The Gender Genie gets it wrong! ;(

As I think that many -- if not all -- of you are aware, I'm of the female persuasion. After all, as a perusal of the About Me section of this blog will show, I've hardly gone out of my way to hide the nature of my gender.

When I first started regularly contributing to discussions and such on the internet, however, I -- and Brian, the webmaster of Hong Kong Cinema: View from the Brooklyn Bridge (the site where I made my debut as a Hong Kong movie reviewer) -- had thought that it might be safer and such for me to not be all that open about my gender. Hence my writing there -- and in subsequent cyber locales, including originally on the Mobius Home Video Forum (before the institution there of a policy which requires posters to use their real names) -- as YTSL (which, if anyone wonders, are my initials).

At some point during it all though, Brian told me that, the way he saw it, my writing (style) couldn't help but give away the fact that I'm female. And I have to say that e-mails I received from certain of my readers -- specifically, those containing lines like "I imagine that you look like The Bride with White Hair..."(!) or "I have this image of you as like Maggie Cheung in Irma Vep..."(!!!) -- looked to go some ways towards confirming this. ;D

Hence my surprise when I tried out The Gender Genie -- a program designed by a couple of professors to predict the gender of an author -- and on each of the three times that I tested it out (and with three different excerpts from this blog at that), got identified as being male! (Though, in truth, I did have some advance warning by way of a piece about this program by Virginia DeBolt entitled New Data Shows I'm Male and the comments by female readers who had gone out and given The Gender Genie a twirl themselves.)

So...here's asking for some willing volunteers from among this blog's readers to ask The Gender Genie to figure out their gender. And since I thus far only know of females who have submitted samples to be analyzed, here's especially calling on those of the male gender to give it a go and then report back about the results via this entry's Comments section! :b

Five memorable train journeys

A shinkansen slows down enough for me to take a photo
as it enters to pick up passengers at a station

Last December, two family friends returned to Penang from Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., where they now reside. As has become the norm, they came over to our house for a visit and chat. While shooting the breeze, this pair recounted with amusement one more time -- as they've done every time we've met up in recent years! -- how it is that I am the only person to date whom they've ever gone to pick up from Atlanta's train station (as opposed to the city's airport).

Although they have not gone so far as to explicitly state it, it's clear enough that their sense is that it will stay this way for a long time, if not ever! All of which goes to show that, especially in the U.S.A. and my native Malaysia -- both car countries as far as transportation preferences go, my liking for train travel is something which distinguishes me plus puts me in a (probably certifiable!) class of my own.

Maybe in the not so distant future, this will not be so. This especially in light of fears of global warming and other environmental concerns having recently got people realizing that train travel is one of the more environmentally friendly ways to go.

In the meantime, here's recounting details of five quite different train journeys that I got much out of embarking and completing; and which gave me cause to think that sometimes, the getting there portion is what makes for a -- if not the most -- memorable part of the overall experience:-

1) Butterworth, Penang to Ipoh, Perak (Malaysia), c. 1970s: Undertaken when I was a pre-teen, this train journey in question is actually the one and only train ride I've ever been on in my home country besides the short trips on the funicular railway that goes up Penang Hill. Also, since Penang island has no train apart from the afore-mentioned funicular hill railway, this particular rail trip is one that actually began on the mainland portion of Penang state over at Butterworth's train station (rather than my home island itself).

Because I was really quite young then, what I remember more are impressions rather than actual details of the journey. Just the same though, I'll maintain that the memories of travelling through miles of equatorial greenery and flooded rice fields and, also, past a scary-looking Chinese cemetery before ending up at an architectural wonder of a train station that's sometimes referred to as the Taj Mahal of Ipoh(!) are ones that I feel will always live with me... :)

2) London, England to Edinburgh, Scotland (Britain), 1980: At least back when I took this trip on one of those trains known as the Intercity 125 because it was supposedly capable of going at 125 miles per hour (but, actually, was recorded as being able to go up to 140 mph), a direct train from the English capital to its Scottish equivalent averaged about five and a half hours. However, on this particular journey, my travel companions and I were unable to pass up the opportunities to stop for a few days in historic York on the way up to Edinburgh as well as stop for a day in the cathedral city of Durham on the way back to London. So it all took up quite a bit more time than five and a half hours.

