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Reviews
Hae anseon (2002)
Emotionally intense war drama
As the opening titles of the film remind us (or teach us, if your unfamiliar with North and South Korea), anyone entering South Korea's coastline after dark can be considered a spy and shot on sight. A Coast Guard Platoon monitors this beach lined with barb wire fencing. Kang is the main character, an ordinary private who takes his job way too seriously.
Without going into too much more, Kang does something that destroys the relationship between the local villagers and the platoon and slowly begins to go insane and unravel.
If you like Kim Ki-Duk's films, you'll love this one as well. The main character is a crazy violent guy ala Bad Guy, there's a crazy woman who ends up sleeping with everyone like Birdcage Inn; the love-hate relationship of villagers and military from Address Unknown and even Kim's disturbing predilection for evil things involving live fish ("The Isle").
What separates "Coast Guard" from his other films is how political the film is. American audiences can probably understand what it must be like to be an Iraqi or Afghani citizen now after seeing whats it like in Coast Guard when an army platoon is supplanted in your community and you have no choice. While we don't see the effects of the Korean War here in the US, we certainly understand.
Hoover Street Revival (2002)
If you love Gospel music...
Bishop Jones is the next big thing in evangelism. I don't know if anyone's called him the next T.D. Jakes but its very possible he's on his way. Hoover Street Revival is a unique documentary that doesn't really have a narrative thread per se, but an intimate look into the lives of the people of South Central Los Angeles and how the Bishop interacts and affects them.
The director is Sophie Fiennes. Yes, those Fiennes. How many of them are there??? She covers a lot of different ground, from a few sermons, interviews and looks at the city and downtown LA. The best part of the film though is the gospel music. If you're a fan, it's full of great melodies and hymns that will keep you tapping your feet.
For anyone who likes the Woman Thou Art Looseds of the world, this is a "real-life" version to check out.