Progress Report: 茶母, Episodes 7-8

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

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Note: As this is a television serial, this article includes spoilers for the series pertaining to the episodes discussed.

The plot thickens in the next pair of episodes and when all is said and done, the underdog rebels seem to be doing pretty well for themselves. Chae-ok becomes more torn as Boss (and secret brother!) Jang nurses her back to health from her bullet wound, but her recovery gets cut short as Boss Jang's very competent lady assassin shows up both suspicious and aware of our Damo's presence, but also bears news but once she hears that Hwangbo Yoon has been fired, which leads Chae-ok to run away to get back to her guy. Meanwhile, the guy, also worried about Chae-ok decides that he can't wait and goes to check up on her, despite the continuing attention from the chief's daughter. Yes, these beats are getting a little repetitive.

Anyway, on her way out, she notices a clandestine meeting between Boss Jang and a messenger. Of course, being willfull and headstrong Chae-ok, she decides to intercept the message and almost gets away with it except that the lady assassin shows up and gets in her way, despite Boss Jang's previous warnings to not get involved with Damo-girl. Already injured, Chae-ok is about to bite the dust when badass Hwangbo shows up and gives lady assassin yet another big stab. They discover that the message implicates friend of police chief and Hwangbo, the military general, as the man who has the counterfeit coin molds. Oh shoot!

Obviously, they report this to the chief, who then lures out his friend and Hwangbo Yoon and Jang Chae-ok sneak into the General's place and discover that he does indeed have the molds--in his walls! Which is apparently enough to arrest the general, although the general genuinely seems to be saddened that his friends would even suspect him. That's enough to get the court involved and they order preparations for a raid on the rebels and as the restored police troop prepare, the King returns and the General insists on his innocence in the matter. And just as they get ready to head out to raid, the General commits a protest suicide, leaving a note declaring his loyalty to the King. This is enough to declare his arrest wrong and now the chief and Hwangbo Yoon go to jail too. Uh oh!

This makes Chae-ok very very depressed with lots of flashbacks to how good Hwangbo was to her. Meanwhile this leads to the chief's brash son volunteering for and getting the task of leading the raid, but to the chief's disappointment. He mobilizes the police force and they all head up to the rebel hideout with a few hundred soldiers strong. Chae-ok goes in first and, after meeting up with Jang in an otherwise empty village, discovers that the letter was faked with the intention of her intercepting it and yes, it was all a set up to get her commander and chief out of the way, along with the general! The rest of the troops arrive to an empty village, which was apparently just cleared out a couple hours ago, so brash chief's son decides that they will pursue--but as anyone with half a brain knows--you never pursue rebels into their own land--that's guerilla warfare that standard troops are not suited towards.

While Chae-ok, Office Lee and the elder Officer rescue their spy, the rest of the army gets promptly annihilated without the rebels losing a single man (or their one woman). And as the chief's son wouldn't leave at the behest of the elite guard, the elite guard (minus officer Lee) also get annihilated. Oh, and then the chief's son has a one-on-one with Boss Jang as honor would necessitate and gets himself annihilated too.

Everybody returns (although Officer Lee had to be knocked out to keep his honor from going before reason) and weeps and wails at the enormous loss of life. Chae-ok and the chief's daughter both seek the help of an antagonistic minister, who shoos them both away. The runaway slaves-now-spies earn their freedom from the chief and get shooed away by the depressed remaining members of the police as our damo, Chae-ok, resolves to see the King--unthinkable for a slave-status servant like herself! (Even approaching the King without explicit orders from another noble is probably grounds for death, I'm imagining in this world.)

As such, the pair of episodes drives pretty well and is fairly exciting with its twists and turns and developments (even if they are pretty well telegraphed at this point). I'm only getting annoyed with the I-love-you-but-can't-really-say-it-or-do-anything-about-it-because-we're-divided-by-class beats that keep happening over and over with Chae-ok and Yoon--that is a frustratingly static relationship in a rather dynamic plot and it's really noticeable.

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Seen: 만추

Seen examines the shows that I see.

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The showing of Late Autumn at the Los Angeles Asia Pacific Film Festival sold out pretty quickly and was on a night that I was working, so I thought I had missed my opportunity to catch the film in theaters. So when CGV Los Angeles started showing the film for a limited run, I went out and caught a matinee showing all by my lonesome self in a bid as to not miss a chance at the film. It was only after I had seen the film that I came to realize that it had been written and directed by Kim Taeyong, who was also responsible for Family Ties, a film that I really enjoyed. Furthermore, I didn't know that Late Autumn was also a remake of the film of the same name by Lee Manhee and was further surprised that Late Autumn was set in Seattle and featured predominantly English dialogue, followed by Mandarin dialogue, with only the smallest amount of Korean, which is unusual for a Korean production.

