Transformers

One benefit of living overseas is that occasionally, movies will open here first. My first experience of this was D.O.A. which assaulted Korea almost seven months before the US. Then there was the great Pan's Labyrinth, and Sunshine.

Tonight, after a pull-out-my-hair frustrating encounter with the bureaucracy in the local education office, I went to see Transformers. This is the perfect movie for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. I didn't find myself looking at my watch and enjoyed the whole thing. Sure there were huge plot holes, and cheesy dialog, but what big movie would be without that? Thus far this summer, out of the big movies that have come to Korea (Pirates 3 and Spiderman 3) it was clearly the best.

The special effects were amazing, the acting was pretty good, and there was a pretty good balance of humor. I must say that I think I'm beginning to appreciate the humor of Shia LeBeouf. Who would have thought Even Stevens would have grown up to be an action star? It big movies with lots of explosions and the like are your thing, then this movie is for you.

For Korea, most of the blockbuster season is still ahead of us. I put together a calendar of upcoming Korean movie releases. Beginning with the one I've anticipating the most, Harry Potter, there is a big movie coming out every weekend for almost two months. I'm interested to see how it will be received in the States.

For those interested, the calendar for English-language movies being released in Korea is here: