Mike McStay

Woori Bank
Account Name: McStay, Flynn M.
Account Number: 1002-929-503133
Swife Code: HVBKKRSE

Well everyone, in less than 12 hours, its game on.

This is the last push for donation to help. you can send $$ to this account of Woosong at WLI, their is a box that you can contribute to also..

I have made a down payment of 3.5 milion won and will need about 1.5 and up more, so every bit helps.

lets beat this darn cancer.

Please pray for me tomorrow


Mike McStay

well, i just had the briefing by the doctor...

Surgery will be 0800 hrs 13 Aug 2009 appx 4-5 hours long.

no food nor water until 16-17th....

7-10 days after surgery to be released.

please on monday pray for me.

room is 1115 on the 11th floor..

Well I am at the Hospital now.

I am in roon 1115 on the 1th floor....


visiting hours are 1200-1400 and 1800-2000

they ask no kids or too many people.

Now I do not know what time the surgery will be on the 13th, when I know I will blog/facebook it.

Now have fun this weekend, take off your pants and slide in the mud and next week I want to hear every sick, twisted, perveted story you have. Heck If you ain't got one make up one.

Please pray for me on the 13th

Mike

Well today is the day that I start the road to recovering from this Level 2 Cancer. At 4pm today (KST) I will be admitted to Eulji University Hospital in dusan-dong Daejeon South Korea.

As I have told many of you, either I beat this darn thing or I am going home to God.

The surgery is scheduled for Monday 13th 2009. i do not have a room # nor time for the surgery. When I know I will try and facebook the info or ask someone else to do it.

Soju, my dog, is being looked after. I wish that she could come to the hospital with me but a 17 kg jindo might scare everyone.

Please pray for me and check for updates on this blog and of facebook..


Mike McStay

A simple Baseball game helps a fan to forget cancer, if only for a few hours.

By Mike McStay



There are times in life when we need a lift. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and we are left wondering why. But, sometimes a simple game of baseball can help people to forget their problems and to, just for a minute, return to being normal. I saw a classic example of this on 7-7-2009 in Daejeon, South Korea at a Korea Baseball Organization game.

One of the fans of the Hanwha Eagles has cancer. His surgery will be soon and that day he made out his will and he made a video saying goodbye to everyone. He just wanted to go somewhere and forget the day that he had just had. This fan saw, last year’s member of the Hanwha Eagles, Doug Clark, who now pays Left Field for the Seoul Heroes. He knew him and he went to talk to his hero "Superman." (Clark Kent= Doug Clark+ Massive power Home Runs= Korean fans nickname "Superman)

He told Mr. Clark, to please hit 5 home runs for him that day. He reminded him about the sick kids with cancer stories that we have all seen in various media. How an athlete will hit a HR for a kid. The fan sated that the 5 HR's in one game would be unforgettable. They both laughed at it and the player went into the field for batting practice and the fan went to the box office to get him a good seat for the game.

The fan reminded himself that 5 HR's in a game is very rare but still it would be nice to see it actually happen. For awhile, the fan looked at the baseball field and he smiled. His mind was healthy and he forgot about the cancer. He forgot about trying to raise funds for the surgery, he forgot about all of the problems that the last few months has brought him. He just was smiling because he was alive again and able to enjoy the simple pleasures of the game of baseball.

Mr. Clark was the first batter up on the top of the first and when the count went to 2-2, the fan was thinking, OK "Superman, now hit one for me", and with the next pitch Clark hit a HR and the fan could not believe it. Could he really get 5 HR's in one game?

His next 2 at bats were a walk and the pitcher hit him with the ball. So after 3 innings he was still 1-1 with a HR.

It was the top of the 5th when Clark came to bat next. But, this time it was different, this time there were 2 runners on base and the Eagles had brought in a new pitcher to face "Superman". Once again, it did not matter. After it went to a 1-1 count; Clark hit a 3 Run HR. The fan cannot believe what he has seen for far. His Hero is now officially 2-2 with 2 HR's and 4 RBI's. Could he actually get to 5 HR's in a game?

Clark's next at bat was the top of the 7th and sad to say, he grounded out. So he is still 2-3. When he was due for his next at bat on the top of the 9th the Heroes manager replaced him with his back up. He finished this night 2-3 with 2HR's, 1 walk, 1 hit by a pitch, 3 runs and 1 stolen base.

After the game was over, the fan waited for Clark to take off on the Heroes' bus. When they met, they both had huge smiles on their faces. The fan, because his hero had hit 2 nice Home Runs and because Clark, had a great game and his team won 12-10. They shook hands and as the fan was leaving Clark stated, “That I owe you 3 more Home Runs!"

I have head over the years that baseball is just a game, that is doesn't mean anything. Tonight's game wasn't a major event in the world. It was played between the 5th place Heroes and the 8th place Eagles. But it sure meant a lot to the fan that was just for a few moments able to feel a ballpark come alive with the sounds of the fans cheering on their team. He forgot about Cancer, money and death and focused on just having fun at a ballgame.

If you can remember after September 11th, the firefighters, police and rescue workers used the Mets and the Yankees as a valve just trying to regain some sanity when their world were altered by the events of that day. Baseball helped these people to feel normal. We get so busy that sometimes we forget that a simple game played with 9 men can make you feel alive. I hope that this fan beats his cancer and can return, soon to the small park in Daejeon Korea, where his favorite Korean baseball team, the Eagles, and the fan himself, call home.

FROM POPSEOUL AT THEY CONTINUE TO LIST THEIR TOP 10 ALL TIME KOREAN FILMS....

Continuing the countdown of the Top 10 Korean Movies of all time, we present the Top 5. Check out which of your favorite films have made it on the list. You may be surprised….

Without further ado….

5) The Chaser

Director:Na Hong-jin
Writer: Hong Won-chan, Lee Shinho, Na Hong-jin
Genre: Crime, thriller, drama
Release Date: February 2008

One night, a man in his car makes a routine call to one of his girls…
But she doesn’t pick up…

Jung-ho knows something is going on. As a former police detective now turned pimp, his instinctual “cop radar” has gone off. Another one of his call girls from his “pleasure business” has gone missing and the numbers continue to decrease. Nearly penniless after paying these missing girls’ debts, Jung-ho realizes something has to be done; he’s got to get his money after all. He flips open his cell phone and notices the recent disappearances originated from client number 4885’s home. Min-jee, a mother and soon to be victim, is called to work. He instructs her to call him back once she arrives at the address. But it’s getting late in the night and when Jung-ho does not get a call back, he’s convinced he knows who’s behind the kidnappings and that Min-jee’s life is in grave danger: thus begins The Chase.
The unique twist on this crime thriller is that the viewers not only see what the protagonist – Jung-ho – does, but also what the villain does as well. But where’s the fun in seeing everything? While the movie lays everything out for the audience to see, the characters do not have the same privilege. What will Jung-ho do? Will he solve what we – the audience – already know? The viewer hinges on his every decision and empathize with Jung-ho from the get go.
At first, Jung-ho believes that this client 4885 is a rival pimp, stealing his call girls from his business. Nervously waiting for Min-Jee to come out, he camps outside the suspect’s house in his car, hoping that she turned down client 4885’s offer to become his call girl. But as the audience soon finds out, Yeong-min is not in the pleasure business; he’s a pure sadistic killer and Min-jee is soon to be the next victim.

As client 4885 abducts Jung-ho’s ladies one by one, the audience learns the shocking torture that is occurring. The ladies are thrown into a spacious bathroom, bound and chained by the hands and feet, and gagged with a bandage. Then, using a hammer and chisel, client 4885 slowly tortures his female victims by chiseling their heads until enough blood spills their eventual death. Min-jee is also subject to this disgusting act, as the sides and top of her once beautiful face is ripped with bloody gashes and deep scars. As she soon passes out, it seemed that this client claimed another of Jung-ho’s girls. Will Jung-ho solve what’s going on? Can he stop this sick pervert this time?

Jung-ho, still waiting outside the gated house, now suffers the same premonition as when his other girl disappeared the other night. As he polices the local neighborhood in his car, he damages another car from the side. Calm and collected, he goes to the other car and tells the other driver he will pay for their car damages. The driver rolls down his tinted window and is revealed to be a young male. He insists that he doesn’t require reprimands and impatiently waits for the blocking traffic to clear before driving off. Yet, when Jung-ho notices blood on the driver’s shirt, he suspects something wrong and calls client 4885, but the heist is up; the driver’s phone rings. As the suspect escapes through the side door, Jung-ho runs after him and The Chase is on.

After an intense chase scene, Jung-ho catches up to him and proceeds to pummel, kick, and stomp the suspect into bloody submission. Grabbing his ID, he finally discovers the suspect’s name: Je Yeong-min. Bringing Yeong-min in the police station, he soon realizes what the audience already knows: Yeong-min is not some rival pimp stealing his ladies, but a cold blooded killer. Now he suddenly asks himself, is Min-jee still alive?

First-time director Na Hong-jin’s 2008 hit is similar to “Memories of Murder”; it’s a crime thriller based on a true story. However, unlike most films of the genre where the killer is revealed in the final showdown, Na turns the genre on its head and presents the murderer within the first 20 minutes. But what’s the point of a crime movie if the killer is already found? If only it were that simple. Jung-ho has the cards stacked against him: Yeong-min is a psychopath, the police investigators reek of corruption, and there is no evidence. If Jung-ho cannot prove in 12 hours that Yeong-min was involved in the killings, he will be set free.

Na also takes a different approach in creating his film, where the suspense, action, and evidence gathering takes a back seat to the protagonist’s own development. Make no mistake, Kim Yuk-seok’s fantastic portrayal as the lead character, Jung-ho, is the focal point of this suspense thriller. In the beginning of the film, Jung-ho is shown as a bastard. Unsympathetic, heartless, and greedy, Jung-ho shows no remorse for his call girls’ well-being. After all, he was generous enough to clear every girl’s past debt in exchange for their “services” to clients. The bottom line is profit. Being sick for days, feeling scared of creepy customers, and spending time with their kids are all needless excuses – meaningless reasons that do not pay him, put food on the table, or clear the girls’ debts.

