MoFo Movie Roulette II (a movie watching participation event)

Memories of Murder aka Salinui chueok (2003)

Detective Cho Yong-koo: I only beat you up because I care about you.

Like other of his films, Director Bong Joon Ho has a knack for drawing you into his cinematic world with quirky humor in the midst of a serious/dramatic situation. That knack is the amazing balancing act that we very easily find ourselves immersed into the world-building itself instead of wondering if this is a comedy or a drama. This wonderful little trick engages us so that we are fully involved in what occurs. Reminding me of an interview of Tarantino I once saw shortly after his first film, Reservoir Dogs came out, regarding the famous Mr. Blonde Torturing a Cop Scene. How Mr. Blonde dances to the pop song "Stuck In The Middle With You" during that scene draws you in before the violence occurs; thereby, the violence is more effective.

Bong has this down to an artistic science. Add to that the talent for capturing Human Nature in both the scenes and through his actors that really sets him apart and above many other directors of his perspective genres of cinema. Its importance is that it is those nuances of human behavior that make for memorable scenes that stay with us as opposed to remarking on, "Oh, yeah, great movie. Don't remember much, but, great movie."
It also causes us to continually delve deeper and deeper into a specific Director, as I have done with Bong Joon Ho. Having, presently, seen five of his major films thus far. Missing out on Barking Dogs Never Bite and Okja at this time.
Leaving me to ponder where I would set this in the ones I have seen, placing it about the middle of the pack. Not that I found it lacking or every day - far from it, more so since I love for both Parasite and Mother slightly higher. Though it is a tight run.


Based on a set of murder/rapes in the eighties with inspiration from Alan Moore's comic book From Hell along with from a play called 'Come See Me' which dramatized the incidents, Bong gives us two lead detectives of two definitive ways of procedure. The first, a personal favorite actor of mine, Kang-ho Song as Detective Park Doo-man, who, along with his partner, will fabricate evidence and literally "kick' a confession out of a suspect to close the case. And, from the Seoul department, Kim Sang-kyung as Detective Seo Tae-yoon actually investigates both the dismal amount of evidence and where they truly lead to.
Their conflicting styles are at the core of the investigation, and from there, much of the memorable scenes stem from. Along with every single aspect of a truly excellent Murder Investigation genre film is brought into play via Bong's flair and creative dedication.

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

I've been meaning to watch Memories of Murder for awhile now. Seeing that rating makes me want to do so even more. I really like Parasite and Mother, but I haven't been as big a fan of his other films. Okja is fine for what it is, but I wasn't impressed by either Snowpiecer or The Host. Haven't seen Barking Dogs Never Bite.

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Great review! Glad you liked it. It’s an excellent film.

Definitely something to see if you enjoyed Parasite and Mother. It's at that level.
I was TBH, so-so for The Host, though the humor in it DID set it apart. And I'm of the minority that enjoyed Snowpiercer. For some odd reason I've steered away from Okja. Unsure why, but I have.
Yes it is, and THANK YOU for prompting me to see it.

It's tonally quite different from his other films, and its so odd that you really have to be in the right mood for it, I think.

Hey guys, should be good to do this next film for this week. The following week I will either be late or won’t be able to do it.

Taking a trip up to Boston from the 31-5.

OK, thanks for the heads up. I'll go ahead and post the next round today.

@CosmicRunaway

My nominations for you:

Ikiru (1952)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Limelight (1952)

@Citizen Rules

War and Peace (1965; Sergey Bondarchuk): I offered this one up to you the first time around, and you turned it down because of the length and thinking you might not be able to finish it in a week. I offer it up again, just in case.

The Given Word (1962; Anselmo Duarte): I am not sure how I should explain this one without just going over the plot. Something tells me this is something you might like.

Cairo Station (1958; Youssef Chahine): This is a film-noir made in Egypt. If we were not given a choice of three but made to watch a specific movie, this would be the one I would give you.

Interesting

Thank you

Hope ya have a wonderful time!!

Here's my choices for you:

Rififi (1955)

Army of Shadows aka L'armée des ombres (1969)

Serenity (2005)

Definitely leaning towards Rififi even though I loved Le Samurai and as much as I would like to see another Melville, Rififi is calling.

I’ve also seen Serenity a few times, just haven’t been able to finish and never had the motivation to.

ThNk you so much, doing my normal drunk history vacations, history and breweries!

Btw, what are some of your favorite genres/sub genres?

I swear I had a premonition that you'd pick War and Peace for me again...and I was kinda hoping you would too. So I guess I'm not surprised and I can't turn it down again so I'll watch it. Probably take me three nights of viewing but I'll get it done.

I've heard good stuff about Cairo Station, I'll have to watch it sometime. I've not heard of The Given Word but I would be interested in that one too. I'll post yours shortly.

I might need a link for War and Peace. I just looked at my favorite Russian site and I couldn't find it.

Never Mind...I found it. I just need to find subs now, or learn Russian.

The Childhood of a Leader (2015)....A different type of film, minimalist maybe or observatory? I'm not sure what classification it fits into, maybe none.

Heaven's Gate (1980)...Michael Cimino's cinematography is impressive to say the least. It's a long film with a prologue, main film and a epilogue, but worth the time.

The Red Shoes (1948)...It's been a long time since I seen this. But I remember being impressed.

I'm thinking I'll go with The Red Shoes as it helps me knock another P&P film off my to-do list.

Raul just watched that in the The Personal Rec IV and really liked it. Happy watching.

History and breweries is ALWAYS a great mix! LOL

And if Rififi calls, then ya gotta answer. It's on the top echelon of crime capers and a film that will continually get recommended by anyone who has seen it so (fingers crossed) you'll enjoy it.

I do have a wide variety of genres I enjoy but with being a MoFo I have had some wonderful opportunities to branch out. If ya like, to make it easy and to guarantee I haven't seen it, here's a Cheat Sheet to wander through and pick a few from.