The Match: The King Mustn't Die

You may think you've seen this set-up before, although the framing activity undoubtedly differed. In this case, it's the boardgame Go. Newly crowned world champion Cho Hun-hyun (Lee Byung-hun) brings child prodigy Lee Chang-ho (Kim Kang-hoon) into his home where he undergoes a belittling training regimen and becomes a part of the family -- even referring to Cho's wife (Moon Jeong-Hee) as "Auntie." The grown-up Lee (Yoo Ah-in) becomes the rival of Cho, eventually beating him repeatedly. But it's here where writer-director Kim Hyeong-ju's double-biopic The Match distinguishes itself from the pack.

For whereas the above narrative arc would usually complete such a movie, this specific storyline is finished around the midway point of the movie. So what happens next? Cho has to refind his sense of purpose and emerge as a challenger for the man he schooled to be his primary competitor. I can't help but think this movie somehow reflects an older generation's unwillingness to cede ground to the younger. Or is that we simply want to stay in the game even if we're not getting all the trophies? Whatever. The Match is a compelling sports movie in which the playing field is the size of a chessboard.

Fighter: Don't Box Her In

North Korean refugee Ji-na (Lim Sung-mi) is trying to scrape a life together in South Korea: She's got a humble apartment, two physically taxing jobs, a dad stuck in China, and no friends. Lucky for her, her "moonlight" work is at a boxing gym and she might have a natural talent. Unlucky for her, her real estate agent (Lee Moon-bin) is a stalker, her mother (Lee Seung-yeon) is reluctant to reunite, and the female clients at the gym are mean girls who like to punch. At least the dojo's manager/coach (Oh Gwang-Rok) and his assitant Tae-soo (Baek Seo-Bin) are squarely in her corner. One sees sponsorship potential; the other, love.

If that sounds like Fighter has the makings of a feel-good Cinderella story, you're not wrong but Yun Jero's indie pic is infinitely more slice of life than slice of wedding cake. That means plenty of scenes in which we watch Ji-na clean (floors, mirrors, equipment) and observe (training sessions, online bouts, lockerroom banter). Lim does a good job of capturing the PTSD that must accompany going through the government's resettlement program which likely includes forms of indoctrination or deprogramming, depending on how you look at it. So how does one adapt to a shiny new world when everybody's stereotyped one as a fighting machine?

The Therapist: Fist of Tae-Baek: Comedy Under Pressure

What makes comedy work? Witty repartee? Physical slapstick? Preposterous circumstances? Overreactions? If humor were as easy as filling out checkboxes, it wouldn't be so hard to quantify. Which leaves me seriously wondering why Choi Sang-hoon's The Therapist: Fist of Tae-baek doesn't meet the genre's loose standards. As an acupressurist capable of fostering weight loss and breast enlargement, actor Oh Ji-ho is goofy enough. The plot about two former BFFs and taekwondo masters who find themselves on opposite sides of the law during a real estate scam is ridiculous enough. Their martial arts encounters certainly lend themselves to physical comedy. As does a drunk scene mid-film. And yet...

The Therapist isn't particularly funny. Or even amusing. Which isn't to say, it's boring. Or even bad. What's the gray area called? Undramatic dramedy? Because The Therapist feels like watching a film that adheres to the tropes of farce without the hilarity. You've got the shrewish wife (Shin So-yul), a violent villain (Dong Zhang) with a soft side, a rivalry that drives best friends apart then pulls them together, and exaggerated facial expressions from just about everyone. It could work but it doesn't. More than anything else, The Therapist made me realize how years of watching sitcoms has trained me to accept comedies that don't make me laugh. Without complaint.

Awards: FeedSpot's 30 Best Asian Movies Blogs & Websites in 2025

Was it really seven years ago that FeedSpot featured me as one of the Top 35 Asian Movies Blogs on the web? Now in 2025, FeedSpot's list has become more selective (only 30 sites, this time) and moved Korean Grindhouse's ranking noticeably higher (we've risen to number 14). It's a pleasure to be listed among websites I use as references — namely, HanCinema.net and AsianWiki.com. It's also nudged me to check Korean Grindhouse's current online traffic which averages well over 10k pageviews per month and possesses an international reach which includes thousands of visitors from countries such as Singapore, France, Germany, Austria, China and Brazil. To check out FeedSpot's full list of endorsed Asian movie blogs, click here.

Mickey 17: Revenge of the Replicants

I was lucky enough to attend a "visiting artist talk" with auteur Bong Joon Ho at Yale University the afternoon before I saw his latest movie Mickey 17 and what really stuck with me about both experiences is Bong's sense of play. Whether he was wittily answering questions about surviving a successful Oscar campaign or his protagonist (Robert Pattinson) was engaged in a battle with a "habanero" version of himself, Bong serves up the unexpected in a way that unfailingly conveys an exhilarating freshness. In film as in life (or in life as in film), Bong never feels stale or weary... even when the questions are obvious, even when the set-up is seemingly familiar.

So while I'll never be an internationally recognized director nor a umpteenth iteration of my own clone bumbling about in outerspace, Bong points a way to be in this world. If you're engaged in a Q&A at a school auditorium, that's attentive, curious, humble, generous, and morally grounded; if you're floating in a spaceship ruled by a demented politician (Mark Ruffalo) and his twisted wife (Toni Colette), your best strategy is pretty much the same. How else would you connect with your best self or find a way to communicate with those giant snow bugs with fingernails for teeth? In both instances, however, if you're lucky you'll get to hang out with the incredibly talented Steven Yeun... which I did, in a way, in another life that was my life, too. Ask me about it next time you see me.