Progress Report: Battlestar Galactica, Season 1, Episodes 1-5

Progress Report provides ongoing impressions of serials I view them.

---

"Battlestar Galactica", the series, almost starts with a whimper, especially when compared to the epic mini-series. The scale of the show instantly drops and becomes smaller and that was initially disconcerting for me in "33", the first episode, where the Colonial Fleet continues to encounter Cylons pursuing them every 33 minutes. However, it's hard to expect that in a series format, the same continuous epic storytelling could continue at the same pace. Each episode needs to be satisfying in itself, as per American television custom, and so each story focuses on some small aspect of what's going on while contributing to the larger tale.

The show splits time, with at least 3/4 of the show focusing on the Colonial Fleet and then a small piece of time spent with the fake Boomer (granted, we already know that the "real" Boomer is also a sleeper Cylon) and Helo (who survives annihilation for a reason not yet known) on Cylon-occupied Caprica. At least within the first five episodes, this secondary storyline doesn't seem to add much to the overall story so it's good that the show doesn't spend too much time on their exploits.

It's too bad that the first three episodes seem like setups with not a lot of internal character development as the Colonial Fleet mostly focuses on disasters--but it's also clear that everything that happens in these initial episodes are setting up for a payoff later in the series, whether in the first season or a later season. There is some very interesting tension being built up within the sleeper Boomer as she finds herself in suspicious situations and essentially ends up fighting the Cylon within herself while also trying not to face what she suspects might be true, perhaps as a Cylon-programmed self-defense mechanism.

It's only in the two-parter, "Act of Contrition" and "You Can't Go Home Again" that the show really picks up the pace, exploring more deeply into the history of Adamas-Starbuck and building upon the internal character drama. My hope is that the show doesn't devolve into the Adama-Thrace show as there is lots of fertile ground in many of the other characters to explore, but seeing that they began with the most developed backstories, I'm glad we actually get to see more than a hint of one.

I'm still conflicted about Garius Balter's storyline as he seems almost insufferably self-absorbed and I don't entirely know what to make of the Cylon that keeps appearing in his mind. I wish he were more conflicted as that might make him a more interesting character and more worth exploring. There are also a lot of moments, especially in the fifth episode that cause my brain to logically implode (plot holes) and I have to hope that they'll be answered or at least handwaved away so that I don't dwell on them anymore. Still, the show really picked up and while I didn't necessarily feel a drive to watch more episodes after the first three, after the fifth, I have to say I'm very curious where the story will go.

Inbox: 葉問

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

---

A film I've been meaning to see, I got somehow got lucky and won a giveaway of the US release of Ip Man by its distributor, Well Go USA, who specialize in imports and indie/genre releases. And, while I'd read that the US transfer doesn't entirely stand up when compared to the Hong Kong release, I'm far from one to complain about receiving a free Blu Ray copy of a movie I was already planning on purchasing to see. Directed by Wilson Yip, who has had a hand in many of the films that feature a reinvigoration of Chinese martial arts in cinema, whether you buy a copy of the film, see it at a select screening, rent it or get it in a free giveaway like I did, if you like martial arts movies, I think you'll find a lot of love about Ip Man.

The film is a loose biopic of the life of Ip Man (Donnie Yen), a master practitioner of the Wing Chun school of wushu, reputed in legend to have been created by a woman. Ip Man is best known as the master who trained Bruce Lee in wushu, a distinction that the film doesn't miss. The film focuses on two phases of his life, both while living in the southern Chinese city of Foshan. As a man of relative wealth, Ip Man continues to be involved in the active local martial arts scene, without actually opening a school or teaching any students. The main challenge in the first half of the film is dealing with challengers and trying to keep his family life stable as his wife (Lynn Hung) disapproves of his neglect of his family due to his running off to do martial arts with his friends. The second half of the film occurs after the Japanese invasion of China. Displaced by the occupiers, Ip Man lives by selling off what little he has left and then pursues day laborer work. General Muira (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), a Japanese martial arts enthusiast, pays local Chinese martial artists to test their abilities against his karate students, paying them a bag of rice should they defeat a student. This draws in a number of Ip's former colleagues and friends and due to their zealousness, his close friend's (Simon Yam) problems with local bandits, and the sadistic Colonel Sato (Shibuya Tenma), Ip Man finds himself drawn into conflict with both the Japanese and local thugs.

The film doesn't really take the time to acknowledge that it's only very loosely based on the real life of Yip Man, clearly making him into a superhero of sorts. Still, whereas many martial arts films are content to have the story merely act as a glue between many martial arts fights, Ip Man actually does seem intent on telling a coherent story about a man, but also a broader story about China under Japanese occupation. This is a film that really doesn't hide its flag-waving tendencies and while most historical records do indicate that Japanese occupation in China was brutal and violent (this is usually true of most violent invasions and colonizations), the film doesn't worry about bringing in any sort of subtlety about the matter and hardly bothers to humanize the Japanese, with an absolutely sadistic villain in Sato, and a stubborn honor-code oriented Muira who serves as the second most complex antagonist in the film. Still, the story builds up a great local martial arts character, with the different heads of schools having a kind of competitive camaraderie, with the exception of the northern challengers in the first half of the film. And Ip Man's journey from being an pragmatic isolationist to someone who gets involved in the lives of the people around him at potential cost to himself helps make all the martial arts fighting meaningful.

