I fully failed at making it to the theaters this past weekend, so unfortunately, I think my time to catch Caught Stealing is coming to a dangerous close. I am disappointed in myself. But, just because I couldn’t make it to the theater does not mean I didn’t watch anything! Here’s what made it in.
September 5 – I have been meaning to watch this critically acclaimed film for quite some time, but it just kept totally slipping out of my radar. Based on real life events, this film focuses on the ABC journalists that were present at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where the Israeli team were taken hostage by members of the Palestinian militant group, Black September. They were seeking the release of a large number of their terrorist prisoners. Sadly, two of the hostages were murdered in real life. In a strange twist of events, the ABC sports broadcasters on site at the games pivoted their coverage to that of the hostage situation. I thought this was a great exploration of the lengths reporters go to for a story compared to that of their real human emotions. John Magaro always shines.
I Saw the Devil – This 2010 South Korean “action-thriller” film was written by the same man who gave me The Childe, so I knew I wanted to check it out. Especially since it was just as highly rated among critics. Action-thriller were not quite the words that came to mind when watching this revenge film. Revenge, first and foremost, but then it was kind of just like a competition to see who could out-gruesome their opponent. Having seen the uncut version, I understand why Korea made them go back and cut it twice before finally releasing it to audiences. In the film we open to see the Squad Chief’s daughter get savagely beaten and then dismembered by serial killer, Jang Kyung-chul. Her fiance, Kim Soo-hyeon, is an NIS agent and begins to work through suspects before finally conrering Kyung-chul. After not killing the serial killer during their first encounter, it’s clear that Soo-hyeon wants to drag out this torture. The film is pretty dang graphic, but South Korea really goes all out! I don’t know a single person I could recommend this to, but it definitely found it’s audience with me. Once again, this is a plea for you to go watch The Childe. An infinitely more palatable film.
K-Pop Demon Hunters – While I don’t think this will become a comfort movie for me, it is exceptionally pleasant to watch. I think if the central focus were on a boy group rather that the girl group, Huntrix, I would be more fully on board, but that’s just my own personal shortcoming. Still, that doesn’t detract from the fact that this is a well-executed film. Watching it a second time really drives home how great the filmmakers did at filling its 90 minutes. There is no wasted second and you get all of the proper points you could want from a film. Plus a chart-topping soundtrack to boot! “Soda Pop” is a little too silly for me, but that doesn’t mean the songs aren’t catchy. And I’m once again thrilled that they gave several fully formed songs, not just little bits of one. I love that these filmmakers know their stuff and I hope if we do get a second film that it’s just as magical. If you haven’t watched this yet, what are you waiting for?!