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The Host

post #1 of 52
7/26/06 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
Han river-monster flick going to show at the TIFF this year. Is it tongue-in-cheek or straight up? Worth checking out?
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post #2 of 52
7/26/06 at 1:52pm
Straight up, but w/ healthy doses of tragedy, black humor and satire. Critical response from Cannes and other select screenings have been overwhelmingly positive. I'm dying to see this film. Depending on how well it's received at the TIFF, Magnolia Pictures will apparently release this to US theaters as early as October. So please go and bring as many of your friends as possible.
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post #3 of 52
7/26/06 at 2:12pm
I am also very anxious to see this movie. I'm hoping the DVD comes out before christmas.
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post #4 of 52
7/26/06 at 2:40pm
They just announced the American remake of it...
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post #5 of 52
7/26/06 at 2:51pm
It's playing at a theatre not 15 minutes by foot from me and I can't see it because I don't speak enough damn Korean to follow it. It burns me up inside, living in Korea and having to wait for the DVD release of all these movies I so desperately want to see, and knowing that festival audiences back in my homebase of Toronto will see them sooner in all their subtitled glory. Same thing happened last July when Sympathy for Lady Vengeance came out here. Am I gonna have to wait until December to see The Host? Why can't Seoul get just one damn theatre to play new-release Korean movies subtitled for all of us foreigners, or more specifically, just for me? It's like a small part of my soul dies every day that I don't see this thing. And I ain't got all that much soul to begin with.
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post #6 of 52
7/26/06 at 3:41pm
Thread Starter 
I'd say, go watch it anyways. To paraphrase Willem Dafoe in Flight of the Intruder, screw the subtitles and flow with it.

I'll probably have a chance to watch a bootleg between now and then, but I'll hold off.
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post #7 of 52
7/26/06 at 3:50pm
You'll at least be able to understand the lines spoken by Hollywood character actors Scott Wilson and Paul Lazar, who have small roles in this.

Cinekore in downtown Seoul used to show first run films w/ English subs, but I don't know if that's still the case.
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post #8 of 52
7/26/06 at 3:55pm
Thread Starter 
If this was Memories of Murder, or a more character/dialogue driven film, I'd say wait. But this looks more in the line of Tremors - the humour should be pretty apparent. I prefer subtitles as well, but I'd just say watch it. The clips look pretty funny and while some of the FX look a little cheesy, some don't look that bad.
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post #9 of 52
7/27/06 at 2:46am
I've seen a few movies here subtitle-free, but they tend to be martial arts stuff where plot and character are purely afterthoughts -- both Tom Yum Goong and One-Armed Boxer vs The Flying Guillotine were perfectly kickass without knowing what's being said. But from what I'm hearing The Host isn't supposed to be just a straight-up funny monster mash good-time. Character and such are important, so I'd actually rather wait. I won't be able to see it in the perfect conditions of a real theatre, but I can watch it in a DVD room, where they'll have a nice home theatre setup, good sound and projection and all that. I really am hot to see this, but I'm patient enough tp wait for the right conditions.
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post #10 of 52
9/5/06 at 8:40am
I'll propably be seeing this at the Helsinki International Film Festival next week. CAN'T. FUCKING. WAIT.

I'll also check out out the Pang brothers' Re-Cycle. Pan's Labyrinth will also be there, but unfortunately I won't be able to see it.
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post #11 of 52
9/5/06 at 9:11pm
Gonna try and catch this at the NYFF this coming month.
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post #12 of 52
9/17/06 at 7:00pm
One of this years best films. Just a great mix of drama, humour and horror. A great monster and it's first appearance is one of the best sequences I've seen in a film this year.
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post #13 of 52
12/1/06 at 12:08pm
http://www.creature-corner.com/?type=news&id=1955

Dammit. I need to see this.
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post #14 of 52
12/1/06 at 12:23pm
Pushed back? That's ass.

Also, in "Primeval", I think you're thinking of Orlando Bloom, not Orlando Jones. Dominic (Purple Pants Dracula) Purcell is in that, too.
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post #15 of 52
12/1/06 at 12:28pm
Nope- Orlando Jones- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0772193/

Of all of the movies I want to see in theaters, The Host is at the top of that list. Nothing like seeing a monster movie on the big screen.
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post #16 of 52
12/1/06 at 12:35pm
IMDB's coming soon section makes that mistake too. But, you know... Purple Pants Dracula.
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post #17 of 52
2/24/07 at 8:59pm
This seems like the most logical thread to post in, there are like half a dozen Host threads at the moment. Finally got to see this film with a large group of friends and it was worth the arduous six weeks the damn film took to finally ship out to me (apparently a storm in china stopped my DVD for a good month).

