A University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate going into her second year teaching English in South Korea on a Fulbright Scholarship. Also an aspiring foreign correspondent, closet geek and proud to have a Minnesotan accent.
Guess what holiday-themed movie we’re starting this week to wrap things up before winter break?
Hint: It’s probably the best Christmas movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger ever. Also, it’s set and filmed in the Twin Cities so you know it must be good.
Yep, I saw Skyfall.
Embarrassing confession: this was the first James Bond movie I’ve ever seen.
For some reason I never saw a single one growing up, and maybe because of that I never made a point to see the new Daniel Craig ones when I was older.
In any case, I saw my first James Bond movie today. And it was awesome.
My friend who grew up on the old movies said she liked it overall but was disappointed about the lack of Bond staples like fancy gadgets and such. But I liked it just fine without - a good action movie with spectacular cinematography across gorgeous settings.
I need to go see more movies! Since the Busan Film Festival I’ve been back into the theatre mood. There’s nothing like seeing a great action flick on a huge screen with a bucket of popcorn in your lap. Just waiting for Cloud Atlas and Les Mis to hit Korea.
This weekend I jumped down to Busan to enjoy the giant Busan International Film Festival.
I didn’t get a chance to go last year, so I was really excited to get down there this time around. But while my friends and I tried to ticket online beforehand, all of our first choice movies were sold out within half an hour (we both had class and couldn’t ticket immediately after sales opened.)
Fortunately, the festival reserves 20 percent of tickets for day-of sales. Unfortunately, that meant I had to get all the way to Busan after school on Friday (I didn’t arrive until almost 11 p.m.) and get up at 5 to be the first in line to snap up all the tickets we wanted.
Needless to say, it was an exhausting weekend. However, I did manage to marathon four awesome movies on Saturday and spot a few Korean movie stars in the process (이병헌).
These are the movies I saw - I seriously recommend them all, except for one, which I won’t put up here because no one should have to go through that. It had potential I guess, but honestly the acting was so rough that it fell completely flat.
In any case, if you have a chance to check them out, do it!
A thriller/critique of the Korean education system. Yes, you read that right. In some ways it was a bit overdramatic, but I was seriously drawn into this movie. It was well made and definitely hit home.
Arguably the best movie of the day, this is a documentary about a group of octogenarians in Taiwan who decide to fulfill their dreams by learning to ride motorcycles and taking a tour of their island. It was both touching and inspiring - seriously, my friend was crying throughout the entire thing.
A retelling of Snow White that takes place in Spain in the 1920s. This is a black and white silent film, which normally is the last thing I would want to watch. However, it was truly beautiful and the story was more than enough to keep me interested despite the lack of dialogue.
I’m actually doing ok considering. But try me tomorrow afternoon once I’ve hit the 17 mark.
In all honesty, though, I am pleasantly surprised at how well it’s going over with my kids - I was a bit worried that I would lose the boys with all the cheesy singing and dancing but they’ve been just as engaged as the girls for the most part. Even never-awake-unless-there’s-candy-involved boy in class 3-4 was watching the whole time.
And on top of that, after watching the movie a few times I’m really pleased that I ended up choosing it. I originally just tried to pick something age-appropriate that I thought would keep the attention of 35+ middle schoolers who are well into their slide to summer break. But I’ve not realized that there are quite a few hidden bonuses about showing this particular movie in a Korean classroom.
First of all, I didn’t even think about how well it would fit in with the lesson I did a few weeks ago on American schools vs. Korean schools. After teaching about the big differences, now my kids can actually see them in action - no school uniforms, lockers lining the hallways, bag lunches and drama clubs.
Plus there is a fantastic amount of diversity in this movie - something that is obviously severely lacking in Korean schools. Seeing all kinds of kids of different races and sizes interacting comfortably is something they’re not accustomed to, but something that’s definitely important to see. They can learn about the stereotypes of cliques in American schools (jocks vs. nerds vs. drama geeks) and also why those expectations are bull.
In the end High School Musical has a really positive message that is clear without being trite. Yes, this movie is cliche. Yes, it’s cheesy. But it’s actually a really great movie to show kids that will teach them something without losing their attention halfway through the message.
Yes, I just wrote an entire blog post of love for High School Musical.
1. While a little more campy than the first films, I actually really appreciated the remake. Although it was still probably completely unnecessary.
2. The new Spider-man is at least a billion times more attractive than the old one. Also British.
3. Emma Stone is amazing.
4. The Amazing Spider-man was directed by Marc Webb. This cannot be a coincidence.
But the best part of the whole thing was watching my eleven-year-old host brother squirm in his seat and cover his eyes every time anyone on the screen looked vaguely like they might kiss each other. Adorable.
This makes me incredibly sad.
It better still be playing by the time I get back to the States.
| Finally finished watching Remember the Titans with my club class after two weeks of interruptions (midterms and field trips). I had them fill out a worksheet afterward to check comprehension. One girl's paper: | |
|---|---|
| Did you like this movie? Why or why not? | |
| I don't know because I didn't watch the movie. |
Among other awesome experiences hanging out in Seoul the last few days, I went with a few friends to see the new Mission Impossible movie in 4D.
That’s right. 4D.
So my friends and I are at the theatre, and we look at the movie times and decide which showing would work best so we could grab some lunch before it started. “But why does it say 4D?” Korean friends.
The explanation basically consisted of one guy pretending to sit down in a chair that seemed to shake and move and pretending to squirt water in our faces.
Needless to say, it wasn’t a very helpful explanation.
I had never heard of it referred to as 4D before, but basically we figured out that what what it means is that the seats move along with what’s happening in the movie, kind of like those theme park rides where you’re going along a roller coaster-like mine cart track and the seats lean whichever way you’re headed.
So I kind of figured that like those theme park rides, the 4D experience would be kinda cool for about ten minutes and then either it would get annoying or I wouldn’t even notice anymore.
BUT IT WAS AWESOME.
The seats didn’t just lean, they really moved along with the action. And everything was timed so perfectly! There was a scene where someone was shot in the abdomen and at that exact moment a bump stuck out from the seat and jabbed me in the lower back, as if I was the one getting shot.
I have to say that one really freaked me out, but it was also pretty dang cool.
Although it was a bit expensive (15,000 won, or about $15) I would definitely go see a 4D movie again.
Me: On Halloween, Americans usually watch scary movies with their friends.
Adorable 13-year-old Korean Girl: Oh, I love scary movies!
Me: Really? Which ones do you like?
Adorable 13-year-old Korean Girl: My favorite is Saw!
Me: …
