As the latest Twilight fan-fic opens nationwide, it seems only fitting that I finally get around to writing something about a South Korean vampire film I watched a few weeks ago at The Uptown Theatre. Now most people know director Park Chan-wook for his Vengeance trilogy (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance) or possibly for his segment from the horror film Three Extremes making him one of the better known foreign language film makers in the US. So when I heard he’d be making a vampire film, I was excited at the possibilities, but I got something I never expected.
Thirst follows the story of a priest who undergoes an experimental treatment, during the course of which a blood transfusion transforms him into a vampire. Soon he discovers that if he doesn’t feed, that his disease will return, thus he must soon abandon his morality in order to survive. But that is scarcely his furthest fall.
You see, our priest has a secret, he’s in love with his friend’s wife. And his hunger isn’t simply for blood, but for other things just as carnal. Thus, our intrepid hero must slowly abandon his faith in order to satiate his growing desires. And that’s when Thirst truly blossoms into a modern masterpiece of film making.
While Thirst is a morality play to be sure, and it is full of horror elements, at its heart it is a romance, though a very twisted and dysfunctional one to be sure. As our priest falls deeper in love with the woman of his desires, he makes a rather foolish step that propels the two of them into an unending struggle for dominance of their lives, their relationship and of their hunger.
Following in the footsteps of last year’s outstanding vampire film Let the Right One In, Thirst creates complex and realistic characters that are thrust into worlds they can scarcely imagine let alone control, try as they might. These are people with faults and flaws, and simply craving the taste of blood won’t change that, but it just might amplify their flaws. Thirst simply isn’t just the best vampire movie of the year, its one of the year’s best movies, period.
Not many new additions but their are some notable ones. First we have The Messenger and (Untitled), films I know nothing about and probably will never see. Besides that I am happy to announce that Thirst will actually play in Minneapolis, though it won’t have a week long run. instead it has been added to the upcoming Midnight Madness schedule, and will play the weekend of November 6th, and you can be sure that I will be in attendance for one of those shows.
The other big addition is one of my most anticipated for the fall season, that being the science fiction farce Gentlemen Broncos. I’ve been looking forward to this film for well over a year, and I am finding it incredibly difficult to remain patient for the adventure of Ronald Chevalier. Hopefully I’ll luck out and be able to attend a screening beforehand, but that looks unlikely.
*** – Denotes recommended viewing
All dates subject to change
10/09 Earth Days Lagoon
10/09 The Boys Are Back Edina
10/09 Amreeka Edina
10/09 Unmistaken Child Lagoon
10/16 Coco Before Chanel Uptown
10/16 Still Walking Lagoon
10/16 More Than A Game Lagoon
10/23 An Education Uptown
10/23 The Horse Boy Lagoon
10/23 Damned United Edina/Lagoon
10/23 Amelia Lagoon
10/23 Flame & Citron Edina (NEW DATE)
10/30 New York, I Love You Uptown/Lagoon
10/30 Canyon Lagoon
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Afghan Star is getting its released date pushed, for the fourth time. Of course this is a better fate then Park Chan-wook’s latest film Thirst, which has been dropped and will not open in Minneapolis. This after being delayed twice, and after having an intial release date scheduled a full six weeks after its Chicago opening. As far as I can tell, Thirst only played in Chicago, New York and LA and that is it for the US, which is truly ridiculous. Word is trickling out that the studio (Focus Features/Universal) simply didn’t want to pay to strike prints, let alone market the film. Evidently they thought marketing a vampire film to modern day filmgoer’s was a risk not worth taking. Probably because they are idiots.
In other news Young Victoria had its release date pushed and … ohh … it says here Universal sucks. So it must be true. Hopefully one of the local Independent theatres(The Heights, Parkway or Riverview, I’m not picky) picks up the slack (Hey Trylon, throw us a freaking bone please!) and releases the film so Minneapolis film lovers have a chance to watch it in theatres.
*** – Denotes recommended viewing
All dates subject to change
09/25 Burning Plain Uptown (tentative)
09/25 Paris Uptown/Edina
09/25 Somers Town Lagoon***
09/25 Afghan Star Lagoon (NEW DATE)
09/25 The Other Man Edina (tentative)
10/02 A Serious Man Uptown***
10/02 Capitalism: A Love Story Lagoon
10/02 No Impact Man Lagoon
10/02 Flame & Citron Edina
10/09 Earth Days Lagoon
10/09 The Boys Are Back Edina
10/09 Amreeka Edina
10/09 Unmistaken Child Lagoon
10/16 Still Walking Lagoon
10/16 Coco Before Chanel Edina
10/16 More Than A Game Lagoon
10/23 An Education Uptown
10/23 The Horse Boy Lagoon
10/23 Damned United Lagoon
10/23 Amelia Lagoon
10/30 New York, I Love You Uptown/Lagoon
10/30 Canyon Lagoon
11/06 Antichrist Uptown
11/06 Skin Edina
11/13 Crude Lagoon
11/20 We Live in Public Lagoon
11/20 Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire Lagoon
11/25 The Road Edina***
11/27 RED CLIFF Uptown
11/27 Oh My God? Lagoon
11/27 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Lagoon
12/04 The Strip Lagoon (NEW)
12/11 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe Lagoon
12/18 The Maid Edina
12/18 Young Victoria Edina (NEW DATE)
Incredibly boring update this week, as only one new film is added to the booking sheet. The film, called The Strip, looks less than interesting. Though is does star Dave Foley, so odds are I’ll watch it. The only other news is that Afghan Star has been tentatively bumped to next week, and The Road has been bumped to Thanksgiving.
