Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Seung-Gyu is an upper middle class bank manager who’s driving his children to school. While the kids bicker in the backseat, he answers a phone he doesn’t recognize. At first, he assumes it’s his wife’s phone and that the caller is trolling. But when the calls don’t stop, he worries about the what ifs. What if the caller isn’t lying? What if a bomb really will explode if he gets out of his car? What if?
Based on Gong Ji-young’s 2009 novel, “Silenced” is a brutal look at the systematic torture of children at a facility for the hearing impaired. Though Gong’s book is fictional, the stories she tells are based on the decades of real-life abuse that handicapped students endured at the Gwangju Inhwa School for the Deaf.
Based on the 2016 K-drama, “Cheese in the Trap” — which was based on the webtoon of the same name — this film adaptation is a good primer, but it’s lacking in telling the characters’ full stories.
“The Way Home” is a bittersweet film about a young Seoul boy who is forced to spend the summer with his grandmother, who lives in the countryside. It’s not a quaint rural area that rich folks like to vacation in. Rather, it’s a small village where the bus comes on a irregular schedule and an angry cow chases little children.
Set in the 1990s, “Tune in for Love” is a beautiful slice-of-life film focused on a young couple who meet as teenagers, lose touch, and reunite on and off throughout their twenties.
Seok-Bong and Joo-Bong are estranged brothers who reunite for their father’s funeral. Neither one remembers having a close relationship with anyone in their family and dread the thought of spending time with them.
I’m so used to seeing Jo Jung-Suk play the good guy (“Hospital Playlist,” “Oh My Ghost”) that it was fun to watch him chew up the scenery as a bad-boy rich guy who is brutal, immoral and nasty.
“One of my objectives in filmmaking is to bring empathy and understanding to our community,” said “Blue Bayou” writer, director and star, Justin Chon.
“Ashin of the North” is screenwriter Kim Eun-Hee’s concession to “Kingdom” fans, who are eagerly awaiting the third season of the popular Netflix series. This stand-alone episode — or film, depending on how you view it — is entertaining, but not nearly of the same caliber of storytelling as the first two seasons of this zombie period piece.
“Space Sweepers” has a lot of things going for it — great acting, cinematography, special effects. But once you’re done oohing and ahhing at the visual onslaught, it’ll sink in that what the film lacks is a cohesive storyline.