Top Ten Movies of 2020 (Sort of)

This past year, my Korean moviewatching was decidedly not highbrow so plenty of pulpy flicks have made the cut this December. Scanning the picks, I do see some themes tellingly repeating: Revenge, Underdogs, and Prison. Do these three concerns have anything to do with my being cooped up in an apartment and not knowing what to do with the fluctuating anxiety caused by the Coronavirus? Probably. Would I have picked different movies had I been living in a COVID-free world? Um, duh. But these films provided relief. And likewise should be honored.

1. The Shower: It's rarely a bad idea to build a movie around first love. The same could be said about first death. Here, you get both!

2. The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion: The diabolical military program employing twisted genetic engineering backfired but the resultant movie, helmed by Kim Da-mi, is a bona fide hit.

3. #Alive: Perfect for these pandemic times, this film features two housebound lovebirds who must navigate a zombified neighborhood whenever they step outside. Wear a mask!

4. Miss Baek: With her scarred legs, knotted hair, and butchered pinky, this flick's young charge should qualify for seasonal check-ins from the Make-a-Wish foundation.

5. Psychokinesis: The beleagured superhero movie gets a lift when a negligent dad drinks magical spring water shortly after his ex-wife dies.

6. Revenger: After watching this martial arts B-movie, you may ask yourself: Who the hell is Bruce Khan and where has he been all my life?

7. The Prison: This madcap men-behind-bars melee is a deliriously delightful Rube Goldberg machine of crime, cruelty, and power-tripping.

8. The Outlaws: If you want to watch Ma Dong-seok kick butt as a cop for two hours, have I got a blockbuster for you.

9. Ashfall: It seems only right to include a disaster movie in a top ten list for 2020.

10. The Drug King: Proof that Song Kang-ho can carry a messy movie if you supply a great '70s soundtrack and period perfect '70s garb.

Honorable Mentions: The Classified File, The Client, Failan, The Lost Choices, Piagol, and Yeong-ja's Heydays.

The Shower: Be Still, My Little Heart

How high are the stakes in Ko Young-nam's The Shower? Not high at all. A country schoolboy (Lee Yeong-su) allows himself to pursue a city girl (Jo Yun-suk) who's relocated to the family farm because her father's hit hard times and has nowhere else to go. There's little action outside that unless you consider scraping your knee on a rock, getting caught in a run-of-the-mill summer storm or a bad case of the flu a cause for major heart-flutters. And yet this exquisitve slice-of-life flick focused on two adolescents is anything but boring. I'd go so far as to say, it's a dazzler — further proof that feeling, not action, is what most enthralls us most of all.

And what views we get amidst the small moments! The visuals of The Shower are so beautiful that you feel entreated to experience your present surroundings anew, especially nature. All hail the trees! All hail the river! There's plenty of rapturous shots of insects, flowers, birds, oxen, the forest, the fields, the minnows, running water, clouds... Every image feels composed thoughtfully but unaffectedly; the entire movie is a gentle reminder that we walk daily through panoramas, not past backdrops. Existence is deep; first love, the real beginning. As for death, it's got its sting.