Sundance Review: 'Seoul Searching', Starring Justin Chon and Jessika Van

What do you get when you throw a bunch of teenagers together in one place and call it summer camp? Well, director Benson Lee calls it Seoul Searching. Based on his own childhood experience growing up, Korean migrants make it back to Seoul, Korea for a summer camp that their parents send them to in order to learn more about their mother culture. Because all of these teens are 2nd generation Koreans whose parents moved to different parts of the world (Germany, America, England, etc.) after the Korean war split the country into two different factions, their parents think they have assimilated too much into their new culture and have lost touch with their roots.

Children who belong to "the third space" can most definitely understand this film since being caught between two cultures can often be difficult to live through, but in general the film is also heavy on the rifts between parents and children and anyone of any culture can understand this. It focuses on this during the second half of the movie and spends the first half being more innocent and filled with teen fun, although this aspect gets heavy handed at times.

It's the '80s, so the style and music of that era dominate the film and for the most part this aspect works. The story doesn't really focus on one or two characters, but several of them at once, and because of this, each of the characters has their own unique style and qualities, almost to a stereotypical fault. For example, the Korean-Americans (Justin Chon, Jessika Van) have more attitude issues and try really hard at being cool. The Korean-German is clean-cut and more serious, and the Korean-Mexican is always chasing girls and trying to charm the opposite sex. So, the roles obviously play to the stereotypes of whatever culture the teens come from and that sometimes gets a bit frustrating.

Having said this however, the main characters also have more depth to them than what we first realize. They're torn between trying to fit into two worlds and living up to their parents' expectations of them, especially the expectations from traditions and a culture they may not fully understand. This makes for some interesting material, which is sometimes overshadowed by teenage angst. The film is a comedy, but spends most of its time trying really hard to be funnier than it actually is. There are occasionally amusing moments, but the overall film doesn't feel genuinely funny enough.

The cast, the majority of which is made up of newcomers, do a fair enough job trying to give their characters layering, but more often than not the script doesn't help them very much. One of the most touching scenes though, comes during a confrontation between Sid (Justin Cho) and his summer camp teacher Mr. Kim (In-Pyo Cha). Mr. Kim's demons are confronted as he's trying to understand Sid and why he carries around this big attitude. The scene is genuine, heartfelt, and is one of the most enjoyable scenes from the film. As is the scene between Kris (Rosalina Leigh) and her biological mother. These scenes are great and prove that regardless of what you think of the film, it has a lot of potential.

'80s music, a teenage-filled atmosphere, some fun, some contrived drama are what make up Seoul Searching. The stereotypes are sometimes too out there to really ignore, and the ending happens a bit too fast in order to wrap everything up neatly, and doesn't feel overtly natural in its finishing touches. Director Benson Lee has a unique plot (how many movies send us to summer camp in Korea?) and the idea to explore these multi-cultural teens is something not many people can easily take on, but the execution and script need a bit of polishing.

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Sundance News: Lindsay Lohan announces new film 'Inconceivable'

Hot off the presses from the Sundance Film Festival is the news that Lindsay Lohan is in town to announce a new film project, Inconceivable, that she will start filming in March. Do you care? Does the fact that it's a psychological thriller intrigue you? Or that producer Randall Emmett, who has previously produced movies like 2 Guns and Broken City and Righteous Kill, is involved? Or that Lilo will be a producer, and therefore involved in casting? How excited, at this point, can we really be about Lohan's umpteenth attempt at getting her career back on track?

Of course, there is a very easy joke to be made about the fact that the film is called Inconceivable. I mean, it's "inconceivable" that Lilo will ever have a true, seriously taken career again, right? It's just not possible. Or, maybe I'll end up being wrong and she'll leave crap like The Canyons behind and she'll eventually be the new Matthew McConaughey. ... Maybe.

Anyway, Inconceivable seems to be in its early stages, but look for more news about the project as the weeks go by, or maybe even in the next few days of the Sundance Film Festival. Travis Hopson, our man on the festival streets, will keep you in the loop. Until then, just watch Mean Girls and comfort yourself with the greatness that Lilo once was.

