Pajiba

I saw the previews here at our local brew-and-view and CANNOT wait to see it!

Right on. For some reason, horror-comedy is the one genre that doesn't work for me, but I've been foaming to see this one since I saw the trailer.

livvie, where are you? i want to see what you have to say about this.

This is probably a stupid question, but does this have subtitles? I have problems catching all the movie when I'm stuck reading the tiny print at the bottom of the screen.

Whew!

I was tempted to pass your review until I've seen it, because I really really really want to see it. Glad to hear the previews have not been remiss nor overly revealing. Another smashing review ... "unadulterated glee..." indeed!

I pray to god it has subtitles. It's a giant movie screen, if it's too hard to see then sit closer. Or learn to read faster. Last thing we need is some camp nobody voice actors fucking this up.

I can't understand how anyone over the age of 14 still has a problem with subtitles.

Suh-weet! I haven't even heard of this movie yet, but I am for sure going to go see it. Excellent teaser, Dustin!

I heard about this on Worstpreviews and I really wasn't sure what to expect. It looked campy, dark, and I really didn't know what to make of the monster. Thanks for clearing that up Dustin, I'm definitely gonna qeue this up on Netflix if it's available.

I saw this a few days ago and Dustin's review not only nails it, but kinda makes me want to go see it again!

Have heard nothing but good buzz on this. What's not to like? Korean? Awesome. Giant man-eating monster. Cool. Family fighting against impossible odds. Fuckin' A.

"I can't understand how anyone over the age of 14 still has a problem with subtitles."

I'm 13.

Seriously, give it a break, okay? I prefer to watch the movie itself, and I know many others that do as well ... if I wanted to read a fucking book, I'd do so.

Soley for the reason that the directors name is BONG - I'm supporting this movie.

Excellent! There was just something that caught my eye in the trailer that looked to me to be something worth seeing. Now I've got the stamp of approval, it's off the the theatre! Wasn't expecting it to be likened to "Little Miss Sunshine," but hey, that sure doesn't count against it in ANY way.

You're not reading a book Mary, you're watching a foreign film that's not dubbed. Not very difficult to understand - or do, for that matter. Get used to it.

In my experience the 'many others' that just can't be bothered to read a line of dialog on a giant screen have the sophistication and taste of your average Will Ferrell loving fratboy. But whatever. If you're actually 13 you'll figure it out someday. If you don't, you'll miss 70% of the greatest films in the history of cinema.

Markus,

I'm 40 and don't mind subtitles, but your condescension obfuscates the points you're trying to make.

Asking whether or not a movie has subtitles is relavant for people of all levels of sophistication, but you probably won't be able to get the full jist of what I'm saying until you pull your head out of your ass. Once you do that, you'll enjoy the films even more!

Janice, hello - Pajiba, bitchy people. Surprise! I'm sure there's a friendly film review site somewhere, go find it and shut the fuck up.

Subtitles aren't a problem for me, either, but sometimes I'll just watch it twice if I get swept up in the visuals on the first go-round. And on a sad aging-related note, evidently my hearing is starting to go; I find myself turning the captions on sometimes to try and catch all the dialogue. I discovered this disturbing new condition when I watched Brick, and let me tell you, it was a mighty humbling experience.

Markus, the world is already overstocked in the prick department. Don't be that guy.

Cool, Markus. You can read and are therefore able to share with others what Pajiba is all about! Thanks for that. Since your brain is capable of functioning on that level, there's hope that it will one day function on more sophisticated levels. I'm routing for you!

And on a sad aging-related note, evidently my hearing is starting to go; I find myself turning the captions on sometimes to try and catch all the dialogue.

Yeah, I do that too, and I'm only 27.

And seriously, I don't care how old you are, subtitles /= book. If you can't read fast enough to keep up with the plot when dealing with subtitles, maybe you should turn to the books more, and the theatre less.

Janice, you're embarrassing yourself.

Sharon, this place has become so tame that I'm proud to be that guy. If Mary actually IS 13 then fine, understandable. If not, then I've no problem making the comment I made, and if it's a bit too acidic for some people then tra-la-la, go somewhere else. But you're right, I guess we should all just say "Excellent, great review Dustin! Can't wait for your next hilarious live blogging of some random shit movie!" 35 times and wait for that one K-movie addict to pipe in saying he saw The Host a year ago and aren't we slow.

Good point Sally.
I hate to break it to you Janice but anybody who can't keep up with subtitles is a moron.

