Tag Archives: North Korea

Escape (2024) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): An old-fashioned South Korean thriller

Posted on July 16, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean film “Escape” is something I might enjoy more around, say, 30 years ago. During that time, I was an avid consumer of those grim horror stories about North Korea, and I must say that the movie is curiously … Continue reading →

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Beyond Utopia (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Away from North Korea

Posted on February 6, 2024 by kaist455

Documentary film “Beyond Utopia”, which won the Audience Award when it was premiered at the US Documentary Competition section of the Sundance Film Festival early in last year, is alternatively chilling and harrowing in its close observation of several North … Continue reading →

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Assassins (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): A close look into one infamous assassination case

Posted on August 15, 2021 by kaist455

Documentary film “Assassins” gives us a close look into one infamous assassination case which surprised many of us a few years ago. On February 13th, 2017, a certain prominent North Korean exile was assassinated right in the middle of Kuala … Continue reading →

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Steel Rain 2: Summit (2020) ☆☆(2/4): A jumbled South Korean geopolitical thriller

Posted on July 30, 2020 by kaist455

South Korean film “Steel Rain 2: Summit”, which is a sort of retread instead of being a direct sequel to “Steel Rain” (2017), a jumbled geopolitical thriller which tries too many things at once. While it strives to maintain its … Continue reading →

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Steel Rain (2017) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A race against another Korean war

Posted on July 29, 2020 by kaist455

South Korean film “Steel Rain”, which I somehow missed when it was released in South Korean theaters around the end of 2017, is so fast, efficient, and urgent during its first half that it let me down during its middling … Continue reading →

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The Interview (2014) ☆☆(2/4) : An insipid comedy less funny than its hoopla

Posted on January 6, 2015 by kaist455

  I am sure most of you have already heard about all these fusses around a comedy film called “The Interview”. The movie was scheduled to get a wide release in US and Canada in last December, but Sony suddenly … Continue reading →

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Observatory and Summerhouses (06/28/12)

Posted on July 3, 2012 by kaist455

                                                              Goseong area is right next to the military demarcation line between North Korea and South Korea. You can see North Korea land at the Unification Observatory. The scenery of the coast line facing East Sea is so beautiful that … Continue reading →

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Dooman River (2010) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4) : Bleak sorrow on a frozen river

Posted on July 3, 2011 by kaist455

The cold, white bleakness dominates over South Korean art house movie “Dooman River”. With its simple storytelling, it presents us an austere view on the world which is alien even to the South Korean audiences. While observing its people, this … Continue reading →

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Poongsan (2011) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4) : A Man between North and South

Posted on June 28, 2011 by kaist455

Some movies depend on very preposterous premise you cannot believe easily, and “Poongsan”, one of the latest South Korean movies, is a good case. How can he cross the border between South Korea and North Korea so easily? How can … Continue reading →

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