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Sundance News: Bruce Willis will be back for 'Sin City: A Dame to Kill For'

OH, hey Bruce Willis! What's up, guy? It's kind of crazy how packed Willis's 2013 will be: A Good Day to Die Hard comes out in February, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is hitting theaters in March, and Red 2 is for the tail-end of the summer, in August. SO MUCH WILLIS. Middle-aged men must be very excited for the next few months.

And here's some more good news: Willis will return for Robert Rodriguez's Sin City sequel, A Dame to Kill For. According to an interview with Rodriguez with MTV at Sundance, it's as simple as "Bruce is back, so you'll be seeing him." Willis joins other returning actors like Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, and Jaime King, and newbies like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Juno Temple, and Josh Brolin.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is supposed to come out this year, but who knows if that's true? Anyway, it's been a long time since 2005, when Sin City was released, so I guess we can all wait a little longer. Boo. Hiss.

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Sundance News: First clip drops from 'Lovelace,' starring Amanda Seyfried

Well, Amanda Seyfried has gone from playing the purest of the pure - Cosette in last year's Les Mis - to legendary porn star Linda Boreman in the biopic Lovelace, which premieres Wednesday at Sundance. Our very own Travis Hopson will be seeing the film at Sundance, so stay tuned for his review!

Until then, though, click through for the first clip from the film, which features Seyfried with some very curly brown hair and very few clothes. No, she's not naked just yet, but she is becoming more sexually aware. In the clip, she chats with photographer and love interest Larry (Wes Bentley, YES, I ADORE HIM; this looks so much better than last year's Gone, which Seyfried and Bentley also starred in together) about how her work in the adult industry so far has taught her "how to enjoy sex, and I feel free." And when she sees the portraits Larry shoots of her, she can't believe it - "You made me beautiful."

Yup, lots here for dudes to salivate over and women to get angry about. I'm already a little offended, feminism, etc. But anyway, check back later this week for Travis's review of Lovelace (which also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Sharon Stone, Adam Brody, and Juno Temple), and click through for the clip!

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Sundance Review: 'The Raid', directed by Gareth Evans

After four days of dramatic festival films at Sundance, there was really only one way to wrap up the entire experience: with a straight shot to the heart of pure adrenaline. The Raid is a film that's been on every body's lips since Toronto last year, with some proclaiming it to be the greatest action movie of the last decade. Talk like that is best taken with a heavy dose of cynicism. It's easy to get excited during film festivals over movies that probably aren't that great. However over the course of the months in between, the praise for The Raid never died down. In fact, it only got louder, more deafening, and more certain. And now you can add one more voice to the growing chorus.

If you never got to see Merantau, director Gareth Evans' crazy introduction to the insane Indonesian martial art known as Pencak Silat, then do yourself a favor and check it out first as a primer. The Raid, which also stars that films' breakout Iko Uwais, take it's intense action and decides that taking time for a breather is no longer a requirement. There's scarcely a moment in The Raid where some death defying act isn't taking place, yet Evans leaves barely enough room for a plot that gives you a reason to care who makes it out with all their bones intact.

The film is basically one long live-action video game, where a SWAT Team mounting a desperate assault against a heavily fortified Jakarta high rise building, owned and operated by the cruel drug lord, Tama. Think of Tama as the game's end boss, with each floor another stage of the game which must be conquered through any means necessary, whether that's bloody shootouts with armed goons, or engaging in breakneck hand-to-hand combat with fighters so fast they make Jet Li look like he's standing still. We're introduced early on to Rama(Uwais), a member of the squad who has his own motivations for going in, like rescuing his brother who is holed up deep inside. To get him out, he'll need to defeat Tama's vile henchman, one of whom is basically a mad dog of furious feet and fists who destroys everything in his path. He's like Bolo Yeung, only faster and far more brutal. When he and Rama finally meet in what is literally ten minutes of bone crunching, heart stopping warfare, it is a thing of deranged beauty.