That’s all I got. If you want more you’ll be waiting for awhile.
*** – Denotes recommended viewing
All dates subject to change
09/18 Bright Star Uptown
09/18 The Informant! Lagoon***
09/18 It Might Get Loud Lagoon
09/18 The Beaches of Agnes Edina
09/18 Afghan Star Lagoon (NEW DATE)
09/25 Burning Plain Uptown (tentative)
09/25 Paris Uptown/Edina
09/25 Somers Town Lagoon***
09/25 Thirst Lagoon ***
09/25 The Other Man Edina (tentative)
10/02 A Serious Man Uptown***
10/02 Capitalism: A Love Story Lagoon
10/02 No Impact Man Lagoon
10/02 Flame & Citron Edina
10/09 Earth Days Lagoon
10/09 The Boys Are Back Edina
10/09 Amreeka Edina
10/09 Unmistaken Child Lagoon
10/16 Still Walking Lagoon
10/16 Coco Before Chanel Edina
10/16 More Than A Game Lagoon
10/23 An Education Uptown
10/23 The Horse Boy Lagoon
10/23 Damned United Lagoon
10/23 Amelia Lagoon
10/30 New York, I Love You Uptown/Lagoon
10/30 Canyon Lagoon
11/06 Antichrist Uptown
11/06 Skin Edina
11/13 Crude Lagoon
11/13 Young Victoria Edina
11/20 We Live in Public Lagoon
11/20 Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire Lagoon
11/25 The Road Edina (NEW DATE)***
11/27 RED CLIFF Uptown
11/27 Oh My God? Lagoon
11/27 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Lagoon
12/04 The Strip Lagoon (NEW)
12/11 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe Lagoon
Some shuffling of the schedule again as a few moves have their release dtaes pushed to help make room. You should expect this for the remainder of the year at the very least, as their are simply too many strong releases and not enough screens. Don’t be surprised if a few interesting films end up falling off completely as well. Hopefully some of the other Independent theatres in town will snag them.
A couple of documentaries make the booking sheet this week, with We Live in Public being the most well known of the two. But the big addition is clearly the Amelia Earhart bio-pic Amelia, starring Hilary Swank, that will open on October 23rd.
But while that is the marquee addition, the one I am most anticipating is the re-release of the Akira Kurosawa classic, Rashomon, on February 12th of next year. This will be a brand new print, and as Kurosawa is one of my favorite directors, this will be a must see event. Hopefully it will be for you as well.
*** – Denotes recommended viewing
All dates subject to change
09/09 9 Lagoon ***
09/11 The Baader Meinhof Complex Uptown
09/11 Afghan Star Lagoon (NEW DATE)
09/11 The World’s Greatest Dad Lagoon (NEW DATE) ***
09/11 Captain Abu Raed Lagoon/Edina
09/11 Play the Game Edina (tentative)
09/11 The September Issue Edina
09/18 Bright Star Uptown
09/18 The Informant! Lagoon***
09/18 It Might Get Loud Lagoon
09/18 The Beaches of Agnes Edina
09/25 Burning Plain Uptown (tentative)
09/25 Somers Town Lagoon***
09/25 Thirst Lagoon (NEW DATE)***
09/25 Paris Edina
09/25 The Other Man Edina (tentative)
10/02 A Serious Man Uptown***
10/02 Capitalism: A Love Story Lagoon
10/02 No Impact Man Lagoon
10/02 Flame & Citron Edina
10/09 Earth Days Lagoon
10/09 The Boys Are Back Edina
10/09 Amreeka Edina
10/09 Unmistaken Child Lagoon (NEW)
10/16 Still Walking Lagoon
10/16 Coco Before Chanel Edina
10/16 More Than A Game Lagoon
10/16 The Road Edina***
10/23 An Education Uptown
10/23 The Horse Boy Lagoon
10/23 Damned United Lagoon
10/23 Amelia Lagoon (NEW)
10/30 Canyon Lagoon
10/30 New York, I Love You Lagoon
10/30 Skin Edina
11/06 Antichrist Uptown
11/13 Crude Lagoon
11/13 Young Victoria Edina
11/20 We Live in Public Lagoon (NEW)
11/20 Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire Lagoon (NEW DATE)
11/27 RED CLIFF Uptown
11/27 Oh My God? Lagoon
11/27 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Lagoon
12/11 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe Lagoon
As the latest Twilight fan-fic opens nationwide, it seems only fitting that I finally get around to writing something about a South Korean vampire film I watched a few weeks ago at The Uptown Theatre. Now most people know director Park Chan-wook for his Vengeance trilogy (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance) or possibly for his segment from the horror film Three Extremes making him one of the better known foreign language film makers in the US. So when I heard he’d be making a vampire film, I was excited at the possibilities, but I got something I never expected.
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