The Host?

[Guest june]

Hello All,

Anyone seen The Host? It's available at dddhouse & getting released on Friday in theathers in Philly. DDDhouse has a DTS version. Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm $14 for 2 tickets, $10 popcorn & soda, $$$$ for gas.

[Guest wcloud]

released on same day when ''300'' go figure

[Guest limubai2000]

It's awesome, go see it on the big screen, I know I will and I already have the Korean DVD for it.

[Guest Shaolin Dog Paw]

loved this movie, it was superb! Ive already seen it 3 times.

[Guest june]

the ordered was put in on thursday.

thanks all.

[Guest Tosh]

Just seen it yesterday - Fanfreakingtastic! It's like hints of Oldboy, Godzilla, and The Thing, then it just spins off into it's own movie, the creature design is superb!

[Guest Dion Brother]

Thought it fell apart in the third act, lots of story holes(a common problem when you allow politics to overshadow the the story). But the first hour is very effective and funny.

[Guest Shaolin Dog Paw]

Thought it fell apart in the third act, lots of story holes(a common problem when you allow politics to overshadow the the story). But the first hour is very effective and funny.

What the...

You must have been watching the American version or smoking the Chiba. :hat

[Guest Dion Brother]

Spoilers:

Or just waiting for it to make sense in its own logic. After all, what did Agent Yellow do? In one shot it's making the protesters noses bleed and knocking them out, it knocks down the monster, but doesn't hurt the heroic family at all. Then the monster starts sprinting as if nothing is hurting it. Was the stuff a hoax? Or did it just not work as well as touted? Or was it forgotten in the director's "America lies, people die" cliches?

You've got military and police all over the place, but only this loveable family of misfits can find and flush out the monster? Even the most juvenile Godzilla movies weren't that illogical.

And that ending resonates badly with those of us who know the archaic Asian stereotypes (trade a daughter for a son).

Not a bad film at all, just a highly overrated one.

[Guest Tosh]

I disagree and agree to an extent, the agent yellow was a bit confusing, was it bs? just like the virus? what would be the long term affects? an obvious riff on agent orange, the affects of what it was suppose to do didn't make much sense, but lets face it, bio warfare isn't nothing new.

The Chinese are the ones that were aborting their daughters to have sons since the law changed that you can only have one child (and I've heard there's going to be a shortage of Chinese women in their population in the coming years, 4 men for 1 woman in certain places), I don't think you can apply it to the Koreans.

As far as it making sense in it's own logic - it's a giant monster movie - and one of the best I've seen in years, if you want to look that far into it you can point out plenty of inconsistencies, but you also spoil the fun, it's like watching a KF movie where they're flying around on wires and saying - that's impossible.

[Guest limubai2000]

I think the whole Agent Yellow thing was a scam in the film but that was my take on it. I've not seen the US version but I read it was edited to remove some anti-US military stuff.

The Chinese are the ones that were aborting their daughters to have sons since the law changed that you can only have one child (and I've heard there's going to be a shortage of Chinese women in their population in the coming years, 4 men for 1 woman in certain places)

"limiting urban couples to a single child and most rural couples to two," that is the current law in place. But it is quite often broken, the penalty is a fine. Many couples also send the oldest child to live with grandparents or aunt/uncles when they pop out the 2nd one.

"China's census in 2000 shows there are 20 per cent more boys than girls in the group zero to four. The balance is even more extraordinary in seven provinces of China, which have 28 to 36 per cent more boys than girls in this age group. Against the previous record of 100-107 boys, the sex ratio has presently fallen to 107-120 boys per 100 girls. This serious imbalance has worsened during the last two decades, says Judith Banister, a demography specialist working in China." Yep but I don't see your 4 to 1 anytime soon. There is also some evidence that the current Hep B epidemic in Asia is causing more males to be born.

[Guest Dion Brother]

Well, there's plenty of anti-US military stuff left in.

I didn't find the third act well paced either. I consider the Gamera trilogy from the last decade to be superior to THE HOST, but they didn't have the anti-US sentiment for critics to pee themselves while praising them. Throw a Dixie Chicks song on the soundtrack, and THE HOST would win the Best Foreign Film Oscar easily. I could care less, its just a well made monster movie, but not a great one.

Anyway you look at it, the Agent Yellow subplot was badly presented and contradicted by the storytelling.

[Guest Tosh]

Yep but I don't see your 4 to 1 anytime soon.

Yeah, that was random to throw out, I didn't have time yesterday morning to google the #'s.

Hey Lim, did I read you mentioning your moving to China? What part?

I want to see the uncut version now, I hate when they cut movies for Western releases.

[Guest Shaolin Dog Paw]

I saw the original uncut version and it did a better job at explaining everything a little better. I also saw the U.S. release and didnt like the U.S. release.

This was the same with Tom Yum Goong. The U.S. Protector was horrible. I saw the original and it had about 30 minutes more footage and more elements to the story. I may be exaggerating about the 30 minutes, it seemd like about 30 minutes.

The same can be said about Fearless. I saw the original uncut version then watched it in the theatre... in the U.S. version wasn't as good.

The biggest difference, IMO, was Shaolin Soccer. The original was so funny and witty. Then the U.S. version was kind of boring and not very funny at all. Why? just doesn't make sense.

[Guest limubai2000]

Hey Lim, did I read you mentioning your moving to China? What part?