As might be imagined, all of the mentioned cities had a part to play in providing me with many a treasured memory. (E.g., we had the good fortune of being in the impressively atmosphere-rich Durham Cathedral as the sun began to set and consequently got an especially evocative visiting experience there.) Nevertheless, I have to admit that the part of this particular train journey that may well stick out the most in my memory is the extended scenic view of the magical looking tidal island of Lindisfarne arising from the sea that I got from my window seat; one which has left me with an agonizing "so near, yet so far" feeling and resolve that, one day, I will go there for a visit.

3) Denver, Colorado to Los Angeles, California (U.S.A.), 1988: If truth be told, this train journey was one that's actually too long for my liking. And it doesn't help that it's on Amtrak; not my favorite train service provider on account of many of its trains being slower than those in a lot of less economically wealthy, etc. countries, and their having not that much -- and quality -- choice of food on them to boot.

So, if I could do the trip all over again, I'd get off the train at Salt Lake City, Utah since the part of the ride west from there to Los Angeles can feel like a never-ending one through uninterestingly uninhabited and increasingly similar looking desert terrain. However, the portion of the rail journey that commences soon after one leaves Denver, which has the train going through the mountains as well as breathtaking mountain scenery, is out of this world, absolutely not to be missed and makes the whole trip feel worthwhile!

4) Dar es Salaam to Moshi (Tanzania), 1992: This overnight Tanzanian train journey that goes from coastal Dar es Salaam up into the East African country's northern highlands has to be most harrowing as well as exciting train journey I've ever taken. How harrowing you ask? One way to explain this is by letting you know that as dinner time approached, my travel companion on this particular trip -- an individual from Mainland China who has been on his share of trains in his native land -- and I sought to make our way to the dining car but when we saw that the carriages were jumping up and down, and at different times from one another, much like different parts of a carnival-esque fun house would, we decided to forego dinner in favor of a couple of oranges each and a few peanut snacks that we had brought along with us!

Another gauge that I'll offer up is that this Chinese man -- who, incidentally, had named himself Jacky so that, on account of his surname being Chen, his name would be easily remembered by Tanzanians (many of whom are fans of Hong Kong along with other movies)! ;) -- kept on muttering through much of the journey that "this is velly bad; velly, velly bad" and "we are going to die!". Until, that is, I crossly told him: "Well, if we're going to die, then shut up so that I can sleep and therefore die in my sleep"!!! ;DDD

5) Tokyo to Kokura (Japan), 2006: Aaaaaaaah! Would that all train journeys could be as comfortable, efficient, on-schedule, on-time, etc., etc. as this one on the Nozomi-503 class of shinkansen (i.e., bullet train) which took my mother and I from the capital of Japan over on Honshu island to the city of Kokura over on the northern tip of Kyushu island!!!

Right from when we were standing in line to enter the train and saw the cleaners go in and quickly -- but cleanly all the same! -- clean the insides of the carriages as well as efficiently flip the chairs so that all the seats would face the "right" direction, I knew that I'd be in for an amazing experience. The incredibly well-behaved passengers (which included a quiet cat in an incredibly cute portable cat box) only added to the train's charm. Ditto the interesting and often picture-book-looking landscapes that we passed -- often at great speed -- along the way. So even though I didn't get to see Mount Fuji on account of it not being a clear day that travel day, I still came away from the experience with the view that the time spent making this train journey was one that truly was well spent indeed. :)

Favorite female authors follow-up post

 My favorite author as a child 

Last week, I composed an entry on Favorite female authors which I'm surprised as well as pleased to have seen attract some interesting posts on its Comments section. For the record: Wow and thank you, mikael and alejna, for deciding to go and order some books "blind" on account of my having written favorably about them! Also, in lieu of the interest shown in the works of Enid Blyton (notably by leo86 and alejna), I figured that it might be worthwhile to shine the spotlight some more on this favorite childhood author of mine (and many (non-American) others).

So, for starters, here's pointing people to the BBC Radio 4 page that links to RealPlayer audio clips of excerpts from interviews with the famous female writer. Next, interested parties are directed to a 26 December 2006 piece on Enid Blyton in The Independent which came in the wake of news that just before last Christmas, five works of Enid Blyton were finally translated into Maltese. (On this event itself, Philip Henscher was moved to observe that it constituted: "A small step for Blyton's estate, which is already published in nearly a hundred different languages, but a large one to the children of this particular island.")

