I haven't seen 'Trigger,' but I love the idea of South Korea exploring its gun (or lack thereof) culture. Their fascination is fascinating.
Every male serves in the military, so they know how to use one, but it's not a part of daily life like it is here. We see lots of guns in their films and television, but they're treated with either Western-style mayhem or this Big Scary Thing.
My favorite -- and one I think I've mentioned in these comments -- being 'A Bittersweet Life,' where a gangster buys a cache of illegal guns. During his revenge rampage, he's a pretty bad shot, so the gunfights are just sloppy John Woo. It's part realistic and part funny -- a tone you don't get in many actioners.
Also of note, South Korea developed the shooter video game 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' (PUBG), whose battle royale format laid the groundwork for the immensely popular 'Fortnite.' It was really funny to dive into Korean dramas and whenever a character plays a video game, it was always PUBG.
Here's some PUBG content starring your favorite Korean big guy:
Not Korean, but similar: one of the most surprising things about visiting Hawaii is the amount of gun ranges there. I learned that it's because Hawaii draws a ton of Japanese tourists, and their access to guns is like South Korea's. So, when they come to America, they want to shoot stuff.
I think you should check out Trigger. Up your alley for sure. And much better than I thought it might be. I'm 8 of 10 episodes through "Extracurricular" which has very strangely become something I can't look away from. I mean, they don't really make those kinds of show here which is fascinating to me.
"A Bittersweet Life" sounds interesting.I have a bunch of Korean and Japanese movies I just finished and will write about soon.
Also, because I know you'll be at least remotely fascinated by this discovery (ha), I am enjoying my ongoing bid to catalog certain tics in South Korean TV series/films and my favorite by far is the rampant use of the the "teeth suck" sound. I'm now convinced that EVERY actor is trained to do this. No only that, but I AM NOW DOING THIS.
Reading this somehow led me down a tangent in which I found out that Wong Kar-Wai's recent, wildly popular 30 episode Chinese drama, Blossoms Shanghai, is finally making its US Debut on Criterion Channel (of course). Feels very Tim-coded.
"Bird by Bird" is great. I bought it back when it was first published -- and when I was still laboring under the fantasy of finishing my LA detective novel, then getting a three book deal so I could leave Hollywood and just ... write.
FWIT -- it's just as well that didn't work out -- but I learned a lot from Anne Lamott's book, including her advice to "take short assignments and write shitty first drafts."
The first was hard for me, but the latter came very easily.
Good news that your boy has discovered film: college is good for that kind of thing. As a full-on hick from the sticks (seriously - I grew up milking goats and shoveling pig manure out of the barn on spring break), I didn't know or care much about film when I first entered school. Sure, I liked movies -- who doesn't -- but "film"? The notion of studying film seemed rather stuffy. Then, faced with an empty slot in my spring quarter curriculum, I signed up for a class called "The Screenplay" on a lark (plus, I figured it would be a ten-week skate), but that class turned my head all the way around like I was Linda Blair.
You know the rest, or will when the book hits print ... anyway, that class seriously altered the trajectory of my life.
So good for your son -- he's got a wonderful cinematic world to explore.
A great series I neglected me mention back when you were focusing on older shows: "Treme," from David Simon, the man who brought us "The Wire." The three season series takes place in post-Katrina New Orleans, with several of the key actors from "The Wire" taking roles that are different in every way, but wonderful. It's a low key show that gets better the longer you stick with it, spinning several very human stories as the people stuggle to rebuild their lives from the aftermath. Definitely worth a look.
It wasn't so much the pilot, but for some reason, I watched the 'Treme' TRAILER a lot. I think it was because I was pushing that show hard, despite knowing how slow and meandering (meaning, non-commercial, but it works for David Simon) it was. So the trailer was enough of a hook to draw my casual friends into the mix.
Hey, I'm glad to hear you pushed "Treme" on some appreciative friends. It's definitely a slow burn, but the stories are so human ... and humane. I found it to be a very satisfying show.
But yeah, much of the viewing public doesn't seem interested in anything that doesn't have car chases, machine gun battles, and exploding helicopters.
On the plus side though, I feel like Treme was a little like HBO just letting Simon do his pet project, which was great of them, especially after the roller coaster of The Wire.
