The Best @#%*ing Korean-made U.S.-polluted toxic-sludge river monster horror-comedy ever.

No posts since whenever. All three of my readers can sue me.

"The Host" directed by Joon-ho Bong, is just fantastic. Good monster movies, very hard to come by, beat the pants off critically praised "serious" films any day. More spontaneous, more energy.

Witty, suspenseful, great monster effect. I achieved suspension of disbelief for at least 80% of the screen time, which is great for me.

Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasebabyplease, supreme being, G-d, Buddha whomever, let most of the movies I watch for the rest of my life be closer to "The Host", and less like "The Hours", "21 Grams", or any "quality" prestige releases from Hollywood.




The effective thing about the monster that these stills can't reveal, is the seamless way the SF-based effects team makes it move.



Even more effective is director's use of what you can't see. Lots of shots of industrial sewers, bridges, waterfronts of the Han River in Seoul seem to have something lurking just below the surface.


This guy is the patron saint of sweatpants-wearing pudgy movie heroes everywhere. I love this man.


Best sequence in the movie? You let me know.


Movie Website here.


Critical roundup:

Anthony Lane @ the New Yorker wants to see it a third time. Dargis @ NYT. Hartlaub @ SF Chron. Ebert's editor (Rog reviews some things, are you waiting for the next Ron Howard epic or what?).

Go see this. Even if you don't watch "horror" films. Awesome. It's so fun.