Saw the South Korean film, The Good, the Bad, the Weird today; it stars Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung . Set in the Manchuria desert plains of the 1930s. It is a mish mash of spaghetti western, adventure, comedy and some insane gun-fight sequences. It contains a legion of Korean, Manchurian and Russian bandits all after treasure and fame, chasing and being chased by each other and the Japanese Imperial Army. The camera works for this film is just amazing, the sound track to die for, and the 3 actors with their unique quirks and flaws is truly stunning. The film is flamboyant, entertaining and just so well put together. Don’t expect secrets of the universe, expect to have some fun.

The wiki blurb about the movie:

The Bad (a hitman) is hired to acquire a treasure map from a Japanese official traveling on a train, The Weird (a thief) steals the map from the Japanese official when he robs him on the train. The Bad just after manages to stop the train and a slaughter of Japanese and Manchurian guards ensues. The Good (a Bounty hunter) appears on the scene with his shotgun in hand and tries to kill The Bad. Meanwhile The Weird manages to escape to the Ghost Market, to figure the map out and escape from his pursuers. In this unpredictable, escalating battle for the map with the Japanese Army, and Manchurian bandits also after the map, who will survive and claim the supposed treasure?

Off to watch some more Korean films.

Saw the South Korean film, The Good, the Bad, the Weird today; it stars Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung . Set in the Manchuria desert plains of the 1930s. It is a mish mash of spaghetti western, adventure, comedy and some insane gun-fight sequences. It contains a legion of Korean, Manchurian and Russian bandits all after treasure and fame, chasing and being chased by each other and the Japanese Imperial Army. The camera works for this film is just amazing, the sound track to die for, and the 3 actors with their unique quirks and flaws is truly stunning. The film is flamboyant, entertaining and just so well put together. Don’t expect secrets of the universe, expect to have some fun.

The wiki blurb about the movie:

The Bad (a hitman) is hired to acquire a treasure map from a Japanese official traveling on a train, The Weird (a thief) steals the map from the Japanese official when he robs him on the train. The Bad just after manages to stop the train and a slaughter of Japanese and Manchurian guards ensues. The Good (a Bounty hunter) appears on the scene with his shotgun in hand and tries to kill The Bad. Meanwhile The Weird manages to escape to the Ghost Market, to figure the map out and escape from his pursuers. In this unpredictable, escalating battle for the map with the Japanese Army, and Manchurian bandits also after the map, who will survive and claim the supposed treasure?

Off to watch some more Korean films.

So, apparently still SLEEPY sick.

I saw Antique the other day, the Korean version of Fumi Yoshinaga’s Antique Bakery. OMFG! I’m in love with the film. It is one of the best adaptations of the original manga I have ever seen… well, it beats the J-drama of it years ago, though apparently there is a new J-drama of the manga series, but seriously, NOT interested, because this film is AWESOME and just absolutely perfect.

The story, for those of you who don’t know; Jin Hyeok, an heir to a corporate fortune with the money, intelligence and looks to do anything he wants in life decide that he wants to open a cake shop in the hope of meeting women because, well, more women buy cakes than men. He decides to hire Seon Woo, one of the most talented pâtissier around, who is gay, and back during his high school days had a crush on Jin Hyeok, which Jin Hyeok reciprocated by a cake to the face and some very bad words, um, yeah, some issues there. To make matters more complicated Seon Woo is deadly with his charms, and men have a tendency to fall in love with him when he turn those charms on, except Jin Hyeok for some reason is completely immune to them, so they can only hire men to work at the shop. Together with Ki-beom, an ex-boxing champion and Soo Yeong, a clueless bodyguard, the four of them work in their cake shop, Antique.

The pacing of this film is insane yet it never feels rushed. It goes from drama to comedy to drama to comedy. Unfortunately being a two hour film, it can only focus on Jin Hyeok and Seon Woo’s issues and relationship, and oh boy, do the two of them have issues, while briefly touching on Ki Beom’s decision to quit boxing and Soo Yeong... well, it deals with Soo Yeong. It introduces a series of relatively important supporting characters through an awesome musical number. Yes, musical number, the first half of the film is crammed with at least 3 musical numbers all involving baking and cake in some way, shape or form. It is awesome.

The casting is sublime; Joo Ji Hoon as Kim Jin Hyeok (Tachibana), Kim Jae Wook as Min Seon Woo (Ono), Yoo Ah In as Yang Ki Beom (Eiji), Choi Ji Ho as Nam Soo Yeong (Chikage), oh, and Andy Gillet as Jean-Baptise Evan. Both Joo Ji Hoon (JJH) and Kim Jae Wook (KJW) use to be models, so there are many, and I mean many photos of the two of them looking very good. The added bonus is that both of them are really good actors too! JJH continues to show audience that he can play anything from the fictional Korean Royal Prince to a lawyer to a rich guy who owns a cake-shop. And KJW is, well, he is new by comparison, and most fans knows him as Waffle!Guy from ‘Coffee Prince’, but he is so good in this film.

Overall, I haven’t enjoyed an Asian film this much in a very long time. LOVE this so very much.