#go seo-hee

[rookie-critic]

Memories of Murder (2003, dir. Bong Joon-ho) - review by Rookie-Critic

Prior to 2019 (really 2020, if we want to get really specific) there probably weren't a lot of people in the States who could tell you who Bong Joon-ho is if pressed. Nowadays, after Bong's historic first non-English language Best Picture win for Parasite, most people would at least identify the name as familiar, and for good reason. Parasite is undoubtedly amazing; its message is both regionless and timeless, it has superb acting and brilliant cinematography, it is one of the best films of the modern era, if not any era. However, prior to Parasite, back in the days when Bong's fanbase outside of his native South Korea was limited to foreign film lovers and people who really liked Snowpiercer, most people would probably point to his breakout film, Memories of Murder, as his best work, and for a lot of the same reasons that people point to Parasite as his best now.

I'm not entirely sure why it has taken me so long to sit down and watch this considering how much I've enjoyed the other films of his that I've seen, but I'm glad I finally did. Following the true story of the detectives that investigated the Hwaseong serial murders of the mid-80s to the mid-90s, the film works as both a gripping crime thriller and a social satire of the failings of the legal system and the corrupt nature of a lot of its employees. One of our protagonists, Detective Park Doo-man (played brilliantly as always be Song Kang-ho) as well as his partner Detective Cho Yong-koo, are horrible police officers. They fake evidence, they torture victims until they'll confess to anything to make it stop, and they scoff at real investigative discoveries and excuse them as the other detectives "watching too many crime movies" (which in and of itself is an amazing line that both pokes fun at and winks a respectful eye towards the crime films that it follows in the legacy of); all they care about is putting someone away, regardless of if the person is actually guilty of the crime they're accused of committing or not. You can watch the film purely from a plot perspective and be entertained and engrossed, but much like Parasite, the true genius of it lies within this satirical commentary.

The knowledge that maybe the killer could have been stopped, victims could have been saved, if more resources had been poured into actually searching for the real killer instead of trying to put away people who obviously had nothing to do with it is maddening, but somehow Bong is able to inject humor throughout the film that makes all of these frustrating people and darker moments have a brief sense of levity without taking away from the nature of the subject matter. It's truly amazing the way he is able to craft stories that are not only interesting from a surface level perspective, but that contain darker themes and complex social commentary that even casual moviegoers can pick up on and appreciate, and then even with all of that blend comedy and drama so seamlessly you rarely notice the change. Another element of the film that I personally found brilliant, and that I briefly mentioned above, is the way that it seems to be a love letter to the crime dramas/thrillers that came before it and a criticism of them at the same time. If you've been following my reviews for awhile, you'll know how deeply I appreciate films that are able to strike that balance (Scream, Nope, etc.). The ability to acknowledge the problems with a genre without completely dismissing the films that portray those flaws as lesser or bad is something that just appeals to me on such a core level. This may just sound like a meeting of the Bong Joon-ho Fan Club, but it is truly awe-inspiring that he can make a film that has something for everyone in it, and can make everyone enjoy the other bits that, in any other movie, they may not have.

Now, Memories of Murder isn't perfect, it is only Bong's second film and some of those early film maker pitfalls exist here. A lot of the first half of the movie tends to drag a bit, and there may be certain scenes that could have cut or sequences that could have been re-edited to keep that sense of urgency (or maybe even the lack thereof on the part of the detectives) a little more present and flowing. Also, and I know I just got done ranting about how great this exact quality was, but sometimes the injection of humor could overtake the film a little too much. It doesn't happen but maybe once or twice, but I did take note of those moments as something that stood out to me, at least. Outside of these few kinks, Memories of Murder just further proves that Bong Joon-ho just knows what he's doing, and I can safely add another film to the "great" column of his filmography, and hopefully soon I can finish out watching the rest of them.

Score: 9/10

Currently streaming on Hulu.

