2013 Year in Review: Film Log

Tully's Recall Year in Review Year by Year

2010 Film Log, At the Cinema, Top 10 

2011 Film Log, At the Cinema, Top 10

2012 Film Log, Korean Cinema, Top 10

2013 Film Log, Top 10 Features (coming soon)

Every film (that I can remember) that I watched in 2013 is listed below in the order that I watched them. It totals 136 features films (down almost 50 films from last year), and 181 short films (an increase in 50% from the previous year, indicating my more recent interests in the short film format). The percentage of films I saw in the theatre did increase though, as I managed to make it out to many more film festivals and art house screenings than i managed in 2012.

My Top 10 of 2013 will be up shortly, of which this year I will be posting both a look at features and shorts. Films seen in the theatre are Bolded. Red highlights are for films of ratings of 8 or higher out of 10. Short films are listed in "Inverted Commas". Enjoy!

2010 Stats (Features only)

Films watched - 125

Films seen in the theatre - 58 (46%)

Films of 8 or higher out of 10 - 27 (22%)

2011 Stats (Features only)

Films watched - 125

Films seen in the theatre - 58 (46%)

Films of 8 or higher out of 10 - 14 (11%)

2012 Stats (Features only)

Films watched - 184

Films seen in the theatre - 54 (29%)

Films of 8 or higher out of 10 - 19 (10%)

2013 Stats (Features only)

Films watched - 136

Films seen in the theatre - 57 (42%)

Films of 8 or higher out of 10 - 17 (13%)

Thought Leaders' Corner: Remakes of Korean films

This months edition of the Thought Leader's Corner concerns remakes of Korean films. An increasing trend as Korean cinema emerges on the world stage, there are some varying opinions on how this could benefit or negatively effect the local Korean industry. Read on below to read my thoughts on this trend. You can read the full April thoughts here from a variety of Korean film experts worldwide.

MKC Thought Leaders' Corner: April 2013

How do you feel about remakes of Korean films?

Korean Film Log: December

Well the year is over and so here is my final film log for 2012. Well not quite, this will be the final monthly entry, but I will shortly post a full year round-up, which will also include some top tens and any interesting statistics. Look out for it shortly.

I will aim to continue this in 2013 and hopefully even have time to expand up it by writing mini reviews of the films rather than just posting ratings. Anyway for now check out the final 11 films I watched in 2012.

December

110. Friend (친구)


111. Family Ties (가족의 탄생)

Korean Film Log: June

I managed to catch 69 Korean films in the first half of 2012, some new some old, some good some bad, an intersting bunch to say the least!.

Korean Film Log 2012
31 films in January (#1-31)
3 films in February (#32-34)
7 films in March (#35-41)
16 films in April (#42-57)
5 films in May (#58-62)
7 films in June (#63-69)

June

63. My Barefoot Friend (오래된 인력거)

64. Sleepless Night (잠 못 드는 밤)

Korean Film Downunder 3: Longing for a Ko-production

This piece was included in the White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century. Its more of my musings about Korea and Australian relations through film, though my bias in this clearly comes through! Hope you find it interesting.

The time has come for Australia to look to the powerhouse of the Asia Pacific region in regards to the entertainment industry. No longer can our focus simply be locked on to the lustrous billions of potential opportunities that China seems to hold over us. The real leader in the region, the real leader in the industry, is South Korea. 

We were close ...

Unfortunately Australia still does not have co- production agreements with key nations in Asia with respect to the film industry, namely Japan, Thailand & South Korea. With such a great focus placed on China, these other giants seem to have been left behind. After all this is the “Asian Century” and not the “Chinese Century”, so there is no reason that our focus should lie with the sleeping giant. Now the fact that Screen Australia and the Australian entertainment industry have acknowledged the potential with co-productions and distribution in China is fine, but it cannot be our sole entrance into partnering with the region. (Singapore, our only other partner in Asia, could not be classified as a powerhouse, and to date only 1 feature has resulted from that co-production agreement). There is such great potential for content to be exported in both directions, and Korea is the leader in this case. 

but not close enough

Numerous Korean television shows, movies and TV commercials continue to shoot in the beautiful locations of Australia (for a list check out Brian Yecies and Shim Aegyung’s article Hallyuwood Down Under), but the product is entirely Korean. Our endless lands and wide open golf courses are things Koreans crave, in a country that is mountainous, and space is hard to find. I believe that it needs to become a priority for Screen Australia, the Korean Film Council, and any other parties that could assist the establishment of such a co-production (such as the Australia Korea Foundation) to make a co-production a priority. 