I'm thrilled you had a great unexpected connection with your son about films. I remember when I had that with my father talking about printing! He and I didn't have much in common, he was an upbeat kind of guy but incurious. I never saw him read a book and he wasn't interested in culture or the arts but he had been a lithographer (he ran huge printing presses in San Francisco when we lived there when I was a child) so when I was a marketing production manager at a software company, responsible for all the printed materials, working with designers, going to press checks, etc. it was cool to discover we shared a common language after all. I think your shared interest with your son will be more fruitful however!
Loved this, Suzanne. And yes, that whole experience with him was wonderful. We share a lot of music stories, as I do (even more so) with my daughter, but film was a really nice discovery and, on the whole, I've been there when they don't feel like talking or sharing extensively so it's FANTASTIC when they do, of course.
I’m really excited about the co-pilot. I like that it’s a mystery.
I’m not always good about watching movies but I guess I go through jags. Last weekend I watched The Thursday Murder Club (cozy made for TV movie but boy does Helen Mirren still have it!), A Real Pain, and Anora. So yeah I finally watched the Oscar winner from last year. Really really outstanding. Did you talk about it, Tim? I can’t remember as I was so slow to watch it.
I love bookstores and remain jealous you are so nearby Powell Books!
I'm pretty sure I wrote at least a little bit about Anora, but I ended up really loving that movie when initially I thought I wouldn't. A Real Pain is on my Watchlist and I know KB liked it a lot when she watched it. I would probably get around to watching The Thursday Murder Club but for all the reasons you wanted to watch it I wanted to let it sit for a bit in favor of something more difficult, I guess? But with that cast, I'll definitely catch it.
Oh, living so close to Powell's is great. I'm happy to get lost in there. And it's easy to not even have that on my to-do list and just walk by it three or four times in a week and pop in.
I watched The Thursday Murder Club too and have to say I was disappointed. Did you like it? Maybe I had too high of expectations. I had recently seen Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan as husband and wife in a Guy Richie series, Mob Land and they were terrible people but fascinating characters playing very successfully against type. I loved Anora, I thought it was really brilliant filmmaking.
Yes, The Thursday Murder Club is watchable but disappoints. The book (and series of books) stands on its delicious narrative voice, something entirely absent in the movie.
I think it was on Peacock (or Paramount?), something I had a free trial to and I ended up paying for a month because Mob Land came out weekly and I wanted to watch it all!
I thought the film was fine. Akin to a British cozy mystery. I just view it as a made for TV movie and set my expectation to that. I also read the book. It stayed mostly true to it except it had to cut out certain subplots and bizarrely, one of the murderers veered from the book. A viewer who is watching all the light mysteries on Acorn TV (like My Life Is Murder, Agatha Raisin, etc.) will definitely like the film. I am less a fan of darker British dramas so honestly, it was exactly what I was looking for.
Completely agree on Anora. That exceeded my expectations as unlike many Oscar favorites, it was actually an entertaining film!
Actually they sort of did. It’s been a minute since I read the book but I think they ended up going to Turkey to chase down a lead and it was pretty complicated. Instead the filmmaker simplified the motive, eliminating any trips abroad.
Okay I read a spoiler. It was the same murderer but he basically gets away with it in the book. I realize I forgot that because the whole thing was quite convoluted and somehow the police decided someone else did it. That person is actually dead so he’s never going to be found. The guy who actually did it continues on in the books whereas he’s just going to sit in jail in the movie (if they do another one.)
So fun fact: I love reading but I do forget the plots over time. Sorry for the confusion!! Still, it was different from the book and apparently book fans are mad. My opinion is it’s an adaptation and using poetic license and all that fun stuff is acceptable to me.
Thinking about starting a whole other feature where I just input the names of the shows and movies (and books) where I've forgotten the plot....It would be sooooo looooong.
I haven't seen 'Trigger,' but I love the idea of South Korea exploring its gun (or lack thereof) culture. Their fascination is fascinating.
Every male serves in the military, so they know how to use one, but it's not a part of daily life like it is here. We see lots of guns in their films and television, but they're treated with either Western-style mayhem or this Big Scary Thing.
My favorite -- and one I think I've mentioned in these comments -- being 'A Bittersweet Life,' where a gangster buys a cache of illegal guns. During his revenge rampage, he's a pretty bad shot, so the gunfights are just sloppy John Woo. It's part realistic and part funny -- a tone you don't get in many actioners.
