well, there goes my dvd buying moratorium must've meant only US dvds...

picked up:
Sorum
Barking Dogs Never Bites
Christmas in August
Foul King
Memento Mori
Failan
Nowhere to Hide (after finding out US version is cut by 20min)

would still like to get:
Friend (not yet released)
JSA (not yet released)
My Sassy Girl
Musa (not yet released)

for those of you in Philadelphia, the Festival of World Cinema will play some of these movies. we're going to see Friend.

Friend is out on HK DVD. It was released, I believe, last week. JSA is scheduled for April 20 last I checked and I believe Musa is due fairly soon as well.

I'm about an hour and change from Philly so I'll be there for, at least, Versus if not more (schedule permitting).

I've seen Christmas in August, Foul King, Failan and Nowhere to hide. Good choices, you got a nice array of different types of movies. Failan had me choked up like a little girl...My personal fav of your choices. I also own My Sassy Girl...its a bit long since its the directors cut but its truely a gem of a movie. I own memento mori but i havent had time to watch it yet...but ive only heard good things about it. http://www.koreanfilm.org/htdocs/dcf...umID2/196.html
Thats a link to a small review for Christmas in August I posted 2 days ago.

I'm also looking forward to JSA, MUSA, and Friend...will wait for korean release of Friend over HK release.

I just found out that Musa was released in Korea this week. It's currently available from www.asiandb.com (in Korea) but I'm sure it'll show up on the US retailers' sites soon enough.

Musa

Subtitles: English, Korean
Audio: Dolby Digital, Dolby, Surround, 5.1ch, 2.0
Released Date: 2002-03-22
Made in: South Korea
Company: CJ Entertainment
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Case: Keep Case
Region Code: 3,NTSC
Special Features: Production Note, Making of MUSA, Documentary by Producer, Internet Trailer, Still Gallery, Interviews, Favorite Music, Fine Art Gallery, Out Take, East Egg

I say pickup Libra Me... If you liked Backdraft, forget it, this movie blows it away...

I agree. Libera Me is excellent but, for some unexplicable reason, they company that released it decided to release it fullscreen (pan & scan, not open matte). This definitely hurts the presentation but it's still worth seeing. Peppermint Candy is the same way.

I thought that Libera Me was not soo good...but I guess that I'll give it another try.

The music was just beautiful, and the visuals.

It's also available from hkflix

Dvdasian and yesasia doesn't seem to have it.

That's why I didn't like it-I didn't watch it with either my eyes or my ears closed!

GoPeglegs!

There was a post on the Criterion board a while ago stating that the Peppermint Candy had a lot of overscan and was actually about 1:66. I later bought the disc and it is indead about 1:66 when you zoom out with the Malata. Also there is a new version of Peppermint Candy coming out according to Mrkwang's ebay store, so hopefully that might be a better release.

Looks like I've found another Korean DVD person to discuss with. So far I have

Siren
Beat
Yellow Hair 2
Ring
Shiri
Libera Me
The Record
Ditto
Jakarta
Friend
Tell Me Something
Nowhere to Hide
Guns & Talks
There is No Sun
Bichunmoo R0
Bichunmoo R3
Attack the Gas Station

and a few others.

Musa is up for pre-order at Darcy's Wife Shop. Says 3/22...

Mr. Kwang's Ebay Store has it instock for $19.99.... Looks sweet

That's not the 2disc Special Edition of Musa right? I can't wait for the korean version of Musa, JSA, and FRIEND....drool...

I got a email from him that said besides being a two discer it came with a hardcover book. Sounds pretty cool, But I think I'll just wait for HK Legends disc so I can enjoy the extras as well.

i enjoyed barking dogs never bite waaaay too much :> i really need to order it

i've seen Barking Dogs, Nowhere to Hide and Foul King so far... and i've thoroughly enjoyed all three! even the wife, who isn't korean, thought they were good!

What is Musa about? How it is?

I own the US version of Nowhere to Hide, what is cut out of it? Is it worth replacing?

i don't have musa yet so i can't comment on that.

darcy's k movies

as for nowhere to hide, imdb says that there are 20 minutes deleted... i've been told that those were character development scenes... but since i don't own the US version, i can't tell you exactly what those scenes are.

well, my second batch came in and i got Musa also. (like a goofball, i forgot to order my sassy girl though... will have to get it in my next order when Chingoo (friend) comes out)

i assume you sort of know the plot of the movie? korean envoy goes to china, gets abused, tries to get home... lots of fights. princess in there somewhere... but in the end, i found myself far more interested in the character studies. (i'm trying to not have any spoilers so i apolgize for being vague)

i got 2 words for musa: Wow Wee!

ok, sort of nitpicks first:

english subs are not the greatest - couple (and i mean 2 or 3 times) of times, the subs were slightly clipped or went by too fast to read. sometimes the translation was not the greatest. also, i wish they could have conveyed a sense of heirarchy in the subs a bit more - the way the general spoke to the princess is not the same as he spoke to pretty much anyone he didn't respect... the class struggle thru language is an important theme in Musa.

1/2 the movie is in chinese... well, for authenticity's sake, the chinese spoke chinese (luckily, eileen is fluent in chinese so we could ask each other questions). mandarin.

some of the battle scenes are very very brutal be aware of that.

now, to the good things (95% ):

some of the battle scenes are very very brutal

i know that girl from crouching tiger is in it, but so is Iron Monkey i think he did an excellent job in his role.

although 1/3 of the movie seems to be battles, and it certainly is integral to the movie, it was the characters and their interactions w/ each other that really made the movie go to another level. how they all sort of grow up from the adversity is believable, and sometimes very touching. the supporting roles are also very critical.

musa - means warrior/fighter - is a very appropriate title for the movie.