Markus, I think you're missing the point--a couple of points actually. First, posting on a site for "bitchy people" does not actually OBLIGATE you to be a self-important flaming asshole. Second, while I enjoy many movies with subtitles, I nonetheless understand that they can be quite distracting. That doesn't mean a person is vapid or unsubtle, in fact it is the risk of missing some of the visual nuances because you are reading subtitles that I consider to be their downside.

And Dustin, I very much enjoyed the unexpected and delightful referencing of my favorite Elvis Costello song.

Author's Note: I'm elated that you picked up on it, Kate. It's one of my favorites, too.

Good heavens. This might be my new favorite flick. At least until Hot Fuzz.

Wow, controversy over subtitles. Never thought I'd live to see the day. I guess America is just full of incendiaries. Haha.
Anyways, awesome review Dustin. I've been waiting for Pajiba to review this ever since I saw the trailer for it a couple days ago. It looked amazing, but nowadays, you never can be too sure. I count on your opinions to know whether I should Netflix this or not. But hell, I might venture into the theaters for this one. Thanks! =)

markus, the only one embarrassing themselves is you.

Mary asked a quite understandable question, and you jumped down her throat. If she wants to know if there are subtitles, that is her right to know. That is part of her decision-making process. To make her feel lees than a person over a trifle is ridiculous. Some people like subtitles, some like dubs. It is a matter of taste, maybe even reading speed, but it is not of intelligence.

And if subtitles are such a big deal to you, why not go one step further and learn the language? That way you can be a snob to the piddly little peons who need to have all their movies in any form of English, whether written or spoken.

And please show me where did Janice challenge the oh-so-sacred "bitchiness" of Pajiba. It sounds more like you are the one with a problem with Pajiba and its commenters. If it is that insufferable to you that maybe some people don't need to be acidic and bitchy in every review and/or commment, then maybe you should leave. If they were bitchy to every movie they reviewed, what would be the point? They could just say "All movies suck" and quit. Sometimes even Pajiba has to have a few good reviews, if only to make the coming vitriol all the more sweeter.

can't wait for this one. i've been spanking it to the pre-release info for several months now. glad to hear you liked it.

Here's the point on subtitles - if you watched dubbed movies, you will miss out on some of the nuance, tone and emotion in the actors' voices. Overdub actors are not screen actors, and the product can't adequately match what's on the screen.

That said, I can perfectly understand a 13 year-old wanting to see it dubbed (but goodness girl, the PROFANITY!). But I think that as people develop into adulthood, yes, the should learn to appreciate the benefits of watching in the original language, even if it requires a second viewing.

ANYWAY. The previews for this make it look like a blast - I can't wait until if finally makes it's way here, even though it'll probably be on some shitty small screen tin can theater. Fuck it, I'll take what I can get.

Markus, Vermillion is right. More accurately, someone needs to teach you the difference between "scathing", or "bitchy" versus "obnoxious" and "arrogant".

Maybe you can read about it in a book somewhere.

OMG SUBTITLES

READ THEM DUMB BAN BITCHY WERE ALL SO COOL ARROGANT LAZY INTERNET ARGUMENTS LOLOMGWTCBBQ.

I laugh when people argue about inane things on the internet. You're so cool. hhahahahahaha.

Is it any wonder that the person complaining about reading subtitles is the same person who typed

"I'm routing for you!"

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I can't wait until someone hates me enough to fancily carve a piece of wood for me. Or maybe she's constructing a travel itinerary for him? HER GIFT IS MULTIFACETED!

I love the Host. I prefer subtitled non-english films. I usually think that the Pajiba reviews are way too pompous for their own good.

i don't want to antagonize a lot of people here, but the debate over subtitles is ridiculous. if you lived in, say, Belgium, you could either learn english, read subtitles or listen to some dumbass actor dubbing the film. i believe that the last thing is not even an option and should be reserved for children's films or cartoons. dubbing robs you of the complete movie-going experience. would de niro or brando be de niro and brando if you heard some german actor dubbing them? please, go learn some foreign languages or at least learn to read faster.

Come on, people. Markus is just a twelve year-old who got turned down when he tried to enter the theater to see a NC-17 rated French film, and is trying to feel better about himself by insulting people's intelligence on the Internet. He's almost managed to forget that he tried to sneak in for the nude bits, and not for the post-modern philosophizing in French with English subtitles.

Wait, you mean people are not what they sound like on the Internet? Damn.

