Brave Citizen: Meow Meow

I fell hard for Brave Citizen pretty quickly. Once director Park Jin-Pyo and screenwriter Yeo Ji-na had established this action movie is all about a failed female boxer who's going to combat high school bullying by donning a cat mask then punching the perpetrators, I was completely in. (I was one of those teens who reveled in WWE storylines and Brave Citizen is basically the bargain basement version of a superhero origination story without special effects or delusions of grandeur.) As the central pugilist-turned-teacher So Si-min, Shin Hye-sun does a terrific job at being both downtrodden and determined. You know she deserves better than this secondrate job at a high school where the overaged senior Han Soo-kang (Lee Jun-young) is making life miserable for faculty and students alike because he's rich, sadistic, and has connections in the police force. And you can see how she'd naturally make strong aliances with experienced educator Lee Jae-kyeong (Cha Cheong-hwa) and boyfriend cop Lee Kwon-joong (Lee Chan-Hyeong).

Then once you meet her goofy dad (Park Hyuk-kwon), you just know that she's unlikely to take the safe path to job security if it means overlooking the horrendous hazing being directed at Jin-hyeong (Park Jung-woo) who happens to be the grandson of the sweet old lady (Son Sook) who street-vends the best kimbap in her neighborhood. Is Brave Citizen predictable? Very much so. Farfetched? Oh, hell yes. But I liked watching a cat-masked Si-min overcome obstacles while executing fabulous taekwondo moves, whether the man getting kicked in the face is in the ring or on the sidewalk. This one's a knockout. Sequel please.

Too Young to Die: Geriatrics in Bed

I know a number of single and divorced women who complain of the difficulties of finding a suitable mate. I wonder whether Too Young to Die, a very short Korean feature that lasts barely an hour, would give hope or remove all desire. I assume director Park Jin-pyo (who went on to direct Voice of a Murderer and You Are My Sunshine) wants to assure us, even celebrate, that love and sex are possible at any age: Look at his leading man Park Chi-gyu. This toothless old geezer falls for the equally wrinkled Lee Sun-ye as if struck by Cupid's arrow then dyes his hair and has her move in before you can flip the page of his calendar. And why would you touch that calendar? There's a lot to learn from the month on display: Park notes every time the two fornicate or she sucks him off -- acts which we see fairly graphically. I'm no prude about geriatric lovemaking. I'd even go so far as to say that Park has an amazingly muscled ass and a decent technique despite his years. But the soft core porn here is poorly lit, Park's kissing skills are atrocious, and the dialogue is so corny that I can only assume, Lee Soo-mee is the screenwriter's pseudonym.

Granted the movie isn't just groping and humping. It also has an absurdly long scene of Park exercising/dancing on the rooftop after banging Lee, some arguments that sound improvised and unedited, and a couple of music lessons during which a Janggo-drumming Lee teaches Park the "Song of Youth." None of it's horrible. Which isn't to say any of it's good. There are strange moments like one in which a laughing Lee accidentally glances at the camera, and jarringly naturalistic ones like when Park scrubs his dentures clean before popping them back in his mouth. Will it rekindle dormant beliefs that love can arrive anyplace at anytime? Sure. But there's a catch. You'll have to be willing to fall for whomever is there.

You Are My Sunshine: He's Not So Happy When Skies Are Gray

Don't get me wrong. I'd love it if every prostitute met the man of her dreams and left the biz for a better life. But the "lovable whore" -- not to mention the "gentleman john" -- is a fantasy that rattles me. Can there really be a happily ever after for a hooker and her customer? I can't help but predict disaster. From the looks of You Are My Sunshine, director-writer Park Jin-pyo basically agress. Here, the woman-in-question is sweet, young cynic Eun-ha (Jeon Do-yeon) who wears H&M dresses and delivers coffee (with blow jobs) when she isn't being courted by country bumpkin Seok-joong (Hwang Jeong-min). Eventually, the two pair up for wedded bliss only to find their love knot untangled by the return of her other husband and a frightful diagnosis of AIDS. Before you know it, Eun-ha is back to turning tricks and Seok-joong is in a tailspin that even his well-meaning mother (Na Mun-hee) can't set right. When Eun-ha ends up the Typhoid Mary of HIV, one farming family's tragedy becomes the stuff of tabloid fodder. (There's a great scene in which a photojournalist instructs the grieving Seok-joong to walk away with his shoulders slumped to look sad.) A weepie if there ever was one, You Are My Sunshine nevertheless ends optimistically. These two renew your faith in eternal vows.