Thursday, January 30, 2020

Parasite


-------------------------------------------------------------------
In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated 1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going to review every single movie I see.  I’m going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future).  You can always ask me why I gave the ratings for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses under the ‘About Me’ section).
-------------------------------------------------------------------


Parasite                                                                       G
Not only was I interested in seeing this Korean film because it’s one of the nine nominated for this year’s best picture Oscar, but also that its director (Bong Joon-ho) also helmed the creature feature, The Host, which I was a big fan of (he also made Snowpiercer for those unaware).  Being that it’s a Korean film, yes, there are subtitles for those not fluent in Korean.  It’s basically about the haves and the have-nots, which could be a universal theme, and the initial premise is actually quite silly despite having a tone that’s not so silly.  A family of four, down on their luck with both parents unemployed, present themselves as unrelated when applying for jobs at a rich family’s house in which the son was introduced to via a friend.  [Makes you understand why there’re extensive background checks to get jobs these days].  Being that it was a little over 2 hours, I knew there had to be more to it than just that simple premise and more to it there is before concluding quite brutally.  I’ve seen three of the other contenders for best picture---I hated The Irishman, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood was the first film of Quentin’s I wasn’t a fan of, and I did like Joker---and I have no interest in the others besides Jojo Rabbit and 1917.  Therefore, judging on the ones I have seen, I wouldn’t be disappointed if this or Joker took the prize even though odds don’t seem to be in either of their favor, but you never know (*cough* Crash in 2005 *cough*).  It does make me wonder though how high of a standard this movie would’ve held up to had it not been nominated and praised, like any other time I suppose, but I don’t recall the very relevant topic being presented in such a way before and I’m surprised you don’t hear about similar instances more often (especially these days).  It certainly made for an intriguing tale.  1/29/2020



Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

Black and Blue  >>>OK

Deadly Games  >>>OK
(a.k.a. Dial Code Santa Claus, a.k.a. Game Over)
           
Encounter  >>>EH/OK

I See You  >>>OK

Knife + Heart  >>>EH/OK

The Marshes  >>>EH
            (Shudder)

Motherless Brooklyn  >>>EH


---Sean O.
1/30/2020

No comments:

Post a Comment