Old Boy
Foriegn movie made in Asia that despite giant plot holes and “reality discrepancies” that would nail it if it were American, manages to pull off a pretty fucked up and deep story about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room for 15 straight years with no human interaction aside from a tv. He learns to fight watching kung fu movies thousands of times over.
The twist is why he was kept for exactly 15 years.
Watched “Going the Distance” (Drew Barrymore, Justin Long) with a big chip on my shoulder.
Typical romcom format, but the performances of Justin Long and his buddies were pretty entertaining, especially the part played by Jason Sedakis from SNL. Christina Applegate and Jim Gaffigan put in good supporting roles as well.
By the time the credits rolled I was happy to have spent the time watching it.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Old Boy
Foriegn movie made in Asia that despite giant plot holes and “reality discrepancies” that would nail it if it were American, manages to pull off a pretty fucked up and deep story about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room for 15 straight years with no human interaction aside from a tv. He learns to fight watching kung fu movies thousands of times over.
The twist is why he was kept for exactly 15 years.[/quote]
Sounds awesomely interesting. But are there subtitles?
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Old Boy
Foriegn movie made in Asia that despite giant plot holes and “reality discrepancies” that would nail it if it were American, manages to pull off a pretty fucked up and deep story about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room for 15 straight years with no human interaction aside from a tv. He learns to fight watching kung fu movies thousands of times over.
The twist is why he was kept for exactly 15 years.[/quote]
giant plot holes? that film is a master piece it’s actually a trilogy of 3 non conected movies about revenge. The ending is ambiguous and you fell almost guilty when you learn the truth about Oh Dae-su
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Old Boy and Mr. Vengeance.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Old Boy
Foriegn movie made in Asia that despite giant plot holes and “reality discrepancies” that would nail it if it were American, manages to pull off a pretty fucked up and deep story about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room for 15 straight years with no human interaction aside from a tv. He learns to fight watching kung fu movies thousands of times over.
The twist is why he was kept for exactly 15 years.[/quote]
Sounds awesomely interesting. But are there subtitles?
[/quote]
Yep…and the actors who did the voice overs did a fucking fantastic job. The voice of the lead really pulls you in. Definitely worth a watch on Netflix.
[quote]kaisermetal wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Old Boy
Foriegn movie made in Asia that despite giant plot holes and “reality discrepancies” that would nail it if it were American, manages to pull off a pretty fucked up and deep story about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room for 15 straight years with no human interaction aside from a tv. He learns to fight watching kung fu movies thousands of times over.
The twist is why he was kept for exactly 15 years.[/quote]
giant plot holes? that film is a master piece it’s actually a trilogy of 3 non conected movies about revenge. The ending is ambiguous and you fell almost guilty when you learn the truth about Oh Dae-su
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Old Boy and Mr. Vengeance.[/quote]
Oh, I agree with it being a “masterpiece”, but there is no way American audiences would accept a character like “the villain” in this having enough power to do what he did to the lead without any backstory as to how he got it in the first place.
Other than that, I was surprised at a story like this.
The only thing that threw me off was the rather too long scene at the beginning before everything jumps off when he’s drunk. That scene was way too long and I assume was meant to be humorous. It just didn’t connect with me. After that though, I was all ears.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Old Boy
Foriegn movie made in Asia that despite giant plot holes and “reality discrepancies” that would nail it if it were American, manages to pull off a pretty fucked up and deep story about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room for 15 straight years with no human interaction aside from a tv. He learns to fight watching kung fu movies thousands of times over.
The twist is why he was kept for exactly 15 years.[/quote]
Sounds awesomely interesting. But are there subtitles?
[/quote]
Yep…and the actors who did the voice overs did a fucking fantastic job. The voice of the lead really pulls you in. Definitely worth a watch on Netflix.[/quote]
Thanks Doc! I’m putting it in my queue!
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Old Boy
Foriegn movie made in Asia that despite giant plot holes and “reality discrepancies” that would nail it if it were American, manages to pull off a pretty fucked up and deep story about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room for 15 straight years with no human interaction aside from a tv. He learns to fight watching kung fu movies thousands of times over.
The twist is why he was kept for exactly 15 years.[/quote]
Sounds awesomely interesting. But are there subtitles?
[/quote]
Yep…and the actors who did the voice overs did a fucking fantastic job. The voice of the lead really pulls you in. Definitely worth a watch on Netflix.[/quote]
Thanks Doc! I’m putting it in my queue!
[/quote]
Old Boy is a brilliant film. Has one of the best fight scenes I can recall from any film of the last decade, imo and, well this is definitely one of those cases where the less said the better.
[quote]Stern wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Old Boy
Foriegn movie made in Asia that despite giant plot holes and “reality discrepancies” that would nail it if it were American, manages to pull off a pretty fucked up and deep story about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room for 15 straight years with no human interaction aside from a tv. He learns to fight watching kung fu movies thousands of times over.
The twist is why he was kept for exactly 15 years.[/quote]
Sounds awesomely interesting. But are there subtitles?
[/quote]
Yep…and the actors who did the voice overs did a fucking fantastic job. The voice of the lead really pulls you in. Definitely worth a watch on Netflix.[/quote]
Thanks Doc! I’m putting it in my queue!
[/quote]
Old Boy is a brilliant film. Has one of the best fight scenes I can recall from any film of the last decade, imo and, well this is definitely one of those cases where the less said the better.
[/quote]
That one hall way scene was just fucking awesome.
In fact, let me say that when it comes to doing a scene that is damn near what seemed like 5 min long involving rather complex fighting moves all done in one take where the scene never cuts away…THAT is fucking making a film!
