DVD Releases: Sept. 12-18
12th September 2010
Two items that may be of interest are being released onto DVD this coming week, the remake of the 1960 classic The Housemaid and a documentary about Korea’s figure-skating champion, Kim Yeon-ah-(who’s name on the video box is spelled Kim Yu-na… is that how she spells it in English? That doesn’t give the right pronunciation…)
The Housemaid (2-discs)– Although this movie failed to live up to expectations, I still recommend it. It is beautifully shot and an interesting story with a thought provoking ending. The only problem this film really suffered from was marketing itself as a remake of Kim Ki-yeong’s original Housemaid made in 1960. The films are so different that people, including myself, were disappointed. However, as its own movie, it is quite good and well worth watching. DVD stats– Subtitles: English & Korean/ Rating: ages 18+/ Format: 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, disc 2–4:3 full screen;16:9 full screen/ Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, disc 2-Dolby Digital 2.0/Special Features: 2 sets of optional commentaries–set 1: Director Im Sang-soo, actors Jeon Do-yeon, Lee Jeong-jae, Yoon Yeo-jeong, set 2: Director Im Sang-soo, critic Na Da-eun; pre-production, adaptation for modern times, making, character profiles, at the Cannes Films Festival, NGs, trailers, music video/ Running time: movie-107 minutes, extras 76 minutes/ Recommended Price: 25,300/ Available: September 14
Hip Korea: Kim Yu-Na– Subtitles: English/ Rating: All ages/ Region Code: all regions/ Disc 1: Happy Skater/ Disc 2: All about Kim Yun-ah/ Recommended Price: 33,000 KRW/ Available: September 15-
September 19th, 2010 at 1:20 am
No matter how Kim Yu-na’s name is spelled in English, the Hip Korea DVD sucks big time. First of all, the commentary (which is in ENGLISH BTW), is inane. The soundtrack and image quality are poor, and we don’t see enough of Kim’s figure skating or training. We also learn next to nothing about her career that we don’t already know. The second disk, misleadingly titled, “All About Kim Yun-ah” thankfully spares us the bloated commentary (there isn’t any), but it’s just one hour of photo shoots with the skater making cute pouty faces. Hopefully, you haven’t already purchased this title…
September 19th, 2010 at 3:54 am
Jon, Thanks for your evaluation of Hip Korea. I had no intention of buying it– I have been over-exposed to Miss Kim during the past year and was really uninterested in seeing any more about her. Her dvd didn’t even make my ‘maybe later’ list. I am sorry that you had to see it though..