I'm with Markus on this one. We watch EVERYTHING at home with the closed-captioning on, which is not necessarily the same as subtitles, but I can still read them AND watch the show at the same time. Seriously, it's not that hard.

Here's the point on subtitles - if you watched dubbed movies, you will miss out on some of the nuance, tone and emotion in the actors' voices. Overdub actors are not screen actors, and the product can't adequately match what's on the screen.

I also trust the subbed translation more than I do the dubbed one. For example in Kiki's delivery service there was one line where in the subtitles Kiki said, 'Oh I guess X did this deliberately' while the dubbed version was 'How could X do this to me'. One statement a simple realisation, the other asigning blame.

God, anime where the english voice actors completely deviate from translation for no reason. God, what they did to 'Perfect Blue'. I'm a subtitle fanatic - odds are I'd rather watch a movie raw than dubbed.

I'm glad to hear Pajiba liked this one. I heard another blog (Kung Fu Monkey) rave about it, so now it's definitely a must-see.

I might actually go see this movie based purely on that review.

Bucko,

Your post is confusing because I never complained about reading subtitles. In fact - I said the opposite - they don't bother me. But perhaps it was late and you were sleepy when you posted - I will give you the benefit of the doubt instead of assuming ignorance. And I did make the "routing" comment, so I will respond.

While "routing" can mean "using the rotating cutting tool called a router" it can also mean "to fix the route for" and that's the meaning I was using in my post. Perhaps, you thought I meant "rooting" which can mean "to lend support to someone or something" and that definition would also read correctly in my post.

But, in any event, I meant what I wrote. And you're right - my gift of the English language IS multifacted!

Oh, and Vermillion - excellent post!

Just saw this last night! It was actually incredible and such a fun ride. The review is right on point. I also actually had this Korean dude next to me that understood the movie and the dialogue better than I, and while I usually am annoyed by people that make little comments of laugh at inappropriate times, it actually livened up the action for me.

And regarding the subtitles... it's a nonissue. Even if you can't read, you can understand what's going on here by intonation and action. So let's all hold hands and sing "kum-by-ya"... or however you spell it.

And the final battle is more than badass. It harkened back to "Get away from her, you b*tch" from Aliens, byfarthegreatestmovieofalltime. ;)

Movie sounds good. I'm with the sub-title fans. I watched the Japanese speaking version of Trinity Blood with subtitles and infinitely preferred it to the English speaking version on Cartoon Network.

This movie sucks. I walked out on it. Painfully bad.

Yes, it has subtitles.

And, yes, the movie is good.

Subtitles controversy aside:

Own this on DVD, watched it last night for the first time with my wife (a decidedly horror-flick-UN-fan, had to stress this was a monster movie), and about halfway through we turned to each other and screamed, "My God I love this movie!". As Dustin has described, this is a well-directed send up of a monster-slash-greenpeace-slash-road-trip flick, with enough comedic moments to assure you that the crew wasn't taking itself too seriously. Yes, there's drama, but nothing so pretentious as to make the viewer uncomfortable (like a Passion of the Christ can) or feel somehow unworthy (like a Passion of the Christ can).

And the FX are very well done, without being the star of the show. Certainly the creature's first rampage looks fluid enough that your eye can follow the real focus of the scene: the crowd's gradual reaction and response to this out-of-left-field appearance in the middle of a normal day.

Oh, and unlike 300, there are definite political subtexts to this one.

Janice-
Yeah, you're right, I dunno who I was collaging you with, and I withdraw my attack. I was looking for some fun targets. Oops.

I once wrote a letter to the editor about a sports article about a local soccer game headlined "Bulldogs Route Saints," complaining that in the article was only a description of who beat whom, and not where the Bulldogs were sending the Saints.

I thought lightening had struck twice :)

I prefer subtitles but I thought I'd add this little anecdote to show that both subbing and dubbing have their flaws:

While my husband and I were watching the East Asian release version of the movie "The Eye" with English subtitles, it became clear that the subtitle track was off and that each line was being delivered one line early. During a fight wherein a woman is trying to tell a doctor that she can see the future, the subtitling made it look like the doctor was trying to convince that he had the gift. It was remarkably akin to that scene in "Singing in the Rain" wherein the soundtrack is one line off and the woman is saying "Yes, yes, yes" in a man's voice while struggling with a man and vigorously shaking her head "no."

The subtitling was one line off for the whole movie except the first ten minutes, and no amount of restarting the DVD player got it to be back on track. It ruined the tense moments because the subtitling would tell us that the person was screaming before the dead people jumped out, etc.

