2014.10.3 Now Playing

Whistle Blower (12)

Drama/ 114/ Korean

In 2005, one of the main broadcasting stations in Korea revealed the sensational news that a scientist’s stem cell research was fraudulent and unethical based on an informer’s tip.

At the time, the public revered Hwang Woo-suk not only as a pioneering scientist but as a national hero who had found cures to diseases considered incurable. When the truth broke in the news, the nation was absolutely shocked.

Although “Whistle Blower” is based on the scandal, the movie stresses that it is a fictional story.

In the film, Park Hae-il plays Min-cheol, the chief producer of a news program, who hunts down Dr. Lee (Lee Geung-young) after getting an anonymous call from one of the scientist’s researchers. The informer imparts that the result of Lee’s stem cell research was manipulated.

The relationship between the film and the scandal is continuously reviewed in the media.

The director, though, argues that the movie focuses on the struggles that Min-cheol faces in his battle for the truth.

The film encompasses political pressure, a power struggle within the press and the individual characters’ inner conflicts.

Scarlet Innocence (19)

Romance/ 112/ Korean

Directed by Yim Pil-sung of “Hansel and Gretel” (2007), this scorching romantic thriller boasts an impressive cast, including Jung Woo-sung (“The Good, The Bad, The Weird”) and emerging star Lee Som.

“Scarlet Innocence” is a contemporary retelling of a classic Korean tale, “The Story of Simcheong,” which is about a daughter who almost sacrifices her life for money to cure her father’s blindness. However, he is seduced into spending the cash. Later, his daughter survives and finds her father.

Director Yim, however, turns the father-daughter dynamic into an account of two strangers who first fall in love, then become adversaries. “Scarlet Innocence” turns a fairy tale into erotic thriller, which is big on the erotic rather than the thriller.

Hak-kyu (Jung Woo-sung) is a professor who is forced to leave university and teach literature in a rural town due to a sex scandal. There, he meets amusement park worker Deok-yi (Lee Som), who is 17 years younger than him.

He immediately falls for her innocence and naivete, and the two start a torrid love affair.

But he leaves Deok-yi to return to his wife and daughter when his university reinstates him. Eight years later, Hak-kyu is living with his estranged teenage daughter after his wife committed suicide. When he starts to lose his eyesight, Deok-yi reappears to seek revenge.

A complicated relationship among these three characters arises as a result.

Bastards (TBC)

Drama/ 100/ French

Directed by the famous French writer and filmmaker Claire Denis, “Les Salauds” is a menacing and atmospheric neo-noir movie made by one of the most distinctive and challenging voices in contemporary cinema.

Marco (Vincent Lindon) is a ship captain who returns to France when he hears that his sister is in trouble.

His brother-in-law has committed suicide, driven to despair by having to make debt repayments to a shadowy businessman (Michel Subor), whom he also allowed to abuse his teenager daughter (Lola Creton) for cash.

As revenge, Marco sets out to seduce the man’s mistress, Raphaelle (Chiara Mastroianni), the mother of the shadowy tycoon’s infant son.

Despite the star writer-director, “Les Salauds” earned generally poor reviews. Film critics said “Bastards” was far from Denis at her best, rather describing it as being overly contrived.

However, if viewers enjoy the movie with an open mind, they might be pleasantly surprised by its unconventional approach.

Reasonable Doubt (15)

Crime, thriller/ 91/ English

Up-and-coming attorney Mitch Brockden (Dominic Cooper) accidently runs down a pedestrian while driving home after celebrating his latest victory. In order to avoid being held responsible for drunk driving, he calls 911 from a nearby pay phone and flees the scene.

Just in time, auto mechanic Davis (Samuel L. Jackson), finds the bloody victim. Jackson tries to get the man to a hospital but is promptly charged with murder.

Meanwhile, Mitch is assigned to prosecute the case and tries to spin it so that Davis will go free. The case becomes even more complicated when Davis is proven innocent by a false representation from Mitch’s stepbrother.

Soon, Mitch becomes convinced that Davis is actually a serial killer and attempts to prove him guilty.

The nasty chain of events in a Chicago district will leave viewers impressed as the two leading actors perform their exceptionally difficult roles with surprising depth and great emotion.

Any Day Now (15)

Drama/ 98/ English

Inspired by a true story and touching on the legal and social issues that are relevant nowadays, “Any Day Now” conveys a story of love, acceptance and building one’s own family. The film is set in the late 1970s, with a story about a gay couple battling to adopt a disabled child.

Gay couple Rudy (Alan Cumming) and Paul (Garret Dillahunt) try to adopt Marco (Isaac Leyva), a teenager with down syndrome.

Marco was abandoned by his mother, a prostitute with a drug addiction, and he soon finds the two men to be the family he’s never had.

Though Marco’s mother is in jail for drug possession, Rudy and Paul find the odds stacked against gay adoptive parents. They must fight a biased legal system to retain custody of Marco, whom they have come to love as if he were their own.

If you’re looking for a movie that will make you laugh, cry and think, “Any Day Now” is one to seek out. The touching performances of the three main characters will get you talking, whether it’s about the issues the movie raises or the performances it contains.

Slow Video (12)

Drama/ 106/ Korean

“My Sassy Girl” star Cha Tae-hyun is back with yet another humorous film, “Slow Video,” where he plays Jang-boo, a man who has the ability to see everything in slow motion.

Due to his extraordinary gift, Jang-boo has to constantly wear sunglasses, making him a mockery among friends at school.

As a grown-up, having spent much of his time alone, Jang-boo gets a job at his neighbor’s CCTV control center and becomes successful there. Watching passersby without much enthusiasm, one day he spots his first love, Soo-mi (Nam Sang-mi), from his school years and sets out to win her heart.

Jang-boo is not good with social interactions and thus triggers hostility from Soo-mi at first. However, as she realizes his feelings are genuine, she starts to see him differently.