[swampflix]

Memories of Murder (2003)

Bong Joon-ho’s 2003 feature 살인의 추억 (Memories of Murder) is an example of a familiar genre made unfamiliar in its trappings, at least at first. Initially, this is because it is set in the yesteryear of 1986—and, as L.P. Hartley noted in his 1953 novel The Go-Between, “the past is a foreign country” where things are done differently—but also because it takes place in the South Korean city of…

[letterboxd-loggd]

Memories of Murder (살인의 추억) (Salinui chueok) (2003) Bong Joon-ho

December 28th 2022

[mooniiify]

stress-packing — go kyung jun

requested by: @mattybsgf

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

kyung jun was laying on your bed, head propped on the headboard as he toyed with a plushie he’d stolen from your bed — one he’d won for you at the arcade about a year ago. he watched as you walked around your room, hand running through your hair occasionally.

your room was a mess. your pink suitcase laid open on the ground near the bed, stray pieces of clothing and make-up products thrown over as you continued searching for whatever else you needed.

it was the day before your long-anticipated school trip. you were to be at the school to catch the bus at 7:30 in the next morning. kyung jun checked the time on his phone. it was nearing eleven. he would have to start heading home soon, even though he didn’t want to.

“kyung jun, have you seen my hair rollers? i can’t find them anywhere.” you were rummaging through a drawer next to your desk, not looking at him.

kyung jun sighed. “no. i told you not to pack last minute, dumbass.”

“hey, i have a lot of minutes left before we have to catch the bus!” you stood up and moved over to another cupboard. “hah! there they are.” you tossed that on the pile atop your suitcase as well.

kyung jun sighed and stood up, putting the plushie back where he’d gotten it from. he sat on the ground, in front of the suitcase, and sorted through the clothing and non-clothing items, putting them in two neat piles before he moved to fold the first shirt on top of the pile. he furrowed his eyebrows at the familiarity.

“you’re packing my shirt for the school trip?”

y/n was going through her closed again, not looking at kyung jun. “you got a problem with that?”

“tch, no.” he folded the shirt and put it inside the suitcase before moving on to the next one. “the hell you need all those clothes for? we’re going for a few days only.”

you finally looked back. “better safe than sorry!” then your eyebrows furrowed as you finally took in the situation. “are you folding my clothes?”

“what does it look like?”

you couldn’t help but smile at the sight. walking over, you dropped your tub of vaseline in the non-clothing pile then crouched down next to kyung jun, wrapping your arms around his shoulders from the side and pressing a kiss on his cheek.

he smiled, turning his head just enough so he can look at her from the corner of his eye. “what was that for?”

you shrugged. “you’re cute.”

kyung jun rolled his eyes, but his smile didn’t falter. “never say that in public.”

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

just some random thoughts. hope you liked! feel free to send other requests !

[chhagiya]

Ok, so for the time being I’m just scanning the pages. I have a few days off next month, so I’m gonna thoroughly read the book then. I finished translating (with Papago) episode 3 of SFH and started episode 4. Here are my rough takeaways:

1. Jung Woo is definitely an unreliable narrator. Some parts of the script is written in a way where it seems like Jung Woo is writing a scene and then the camera pans out to it. Also, our Jung Woo sshi probably imagined this Moon Jo face (I LOVE this face of him 😍😍😍 he he )

2. Moon Jo doesn’t sweat even in sweltering heat

3. Moon Jo seemed to be listening to music while he was eating Tupperware meat. In series, he was just sitting.

4. Jung Woo seemed to have fallen ON Moon Jo ? In the dead cat in the bag in alley scene. Moon Jo tapped his shoulder so JW gets up. In the series, JW gets up by himself

Overall: the script is deliberately written in a way where it seems …. a bit ambiguous. It IS meant to be open ended. The confusion is intentional. The storytelling is absolutely amazing !!!!! And so far, no mention of MJ having a wife and kid (I have heard this theory so many times before) . If it’s mentioned later, I’ll post. So far, no background information on Seo Moon Jo is given in the scriptbook

[prbni]

Chemistry between actors was amazing, but the storyline tho... in KDrama

Kang Sora as Oh Hara and Jung Seungjo as Goo Eun Beom in Strangers Again: the story ruined everything

Lee Jaewook as Baek Kyung and Kim Hye Yoon as Eun Dan Oh in Extraordinary You:only if Baek Kyung wasn't written as a red flag by the manhwa writer