The setup follows Anna (Tang Wei), serving a long sentence in a California prison for the murder of her husband, who is released on a three day furlough so that she can attend her mother's funeral in Seattle. On the way, she encounters the immigrant Korean gigolo, Hoon (Hyun Bin), who borrows $30 for bus fare while running away from vengeful husband of one of his clients. Hoon seems to take a liking to Anna and once they reach Seattle, they end up spending the rest of Anna's free time together as she deals both with the loss of her mother and her remaining circumstances leading to her killing her husband.

It's a Before Sunrise kind of setup and the movie follows suit, spending much of the time just following the two around as Hoon tries to get Anna to open up, running around the more picturesque areas of Seattle with her. In some ways, that makes Late Autumn a rather meditative atmospheric piece, rather than a plot driven one and a slow burn romance. I do appreciate that the film takes its time to build the characters and Hoon's character is particular is developed in a fun rascally way. Unfortunately, the dramatic pacing of the film is a little off, leaving Anna too cold for too long and not providing her enough a well paced enough development that the ending of the film is entirely believable. Also, the conclusion to Hoon's own story is just a touch unbelievable as well and perhaps too melodramatic for what was otherwise a fairly believable film.

But for those problems with the story, I have to admit that Late Autumn is a rather beautifully produced and photographed film. It makes Seattle seem even more picturesque than my own experience with the city and even the location shooting of the trip between Seattle and California is beautiful (even if it's completely unbelievable that an express transit bus would run along Highway 1 rather than Interstate 5). I'm not sure if it's Tang or the script, but as I mentioned, Anna is far too closed off and while I understand that her attitude explains the few outbursts she has in the film, I don't actually see that dramatic tension building up in her. I also took issue with Tang's accented English, which would have been believable were her character played as a later-in-life immigrant, but her English was noticeably more accented than Anna's older siblings, which sort of broke some of the illusion. Hyun Bin, on the other hand, has no problems with his accented English, since he's supposed to be a recent immigrant. He really plays up his rascal of a gigolo character and is pretty fun to watch in action. The other bit players mostly do fine, although I wasn't fond of the vengeful husband character, but that might be due to weak writing over James C. Burns' brief performance.

When the credits rolled, I think I still found myself liking Late Autumn, but more for the atmosphere that the film manages to present. I do think that a lot more attention needed to be paid to Anna's character, especially in developing her emotional dramatic arc as she comes across as rather startlingly abrupt. That and some of the noticeable logic issues aside, I really liked seeing the world that the two of these characters inhabited. I just wish that it really lived up to its much greater potential. As such, it's a beautifully photographed film with some lovely moments between the characters, barely stitched together by shaky character development. Romantic types might give it a go. 7/10.

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Progress Report: 茶母, Episodes 5-6

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

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Note: As this is a television serial, this article includes spoilers for the series pertaining to the episodes discussed.

Episodes five and six take the action to the mountain camp as Chae-ok and Ma Chookji infiltrate the counterfeiters camp. But first, a spectacular prison break where a whole lot of people get cut up (including a rather crazy amount of blood bursting from a slashed police officer). Of course, logic is a little wonky because it's not clear why Boss Jang would let the women he knows to be at least working with the police join them up at the mountain camp. We get continuing confirmation that Boss Jang is indeed the long lost brother of Chae-ok (formerly Jaehui), but we get a frustrating tease moment that fails to get either of the two to really identify each other. I like that the rebel contingent is well developed and not made out to be entirely bad guys, although their motivations are still unclear. Still, this gives Chae-ok plenty of reason to develop internal conflict as the rebels appeal to her sense of justice in a way that the official institutions could not.

More drama on the police station front as the impact of the prison break reaches the royal court and Hwangbo Yoon is fired from his post as a commander. Despite that, the daughter of the police chief is still smitten with him and continues to pursue him, even though he only has bittersweet eyes for Chae-ok. Oh, there's also a touch of development for bumbling Chae-ok stalker Byungtae as his mind for military strategy gets him in as a high ranking military official and turns him from a huge doofus to a huge jerk. This doesn't bode well for the future, but there is enough time spent on it that we'll probably see him cause problems in the future.

The episodes also shows a rather unforgiving and vengeful side of Boss Jang, which is contrasted against his loyalty and compassion. Still, at the end, we have a mirror situation for the brother-sister duo from when they last saw each other as Chae-ok get nailed with a bullet and unhorsed and surrounded by the pursuing police after a raid in a noble selling some kids into slavery. It looks like a dire situation, but with Boss Jang's impressive combat skills, we don't have any doubt that he'll save the day.

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Inbox: Bambi

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

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While watching Bambi, I had a bit of a minor revelation. I realized that Bambi is actually kind of a blueprint for Disney's later The Lion King, both being tales of the cycle of life for wild animals, but while in the larger picture, they are very much alike, they could not be more different in terms of storytelling. Unlike The Lion King's fast-paced and energetic Shakespearean tale of the second musical renaissance of Disney, Bambi fits perfectly into the loose observational low-conflict storytelling of its own era.

