The Director of The Host Trades a Monster for a Mother
Lost in the hubbub of Quentin Tarantino's recent Jason Biggs veneration was that Tarantino's list of the greatest recent movies included two by Korean director Bong Joon-Ho: Memories of Murder and The Host. Everyone loved The Host, right? Well, yes, which made my not loving it all the more alien. Now, Bong's got a new movie out, and Magnolia's announced distribution. Can the trailer woo even my Bong-skeptical heart?
The new film, Mother, is a thriller about a mother dedicated to proving that her mentally challenged son isn't guilty of the murder he's accused of. It's Hitchock-y! (Though hopefully not in a The Wrong Man way.) The performances are allegedly great! Korea's submitting it as their Oscar hopeful, and not the high-profile Thirst (which is way too violent for the Academy anyway)!
Still, I'm just a little bit skeptical. I thought The Host was an awkward, unsubtle mashup, and I haven't forgiven anyone associated with the film for the terrible mugging they permitted the actors to engage in (yes, even the catering guy is on my shit list). I know I'm in the minority on that one. I hope to be in the majority on this one.
VERDICT: Fingers crossed.
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Also, Thirst sucked. I know I'M in the minority on that one, but damn I just hated it. Such a mess.
Totally get where you're coming from on The Host, but I still kind of enjoyed it in spite of those things. I know some people who really loved it. For me it was more a fun way to pass the time on a rainy day.
I hope to get a ticket to see Mother at NYFF.
Glad to know that there are at least four people on this planet that recognize that The Host was a shitty movie.
Thirst was horrible. Is there a consensus otherwise? I thought the mugging in The Host was funny, but sometimes things seem funnier when you don't know whats supposed to be happening. Also the younger brother was hot and it distracted me from concentrating.
The reviews I read of Thirst (when it was at Cannes, and again when it finally hit U.S. theaters) were overwhelmingly positive (current rating on the tomatometer: 79%). I had high expectations, and I tried to stay with it, but by the end of the movie I was almost angry at how bad it was (after expecting it to to be so good).