Also of note, South Korea developed the shooter video game 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' (PUBG), whose battle royale format laid the groundwork for the immensely popular 'Fortnite.' It was really funny to dive into Korean dramas and whenever a character plays a video game, it was always PUBG.
Here's some PUBG content starring your favorite Korean big guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSjLH6XK6Fk
Not Korean, but similar: one of the most surprising things about visiting Hawaii is the amount of gun ranges there. I learned that it's because Hawaii draws a ton of Japanese tourists, and their access to guns is like South Korea's. So, when they come to America, they want to shoot stuff.
Holy shit that last paragraph!!
I think you should check out Trigger. Up your alley for sure. And much better than I thought it might be. I'm 8 of 10 episodes through "Extracurricular" which has very strangely become something I can't look away from. I mean, they don't really make those kinds of show here which is fascinating to me.
"A Bittersweet Life" sounds interesting.I have a bunch of Korean and Japanese movies I just finished and will write about soon.
Also, because I know you'll be at least remotely fascinated by this discovery (ha), I am enjoying my ongoing bid to catalog certain tics in South Korean TV series/films and my favorite by far is the rampant use of the the "teeth suck" sound. I'm now convinced that EVERY actor is trained to do this. No only that, but I AM NOW DOING THIS.
Reading this somehow led me down a tangent in which I found out that Wong Kar-Wai's recent, wildly popular 30 episode Chinese drama, Blossoms Shanghai, is finally making its US Debut on Criterion Channel (of course). Feels very Tim-coded.
Wow! Did not know this! Excellent news to get.
While it's exciting news, I did hear fairly mixed reviews about it. I'm still considering a Criterion sub for it, though!
"Bird by Bird" is great. I bought it back when it was first published -- and when I was still laboring under the fantasy of finishing my LA detective novel, then getting a three book deal so I could leave Hollywood and just ... write.
FWIT -- it's just as well that didn't work out -- but I learned a lot from Anne Lamott's book, including her advice to "take short assignments and write shitty first drafts."
The first was hard for me, but the latter came very easily.
Good news that your boy has discovered film: college is good for that kind of thing. As a full-on hick from the sticks (seriously - I grew up milking goats and shoveling pig manure out of the barn on spring break), I didn't know or care much about film when I first entered school. Sure, I liked movies -- who doesn't -- but "film"? The notion of studying film seemed rather stuffy. Then, faced with an empty slot in my spring quarter curriculum, I signed up for a class called "The Screenplay" on a lark (plus, I figured it would be a ten-week skate), but that class turned my head all the way around like I was Linda Blair.
You know the rest, or will when the book hits print ... anyway, that class seriously altered the trajectory of my life.
So good for your son -- he's got a wonderful cinematic world to explore.
A great series I neglected me mention back when you were focusing on older shows: "Treme," from David Simon, the man who brought us "The Wire." The three season series takes place in post-Katrina New Orleans, with several of the key actors from "The Wire" taking roles that are different in every way, but wonderful. It's a low key show that gets better the longer you stick with it, spinning several very human stories as the people stuggle to rebuild their lives from the aftermath. Definitely worth a look.
Onward, into the mist...
The focus on older shows was for pilots, right?
It wasn't so much the pilot, but for some reason, I watched the 'Treme' TRAILER a lot. I think it was because I was pushing that show hard, despite knowing how slow and meandering (meaning, non-commercial, but it works for David Simon) it was. So the trailer was enough of a hook to draw my casual friends into the mix.
Just don't ever call someone "son" even if you're trying to show an age gap. This was a good lesson learned.
Also that Bunk was always late to the second line.
Hey, I'm glad to hear you pushed "Treme" on some appreciative friends. It's definitely a slow burn, but the stories are so human ... and humane. I found it to be a very satisfying show.
But yeah, much of the viewing public doesn't seem interested in anything that doesn't have car chases, machine gun battles, and exploding helicopters.
On the plus side though, I feel like Treme was a little like HBO just letting Simon do his pet project, which was great of them, especially after the roller coaster of The Wire.
That rings true.