In fact, Bambi doesn't really have much of a plot--you can quickly outline the whole of the plot on a business card. Rather the story is largely composed of expressive vignettes, giving focus less to any kind of overall through line, but more to the events in Bambi's life, resembling more a wildlife documentary than a regular narrative, except with songs and talking animals and a lack of realism.

You cannot watch Bambi if you're not patient and if you need drama as it moves through its plot points at a very slow pace, opting to relish in moments of visual and aural splendor. The characters don't even reach two dimensions and don't deal with any considerable internal conflict--they only have to react when man enters the forest, which is pretty much the only meaningful tension, except for a tiny moment during Bambi's later courtship. And while the child-friendly nature of the film scrubs up the danger of the wild and flips our own typical story of nature being an overwhelming force and turning humanity into the dangerous overwhelming force for the creatures of the wood, it doesn't hold back in portraying the utter danger of that forced they call "man" providing two very dark moments in the film. But, overall, and perhaps it's just the writer in me, this is not enough to compel and I had to struggle to stay awake through the film.

Now, what can certainly be said is that Bambi is a gorgeously rendered film. A lot of attention to detail is paid with the denizens of Bambi's forest, including the ultra smooth and believable animation of animal movements, despite their slight anthropomorphism. The music is also quite nice in the old-Disney kind of way, although I don't think any of the songs are quite as memorable as the bigger hits from Disney's catalog.

Overall, Bambi is a wonderfully rendered film, but one with only the barest scrapings of a story, which works on an observational level, giving lots of room to the visuals and songs. However, that makes Bambi a very sedate film with the exception of two moments of sheer terror and that can and will bore many viewers who want the dramatic framework of a story to hand their sights and sounds upon. Still, in a kind of quiet way, Bambi has a kind of magnificence about it in its larger telling of the story of life that makes it grander than many of the other Disney films from the era. And that is a nice resonance to witness at least once. 7/10.

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Progress Report: 茶母, Episodes 3-4

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

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Note: As this is a television serial, this article includes spoilers for the series pertaining to the episodes discussed.

The third and fourth episodes of Damo don't move super quickly, but we do get deeper both into the counterfeit story, which fortunately leads directly into the larger series plot, although not too much is revealed. In fact, the pacing of the revelation of the larger plot is done quite well, always leaving the viewer wanting for more details, but enough to prevent any frustration and to keep the plot moving along.

I do feel like some of the notes around the limited relationship between Hwangbo Yoon and Chae-ok get a touch repetitive at times, since we've already seen the whole "I can't stand to see you get hurt, so I'm going to punish you" business, but I do like these episodes gave us room for more action (and watching Ha Jiwon kick butt!) and I'm glad to see that, aside from one particularly bumbling side character who is infatuated with Chae-ok, we see a little more development from the others, including the bit player thieves from the first few episodes.

Also, we finally get to delve a little deeper into the counterfeiters side of the story, and get some names to their faces. It's definitely shaping up to be an interesting story of intrigue as it appears as though the counterfeiters are a force that is rebellious to the current government and, it seems, might be plotting some kind of overthrow via economic disturbance followed by perhaps some courtly manipulator (or maybe the king himself??) usurping power and probably as part of some democratic movement or at least an anti-feudal movement.

So, while the show does hit the same note a couple too many times, it still remains interesting and I'm definitely interested in seeing what happens next.

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Inbox: 하하하

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

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Hong Sangsoo's Hahaha is a noticeable change of pace from his last batch of films, although only in an incremental way. However, the changes he makes to the way he frames Hahaha as well as the way he approaches his characters really makes a noticeable difference, giving Hahaha an air that's quite different than perhaps everything he's done, which is a remarkable feat since his many films since he found his rhythm have often seemed like variations on the same theme.

Granted the theme here is largely the same, featuring womanizing men doing stupid things. However, it takes place in the framing apparatus of a couple of friends, Jo Moonkyung (Kim Sangkyung), a professor and film director, and Bang Joonshik (Yoo Joonsang)--classic Hongian archetypes--get together and share drinks while trading stories when they discover that they both recently spent some time in the small seaport town of Tongyeong. As they tell their tales, with Moonkyung's stalkerish pursuit of Wang Sungok (Moon Sori) and Joonshik's story involving himself, his mistress An Youngju (Ye Jiwon) and his poet-friend Kang Jungho (Kim Kangwoo), we quickly discover that they were both present in Tongyeong at the same time and, unbeknownst to these fools, that the players in their story are connected.

Not only does the narrative framing device of the chat between the two friends lead to a natural following of the action in their stories (as opposed to the much more "forced" nature of Hong's divided narratives in previous films), it adds an additional layer of irony as we realize that these two don't realize just how connected the various men and women in their stories are. Like most Hong films, the men are terribly flawed and the women, also clearly flawed (although we don't see the narrative from their perspective) and the story is full of irony, especially since we realize how the characters are interconnected when the storytellers don't. Unlike many other Hong films, Hahaha is a little different with the characterizations however, making the characters seemingly more earnest and idealistic than the typical self-deluding assholes that are usually the protagonists, although no less foolish, resulting a surprising ending for one of his films, despite the clear comic criticism. And I think this gives Hahaha a much lighter air than the angsty protagonists in his previous films, resulting is a much more mainstream (or at least arthouse) audience friendly film that also just feels much more comedic. There are some truly memorable moments in the film that made me chuckle inside.