Korean Film Log 2012: March

Another month, another entry on my Korean film log. Managed to pick it up a bit this month and April will surely pick up as programming time approaches. There were some solid entries as I took a look at a few indie dramas and interesting docos.

You can see my ratings in my Film Log section of the blog. I am going to make this a monthly entry as it's a great way to force myself to watch more! Films are numbered in the order that I watched them.

Entries
The 31 Korean films I watched in January (1-31)
The 3 Korean films I watched in February (32-34)

35. Breathless (똥파리)

2011 Year in Review: At the Cinema

So continuing on from 2010, where I analysed my cinema going habits, I am taking a look back at what I saw in the cinema once more. All of the references to 'films watched' below refer to 'films watched in the theatre only'. Nothing I saw on DVD, TV, Pay per view, Online etc were included. While anything seen in the theatre, outdoor cinema, at a film festival or special screening are included.

In 2010 I only managed to see half as many films compared to what I saw in 2009, and well in 2011 I've done the exact same thing. To see my reviews of the films check out the film log. While it may just look like numbers, for a Mathematician such as myself, it means so much more than just figures. Here are some of the related posts you may want to check out.

2010 Year in Review: Film Log
2010 Year in Review: At the Cinema
2010 Year in Review: Top 10 

2011 Year in Review: Film Log
2011 Year in Review: At the Cinema
2011 Year in Review: Top 10

My 2011 Cinema Going Analysis

"Blue Valentine", the 1st film I saw in 2011

Cinema on the Park Season 2 coming your way!

In what is clear self promotion, I am doing a short post about the film night I host in Sydney called Cinema on the Park. Its a free weekly Korean film night, so if you happen to read my blogs on Korean cinema and are based down under please try and come along. It would be great to develop the dialogue around Korean film in this country, something that has long been ignored.

It wasn't easy trying to encapsulate the many fascets of Korean film in 1 program, but I think we managed to do it. From art house directors Lee Chang-dong, Hong Sang-soo, Im Sang-soo and Kim Ki-duk, to the mainstream masters of Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, Kim Ji-woon, Na Hong-jin and Ryoo Seung-wan. From some of the most successful female directors in Im Soon-rye, Lee Jeong-hyang and Park Chan-ok, to those classic men that ruled in the early days before the Korean wave Kwak Kyung-taek and Kang Je-kyu. To a man who has lead Korean film in the Oceania region Park Ki-yong, to the most prominent Korean director ever, Im Kwon-taek, we have it all! And that's just the first half of the year!

Inside Out Busan: Live on the Radio!

While travelling to my first Busan International Film Festival in 2011, I received a request to take part in a local radio interview (Thanks for the recommendation, Darcy!). Basically the show had heard I was in town and that I was researching about Korean film and Korean film downunder, and swiftly hooked me up with an interview. After days of rescheduling, it was my time to take the plunge!

As the station's slogan suggests, it is covering the "English wave" coming in to Korea, rather intriguing given that I was researching the "Korean wave" coming in to English speaking territories. While a 30 minute live interview was daunting, and finding the station in the ever darkening sky of Busan by myself was a major challenge, I made in on time and had a blast.

Korean Perspectives at Sydney Film School

To celebrate the festive season, in what is a time for sharing, I am going to share with you the speech I delivered earlier this month at the 15th Sydney Film School Festival. The speech mentions trends currently apparent in the Korean industry, but also aimed to hopefully inspire the graduating students by comparing the school to conditions in Korea with KAFA. You can read more about the developments of the famous Korean film school which I previously discussed with SBS and Sandy George, or in more recent developments, an update from CJ E&M, CJ CGV and KAFA about their partnership. It is an intriguing filmmaking process that Australia should look closer at. Otherwise, Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy the speech! Thanks again to Ira Keller, Ben Ferris and SFS. 