As the movie progresses, he slowly realizes he is greatly responsible for his own reputation and own deteriorating business. When one of his girls is threatened to be raped by two clients, Jung-ho comes in and roughs them up. But he doesn’t protect the girl for her well-being; he sees it as protecting his business assets. She sees Jung-ho for what he is – a greedy money-grubber—and finally leaves his harem. Many of his former cop co-workers now look at him in disdain, as a good cop turned into a shady man. Even Min-jee, sick and tired from balancing a motherly role to her daughter and as a call girl, sees his boss as nothing but “filth”. This begs the question, how did Jung-ho become like this? Wasn’t he a servant of justice before?

As described in the first couple paragraphs above, The Chaser will suck the viewer in from the start. It is a non-stop adventure of suspense, action, problem solving, and emotion. While “Memories of Murder” laid out an incredible murder story and calmly created a slow build up for the grand ending, “The Chaser” presents many obstacles from the get-go and never lets up. Jung-ho’s transformation from being slightly better than the killer to actually caring about the lives of others and serving justice is amazing. The acting that Ha Jung-woo portrays as the psychopathic killer, Yeong-min, is dead on, giving the audience a glimpse into a serial murder’s thought process. It’s a performance that you can’t help but love to hate.

Following the recent trend of other successful Korean movies, “The Chaser” will be getting remade on U.S. shores. This is faster than usual – even for Hollywood – as the film was only released last year in 2008. Warner Bros recently bought the rights and William Monahan – who had a hand with Martin Scorsese in remaking “The Departed”, based on Hong Kong’s “Infernal Affairs” – is the potential favorite to be heading the script. Let’s hope a remake of “The Chaser” captures the spirit of Na’s original vision.

Check out the Top 10 to 6 movies
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4)Welcome to Dongmakgol

Director: Park Kwang-hyun
Writer: Kim Joong, Park Kwang-hyun
Based on: Jang Jin (play)
Genre: Drama, War, Comedy
Release Date: August 2005

(I REALLY HATED THIS BULL SHIT FILM...................)))

Check out the Top 10 to 6 movies
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3) A Tale of Two Sisters

Director:Kim Ji-woon
Writer: Kim Ji-woon
Based on: Janghwa, Hongryeon (folktale)
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Drama, Psychological
Release Date: June 2003

“There’s something strange in this house.”

“There’s a girl under the kitchen sink!”

“You know what’s really scary? You want to forget something. Totally wipe it off your mind. But you never can.”

A loud noise is heard from the 1st floor. Footsteps scatter around the house at night. Strange noises haunt this home during the dark hours. A woman stares at a channel-less TV alone at night. Not a very welcoming home, is it? But what could be causing these strange occurrences? As the audience watches further, nothing seems to make sense. The clues are difficult to decipher, the events do not connect, and the flashbacks are seemingly random.

For an avid horror aficionado, this confusing storyline has been used time and time again. Nothing says cliché quite like a long haired, female ghost with greasy hair, a creepy sound, and a “Kayako” Grudge. Sadako from “The Ring” would be rolling in her TV screen if it wasn’t for one fact: “A Tale of Two Sisters” deviates from the normal rungs of Asian horror. Say goodbye to a predictable story and cheap thrills and hello to one of the deepest, complex, intriguing horror movies in years.
But first, let’s go over what A Tale of Two Sisters has in common with the usual prerequisites to be an Asian horror film:

1) Creepy environment – Check
2) Story of revenge – Check
3) Scary scenes – Check
4) Blood – Check
5) Dark female ghost(s) with long hair – Check
6) The lead character thinks, “time to investigate” when alone – Check
7) Two girls having a period in the same day – Ummm… Check?
.8) Two females screaming at each other for half of the movie – Errr… Check.
9) A bloody hand coming from underneath a woman’s skirt – Okay, this is just now weird… Check!

The first six are universally in every Asian horror film with varying degrees of success. However, the last three – 7 through 9 – sound like they would belong more in a kinky college movie dealing with “naughty” gestures, such as the US series, “American Pie”, or the Korean collection, “Sex is Zero”. While the film shares common traits with its horror brethren – 1 through 6 – the similarities quickly end there.

Inspired by the Joseon Dynasty (1392 AD –1910 AD) folktale, “Janghwa Hongryeon” (rose flower, red lotus), “A Tale of Two Sisters” is the 6th iteration of this popular Korean story. As a modern take of the popular tale, the first scene of the film begins one afternoon in a hospital. The tale begins with a young female patient, Su-mi, as she is slowly ushered into a spacious white room by a hospital lady. Stooping down in a chair with her hair completely masking her face, a nearby doctor sits down across from her asks a series of questions. Yet, Su-mi does not say a word.

Later in the day, she and her younger sister, Su-yeon, are released from the hospital and welcomed back to their family’s lakeside house in the peaceful countryside. When the sisters step inside the Victorian-esque home, they are soon treated by their energetic stepmother, Eun-joo. Noticing the two are tightly holding hands and protective, Eun-joo attempts to “break the tension” with her friendly smile and quirky banter. Neither sister wants anything to do with this woman—the woman who recently replaced their beloved mom—and quickly move for the stairs. Eun-joo’s attempts at a friendly conversation amounts to nothing as the sisters climb the stairs with their backs turned against her. Again, Su-mi does not say a word.

As Su-mi and Su-yeon start re-familiarizing themselves in their old rooms, Su-mi notices an exact duplicate of her notepad and pen on her bedroom desk. But is that the only uncanny resemblance? Upon opening her clothing cabinet, she finds nothing but blue and green dresses.

The strange events continue to occur. Noises start emanating through the house during the first night and Su-yeon is the first recipient of this living nightmare, as she soon wakes up to someone or something slowly opening her bedroom door. Scared and frightened, she covers herself tightly with her blanket in hopes that her bedroom Boogeyman will disappear. Her blanket is slowly pulled off her inch by inch, and in terror, she quickly gets up to see… thankfully no one. Su-yeon runs quickly to her sister’s bedroom; only now does Su-mi speak. “There’s something in my room,” Su-yeon stutters nervously. “Everything is going to be okay,” Su-mi responds. The scares within the house have just started.

If the viewer does not watch the movie closely, they will not get the story. If the viewers enjoy a complex mystery, then the confusion becomes a facilitator for the story’s art. Unlike many other horror movies, “A Tale of Two Sisters” has no shame in taking its sweet time setting up its multi-layered story. The pacing is slow and the first 20 minutes are an unbearable wait for the rhythm to pick up. Yet, this tempts the viewer to become lazy. One may assume since the pacing is quite slow, they can take a jog, play chess, or hit on their hot neighbor. However, this is a disservice to the viewer, as the film is filled with incredible amounts of symbolism in the form of clues, dialogue, expressions, and flashbacks. As with 3-Iron, depending on one’s ears alone is not enough; both the human eyes and ears are needed. Missing one image will throw off the viewer’s understanding of the movie.

“A Tale of Two Sisters” differs from other Asian horror in how it presents the concept of horror itself. Whereas the vast majority of films in the horror genre depend heavily on a combination of: cheap scares, excessive gore, screaming, long haired ghosts, and unnecessary deaths, the movie relies on an application of a beautiful and familiar environment to create an unsettling feeling. Throughout the movie, the Victorian house slowly becomes scarier. Harrowing music and complete silence are used in juxtaposition with great effect to add to the fear. Sprinkled with a few shock scares, the viewer is always on edge, uneasy when the next scary scene is going to occur.

The acting deserves special mention in this film, since it blends in the movie’s psychological, creepy horror theme perfectly. Director Kim Ji-woon could not have asked for more talented actors: newcomer Lim Su-jeong as the older sister Su-Mi and Yeom Jung-ah as the wicked stepmom play the perfect foil to one another. During every meal, hallway conversation, and late night encounters, the viewer will see the constant tension, anger, and disgust for the other. Breaking expensive porcelain as Eun-joo pours tea, leaving the table early, and hurling insults at her father’s new wife, Lim Su-jeong channels an incredible aura of vindictiveness during the movie. Jung-ah, on the other hand, plays a very convincing evil stepmom in Eun-joo, as she makes Su-Mi’s life a living hell while under the same roof. Beginning by throwing barbs back at Su-Mi, she later goes on the offensive, physically asserting herself on the sisters behind their father’s back. Although in real life the actresses are best friends, you wouldn’t know it by watching this film.

The other two support characters also do a great job in playing their roles. A very young Moon Geun-young, the media dubbed “nation’s younger sister,” plays the painfully shy and innocent Su-yeon. Avoiding confrontation and always deferring to her older sister, Moon Geun-young plays the perfect complement to the more outspoken Su-jeong. Acting veteran Kim Kap-su rounds out the cast as the quiet, patient, and tempered father to the two daughters. His presence as both the concerned father and mediator between his eldest brash daughter and his new wife balances out the constant animosity within the home.

The surprise twists and thought-provoking ending, however, is what sets “A Tale of Two Sisters” apart from the vast majority of horror movies. Fans of the movie all have their unique impressions of the film’s key plot points and judging from which information Kim holds back in the end, many people’s takes are very believable. Kim provides just enough clues for the viewer to understand the story, yet still have many questions at the same time. A quick view on various Korean movie sites’ forums shows that A Tale of Two Sisters is one of the most discussed movies, in part due to its complex ending. The “re-playability” of the film is simply endless; there’s no shame in watching it again.

“A Tale of Two Sisters” is an incredible psychological thrill ride for horror virtuosos or even non-horror fans. With a talented cast, a gorgeous setting, well-orchestrated music, well-timed scares, and an engaging story, this movie stands as one of the best horror movies ever created. Both the Korean and foreign press agrees, as the movie currently stands upon 12 awards and 3 nominations in various film festivals and reviews. Actresses Lim Su-jeong and Yeom Jung-ah took home a number of acting awards and director Kim Ji-woon collected 6 awards himself.
An American remake by DreamWorks recently came out on January 2009 called, “The Uninvited” – no relation to the Korean movie with the same name. While the US version pays homage to the Korean film, movie watchers owe it to themselves to experience the original.