On the aesthetic front, Hong continues making his films like he almost always has, continuing his stationary pan and zoom aesthetic, which actually does make for some interesting pans at time and fits the framework of this film well. Production values are expectantly budget/indie. Like usual, Hong has a way of drawing some strong performances from his actors, a mix of his veterans and some new additions (including the almost incomparable Moon Sori), although the main characters definitely have more space to practice their chops.

I think that makes Hahaha one of Hong Sangsoo's most accessible films to date, thanks to the natural multi-narrative framing device and also because the laughs are more densely packed in this film. Granted, the film trades in a rather ironic type of humor so it probably better fits arthouse moviegoers more than mainstream audiences, however, I think it's strong enough in the broader sense that I think it would be a good choice to introduce newcomers to Hong's films. Given this refreshing change of pace from Hong, I'm looking forward to see what else he comes up with again. 8/10.

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Progress Report: 茶母, Episodes 1-2

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

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Note: As this is a television serial, this article includes spoilers for the series pertaining to the episodes discussed.

As Damo begins, in episode one, we're immediately thrown into a treetop wire-work sword combat scene which immediately comes across as silly, combined with some heavy melodrama. Even though I've seen and enjoyed my share of Asian fantasy swordplay films, this one doesn't start off well, but after that preview of things to come, the show settles into the storyline. The first episodes introduce our damo, Chae-Ok, a slave-class tea servant. A little background; because of the nature of the society during the time that this series depicts, damos attached to police bureaus were often employed as investigators for the police in matters where men might have to deal with women in a way that might cause some embarrassment.

In the first episode, we see how smart Chae-Ok is, helping to solve the death of a woman in an official's house. We are also introduced to the larger problem the police department is dealing with as they try to uproot a counterfeit ring. Meanwhile, we get to see how brash and righteous Chae-Ok is, joining her police bureau in an inter-bureau sport that resembles polo. They get found out by the other bureau's commander and won't back down due to her unwavering belief that she is right. And then, this gets her forthright and compassionate Commander Hwangbo Yoon in trouble once it erupts into a big scuffle between the two bureaus and it's clear that she cherishes him deeply as she goes to sacrifice herself to save him from having to resign. And then it's also clear that Commander Hwangbo has a deep affection for Chae-Ok as well, as he defends her as well. Meanwhile, the hunt for the counterfeiters continues and Chae-Ok encounters a mysterious man.

We eventually gets much deeper into Hwangbo and Chae-Ok's shared past, delving further into Chae-Ok's past as Jae-Hui, a noblewoman whose family was disgraced and she herself captured and made into a servant. We also learn of Hwangbo's roots as the son of a magistrate and a mistress, making him a commoner class and the troubles he faced in his youth because of his heritage and then we see how the two of them developed the kind of relationship they have. The counterfeit plot also deepens and we encounter the mysterious man again (which we clearly recognize from the previous--quite possibly Chae-Ok's brother).

All this reaches a head when Chae-Ok brashly decides to get back some stolen goods herself, resulting in a fight where she is outnumbered and nearly gets herself killed if not for the intervention of both the mysterious man and her police bureau comrades. Hwangbo gets quite upset at Chae-Ok for disobeying orders and endangering her own life (because he cares for her, duh!), ending in a training fight where he tells her that he can't stand to lose her and that she should leave if she's going to keep breaking the rules and endangering herself. We also get to see that Hwangbo actually has a noble class suitor who Chae-Ok actually respects (although Chae-Ok clearly has feelings for her master).

I feel like the show starts off on a weak foot with the big preview. I think it tips the hand of the story far too much in exchange for "excitement" that really comes across as silly without being properly invested in the story. Once in the story, it takes its time to build its characters and I appreciate the counterfeit plot as it seems to be hinting at some rather large-scale plot issues that drags in a lot of the characters we see. Again, more reason to dislike the preview at the start of the show because it really gives away too much and there isn't any real suspense gained from it. However, the relationships that are developed and the ensuing tension are interesting and I like Chae-Ok's brash, smart and do-gooder character a lot as well as the tension set up between the law-abiding police and the clearly antagonistic, but well intentioned mysterious man.

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Seen: 白銀帝國

Seen examines the shows that I see.

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I won some free tickets to see Empire of Silver so I grabbed a friend and we wandered into the barren theater to see the show during its limited run. From the moment it opens up, it's easy to tell that there's going to be some wonderful visuals and pageantry. What I didn't expect with the enormous, sprawling story that's filled with so many holes it was akin to reading a 10 page abridged version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Set during the period of the Boxer Rebellion in nineteenth century China, Empire Silver concerns the fate of the Kang family, who runs a powerful bank. We follow the family through the Third Master (third son) (Aaron Kwok) of Lord Kang (Tielin Zhang) as Kang prepares his sons for taking over the family business, which ancestral legend recounts started from a loan that was received as an act of charity. A lot of melodrama is involved as the Third Master has issues with his stepmother/former lover (Hao Lei) and his three brothers suffer unexpected troubles, leaving the family empire on his shoulders, as the Qing dynasty undergoes a state of unrest due to the conflict between the Boxers and foreign influences.

