• The first reviews of Lee Chang-dong’s SECRET SUNSHINE are in. And they are quite positive. Kirk Honeycutt at The Hollywood Reporter gave the film an extremely glowing review, while Derek Elley at Variety was generally supportive, praising Jeon Do-yeon a lot, but also thinking the end was long and unfocused.
    (NOTE: Edited to fix my crappy writing. I is writer, so I writes good).

  • A very good story about Lee Chang-dong and SECRET SUNSHINE here at the International Herald-Tribune. Most exciting for me, the story confirms my long-held suspicion that PEPPERMINT CANDY was inspired by a Harold Pinter play. I was sure Pinter wrote a play with a similar structure (going backwards in time), but I could never remember the name. Now I know — BETRAYAL.
  • Reuters also has a story on SECRET SUNSHINE. Yet more praise for Jeon Do-yeon. Dare we hope for a best actress award for her?
  • Depressing news about Korean movies at Cannes. Not sure what I think of that article, though. Of course pre-sales are down — most of the films that pre-sold well in the past were complete dogs. I guess Korean filmmakers lost a lot of trust in the international marketplace, and now buyers want to see what they are getting before committing resources to any project. But when those good projects do come out, then the buyers will be back.
  • PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END is about as muddled as POTC: DEAD MAN’S CHEST. Not as inventive, more action, and equally long and dragging. Too bad neither film was able to catch lightning in a bottle the way POTC: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL did. That first PIRATES film is still one of my favorite Hollywood action films of the last 10 years. Great writers’ commentary track on the DVD, too.
  • The convenience store near my house just started selling cans of Guinness beer. This makes me very happy.