Sunday, October 08, 2006

Paprika and The Host at New York Film Festival


I caught a couple films at the New York Film Festival this year. First was an animated film Paprika from Satoshi Kon (Tokyo Godfathers, Millenium Actress). It is now my favorite of his films. The movie is about a group of scientists who have discovered a machine that projects peoples' dreams in the hope that it can help people who have psychologic issues. However, the story starts when these machines are stolen and are being used to make people go crazy. The film is pretty amazing to watch, especially with several crazy dream sequences brought to life.
The second film I saw was The Host by Boon Joon-Ho (Memories of Murder). It's already a box-office hit in Korea, and I think it's coming out domestically through Magnolia Pictures by the end of the year. The film is a monster movie about a giant salamander-like monster that emerges from the Han River and begins to terrorize the populace. The film focuses around a family who run a food stand near the riverside.
The daughter of the family is captured by the beast, and the family, after a futile attempt to get the government to help them find her are forced to take matter into their own hands. The movie is funny, scary, and emotional.

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