03. 주유소 습격사건 - Attack the Gas Station (1999)

about four guys that rob a gas station out of boredom. when the gas station is low on cash they decide to run the place for the night. of course throughout the night they have their run ins with gangs, cops, customers, and chinese food delivery boys. this is probably one of the first korean movies i watched. so i hold this comedy near and dear as one of my old school favorites. as a piece of cinema it isn't anything spectacular. but it does have some hilarious dialogue and enjoyable schoolyard violence.

you have some famous actors in their early careers. Lee Seong Jae (이성재) of Public Enemy, Yoo Oh Seong (유오성) of Friend, and Yoo Ji-tae (유지태) of Old Boy. there is some questionable camera work and cheap special effects which makes the film look like its more from the year 1990 than 2000. but korea was recovering from economic troubles left by the IMF and making a low budget film this enjoyable was a feat in itself.

02. 마이 파더 - My Father (2007)

based on the true story of Aaron Bates, the film follows a korean-american adoptee who travels back to korea in hopes of finding his birth parents. he does find his father who has been in jail for murder and sitting on death row. the adoptee is played by Daniel Henney, who is actually half korean and half white. honestly i was kind of reluctant to believe that he could act but this role i think hits some common chords for Henney. all in all he doesn't do a bad job for a former model turned actor. there is one monologue towards the end of the movie that Henney is given and i thought he lost me there. too often i felt like his emotions were limited. anyways moving on from the Henney bashing...

i thought the saving point of the movie was Kim Young Cheol (김영철) who plays the birth father. his character has a crippled leg which he did a great job of selling. reminded me of Kevin Spacey's crippled walk in The Usual Suspects. his character is forced to be reminded of his past and has no other choice but to be confronted with his sins. he does a pretty good job of making the audience feel for him, which was the root of controversy saying that the film glorified the life of a murderer. it depends on your perspective but regardless it does make for an interesting plot. all in all, thought the film could have been stronger towards the end and the climax was not very climatic.

01. 과속스캔들 - Speedy Scandal (2008)

the movie is about a past idol/singer, played by Cha Tae Hyeon (차태현), who's fame has dwindled over the years until present time where he's a radio talk show host. he is shocked to discover that he has an illegitimate daughter. more so than being "discovered", she showed up at his front door. to make things more interesting she brings along her illegitimate son. at first i found it pretty shocking that teen pregnancy was being glorified or at least made acceptable in a korean movie. a 30 something year old being a grandfather? this ain't the hood with baby mamas and crack babies... i could already imagine the older korean generations watching this, shaking their heads in discouragement.

well regardless the whole illegitimate children storyline sets up the movie for some really funny moments. i thought they did an excellent job with the casting. Cha Tae Hyeon (차태현) gave a solid performance that for me was as memorable as My Sassy Girl (엽기적인 그녀). playing the daughter is the very talented and very cute Park Bo Yeong (박보영) who's performance in this movie put her on the map. overall i recommend you go watch this movie. when you do watch it look out for the go-stop scene. ^^