I was always a massive fan of Memories of Murder so naturally I was really excited about this film. The fact it managed to exceed my expectations and become possibly one of the top tier of Korean movies, and certainly one of the best millenial horror movies, I've seen is quite impressive.

It is beautifully shot, with an incredible (if somewhat crudely realised) monster and moments of genuine hilarity, sorrow and heart pounding action. The final moments of the film is just a perfect example of a tubthumping action climax mixed with gentle drama.

A quick question though for people who have seen it

SPOILERS

Does the little girl get killed by the monster or by Agent Yellow, as our reading was that she was poisoned.
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post #18 of 52
3/4/07 at 5:12pm
Caught a preview screening this weekend. It's everything that it's been touted as. Funny, scary, exciting, and featuring some very likable characters. It's going to be an instant classic among Chud readers. It's very much a spiritual descendant of the original Godzilla with thematic material to chew on in addition to the just the flat out fun monster story.

Spoilers


It's ambivalent whether the girl was killed by the monster or by Agent Yellow. Considering the amount of rage directed at the monster in the end, I'm going to go with the monster being the cause of death.
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post #19 of 52
3/4/07 at 9:53pm
The shot of Hyun-seo's limp arm sticking out of the creature's mouth as it passes over Gang-Du in the sewer lair would likely indicate she was already dead at that point. As for Agent Yellow seemingly not having any impact on Gang-Du or Se-Ju when everyone else was hemorrhaging blood out of their numerous orifices, Bong had said in interviews that he wanted to show the physical resilience of the lower-class from years of financial hardship and eating crap.
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post #20 of 52
3/5/07 at 12:35am
Thread Starter 
IIRC her arm had a sickly blue tone.

On a side note, last night on the CBC I saw an excellent documentary on the struggles of foreign-adopted Korean orphans, and at one point one of the adoptees (returning to meet his birth parents) stands at the edge of the Han river, gazing wistfully down at the water. Pretty much exactly where the monster first leaps from the water. I didn't point this out to my girlfriend.
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post #21 of 52
3/5/07 at 1:23am
Saw this recently... it's a pretty great little movie. Definitely one to see in theaters, though... it felt like it was missing something, watching it at home.

I'm very interested in what the version being released here has missing from the original, though.
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post #22 of 52
3/5/07 at 5:42pm
I caught a double feature this weekend thanks to my DVD-savvy friend of both this and "Memories Of Murder", both from the same director. You can see why they are calling him the Korean Spielberg.

1. See THE HOST this weekend. It's totally awesome, and the hype is for real.

2. "Memories Of Murder" was one of the most entertaining, odd, amazing police procedurals I'd ever seen. I know everyone was raving about "Zodiac" this weekend, which I haven't seen, but I somehow felt I was one-upping them by watching this. Anyone else seen it?
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post #23 of 52
3/6/07 at 4:56pm
I adore Memories of Murder, it's one of my favourite Korean films and it's a crime it is so underwatched. Also Bong has a talent for making people look good in the Rain.
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post #24 of 52
3/6/07 at 5:02pm
THE HOST is a little slice of awesome. Even with everything that was going on it felt comfortably restrained, letting what was on the screen speak for itself, rather than inundate you with fancy editing or musical tricks. Definite recommendation.
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post #25 of 52
3/8/07 at 1:47am
two more days.... cant fucking... wait...
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post #26 of 52
3/11/07 at 9:26pm
I enjoyed the ever loving shit out of this movie. Like, Slither-level enjoyment.
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post #27 of 52
3/13/07 at 8:38pm
im pretty irked, i cant seem to find it anywhere, ordering it off fye as i type
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post #28 of 52
3/13/07 at 8:49pm
like so many of the favorite movies of this site and these boards, good but overhyped. here, at least.
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post #29 of 52
3/13/07 at 9:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheCynic
like so many of the favorite movies of this site and these boards, good but overhyped. here, at least.
I would say that sentence is more suited to the Pirates of the Carribean franchise, but seeing as its a favourite around here, I would be ignored.
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post #30 of 52
3/13/07 at 9:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheCynic
like so many of the favorite movies of this site and these boards, good but overhyped. here, at least.
Calling The Host a great monster movie, or, say the second best one is not so much overhyping as stating the obvious. I don't understand hype backlash, though. "People told me a movie was great, and I was totally entertained, but I didn't cum my pants. Why didn't this film give me a hand job?"
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post #31 of 52
3/13/07 at 9:54pm
Thread Starter 
Wrong theatre.
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post #32 of 52
3/13/07 at 10:05pm
You gotta go to the ones that offer Feel Around.
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post #33 of 52
3/16/07 at 12:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Dellamorte
Calling The Host a great monster movie, or, say the second best one is not so much overhyping as stating the obvious. I don't understand hype backlash, though. "People told me a movie was great, and I was totally entertained, but I didn't cum my pants. Why didn't this film give me a hand job?"
second best, eh? what's the 1st?
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post #34 of 52
3/16/07 at 12:46am
Godzilla vs. Hedorah.
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post #35 of 52
3/16/07 at 12:55am
Jaws or King Kong or Godzilla. After that it's a shit genre.
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post #36 of 52
3/16/07 at 2:13am
I've heard good things about Q:the winged Serpent.And so you know...The 90s Gamera trilogy (of which I've seen the first one) are supposedly the bee's knees.
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post #37 of 52
3/16/07 at 2:19am
Good catch on the Chud approved Q:TWS. Which I own. And whom I'm friends with.
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post #38 of 52
3/16/07 at 3:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Dellamorte
After that it's a shit genre.
Ouch! I take umbrage with this loaded over-generalized hyperbole. The Monster Movie sub-genre may not be your cup of tea, but like any horror sub-genre, it's got a wide spectrum of quality.