"Good evening students, teachers, family and friends. I would first like to thank Sydney Film School for offering the Korean Cultural Office and myself to take part in today’s proceedings. I am speaking today on behalf of my Director Kim Young-soo, who is currently very busy preparing for the Closing Performance of the Australia-Korea Year of Friendship, which takes place this Friday. I have personally attended a number of Sydney Film School Festivals before which focused on other national cinemas, and I always wondered when would be the day that Korea cinema was the main event. Well today is that today and I am delighted to be standing here before you. (See the International Perspectives program on Korea here)

Korean Film Downunder 2: Interest & Availability

Oh My God, I am blogging again! 

Well I am finally back on the blog after a single lazy entry 7 months ago which basically entailed watching youtube videos. But enough about that, before I get caught up doing something else I will try and get this blog finished. Funnily enough I have just noticed I have about 20 blogs just sitting in 'drafts' at the moment, which one day I may get around to publishing. Now this entry is not the original Part 2 of my look at Korean Film Downunder, but is what I felt like exploring next. Feel free to read the first part which looks at distribution and genre. This entry tries to link another 2 factors into the analysis, interest and accessibility. 

Following on from my look at distributions link to genre, I had believed the fact that the level of interest in Korean film in Australia was where it was at due to what was available to people. Generally films released and readily talked about fit into the crime thriller or horror genres, and this can of course only have limited appeal as its marginalising the audience. But as stated over at the KOFFIA blog Hungry for Drama, we have seen that comedies and dramas have been some of the favourite films at the festival. So why hasn't there been a crossover between those that love Korean dramas into watching Korean films?

Great image from the great Podcast, "What's Korean Cinema?"

Observing Kim Ki-duk Part 2: The Trailer

As I have not yet had the time to get around to the 2nd full entry into my analysis of Kim Ki-duk, (you can read part 1 here), I've decided to put together a quick entry to hopefully get you into thinking more about his career and auteur style. Inspired by Christopher J. Wheeler's poster montage seen here, I thought I would compile together something similar.

Christopher is a KOFFIA Blog contributor and HanCinema reviewer

Tully's Tips: A Film Festival Story

As part of my Screen Culture course at AFTRS in 2010 I was required to conduct a creative project that in some way commented on an issue or contributed to a sector of the film and television industry. For this I chose to set out on a mission to establish a Korean Film Festival, partly due to my passion and knowledge of cinema from the Peninsula, but also because I couldn't believe a Korean Film Festival didn't currently exist. While the Japanese Film Festival had just completed its 13th Year, Korea was null and void and so I set out to change this fact.

After merging with a project team at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, which consisted of Kim Young-gu (a staff member of KOFIC, the Korean Film Council) and Jungyeob Ji (an experienced assistant director and crew member of the Korean Film Industry), what resulted was the 1st KOFFIA Korean Film Festival in Australia. The event had its ups and downs, successes and failures, but most important of all, it will return in 2011. Other forms of Korean Film Festivals had occurred in Australia before, but none returned for successive years. A primary difference for KOFFIA was that this festival was not just for the Korean community in Australia, but for everybody, and this was at the heart of its success.

Jung, Kieran and Young-gu at KOFFIA

Ideas about Editing: El Chop

(Note: An edited version of this post was previously submitted for my AFTRS Screen Culture course, Ideas about Editing, October 2010)

When I think editing, I think Robert Rodriguez. Not just because he does his own editing, but for the rhythm and flow he creates through his editing methods. There is no doubt that his films would be completely different with a different editor. I decided to analyse the origin of his technique by looking closely at his debut feature "El Mariachi", to see how it came about and what impact it has on story and style.