And the martial arts choreography and execution is where this film throws down. Sometimes literally. The fight scenes, choreographed by actor-martial artist-choreographer Sammo Hung are fantastic to watch and even though Ip Man pretty much trounces all of his opponents, the scenes are choreographed so tightly and balanced and shot so well that it's never boring. In terms of overall direction, the film manages to capture the vibrant life of Foshan's martial arts culture well. The film also takes an interesting photographic direction after the Japanese occupancy, cooling the image more and capturing the film in a more gritty style, a technique that I'm ambivalent towards. While I imagine the look of the production is cleaner and crisper than the costumes, sets and locations would have realistically been in the first half, I think it befits its attempt at creating a visual dissonance between the two halves and its broad nationalism. The performances, especially the physical performances of the martial artist-actors are outstanding. Interestingly enough, the acting, even outside of the fighting is mostly good, although the villains end up being kind of over-the-top, if comical, and mug the camera a bit (except for Muira, who is coded as an "honorable" villain).

Ip Man is best at providing the kind of enjoyment that a martial arts film provides, a whole lot of visually stunning martial arts action. Yet, it surpasses many of its peers in having a believable story that focuses in on a character that grows and changes over the course of the film (even if it throws historical accuracy to the wind in order to get its nationalistic message across). This gives all the butt-kicking more meaning and heart and so the film actually resists becoming one of those films you only watch "for the good parts". It's well directed, photographed and acted as well and while the story doesn't avoid standard conventions of its genres, it's developed and portrayed well. But the main reason you're going to watch this is for its great martial arts choreography. The rest of it just makes it more than merely a solid martial arts film, but into a decent film about a man and his nation. With some stunning martial arts. 8/10.

Links:

• Feature website
• Feature Facebook
• Additional Reviews: City on Fire, eastern Kicks, Far East Films, VCinema
• Available at Amazon (Blu Ray) / (DVD) / (Instant) and iTunes

Seen: The People I've Slept With

Seen takes a look at the shows I see.

---

I saw The People I've Slept With mentioned a few times in the Asian American blogosphere and it arrived recently in Los Angeles, so when some friends invited me to join them at a screening of the film, I went along. Most certainly an indie film with some Asian American grounding, it's still an amusing look at a popular theme for twenty and thirty-somethings: growing up and what it means. One thing I appreciated about The People I've Slept With is that it has its own viewpoint to claim on this issue, making a different statement than many of its cinematic peers, but without clobbering the viewer over the head with the message.

Angela (Karin Anna Cheung) is a woman with a strong appetite for sex, keeping a set of photographs for her various conquests, but one day she discovers that she's pregnant. Her best friend Gabriel (Wilson Cruz) counsels her to have an abortion, but her more conservative sister Juliet (Lynn Chen) suggests that this might be an opportunity for Angela to move on in life to a husband, children and the traditional adult experience, like Juliet has. This connects with Angela. Nevertheless, there are at least five candidates out of the dozens of men she's been with in the last couple months, who could be the father, so Angela, with Gabriel's help, goes on a search for her baby's father, reigniting a romance with a mysterious and handsome man that she's met with semi-regularly, Jefferson (Archie Kao). Meanwhile, Gabriel has a related issue when he upsets Lawrence (Rane Jameson), the first man that he truly feels any connection with.

The film is bookended with Angela making a video for her baby, but otherwise the story doesn't really use nor require any fancy tricks. I like how fleshed out the supporting characters are, from the neurotic Juliet, to Angela's free spirited father, to her man-child best friend Gabriel. At the same time, I sometimes wonder if Angela was a little underdeveloped or perhaps it's merely a sign of her being stuck in an ephemeral loop in life, as it's not easy to discover who she is, but this seems to be a struggle for many of the characters in the film, including Angela herself, so I guess the latter is correct. It is a rather simple story and has enough nuance to keep from being an anvilicious message film, but it doesn't hide its free-spirited-but-learning-responsibility worldview and ultimately comes across as sincere without being zealous. The weakest link would be the character of Juliet, who is quite possibly drawn to be a single dimensional antagonist and strawwoman to the film's viewpoint, but even she has a hand in at least sparking Angela's quest for discovery, so I cannot discount her entirely.

Visually, the film is clearly an indie and even the print we were watching shows all the hallmarks of working with a very limited budget. However, the production team makes the best of its limited budget and still puts together a wholly believable world and the direction and photography is natural and keeps the viewer's eye on the story and the characters. The soundtrack includes a number of catchy indie pop-rock songs, but the scoring didn't hit any marks in my brain, although it did nothing to detract from the film either, so it's at least relatively successful. And the performances are good, which is necessary for a character focused work like this. I especially found Wilson Cruz's performance to be particularly natural and with good comedic sensibility, but all the principles carry their roles without distracting. I think it might just be the extreme nature of the character, but I did find it difficult to believe in Lynn Chen's Juliet.

Overall, I thought The People I've Slept With was an enjoyable couple of hours spent in the theater. I do think that it's point-of-view might conflict with more traditionally minded audiences, but I think the title does a good job of helping to self-select its audience. It has some solid moments of humor that had the audience bursting in laughter, including one possible father (Randall Park) almost stealing scenes as an extremely socially inept courtier. And while there is some amount of sex in the film, I would certainly say that the film's comedic tone avoids it becoming exploitative. The People I've Slept With is an enjoyable and entertaining way to spend a couple hours and I'd say that those who think the premise is interesting should check it out if it arrives in a theater near you. 7/10.