I was watching it with friends and we rewound that part twice.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]kaisermetal wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Old Boy
Foriegn movie made in Asia that despite giant plot holes and “reality discrepancies” that would nail it if it were American, manages to pull off a pretty fucked up and deep story about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room for 15 straight years with no human interaction aside from a tv. He learns to fight watching kung fu movies thousands of times over.
The twist is why he was kept for exactly 15 years.[/quote]
giant plot holes? that film is a master piece it’s actually a trilogy of 3 non conected movies about revenge. The ending is ambiguous and you fell almost guilty when you learn the truth about Oh Dae-su
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Old Boy and Mr. Vengeance.[/quote]
Oh, I agree with it being a “masterpiece”, but there is no way American audiences would accept a character like “the villain” in this having enough power to do what he did to the lead without any backstory as to how he got it in the first place.
Other than that, I was surprised at a story like this.
The only thing that threw me off was the rather too long scene at the beginning before everything jumps off when he’s drunk. That scene was way too long and I assume was meant to be humorous. It just didn’t connect with me. After that though, I was all ears.[/quote]
The Koreans tend to be able to do batshit crazy and pull it off spectacularly. I don’t know how they manage it.
EDIT: Has anyone seen the torture scene from Lady Vengence? That shit is fucked up.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]Stern wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Old Boy
Foriegn movie made in Asia that despite giant plot holes and “reality discrepancies” that would nail it if it were American, manages to pull off a pretty fucked up and deep story about a man who was kidnapped and held hostage in a hotel room for 15 straight years with no human interaction aside from a tv. He learns to fight watching kung fu movies thousands of times over.
The twist is why he was kept for exactly 15 years.[/quote]
Sounds awesomely interesting. But are there subtitles?
[/quote]
Yep…and the actors who did the voice overs did a fucking fantastic job. The voice of the lead really pulls you in. Definitely worth a watch on Netflix.[/quote]
Thanks Doc! I’m putting it in my queue!
[/quote]
Old Boy is a brilliant film. Has one of the best fight scenes I can recall from any film of the last decade, imo and, well this is definitely one of those cases where the less said the better.
[/quote]
That one hall way scene was just fucking awesome.
In fact, let me say that when it comes to doing a scene that is damn near what seemed like 5 min long involving rather complex fighting moves all done in one take where the scene never cuts away…THAT is fucking making a film!
I was watching it with friends and we rewound that part twice.[/quote]
I agree, the hallway fight scene was pure artistry. Old Boy is at the top of my list for “Great Films I am Not Sure I Am Glad I Watched”. The the end just kinda stays with you. (NO SPOILERS for anyone who did not watch it.)
Also in that category, and a horror movie, I nominate Jack Ketchum’s A Girl Next Door:
I actually wish it was not as well done, or based on a true story.
Oh, and a movie that surprised me by being great, possibly brilliant:
Fresh
Regards,
Robert A
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Oh, I agree with it being a “masterpiece”, but there is no way American audiences would accept a character like “the villain” in this having enough power to do what he did to the lead without any backstory as to how he got it in the first place.
[/quote]
Apparently Tom Cruise’s production company has the rights to a U.S remake. I agree totally that they would have to make significant changes to the story in order to make it marketable.
[quote]Robert A wrote:
Also in that category, and a horror movie, I nominate Jack Ketchum’s A Girl Next Door.
[/quote]
Jack ketchum? I nominated Red earlier in this thread which is also a Ketchum story.
[quote]anonym wrote:
Love and Other Drugs.
Oh, don’t get me wrong - the movie itself was a nonsensical mess. But you get to see a significant amount of Anne Hathaway’s body for a significant portion of the film.
So that’s pretty win in my book.[/quote]
I only watched the parts of the movie Havoc where you see her naked. It makes me shallow, but it felt so right.
[quote]roybot wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Oh, I agree with it being a “masterpiece”, but there is no way American audiences would accept a character like “the villain” in this having enough power to do what he did to the lead without any backstory as to how he got it in the first place.
[/quote]
Apparently Tom Cruise’s production company has the rights to a U.S remake. I agree totally that they would have to make significant changes to the story in order to make it marketable.
[/quote]
The bad/good thing is, the twist is so significant, it is a little like the Sixth Sense.
Once you get it…you kind of wish you hadn’t.
I wonder how they could rewrite this and still make it fresh to those who saw the original or heard of it.
[Oldboy spoilers]
In the octopus scene he eats a real live wriggly-squiggly octopus (/end spoilers)
Other Korean movies worth watching: The Host (Korea’s answer to Cloverfield - great special FX on a low budget) and Friend - a Scorsese-esque crime drama spanning about 20 years.
[quote]roybot wrote:
[Oldboy spoilers]
In the octopus scene he eats a real live wriggly-squiggly octopus (/end spoilers)
Other Korean movies worth watching: The Host (Korea’s answer to Cloverfield - great special FX on a low budget) and Friend - a Scorsese-esque crime drama spanning about 20 years.
[/quote]
Dude, if it is re-made…they definitely need to keep the squiggly leg octopus scene.
Trick 'r Treat. This movie is a whole lot more fun than scary or tormenting, but quite entertaining. It wins for storytelling, paying homage to old-fashioned traditional Halloween genre scare tactics, and adding just enough dark humor and plot twists.
I haven’t had time yet to read of this but there is a film I quite enjoyed called ‘killing Zoe’ which should of sucked, but IMO didn’t.
[quote]buddaboy wrote:
I haven’t had time yet to read of this but there is a film I quite enjoyed called ‘killing Zoe’ which should of sucked, but IMO didn’t.[/quote]
I saw that by accident after a late night at work.
Just switching channels and it was on. It sucked me in.