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Reviews
Two-Bits & Pepper (1995)
A star vehicle for careers in decline
Mind numbing would be a compliment for this film. Children's films should entertain kids and make them want to talk about the film, not what they're going to do after it's over.
For anyone over age ten, this is insulting to the intelligence. Huge plot holes, kids behaving smarter than their age, and adults who are incapable of the obvious help you forget the insulting dialogue. I almost felt sorry for Dennis Weaver and Joe Piscopo being a part of this.
I had to use this film on DVD with subtitles to teach English to my Japanese students; they were 11 and found this painful to watch. Clearly it's not for anyone smarter than "Zike" or "Spider".
Exactly what was the point of the horse rustlers who never appear again? At least in Monty Python's "Life Of Brian", the UFO scene was put in for humour. And _do_ horse rustlers really exist in this day and age?
Night of the Comet (1984)
More brai...uh, blood!
This was a great camp-horror flick. With a capable cast and no "huge" stars, it's acting and story driven. There are no "Nobody is that dumb!" scenes, and no james Bond-like stunts that stretch believability. This is a film that fans of small screwball films (Buckaroo Banzai, High Risk, Big Trouble In Little China, etc.) will love.
For those under 35, forget "Star Drek" (deliberate spelling) when thinking of Robert Beltran. He was gaining celebrity before this film appeared.
Beltran and his castmate Mary Woronov, plus her husband, director Paul Bartel, appear in the dark comedy "Eating Raoul", made in 1980. It takes cannibalism to a new level and is worth watching. ^_^ Find it if you can, it's as enjoyable at NOTC.
Killerdeului suda (2001)
A good intro to Korean films
If you listen to all the promos and previews, you'll be told to expect a "Reservoir Dogs" clone. And you'll be disappointed. This movie is meant for people who like their violence semi-realistic and totally screwball. Fans of "Buckaroo Banzai", "Six String Samurai" or "High Risk" will love this. (I'm *not* saying it's wrong not to like "Guns and Talks"; I'm saying it's the wrong movie for you.)
The film is a lot of fun, with characters of varying morality that you never hope to be, but sometimes want to be. Leader Sang-yeon (Hyeon-jun Shin) is likeable and charismatic, a good moral opposite of the Detective (Jin-yeong Jeong). The rest of the cast are funny and well acted. The only flaw with how people are used is the strong and silent assassin, Ha-yeon (Bin Won) who is horribly underdeveloped.
Humourous bit worth watching: of the two men hiring the group at the end of the film, the man with glasses is the director in an uncredited cameo appearances (his imitation/homage to Alfred Hitchcock, who made cameos in all his films). ("How do I kill a man from cancer? Make him smoke?") Some bits are implausible (the escape, for example) but this is comedy, not high art.
A note on the Korean movie scene: prior to 2001, foreign films revenues were used to subsidize the Korea movie industry. But in 2001, Korean-made films *outgrossed* Hollywood and other foreign films. The quality of story, acting, direction, action, and effects have equalled European and Hong Kong films, and I think are worth watching, having seen a few.