Links:

• Feature website
• Feature Facebook
• Feature Twitter
• Available at Amazon

Inbox: 우리들의 행복한 시간

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

---

For some time, Maundy Thursday (Our Happy Time being the translation of the Korean title) was unavailable to be seen in theaters or purchased on DVD, but I recently noticed that another printing had been made in Korea and was available again for purchase, so I grabbed it as fast as I could, being a film by Song Haesung, the director of one of my early favorites of Korean film, Failan. Like Failan, Maundy Thursday is a melodrama, focusing on two disconnected people who find life in connecting with each other.

Yoojung (Lee Nayoung) is a emotional troubled former pop singer, now a university instructor in art. When we first meet her, she is attempting suicide, but fails. She obviously has a frosty relationship with her mother, but seems less cold to her late father's sister (Yoon Yeojung), a Catholic nun, who works with inmates at distant prison. Her aunt gives Yoojung an opportunity to avoid having to attend counseling sessions by joining her in meeting and working with inmates and she takes the opportunity. There, she meets Yoonsoo (Kang Dongwon), a death row inmate convicted of slaying a family and their housekeeper, who bristles at being tricked to meet with a nun and eagerly awaits his execution. However, as these two damaged souls begin interacting, the walls between them break down and as they begin to work through their own problems as reflected within each other, they find a human connection that they previously lacked. Of course, Yoonsoo is on death row...

Clearly, this setup is a variation of the terminal illness melodrama in terms of how the tragedy is created, but Maundy Thursday excels in exploring the human drama behind these characters and their interactions are wonderfully constructed and believable, initially caustic, but as they continue to meet, Yoojung, in particular to get away from her real world problems with her immediate family, the similarities in their current temperament and their partial anonymity to each other give them a means to be honest with each other and explain where their current dysfunctions come from. The film also seems to capture a political undercurrent, tied together with a minor religious theme, specifically targeting the seeming injustice of the death penalty and while the story isn't perfectly real (the prison setting is just a little too hospitable) it still deals well with the drama inherent between living and knowing that one's own life is short.

Character oriented melodramas rely heavily on their actors and Lee and Kang deliver well, both capturing the hurt, the edge and the eventually trust of their bitter characters well. Supporting players also do well and help fill in the world, so the acting here in this melodrama is strong. The film is evenly paced and the directing seems almost methodical, despite the lack of stylistic flourish, except in the flashbacks. The film has the expectedly high production values of modern Korean cinema, giving the presentation is strong clean appearance and the music comes in and out, acting as an emotional punctuation to what're seeing, but is well composed and constructed and one of the themes is even strong enough to listen to on its own, showing up again in the credits.

Maundy Thursday actually had a couple moments that moved me to tears. The crafting of the relationship between the two characters as well as the healing they find from connecting with each other makes for a solid story, all heightened by the melodramatic punch of the tragic situation they meet under. It's well performed, well constructed, well put together and does everything a melodrama does well without ever feeling forced or manipulative. It has a message it wants to get across but never preaches about it and the human drama is strong enough that it stands well without it. All that makes for a powerful movie, one that I highly recommend. 9/10.

Links:

• Additional Reviews: Hanguk Yeonghwa
• Available at MrKwang and YesAsia

Progress Report:Replay: Battlestar Galactica (miniseries)

Progress Report provides ongoing impressions of serials I view them.

Replay revisits moving pictures that I have seen in the past.

---

The reboot of Battlestar Galactica is perhaps one of the greatest examples of reinvention of a series in recent history. Interestingly enough, it didn't actually start with a pilot, but instead, a two-part, four hour long miniseries. And it was perhaps one of the most successful productions to air on the then called Sci-Fi Channel.

In this reinvention, the twelve human colonies created the Cylons, an artificial life form to serve them and the Cylons revolted, waging a brutal war with humanity until an armistice was eventually reached, leaving their galaxy in peace for decades. We join the crew of the Galactica, one of the oldest serving warships of the colonies as it prepares to be decommissioned. We meet the various people that serve as the crew of the Galactica, including the ship's Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) and his second in command Colonel Tigh (Michael Hogan). We also meet many of the members that comprise the crew of the Galactica including their maverick pilot Starbuck (now a woman, played by Katee Sackhoff) and the visiting Captain Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber), son of the Commander. Also serving as representative of the Colonial government is Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) and finally, we meet Gaius Baltar (Jamie CAllis), a computer genius on Earth, and his consort (Tricia Helfer), who we know is a new kind of Cylon, one that passes as a human.

The Cylons launch a sudden massive genocidal attack on humanity, aided by Gaius' consort, who disables much of the human fleet's technology, resulting in the near extinction of humanity. We watch as the Galactica, whose outmoded manual systems are somewhat immune to the Cylon computer attack, defend what human beings are left and attempt to do what they can to arm themselves amidst this disaster as we also explore the personal and interpersonal problems among those who were aboard the Galactica when the attack occurred.

