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Showing posts with label The Thieves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Thieves. Show all posts

Wednesday, 6 February 2013

The Thieves (2012)



Finally got to watch the highest-grossing South Korean film last year, The Thieves (도둑들), and I'm glad to say that it lived up to the hype. It's not perfect but it didn't disappoint.

The film opens with a team of South Korean professional thieves, Popie (Lee JungJae), Yenicall (Jun JiHyun), Chewing Gum (Kim HaeSook), and Zampano (Kim SooHyun), on the move to steal an antique bowl. It's enough to set the move of the film, with half of the main characters already introduced with their corresponding roles in the heist group as well. Flash forward to Popie announcing their new anssignment which involves a certain Macao Park (Kim YunSeok) and a group of thieves from Hong Kong,  Chen (Simon Yam), Andrew (Oh DalSoo), Julie (Angelica Lee) and Johnny (Derek Tsang). The heist takes place in a casino but it's really just one necklace they're after.

People have been dubbing The Thieves as South Korea's take on Hollywood's Ocean Eleven and it's close enough, but not quite so since the former's a lot more dramatic. Just don't ask me which one's better because I've never been good at comparing. I'd rather keep this entire rant strictly about our SK film.

There's a whole lot of deception going on in the plot, and I think there's a general consensus that you just can't trust anyone because they're thieves and for goodness's sake, you just can't trust them. Some of them keep this in mind but some just want to get their job done well, in time, in sync. This is until everything goes downhill and they learn that trusting a thief isn't exactly something that they should do regularly. It ends well for some but others are just in the losing end.

(I am trying hard not to be a spoil sport here, and it's extremely difficult.)


My favorite part of the movie is definitely the first part, when they're planning the casino heist and the execution of the plan itself. It's a thrilling narrative, each player doing their job so well, and some getting way too into their roles. It's exciting and it's gripping. If only they have focused more on this part of the story, I could have loved it more.

The second part, on the other hand, couldn't really match this energy. I kind of wish they left out the revenge angle, and I kind of wish they didn't give too much emphasis on the love triangle of Macao Park, Pepsee and Popie. Because frankly, the romance angle between Yenicall and Zampano, and Chewing Gum and Chen are much more interesting and thrilling. The flirting between Yenicall and Zampano is something I didn't expect but I welcomed with open arms because it's just so fresh (and cute). But if we're talking about romance, Chewingum and Chen's interaction takes the cake. Completely surprised me when it happened and devastated me when it ended. As for Macao Park and Pepsee's love story? I just can't get emotionally invested in it. There's just too much angst that simply do not fit the mould of such adults.

This is quite sad since the second part has all these fight scenes (the wall fight between Macao Par and the Chinese gangsters! omg!), chasing sequences, wire stunts and a whole lot of cunning maneuvers by our leads. But still, it's not as exciting as the Macao casino heist. The finale ends up to be a tiring cycle of gaining the necklace from one character to another. It's a competition of wits and sometimes bluffing. It veers into the cliche at times but I'm glad that it still manages to surprise the viewers in some turns.

However, it's a heist film. I came for the lightness of the plot, but when I was bombarded with a contrived love triangle and adults stuck in puberty, it turned me off quite a bit. I want more action, less drama.

The thing about me is that when I don't like something in a movie, I talk way too much about it. But when I love it, I end up saying too little. Just is the case for this movie. This is turning into a negative review when the truth is I really enjoyed this film, and yes, I recommend it. (A bad way to end a rant but there you have it.)

Friday, 24 August 2012

I Can't Wait To Torrent You (08.12)

It's a shame that Asian movies don't really cross the borders of their own countries. For example, it's not always that a Thai film would be screened in the Philippines, but I wish it would happen more. Fans are left to their own devises, finding ways to watch a Korean movie without having to fly to Korea. This is why I support piracy! Haha! But really, we can't just buy DVDs all the time because that's freaking expensive. I  prefer torrenting my movies instead of streaming them for the simple reason that I am easily distracted when I stream them.

There are tons of reasons why it sucks to be a fan of Asian movies. First, even if you have the means to download or watch it online, it's still released months after it premiered in their home country. Second, when there's a DVD rip or a Blu-Ray rip already, you still have to wait for subs. I think it will be years before I can watch a Korean movie without subs. And I don't think I'll ever learn Nihonggo or Thai in this lifetime. So download it is. And waiting. Months of waiting.

SEVEN SOMETHING (x)

GTH's latest offering is aptly titled to celebrate their 7th year in the industry. The movie stars actors and actresses that have played a part in the company's growth in the Thai film industry over the years. But my reasons for wanting to watch this movie is pretty shallow.

