2010.1.8 NOW PLAYING
Engine Sentai Go-onger vs. Gekiranger (G)Action, Drama / 50 / Japanese
The second film adaptation of the 2008 Japanese Super Sentai Series, also known as the Japanese action hero franchise Power Rangers, opened in the No. 3 spot at the Japanese box office. The film opens with GekiRed battling Nunchaku Banki after he returns from an around-the-world trip he took for Natsume’s birthday with GekiYellow and Blue as his backup. After the other Gekirangers are sent into another dimension, they catch up with the Go-ongers in a series of battles. The Three Galark Ministers and their Nunchaku Banki team up with Meka, the last remaining member of the Confrontation Beast Hall, who is after the golden orb that Long was sealed in. To defeat their common foes, the Go-ongers, Go-on Wings, and Gekirangers join forces with the revived Rio and Mele to fight the new evil team and stop them from releasing Long.
The Road (15)
Drama / 111 / English
Based on Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel, “The Road” is a grim tale that follows an unnamed father (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) as they walk through a post-apocalyptic America armed with only a pistol. They try to make their way toward the coast to look for food and shelter, and possibly other survivors. Along the way, they find themselves having to avoid groups of cannibals and trying to maintain their morality and humanity. Through a series of flashbacks, the unnamed man recalls his past life and at the same time has to deal with the horrifying present reality of what is to come for him and his son.
Synecdoche, New York (15)
Drama / 124 / English
Director Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut is a dark comedy that premiered at the 61st Cannes Film Festival in 2008. The title of the film is a play on the city Schenectady, New York, where much of the film takes place. Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a theater director who is producing his own take on “Death of a Salesman,” and recruits a young cast to play the roles. As Cotard’s project becomes a success in a warehouse in Manhattan’s theater district, his own life veers wildly off track. The more problems that arise with his ex-wife and daughters the more he starts to bury himself in his work, and slowly his two worlds begin to mirror each other.
Saw VI (18)
Horror, Thriller / 90 / English
The sixth installment of the Saw horror series concludes the series’ second trilogy, which focused on the effects of the Jigsaw Killer. Special Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) is dead and Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) takes over Strahm’s role to solve the case. But things aren’t as simple as they seem. As the FBI draws closer, Hoffman is forced to start playing Jigsaw’s game, and he finally comes to understand Jigsaw’s grand scheme.
I’ve Loved You So Long (15)
Drama, Mystery / 115 / French
Written and directed by Philippe Claudel, this heart-breaking drama tells the story of a woman struggling to interact with her family and find her place in society after having spent 15 years in prison. When Juliette Fontaine (Kristin Scott Thomas) is finally released from prison, her younger sister Lea (Elsa Zylberstein), a literature professor, invites her to live with her and her family in a town called Nancy. Lea can’t remember much about Juliette since her parents denied Juliette’s existence and Lea was not allowed to visit her in prison. As a result, Lea also knows nothing about what happened to Juliette, who refuses to speak about the events that landed her in jail. As Juliette begins to assimilate, however, Lea learns the truth about her sister’s painful past.
Quill (G)
Drama / 99 / Japanese
Made to look like a documentary about a guide dog, this film was directed by Yoichi Sai and adapted from the novel “The Life of Quill, the Seeing-Eye Dog” by Ryohei Akimoto and Kengo Ishiguro. After five Labrador retrievers are born to a family in Japan, one named Quill is sent to live with a couple, Isamu (Teruyuki Kagawa) and Mitsuko Nii (Shinobu Terajima), who work as volunteers training guide dogs. As the puppy grows up, he is taken to a guide dog school by a trainer, Satoru Tawada (Kippei Shiina). Quill may be a bit slower compared to the other dogs at the school, but his trainers also notice that he has a more empathetic and patient quality than most dogs as well. Tawada comes to the conclusion that Quill would be the ideal guide dog for Mitsuru Watanabe (Kaoru Kobayashi), a lonely and ill-tempered middle-aged man, but Watanbe isn’t eager for the opportunity. Eventually, however, Watanbe ventures into the outside world and learns not only to trust other humans, but also the dog who has become his guide.
*These synopses were culled from http://www.imdb.com and http://movie.naver.com.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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