The miniseries is immediately ominous, with its voiceover narration describing events of the past and the portentous destruction of the base used for discussions between the Cylons and humanity. And that tension really works well to help elevate the intra-and-interpersonal drama we have within and between the various characters. Furthermore, interesting aspects of religion are skimmed on the surface of the story. However, the story is largely about a bunch of dysfunctional people learning to work together for the survival of the species and it all works very well. The miniseries ends leaving a whole lot of doors open for a series, almost begging for one to continue the story, since only a few of the hidden Cylons were exposed, but even without any more content, it works well as the story of the few that made it.

The look of the show is fantastic, although watching it in high def, some of the lower resolution computer work was obviously not quite up to the HD look of the rest of the show, but the production/art team put a lot of work in creating a coherent look of the universe and it shows up in the details, including the visual callbacks to the old series through the look of the antiques of the show. The music is epic, but never overpowers the show, keeping the drama and story at the forefront. And the performances by all the actors are solid, although I find Starbuck just a touch too nervy to believe, but that might just be how the character was written.

As such, Battlestar Galactica is really an example of how to do epic fantasy/sci-fi miniseries right on cable. It's really impressive how well the story and the production elements came together and avoided the usual arcanery of television science fiction to make a two-parter that is both accessible without sacrificing its space opera roots. I remember watching it the first time and being so wrapped up in it that I hoped that a series would be forthcoming. Watching it again so many years later, I find myself satisfied with what I just saw in itself, but look forward to revisiting and completing the series as well. As such, this relaunch of "Battlestar Galactica" is a success. 8/10.

Links:

• Series website
• Available at Amazon (Blu Ray) / (DVD) / (Instant) and iTunes

Inbox: Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1-6

New for me

---

I had no idea what I was getting into when I was loaned a copy of Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, but the world that Bryan Lee O'Malley created was certainly a crazy, but addictive one. I quickly burned through each successive volume, up until the fifth, reading each in a single sitting. Finally, when the sixth and final volume found its way to retail inventories, I wanted to read that too and give myself some closure. To that end, I purchased all six volumes so that I could read it through again and refresh myself for the sixth.

The comics follow the life of Scott Pilgrim, a 24-year old (and AWESOME) Torontonian resident, who mooches off his roommate and dates a high-schooler (Knives Chau, 17 years old). He plays bass in his band, Sex Bob-Omb. One night, a mysterious woman roller skates through his dream and he becomes obsessed. Then he finds that the woman, Ramona Flowers is real and pursues her and finally manages to date her, only to discover that in order to be with her, he has to defeat her seven evil exes in combat. The story goes on to follow the exploits of Scott and the various people in his life leading up to the final battle with Ramona's evilest ex of all.

The story appears to have much in common with the webcomic attitude of fantastic realities that are ordinary. So, as the series is informed by video games and indie rock, these two elements seep into the reality of the series. Music permeates the pages of Scott Pilgrim, whether it be bands trying to make it (Sex Bob-Omb), bands that have already made it (Clash at Demonhead) as well as music being thrown onto the page with lyrics and sometimes even chords. Likewise, videogames are probably an even stronger metatextual influence, showing up as references all over the series, both visually and textually. Those who read this series with a firm knowledge of the 8 and 16 bit eras of gaming (late 1980's to early 1990's) will find a lot of visual references to relate. But, even more so, many of the knock down drag out fights in the books actually feature very game-like mechanics, from weapons that include a "baseball bat +1 against blondes" to evil exes exploding into coins upon their defeat (like in the classic videogame, River City Ransom, to which this series owes a great debt).

But, despite all the metatext, the story focuses on Scott and his compatriots. Scott himself is a good-natured slacker and consequently very much like the good natured slacker heroes of cinema, he's got a lot to learn in order to keep the girl. The nice thing about the series is that it's (mostly) less focused on these crazy battles and the thematic incorporation of music and videogames into the series and much more intent on exploring the interpersonal relationships and how they shape and push the different characters in the series. Add that to a great dose of comedy, driven by these quirky and strange characters and a more than a little bit of ignoring the forth wall and you actually have a fairly satisfying story, at least up through the fifth volume, where we reach a kind of emotional climax. The biggest weakness of the series is that the end works too hard to wrap up everything and I think it gets needlessly complicated in its mythology building to do so. It's sort of like watching George Lucas introduce the midichlorians in the Star Wars prequels--we didn't need to know it and it doesn't really add anything to the story, but yet we spend a bit of time dealing with it. That and I feel like the character conflicts largely resolve too easily.

The art starts off distinctive, but somewhat loose and very much captures the indie-comic vibe. As the series progresses, the drawings become tighter, the means of distinguishing between the various characters becomes easier (let's just say that Scott and Young Neil look so much alike that even the characters in the story acknowledge it). There's definitely a strong manga influence on Scott Pilgrim as well, fusing with his North American indie style to form an interesting hybrid. It's black and white most of the time, but a couple books do include some color pages and the covers are also in color. Some of the covers also feature some really cool bit-graphic art, emulating the style of some of the videogames that influenced the comic.

Overall, I still really like the series, but I wish that it could've ended a little better. The series has a great loose-but-fun vibe to it, while still exploring the lives of lost twenty-somethings searching for purpose and also dealing with their respective pasts. I think at times the storytelling got stretched thin from trying to accomplish so much and that shows at the end. The mythology of the series itself, the world that it builds is fun, but I think that the book focused too much on the details of its universe, especially in the end, and lost sight of Scott's (and Ramona's) story, which was the most interesting part. Still, it has a lot going for it and classic video game fans will definitely find much to appreciate here. I look forward to what Bryan Lee O'Malley will come up with next. 8/10.