I don't doubt that Empire of Silver had something resembling a strong sweeping epic narrative at some point in its development. Unfortunately, that's not what's in the film. The story is heavily fragmented and much of the development in the story just happens, without showing us the critical dramatic details that change characters and plotlines. For example, the entire love story/tension between the Third Master and Madame Kang could easily have been the focus of a whole film, however, the pieces presented (and, in the order presented) don't provide enough content for a complete story, nor do they actually build enough of a believable relationship between the two to justify the impact of their failed relationship on the Third Master.

Furthermore, although the Boxer Rebellion is a backdrop for this story, the film teases greater implications and largely fails to deliver on them. Then there's also the minuscule attention given to two theoretically major characters, Manager Qiu (Ding Zhi Chang) and Manager Dai (Lei Zhen Yu) and the film leaves us with the Third Master feeling something for these characters, yet there's hardly anything in the actual film to portray where those ties came from, rather we are told via dialogue that Dai "is righteous" and Qiu "is simple". This actually saps much of the drama from moments involving these characters (and all the others, for the matter), resulting in a film that actually reads drier than a history textbook. Part of the problem does lie in that the film's scope is probably much too large to fit into a single film and should have been split up into multiple films (or just had a portion of the story focused on). As it stands, it was a chore to watch.

The one thing the film did have going for it was some gorgeous photography and art and costume design. If the story was poorly wrought, the visuals were largely strong, although the production goes overboard on the melodrama at times, like a certain thunderstorm towards the end that's about as subtle as a neutron bomb. Also, the computer generated wolves in the film were laughably ridiculous (not to mention painfully draining on the realism of the film). I actually thought Kwok did a good job with the paper thin character he was given, likewise with Zhang's Kang. The poorest performance of the bunch probably belongs to the single scene priest, Paster Landdeck (Jonathan Kos-Read), whose performance was so wooden, he could've sailed back to America by his acting--then again, there was absolutely no point to his character even being in the film, as well as Jennifer Tilly's Mrs. Landdeck, except as a vehicle for exposition.

About halfway into the film, I started wondering when something was going happen that actually took the story somewhere. Two thirds though, I was wondering when it was going to end. While spectacle is nice, a story cannot be merely emoted, like Empire of Silver does with its narrative. The film fails to provide the actual points in the story that matter in developing characters and just tells us that it happens so it can get back to visually attractive, but meaningless moments that are full of unearned emotion. And that's when I had to stifle my laughter as not to disturb the five other patrons in the theater. Empire of Silver is a pretty picture to look at, but while the epic family story actually had potential, it turns out not to be made of actual dramatic substance and, as a result, is tough one to watch. It would've done better had just one element been focused on or the whole thing broken up. Pass. 4/10.

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Inbox: 죽음의 숲

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

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This freebie I recently received is one of the four films that were commissioned as part of the "4 Horror Tales" horror film anthology, that was supposed to help give a boost to Korean horror by giving new talent a chance to reinvigorate the genre. Not having seen any of the other installments in the series, I can't really comment on the effectiveness of the anthology, but Dark Forest of Death is certainly not going to be the film that exemplifies such an accomplishment, as it's a derivative kids-in-the-woods horror tale that has some serious logical issues, even as it does at least have a kind of silly, but amusing stylistic element.

You could really just say that Dark Forest of Death is yet another incarnation of The Evil Dead, as a group of young adults head out into the wilderness only to get killed one by one and return as the evil undead bent on killing the rest of the living. The slight twist to the story is that there is a certain reason why people turn undead and they don't have to die for it to happen, so it makes them a little more like Romero-style zombies and finally, one of two main protagonists, Jungah (So Yihyun) has a gift of psychic prophecy (although it doesn't prevent all the dying that happens--this is a horror movie after all).

Now, if the movie had just played the idea straight, it probably would have just been your by-the-numbers B horror film, but the writer-director, Kim Jungmin adds little twists to the story do help make it a tiny bit more interesting, especially in terms of bringing tension to some scenes and also giving the end of the film a bit more of a twist, which was nice. The story itself is nothing special, a little bit of interpersonal conflict between the brothers, gives a little reason for some of the unreasonable actions the campers take, but some major logical gaps really hurt the film, especially once the nature of the zombies is revealed, it then casts serious doubt on the spooky invisible hauntings earlier in the film and makes some of the behavior of the dead quite inconsistent. Plus, it all doesn't really amount to a point in the end, except as a setup for the prophetic twist. And I think if you're going to have two different supernatural elements (prophecy and zombies) in a single film, you really need to have more of a connection between the two, plus the psychic forecasting is rather contrived, only happening when convenient to the plot.