I think he’s really excited. We talked last night and he remembered watching a couple of great movies he’d forgotten on our drive home. It’s all fun
I'm thrilled you had a great unexpected connection with your son about films. I remember when I had that with my father talking about printing! He and I didn't have much in common, he was an upbeat kind of guy but incurious. I never saw him read a book and he wasn't interested in culture or the arts but he had been a lithographer (he ran huge printing presses in San Francisco when we lived there when I was a child) so when I was a marketing production manager at a software company, responsible for all the printed materials, working with designers, going to press checks, etc. it was cool to discover we shared a common language after all. I think your shared interest with your son will be more fruitful however!
Looking forward to Co-Pilot!
Loved this, Suzanne. And yes, that whole experience with him was wonderful. We share a lot of music stories, as I do (even more so) with my daughter, but film was a really nice discovery and, on the whole, I've been there when they don't feel like talking or sharing extensively so it's FANTASTIC when they do, of course.
Children can be a mystery, it is pretty amazing when they want to have a real conversation!
I’m really excited about the co-pilot. I like that it’s a mystery.
I’m not always good about watching movies but I guess I go through jags. Last weekend I watched The Thursday Murder Club (cozy made for TV movie but boy does Helen Mirren still have it!), A Real Pain, and Anora. So yeah I finally watched the Oscar winner from last year. Really really outstanding. Did you talk about it, Tim? I can’t remember as I was so slow to watch it.
I love bookstores and remain jealous you are so nearby Powell Books!
I'm pretty sure I wrote at least a little bit about Anora, but I ended up really loving that movie when initially I thought I wouldn't. A Real Pain is on my Watchlist and I know KB liked it a lot when she watched it. I would probably get around to watching The Thursday Murder Club but for all the reasons you wanted to watch it I wanted to let it sit for a bit in favor of something more difficult, I guess? But with that cast, I'll definitely catch it.
Oh, living so close to Powell's is great. I'm happy to get lost in there. And it's easy to not even have that on my to-do list and just walk by it three or four times in a week and pop in.
I watched The Thursday Murder Club too and have to say I was disappointed. Did you like it? Maybe I had too high of expectations. I had recently seen Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan as husband and wife in a Guy Richie series, Mob Land and they were terrible people but fascinating characters playing very successfully against type. I loved Anora, I thought it was really brilliant filmmaking.
Yes, The Thursday Murder Club is watchable but disappoints. The book (and series of books) stands on its delicious narrative voice, something entirely absent in the movie.
Sounds like a terrible decision by those who turned it into a movie!
Wasn't Mob Land on Peacock or something that I don't get? I think that's why I haven't seen it. As mentioned above, loved Anora.
I think it was on Peacock (or Paramount?), something I had a free trial to and I ended up paying for a month because Mob Land came out weekly and I wanted to watch it all!
I thought the film was fine. Akin to a British cozy mystery. I just view it as a made for TV movie and set my expectation to that. I also read the book. It stayed mostly true to it except it had to cut out certain subplots and bizarrely, one of the murderers veered from the book. A viewer who is watching all the light mysteries on Acorn TV (like My Life Is Murder, Agatha Raisin, etc.) will definitely like the film. I am less a fan of darker British dramas so honestly, it was exactly what I was looking for.
Completely agree on Anora. That exceeded my expectations as unlike many Oscar favorites, it was actually an entertaining film!
That's weird that they veered from the book on one of the murders! I wonder if it was them thinking, "No, I've got a BETTER murder in mind." Ha.
Actually they sort of did. It’s been a minute since I read the book but I think they ended up going to Turkey to chase down a lead and it was pretty complicated. Instead the filmmaker simplified the motive, eliminating any trips abroad.
Okay I read a spoiler. It was the same murderer but he basically gets away with it in the book. I realize I forgot that because the whole thing was quite convoluted and somehow the police decided someone else did it. That person is actually dead so he’s never going to be found. The guy who actually did it continues on in the books whereas he’s just going to sit in jail in the movie (if they do another one.)
So fun fact: I love reading but I do forget the plots over time. Sorry for the confusion!! Still, it was different from the book and apparently book fans are mad. My opinion is it’s an adaptation and using poetic license and all that fun stuff is acceptable to me.
Thinking about starting a whole other feature where I just input the names of the shows and movies (and books) where I've forgotten the plot....It would be sooooo looooong.
Ha ha. Do it and we can all chime in and add the ones we’ve forgotten the plot of! A contest to see whose list would be the longest.
Glad I'm not the only who has called a missing spouse at Powells
You can trace my texts in there as well. “I’m in the purple room.”