Links:

• Official website

Inbox: Battlestar Galactica - The Complete Series

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

---

I never got to fully watch this series because I didn't have cable when it was on and by the time I was in a position to watch it, I didn't really have the means or inclination to catch up, entirely. But I still managed to watch many of the critical episodes in the first two seasons and found the show to be interesting and exciting. Battlestar Galactica is a "redo" of a (somewhat cheesy) older series, inspired by the craze following Star Wars' success. The show also happens to transcend the regular content of SyFy (then known as Sci-Fi), which is probably more known for ultra-campy science fiction, fantasy and horror made-for-TV movies than anything else, with the exception of the cult series Stargate and its many spin-offs. This is the one SyFy show that got real mainstream respect.

So, when I saw the complete set (without the cheesy space-consuming Cylon head) at a really decent price, I bought it. The original edition came with a large decorative Cylon head, whereas this edition sticks to the discs in gatefold boxes in slipcases as well as The Plan in a Blu Ray keepcase. While it might not be as decorative as the Cylon head, it certainly fits on the shelf better and although I was never a fan of the gatefold style multi-disc holders, they suffice and, I hear, are a lot better than the storage solution of the Cylon head version.

What's nicer is to be able to have the entire series all in one place in high definition.

Links:

• Series website
• Available at Amazon (Blu Ray) / (DVD)

Seen: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Seen takes a look at the shows I see.

---

I really enjoyed reading the Scott Pilgrim series of comics and was pleased to hear that the movie was long in the process of making, directed by none other than Edgar Wright, whose previous films I'd appreciated. I will admit that I had some reservations, especially considering that a six volume series with a whole lot of meta-text would be squeezed into a single feature, but once the show began, my fears were largely put to rest as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in motion picture form remained (mostly) true to the series and managed to one-up the books in a couple ways and while it suffers from some minor adaptation bumps, these things hardly take away from the good times that the film imparts.

The story largely follows the comic books (up until the end, that is). Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a lost slacker Torontonian. He has no job, mooches off his gay best friend/roommate Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin) and it can be argued that the only productive thing he does is play in his college buddy Stephen Stills' (Mark Webber) band, Sex Bob-Omb. Meanwhile, he strikes up an innocent relationship with a high school girl, Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) and then one day, he sees a girl rollerskating through his dream. Dream girl Romana Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) shows up at a party and Scott must have her. The only thing is that she's got seven evil exes he must defeat if he's going to date her.

The distillation is a little difficult to handle at first, especially if you're not familiar with the books because the story, especially in the first act, is almost lightning paced and without the helpful text captions, it might be difficult to entirely follow what's going on, as some people that I viewed the early screening with noted they were a little lost at first. However, the general squeeze of turning what's a year long relationship into what seems like a week long relationship overall works and expanding on Knives and letting many of the other characters fall into the background helps keep the story focused on Scott's decisions when it comes to relationships. I do wish that Ramona was given a little more story as she's almost a cypher in the film, but I think the book only does a little better. I also think that the film judiciously slices down the combat scenes and keeps the fights diverse as to keep things interesting for the viewer. A whole lot of the emotional/growing up story from the books doesn't really make it to the film, but the film, I feel, has a different focus, one crazy ride in the name of love and self-development as opposed to the story of a slacker learning to get it together. The movie is jam-packed and paced very tightly, almost exploding at the edges with ideas, characters and stories and I feel it largely does well in telling its story.

One thing the movie does exceptionally in its adaptation is to capture the comic-book/video-game aesthetic that permeated every page of the comic books, transferring the name plaques ("Knives Chau / Age: 17"), the winking use of text, and the video-game iconography and 8/16-bit artstyle right into moving pictures. The film even goes as far as to actually include panels of the comic books, sometimes still and sometimes animated in place of flashbacks, which is a nice call to the story's roots. Furthermore, the film takes it all to the next level by incorporating something that the comics just couldn't--it added the music of the bands to the film as well as tons of musical score and sound effects that capture the essence of its video-game inspired roots (including many aural recalls of the SNES classic, "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past"). And the music rocks, bringing in native Canadians Metric and Broken Social Scene, as well as America's Beck (drawing upon both his early glory days a la Mellow Gold/Odelay and his more recent Sea Change era) to contribute to the soundtrack and the many musical moments therein.

Wright's latest takes the budget and production levels up another notch, throwing in tons of post production effects to keep in tune with the comic book and video game aesthetic, but this focus on looking just right also hits the production team in front of the camera as well, doing an excellent job in terms of costumes/art/production design/hair/make up to bring the world of Scott Pilgrim on the page into living breathing live action. Furthermore, the cast doesn't disappoint. I was really afraid that Michael Cera would just be Michael Cera as he's frequently cast, but while you still see bits of the George Michael from Arrested Development showing up in Scott, Cera proves that he can handle the tougher and more stubborn edge of Scott as well. Special props go to Chris Evans and Brandon Routh for their great comedic turns as evil exes Lucas Lee and Todd Ingram. The entire cast did a pretty solid job overall capturing their characters with Jason Schwartzman being perhaps a most perfect fit for the biggest baddest evil ex, Gideon. Oh, and the fight sequences were quite a riot to watch.