Rodrigues Film School: Part 1

Korean Film Downunder 1: Genre and Distribution

This post was originally published over on the KOFFIA Blog, Hungry for Drama?, as part of the Korean Blogathon. I've replicated it here as I feel its quite an interesting time to take a look at the state of Korean cinema in Australia, given it's presence here has not always been as good as it looks today. In this 1st edition I look at Korean DVDs, Genre and Co-productions. At this point in time almost 50 Korean films have been released on DVD, which may not be anywhere near the amount of Japanese films, but is gradually improving. 

 

Observing Kim Ki-duk Part 1: Auteur Origin

When I was instructed to choose a figure to analyse for a voice and vision task as part of my Screen Culture course at AFTRS, a few names immediately came to mind. The one that stuck was the enigmatic unique figure of Kim Ki-duk. An anomaly not only in Korean cinema but in world cinema, I applied the same approach of analysis and pattern recognition on his career as I have on many other directors. Tarantino once stated that the thing he enjoyed doing most was analysing the change in style and quality of a film director over their career, and I am no different. One day I may get around to posting those other analyses here, but for now my look at Kim Ki-duk will have to do. 

2010 Year in Review: At the Cinema

While it may just look like numbers, for a Mathematician such as myself, it means so much more than just figures. All of the references to 'films watched' below refer to 'films watched in the theatre only'. Nothing I saw on DVD, TV, Pay per view, Online etc were included. While anything seen in the theatre, outdoor cinema, at a film festival or special screening are included. 

I hope you find it interesting. 2010 was a crazily busy year for me so I only managed to see half as many films as I did in 2009, but probably saw many more outside of the theatre that are too numerous to even count!

My 2010 Cinema Going Analysis

"Fantastic Mr. Fox", the 1st film I saw in 2010

The Dark Age of Australian Cinema

(Note: An edited version of this post was previously submitted for my AFTRS Screen Culture course, Industry Appreciation article, January 2010)

It may seem ironic to title a reflection on a man I claim to be significant to the Australian industry with such a negative statement, but that has always been what is so unique about Antony I. Ginnane. From a Business background with an aim seemingly purely to make money, he is now the man whose job it is to lead our industry out of a Dark Age, and I believe he may be the man to do so. (I was inspired to publish this article I wrote after recently writing on the state of Korean Film in Australia over on the KOFFIA Blog).

The Dark Age was a period of perceived cultural decline or social collapse. To claim that the Australian industry is in such an era is not a bold statement in my mind, but a clear fact. While in a year  (this article was first created in 2010) that has been termed a ‘great year for Australian film’ the box office does not reflect this. Yes “Mao’s Last Dancer”, “Samson & Delilah” and “Charlie and Boots” may be the exceptions, but this is still an industry that does not provide a clear career path for young filmmakers. Plain and simple, it is not a sane decision to enter an industry that cannot sustain itself.

Hungry for Drama? 1st Korean Film Festival

Over the last 18 months or so I have been involved with establishing the 1st KOFFIA Korean Film Festival in Australia. And now its just 3 weeks away! Its been a long and busy workload but the response we have had and the general interest in the festival is very pleasing. I invite everyone to come along to Dendy Opera Quays this October long weekend, and experience Korean cinema and culture.

Screen Culture: My video game revival!

(Note: An edited version of this post was previously submitted for my AFTRS Screen Culture course, Animation & Video Games Task, September 2010)

The ominous quote that opens the game

It wasn’t until my AFTRS Screen Culture course on Video Games that I realised how much I missed the form of entertainment that had occupied so much of my youth. An avid Nintendo fan from the Nes through to the Wii, exploring the worlds of Mario and Link, Samus and Donkey Kong was where I spent a large part of my teens. Offered the chance to review my favourite game of all time, I snapped up the opportunity to revisit an old passion. I immediately knew this review would only focus on 1 of 3 possible games: "Perfect Dark" for the Nintendo 64, "Jet Force Gemini" for the Nintendo 64 or "Eternal Darkness" for the Nintendo GameCube. I chose the latter as it more appropriately met the term of ‘complex game’ and is most notable for its wondrous storyline.