Additionally, here's furnishing proof that I'm not the only Malaysian who has blogged -- and in a positive manner -- on the much criticized yet still popular English author. (For those who are not (yet) in the know: "Bolehland", where the blogger in question satirically states that he's from, is the nickname that some Malaysians have bestowed on their home country on account of one of our national government's more well-known national pride instilling-campaign slogans being Malaysia boleh! (trans., "Malaysia can (do it)!"). ;D)

At the same time, as a further follow-up to my admissions with regards to Enid Blyton having been the author of many of the books I read as a child and still turn to whenever I'm feeling really poorly, I feel obliged to pen a few words of caution for people who have managed to reach adulthood without having read a single Enid Blyton book and now are thinking of checking out one or more of them.

To quote from the Philip Henscher piece some more: "Enid Blyton is absolutely irresistible, and children who will read nothing will quite often read what you have of course recognised as the Famous Five and the Secret Seven." However, "[o]ne of the very startling experiences of growing up as a reader is picking up one of her books in adulthood, and trying to read it at all...God knows how Blyton achieves this. To anyone over the age of 13, these books are literally unreadable. I tried to read The Fourth Form at Malory Towers (sic.) a year or two ago; it was honestly about as demanding as Samuel Beckett's Malone Dies. It could hardly have been much less penetrable if I'd been attempting the Maltese translation itself"!!!

Henscher goes on to also assert that "Blyton's attitudes are often frankly antediluvian". Although he is undoubtedly guilty of exaggeration, it must be recognized that Enid Blyton's books were written by a woman who was born in 1897 -- i.e., when Queen Victoria ruled over a (British) "empire on which the sun never set" -- and passed away some years before I, like many others, started reading her books.

Still, lest it be thought that Henscher's one of those who's in the anti-Enid Blyton camp, here's additionally pointing out that among his concluding remarks are that: "You are absolutely wasting your time thinking these books, unreadable as they may seem to you, could be profitably replaced in your child's library by something better written, more amusing, more sympathetic in its moral outlook"; and, ultimately, "[t]he addiction to Blyton will come to an end, sooner or later; the addiction to reading she inculcates will go on forever."

For my part, I figure that I might as well as throw out a few excerpts from an Enid Blyton book to let you judge for yourself whether her books have any value. Granted though that Blyton fan that I am, I'm going ahead and choosing to highlight sections which I particularly like (from Last Term at Malory Towers, the sixth and final book in my favorite Enid Blyton series).

Anyways, here's what Miss Grayling, the headmistress (i.e., female "head teacher" or "principal" to those not familiar with this British English term!) of Malory Towers had to say at a meeting with some new pupils of the fabled girls boarding school:-

I want you all to listen to me for a minute or two. One day you will leave this school and go out into the world as young women. You should take with you eager minds, kind hearts and a will to help. You should take with you a good understanding of many things and a willingness to accept responsibility, and show yourselves as women to be loved and trusted. All these things you will be able to learn at Malory Towers -- if you will.

Then, after a pause, during which "every girl looked at her intently, listening hard..."

I do not count as our successes those who have good scholarships and passed exams, though these are good things to do. I count as our successes those who learn to be good-hearted and kind, sensible and trustable, good, sound women the world can lean on. Our failures are those who do not learn these things in the years they are here...

Some of you will find it easy to learn these things, others will find it hard...But, easy or hard, they must be learnt if you are to be happy after you leave here, and if you are to bring happiness to others.

Now, I don't know about you but I reckon that the above words are ones which would be pretty good ones to live by. And to think that they appeared in a book for children that was first published back in 1951... :)

Penang cinemas past and present (Photo-essay)

Once upon a time, people went as a matter of course to view movies at single-screen picture palaces. These days, however, many of these once popular purveyors of dreams lie abandoned and/or in ruin while others of them have been converted to serve other purposes that often are far away from that of filmic entertainment. Moreover, in many parts of the world, those stand-alone cinemas that still exist look to be waging a losing battle for the most part against fancy plus modern multiplexes.

The part of me that remembers good times spent at, and good movies viewed within, Malaysia's old cinemas can't help but feel some modicum of sorrow whenever I pass by one of those once thriving concerns. At the same time though, I have to be honest and laud the newer multiplexes for offering the sort of sound and picture quality as well as generally comfortable seats and surroundings that the old theatres were unable to offer even in their heyday.