I'm not going to lie: I was hoping that the film would focus more on the character development of Scott and how he grows up and matures with his various relationships with the women in his life and with his friends, but watching the film, I realized that the film homes in on what films really do best--tell a compacted emotional story while capturing a truly captivating visual and aural aesthetic. The film focused on the fun in the books and I think it worked out fantastically and, in some ways, I felt the end scene in the film is somewhat more focused and pointed than the final volume of the comics. So I'll just say that what we have here is perhaps one of the truest comic book to movie adaptations yet. One that doesn't adhere to a slavish devotion to the text, but captures its spirit and its essence and even its comic book aesthetic excellently. This is a film for fans of old school video games, alternative comic books, indie rock fans and lovers-with-pasts, but I think it's got so much fun going on that it might just be a crazy ride for everyone else. Check it out! (Unless you would consider yourself a fuddy duddy, so serious you're not fun, or elitist--you probably wouldn't like it then.) 8/10.

Links:

• Feature website
• Available at Amazon (Blu Ray) / (DVD)

Inbox: Run Away

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

---

One of the earliest Korean films that I had both seen and remembered to some degree was Kim Sungsoo's classic teen violence and angst flick Beat. I don't actually think I liked it all that much, but it was still pretty memorable, which means that it had something going for it. The director would later take on the historical war epic Musa, which was actually decent (at times), but looking at his long career, it seems like genre films (bordering on exploitation) seemed to be the thing he was known for during the 1990's. In 1995, he made Run Away, a thriller.

The story is pretty simple, like these near exploitation films tend to be, a video game producer Dongho (a young Lee Byunghun) and a studio artist Mirin (Kim Eunjung) after a chance encounter and a one night stand, witness a murder. Dongho reports it to the police and the next day they are assaulted by thugs, but manage to get away. The police get involved, their case assigned to a disgraced alcoholic detective (Lee Gyungyoung) but it's clear from the get-go that there's a mole in the department and so it's not safe in police custody either. So they run away and while running try to figure out who their pursuers are and how to help the police stop them.

I have to admit that while the film had very little going on in terms of subtlety, with stock evil villians, complete with strong one-dimensional personality quirks, the thriller aspect of the film actually kept my attention early on. The fact that there was a mole early on always kept the tension up during the scenes with the police and there were plenty of close calls and enough bodies and near misses to keep the tension up. Unfortunately the story takes a semi-predictable twist that fills the whole thing with enormous plot holes and characterization faults. I was almost yelling at my screen in annoyance at how the twist actually causes a certain character's behavior throughout the film to be completely unreasonable and notches up the hammy ridiculous villain level to the moon (these villains were already through the roof). The main characters themselves are actually somewhat thought out, even if they are still somewhat simply developed--they at least undergo character development to some extent. But, the last act really just wrecks the whole affair.

This is still pretty much a exploitation film, which you can tell from the sex scene and numerous underwear shots of both leads. The directing is simple and straightforward, but some of the use of extreme close-ups did seem a little cheesy at times. The leads actually hold their parts pretty well, although Kim Eunjung was a touch stiff at times, Lee Byunghun clearly displays the kind of raw talent that would result in him becoming one of Korea's major leading men. The production values definitely scream mid-1990's pre-New Korean Cinema and so we don't have beautiful cinematography, film stock, costumes, and so forth as contemporary viewers of Korean cinema might be accustomed to, but for what essentially an exploitation genre film, it doesn't look awful.

Run Away has some decent moment, especially earlier on when the thriller aspect and tension are working well, but its ship gets sunk by a final act twist that basically makes one character's behavior not make any sense at all. It doesn't have a lot going for it in terms of aesthetic presentation, but we do get to see a young Lee Byunghun at work and while his character isn't exactly an actor's dream, he has a decent enough performance within its bounds. Still, I don't think all that is enough to make this film worth watching, especially because the ending makes the whole story rather disappointing and besides some skin and panty shots and blood and violence, you can get this kind of exploitation genre film elsewhere with at least more consistent characters and higher production values. Pass. 5/10.

Progress Report: 케세라세라

Progress Report provides ongoing impressions of serials or sets I view them.

---

My watching of Que Sera Sera was principally motivated by the fact that I appreciated the soundtrack so much that I had to give it a shot, but I wasn't actually prepared to be so impressed by the series, which really has a more independent vibe than the pedigree of the director of My Lovely Samsoon would suggest. It happens to be one of the few Korean dramas that I've seen that has actually shocked me by largely avoiding cliché, presenting serious character development, and twisting the plot unexpectedly yet realistically. While it's not able to keep it up for every episode of the series and the ending flails a little, the fact that the series surprised me more than once, mostly kept me guessing and had me looking forward to the next episode was pretty impressive.

The story isn't too much of a high concept setup, although it includes the classic socio-economic class division (working/middle class vs. extraordinarily wealthy) and also has a contractual relationship that's popular in a lot of Korean dramas. One large difference is that the main emotional center of the series is in a male character, Kang Taejoo (Eric Moon), a middle-class event planner whose good looks, charm, and carefree attitude frequently makes him a boytoy of rich young women. His world is slightly upended when Han Eunsoo (Jung Yoomi), a naive out-of-towner shows up at his apartment complex in search of her sister Jisoo (Lee Eunsong) who eventually becomes a smitten neighbor. He develops a sort of antagonistic relationship with her and her puppy dog love, but this is further complicated by Cha Herin (Yoon Jihye), a department store heiress and up-and-coming fashion designer, who proposes that Taejoo to pretend to be her boyfriend so that she can get her parents off her back about marrying someone and also make her ex, Shin Joonhyuk (Lee Gyuhan), who her parents raised with her and who dumped her due to their parents' disapproval, jealous. As their worlds tighten around each other, the four develop interesting contrasting relationships with each other. As they poke and prod each other due to both self-interest, cowardice, ignorance and genuine compassion and adoration we get a whole lot of drama.

As I mentioned, while the setup isn't all that surprising, it's the execution of the story that's interesting. Breaking from both the cute romantic comedy and the over-the-top makjang melodrama, but still incorporating some elements of both, Que Sera Sera becomes more of a character study, interested in the internal conflict of the different characters and how their internal decisions influence how they relate to each other. For instance, Taejoo appears to be a world weary cynic, going from one rich girl to the next, but encountering the more honest, straightforward, idealistic, and hard-luck case Eunsoo, he finds himself enveloped with emotions and conflict with what he wants in life (that he gets by proxy through his flings with rich women) and something new and scary. Likewise, Eunsoo sees life pretty simply until Taejoo with his hot-and-cold approach and pragmatism force her to adapt. There are many moments in the series that just hit the right notes as to honestly have these characters deal with their conflicts and in sometimes shocking ways, but it doesn't usually resort to having these characters be hysterical, rather reacting more realistically (at least most of the time). But that doesn't mean that the drama is always on fire. There are a few episodes that are pretty slow and cover old emotional ground. Also, I feel like Herin is too underdeveloped and consequently it becomes difficult to justify her turnabout halfway through the show. And, at the end, it feels like the drama has backed itself into a corner and is going on rails, doomed towards a path of cliché. And, it dips into that world, leaving me a little disappointed, but manages to half pull itself back out, but the ending still left me a little cold.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with the acting overall. Whether it was Yoon's acting or the lack of believability in the character at first, Eunsoo was a bit of a tough sell, but as the character developed, I came to find her convincing. The other three principles do very well, with Eric turning in the kind of impassioned performances that stick in your mind without having to chew scenery. I also really liked the look of the drama, which draws away from the shiny look of most mainstream dramas; the cinematography is more neutral and consequently helps draw the series away from the idealistic warm lighting look of mainstream trendy dramas. Also, while at first I found the handheld camerawork to be a touch too "me too" (it was a big trend in Korean film in the mid-2000's), I eventually came to appreciate how it could be used to build visual uncertainty into the picture to connect to the emotional uncertainty of the characters and some of the camera work is really top notch for a Korean television series. Finally, the music--put together largely by Fluxus artists--it was what drew me to check out this series and the songs do appear to be mostly custom developed just for this show. It works so well because the music and the show reinforce each other.

I'd have to say that there's a lot to like about Que Sera Sera. In terms of production and direction, it can often seem a step above it's higher profile peers, even though because of creative choices, it doesn't look as flashy. It also manages to mostly avoid predictability and especially in the middle of the series, has the ability to create a lot of surprising, but believable, turns of plot and all this is helped by an almost laser-guided focus on characters and development of those characters. However, I feel like the first third of the series drags a little and the ending gets stuck in plot cliché plot developments and then echoes the first half in dragging a little. Also, the actual ending doesn't seem fully earned, nor does Herin's change of mind in the middle of the series, creating a gnawing measure of disbelief in my mind, just enough to take me out of the picture a little. The middle of the drama up until near the end is quite gripping through and watching these characters grow and change and then have to deal with these developments in themselves and the others in their lives--that was really well written, performed and put together and helps this drama retain its merit. Still, I really can't recommend this to everyone, especially since it doesn't exactly fit pre-existing genre molds nor does it provide the "fantasy" that many Korean drama viewers watch those dramas for. Que Sera Sera is an interesting and largely well executed drama that has a few weaknesses, but is insightful through its characters, about love, ambition, jealousy and how decisions involving these things affect the people around you, as well as yourself. 7/10.

Links:

• Series website
• Watch for free at Crunchyroll and DramaFever

Inbox: 파주

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

---

I purchased Paju on strong critical response, both from Korea and internationally, knowing little about the writer-director, Park Chanoak. I have heard her described as a contemporary of Hong Sangsoo, a cynical, but funny and prolific Korean director, that I've mostly taken a liking to, so I thought it was worth giving Paju a shot. I admit that I was actually pretty surprised by the film--it definitely eschews standard storytelling principles and resolution, but earns instead a strong character point of view, at times being reminiscent of early Christopher Nolan.

