My Favorite Movies of 2012

Alright. Although I'm not a critic, I love picking my favorite movies each year. It's a good way of looking back at what movies I saw this year. As always, I pick among the movies I saw this year no matter where I was. Since I split time between the U.S. and Korea, some movies have yet to be released in Korea or vice versa. If you wanna know what movies I chose last year, you can visit here.

My Favorite Movies of 2011

So, this is my top 10 favorite movies of the year and honorable mentions.

1.   Life of Pi (Ang Lee, USA, China, 2012)

Actor friend Jeffrey Wright who worked with Ang Lee in Ride with the Devil, once called him an angel (pun on his name). After I saw Life of Pi, I now call him a God making such a stunning film. How does he do it? How can he keep challenging himself and yet even his failures are more interesting than other filmmakers' great works? Haven't seen such a cinematic 3D since Avatar and it's better than Avatar.



2.   Amour (Michael Haneke, Austria, France, Germany, 2012)

I saw this film on December 20 and I said, if the world ends the next day as the Mayans falsely predicted, I'm glad it would be the last film I'd see in this world. It was a painful film to watch because I saw my dad's health deteriorate over the years although I wasn't there for him all the time like Georges did in the film. Made me think about life, death and love and as the title indicates, love is a powerful thing.



3.   A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, Iran, 2011)

Finally saw this film early this year. This was the big art film from last year which won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film and it deserved it. It shows us the contemporary Iranian society which is changing and it also teaches us no matter where you live, human beings are the same.



4.   Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, USA, 2012)

One of the quirkiest films in years. Wes Anderson is like our generation's Woody Allen films. Like a generation before us grow old with Woody Allen's films, we grow old with his films except that Anderson unfortunately makes far less films. Make more, Wes!!! Speaking of them, they share the same initials. Coincidence? :)




5.   Searching for Sugarman (Malik Bendjelloul, Sweden, UK, 2012)

Truth can be really stranger than fiction. This film proves that. As a film, it might not be a superior one but the story it's telling is so incredible that it makes it to my top ten list. More than anything else, it's inspiring. Rodriguez is a decent human being and gifted artist. That alone is a triumph.




6.   The Kid with a Bike (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium, France, Italy, 2011)

Heard great things about the Dardenne Brothers but never saw any of their films until now. This was a tough film to sit through but at the end, it was such a rewarding experience. The allusion to the Bicycle Thief is obvious but I saw a little bit of the 400 Blows, too. How did the Dardennes get such a powerful performance out of such a young inexperienced boy? Interestingly, this film and Beasts of the Southern Wild have something in common. A kid's sense of abandonment. One film shows the harsh reality as it is and the other shows it through the the child's fantasy. Both are excellent in their own ways.





7.   The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, USA, UK, 2012)

Chris Nolan did it again. This film is so operatic and epic that I could almost see the musical version of TDKR a la Les Miserables. Hey, you've got the talented Anne Hathaway. You might as well.




8.   Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, USA 2012)

This is truly one of the most impressive debuts in years. I'm not sure if Benh Zeitlin can repeat this again but this film works thanks to one thing. It's the most powerful performance by the then 6 year old Quvenzhané Wallis. If I were an Oscar member, I would vote for her as the Best Actress. She's that good. Hypnotic.




9.   Argo (Ben Affleck, USA, 2012)

We often laughed at Ben Affleck. This guy who did Gigli? We wrote him off. How wrong were we? I heard good things about Affleck's previous directorial works (Gone Baby Gone, The Town) but I didn't know he was this good. Argo takes place in the 70's and it does resemble the movies made in the era. American films in the 70's were amazing and this one could be up there with them.




10. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson, France, UK, Germany, 2011)

Okay, when I first saw the film almost a year ago, I had no idea what the film was about. Then, I saw it again. It became clearer to me. I still think about this film these days. Although directed by a Swedish filmmaker, it is a quintessential British film at its best. A beautifully rendered film. I still don't understand what the movie is about, though.




