I’m realizing now that my ambition of posting regularly might not be as easy as I’d hoped. Yes, I’m watching a TON of movies, but not all of them are bloggable. Many, I’ve written up before (Need For Speed, Argo). Others, I might not have paid enough attention to warrant a proper write up (The Matrix sequels, The Host…yes I know I really tried but it was too real). And some things I just don’t care to (History of the World, Pt 1). Right now I’m halfway thru a Saw marathon that I may or may not finish (I think I’ve hit my limit for watching the world burn) but even that, I’ve done before. Even coming up with daily Stardust reactions hasn’t been easy, although I’m more okay with repeats there than here.
I did upgrade my tv a couple days into lockdown. I’d been thinking about going 4K for a bit. My old tv worked perfectly well, but it was just that. Old. Old enough that I don’t think I can actually resell or donate it anywhere worthy once I can take it out my apt. I also wanted to go bigger. I think I went a little too big because it does sometimes hurt my eyes to look at. And if it were even an inch wider, it would not have fit on my entertainment center. Anyways, when I upgraded, I figured that since I was gonna take on some interest free debt for a while, I should throw in a few of the more expensive DVD’s I was eyeing. Didn’t add as many as I would have liked because I forgot to account for tax in my budget, but I did get my number one priority item: The Bong Joon-Ho collection.
I think that’s enough of an intro that I can save the rest of the drama with the box set for the next write up. We’ll just skip to saying that I started with Barking Dogs Never Bite.
Now a disclaimer for me watching foreign films at home. I do get easily distracted if I’m not in a theater. Crochet does help me focus, but it’s harder when I actually need to be reading the subtitles and can’t rely on listening to dialog. I think I did fairly well with this one. Better than with the other films in the collection, but we’ll get to those.
Dogs is Bong Joon-Ho’s debut feature film. Compared to his later, more polished work (which is what I’m most familiar) and of course masterpiece Parasite, it does have an indie vibe to it. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
I don’t know how to even describe the story. Most synopsis I find say that it’s about a dude who can’t stand the dog barking in his apartment complex, so he goes to extreme measures to deal with it. That covers about 5 min. In what would soon be established as true Bong Joon-Ho fashion, the story goes many many places from there. Places I wouldn’t expect. Because above all else, Bong is a master story teller, and a master of telling unique stories.
Oh I will say, if you’re an animal lover (as I am), this movie can be a little hard to watch at times. There were a few scenes that were a struggle. Obvi, no animals harmed IRL, but doesn’t make it any easier to see.
I did enjoy the film, but I prolly wouldn’t have needed to watch it if I wasn’t trying to get thru all of Bong’s films. It’s certainly not as epic as some of this later work, but it was a damn good start