TMR 024 – Oldboy

Total Movie Recall

Oldboy (2003)

d. Chan-wook Park

Starring:Min-sik ChoiJi-tae YuHye-jeong Kang

This week on Total Movie Recall, Steve and Ryan take on the roles of Oedipus and Sophocles as they regress deep into their subconscious to cope with the brutal realities of Seoul's gritty underbelly. Steve comes to terms with his unquenchable thirst for revenge, Ryan double checks his list of those he has wrongs, and they both conclude that eating a live octopus might be a one way ticket to Elder God hell.

Dae-Su is an obnoxious drunk bailed from the police station yet again by a friend. However, he's abducted from the street and wakes up in a cell, where he remains for the next 15 years, drugged unconscious when human contact is unavoidable, otherwise with only the television as company. And then, suddenly released, he is invited to track down his jailor with a denouement that is simply stunning.

Things discussed in the show:

Seoul, South Korea

Brooklyn - Saoirse Ronan, Nick Hornby

The Big Short - Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling

The Revenant, Room

30 Rock - Dean Winters

The Raid 2

American Crime Story: O.J. Simpson - John Travolta, Cuba Gooding Jr. (Snow Dogs, Boat Trip), David Schwimmer

Ryan Murphy - Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story, Glee

The Crow

Battle Royale

The Happiness of the Katakuris, The Host

The hallway fight scene

Un Chien Andalou - Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dali

Blue Velvet - David Lynch

The octopus scene - Octopus and their alien DNA

H.P. Lovecraft

The Count of Monte Christo

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Lars Von Trier - The Element of Crime, Dancer in the Dark

Oedipus, Sophocles

Oldboy (2013) - Josh Brolin, Spike Lee

Oldboy soundtrack

Look Who's Talking

Stoker

The Rocketeer, Beauty and the Beast, The Black Cauldron

Next week: The Sword in the Stone