Check out the Top 10 to 6 movies
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2) My Sassy Girl

Director: Kwak Jae-young
Writer: Kwak Jae-young
Based on: Kim Ho-sik (a novel)
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Release Date: July 2001

(A group of nine female starlets approach the concert stage. Two of them take the lead.)

Tiffany: “Uh huh! Listen boy.”
“My first love story”
Jessica: “My angel and my girls.”
“My sunshine. Uh! Uh! Let’s go!”
— The opening to the 2009 song “Gee”
Girls Generation (SNSD)

The ever catchy, popular, and overplayed “Gee” tells about a girl who experiences her first crush, her first love. For many movie fans, “My Sassy Girl” is their first foray into Korean cinema, their first “movie love.” From seeing the studly, dorky Cha Tae-hyun to the beautiful, border-line abusive Jeon Ji-hyun, many of us knew their on screen romance was something special. Having a cute story to complement these two was just perfect. The entirety of South Korea had fallen in love.
Putting this movie down in sweet words is as difficult as confessing your love for the first time, but – as the movie’s theme sings – I Believe that even if one stumbles across their words, the first time is the moment you always come back to. It’s a time of nostalgia, and it’s always in the back of your mind. That’s essentially “My Sassy Girl,” a movie based on Kim Ho-sik’s real life adventures. Go out anywhere in South Korea—in fact, in most of Asia—and ask what’s the number one romance comedy, and you will most certainly get Kwak Jae-young’s movie.

For the My Sassy virgins, this is a story about the loveable pushover, Gyun-woo, and his fateful encounter that would change his life forever. Escaping his aunt’s most recent attempt to hook him up with a blind date, he goes to the subway station to head home. Unexpectedly, he meets an intoxicated and beautiful girl who is stooped over the yellow borderline and is about to fall onto the tracks. The train whistles, and before the wind of the locomotive passes by, Gyun-woo catches her before she falls. He enters the same train as the drunken girl all the while making sure to keep his distance.

The word, “honey,” is something every guy would like to hear, especially from a beautiful woman, but when these words come from a girl who just hurled her dinner at an elder, the words lose their appeal. As if that’s not enough of an indicator, just before she faints, she points towards Gyun-woo. Now Gyun-woo is forced to carry much more than just a girl on his back; he is forced to carry a problem. Not knowing what to do with this stranger, he moans, “How did I get into all of this?” Thus marks the beginning of “My Sassy Girl”.

What makes “My Sassy Girl” different from many other romantic dramas/comedies is director Kwak Jae-young’s well-spaced melodrama. He does not force the viewer’s emotion—to cry to his every whim—or overuse sarang he (“I love you”) every five minutes to the point where it loses its meaning. Kwak knows better. While any movie in the genre is expected to have its share of crying, sad moments, and love, he makes sure these themes have meaning. As the main leads become more rounded and deep, the movie becomes more liberal with its serious tones. Since the viewer becomes more attached to the actors, they start caring for them – feeling their pain, excitement, happiness, and loss.
If this film teaches you one new word, it’s “sassy.” The Asian stereotype for women is a reserved, demure, and loving individual. Get ready for a sassy ride, as Gyun-woo goes through the craziest relationship with this nameless girl (yes, she has no name). From the get-go, the viewer will empathize with Gyun-woo; when ordering anything other than coffee gets a “Do you wanna die?”, playing fun games gets Gyun-woo bitch-slapped, and refusing to read horrible movie scripts is returned with a petrifying stare, even the most apathetic of viewers will be moved.

“My Sassy Girl” has plenty of depth, going beyond a one-dimensional story of cute love. For a romantic comedy, “My Sassy Girl” has plenty of depth, an uncharacteristic quality of the genre. The vast majority follows the typical “guy likes girl” formula, where the only focus is “how do the main leads hook up?” This movie, however, goes much deeper than that, presenting sub themes such as: living in the moment, living in the future, contemplating the meaning of love, and, of course, dealing with love’s pain. Blending all these sub themes in this genre well is no easy feat; without a balance, the film goes off too many tangents and loses its identity – such as Kwak’s 2004 follow up, “Windstruck”.

The biggest draw to seeing this film has to be the amazing performances by its leading stars. Jeon Ji-jyun easily steals the show for her role as the girl and single-handedly redefines the meaning of sassy. From her facial expressions: quirky smiles, angry lipped growls, annoyed frowns, and sweet blushes, to bullying her co-star, she plays the unnamed heroine perfectly. Throughout the movie, the audience will see her growth from the drunkard subway female to the aggressive, vicious girl he dates to the Juliet of Korea. Her evolution from drunkard to Shakespearean status comes in the latter half of the movie, where both main characters start to see one another at their worst and their best. Cha Tae-hyun, playing Jeon’s opposite as the comedic Gyun-woo, displays an incredible acting job as the male lead. His counter expressions, when confronted with the girl’s bipolar-induced mood swings, are justified and understandable. Any guy would react that way. But not every guy would stick with the girl. Gyun-woo develops alongside the girl, and although he initially just goes with her antics and adventures, he finds himself slowly wanting to heal her sorrow.
Love or hate it, the 2001 success of “My Sassy Girl” revitalized the romantic comedy genre in Korea. Before its breakout performance in theaters, the genre was largely ignored, as producers would release serious melodramas instead. This film showed skeptics that a love story could be a mixture of lightheartedness, funny, and serious at the same time. Like the infectious Girls Generation“Gee” song that spread like wildfire earlier this year – where singing about the 7th letter in the English alphabet could be so addicting – this movie also spread like an epidemic around Asia. Other Asian countries, intrigued by the sassy concept, also produced their own versions: the 2008 Japanese TV drama” Ryokiteki no Kanojo” and the 2008 Indian movie “Ugly Aur Pagli”. While countless Korean romantic comedies were churned out after 2001 – such as the 2003 “My Tutor Friend” or 2004 “My Little Bride” – few are able to capture the magic that “My Sassy Girl” did.

As with many movies on this list, a “My Sassy Girl” American remake came out last year in 2008. While the movie tries to replicate the sassy feel, unfortunately, the movie is missing the atmosphere and setting; after all, they are different cultures. The chemistry between the US actors Elisha Cuthbert and Jesse Bradford is not the same. Again, watch the original.

It has been 8 long years since this movie came out. As mentioned earlier, for many fans, this film is their “first love.” My Sassy Girl has it all: a charming love story, incredible acting, multi-layered themes, and memorable soundtrack. What a great “first love” indeed. While these fans still consider this Korean classic as their favorite, the POPSEOUL list, like former lovers, has moved on; this film stands as #2 on our list.

Check out the Top 10 to 6 movies
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1) Tae Guk Gi

Director: Kang Je-kyu
Writer: Kang Je-kyu
Genre: War, Drama, Action, Historical
Release Date: February 2004

Quotes from famous people during the Korean War (1950 –1953).

“The most important thing in our war preparations is to teach all our people to hate U.S. imperialism.”
— Kim Il-sung
North Korean leader

“We will defeat the Reds, the Communists!”
— Syngman Rhee
South Korean leader

“Never before has this nation been engaged in mortal combat with a hostile power without military objective, without policy other than restrictions governing operations, or indeed without even formally recognizing a state of war.”
—Douglas MacArthur
Supreme Allied Commander of the Pacific

“[Korea is] the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy.”
— Omar Bradley
General of the Army, United States

“If we allow the United States to occupy all of Korea, Korean revolutionary power will suffer a fundamental defeat, and the American invaders will run more rampant, and have negative effects for the entire Far East.”
— Mao Zedong
Chairman of the People’s Republic of China

Near the 38th parallel dividing the two Koreas, a big movement towards the south is occurring. Soldiers are heard marching step-by-step, with their rifles swaying and grenades attached to their belts. Rumbling engines echo loudly nearby, as armored tanks slowly drive through narrow roads. Supply trucks are heard going over bumpy tread marks. Grunts and signs of fatigue are heard from mortar teams pushing heavy artillery guns over steep hills. Fighters and bombers are heard from above, flying at incredible speeds in formation. North Korean propaganda is heard from loudspeakers, proclaiming that Communism will prevail over Capitalism. As onlookers see this advancing army approaching from the north, calamity is thrown out the window and panic ensues; the entirety of South Korea is in chaos. Dressed in light brown and red uniforms, the invading army conquers, pillages, and destroys any towns in its wake. Their target: all of Korea – the reunification of the Korean peninsula. The date: June 25th, 1950 – the Korean War has just started.
Fast forward to modern times in 2004; archaeologists are excavating the remains of fallen soldiers in preparation for a Korean memorial. An elderly man receives a phone call from the South Korean army. They claim one body found is Lee Jin-seok, but upon confirming that he is alive, the aged man suspects the body is actually his brother’s. He travels to China in hopes of finding his brother’s remains—no luck—and heads to the excavation site; there, he opens a shoebox containing vanilla colored shoes. As a flood of memories start coming back, tears swell up in his eyes. Fifty-four years ago may sound like an eternity for many, but for the survivors of war, they can relive the struggles like it happened yesterday. The pain, repressed memories, war wounds, bitterness, and brutal experiences are things any former soldier wants to forget. This begs the questions: how did the other brother die? What happened to Lee Jin-seok during the war? The movie shifts back to 1950 and the story of “Taegukgi” begins.

Director Kang Je-kyu’s film follows two brothers – Lee Jin-tae and Lee Jin-seok – and their family during the Korean War. Living in Seoul, life was peaceful for the Lee family following World War II. The older brother, Jin-tae works as a shoeshine boy during the day, foregoing his higher education to support his younger brother’s. Since his father passed away, he has taken the mantle as male figurehead in the family household. His fiancée, Young-shin, helps out at the family noodle shop in the afternoon with his mother. Jin-seok, the younger brother, dutifully studies and excels in academics in hopes of getting into a good university. Yong-seok, the brother’s childhood friend, spends time with the two on the streets of Seoul. With a loving family, food on the table, and clean clothes, the Lee family lived carefree in the newly established South Korea, looking towards a promising future. However, their peaceful world is shattered when the North invades. While the Lee family travels further south to escape the ensuing battles, the South Korean army drafts males between the ages of 18 to 30 in preparation for the South Korean war machine. Both brothers are thus drafted and must survive this hell together.