The beauty of The Raid stretches beyond it's incredible pace, but in the dynamic way Evans captures the action. To describe how Silat is presented in the film, it's almost like a blend of Tony Jaa's muay thai style, full of hard knees and elbow striking, with the acrobatics of parkour. Only, Evans has masterfully combined these balletic elements with a serious amount of gun play, that makes for a totally unique, mind blowing experience. It's just rare that we get a martial arts flick this fast paced and creatively choreographed. If District B13 is the high water mark for recent action brawlers, and to me it is, then The Raid is a notch above even that. Evans never shies away from the violence even for a moment, from splattery up close head shots to guys getting their backs broken over metal guardrails. The amount of devastation inflicted on the human body in this flick is both tough to stomach and yet exhilarating. You can't help wondering what the medical budget was like on set, and how many stuntmen spent their evenings in the ICU. It's impossible to turn away for fear you'll miss something you're likely never to see again. At least not until The Raid 2(let's hope!!).

Perhaps adding to the films' charms is the obvious low budget look and feel. It doesn't have the slickness of some of the higher end action movies we get nowadays, even those from Japan and Thailand. That grittiness adds a realness which puts you right in the thick of the action. Two movies in, and it can honestly be said that the combination of Evans and Uwais is arguably the best on the action block, so everyone else might want to step aside lest they catch a swift kick to the mush.

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Sundance Review: 'Your Sister's Sister', starring Emily Blunt and Mark Duplass

Dig this. Jack, (Mark Duplass) who is still struggling to deal with the death of his brother a year later, is suggested to by his best friend, Iris,(Emily Blunt) to take some time alone at her family's secluded cabin to clear his head. There, he finds that the place isn't so secluded, as his best friend's lesbian sister, Hannah,(Rosemarie Dewitt) is there, and the two share a night of drunken chatter which leads to equally intoxicated(not exactly intoxicating) sex. Then the best friend shows up suddenly the next morning. Awkward!

Sounds like something out of a bad sitcom, right? So did 2009's Humpday, Lynne Shelton's witty, razor sharp comedy about two very male, very heterosexual best friends who make a pact to have sex with each other as some sort of art project. Silly as it seemed, Shelton's understated, realistic writing made it work, navigating the tension that comes from guy relationships. Here, she's working on a slightly different playing field, but the results are no less dynamic than before.

Shelton weaves an intricate web connecting these three people. Iris is more than just Jack's friend, she was also his brother's ex-wife, a fact which has made their tightening bond awkward. Hannah, who just ended a relationship with her long-term partner, is suffocating under feelings of being unwanted, a ticking biological clock, and loneliness. That last point is one afflicting them all, really, and it drives them to hurt one another in ways that are unexpected. Much like Humpday, the story may end up in a familiar place, but the route it takes getting there is full of unexpected, natural swerves.

What separates Shelton from other writers is that she seems to have every single facet of these characters figure out. She understands them on levels others were never attempt to explore. Here, that gift is put to extraordinary use in in the sisterly bond between Hannah and Iris. Emily Blunt, no stranger to roles like this(such as in Sunshine Cleaning opposite Amy Adams) is a natural fit for Shelton's low-wattage style. Rosemarie Dewitt, who first blew down festival doors a few years ago in Rachel Getting Married, is a perfect jumble of contradictions. Duplass, however, is having the Sundance of a lifetime. With three very different projects(Black Rock, Safety Not Guaranteed), Duplass is showing he's someone to be reckoned with both behind and in front of the camera. His Jack is someone every guy both would aspire to be more like, and yet never want his life in a million years. He's self deprecating, charming, a little bit nervous, and also an emotional train wreck, yet there's a warming heart underneath that draws people to him. Duplass is quickly becoming a personal favorite.

While there are moments when the film gets a bit too chatty for it's own good, and Shelton's crude camerawork can occasionally be a drag, Your Sister's Sister never ceases to be engaging. It's one of Shelton's great talents, to create characters you want to see succeed. They're so genuine you root for them to be happy, even when(or perhaps because of) they slip up and make mistakes.

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