Additionally, I do take quite a bit of comfort from the fact that -- unlike as was feared a decade or so back; and is the case in a few other of Malaysia's states -- there still are places in Penang where one can go and view movies on a big screen. Furthermore, coupled with the sadness that stems from seeing such as the transformation of the charming Rex cinema into a furniture store is some relief that not all of Penang's cinematic heritage has gone the way of the completely demolished Capitol theatre or even the now heart-breakingly derelict Majestic...

Majestic no more...

...nonetheless, the Majestic will forever have
a place in my memories and heart
that's courtesy of the movies I viewed there

The Rex name has been almost entirely obscured now...

...but the Rex's original art deco building remains

And yes, the Shaw Brothers used to have a Penang office too!

Movie banners displaying five of the December 2006 offerings

of the multiplex at the Gurney Plaza shopping centre

The Veenai Odeon --

Penang's last remaining stand-alone theatre

French focus

Close to two decades ago now, I paid my first -- and thus far, only -- visit to France. Sadly, my stay in that country was on the short side. Also, if one were to discount my few hours on the high-speed Paris-Geneva train with which I concluded my time in the French Republic, I actually didn't venture all that far or frequently out of France's fabled capital city.

However, when one considers what and how many attractions there are in Paris alone...well, let's just say that it's small wonder that I continue to have very vivid memories of my brief French sojourn and quite a surprise that I'm able to narrow down the most memorable places I visited to the following five "must see"s, especially for lovers of art, should they ever find themselves in this country:-

1) The Eiffel Tower: Predictable, I know, but how can one leave the symbol of France off any list of French "must see"s? Still the tallest structure in Paris, this iron structure which stands at 1,063 feet (or 324 meters) was famously constructed to serve as the entrance arch for the 1889 World's Fair hosted by the City of Light.

Strange as it may seem, I feel that many of the photographs of this engineering marvel don't do it justice in terms of showing how big and tall -- and, consequently, physically impressive -- it really is. At the same time, it must be said that the panoramic views of Paris that it affords its visitors may well be the most memorable part of visits to Gustave Eiffel's architectural tour de force.

2) Musee du Louvre: Known just as "the Louvre" to millions of people all over the world, this art museum that's housed in a former royal palace is Paris' most visited monument. I get the feeling though that a great many of its visitors consider their visit to this incredible institution complete after catching only a glimpse of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and find this very sad indeed.

It's not just that the Louvre is home to some 35,000 works of art and has over 60,000 square meters of exhibition space. Rather, it's that the largest museum in the world also happens to possess hundreds, if not thousands, of other seriously amazing artistic pieces.

Alternatively put: In most any other museum in the world, masterpieces like Theodore Gericault's The Raft of the Medusa, Jacques-Louis David's Consecration of (the Emperor) Napoleon I and Coronation of Josephine... and Nicolas Poussin's The Rape of the Sabine Women would be centers of attraction in their own right. And so too sculptural gems like the Hellenistic Winged Victory of Samothrace and Venus (or Aphrodite) de Milo. Etc., etc., etc.

3) Musee d'Orsay: A pretty new museological establishment by French standards (one which first opened its doors to the public in 1986), this specialist institution whose focus is late 19th century Western, particularly French, art is one whose airy building's magnificence threatens to overwhelm its collections. (In case you didn't know, the spacious structure in question is a historical monument in its own right as well as was once a railway station known as the Gare d'Orsay!)

That is, if not for the fact that this museum's collections happen to include a host of Impressionist treasures -- like Claude Monet's Poppies, Near Argenteuil, Pierre-Auguste Renoir's La Danse a la Ville (Dancing in the City) and Edgar Degas' The Tub -- together with other master works like Edouard Manet's The Fife Player and even James McNeill Whistler's Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother (AKA Whistler's Mother)...! ;b

4) Palace of Versailles: I know, I know. And yes, it's another former French royal residence turned museum. But this is the palace of Louis XIV, "the Sun King", within which the peace treaty of World War I was signed, that we're talking about! And the depository of various works of art as well as a work of art in and of itself.

Inscribed onto the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1979, the Palace of Versailles is grandness personified. As was the case with Beijing's Forbidden City, a good portion of its artistic riches were carried off during or after the Revolution. However, the main building remains, and remains impressive. Ditto with the famous -- and beautifully restored -- "Hall of Mirrors", and also the expansive palace garden that's one of the largest formal gardens ever created.