Shortly after, Jin-tae and Jin-seok find themselves in the muddy trenches with other scared and new recruits. Mortar fire and pounding artillery pepper the recruits’ first battlefield and Jin-seok immediately becomes shell-shocked, unaccustomed to the horrors of real combat. Worrying that his younger brother might not survive another battle, Jin-tae knew he had to do something fast; he had to save his family.

Jin-tae knows that their family’s future lays in Jin-seok and his promising future. If one of them can return home, it has to be his younger brother. Knowing this, he attempts to persuade his commanding officer to discharge his brother from the war. However, it comes with a condition: his superior tells him he has to get an Order of Military Merit medal, South Korea’s highest military honor. Agreeing to this secret deal, he starts volunteering for near suicidal missions, ranging from placing land mines during enemy fire to leading reckless assaults. Jin-seok starts wondering why his older brother is doing this. However, despite Jin-tae’s heroic and insane deeds, the South Korean army is in a terrible bind; they are surrounded and nearly annihilated.

Their regiment has little sleep, food, ammunition, and morale; the soldiers are beginning to go crazy. The sounds of suicide, amputated body parts, and screaming become the lullaby of their camp. Contemplating a last stand, many soldiers write their wills, ready for their inevitable fate. Jin-tae, however, has other plans; he suggests going on the offensive. After all, to him, the more suicidal the odds are, the better. Taking the North Koreans by complete surprise, the South Korean regiment makes rapid headway. Leading a one man charge, Jin-tae begins to braves the danger and lucks through. Eventually, his efforts pay off: he conquers the enemy headquarters on a mountain. As the North Koreans start a full retreat, he returns to see cheers and celebrations; it was the squad’s first victory.

However, as victory after glorious victory continued to pile up, Jin-tae becomes infatuated with the proposition. No longer is it about his brother’s safety; it’s about fame. He receives all the adulteration: promotions, mass cheering, awards, and even an appearance at the United Nations press conference. He sees the world in two shades: Communism and Capitalism. As a result, he becomes desensitized to murder—he becomes the perfect soldier. After another battle, he sees a childhood friend forced to fight for the North …yet, he has no compassion for his life; he sees nothing but an enemy. Soon, he barely recognizes his own younger brother, the very same he promised to protect. As Jin-seok begins to resent his older brother and his motives, their brotherhood starts to fall apart. Can they reconcile their differences? Will they ever see their family again? Does Jin-tae even see a different between Capitalism and Communism?

“Taegukgi” shows that war is hell. Like the critically acclaimed American war movie, “Saving Private Ryan”, this film does not hold back the brutal reality – arms are separated, legs are blown off — blood is used in great amounts. The battle scenes are intense: machines guns, tanks, airplanes, and artillery are all shown; bodies, shattered homes, and dreams ornament this battlefield. There is no peace in hell—no haven even in one’s house. War doesn’t discriminate and battles can be fought anywhere. War crimes, needless to say, were rampant by both sides during the war. Vicious propaganda was used to portray the other side as “evil”, framing the enemy with lies and atrocities. Surrendering to the enemy was frowned upon and even doing so did not guarantee survival. Prisoners weighed down advancing armies, so rather than keep them, commanders ordered captured prisoners to be shot. For every handful that benefits from war, there are millions more that are devastated by it.

With the success of his 1999 movie, “Shiri”, director Kang Je-kyu had the leeway to go for some big name actors for Taegukgi. Kang decided to go for some of the best, enlisting skilled actor Jang Dong-gun as Jin-tae and pretty boy Won Bin as Jin-seok. Jang plays a brilliant Jin-tae that evolves (or devolves) from a protective brother that places family first to a ruthless murderer. From his facial expressions to his dialogue, the audience will see how the rigors of war can change a person. Although slow, his transformation is believable because of his atrocities. His decision to weigh awards over his brother’s safety is, in itself, a result of his transformation. Won’s performance as the younger Jin-seok, however, steals the show. Since his role required the most radical change, his part was incredibly challenging. However, Won does not disappoint at all. This role required a transformation from passive intellectual to rookie soldier to a strong, determined man that opposes his brother’s motives. The audience will empathize with Won’s character and grown alongside with him throughout the war.

Korean beauty, Lee Eun-joo, played the fiancée of Jin-tae admirably in the few scenes she is in. Unfortunately, this was one of her last films she acted in, as she took her life on February 2005. If there is a knock in the film’s cast, it has to be the supporting characters. While the film focuses on the two main leads’ struggles, the supporting cast, compared to war movies like “Welcome to Dongmakgol”, pales in comparison. The movie, sadly, does not spend the time to develop their characters and most of them play extremely minor parts in the brothers’ journey. Although, not to take away from what they did, these characters still played their parts quite well, considering the time.

“Taegukgi” elicits poignant memories for South Koreans. The film name itself – “Taegukgi” – is symbolic; it represents the South Korean national flag. Like the American Civil War or the schism of Western and Eastern Germany after World War II, this film presents the viewer a greater understanding on the turmoil post division. When heartthrob Won Bin was asked to do a movie about the Korean War, he did not hesitate. “How could you not want to act in a movie about the Korean War … I would be honored,” Bin said. Thousands of extras also heeded the call in recreating this bloody conflict; many did their roles for little or no money. The North-South division still hurts to this day for Koreans and this movie provides a glimpse to seeing that very pain.

This film is one not to be missed by movie fans. While one may dismiss the movie as the Korean “Saving Private Ryan” – other than some inspired scenes from the American classic – they are both vastly different story wise. With slick battle cinematography, incredible scripting, deep main leads, a non-biased look at war, and a tale of brotherhood, the film’s scope is breathtaking. Crying “man-tears” during or at the end is acceptable, because the movie’s final message is powerful: family blood runs deeper than any sort of ideology or government. And for that, “Taegukgi” deserves the top slot.

If you have missed it, check out the Top 10 to 6 movies that have made an impact on Korean cinema.

Lou Gehrig in 140 Characters? Impossible to Imagine

By David Whitley

Lou Gehrig did not Twitter.

Never mind that such social networking wasn't around 70 years ago. Typing minutiae and thinking it's important simply wasn't Gehrig's style.

He was unassuming, lived with his parents until he was 30 and didn't crave his own reality TV show. Let's hope players are paying attention Saturday when baseball does something unusual.

A speech will be read during the 7th-inning stretch at every ballpark. Nobody knows if the words are accurate, only that they are unforgettable.

"Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth."

You've probably heard them a million times. But on the 70th anniversary of Gehrig's farewell, we need to be reminded how unique the speech and the speaker were.

"The person and the words and the moment have to come together," Stephen Lucas said.

Lucas is a professor of communication arts at the University of Wisconsin. People like him study speeches as scholars, not sports fans. In 1999, Lucas and a colleague surveyed 137 experts and came up with the top 100 American speeches of 20th Century.

Number one was Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream, followed by John Kennedy's inaugural address. The list includes orators like William Jennings Bryan, Ronald Reagan and Jesse Jackson. The most unlikely name to make it came in at No. 73.

Henry Louis (Lou) Gehrig. Farewell to Baseball Address.

"It's an iconic moment in American life, not just sports," Lucas said. "It transcended sports."

That's not easy to do. Sports have produced memorable lines like "Win one for the Gipper," and "No Mas," but no other sports-related speeches sniffed the top 100. Given the state of sports oratory, it's doubtful the 21st Century will be any better.



"If u want to chat with me be sure to register once you to the ShaqCast We gonna have some fun baby!!!"

So went a recent Twitter communiqué from Shaquille O'Neal. Not to pick on Shaq; he is merely the product of our hyperactive communication age. It is fueled by electronic gadgets and excess ego, neither of which Gehrig had much use for.

For my money, his speech should be in the century's top 10, or at least ahead of Margaret Higgins Sanger's The Morality of Birth Control at No. 46. I mean, how many games in a row did she play?

The Iron Horse did not have a ghostwriter. His speech was not bounced off focus groups beforehand. Gehrig simply jotted down some thoughts the night before, then reluctantly tried to remember them in front of 61,808 fans at Yankee Stadium.

The setting is important for any great speech. Think King at the Lincoln Memorial or Kennedy at the Berlin Wall. Yankee Stadium was already a sports shrine in 1939 and baseball players were Gods.

It helps to speak at a decisive moment. Think Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor address to the nation or Reagan after the Challenger disaster. When Gehrig spoke, few knew how ill he was, but most sensed they might never see him again.

The most emotional place and time will not matter, however, if the speech lacks one thing.

"Content," Lucas said. "The most important thing in any great speech is content."

That's another thing that makes Gehrig's speech unique. The world will never know for sure what was said that day.

Newsreel footage only caught the beginning and the end. Newspaper accounts differed since reporters jotted slightly different versions.

The confusion was compounded in 1942, when Gary Cooper played Gehrig in Pride of the Yankees. The immortal "luckiest man" sentence was moved from the beginning of the speech to the end.

Lucas played detective and put the original snippets together. There's still some question whether Gehrig thanked Yankees general manager Ed Barrow. And it's forever odd that he would thank his mother-in-law for often backing him up when he argued with his wife.

Truth be told, the middle of the speech is just a short recitation of thank-yous. It's the start and finish that people remember.

"There's a nobility to it we don't find much any more," Lucas said.

To which some modern-day jock would react, "What u talking bout???"

Gehrig never had much to say, especially about himself. He just showed up at work every day for 14 years and went about his business.

"I'm not a headline guy," he once said. "I'm just a guy who's in there every day. The fellow that follows Babe [Ruth] in the batting order. When Babe's turn at-bat is over the fans are still talking about him when I come up. If I stood on my head at the plate, nobody would pay attention."

