Earlier today I stumbled across something I probably shouldn't have seen. And it definitely wasn't meant to be seen either. And now I need a vent. This blog is not the place to do it.
So I'll try writing about something else to take my mind off of it. For now.
Watched a couple of Korean films recently, both similar in genre: I Saw the Devil (2010) and The Chaser (2008). I Saw the Devil is about a detective who goes on a hunt for revenge after his pregnant fiance is the most recent victim of a serial killer. He blurs the lines between moral right and wrong as he stalks this killer, blind with rage and hurt. Great film, I have to say. For me, revenge-stories are a guilty pleasure of sorts in terms of movie type. Gotta love antiheroes. The Chaser has a slightly similar scenario. A detective-turned-pimp must use his skills from his former job after several of his girls go missing. Spoiler alert (not really): it's a serial killer. But the interesting thing is, apparently this movie is loosely inspired by an actual Korean serial killer who killed prostitutes and such. Also, this movie features a hammer. Seriously, what is it about Korean killers and hammers? (Oldboy reference). Anyways, The Chaser is also a pretty good film. Had to say I enjoyed Devil more, but they're both worthy of a watch.
Browsing the netflix, and came across Strictly Ballroom (1992). Had to watch it. It's about a fella who dances competitively, but he detests the strict regulations of certain-steps-only dancing in the competition and wants to incorporate some of his own, flashy, crowd-pleaser steps. Of course, this gets him in trouble. He loses the first competition, his partner ditches him, and his coaches and friends are none too pleased. Then the story turns into an ugly duckling type of story when another dancer approaches him and asks to be his partner, and even wants to do his steps. This of course leads to some friction with the coaches and such, since the girl is a beginner. But apparently she's of some Spanish origin, because her entire family does the Paso Doble and the guy learns some kick ass Paso Doble from the girl's father.
My main irk about this movie? The actors and the set are in Australia. And whoa, are their accents thick. For the first 5-10 minutes of the movie, I could barely understand what anyone was saying. I think this has something to do with Baz Luhrmann directing. Now realized the chap's from Australia. He also did Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!, so I get a feeling of some dazzle-style, colors, music, art. Did a bit of research, and evidently these three films were his "red curtain trilogy," which was a reference to a certain style of film making. And his parents did ballroom competitions, which explains for the use of neat ballroom choreography in Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge!, but I really don't remember Romeo+Juliet well enough to throw that in in terms of personal experience.
Speaking of ballroom films, I watched the original Shall We Dance? (1996), that is, the Japanese film. (Shall We "Dansu?" heh heh.) The Richard Gere-Jennifer Lopez version of the film is definitely nearly identical to the Japanese one, except for one thing: the culture difference, obviously. What I found really interesting about the Japanese film was how it opens with a brief narration on married couples and ballroom dance in Japan during that time. I don't know how it is now, but apparently in 1996, according to the narration, Japanese married couples weren't exactly the most PDA-type of people. So for couples to even consider ballroom dancing, where they'd be in close, seemingly-affectionate embraces in front of an audience to see, would be embarrassing. And then for either man or woman to dance with other partners: shameful.
No idea if that's actually true or not, but that's the theme they stuck with in making this film. They even showed the married couple sleeping in separate beds in this movie. Huh. Interesting. 1996 Japan? Go figure. The thing is, this Japanese social stigma associated with ballroom dancing at the time is a key difference that separates it from the 2004 Hollywood version of the same film. Ballroom dancing started out as an English sport, so it makes sense that it carried over and is perfectly acceptable in American society. But the 2004 story is set in America, while the Japanese one is set nearly a decade earlier. The time difference is a factor. The culture difference is a factor. I guess what I'm trying to say is, Mr. Sugiyama, the protagonist in the 1996 film, has a stronger conflict to deal with compared to the Richard Gere-character in the 2004 film. The potential for embarrassment is higher, the potential shameful consequences are higher, etc. And you just don't get that in the 2004 film. I think it's an interesting dynamic.
Then there's Harry Potter 7.2, as I'm calling it. Self explanatory if you're even vaguely familiar with the series. It's good, but I wouldn't call it epic. Who knows, maybe it's because I'm just not as big of a Harry Potter fan as some of my friends are. Sometimes I wish I was. I feel like I missed out on a big part of being a kid by not reading the Harry Potter books when I was little-er. Thanks mom, and all your spiels about "Harry Potter is about witches and magic and sorcery! It's un-Christian! You're not reading these books!" Yeah, well, if you'd stuck around long enough, you'd find out Harry is basically a Christ figure in the end. So suck on that!
Just kidding. But really, it was the summer before and the beginning of my senior year in high school before I finally caught up and read all 7 Harry Potter books. I started because that was the summer book 7 came out, and it was all hypey-hypey, so I figured "What the hell, might as well read 'em." And the rest is history, I suppose.
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