The Host (Gwoemul) Review

Man has made his newest predator

I saw this movie last night after hearing it described as Little Miss Sunshine meets Jaws. After seeing it, though, I would have to disagree. It's entertaining, but doesn't meet the standards set by either of those movies. This is the story of a dysfunctional Korean family (grandfather; champion archer daughter who moves at a snails pace; educated but unemployed son that tends to drink; and borderline narcoleptic underachiever son and single dad, whose daughter is the one taken) whose youngest was taken by a monster. They know she is alive, but the authorities won't listen and chalk their protest up to grieving and delirium.

As a side note: In the opening scene you may notice the US military doctor is played by Scott Wilson who also plays Sam Braun on CSI.

Without wanting to give anything away, I feel obligated to offer this warning: This is an asian movie, and as such the ending is bitter-sweet, victory comes at a price. As an example: In the animated epic Akira, the hero wins, but in so doing has to kill his best friend who has become a menace.

Pirates of the Caribbean at Worlds End

Where to Watch Free Movies

I love movies! However, sometimes my interest in a movie is piqued by the trailer, which sets me up for a disappointment at the theatres. On a few occasions, the movie was so bad, or the trailer so misleading, that I was outraged at the loss of my time and money. So naturally, I turned to the internet as a source of free movies. I'll be honest. I've tried peer to peer download services (particularly limewire and kazaa, and bittorrent too) and they have the same limitations: they slow your computer down, and theres no telling how long the download will take; Even after the download is complete you may not have gotten what you wanted (after 2 weeks of downloading what I thought was a movie, what I actually got was a 2 hour loop of the trailer!) Additionally, the free versions come loaded with spyware and other nuisances. Not to mention I tend to be paranoid when it comes to legal issues and it's no secret DOWNLOADING MOVIES IS ILLEGAL!

That's why I'm so excited about peekvid.com. This site is relatively new and it's great! The content is streaming so you aren't downloading anything, and you can check out a movie without spending a dime. The site and its content does have its drawbacks though:

1. The movies on the list may not be available at the moment (ie removed at the stream source, peekvid serves as a link intermediate and does not host any of the content)
2. The movies aren't complete files so you have to play the individual files in sequence going back to the referring page between each one
3. For the sake of bandwidth and speed, these are not dvd quality, and some I suspect are bootlegged off the big screen with a camcorder
4. Again, these aren't downloads, so you can't save the files to watch again later
5. Selection is limited

Fortunately, the site is still branded as being in Beta, which means time will tell if they're able to find better and more reliabe sources for their content. Currently you can browse by a limited number of categories: movies, tv series, cartoons, comedy, and anime. Check it out!

The Windmill - Animated Short Film

Saw this on yahoo and thought it was poignant and merited reposting. Here's what others thought of it as well; some of it praise, some of it not:

User Reviews

• You Folks Are Lemmings

  03/01/2007by stonerosedesigndotcom

  This film is saying that you don t have free will and that god calls the shots. You do. You re not dependent on any mental windmills because at any moment you can choose differently. If that s not free will what is.

• A Little Lovely......

  03/01/2007by nixthis12

  A very sweet, well-thought out, sentimental piece. Quite poetic and very well done. Several divine and human messages in this one piece. Nice sub-text. Award worthy for both the animation and the presentation. Se magnifique! I would be honored to work with Florian Thouret, anytime!

• Great Reality

  03/01/2007by npasatieri

  I think this film is beautiful. It portrays a human want and need for some sort of stability. Kudos! Well done!

• huh?

  03/01/2007by patrick_bridgeman

  wow what is wrong with u guys? I want the last 6 minutes of my life back...

• Who Made Who?

  03/01/2007by mmalgaskill

  Remember the Stephen King story? Machines suddenly in control? It s very well made. I loved the simplicity as it allows the viewer the opportunity to consider the plot as it unfolds. However, I have some questions -- what was that thing that fell into the room which enabled the hero the ability to live outside the influence of the windmill? and where did it come from? and why didn t the hero try to help others get out of the influence as well? Author! Author! I enjoyed the obvious parallels to workaday life ... and our minds. Man attempts to destroy that which ultimately control him in his search for independence--fear and insecurity.

• Fun!

  03/01/2007by rebeccanesler

  Very pretty and a nice style and a neat story.

• Feng Shui--The man is a practitioner

  03/01/2007by dianegallag

  What is harming your energy? Grinding you down? Fung Shui: blades of the windmill, spokes in the millhouse, the poison arrow of the weather vane and what else was atop of the arrow, a miniature windmill (like a fan s cutting blades) . . . All are known to be very harmful in the theory and practice of Feng Shui. What can you do to remore the like from your life?

• Silly Luddites

  03/01/2007by celebrim

  Go knock down the windmills and see how much freedom you have afterwards. I m thankful every day for the windmills, the milling machines, the lathes, the automobiles, the high pressure gas chromatography, the integrated circuits, the power transformers, the diesel locomotives, the powered looms, the chlorinated drinking water, the indoor plumbing, and the thousands of other things and all the wonderful engineers that are responcible for them. If you don t like it, no one is making you be civilized. Plenty of places were you can go be a hunter gatherer and grub in the ground with a stick, beat your neighbor with a stick, and wake up every day knowing that you must find food or die. That s freedom for you Luddites, then good riddence. If you can t live a soulful life in this great and wonderous age, then I suspect you can t live one anywhere. For one thing, you won t have time.

• Astounding!

  03/01/2007by bob6930121317

  This is certainly one of the best original videos I have ever seen on the Internet. It definitely shows some real talent. I really liked the story. It was sweet and intersting. It was certainly six minutes well spent! If you haven t watched it yet, do so. You don t want to miss this!

• Unknown

  03/01/2007by cyberxed

  It s a really nice story and the best thing about it is I really don t know what exactly the essence of it that makes it beautiful. Real Beauty is Really Unknown ^_^.