If only Shaq had felt so magnanimous toward Kobe Bryant, or vice versa, the Lakers might have won three or four more titles. Gehrig and Ruth had their differences, but they never let them interfere with their jobs.

Nothing interfered with Gehrig after he replaced Wally Pipp at first base in 1925. He won two MVPs, a triple crown and six World Series. But toward the end of the 1938 season his bat lost its pop.

Gehrig showed up the next spring and his skills seem to have eroded 10 years. He had only four hits in his first 28 at-bats. After muffing some grounders in batting practice before a game in Detroit, he threw down his glove in disgust.

The next day he informed manager Joe McCarthy that he should not play. For the first time in 2,130 games, "Gehrig" did not appear on the lineup card. He was not about to drag down the team while hoping to get a few hits.

He stayed with the team but felt more worn out every day. After two months he went to the Mayo Clinic. On June 19, Gehrig's 36th birthday, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ...

At the time, the disease didn't bear his name.

Not many people knew what it was. News reports said only that he was retiring due to some sort of paralysis. The Yankees decided to have a Lou Gehrig Day.

July 4th seemed ideal. Between games of a doubleheader against Washington, members of the 1927 Yankees circled the field behind a band. Everyone then gathered at home plate, where a bank of microphones had been set up.

Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia spoke. Ruth threw his arms around Gehrig. Teammates presented Gehrig a silver bat trophy. The hated Giants even sent a plaque. Gehrig was so overwhelmed that emcee Sid Mercer decided not to follow the event's script.

"I shall not ask Lou Gehrig to make a speech," he said. "I do not believe that I should."

Fans yelled "Lou, Lou, Lou," but their hero couldn't respond. McCarthy whispered something to Gehrig, who reluctantly ambled toward the microphones.

If you didn't know better, you'd have thought Gehrig was playing the crowd. Gary Cooper himself could not have squeezed more drama out of the moment.

Gehrig looked at the ground. He pinched his brow. He stuck his hands in his back pockets, opened his mouth and hoped the words would come.

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got."

Gehrig was so nervous that "break" sounded like "brag." Nobody seemed to notice.

"Yet today I consider myself ... "

You know the rest.

A dying man talked about all he had to live for. The 277 words were such a blur that Gehrig later asked reporters if he'd rambled too long.

"I'd have rather struck out in the ninth with the score tied, two down and the bases loaded, than walk out there before all those grand people," he said. "It's the only time I've been frightened on a ball field."

Talk about coming through in the clutch. From FDR to Kennedy to King to Reagan, that's what makes a great speech. The difference is none of them ever gave a speech knowing it would be their last.

Henry Louis Gehrig died on June 2, 1941.

He probably never suspected his words would live forever.

FROM THE MARMOT'S HOLE AND I CAN NOT FRACKING BELIEVE THIS STORY. SO IF A FOREIGNER DOES IT, ITS WRONG AND ILLEGAL? BUT IF A 40+ YEAR OLD KOREAN MAN DOES IT, THEN IT OK AND ALL RIGHT? SERIOUSLY, WTF? 13 YEARS OLD, THAT IS 12 US AGE.

However, just so you know, according to the Busan district court it is not illegal to pick up 16 year old homeless girls:

A local high court found a 46-year-old man not guilty of having sex with a runaway teenage girl, saying their liaison was neither forced nor in exchange for money.

…Kim bought food for the 16-year-old girl, who was wandering near Seoul Station, and allowed her to stay at his home in December 2006.

…The court also found Kim not guilty of violating the laws governing the protection of adolescents, saying, “They had sex, but she did not demand money and he did not give her money. He provided her with shelter, food and about 20,000 won pocket money, but there is no evidence that the offering was in exchange for sex.’

The article goes on to point out the age of consent in Korea is 13, as long as there is no coercion or money changing hands.

Are you fracking kidding me?

Expect some kind of story, with accompanying video, about a “ring” of foreigners involved in drugs and gambling, from tonight on the national news.

From a tip to Korean Media Watch, a group of Americans/Canadians were having a poker game that was raided. Apparently, someone called in a tip. There were 8 members at the raid, one of whom was female but was not asked to come down to the station to pose for the cameras today. 6 others NOT present at the poker game but had been players before were “asked to come down and make a statement” at which time they were told to take urine drug tests. The original 8 had already done so. Apparently, two of the original 8 tested positive, although no drugs were apparently found. This morning at the station, it was a press field day, with cameras called in and set up around a makeshift poker table IN the station. They were even asked by the Korean press to re-enact the game around the table for the cameras, which they refused to do. They also refused to grant any interviews.


One reporter, who seemed a bit disappointed or confused about what was actually going down, informed a member of the group that they had been called by the police, who had claimed to have busted a “drugs and gambling ring.” This is apparently how the police want things to go appear, as this is the context under which the press was called. A few things seem obvious — that the police are primed to turn anything involving foreigners into a “big story” and are directly involved in calling the media down to the station, as well as spinning the story. No matter what particular trouble any members of the group might be in, it is certainly a stretch to call a poker game a drug and gambling “ring,” or to link this story to other “foreigners acting wild” yellow journalism already out there. Considering the pattern of media vilification of foreigners, expect lurid closeup shots of a poker table (provided by the police), exaggerated unnecessary implications about other crime “rings” being conducted by foreigners, and most importantly, linkage of this story to other bad journalism already out there.

We will do our best to get their side of the story out there, at least, and to keep things in context. However, it must be expected that the media will follow the general pattern: wildly exaggerate the facts for the story, generalize that story to the greater population, and pose this generalized population as a “threat” to the Korean public, especially to children.

In the beginning and end, all from a poker game. No drugs on the premises or the persons in question, no reasonable evidence for a gambling “ring.” But that’s how the police are spinning it.

One suggestion from this writer and others: watch your Facebook accounts and updates. There is a lot of suspicion that certain interested parties are now watching Facebook, for various reasons related to the specifics of how this and related stories went down, and that calls are being made, tips being given, from watching Facebook, one suspects status updates and event announcements. From the appearance of this story, it seemed like an easy setup and tip-off, with the police ready and prepared to spin a finished story, poker table included.

This pattern of foreigner vilification has institutional momentum, from an over-eager police force ready to make a poker game into a criminal drug and gambling “ring,” to a media equally ready to run any lurid story involving foreigners, whether illegal acts are involved or not. With a police force working hand-in-hand with the media for “the next big scandal,” the results should not be surprising.


AND THEY WONDER, WAY, AS A FORMER MILITARY POLICEMAN, I HAVE ZERO RESPECT FOR THE KOREAN NATIONAL POLICE...

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer and businessman. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he made his debut on the professional music scene in 1968 as a member of The Jackson 5. He then began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group and was referred to as the "King of Pop" in subsequent years. Jackson's 1982 album Thriller remains the world's best-selling album of all time, and four of his other solo studio albums are among the world's best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995).

Wel I knew who MJ was as a child when AFN radio in Germany would play his songs. I even saw him a few times on German TV, so when "Thriller"came out in 1982, I could not believe that this same kid that I saw and heard on the tv and radio years earlier was making muisc like these 2 videos.







I can remember trying to say cool and say that I hated these 2 songs, but man seeing these on MTV was just awesome.

I can still remember the first time I saw the video for "Thriller". I still think its a huge rip-off of





Alice Cooper's "Welcome to my Nightmare" But I still like the song.


It's the later Michael that I grew to hate and feel sorry for. After Thriller, he just turned weird and every crazy story seemed true. I hope that in death, he finds the peace that he could not find here on Earth.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES MJ... R.I.P

Farrah Fawcett (February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the TV series Charlie's Angels in 1976. Fawcett later appeared off-Broadway to the approval of critics and in highly rated television movies in roles often challenging (The Burning Bed, Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story, Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, Margaret Bourke-White) and sometimes unsympathetic (Small Sacrifices). Fawcett was also a pop culture figure whose hairstyle was emulated by millions of young women and whose poster sales broke records, making her an international sex symbol in the 1970s and 1980s. While her impact was particularly strong on the teens of the 1970s, her appeal spreads over multiple generations.

I was 10 years old when this poster came out and my parents refused to let me get the photo, but I had some friends who parents let them have the poster. I stared at this poster a lot of hours. This is when I started to notice girls. Lets just say my first attempt at a girlfriend went horribly wrong (I am so sorry, Tanyna Hughes, if you ever read this blog.) I was a stoopid idiot.

I always followed her career and was sorry that she died of cancer.

Thank you Farrah for all of the nights as a child I would dream of that poster.

From the POPSEOUL website, this is their version of the top 10 all time KOREAN FILMS They have listed 6-10 on this review and next week they will add 1-5.

I have seen 10,9,7,6. Oldboy is my favorite of these listed. Also JSA, Silmido, and Memories of Murder are awesome films.

Remember the first time you saw My Sassy Girl? Jun Ji-hyun was love at first sight, or for the ladies, Cha Tae-hyun was the studly oppa of 2001. You knew you had to marry them. But they found each other and left you crying to Sad Movie, which hurt even more because Cha Tae-hyun cheated on you again. After all those years, you’re still thinking about your first love. My Sassy Girl is your ex-lover; 2001 is 8 years ago, and that’s a lot of time in movie years. But can you ever get over that movie, that first crush you ever had?
When choosing the top ten Korean movies, there was a lot of sifting through much of the clichéd melodramas. From the excessive amounts of “cheese” that could go on a dozen pizzas, the overly excessive crying that can fill the Han River, and incoherent plots that would actually make “My Father” a good movie, it was only a matter of time before we found the gems of Korean cinema. And there were great gems found indeed. For a film to make the best ten Korean movies, it has to have the following: solid acting, an epic story, a noticeable impact on Korean cinema, and most importantly, an underlying message or meaning upon society. So without further ado, POPSEOUL! would like to present the top 10:

#10) Silmido

Director: Kang Woo-Suk
Writer: Kim Hie-Jae
Genre: Drama, Action, True story
Release Date: December 2003

In the early morning of 1968, 31 young men are forced to run a five mile course with 50 lbs. of military gear and boots in the sweltering heat. After an exhausting trek of tireless running, these young soldiers crawl through muddy waters, navigate themselves to avoid barbed wire, and duck unrelenting machine gun fire during the afternoon. At night, they endure endless pain with heated stakes inserted into the shirtless men’s backs, leaving scarring burn marks on their bodies. Finally, filled with sweat, mud, and grime, they drag themselves to bed late at night to gather a couple hours of sleep in preparation to do the same hellish routine tomorrow. If this sounds like joining an elite Special Forces brigade, you would be correct. Welcome to Silmido soldier!