Of course, if I can include more movies, these following movies are as good as many of the films I mentioned above. Who knows? I may like them better on a given day.


Bernie (Richard Linklater, USA, 2011) 
Beyond the Hills (Cristian Mungiu, Romania, France, Belgium, 2012)
The Descendants (Alexander Payne, USA, 2011) 
End of Watch (David Ayer, USA, 2012)
The Invisble War (Kirby Dick, USA, 2012)
Nameless Gangster (Yoon Jong Bin, Korea, 2012)
National Security (Jung Ji Young, Korea, 2012)
Skyfall (Sam Mendes, UK, USA, 2012)
Take This Waltz (Sarah Polley, Canada, Spain, Japan, 2011) 
You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (Alain Resnais, France, Germany, 2012)

Being a Sundance Kid...

Congrats to all the filmmakers who got into Sundance! For those who didn't, don't despair! There are a ton of festivals suitable for your film so keep plugging. Hey, Greg Mottola didn't get in with his first film and now he has a great career. But I gotta admit, getting into Sundance is a good feeling. 

Well, you guys all know I'm writing my new script. I don't even have a producer let alone an investor but it is my ambition and plan to make this film in time for and return to Sundance '14. Unrealistic? Hey, I once dreamed of making a film in the States and going to Sundance with it and I made it happen. Nothing is impossible.

올해 선댄스 영화제에 뽑힌 모든 감독들과 영화인들에게 축하합니다. 비록 떨어졌다 해도 낙심하지 말고, 자기 영화와 맞는 다른 영화제들도 아주 많고, 선댄스 없이도 영화 계속 만드는 인디영화인들도 많답니다. 하지만, 맞습니다. 선댄스에 영화 들고 가는 기분... 이것만한 하이는 없죠. ㅋㅋ

제가 요즘 시나리오 쓰고 있다는 거 다들 알고 계시죠? 정말 오랜만에 장편에 대한 도전 하는데, 저의 야심이자 계획은 2014년 선댄스영화제에 다시 멋지게 돌아가는 겁니다. 비현실적이라고요? 지금 제작자도 없고, 투자자도 없는 상황이지만, 꿈을 꾸면 가능할 거라 믿습니다. 게다가 세상도 바뀌고 있고요. 예전에 저는 이런 황당한 꿈을 꿨었습니다. 미국에서 미국배우들과 영화를 만들어서 선댄스영화제에 가겠다고. 그리고 그 꿈을 이뤘습니다. 불가능? 휴지통에 넣어서 영구삭제했습니다. ^^

Status on My Life. My Career.

If you follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on FB or any other social media, you get this overall picture of me:

That I am now a vegetarian (I eat fish so I am what they call a pescatarian). That I take Pilates classes. That I quit smoking. That I am teaching a film class at KNUA (Korean National University of the Arts). That I have a radio show and a weekly TV appearance. That I did a short film early this year and yet haven't done a feature in a long time.

This summer I almost made a feature. A certain film festival asked me to write a script in a month and to make the film before the end of summer. Believe it or not, I manage to write it in 6 weeks but I ran out of time. Plus, the script was far from satisfactory and the budget might be too high. 

I am sad to have passed up such an opportunity. I mean, how often do you get a chance to make a feature without having to worry about raising money regardless of the amount? Especially for someone like me who hasn't done a feature in years.

But at the same time, it gave me the confidence. Hey, I was able to finish a script in 6 weeks. If I put my mind into it, I can make it happen.

So now, I'm getting back on track. Since Expats fell through, I didn't really try to make a feature. It's been many years. Now I'm starting a new project that I'm passionate about and know I will be good at.

It's going to be a comedy. It's a mockumentary. What's it about? I can tell you this much. This is going to be a fun movie. Something I'll enjoy making. Something I believe you'll enjoy watching. I'll let you know what it's about when I finish it. I intend to finish the first script in 2 months. Wish me luck!