Spike Lee's Oldboy

Just so everybody knows, I won't be watching Spike Lee's Oldboy. The main reason is because I hate Hollywood remakes of brilliant foreign films.  Other recent films that I refuse to watch include remakes of Let the Right One In and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  Is there really so little originality in Hollywood?  Apparently.

Stoker (2013)

Creepiness abounds

When India's father dies, his estranged brother shows up at the funeral and then infiltrates the home she shares with her mother.  And then things get creepy.  Stoker is a very Hitchcock-ian look into the secrets that lie behind every facade.  Matthew Goode is more than good as the creepy brother Charlie.  Nicole Kidman (India's mother) is one of two things in this film.  She was either 1) great at portraying a really messed up character or 2) her acting was just bad.  Having seen her in a number of films, I think it is the former.  Directed by one of my favorite directors (Chan-wook Park) of one of my favorite films (Oldboy), Stoker is a great English debut from one of Korea's top directors.  Also a great screenwriting debut for Wentworth Miller of Prison Break fame.

Stoker creeps its way to 3 out of 5 Poblanos!

Director: Chan-wook Park
Writer: Wentworth Miller
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Metacritic: 58 out of 100

Mandrill (2009)

I've waited my whole life for this

Antonio's parents were murdered in front of his eyes when he was a child.  He has spent his life since then seeking revenge for their deaths.  And he finally gets his opportunity.  The first hour or so of the film was great, one part James Bond, one part Austin Powers and one part Oldboy (a Korean revenge flick).  I lost interest after that as the tone of the film and the characters themselves changed.  The film becomes almost a caricature of itself, which might have been the director's intent.  Directed by Chilean director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, this action film is very stylized with acrobatic choreography and slow-mo enhanced sequences.  The fighting is more akin to dancing than martial arts.  It could just be a style I've never seen before. 

A good solid action film which pays tribute to the 1970s, Mandrill gets respect with 3 out of 5 Poblanos!

Director: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Writer: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Starring: Marko Zaror, Celine Reymond and Alejandro Castillo
Rotten Tomatoes: 63% (audience reviews only)
Metacritic: not reviewed

Natural City (2003)

Very life-like actors in less than life-like roles
Mankind has achieved the ability to create cyborgs with souls.  They appear humans, but are more than human.  Natural City is billed by some as one of the top foreign (non-American made) sci-fi films.  Honestly I fell asleep during this one, just for a few minutes, but still...  The rambling plot did not keep my attention.  It wasn't a bad film at all - the effects were good, the action was good, albeit confusing at points.  But Hollywood has already proven many times over that effects and explosions don't make a good movie.

2 out of 5 Poblanos!

Director:  Byung-chun Min
Writer:  Byung-chun Min
Starring:  Ji-tae Yu (Oldboy), Jae-un Lee, Rin Seo
Rotten Tomatoes -  67%
Metacritic - not reviewed