I'm moving there in October or November to attend training to become an English teacher in China. This is the best part... I have clue where I will live after my training is complete!!

I will be free to find a job (the school will assist me) anywhere that will have me! I plan to take a 6 month or 1 year contract in the first city I can get too and then see what happens. I do have a few friends over there and maybe I will move to a city where 1 of them lives like Panjin, Beijing, Nanking, or Chengdu. First things first, pay all the bills off and save a nest egg, then I'm outta here in October or November. Hopefully I won't touch US soil for a few years... and even then for a short visit only!

Long story short - I'm burnt out on Western civilization so I'm going east.

[Guest Tosh]

This was the same with Tom Yum Goong. The U.S. Protector was horrible. I saw the original and it had about 30 minutes more footage and more elements to the story. I may be exaggerating about the 30 minutes, it seemd like about 30 minutes.

Yeah, I was pissed when they cut out the Thai ceramony/dance scene, besides the fights, it was the best, coherent part of the movie! God forbib we get some culture in our movies in the West.

The biggest difference, IMO, was Shaolin Soccer. The original was so funny and witty. Then the U.S. version was kind of boring and not very funny at all. Why? just doesn't make sense.

Never even seen it (the US version):evil

I'm moving there in October

I may have an opportunity to move to Guilin in the future if it holds up. I have to run off to work, I'll send you a pm this weekend.

[Guest Megaloman]

the movie is about 10 minutes too long (the one i saw in the theater here) and while good, better than gino or PJ's KING LONG, it wasn't the best monster movie ever.

David

[Guest Dion Brother]

Agreed, could have lost 10 minutes easily. Would have helped the pacing. The longer directors cuts are not always better. I actually prefer the shorter Argento cut of DAWN OF THE DEAD. And James Cameron's directors cut of TERMINATOR 2 is a talky, preachy bore.

I knew a chinese girl who was always told by her grandparents that they used to drown the baby girls because they weren't needed, but boy children were celebrated. Others have told me similar stories. It wouldn't surprise me if these silly folktales are inherent in Korean culture as well.

[Guest The Running Man]

I was actually gonna debate Dion Brother's comments, which I don't agree with whatsoever becase no, nothing poltical overshadowed the movie, it was from the start until the end, a story of a dysfunctional family coming together in the middle of a travesty while the poltical stuff was mostly in the background. But then I read this comment:

I saw the original uncut version and it did a better job at explaining everything a little better. I also saw the U.S. release and didnt like the U.S. release.

Can you please expound on this? I have heard nothing about this anywhere. Please be specific. For the record, if this is true, I saw the original Korean version so I don't know what the differences where with the US version.

However,

The same can be said about Fearless. I saw the original uncut version then watched it in the theatre... in the U.S. version wasn't as good.

The only original uncut version of Fearless was the Director's Cut which was released way after the US theaterical release. Unless you are speaking of the differences between the Asian and US version of the shoteter version of the film which honestly, while minor the differences, are far better in the US cut of the film.

Of course, the DC is the best of them all.

[Guest Shaolin Dog Paw]

Can you please expound on this? I have heard nothing about this anywhere. Please be specific. For the record, if this is true, I saw the original Korean version so I don't know what the differences where with the US version.

Bear with me, i have a horrible memory. The version i saw had about 2 minutes extra footage in the beginning of the movie where the american scientist is telling the guy to poor the chemicals down the drain. There is also more dialogue between the fishermen in the river.

Towards the end (the guy who throws the flaming bottle on the monster from a high vantage point) had a dialogue with the brother that rode with him in the taxi. I remember that all of these dialogues helped me to understand the whole yellow thing better. ill put it in the dvd player and check it again and let you know the exact details.

The only original uncut version of Fearless was the Director's Cut which was released way after the US theaterical release. Unless you are speaking of the differences between the Asian and US version of the shoteter version of the film which honestly, while minor the differences, are far better in the US cut of the film.

True story, somehow this movie ended up in my collection about 2 weeks before it was released in the asian market, i didnt even know what it was untill i put it in the dvd player. It had no label. I can tell you however that i did enjoy the version i had as opposed to the US release. Mostly because it didnt really have much to do with content, but the on my version made more sense than the Dub from the US version.

[Guest Daisho2004]

OK I got to watch this movie last night and it was really good I enjoyed the whole storyline about how the chemicals coulda created a mutated monster, but I do agree about the agent yellow it didn't really explain what it was for, and how it only affected some people and not the rest, I can only think is that when they were in the hospital maybe the injections they were given there was some kind of antivirus that kept them immune from the virus.

[Guest GwaiLoMoFo]

Just watched, liked it alot. Good off-beat dark comedy/horror. My only complaint is concerning the so called "Virus" spread by the monster. **SPOILER** I know that the virus was just a hoax spread by the always EVIL U.S.. But what was the point in creating an imaginary virus? To scare or control the people? They were already terrified by the creature. Adding the scare of a virus made the situation twice as hectic and harder to control. And why would they drill a hole in dudes head knowing he had no virus? Its not like he was some sort of threat. That part of the film made no sense at all.

[Guest Tosh]

I kind of wonder if the virus was a riff on the whole SARS epidemic, and how the media blows everything out of proportion, like when the news was slow and all you heard about was west nile virus, 3 years later and you never hear it mentioned again.