EDIT: to quantify my POV
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post #39 of 52
3/16/07 at 3:47pm
You know, 20 million miles to Earth is a GREAT one.
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post #40 of 52
3/16/07 at 3:57pm
There are a ton of good monster flicks worthy of mention. But I shouldn't have to go into that here at this creature-corner thread. The genre's full of fun stuff, schlock, and ones not worth utterance, but there are more than 3 "Greats" fo sho.

Blasphemous.
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post #41 of 52
3/16/07 at 4:06pm
I will, as I have, spot Q, but the Godzilla sequels (and yes I've seen the original cuts) are fun. So is stuff like The Giant Claw, Tarantula, War of the Gargantuans, Frankenstein vs. the Space Monster, etc. But they aren't good movies. That's a lot of the genre, and it's not as if there are that many underground giant monster movies.
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post #42 of 52
3/16/07 at 4:16pm
Still having trouble with a film being called "overhyped" when it has yet to play anywhere except the biggest media markets and film festivals. And the internet film community is not the world. Nobody outside of us internerds has been bombarded with images of Bong's creature the way that, for example, they've been seeing shots in TV ads of that crazed puppeteer geriatric who will rip out your tongue.
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post #43 of 52
3/16/07 at 9:45pm
If you have a half decent Chinatown in your city, it's a big enough city that The Host is probably playing in it. Worth a big screen viewing.
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post #44 of 52
3/17/07 at 10:38pm
Fantastic film. Funny, scary, thrilling, and moving. Everything I love in a movie.
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post #45 of 52
3/18/07 at 1:36am
POSSIBLE SORTA-KINDA SPOILER WARNING...

I just remembered that shot of the formaldehyde bottles - panning over the table with the empty ones, and it just kept going, and going, and going...fantastic shot. I have no idea what made me remember that right now or why I felt compelled to post about it - but there ya go.
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post #46 of 52
3/18/07 at 5:03am
Useless Pop-Up Trivia:

Bong mentioned in the DVD commentary the actual number of formaldehyde bottles that McFarland ordered emptied into the river in the 2000 incident was around 600.
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post #47 of 52
3/18/07 at 9:12pm
I'm dying to see this movie, but it's not showing at any theatres where I live.

------------------

My Most Anticipated Movie:
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post #48 of 52
3/18/07 at 10:50pm
[QUOTE=DARKMITE8] The Monster Movie sub-genre may not be your cup of tea, but like any horror sub-genre, it's got a wide spectrum of quality.[QUOTE]

Seconded.
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post #49 of 52
4/24/07 at 5:24pm
Dvd in July! Unless you have a region free player, of course.
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post #50 of 52
4/24/07 at 5:35pm
Or you could just by the ALL-region version from DVDAsian.com

right now.

I don't know how "legit" this all region version is, but I have bought from dvdasian.com in the past and there service is pretty damn fast.
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