Jeon Doyeon as Gil Bok Soon and Koo Kyo hwan as Han Hee Seong in Kill Bok Soon: the storyline was good for a crime thriller but unfortunate for them

Moon Sangmin as Lee Jihan and Jeon Jong Seo as Na Ah Jung in Wedding Impossible :they get happy ending but the storyline was messy imo

Lee Jaewook as Han Tae Oh and Choi Hee Jin as Kang Hee Joo in The Impossible Heir : yall know why. Everything in this drama was messed up except the chemistry between these two actors

Ki Do Hoon as Yangcha and Kim Ji Won as Tanya in Arthdal Chronicles: basically Kim Ji Won has chemistry with everyone she acts alongside

Lee Jae In as Lee Yoon Seo and Cha Woo Min as Ko Kyung Jun in Night Has Come: honestly I didn't even consider them before I saw all those edits on YT

Go Youn Jung as Jung Jisoo and Seo In Guk as Kim Seong Hyeop in Death's Game: even the smallest moments between them was enough to establish how beautiful chemistry they had

Lee Dohyun as Go Chang Myung and IU as Jang Man Wol in Hotel Del Luna: one of the best pairings in a KDrama to exist

[tokyicons]

k actress icons

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[dreamsandstars24]

nIGHT HAS COME-EPISODE 7,8,9,10 AND 11 (PART 1)

EPISODE 7 (Up there)

EPISODE 8 UP THRERE - I promise this is not a BL.

[dramavenue]

[junkobato]

Kdrama of 2023 ✨

This year too I will update a list of kdrama airing every month. Enjoyy 😚

JANUARY - FEBRUARY - MARCH - APRIL - MAY - JUNE - JULY - AUGUST - SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER - NOVEMBER - DECEMBER

BEST KDRAMA 2023 part 1 - Part 2

List of 2022 kdrama 💙

[kdram-chjh]

Kdrama: She Was Pretty (2015)

She was pretty | second lead syndrome 😭 | kdrama

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4xqoeWYJS2o

[fluffyyewon]

yeeee_kk 🖤

rainbowoori 뭐얌 진짜 이쁘넹?ㅋㅋㅋ❤️ bira__h 존예다 우런니🥹♥️♥️♥️♥️ rteeofficial 아이고 이쁘다~~

se0soohee 언니 너무 예뿌자나악🤤

soulfiller 와😍

photoleee 미모포텐🔥

[kdrama-movies-more]

[stuff-diary]

Twinkling Watermelon

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2023

Twinkling Watermelon (2023, South Korea)

Directors: Son Jung Hyun & Yoo Beom Sang

Writer: Jin Soo Wan

Mini-review:

I loved Twinkling Watermelon so so much. This drama made my Mondays and Tuesdays for eight weeks. The story might not be groundbreaking, but it's incredibly well-written and fun. I was afraid the plot would be too simple to make it through 16 one-hour episodes, but it never dragged at all. There was always something to look forward to, and many of the twists caught me by surprise. On top of that, the writer gave us two fantastic love stories. Seriously, both of them are among the best I've seen in a K-drama. But the real focus of the show is the friendship between all the main characters, and its portrayal of youth was really heartwarming and nostalgic. And the whole cast was incredible too, they absolutely delivered at every turn. The only flaw I can point out is that the representation wasn't perfect, and they should've hired at least some deaf actors. Besides that, I don't have any complaints. I might go as far as saying this is one of my favorite dramas of all time, and I'm gonna miss it so much.

[blmpff]

imbc_news on twt 14.04.2023

[namjhyun]

MOVIE REVIEW | A Year-End Medley (2021)

Following the structure of Love Actually but using quintessential korean elements, A Year End Medley follows a group of people learning to live through heartbreak and disappointment, first love and second chances, and figuring out the best way to support your friends.

This film knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything else. The director fully understand what needs to be done to get the viewer invested in every storyline. That's a difficult task when you have a cast as big and star-studded as this one, where everyone is bringing their A+ game. Even the random 30 second cameos that you don't expect are really fun to watch.

The music is fun and catchy, making you feel at ease and immediately in the happy holidays mood.

I really liked this film. It left me a big smile and a feel good warmth when it ended. I recommend it.