Stylistically, at least, I think the Dark Forest of Death might be somewhat satisfying. There are some interesting visual elements worked in (although I wasn't a fan of the graphic-titled character introductions), but some of the more interesting editing and post production choices do give the film a bit more of a striking appearance. On the other hand, the photography was quite murky and, although the poor transfer could be blamed for part of this, a lot of the time, I just couldn't see what was going on, which was frustrating. Gore hounds will appreciate the blood and splatter in the film, although there are some less than impressive CG effects used. I think the acting was fine, given the limited nature of the film.

While I'm glad that the writer-director did try and add the twists to the story that were there, but I think that if you're going to add a method to why people become undead, you really have to then stick more to rules about how these undead work. Also, I think the psychic twist did mostly work, but I felt like it really belonged in a completely different film and felt incongruous to the rest of the film. Combined with some murky photography and an otherwise lackluster story, Dark Forest of Death isn't exactly the kind of horror film that I'd suggest anyone see, except for those who can tolerate a shaky story for some gore. 5/10.

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Progress Report: Dollhouse

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

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Dollhouse is yet another unfortunate casualty for Joss Whedon in that the series got cancelled just as it was finding its footing. But, fortunately, the series also got enough notice on its cancellation to actually finish its story. And while the series stumbled out of the gate and then rushed things at the end, I thought it had a serious amount of potential embedded into its mythos and, despite its short run, managed to successfully wrap up the story. Unfortunately, I don't think the show really had the opportunity to stretch its wings and reach its potential heights. Still, as it was, it was a surprisingly satisfying and atypical approach to cyberpunk and actually managed to address genuine science fiction matters, rather than being a fantasy tale set in space/the future/alternate reality.

The idea behind the series revolves around the existence of technology that can be used to copy people's minds, erase people's minds and "imprint" the copied minds, as well as synthetic minds, onto people's bodies. The titular Dollhouse is a company that provides dolls, programmed human beings, to serve the wealthy elite, often in romantic encounters, but often for a variety of other purposes. The show's protagonist is (sort of) Echo (Eliza Duskhu), who we first meet as Caroline. Echo, slowly develops the ability to retain memories from her encounters. As Echo, the other dolls and the staff of the Dollhouse deal with their "engagements", we learn more about the darker implications of the Dollhouse technology via an escaped superdoll, Alpha, as well as the conspiracies of the greater Dollhouse corporation.

The biggest weakness of Dollhouse is that it starts out of the gate with a rather mundane "engagement of the weak format", as such being limited to building the greater story in tiny pieces. Furthermore, as Echo is a bit of a blank slate at the start, it becomes very difficult to connect with her as a character, which is troublesome as she is the principal protagonist. However, as the story and Echo develop, and the rest of the characters also gain depth, the show becomes more compelling. I especially like the morality questions that are asked by the show when it comes to the employment of this technology and the development of technology in general. Furthermore, the show does a great job of seeding plenty of interesting mysteries for the full run, like the secret mole inside the Dollhouse sending messages to FBI Agent Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) and the fantastic plot involving US Senator Daniel Perrin (Alexis Denisof), even if not all of the ideas get to see their ends (or, in the case of Alpha, doesn't quite satisfy).

Some might fairly complain about the show's end, which takes a rather abrupt turn after what seemed like a legitimate conclusion in the twelfth episode of the second season, however, I've actually come to find that the extended conclusion in "Epitaph Two" actually helps complete the story for Echo, even if not completely as well as providing more complete thematic closure to the series. The series does suffer a little towards the end when there's so much plot being stuffed into the final episodes in order to finish the story that there's little breathing room for characters and story development (as well as wrapping up all the loose ends). But the most disappointing aspect of Dollhouse is simply that it never got a chance to really dig in deep and explore the different ideas that were built into its larger story.

Eliza Dushku brings all the necessary charisma to drive Echo/Caroline and the rest of the cast is actually quite strong as well, even the bit players and while the action is decidedly small screen, it's still surprisingly enjoyable. I think the team did a great job of creating a believable underworld for Los Angeles and should be commended. Also cute were the many allusions to previous Mutant Enemy productions as well as Battlestar Galactica, from which a good amount of guest cast is gleaned.

Overall, Dollhouse is actually a fairly satisfying series. It does start quite rough, in part due to a poor choice of introductory episodes, but also just stemming from the storytelling weakness inherent in having such a blank character central protagonist. However, if you stick with it, you actually get both a smart and dramatic science fiction show, that manages to match big questions with big plot. I do wish the series was better able to build to higher moments, especially for the characters--Echo's last moment in the series when she cracks doesn't really feel earned because we just don't see her developing relationships--but that's also partially because the show just didn't have the time to develop that for its characters. As such, I'm glad that Dollhouse had its chance on the small screen and got to actually finish its tale. An enjoyable and intelligent science fiction series. 8/10.