The time-jumping story focuses on two characters, the troubled young Eunmo (Seo Woo) and her brother-in-law/tutor Joongshik (Lee Sungyoon). We meet Eunmo as she returns to Paju only to flash back to Joongshik's troubles eight years earlier. He's clearly a political radical and a tragic accident that he was involved in with a lover causes him to flee Seoul (that and he's wanted by authorities) and settle in Paju, staying with a pastor friend. There, he meets Eunsoo (Shim Iyoung), who he courts, against the strong protestation of her high school sister, Eunmo. We then return to the present where Eunmo runs into Joongshik again, who is now organizing residents of an area that is being forcibly redeveloped by local gangsters in league with the government. Eunmo has always suspected Joongshik of being less than sincere with her sister (for reasons unknown to her, but known to us--ah, irony!), but has conflicted feelings as in the wake of her sister's death, she had apparently warmed up to him somewhat as he took care of her. As she's confronted with her love-hate relationship with her brother-in-law, she also tries to investigate her sister's death, which she's certain Joongshik is lying to her about.

Because of it's unconventional story structure as well as its intentional lack of closure for the characters, I can immediately say that this film is likely to divide and possibly turn away mainstream audiences. At first, I was quite disoriented by all of the film's jumping around in time and, especially in the first act, really didn't understand what to make of the different snippets of Joongshik's life that I was seeing. However, it sets up a lot of knowledge for the rest of the film, understanding why Joongshik is the way that he is and keeps the secrets he does, without necessarily being any more sympathetic to him than to Eunmo. Irony abounds in this film; the dramatic kind where we, the audience, are the only ones to really know the whole story (although Joongshik comes close) and while both Eunmo and Joongshik's decisions end up being quite frustrating since we see the whole picture, we at least know why they make the decisions that they do, even inasmuch as I wholly disagree with Joongshik's paternalism. Still, I think the lack of character story closure, for me, doesn't entirely work. I understand that the audience can learn from the character's decisions, but the film doesn't feel entirely like a tragedy, sitting in some ambiguous observational realm, unable to make any solid statement.

Fortunately, all of this is accompanied by very strong production values, some often amazing cinematography, making careful use of the gritty ambiance of Paju and lots of fog and rain. Also to be commended are the performances of the leads. Seo, who I was impressed with in Crush and Blush draws great sympathy as the torn and confused Eunmo and Lee, who seems to be a dependable and versatile actor, also does pretty well in playing his own conflicted, but well meaning character. The score was also pretty satisfying, staying minimal throughout, but occasionally punctuating moments with piano work that invokes a sense of uncertainty, echoing Eunmo's condition.

Yet, for all that I found to be impressive and interesting about Paju, like Eunmo with Joongshik, I found the ambiguity a touch difficult to connect with, even as I understand the critique of two characters who, for their own reasons, find themselves unable to be honest with each other. It's not that I need a didactic statement, but I feel like the director held her cards a little too close to her chest and overly restrained from making a story and cinematic statement. While the film is intellectually interesting in its multi-point construction of perspective in story, in character and in editing/storytelling, it wasn't satisfying as a whole because the audience's emotional surrogate, Eunmo, is left without considerable development. And that's just a touch frustrating from an otherwise thought-provoking and well crafted film. 7/10.

Links:

• Feature website
• Additional Reviews: eastern Kicks, Hangul Celluloid, Koreanfilm.org
• Available at YesAsia

Progress Report: 케세라세라, Episodes 14-17

Progress Report provides ongoing impressions of serials I view them.

---

I have to admit, the final four episodes were a touch of a mixed bag for me. The fourteenth and fifteenth episodes had some really interesting dramatic turns as well as quite of bit of internal drama for the characters are they try to make their respective willfully chosen relationships work. Herin, perhaps the most minor player of the four takes a backseat much of the time, besides playing her role as peacemaker and interestingly, Taejoo follows after her in some regard.

Some of the most interesting changes of pace are how Taejoo and Eunsoo change their respective behaviors with each other after their agreement with each other in episode thirteen. It's also interesting to watch Joonhyuk change as a character, from the kind forthright person into someone who has something to lose as well as someone who finally comes to terms with his past. I have to say that I wish I could whack both Taejoo and Joonhyuk with the dummy mallet because of the stupid stupid things they do to their significant others out of their selfishness, but, at the same time,t he show does a great job of setting up why they do the things they do, whether for reasonable suspicion or conflict--although I wished that Taejoo's motivations were more clear before the final episode.

And, I think the last two episodes were a touch disappointing, but not overwhelmingly so. They brought in a crazier drama cliché and then played it straight, which added some predictability to what was seemingly an unpredictable drama. Also, while I understood why the opportunities for chance encounters between Eunsoo and Taejoo existed, I really felt like, by the third chance encounter, it was starting to be a little contrived. Finally, in the finale, I feel like Joonhyuk's final decision was too compressed and so seemingly comes out of the blue. I also have to say that while Taejoo's final decision with Herin was actually a welcome change of pace, I don't know that I really bought it--I don't feel like Taejoo and Herin's relationship was built well enough to deserve that kind of result.

Oh, and there's the by-now-standard "two years later" thing that I've noticed is an overused trope in Korean drama finales. One nice thing was to see three of the players interact with a whole lot less drama. Finally, the ending. Good grief--I feel like I was being beaten with a contrivance stick. I feel like the ending wasn't exactly earned either, since a(nother) coincidence triggers it. And then, in a piece of bad editing (or writing), something happens that is hard to believe, but does have the benefit of returning the characters full circle to the first episode. It was cute, but I really wished that it was better done.

Full review of the whole series to come.

Links:

• Watch for free at Crunchyroll and Drama Fever