5) Cathedrale Notre Dame de Chartres: The sixth holy structure to be erected on the same site in Chartres, a market town located some 50 miles (or 80 kilometers) southwest from Paris, Chartres Cathedral has been described by at least one writer as "perhaps the supreme monument of High Gothic art and architecture".

Built over a period which covers the late twelfth and early thirteenth century, the double-spired cathedral rises majestically above other buildings in the town and is visible from a distance. However, upon entering the building, what becomes readily apparent is that Chartres Cathedral's true glory lies in its stained glass windows.

At the risk of sounding like I'm rubbing it in: no words -- or photographs too probably -- can do justice to these medieval works of art which are at their aesthetic, blazing best when a bright afternoon sun shines through them. Instead, about all I can offer up is the fact that close to twenty years on, my memories of (beholding) them continue to burn bright and stay treasured...

Fun, happiness, reality and laughter

Click here to participate in a Global Happiness survey which seeks to determine such as the happiness level of the world along with the world's happiest and saddest countries.

A caveat: It's hard to put much stock by this poll when -- at least when I checked the results (which have a day-to-day as well as "all time" options) -- it lists the United Kingdom and Malaysia both as the happiest and saddest countries today! This notwithstanding, I reckon that some of the responses which are available for perusal in the site's Comments sections can make for interesting or amusing (or both) reading... ;b

On a more serious note: A while back, a friend passed me a clipping from a March 2006 issue of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (a newspaper which I used to regularly read on-line until -- boo, hiss! -- it initiated its "paid subscription" policy). Entitled Cheer up, we're not so miserable, the article interviewed two academics, one Australian and one Hong Konger, about their specialty subject: i.e., "finding out how happy we are, and why".

Among this pair's findings had been that whereas people in developed western countries (including Australia) tend to rate their well-being at an average of 7.5 on a scale of 0 to 10, Hong Kongers gave answers that averaged out at closer to 6.5 on the same scale. However, the researchers argued, cultural differences -- more than actual reality -- may explain that (point) discrepancy.

At the same time, culture -- in particular, a cultural tendency to report themselves higher on the well-being scale -- was pinpointed as a factor which accounted for Nigerians topping the happiness rankings of the multiple country survey carried out by that which calls itself the International Wellbeing Group.

That last conclusion got me thinking of one of my favorite books of all time. Return to Laughter: An Anthropological Novel by Elenore Smith Bowen (the nom de plume of one of my anthropological heroes, Laura Bohannan) is based on the socio-cultural anthropologist's fieldwork experiences among the Tiv of Nigeria.

A classic of anthropological literature which was first published in 1954 (and a genuinely good read), it contains the following meditations of laughter and its true meaning for the people who ended up teaching a lot of life lessons to the book's anthropologist protagonist:-

The cripple must be a fool not to realize . . . A fool? Or mad. In such a situation one must either laugh or go mad, laugh at the reality or be made in the illusion...

In an environment in which tragedy is genuine and frequent, laughter is essential to sanity. Such laughter is neither callous nor humorous...

These people know the reality and laugh at it. Such laughter has little concern with what is funny. It is often bitter and sometimes a little mad, for it is the laugh under the mask of tragedy, and also the laughter that masks tears. They are the same. It is the laughter of people who value love and friendship and plenty, who have lived with terror and death and hate.

To be worst,

The lowest and most dejected thing of fortune,
Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear;
The lamentable change is from the best,
The worst returns to laughter.

"Best of..." poll sneak peek

My number 1 film of 2006

For some years now, it's been a tradition of sorts for me to take part in the Top 10 Theatrical Films portion of the Best of... poll over at the Mobius Home Video Forum. (Unfortunately, the ballots and results from some of the earlier years have been lost but interested parties can check out my -- and many other Mobians' -- 2005 votes over here while those for the years 1999 to 2001 can be accessed via this page.)

The deadline for submitting this year's ballots is midnight today, 31st January (though, because of the time difference, I actually have fourteen more hours to do this than those who reside in the U.S.A.'s Central time zone... ;b). Consequently, the past few hours have seen me putting the finishing touches to my poll submission and then sending it off to be recorded and tabulated.