Sorry, that line up there should read "the doctor was trying to convince HER that he had the gift."

...and then i went and misspelled lightning.

It's up to you whether it was a mistake or whether i intended, in some roundabout way, to indicate that making something lighter had once again inflicted itself on... something...

You're better at rationalizing typos than I am...

I watched a great movie last night that was nothing but subtitles!!

I had to continually turn the "scenes" over to get to the next set of subtitles, but I could hold the "movie" right in my hands.

It was an incredible experience. They should make more movies that way.

At one point, I wanted to see if I would like it better dubbed, so I handed the "movie" over to my wife, and had her read the subtitles to me.

I have to say, reading the subtitles myself was more rewarding.

From Kim: "Wow, controversy over subtitles. Never thought I'd live to see the day. I guess America is just full of incendiaries. Haha."

Yes indeed, we certainly know how to pick and choose our battles.

congratulations on the stupidest argument on here yet :D Quite an accomplishment people.

Cheers to typos, Bucko - and to you!

vermillion, I actually know Korean. Is that one step far enough for you? And I do have quite a bit of contempt for the commenters here, brilliant deduction.

Man this turned out great. Too much shit to respond to really, except for the jackass complaining about people arguing about inane shit on the internet - as if that's not what people have been doing on here since time out of mind. Nice to see the regular bores throw in their two cents, too. See you guys next time some 13 year old complains about films being in black and white.

If you can read, you can use subtitles.

If you can drive, you can read traffis signs and avoid crashing.

Why be bothered, unless the film's (badly, oh so badly) dubbed?

I loved this film from the trailer - something different at work there, I thought. Thanks, Pajiba - you gave me a nice surprise with this review.

I saw this movie last weekend and completely agree with the other posters who explained that you don't need to read the subtitles to enjoy it fully. They help with the subtext that makes this otherwise hysterically campy monster movie a political diatribe as well, but you could ignore them and have a good time. During this film, I was struck by the realization that the U.S. seems to be the go-to generic "bad guy" in foreign films these days. We've replaced the Russians, apparently.

Arguements about subtitles? What is this, an anime forum?

Anyway, even though I was extremely disappointed by the ending, this film is indeed amazing.

Great. Another perfectly good genre flick ruined by being "political." There's a sophisticated subtext - the US makes tadpole monsters. Cuz Korea's problems stem from those damn Americans and not...other Koreans.

And stop whining about subtitles....wait, maybe they're another American plot!

My hands-down favorite part had to be

***SPOILERS***

when the creepy, lazyy-eyed american doctor (who is that actor, I've seen him before) was describing how they haven't found the virus anywhere! so it must be in Gang-du's brain! that's where they'll find it!

WMD anyone?

end spoilers

and I love me some subtle, biting political satire any day.

the real problem with subtitles is that they miss out a lot in the dialogues. I'm Italian and when I see Italian films I notice that sometimes the translations are very general. I guess its a problem of space... in Italy all foreign films are dubbed, which in some cases is very sad, but in others it's ok. for example: I prefer the dubbed version of my favorite movie (Blade Runner) maybe because I'm used to it or maybe because the dubbers are good italian actors. But the voices in english (in that movie) are kind of flat...
Even so, in Rome I always go to theaters in which movies are played in the original version...

I don't know about you guys, but I get a chubby that just won't go away every time Markus posts. He's so... bad!

I wanted to slit my wrist during this movie. The initial scene with the giant tadpole was great but unfortunately the movie fell apart after that. I must have watch a copy with poor subtitles because the dialogue was weak. Maybe there were many key points that were lost in translation. I didn't twitch during the movie even though I was watching it on a 50 inch lcd with the volume cranked. I found that I laughed and rolled my eyes quite a bit. There were many many many continuity errors like many other asian movies. Many of the scenes left me wonder, "WHY?" Why did the director have this scene. What is the significance? This movie left me with other questions.
1) Why was there no puncture wound when the main character had a needle stuck in his neck?
2) Why was the main character in severe quarantine sometimes but allowed to roam around the facility other times?
3) Why didn't the monster fish the kids out of the hole with its tail?
4) Why didn't the monster wake up when a beer can was thrown at it and a kid ran across its back but actually does wake up when the same kid runs behind it?
5) Why couldn't the Korean military hunt this thing down when entire misfit family could individually?
6)Why use formaldehyde as the chemical? It is a toxin but should not cause mutations. It causes cancer but so does smoking. Why not just dump a truck load of cigarettes into the river?
7) Where did the homeless guy at the end come from and where did he get all of that booze?
8) Why didn't the monster's mouth light of fire since the bum poured gas all over the monster's face and mouth?