Silmido is based on a true story of events happening from 1968 to 1971, although the details surrounding the event did not go public until 1999. When a group of North Korean commandos infiltrate the South to assassinate then Korean president Park Jung-Hee, the South Korean and US military barely intercept the would-be assassins before their mission is completed. As the North-South tensions reach their breaking point, the South decides to secretly train its own Special Forces codenamed Unit 684, to exact revenge and kill North Korea’s premier, Kim-Il Sung. Thus the story of Silmido Island and Unit 684 begins.

Silmido Island is 3.5 miles southwest of Inchon, and was used for the sole purpose of creating a squad of lethal killers. To make up this squad, a handful of death row criminals were given two choices: to be executed for their crimes or to join the Special Forces. As only a very few important government officials and military commanders knew of this new unit, they were to secretly train the group for two years until given the “green light” to go ahead and assassinate North Korea’s primer. During these two years of non-stop rigorous training, this handful of former misfits have became some of the strongest soldiers, deadliest snipers, sneakiest saboteurs, and most fanatical men ever trained. Yet when peace agreements started to look more likely in the days before Unit 684’s fateful mission, the South Korean leaders felt the unit was detrimental to a safe Korean peninsula. So what happened to these young men?

The film is built more around the surrounding drama, friendship, and struggles Unit 684 endure together, rather than going deep into the individual characters. This direction makes sense because understanding all 31 characters would not only take too long, but would also dilute the overall story. The corrupt politics between the various South Korean politicians, the rising tension between the two countries, and the officers’ decisions in training the assassin unit also add to the movie’s backdrop quite well. As everything in the movie builds up to the big finale, it is an incredible thriller and suspenseful ride, as the viewer will appreciate and understand Unit 684’s story even more.

One would imagine that a movie based on a true story would bring some controversy over true facts vs. fiction simply added for movie entertainment. Yet, according to various Korean reviewers and notes, the film portrays a fairly accurate assessment of what occurred during the Silmido incident without going overboard. But as with most movies dealing with war or real events, Silmido shouldn’t be watched as the next great historical discovery, but rather, as an untold story about a ragged group of 31 men and their impact on Korean history.

#9) Memories of Murder

Director: Bong Joon-Ho
Writer: Bong Joon-Ho, Kim Kwang-Rim,
Shim Sung Bo
Genre: Thriller, Crime, True Story documentation
Release Date: May 2003

A young woman met an unfortunate fate; she is found bloodied, strangled, raped, and thrown into a countryside ditch. Days later, around the same rural area, another woman’s corpse is discovered with similar brutal torture as the first. But who would do these murders? How did the killer pull off the murders? And most importantly, why would the murderer do such a thing? These are the questions that confronted the Gyonggi police force in 1986, as South Korea was confronted with its first serial killer that lasted until 1991.

Memories of Murder skirts a fine line in retelling a sensitive subject, as the killings bring up painful memories and utter disbelief to the Korean public nearly twenty years ago. The balance between entertainment and sympathy has to be taken into consideration. Fortunately, the movie does a fine job in taking another angle on the brutal tale. While many crime thrillers would go into the killer or the murders, the movie shows how the good guys — the “justice” — are just as corrupt, unruly, and desperate to catch the killer to restore peace. In one scene, blind accusations are taken to the extreme as one suspect gets “interrogated” with fists and kicks. And for this, director Bong Joon-ho deserves praise for presenting the truth instead of taking old wounds and covering them up with new bandages.

Even if one is already familiar with the murder tale, the incentive to see this film lays in its consistent story flow and the male acting leads. Song Kang-ho takes the first lead as the blue-collar Park Du-man, an arrest-first-and-ask-later detective that doesn’t believe in evidence or logical arguments. Kim Sang-kyung, on the other hand, plays the more calm and sane polar opposite, detective . Together, they display a great acting job, showing the constant tension from their philosophical differences, the emotional toll suffered after each passing day, and the frustration of not having the necessary resources from their own police department.

Memories of Murder is one of the many movies that is largely unknown to non-Korean viewers, yet is definitely recommended to those that loves mystery, crime thrillers, or wants a modern perspective on the infamous murder case.

#8) 3-Iron

Director: Kim Ki-Duk
Writer: Kim Ki-Duk
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Romance, Crime
Release Date: October 2004

When 95% of the main character is through his actions and not words, one can’t help but remember the old saying, “Action speak louder than words… much louder.” So what can one say about 3-Iron? If one were to look at the script of the main character during development, it would look similar to this “…” Exactly. Silence is an art. It leaves room for interpretation. It is rare for a lead character in a movie to speak so little, yet mean so much.

Director Kim Ki-duk is known to express his movies by using outside themes, such as the environment, sexuality, subtle silence, or violence to communicate to the viewer, rather than direct dialogue between actors. 3-Iron follows Young Tae-suk, a young, free-spirited, homeless man that breaks into peoples’ houses when they are away on vacation. His intent, however, isn’t to steal valuables. Rather, he uses the owner’s vacant house as a hotel for a day and becomes a “butler”: repairing broken appliances, doing the laundry, and cleaning. Tae-suk’s nomadic lifestyle, however, takes a sharp turn when he comforts an abused wife he meets after a break-in. As they start to become closer, Tae-suk knows that his wandering ways of living will change as well.

Through the silence and his many body gestures, the viewer learns of Tae-suk’s desire to live as a free spirit in secrecy, living as a ghostly presence in many homes without being noticed. Even when thrusted into confrontation and danger, he is a man of very few words, unflinching, unafraid, and not hostile of the consequences. Lee Hyun-kyoon plays the silent protagonist to a tee, as his body movements and facial expressions say more than his words. Lee Seung-yeon blends her acting skills as the distressed wife as she finds true happiness only when she meets her quiet co-star. The amazing part is that neither of the main stars, even as they fall for one another, rarely say a word to the other when expressing their feelings. Yet, during the movie, their adulterous romance is very believable.

3-Iron is a work of movie art, relying heavily on its great acting a lot more than any other movie feature. While the movie starts off slow, the viewer will find appreciation in seeing how Tae-suk grows and evolves throughout the film. Foreign movie critics certainly found appreciation of 3-Iron, as to date, has won six awards and was nominated six times for various categories. This film is a truly unique movie experience and one that should not be missed.

#7) Joint Security Area (JSA)

Director: Park Chan-wook
Writer: Jeong Seong-San, Kim Hyeon-Seok,
Lee Mu-Yeong, Park Chan-Wook,
Based on Park Sang-Yeon (author of DMZ)
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Drama, War
Release Date: September 2000

In 1989 the Berlin wall fell and reunited Germany. But another wall along the 38th parallel goes without mention and it lies between two sides braced for an inevitable war. It is known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). When alarms started to blare throughout the DMZ, both the North and South Koreans started to fire upon one another. A deeply injured soldier made a limping run during the fire fight from the North to the Southern border. Two North Korean soldiers were found shot and dead along the border, as the two Koreas were tethering on the brink of all-out war. The Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) – a non-biased mediator consisting of Swiss and Swedish investigators — were immediately rushed to the DMZ to diffuse the escalating hostilities and uncover the truth. But who were involved in the incident? What happened exactly? Is there more to the story than the testimonies given?

Enter Major Sophie, an investigator of Korean descent, but Swiss citizenship. As Sophie’s first time in Korea, she begins in asking those involved what happened. However, as interrogation after interrogation revealed no results, it became apparent that the soldiers were keeping a crucial secret to finding the truth. When the testimonies from each Korea arrived, their stories posed two vastly differing scenarios that were inconsistent with the other. Even with Sophie’s unique questioning – such as the number of bullets fired and where the gunshots landed – and persistence to the case, without the soldiers’ cooperation, she was getting nowhere. As the investigation grinded to a hopeless rut, both Koreas threatened to extradite the NNSC back to Switzerland within three days. It was apparent that neither side wanted a fair resolution, but to instead believe their own account. However, Sophie had other plans.

While action-thriller Shiri explored both sides of the North-South Korean animosities in 1999, Joint Security Area (JSA) delves even further. Rather than taking the easy route and stereotyping one side as “good” and the other as “evil” or implying hidden biases, JSA director Park Chan-woon shows that both North and South Korean soldiers are, at the core, humans that can have empathy for one another regardless of nationality. The soldiers on both sides have deep, well thought-out, and compelling stories. This is commendable as this movie touches upon the most sensitive topic of Korean Unification and yet presents the subject tastefully.

The movie’s excellent pacing also deserves mention. Through the brilliant execution of bouncing between extended flashbacks and engaging interrogation scenes, the movie really shines at its brightest. The viewer then must go alongside Major Sophie as they piece together the scenes of truth and weed out the scenes of fiction. Only then can a full picture be revealed.

The acting is also top-notch as Lee Young-ae’s portrayal as the charismatic Major Sophie, Lee Byung-hun’s display as guilt-torn Sgt. Lee Soo-hyeok, and Song Kang-ho’s acting of the honorable Sgt. Oh Kyeong-pil were spot on. Many side characters in the film were also acted admirably as well. From being vindictive and disappointed during the interrogations, to showing anger, shock, and desperation during the flashbacks, the movie shows a wide variety of emotions. If there is one thing to knock about JSA’s acting, however, it is Lee Young-ae’s English dialogue. While she is not expected to be fluent in speaking English – as she is fluent in both her native Korean and German – both her pronunciation and script writing sounded clumsy and choppy.

