who finds them likable? the 3 main ones are all maladjusted at best.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 19:09 (five years ago) link
the two men are sociopaths
I should say, the likability of the performances. Or the sheen of likability about both Ben and Haemi, with disturbances beneath the surface. Jongsu is in some permanent funk, but there's still the fumbling suggestion of someone likable, for a while. Then, not anymore.
― abcfsk, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 19:53 (five years ago) link
I don't dislike Burning, but that anyone can find the characters likable is a bigger mystery to me than anything in the film.
― Frederik B,
I'm not seeing this? Steven Yeun made his empty vessel Gatsby fascinating. It could be I have a fascination with these types.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 20:38 (five years ago) link
I find it very hard to discuss this without spoiling the film, but it seems like there's a pretty major plot point people are ignoring...
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 21:03 (five years ago) link
I can't believe Alfred doesn't think the Yeun character is a sociopath. He spells it out in his own dialogue.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 21:16 (five years ago) link
Better: Ben wants Jongsu to think he's a bad ass/sociopath.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 21:18 (five years ago) link
It's not what he says, it's what he does
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 21:40 (five years ago) link
...and ppl disagree on what he does offscreen
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 21:43 (five years ago) link
Lol. People are stupid.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 21:44 (five years ago) link
I'm curious to know what the notionally ignored plot point is.
― brokenshire (jed_), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 21:47 (five years ago) link
All the signs point in one direction, but I guess that explains why people think the film is 'mysterious'.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 21:48 (five years ago) link
It doesn't matter.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 21:49 (five years ago) link
Lol
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:04 (five years ago) link
fwiw Yeun said that Lee told him to decide for himself whether his character did X, and not to tell him.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:05 (five years ago) link
so shove it, Fred
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:06 (five years ago) link
None of the damning implications about Korean society makes sense without X, and it says so much about how far western film critic society has their heads up their asses that they just go 'it doesn't matter'.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:09 (five years ago) link
I'll defer to you, Korean sociologist.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:13 (five years ago) link
so I assume Slant is unveiling Friday -- Indiewire too?
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:15 (five years ago) link
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), 12. december 2018 23:13 (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Yeah, what a strange idea, being a film critic and delving into the context of a film I'm reviewing.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:17 (five years ago) link
Is there a reason why you're so unpleasant or is it a aggro straight guy thing? We don't agree about a film's conclusion. Big deal.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:21 (five years ago) link
Dude.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:36 (five years ago) link
I don't mean to be unpleasant, but if you think this plotpoint doesn't matter, and if you don't care about what the film says about Korean society, you're a shit film critic. Sorry, but that's how I feel. I guess we don't agree about film criticism, then. Big deal?
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:40 (five years ago) link
How'd you reach the conclusion that I "don't care about what the film says about Korean society"?
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:42 (five years ago) link
This banter reminds me of my humanities professor when asked about The Simpsons: "It's a serious comment on the American scene." So are the proliferation of CVS and Dunkin Donuts.
Anyway, despite your intemperate and boorish howling, Violet Lucca made your point several months ago with more finesse:
Still, Jongsoo’s dedication to proving Ben has done something to Haemi also establishes him as the rich man’s foil. Like the U.S., Korean society puts a great deal of value on hard work—it’s a positive trait that’s supposedly rewarded with money and security—which makes Ben’s aloofness and “playing” worthy of punishment on some level. It’s the same sense of a natural social order that should allow Jongsoo and Haemi to be more successful than their own parents, as their parents were more successful than theirs. Instead, the little and great hungers eat away at them, pushing them toward even greater extremes: more debt, more doubt, more malice.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 22:45 (five years ago) link
You don't think that's a stupid and poor-shaming reading of the film?
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 23:00 (five years ago) link
Do go on.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 23:02 (five years ago) link
Paju province is a complete dead end. Haemi is not some especially 'hungry' person, she is a victim of regional inequality that wages everything on becoming an idol, and ends up as a 'barn'. And damn right Jongsoo and Haemi should be more succesful than their parents, South Korea was basically governed by the military until 1993 (making it a pretty dark subject where Ben inherited his money from). They are the first generation born in freedom. Lucca is interpolating the US unto Korea instead of delving into the context.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 23:08 (five years ago) link
not really sure how that contradicts lucca's take
― devvvine, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 23:13 (five years ago) link
It's like watching 'Do the Right Thing' and thinking it's about how people should do what the police says.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 23:15 (five years ago) link
Also, it's just wrong. Jongsoo spends a lot of time thinking Ben burns barns, because Ben claims he burns barns. Jongsoo only becomes 'conspiratorial' after he finds pretty strong signs that something conspiratorial has happened. This is just a fact, plain and simple. There's not a single indication that he thinks otherwise before he has reason to think otherwise. Not a single one.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 23:19 (five years ago) link
have had to skip over the last 30+ posts so Burning isn't spoiled for me
― Dan S, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 23:38 (five years ago) link
Yeah, sorry, we should have made a different thread.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 23:39 (five years ago) link
Lucca is interpolating the US unto Korea instead of delving into the context.
a lesson to learn when you dive into the U.S. politics thread.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 13 December 2018 00:31 (five years ago) link
That might be the dumbest thing you've written yet.
― Frederik B, Thursday, 13 December 2018 00:38 (five years ago) link
Fred, go to lunch
― I have measured out my life in coffee shop loyalty cards (silby), Thursday, 13 December 2018 00:41 (five years ago) link
preferably a hemlock souffle
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 13 December 2018 00:55 (five years ago) link
My only objection is that we don't talk seriously about movies on the detrius thread. It's just not done.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Thursday, 13 December 2018 03:12 (five years ago) link
I created these threads so I could enjoy movies in the least-intellectual, most frivolous manner possible.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Thursday, 13 December 2018 03:13 (five years ago) link
shh!
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 13 December 2018 03:13 (five years ago) link
hello!
BURNING (dir. Lee Chang-dong, 2018) - Murakami adaptation feat. Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun, and Jeon Jong-seo
― flappy bird, Thursday, 13 December 2018 03:24 (five years ago) link
xp not sure what you mean by that
― Dan S, Thursday, 13 December 2018 03:29 (five years ago) link
I'm not minding the discussion of Burning, just skipping it
KU's tie at the top is sure to please all
https://www.keithuhlich.com/2018/12/10-for-2018-introduction-list.html
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 13 December 2018 18:23 (five years ago) link
Simply the best.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Thursday, 13 December 2018 18:34 (five years ago) link
he has the courage of his convictions, that's for sure
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 13 December 2018 18:46 (five years ago) link
ayyyy La Flor!
― resident hack (Simon H.), Thursday, 13 December 2018 18:51 (five years ago) link
KU likes If Beale Street, which counts as "a remembrance of things past stagnating at the level of storyboard/previz"
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 13 December 2018 18:56 (five years ago) link
Honestly the only thing I care about in my critics.
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Thursday, 13 December 2018 19:07 (five years ago) link
what's this guy's deal with women, or possibly writers? The Favourite is "rancidly homophobic" on the part of the male director, not the female writer, a bunch of actresses are credited for directing a film that had some improvised dialogue, and the first X-Files in 200+ episodes written by women gets credited to the now-extremely-bad male writer who started the show 23 years ago
― sans lep (sic), Thursday, 13 December 2018 19:09 (five years ago) link