Monthly Archives: February 2013

The Mysterious Master

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joaquin

Just saw The Master.  No, not the TV series with Lee Van Cleef playing a ninja (I’m not kidding), though I have seen that as well, but I digress.  Anyway, some random thoughts.

1. For a film with some of the most unpleasant characters ever, it is unbelievably beautiful to look at.  How is it that it wasn’t nominated for best cinematography this year?  The mind boggles.

2. Joaquin Phoenix is genuinely frightening to watch, on a wholly different level than some other unglued characters I’ve seen on cinema.  Why is that?  I thought of Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.  As messed up as Travis was, I understood him.  I never understood Frank Quell, ergo, I was terrified of him and his inscrutable actions.

3. As strange as this may sound, Crispin Glover’s George McFly came to mind when I saw the way Phoenix physically held himself in this movie.

mcfly

4. Overall, this is a movie to be admired but not felt.  In a way, it reminds me of the way I feel about the very best modern art – which is never as much as I wish it to be.  The talent is obvious.  The themes are bold.  But it’s as if I’ve been invited to an interesting party whose reason for being is never clear.

Bridging the Linguistic Divide

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The nice folks at Koream Journal have printed a short essay I wrote.  Check it out!

Bridging the Linguistic Divide

 

For the first 10 years of my life, I lived in South Korea, though I must say, I didn’t feel Korean. Maybe I was too young. Or maybe I had no basis for comparison, since this was the only country I knew. Everything changed in 1981, when I came to America with my family.

More than three decades later, I’ve become more American than Korean. This is as it should be, and really, it can’t be helped.  I don’t think much about my home country anymore because it is no longer my home. There are times when nationalistic pride for the motherland strikes me, like during the Olympics, though if it’s South Korea vs. USA, I just end up feeling guilty. Would it be possible for all soccer matches between these two nations to end in a tie? That’d be perfect. And if Apple and Samsung could become BFFs again, that’d be great, too.

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Best Picture Oscars 2013

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As of today, I’ve seen all nine of the Best Picture nominated films of 2012.  To celebrate, here’s a haiku for each.

amour

Amour

Love, Haneke style:
which means this movie really
should have been called Haine.
 argo

Argo

Fake movie saves lives!
Is it any wonder that
this will win best pic?
 beasts

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Katrina story
with little girl narrator:
funny, sweet, and sad.
 django Django Unchained

There’s a lot in here:
blood, guts, jokes, and passion — but
it’s just too damn long.
 lesmis

Les Misérables

Interminable
bombast of zooming, singing.
Crowe, keep your day job.
 life

Life of Pi

Parker, fake tiger.
Was I watching Avatar?
It’s no Cast Away.
 lincoln

Lincoln

Daniel Day-Lewis
is Honest Abe incarnate
but all else is snooze.
 silver

Silver Linings Playbook

Cooper and Lawrence
have kooky sparks aplenty
and dance moves as well.
 zero

Zero Dark Thirty

By-the-numbers film
well made and well acted…but
where’s Abu Nazir?

Beasts of the Southern Wild has less than zero dark thirty chance of winning, but it was my favorite film of last year.  For a dramatic movie that depicts the downtrodden without any filters, it made me laugh more than most comedies.  This movie also gets additional kudos for managing to tell its story in 93 minutes.  Less is more!

Silver Linings Playbook is the best pic on deck — who knew that Bradley Cooper had this performance in him?  And De Niro’s bedside speech is perhaps the best work he’s done in the last decade.  The third act is goofy and rote, and I think just about everyone knew (spoiler three words ahead!) that the letter from the wife was a fake, but there was enough goodwill built up in the first two acts that made it forgivable.