Joint Security Area was one of the biggest blockbusters of 2000. Expenses were not spared in its cinematography due to the new Super-35 mm format, making the camera shots clean and sleek. Its environment was also surreal, as the film studio spent nearly $1 million US dollars into recreating the Pannumejoum truce village seen in the movie. While the film’s acting, presentation, pacing, and realism are all excellent, its deep underlying message is what truly sets this movie to a new level.

#6)Oldboy

Director: Park Chan-wook
Writer: Hwang Jo-Hun, Lim Chung-Hyeong,
Lim Joon-Hyung, Park Chan-Wook
Based on Garon Tsuchiya (story),
Nobuyuki Minegishi (comic)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: November 2003

A man wakes up in a shabby hotel room and has no clue how he got there. Recovering from a hangover the night before, he finds that the room has the basic human necessities: a desk, a bed, a bathroom, and even a small TV for news. Yet, when he goes to the steel front door, he notices there is a small slot on the bottom and is locked from the outside. He is essentially imprisoned in this room. He soon hears a quaint tune and seconds later, sleeping gas seeps into the room from the small door crevice knocking him out cold. When he finally wakes up, he notices his new clean clothes, a clean haircut, and a fresh new meal of pot stickers slid under from the door’s slot. How long will he be here? Who placed him here? Most importantly, why is this man even in this room in the first place? This is the new life of Oh Dae-su.

Famed Korean director Park Chan-wook creates a sinister, dark, mysterious, and engaging movie with his 2003 thriller Oldboy. Based off the Japanese manga of the same name, the film, for the most part, stays true to the original. From the get-go, this film sucks the viewer in, as they ask the same question as Dae-su, “How did I get in this nightmare?” A few days after he is thrown into his private prison-for-one, he watches a TV news report of death of his wife. To add further result to misery, he is also named the prime suspect of his spouse’s murder. With his wife dead and no way to get out, he goes into a deep depression, void of any real emotion.

Every day he lives in isolation from anyone doing the same routine: eating, exercising, showering, punching walls, watching TV, and sleeping. Whenever he watches TV, it represents his only window to the outside world. The years in his secluded prison pass by, as he witnesses major world events such as the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, the return of Hong Kong back to China, and the death of the late Princess Diana. One day, however, he is unexpectedly released from his prison he had called home for the last 15 years. This is just the beginning of his journey; now he can find answers to his questions above.

But imagine, just for a couple minutes, what would you be thinking if you had no human contact for the last 15 years, let alone one week? What would you do? Who would you call or go to first? How do you start the most basic conversations with people on the street? If you’re Oh Dae-su, you would feel the need for justice and take revenge on the people responsible for your 15-year imprisonment. If there is one positive from being secluded, it is the various skills he inherently developed. He honed his awareness by watching TV news, fighting prowess by practicing shadow boxing, and taught himself a keen sense of logic and problem solving by his motivation to finding the culprits. Irony sets in, as the skills he learns during his stay in prison would greatly assist him in catching the villains who threw him there in the beginning.

Oldboy is not for the weak or faint-of-heart. The film seriously questions one’s own morals, values, and life itself without “sugarcoating” its intentions. It is intended to make the viewer uncomfortable. Yet, the viewer will be rewarded. Between the movie’s dark tones, vengeful feelings, and sadistic atmosphere, the viewer is pulled into Oh Dae-su’s world. The ending is also crafted quite well, as it contains a both shocking twists and more questions to ponder. Where many other films have difficulty in presenting mature themes, Oldboy succeeds in exploring deeply mature and painful subjects. Choi Min-sik is the actor that makes this dark and mature film work, as his portrayal of Oh Dae-su is amazing.

This is Park Chan-wook’s 2^nd movie on this list and it’s no fluke; his movies are just that good. While some of the movies on this list are unheard to non-Korean movie fans, Oldboy is known in many world movie circles. The film has garnered many awards in various film festivals (17 awards total), great praise from movie critics, and a must-see reputation from netizens. Even famous movie directors, such as Quentin Tarantino, who is known to have made films similar in nature to Oldboy, enjoyed the film so much that he wanted it to receive the 2004 Cannes’s Palme D’Or award. Instead, that award went to Michael Moore’s much safer and anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 911.

As with the recent Hollywood trend of importing successful Korean movies, a US remake of the film – starring talented US actor Will Smith and directed by none other than Steven Spielberg – is in the works. Hopefully, we can look forward to Smith duplicating Choi Min-sik’s incredible acting and Spielberg paying homage to Park Chan-wook’s masterpiece.

Lotte 2 Hanwha 0 (My record from home games is now 2-7-1)



Well I finally went to my first baseball game after the first surgery. And if this is the result, I think I will watch the games on TV for the rest of the season.

Hanwha has a great baseball team, they just can not pitch hit nor field, but they are still a good baseball team. (Its a bad joke)

Well I thought that the Eagles might actually do something when I saw that #99 Ryu Hyun-Jin (Monster) was the starting pitcher. He only gave up 2 runs with one of them being at the top of the 9th. Once again "Kim In-Sik" can not manage a pitching staff.

Hanwha just could never get anything together yesterday and it just looked horrible. No wonder they are in last place and with this ace it looks like the 2nd straight season in a row without any playoffs.

The rain delay was not fun either yesterday. It was just a sad game without any happy hanwha fans. And once again I yelled at the Giants fans for copying an American song as their "Lotte Lotte" SONG. (Some things never change)

This looks like, with the 2nd surgery scheduled for 13 July, and this Hanwha mess, it will be a very long summer here in the ROK.

In another KBO related story... I received this from eastwindupchronicle.com and I posted this on http://www.cjbaseball.com/. CJ looks like he has another chance and this time its with the Dooson Bears. I so want to see CJ pitch a great game vs SK.

____________________________________________________________________________


The Korean media is reporting that CJ Nitkowski has been claimed by Doosan. Funny thing is, I don’t think CJ himself knows this yet. He’s currently on vacation in Japan and Twittered that he’s waiting to hear if he clears waivers, saying “if I clear I’ll stay in Japan for a while before I head home, if not…”

That was two hours ago. Someone tell (or maybe Twitter) CJ that SK’s arch rival claimed him.

Later he Twitters: “Text from my old SK translator says: “Emergency: call me ASAP” Having trouble making an international phone call right now. Will try later.”

Trouble making an international phone call in Japan???!!! But they have such state of the art payphones in all the hotel lobbies.

But I digress. This could be a GREAT move for Doosan if they can get Nitkowski, who I think is still a capable reliever and could have some serious revenge on his mind come Korean Series time. Could be a very interesting storyline to follow. And I can’t say I wouldn’t be rooting for CJ.

That is, if someone can get to CJ.

http://eastwindupchronicle.com/more-twitter-sports-weirdness/#more-5343

GOOD LUCK...

Movie Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I so wanted to like this film. I went to a digital screen and saw this film twice on opening day. After the second time, I realized that I did not want to see this film again for the rest of the summer.

The sad thing about this movie that I can actually see a great film in this film. This film badly needs a 20-30 minute edit and a lot of the scenes could used a tighter direction. The main idea must have been, Let's make more robots and let us add a heck of a lot more explosion and let add a hot evil alien female that wants to kill Sam. It was just too much and all of this bloated shots actually took away the heart of the film and just absolutely ruined the film for me.

Some of the viewers are going to have their own issues with Mudflap and Skids, also known as the twins. Some critics have called these 2 racist and compared these 2 to Star Wars infamous "Jar Jar Binks" I will let you, the viewer, make up your own minds about these 2 robots.

The one thing I loved about this film was the showing of the Military as men of honor who believe in what the robots are doing. Watch for the little scene of Prime and Robert Epps, It is a small scene , but the small joke, I got it.

This film is worth at least one viewing at a digital screen. I can not recommend it anymore than that.

Grade D+

Wheelie: Is that the best you got, huh? Is that best you can do?
Mikaela Banes: What are you doing here, you little freak?
[Mikeala burns his left eye off with a soldering iron]
Wheelie: That's my eye, you crazy bitch! Easy Warrior Goddess, I'm just a little salvage scrap drone.
Mikaela Banes: Then I'm your worst nightmare

Opened in South Korea on

Her Name Was Neda: A Generational Chance for Freedom

by Rep. Thaddeus G. McCotter (R-MI)

Her name was Neda. In Farsi, it means “the voice.” True to her name, she loved music; sought freedom; and she’s dead - shot down in the streets by the Iranian regime’s state sanctioned murderers. She must not have died in vain.

Today, Iranians and Americans face a generational chance for freedom - one that ensures a rogue regime’s implosion prevents a nuclear confrontation.

Regrettably, our president’s “post-American” foreign policy presumes talk can thaw the murderous mullahs’ hearts and attain a “grand bargain” for peace in our time; consequently, while Iranians demanded their freedom from a barbarous regime, the president vapidly opined: “It is up to Iranians to make decisions about who Iran’s leaders will be… We respect Iranian sovereignty.”

Then, as the crisis escalated, the president optimistically noted:

“You’ve seen in Iran some initial reaction from the supreme leader that indicates he understands the Iranian people have deep concerns about the election… And my hope is - is that the Iranian people will make the right steps in order for them to be able to express their voices, to express their aspirations.”

Tragically, the supreme leader’s deep concern drove him to step on the throats of pro-democracy demonstrators, like Neda.

Next, on June 20th, the president stated, “The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.” It was painfully evident just how far behind them he stood: “The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States.”

With these contradictory statements of support and appeasement, the president returned to square one: “The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.”

In truth, the Iranian people have already judged the regime and found it wonting. The supreme leader, his cleric cronies and their puppet government have never respected the dignity of the Iranian people or governed through consent. This is why the regime stole the election and shoots peaceful, pro-democracy demonstrators. Implying otherwise mocks the Iranians risking and losing their lives for liberty.

