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Label... Category... Standard Entry Video Information Press Release Event News

• my 4th

  Friday, Jul 10, 2009 12:52PM / Standard Entry

  lots of walking:  downtown and brooklyn
  lots of good eats:  No. 7 in Brooklyn and Ippudo Ramen
  lots of sunshine~
  
  
  
  
  some vids of the fireworks
  i like the crackling ones that appeared out of nowhere
  
  fun creepy crawly fireworks
  
  
  

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• RAINBOW!

  Saturday, Jul 4, 2009 1:13AM / Standard Entry

  an upside to this tempestuous weather:  a rainbow
  
  
  
  
  

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• "Crossing Heaven's Border", a "Wide Angle" episode

  Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 12:31PM / Standard Entry

  Today's episode of "Wide Angle" was about N. Korean defectors and the risks they take to escape to S. Korea.  Three journalists from the S. Korean paper, the "Chosun Ilbo", spent 10 months at the Chinese-N. Korean border to report on the growing number of N. Koreans sneaking into China.  They even traveled the underground railroad route through China, Laos and Thailand, posing as defectors, to document the journey. 
  
  There are many brave souls out there willing to sacrifice their lives for their families.  It's a deeply moving documentary that should not be missed.
  
  WIDE ANGLE
  
  
  
  

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• summertime

  Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 9:34AM / Standard Entry

  
  
  

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• So Jisub and "Rough Cut"

  Wednesday, Jun 24, 2009 1:58PM / Standard Entry

  *WARNING:  start of fan-girliness*
  
  I'll be frank and admit that the only reason I went to see the NYAFF entry, "Rough Cut" aka "영화는 영화다", was to see S. Korean actor/hottie, So Jisub (소지섭).  He's mostly known from his kdramas, "I'm Sorry, I Love You", "What Happened in Bali" and recently, "Cain and Abel".  Let me get the superficial out of the way:  the man is foine.
  
  
  
  ok, end of fan-girliness.
  The movie itself is about a hot-headed, arrogant celebrity/action star Jang SooTa (Kang JiHwan), who has trouble finding an actor to play opposite him in his next movie.  During filming, he's already put two actors in the hospital for getting carried away in his fight scenes.  Along comes So Jisub's character, Lee GangPae, a real life gangster, who's cast opposite Kang's character because he's willing to engage in real fights with Jang.  (SooTa sounds like "star" and GangPae like "ggangpae", gangster in korean).
  
  Overall, the film is entertaining and works well as an action and a comedy.  However, it's got a forgettable plot that's similar to so many gangster movies.  So Jisub plays a "complex" gangster who struggles between his current career and his new venture.  Of course, in all Korean movies, the gangsters are either one-dimensional numb skulls, or ones who go through an internal conflict, like  Gang-Pae.  We've seen it all before.
  
  Another flaw is the writer/director's need to squeeze in every sort of genre into one film!  What is it with Korean directors and their inconsistencies?  Why does every film, indie or mainstream, need to have a sentimental, cheesy moment, where the music cues in at just the right time?  Lee Myoung Se's "M", also suffered because of the silly romance subplot/revelation. 
  
  However, what's refreshing is the "film within a film" angle and Ko Chang Seok, as the bumbling, eccentric director of the film, provides several comic moments.  So's comedic delivery was actually more believable than his more serious moments.  The fight scenes are exciting and cringe worthy, full of face-pushing/pulling in addition to the standard round house kicks. 
  
  This is a DVD rental-worthy type of movie, unless you're a So Jisub fan.  If you're an uber fan, you should go to the theatre to watch it, because he specifically said, "The movie industry is hurting all over the world, so please support the films by going to the theatres.  Don't download!"
  
  
  
  
  

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97

2/20

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