Rubber (2010)

Written and Directed by Quentin Dupieux

Starring Stephen Spinella, Jack Plotnick, Wings Hauser and Roxane Mesquida

As film spectators watch, a killer car tire comes to life in a desert dump site. It soon discovers it's telekinetic ability to make small animals and people's heads explode. Going on a rampage, the people running the show soon find themselves in over their heads when things don't go exactly as they planned.

What I like about this movie is the meta mindset it establishes from the first line of dialogue. Some scenarios or decisions in movies are for simply no reason. So why can't an entire movie be made for no reason at all? The filmmakers made it for the hell of it and they didn't try to hide it.

As an employee of a movie theater, the commentary by the spectators was hilarious. There were situations and exchanges between some of them that is very true to real life movie goers. This made for hilarious moments.

What I didn't like about the movie is that it felt like a joke that lasted too long. Even at it's short 82 minute running time, it overstayed it's welcome by about 50 minutes. Had this been a short film (or at least shorter than it already is), it could have been much better.

The filmmakers knew exactly what this movie was-- a nonsensical absurdist comedy/horror movie that isn't meant to be taken seriously. It just could have been better and I mean that sincerely. It had potential and would have achieved that had it been half of it's running time.

My Rating: 5/10

Memories of Murder (2003)

Directed by Joon-ho Bong
Written by  Joon-ho Bong, Kwang-rim Kim and Sung-bo Shim
Starring Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim and Jae-ho Song

In 1986, in the province of Gyunggi, in South Korea, the countries first serial killer is on the loose. Having been deemed incompetent for the case, the rural towns two detectives find themselves being babysat by an investigator from Seoul. Their polar techniques cause them to bump heads and often create a stand-still in the case.

From the start, it was hard to tell if this was supposed to be a dark comedy or a drama with a lot of comedic relief. Regardless of the subject matter, it was easy to find humor in much of the movies first act. Whether that was intentional or accidental is unclear, but seeing as how the beginning of the films as dedicated to showing the incompetence of the towns Police Department, I would say it was intentional.

As time went on, it became increasingly dark. It was almost as if it had become a completely different movie. But it worked. It was a great display of the stress of finding a killer the longer an investigation goes on, thus providing some insight into why these men would go to any lengths to get answers.

The story is very intriguing. It's a similar story to other murder mystery movies, but the setting of South Korea in the 80s added for an unfamiliarity that kept it interesting even at it's dullest moments. The similarities made for an easy connection and the differences were an interesting study into the countries culture.

Director Joon-ho Bong ("The Host", "Snowpiercer") proves yet again that he has an extensive and diverse style that transcends genre. It is remarkable that he can make such a serious, realistic murder mystery such as this as well as a sci-fi, apocalyptic thriller like "Snowpiercer".

This is an engrossing film that will make you laugh your ass off and then have you hanging to the edge of your seat in a five minute span. It reminded me much of David Fincher's "Zodiac", in the sense that it was creepy, intense and humorous all at the same time. This is definitely one you should definitely check out.

My Rating: 8/10