Halfway through my viewing today. It has been a good one so far.
–Traffic was mighty crazy this morning, with the Farmer’s Market and everything else going on. My early morning vow to not pay anymore for parking this weekend was thrown out the window instantly, in lieu of being on time for our first movie, MEMORIES OF MURDER….a short windy walk downtown and we got there no problem.
MEMORIES OF MURDER
This is a Bong Joon Ho film I had been meaning to see for quite a while now, and was thrilled to get the chance. Inspired by Korea’s first serial killer in the 80′s this film is part murder mystery, part police procedural, part character study, part comedy, part thriller…all juggled with great skill. There is never a clear delineation as to when a tonal shift will occur, but that is part of what makes Joon-Ho’s films unique and exciting. The first time I saw THE HOST, this totally threw me, and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. But, it totally works on all levels here.
The visual backdrop of the gorgeous countryside here really helps accentuate the horrors of the story unfolding around the characters who are, really, all unprepared for what they will end up having to endure. Much like ZODIAC, there is a great examination of obsession with solving the case. The main characters are like mirror images, both with different strengths and weaknesses, both ending up changed for better or worse through the entire ordeal trying to catch the killer. There is quite a bit of humor too, which serves to help make the characters more human, while also helping relieve the tension and dread of many of the scenes. Some memorable scenes include a woman on a late night walk in the rain by a rice paddy, a scene that takes place at the mouth of a darkened train tunnel as tensions are coming to a head, and a police re-enactment in a paddy with fast tracking shots taking us through the action of 2 separate groups, police and reporters/family as chaos begin to take over.
Bong Joon-Ho really uses everything at his disposal in telling a story, and this is a great example. The audience was really into it…including a woman behind me who kept exclaiming “Oh shit!” periodically throughout the film. Can’t wait for BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE tomorrow.
–My son and I went home to get the rest of our family, and zoomed back downtown to see A TOWN CALLED PANIC. My 6 year old was told he had a month to learn French before we saw this movie. He wasn’t interested. I had hoped that the kinetic energy of the story would carry him along to where it really didn’t matter…and it didn’t.
A TOWN CALLED PANIC
This movie is complete surreal insanity captured in an animated film. Cowboy and Indian decide to build Horse a brick barbecue for his birthday. They accidentally order too many bricks. This sends them through a ridiculous amount of adventures that include going to the center of the earth, a giant robotic penguin and swordfish used as arrows. There is so much craziness and pure joy packed into 75 minutes, that trying to describe it much further would not do it justice. Much like an episode of FAMILY GUY that crams so many jokes and gags into one episode that at the end you feel like you have just worked out in the gym…this film has the same philosophy. The run time is just right…we laughed out loud pretty much throughout, it could have overstayed it’s welcome but didn’t…its’ whimsy was infectious. Great stuff.
—So we are home for a break….and my older son and I are heading back down for coffee, GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, coffee, more coffee, and INTO THE PIT.
My son also took a digger on the way to line up at the Orpheum..he was turning to tell me something, stepped in a broken part of the sidewalk, tripped and did a barrel roll. He was fine…and we all laughed and laughed…even some guys sitting on the parking garage got a good laugh. It was my wife’s favorite moment of the afternoon. Hopefully the night will keep getting better.
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