If all goes as planned, sometime next week, the results of this year's votes will be announced and displayed on Mobius' Arthouse, World & Hollywood Cinema discussion board. (More than by the way, I do hope that I won't be the only the only Asian Cinema discussion board regular who will take part in this poll -- or the sole female, as turned out to be the case one year... ;S)

However, especially for those of this blog's readers who don't actually frequent the Mobius Home Video Forum, I'm going to go ahead and provide a sneak peek here of my personal picks -- and accompanying write-ups -- for the 10 best theatrical films of 2006 (i.e., those cinematic offerings which I viewed in theatres (including the non-retrospective sections of film festivals) and/or had a theatrical release in their home territory in 2006):-

1) Exiled (Hong Kong, 2006)
Director Johnnie To’s stylish quasi-sequel to his artful The Mission (Hong Kong, 1999) is a filmic masterpiece which is laden with virtuosic set-pieces and rich references to Milkyway Image movies past that’s guaranteed to awe, please and even exhilarate those of us who are already his fans (even while being unapologetically obtuse for those folks who still are not).

2) Still Life (Mainland China, 2006)
The deserved winner of the Golden Lion at the 2006 Venice Film Festival, this bravura Jia Zhangke offering’s strengths lie in its: willingness to show more than tell; and ability to pretty much seamlessly incorporate fanciful visuals – like a UFO and flying building! – into what generally feels like a revealing along with contemplative documentary-style look at a rapidly changing China.

3) My Name is Fame (Hong Kong, 2006)
In a perfect world, this compelling portrait of the down-but-still- alive-and-kicking Hong Kong film industry would be director Lawrence Lau (AKA Lawrence Ah Mon), actor Lau Ching Wan and the local film industry’s “come-back” movie. Since it’s far from being that, I’ll settle for this earnest offering being recognized as one of 2006’s better along with more admirable and well-meaning cinematic efforts.

4) V for Vendetta (U.S.A.-U.K., 2005)
Viva V! A major English-language blockbuster with a dramatic plus subversive political message, this big budget offering comes across as a courageously combustible as well as seriously resonant work in more ways than one. All in all (and I trust that Hong Kong film fans will appreciate this piece of high praise), this James McTeigue-helmed work both reminds me, and rivals that, of those from Tsui Hark at his very best.

5) Princess Raccoon (Japan, 2005)
If you thought that Seijun Suzuki’s Pistol Opera (Japan, 2001) was already amply weird and wonderful…here comes one more highly entertaining, wildly fantastical and gorgeously surrealistic “performance art” piece from surely the most imaginative – and amusingly mischievous? – octogenarian auteur on the planet! :b

6) Joyeux Noel (France-Germany-U.K.-Romania, 2005)
This tri-lingual World War I drama from director cum scriptwriter Christian Carion which re-creates a seemingly improbable real-life event provides a timely and lump-in-the-throat reminder of what people who are on opposing sides at particular moments in time – but at peace at others – can have in common, for good as well as bad.

7) Fearless (Hong Kong-Mainland China, 2006)
Serious in tone, instructive in intention and uplifting in spirit, this historical bio-pic from director Ronnie Yu also happens to be a hard-kicking martial arts extravaganza that’s a superb showcase for the action talents of Jet Li, the wushu master who, for all of his attempts to become a Hollywood star, is so much better utilized and more charismatic in Chinese language works.

8) Election 2 (Hong Kong, 2006)
A thought-provoking sequel that not only makes sense but also actually trump s the first Election (Hong Kong, 2005), this forceful political offering with triad drama trappings from director Johnnie To, an auteur who currently is at his absolute peak, is a brave and substantive work which successfully chills and horrifies on more than one level.

9) Forgiveness (South Africa, 2004)
The winner of the Human Rights and Youth Jury prizes at the 2004 Locarno International Film Festival (as well as a nominee for the Golden Leopard award), this understated movie with the intensely powerful story about truth, reconciliation and forgiveness is all the more effective because it smacks of absolute reality.

10) The Host (South Korea, 2006)
Who would have thought it (possible)? Here’s a monster movie from director Bong Joon-Ho that, unexpectedly and much to its credit, possesses gobs of humor and some spot-on sarcastic political criticism along with proficient acting from the leads (and some of the support players), great swathes of pathos, thrills and spills, an environmentalist message, plenty of action and wicked special effects. Oh, and a rather interesting acting plus looking monster too! :D