We watched an excellent Korean movie last weekend. In Korean the title is Gwoemul and in English it is called The Host (imdb 7.3/10.0). Despite its unimpressive Imdb rating, this movie is now considered the all-time number one box office hit in Korea (do I sound like I should be writing blurbs or what?) I liked it a lot. Making me laugh out loud wins you points.
The movie takes place in contemporary Korea and revolves around government misinformation, a beastly reptile creature created by improperly disposed formaldyhyde, and the desperately heroic attempts by a family to find a little girl. It is a funny horror movie the same way Dr Strangelove and How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Atomic Bomb is a funny horror movie. Read the NYTimes review here.
We have been on a Korean movie streak the last couple years (along with everybody else). If you are interested in checking out contemporary Korean flicks, check out this alphabetic Korean movie list at wikipedia.
If you can occasionally stomach extreme violence or extreme melodrama, I would recommend:
Old Boy (violent)
Il Mare (melo)
Joint Security Area (violent)
The Lake House (violent and melo)
Memories of a Murder (quiet with outbursts)
My Sassy Girl (melo)
Samaritan Girl (melo and violent)
Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall,… and Spring Again (quiet with outbursts)
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (violent and melo)
Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War (melo and violent)
The next ones we are going to watch: Silmido, The King and Clown, Save the Green Planet!, Crying Fist, and A Moment to Remember.