Links:

• Season 1
• Season 2
• Series Facebook
• Series Hulu

Inbox:Replay: 阿羅漢 장풍대작전

Inbox features items that I have recently purchased or received.

Replay revisits what I've previously seen.

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Arahan is the third feature by director Ryu Seungwan and in this picture he takes on the fantasy martial arts genre, but instead of doing the traditional period genre piece, he sets it in the present and adds a degree of his playful humor to it. However, even with some kinetic action and sense of comedy, Arahan doesn't quite live up to its potential, weighed down by both a slow pace and an overly worn story, as well as some stylistic decisions that end up distracting.

The story is fairly cliché and can be linked to a dozen "chosen one" martial arts stories, like that of Kung Fu Hustle or any number of older martial arts movies and comic books. The main difference is the setting. In modern Seoul, rookie cop Sanghwan (Ryu Seungbum) runs into a confrontation between a purse-snatcher and a convenience store clerk Ejin (Yoon Soie), who unleashes a "palm blast", missing the crook and nailing Sanghwan. He wakes to discover that a handful of Tao masters think that he's a "chosen one". Twist is that he'll have none of it, being that "chi powers" are just a matter of fantasy. Things change as he encounters physical confrontation with some street thugs and is beaten soundly. In the meantime, an ancient evil awakens and you can pretty much see where the story's going to go.

The story is a bit on rails and there's not much in terms of meaningful conflict that leads to character growth for our hero. Furthermore, the story is long and has a lot of fat in it, including the extended training montage in the middle of it, which could have easily been reduced as little of it adds to the story. Because of the slow pacing and predictable story, the whole film would've been a chore to watch except that the comedy moderately amusing, from the bumbling masters trying to increase their student base to the casual sense of humor about their special powers, like a "No Palm Blast indoors" sign in their gym.

Just as the training montage is excessive in length and exposition, the stylistic decisions to use text and split screen really don't work well there either (although the use of text when Sanghawn meets Ejin played well). Fortunately, Ryu still manages to turn out some decent action scenes, although they do seem a touch less inspired than the short and brutal beatdowns in the two films prior to this and much more obviously choreographed. One of the films best features is Ryu Seungbum who has both a strong charismatic presence, and great comedic timing. The cast is rounded out pretty well by some veterans, providing some great straight-faced comedy. The female lead and the villain, however, are a little stiff, or perhaps their parts just didn't leave much to work with. Technically, the film has good production values and while the CGI can be a little obvious at times, I didn't find it overly distracting.

Arahan's mediocre story hardly impresses and the film is just too bloated to really pace well as an action film. While it's certainly one of director Ryu's more commercially successful films, I actually feel it's one of his least successful films in terms of telling a compelling story and for as much fun as it tries to be (and can be within its comedy), it's heavy, languid pacing really prevents it from become as overall fun and playful as its better moment. It still has some merit, both for the action and comedic elements, but I don't really see it as a film worth seeking out. 6/10.

Links:

• Additional Reviews: City on Fire, Far East Films, KoreanCinema.org, Koreanfilm.org
• Available at YesAsia (Blu Ray) / (DVD)

Progress Report: Dollhouse, Season 2, Episodes 11-13

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

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I actually had somewhat low expectations for the finish of this series, having been rushed due to an early cancellation, so I was surprised by how much the team at Mutant Enemy was able to wrap up the series. The final few episodes are quite the run.

In the ramp to the finale, "Getting Closer" sees a whole lot of revelations, the final set of major twists and turns before the end. Here we get to see the entirety of Caroline's background, as well as more about Bennett as they need her to repair some damaged information. Yes, there are a lot of shocking events this episode, including the end.

And in the first of two finales, "The Hollow Men", is tense as everything that was built up in this short series comes to a head and explodes. In some cases literally. And the series does have a kind of conclusion with this episode, so the coda at the end would be pretty surprising if I had not already seen "Epitaph One" from the previous season.

"Epitaph Two: Return" follows "Epitaph One" and was originally aired in pair with the first part so it would have been much less confusing for viewers who originally viewed these two parts together, rather than the way I saw it on DVD with a seemingly out of place future imperfect episode. Taking place in a dystopian future that results from the existence of the technology used by the Dollhouse and following directly after "Epitaph One", it's actually interesting and manages to provide emotional closure to much of the series' characters. It still leaves a lot of loose ends, especially when compared to what happened in "Epitaph One", but I thought it was a satisfying conclusion to the series given that the whole series got compressed in the second season.

That's right. I think Dollhouse did pretty well in the end, given its limited time and gave us a complete story, although I wish the greater thematic elements as well as character elements were better dealt with, but I think that could only have happen were the series actually given a complete run instead of what it got. I'll be happy with what I got.

Links:

• Season index

Seen: Bridesmaids

Seen takes a look at the shows I have seen in person.