As for the claim that American “meddling” in support of the demonstrators plays into the mullahs’ hands, the Iranian regime will claim this regardless, for as our president noted, “That’s what they do.”

Yet, what matters is not what the regime says about America, but what the demonstrators think about America. Presently, brave Iranians watch as our president still holds an open hand to the regime that opened fire on them…that opened fire on Neda. This is the passive, disastrous policy of Jimmy Carter that led to the rise of this rogue regime; not the courageous policy of Ronald Reagan that led to the demise of an evil empire.

The surest, safest termination of Iran’s nuclear weapons program and support of terrorism is to hasten this fanatical tyranny’s collapse by supporting its people’s liberty. Taking its rightful place amongst the community of free nations, a democratic Iran will necessarily realize and reverse the insanity of this terrorist regime’s homicidal obsession with nuclear weapons. Thus, for their liberty and our security, the United States and the world must do everything in our power to further the Iranian demonstrators’ sacred claim to freedom. We know Neda did.

Further, in the grand strategy of our War for Freedom over terrorism, how we aid pro-democracy Iranians’ will remind the world who we are - we are Americans: the revolutionary children of freedom who have lived and died defending our liberty and extending it to the enslaved and oppressed. We will do no less today in support of our Iranian brothers and sisters.

Today, Neda’s voice calls to our consciences and warns that the fate of Iranians’ liberty is entwined with the fate of Americans’ security. We must not miss this generational chance for freedom - again one that ensures a rogue regime’s implosion prevents a nuclear confrontation; and that Neda and all liberty’s martyrs shall not have died in vain. As Americans, we must seize this moment and help Iranians seize their freedom.

That’s what we do.

###

Click here “Tehran Scream” video of Neda’s murder. Viewer discretion is advised.

WHAT A SPEECH AND DAMN OBAMA AND HIS STOOPIDITY. DID MERER WORDS OPEN THE GATES OF DACCAU? DID TALKING END THE REIGN OF THE NAZI'S. DID TALKING MAKE JAPAN SURENDER. DAMN ALL GOOD MEN WHO TALK AND DO NOTING AND WATCH PEOPLE DIE. WHAT GOOD ARE ANY OF US?

The most important story about Pixar's Up that you will ever read

Posted by Patrick Sauriol on Saturday, June 20, 2009

When 10-year-old Colby Curtin saw the trailer for Pixar's new movie Up she had just one final thing to accomplish before her time ended on this world: she had to see that movie. Thanks to the efforts of a family friend that cold called Pixar as well as the employees at the company, last week Colby got her wish and watched Up. She passed away only seven hours later, succumbing to the cancer that was destroying her body.

The only reason this incredibly heartbreaking story is getting heard is due to The Orange County Register and writer Annie Burris. The Register heard about the act and contacted Colby's mother Lisa Curtin to confirm, which she did. Nobody at Pixar wished to comment on the event, leaving it up to Colby's family to decide if they wanted the public to know about their daughter's passing and how she wanted so badly to see Up before it was too late for her.

Within a day after the friend of the Curtin family had contacted Pixar a representative from the studio had spoken with Colby's mom and arrangements made for a Pixar employee to come visit the Curtin home with a copy of Up on DVD. The next day the Pixar representative knocked on Colby's door and brought with them not just a copy of the movie to watch but also a gift basket of Up related collectibles. The Pixar employee talked a bit about the making of the movie and then stayed to watch it with Colby. When it was too hard for Colby to open her eyes Colby's mom described what was on the screen to her daughter.

There's more to the story than that and I think it's better told if you read it for yourself. Colby's simple but incredibly important request should remind us that away from the hype and business of making movies, films can have an incredible impact on a person's life. A lot of people like to dream about the fame and fortune that accompanies success in Hollywood. The people at Pixar certainly deserve all of the kudos and rewards that their movies have brought them but when you hear about a story like Colby's and realize that the people working for that company made this screening happen for that little girl in such short order, and without any desire whatsoever for anyone to ever know that it happened, I think that's incredible. There are plenty of headlines to read these days about the corporate culture of greed and its lack of empathy for the human condition, so when a company like Pixar does something so human and just for one family, I think that they should be commended -- and that you might remember the story of Colby the next time you see Up.

-Orange County Register.

AP) Colby Curtin got her final wish.

The 10-year-old girl desperately wanted to see the new Disney-Pixar movie, "Up." But the cancer-stricken girl was too sick to go to a theater.

Thanks to a family friend who got in touch with the movie studio Pixar, an employee of the Emeryville-based company arrived at Colby's home with a DVD copy of the movie, The Orange County Register reported Friday. The girl died later that night.

Colby's mother, Lisa, said she had asked her daughter if she could hang on until the movie arrived.

"I'm ready (to die), but I'm going to wait for the movie," she said her daughter replied.

"Up" is the animated tale of a grumpy old man who, after his wife's death, tries to fulfill their joint dream of visiting South America by tying thousands of balloons to his house and floating away.

"When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie," Colby's mother told the Register. "I just know that word 'Up' and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven."

Colby, who was diagnosed with vascular cancer in 2005, saw previews for the film in April.

"It was from then on, she said, 'I have to see that movie. It is so cool,"' family friend Carole Lynch said.

But the girl's health began to deteriorate. On June 4, Curtin asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair so that her daughter could go to a movie theater but the chair was not delivered over the weekend, Curtin said.

By June 9, Colby was too sick to go anywhere.

Another family friend, Terrell Orum, called both Pixar and Disney, which owns the animation studio. The message was received by Pixar officials, who agreed to send someone to Colby's house the next day with a copy of "Up" for a private screening, Orum said.

The employee arrived with the DVD, stuffed animals of characters and other movie memorabilia.

Colby was unable to open her eyes to see the movie so her mother described the scenes. When her mother asked if she enjoyed it, the girl nodded, Curtin said.

The Pixar employee left after the movie, taking the DVD, which has not been released. Lynch, who was with the family during the screening, said the employee's "eyes were just welled up."

A call to Pixar seeking comment was not immediately returned Friday.

Colby, with her parents nearby, died later that night.

Her mother said one of the memorabilia left by the Pixar employee was an "adventure book" based on a scrapbook that, in the movie, is kept by the wife of the main character.

"I'll have to fill those adventures in for her," Lisa Curtin said of her daughter.



Last week I did my movie review of the film UP and I still can not really believe what I saw in that film.

I have been one of Disney sharpest critics for their distorting in historical films, (Alamo, Remember the Titans, The Rookie) but in this case i find myself actually wanting to stand up and cheer for them for doing this simple act of kindness for a little girl who lost her fight with cancer.

Well Done Disney and Pixar, A job well done indeed.

After a lot that has happened to me over the last month, I thought that this blog needed some humor.

What can I say, I Loved the Texas cartoon.

Well today in the USA it is Father's Day. This is one of the days that I really miss the fact that I can not be with my 2 children. Claudia and Sean McStay.

With everything that has gone on with me this summer. I have really missed those 2 wonderful children of mine.

One day if you 2 find this blog, please remember something, Everyday I have prayed for you 2 and me to be reunited and that I love you 2 both very much. I have know idea where you 2 are nor do I know how to call you. That is why no Christmas nor Birthday gifts from me.

On days like today, I just usually stay low and try not to bother anyone.


Also on Father's Day its also another day that I miss my own father. We lost him in 2004 due to cancer, that we think came from his exposure to the Agent Orange, when he was station near the DMZ in the 1960's. I am remembering how he dealt with his cancer and how I have been trying to do the exact same thing.

I told my doctor a few days ago, "Panic is not a term in my vocabulary right now!" I have too many former student around this area and a few of them have heard what is going on with me right now. If I panic, they panic and my fellow teachers panic. Panic is a luxury that I can not do."

I am remembering what my father told me about his cancer, He told me, "Mike, either I am going to beat this or I am going home to God." I have told A few of my former students these exact words.

I am a little nervous about surgery #2, this could be a complicated one so on July 13, please pray a lot for me.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD, WE ALL MISS YOU ON THIS DAY.

To my 2 children, I miss you every day but on days like today, I miss you both a lot more.

Well it looks like http://www.cjbaseball.com/ is finally finished with his playing baseball here in Korea.

He just posted this via twitter.

"That's a wrap. Had a very nice exchange with the G.M. Glad this is over. Wanted to pitch but wasn't.

He later posted this link on his blog.

I am sorry that SK did not work out for him. It looks like he just wants to go home for awhile and I wish him the best on his next move.

OK, well I know have a partial clue of what the heck is going on here with the tumor.

So as of today, I will check into the hospital on July 10th and they will have surgery on the 13th.

The Dr. said that mine might be harder than most,(I know, big surprise..right?)due to where the blockage is at and the fact that they have to get my Colan back into my body and get rid of my bag. Then they have to look and see what kind of cancer is their. They are not going to know anything until they get inside me and look around.

The Dr. thinks that I have type 2 cancer. ONCE AGAIN WE DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING, UNTIL THEY GET INSIDE ME AND LOOK AROUND.

So, i asked a few questions.


Diet, what can I eat, the dr said everything is ok, but to try and stay away from red meat. I will still ban soda, beer and stick with what I have been drinking for awhile. I am now at 132 kg or 290 pounds.

Keep up the exercise and the work is OK but I really need to rest when I can.

I might be in the hospital for 2 weeks, or more.. but 2 weeks is a good guess.

After recover, I have no idea, that will be determined.

I am doing the Surgery at Eulji Hospital near Dusan Dong, the other one just finally ticked me off with they way that they kept letting my bag leak. After 3 visits to the ER, because of there errors, I have had enough of their medicine.

I will ask that someone please agree to look over my dog soju on the 9th and I am not sure when i will exactly be back.

Maybe one more fundraiser, will be needed, I am still not sure. Since i am going to a better hospital, this will definitely increase the cost.

Well that is all that I know for now..

Please everyone pray for me and love someone, if you have them and keep reminding them that.

Mike McStay

Woori Bank
Account Name: McStay, Flynn M.
Account Number: 1002-929-503133
Swife Code: HVBKKRSE