuck somewhere with the stinging urge to go to the bathroom, but no toilet in sight? That’s kind of what waiting for “The Tree of Life” to come out has felt like for me. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I left the US for Korea shortly before its American release date and have spent every day since in a state of prolonged, torturous anticipation. But I have to say my reaction to seeing it on the BIFF lineup was somewhat muted knowing that it’s already slated for a release in major movie theaters at the end of October. Still, I’ll take what I can get, and if that means twenty days of less waiting, hell, I’m happy.

The Kid with a Bike (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France/Italy)

Sunday October 9 at 9:00, Haneulyeon Theater, Code: 049

Monday October 10 at 19:30, Haneulyeon Theater, Code: 085

The Dardenne brothers have yet to make a bad or even mediocre film. This consistency has won them the coveted Palme d’Or twice, making them part of a handful of directors to have done so. So obviously I always look forward to seeing their latest movie no matter what it’s about, who’s in it, or how it’s received by other critics.

We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, United Kingdom)

Saturday October 8 at 9:00, Haneulyeon Theater, Code: 031

Sunday Oct 9 at 13:00, CGV Centum  City 4, Code: 208

When Lynne Ramsay makes a movie and it’s playing in a theater near you, you get your ass there. It’s been nine years since her last film came out, and it seems as though she’s trying something a little different this time around. Set outside of her native Scotland, and with Hollywood stars Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly in the main roles alongside rising actor Ezra Miller, “We Need to Talk About Kevin” clearly marks a new direction in Ramsay’s relatively short, but impressive career. I just hope that, during her long absence, she hasn’t lost it.

 

Faust  (Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia)

Monday October 10 at 20:00, Lotte Centum City 6, Code: 468

Monday October 10 at 20:00, Lotte Centum City 7, Code: 470

Tuesday October 11 at 14:00, Megabox Haeundae M, Code: 707

Wednesday October 12 at 13:30, Lotte Centum City 6, Code: 504

Wednesday October 12 at 13:30, Lotte Centum City 7, Code: 506

Aleksandr Sokurov’s eerie filmmaking style is often compared to that of Andrei Tarkovsky, the Russian master whose films are usually only appreciated by ardent cinema lovers. While Sokurov is a touch more accessible, his movies are at times cryptic, slow, and seemingly plot-less, but in spite of it all, strangely atmospheric and enthralling. “Faust,” a retelling of the classic German legend, is the last installment in his four-part series on power and corruption, themes he previously approached in films about Lenin, Hitler, and Emperor Hirohito.

Melancholia (Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany)

Friday Oct 7 at 9:30, Haneulyeon Theater, Code: 011

Monday October 10 at 11:00, Lotte Centum City 6, Code: 450

Monday October 10 at 11:00, Lotte Centum City 7, Code: 449

Tuesday October 11 at 20:00, Megabox Haeundae 6, Code: 725

 Tuesday October 11 at 20:00, Megabox Haeundae 7, Code: 723

Lars von Trier was banned from the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year after saying “I’m a Nazi” and “I understand Hitler” during a long, incoherent answer to a question about aesthetics. He later apologized for his remarks but recently admitted: “It’s not true. I’m not sorry.” The Danish filmmaker has a history of saying outrageous things and is known as a provocateur, not only in interviews but also in his films. Love him or hate him, it’s hard to watch his movies and not walk away with a strong, gut reaction.

 

The Day He Arrives (Hong Sang-Soo, Korea)

Friday October 7 at 16:00, Megabox Haeundae 3, Code: 568

Sunday October 9 at 21:00, Megabox Haeundae 1, Code: 658

Wednesday October 12 at 10:00, Megabox Haeundae 1, Code: 731

I feel like Korean cinema in general has been on the slump for the better part of the last five years, failing to produce the kind of masterpieces that were so prevalent in the first six years of the new millenium. Hong Sang-Soo is no exception. While he remains my favorite working Korean director, I’m going to start losing some serious esteem for him unless he really wows me with this one.

Amen (Kim Ki-Duk, Korea)

Friday October 7 at 19:00, Megabox Haeundae 3, Code: 583

Sunday October 9 at 10:00, Megabox Haeundae 3, Code: 630

Wednesday October 12 at 16:00, Megabox Haeundae 1, Code: 751

It definitely came as a surprise to see this one on the lineup since Kim Ki-Duk just premiered his documentary “Arirang” at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Though it won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard sidebar competition, I’ve heard it’s no more than a painfully dull and self-indulgent rant where the filmmaker turns the camera on himself and essentially wails about the creative block he’s experienced over the past few years. He hasn’t made a movie movie since 2008’s “Dream,” and neither that nor its predecessor was any good. But who knows, this could mark a return to form for the notorious director of “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring,” “3-Iron,” and “Bad Guy.”

 

The next three movies aren’t really high on my list, and frankly I don’t know if I’ll get around to seeing them, but I thought I would mention them anyway since they caught my eye for one reason or another.

Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai (Takashi Miike, Japan)

Friday October 7 at 9:30, Cinema 1, Code: 010

Sunday October 9 at 19:30, Lotte Centum City 4, Code: 447

Wednesday October 12 at 12:30, Lotte Centum City  5, Code: 503

Almayer’s Folly (Chantal Akerman, Belgium/France)

Saturday October 8 at 19:30, CGV Centum City 4, Code: 191

Sunday October 9 at 11:00, Lotte Centum City 3, Code: 420

Tuesday October 11 at 11:00, Megabox Haeundae M, Code: 701

Goodbye First Love (Mia Hansen-Love, France/Germany)

Friday October 7 at 17:00, Megabox Haeundae M, Code: 571

Wednesday October 12 at 11:00, Megabox Haeundae 8, Code: 734

Wednesday October 12  at 11:00, Megabox Haeundae 9, Code: 739

Thursday October 13 at 10:00, CGV Centum City 4, Code: 324