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Bridesmaids is a funny movie. But it's more than just a movie that's trying to be funny, no, it tells a story about friendship and the changes we experience in our lives. It even got me to crack a laugh or two, which is pretty impressive. Not to say that Bridesmaids doesn't have some faults, but I have to say that I like it because it has both heart and some really funny moments.

The story follows Annie (Kristen Wiig), a failed bakery owner, whose best friend since childhood, Lilian (Maya Rudolph), has recently gotten engaged. Annie is recruited as the Maid of Honor and quickly falls in with a diverse lot of a wedding party, including Helen (Rose Byrne), a wealthy and attractive new friend of Lilian's, who has grown quite close to Lilian since they met. As the two women begin to compete for best friendship for Lilian, disaster expectedly occurs.

The works pretty well at its core, has great conflict between Annie and Helen as well as really exploring the nature of friendship over time, which I really like. Plus, the comedy in the film is varied, from scatalogical humor (everything following the Brazilian restaurant) to some impressive uncomfortably awkward comedy that had me cringing in my seat (the toast scene at the engagement party). But the slow-paced and repetitive comedy that defines the film's strongest moments, like the extended beats at the toast, also tends to stretch out the funny of a joke and wear it thin (the drive-by scene) and sometimes saps the power of a joke by spreading it out too much. Also, the story could have been more judicious with the romance angle of the film, part of which just feels excessive in that it doesn't really do much in either exposing the character or getting the laughs. I also felt that the side characters of Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey) and Becca (Elie Kemper) got too much development early on, only to vanish in the second half of the film.

I'm glad that the direction of Paul Feig lets the very strong actors shine (Melissa McCarthy's Megan is a riot) and doesn't really do anything particularly splashy. However, just as I felt the comedy dragged a little, I felt that more judicious editing would have resulted in a tighter comedy ship with less lulls between both meaningful story development and jokes. Still, the loose-limbed nature of the film doesn't hurt it that much because the comedy is good enough to keep most audiences laughing for much of the film. It's just that the film felt really long, despite all the laugh-inducing antics.

So the bottom line is that Bridesmaids is very funny. If you're looking for 2+ hours of funny, you get it with Bridesmaids and it never at any point feels contrived or that it's trying too hard for your laughs. It earns them by the natural process of character and conflict. But that same natural slow-build does make the film seem long and a little meandering at times. Which, I suppose, is a small complaint when you have scenes like the chaos in the airplane, despite the lengthy time it takes to build it, it pays off well. And that goes for the movie too. 8/10.

Links:

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

Progress Report: Dollhouse, Season 2, Episodes 6-10

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

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Once this series gets into gear this season, it hardly slows down for a beat.

In "The Left Hand" we spend a little more time with the DC Dollhouse and Bennett, who develops some awkward nerdy chemistry with Topher. More significantly, the whole depth in the Dollhouse's involvement with the government, including manipulating events around Perrin are revealed here. It all ends so quickly though and I was hoping that this, like other elements of the show could have been longer explored.

In "Meet Jane Doe" the LA Dollhouse undergoes some troubling changes as Echo is missing. She discovers a thing or two about herself and then creates a mission. Paul Ballard shows up, also no longer missing, and Adelle struggles as Rossum bigwig, Harding, comes and takes over the house, demoting her.

Alpha returns in "A Love Supreme" and in the ensuing chaos the little secrets between Boyd, Ballard and Echo all start to slip out, dragging Topher into the mix. And some crazy stuff happens at the end.

The season takes a little bit of a dip for "Stop-Loss", which has Victor's time end at the Dollhouse, only to be brought back into Rossum's fold as part of their private army. Echo's having none of that, so she barges out, Sierra (as Priya) in tow and goes to rescue Victor, directly against Adelle's orders.

That doesn't work well for Echo as she's sent (with Victor and Sierra) to "The Attic", a kind of torturous nightmare dimension, that holds some secrets about Rossum. There she discovers that the mind of the Attic are linked and there's some mysterious deaths happening there.

It's clear that the likelihood of the series' cancellation struck early into the second season as I imagined that the whole matter with Senator Perrin would've originally been designed to go half a season or perhaps a whole season. And I think that would have made for some very interesting exploration of the connection between government, industry and technology development, but that all got wrapped up very quickly and, in fact, the series pretty much drops the engagement structure built into the series and focuses almost exclusively on mythological episodes, running almost completely with the season arc in what appears to be a knowing hope to finish the overall story in the limited remaining episodes ordered for the series.

As such, in a way, each episode becomes more addictive, quickly and tightly leading into the next and many questions get answered, while few more get asked. And, I think in the end this actually makes Dollhouse hard to put down as it asks bigger questions frequently and rapidly.

Unfortunately, its rapid pace also doesn't really give space for these larger philosophical issues to really be explored as it seems to be in a hurry to wrap things up. And oh, by the end of episode ten, it definitely looks like we're heading into the final episodes, the overall story reaching its big turning point. I'm impressed that it does it so smoothly, minus the almost Star Trek science fiction feel of "Stop-Loss". Season two is quite a ride so far. I hope it ends well!

Links:

• Season index