Oldboy

It would be a sin to reveal too much about this riveting and bizarre thriller from Korean director Chan Wook Park, except to say that it's about a man named Dae-Su (Choi Min-Sik) who is locked in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing his captor's motives. When he is finally released, Dae Su finds himself still trapped in a web of conspiracy and strangeness. His own quest for vengeance becomes tied in with romance when he falls for an attractive sushi chef (Gang Hye-Jung), who feeds him live octopus and who may or may not be involved with the bizarre mystery. This is all served up in a striking palette of purples and dark reds; oozing with post-neo-noir style, and stuffed with insanely malicious twists and turns. Choi Min-Sik is terrific in the lead, counterbalancing over-the-top hysterics with deadpan cool to run the gamut of Asian antihero traits. There are intense fight scenes (Dae Su's favorite weapon is a hammer), look-away moments of torture and self-mutilation, sex, and gallons of black humor. Not for the squeamish, but for those seeking something wholly original and daring, this cinematic entree is alive--it's hard to imagine a better slice of psycho-shock sensationalism.

"A master of composition, Mr. Park makes some of the snazziest-looking pulp fiction going." - New York Times

"The brio and glee that Koran bad-boy filmmaker Park Chanwook brings to the gaudy psycho-shockeroo OLDBOY is undeniable, even impressive." - Entertainment Weekly

"OLDBOY ventures to emotional extremes, but not without reason." - Chicago Sun-Times

"[With] rigorously inventive direction and an emotional undertow that builds to a startling level of intensity." - Sight and Sound

"[A]n explosively exciting psychosexual revenge drama from Korean powerhouse Park Chanwook that makes movies feel alive again." - Rolling Stone

"Park Chan-Wook is a tremendous craftsman....He ratchets up the sadistic suspense in a variety of fruit flavors." - Premiere

"Park's direction is bristlingly inventive, and his themes are ancient Greek in scope." - Movieline's Hollywood Life

Ranked #5 in Entertainment Weekly's Top Ten DVDs Of The Year -- "Fans of Tarantino and films with surprise endings that are actually surprising should flock to this Korean import..." - Entertainment Weekly

Ranked #10 in Rolling Stone's "Top 25 DVDs Of 2005' -- "[A]n explosively exciting revenge drama..." - Rolling Stone

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2.  Oldboy - Foreign Films +w 3.  No Regret - Foreign Films +w 4.  Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring - Foreign Films +w 5.  Lady Vengeance - Foreign Films +w 6.  A Tale Of Two Sisters - Foreign Films +w 7.  Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance - Foreign Films +w 8.  Chunhyang - Foreign Films +w 9.  Bichunmoo - Foreign Films +w 10.  The Way Home - Foreign Films +w

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2.  Pan's Labyrinth - Foreign Films +w 3.  Run Lola Run - Foreign Films +w 4.  Seven Samurai - Foreign Films +w 5.  Let the Right One In - Foreign Films +w 6.  Delicatessen - Foreign Films +w 7.  Rashomon - Foreign Films +w 8.  Love Me If You Dare - Foreign Films +w 9.  Death Note: The Last Name - Foreign Films +w 10.  House of Flying Daggers - Foreign Films +w