REASONS WHY I WANT TO WATCH IT:
  1. Jirayu "Kao" La-ongmanee! *insert more exclamation marks here* I'll watch anything he's in!
  2. I just believe in GTH's ability to weave a heartfelt movie anthology. They proved it in Hormones but I am raising my expectations for Seven Something.
  3. I'm interested to see Nickhun's first venture into acting! And he's speaking in Thai here and not Korean and that's pretty interesting in my opinion. Hehe.
  4. This review pretty much cemented my resolve to watch this movie no matter what.
  5. It's a GTH film and that's enough reason for me. Thank you.
I wish Star Cinema would think of bringing this to the Philippines, too, like what they did with Chantavit Dhanasevi's ATM. PLEASE!


THE THIEVES (x)

This movie is rapidly climbing its way on top of the highest-grossing South Korean films. You see, in Korea they gauge the success of the movie not on how much it earned but on the numbers of tickets sold. And I think that's a pretty good method!

REASONS WHY I WANT TO WATCH IT:
  1. I haven't seen Jun JiHyun in a Korean film in such a long time. Her absence is much missed.
  2. I'm actually into this kind of stuff? I like action and heist films and I've watched all the Ocean's movies so I want to see Korea's take on this genre!
  3. It's start-studded!! Lee JungJae, Kim HyeSoo, Kim SooHyun, etc.
  4. I trust any movie that has Kim YunSeok in it.
That's it, I think.



GONE WITH THE WIND (x)
I think in this bunch, this is the one I'm most excited to see? I'm not even sure why!

REASONS WHY I WANT TO WATCH IT:

  1. CHA TAEHYUN. He's the guy to go to when you need a laugh. Look at the poster, it's enough to make me smile the entire day!
  2. Oh JiHo and his mane of glory.
  3. It's a heist film with a twist because it's set in the Joseon era! It's a sageuk film with a group of thieves who want to steal ice. Yeah, that's pretty interesting to me.
  4. For some weird reason, I'm becoming interested in sageuk productions that has a different element into it, and not just about history and stuff. It'll take time before I become fully invested in a historical sageuk.
I cannot wait to sink my teeth into this movie. I believe I have to wait a couple more months because it only premiered in Korea this month. /crying



RUROUNI KENSHIN (x)

OF COURSE. OF COURSE. Anyone who grew up watching the anime Samurai X dreamt of Kenshin (or Sanosuke, for my sister's case) as a plausible boyfriend. Well, I sure did. When I first heard of this movie, I died a little inside and screamed aloud outside. Haha.

REASONS WHY I WANT TO WATCH IT:
  1. SATO TAKERU OMG. It was last year, I think, when I first saw this glorious boy in the drama Bloody Monday. A few months later, I learned that he's bringing to life one of my dream boys. The heavens are too good.
  2. Just thinking about it is enough to give me a heart attack. All these people that I only saw animated are transformed to life! I'm not a diehard fan, but I love Kenshin, okay. I am sometimes tempted to draw an 'X' on my boyfriend's face. I'm not even joking. I will, one of these days.
  3. Because I can't even think of one reason why I shouldn't be excited. Somebody ship me to Japan once they start showing this movie in cinemas. I'd love to watch it in a big screen. It's a bit hopeless but I'm keeping my hopes up that some organization (or maybe the Japanese embassy?) will bring this movie to my country.
  4. I'm not even afraid that they'd mess up the essence of the story. I'm not the littlest bit scared that they won't give justice to the anime and manga. I'm a tad too confident that this movie will be amazing.
Forget what I said about Gone With the Wind. I'm most excited to see the Rurouken movie.



I AM A KING (x)

Honestly, this is not on top of my list but I'm still pretty psyched to see this movie.

REASONS WHY I WANT TO WATCH IT:
  1. It's Joo JiHoon's movie comeback after being released from the army. He's on a roll! I am really glad to see the guy back on his feet. Good thing Korea has the army for the actors to clean their image once they screw up.
  2. I think this will be my first time to see Joo JiHoon in a role that's not too serious! The stills looked so fun! He takes way too many serious roles.
  3. The premise seems pretty fun! I'm not that familiar with The Prince and the Pauper but I understand how this one goes. Also, it's once again set during Joseon Dynasty. Or is it Goryeo? I dunno.
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So I am trying to increase my download ratio in Asiatorrents so once the torrents of these movies were released, I could download to my heart's content. I'll cross my fingers and toes and whatever I have to cross just so I could watch these movies as soon as possible.
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