I guess I couldn't enjoy this movie because I felt that it cheated my intelligence. Maybe I was disappointed because of all of the hype about this movie. I haven't seen the director's other movies but this one hardly suggest that he is even close to being a genius.

All good, the film was a wonderful mixture of terror, political commentary,heart break (poor hyun-seo) and slap-stick. Not since Alien have I felt so satisfied. For those who can't bear the thought of american incompetance and stupidity (see opening scene) leading to environmental destruction, go see Godzilla (the original); where do you think he came from?

I'm not holding my breath for Mary to read her first book. Especially since most movie subtitles are like pamphlets.

I wouldn't put The Host in the awesome range of Shaun of the Dead, etc. There are a some slow, pointless moments, and a really sucky soundtrack. No, it's not ironic, it's just a sucky soundtrack.

But it's better than anything in the first run theatres right now, and is as close to cinema verite as a monster movie will ever get.

I want to answer Jimmy's points:
1) True, lack of continuity.
2) Same. Mind you, "quarantine" was just a sheet of heavy plastic.
3) Good point. Maybe it couldn't put its butt in the right position in that narrow space?
4) It didn't seem to be particularly interested in the kids -- got enough food elsewhere, and was probably dozing/digesting. And it did wake up when the girl was on its back.
5) Governments are never, ever competent in these kinds of films, and individuals, especially stalwart fathers protecting their families always are. Come on, you know that.
6) Because the Americans at an army base dumped a lot of formaldehyde into the Han River in real life. Also, Korean students throw Molotov cocktails at the military in real life, and the military gases them ditto.
7) Homeless guys who live under bridges would probably know where to get alcohol, especially if someone else is paying.
8) I don't quite get what you mean. It wasn't close to a flame. SPOILER The homeless guy pours gas over the beast, the brother throws a Molotov cocktail and misses, but the sister picks up the flaming rag with her arrow, and bingo! SPOILER

Oh, and that actor that played the American doctor? I don't know his name, but he was one of the moth-fanciers in Silence of the Lambs.

And I'm not that Janice.

"I had to continually turn the "scenes" over to get to the next set of subtitles, but I could hold the "movie" right in my hands."

I see what you did there, Banana.

1) Why was there no puncture wound when the main character had a needle stuck in his neck? -Do you have a puncture wound every time you go to the doctor? I don't think so. Same thing with a needle pricks your finger, you may see blood, but not a puncture wound.

2) Why was the main character in severe quarantine sometimes but allowed to roam around the facility other times? -that's because there was no disease, he was only placed under a fake "quarantine" to separate him from the rest of the people. Pay attention much?

3) Why didn't the monster fish the kids out of the hole with its tail? -It's a monster, let's not blow his intelligence out of proportion, shall we?

4) Why didn't the monster wake up when a beer can was thrown at it and a kid ran across its back but actually does wake up when the same kid runs behind it? -For the same reason that it grabbed the girl when she tried to escape. There is a difference in animal sense, when being struck with an inanimate object during sleep that having a creature crawl across its skin. I'm guessing you missed the scene where the spider was crawling on her? Hint hint? There is also a significant weight difference between a can than a young teenage girl.

5) Why couldn't the Korean military hunt this thing down when entire misfit family could individually? -The American government kept it under wraps, for the same reason why the dad was kept under a fake quarantine. It's called conspiracy. I'm starting to believe that you didn't actually watch the movie while sober.

6)Why use formaldehyde as the chemical? It is a toxin but should not cause mutations. It causes cancer but so does smoking. Why not just dump a truck load of cigarettes into the river? -Cigarettes cause cancer when inhaled into the lungs after being set to flame. Merely dumping it into water won't cause cancer. Plus, this is a satirical monster film, did you actually watch King Kong or Godzilla and criticize those as well?

7) Where did the homeless guy at the end come from and where did he get all of that booze? -Wait a sec, how do homeless people get booze in real life... Try asking them.

8) Why didn't the monster's mouth light of fire since the bum poured gas all over the monster's face and mouth? I don't recall that part of the movie. Perhaps you're right about this one.

With all sincerity, lighten up. If you're going to nitpick, at least make sure that you're absolutely right and not absolutely wrong.

Thank you, for ruining this movie's reputation because you are incompetent

You fail at life.