Movie Review: Thirst

ThirstFew movies fit into the dark comedy, horror film and psychodrama category at the same time. “Thirst” is one of them. The latest film by South Korean director Chan-wook Park won the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival but beware, it’s not your typical vampire movie.

This was my first time seeing a Chan-wook Park film and it’ll probably be my last — not because it’s a bad movie per se, it’s just not my type. Let’s face it, just like people have preferences over blondes and brunettes, movie goers have genre preferences and gore is not one of mine. So if you love blood (and not just blood, but blood with plot), “Thirst” is definitely for you.

The film tells the story of Sang-hyun (played by South Korea’s Song-kang Ho), a priest who values life enough to risk his own by volunteering for a secret vaccine development project meant to destroy a deadly virus.

Of course, the virus takes hold of the priest and they’re forced to transfuse blood into Sang-hyun. It just so happens that the blood was infected, leading the priest to turn into a vampire.

“Thirst” starts to pick up when Sang-hyun bumps into a sickened childhood friend and his family, including his friend’s wife Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin), who asks for the priest’s help in escaping her life. So the once goody-two-shoe priest finds himself embarking into a world of sexual pleasure, committing the Seven Deadly Sins.

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‘Inglourious Basterds’ Headed To Cannes?

Inglorious BasterdsThe world may get its first look at Quentin Tarantino’s WWII epic, “Inglourious Basterds,” next month.

Insiders told Variety that the director has accepted an offer to screen the Brad Pitt-starring drama in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Cannes organizers will announce the festival lineup on April 23, with this year’s event set to run from May 13 to 24.

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Madonna Given Honourary Citizenship in Malawi

Madonna will receive honourary citizenship to Malawi for her good will work there, reports Hello magazine.

Her adopted son, David Banda, is from Malawi. She funds several orphanages and is in the process of opening a girls’ school near the capital.

“We are proud as a country to be associated with such a megastar,” said Billy Kaunda, the deputy tourism and culture minister of Malawi. “She will have freedom of all cities here. She won’t be bothered with issues like visas and other limitations.”

Madonna also filmed a documentary on Malawi called “I Am Because We Are,” which premiered at the Cannes film festival.


Scarlett’s Head Too Big For Cannes

Now that she’s engaged to Canadian hunk Ryan Gosling, Scarlett Johansson may be becoming too big for her britches.

Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper reports that Johansson was absent from the premier of her new Woody Allen film at Cannes because the studio refused to meet her ridiculous demands.

She insisted that her $7,800-a-day make-up artist be paid to accompany her. She also refused to stay at the same hotel where Allen and co-star Penelope Cruz were staying, instead saying she required a hotel 30 miles outside of Cannes.

An executive close to the film said that “it wasn’t acceptable that Scarlett would be having to come in from that distance every day, most likely turning up late and it would have thrown schedules into a lot of confusion.”

Allen, normally quite enamoured with Johansson, is said to be annoyed that she’s not being a team player.

Johansson’s rep blamed conflicting schedules for Johansson’s absence.

The film, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” which features a kiss between Johansson and Cruz, received a ten-minute standing ovation at the festival.


Ken Loach Takes Palme d’Or at Cannes

British director Ken Loach won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, on Sunday. His film, “The Wind that Shakes the Barley,” beat out 19 other contenders at the festival in France.

The movie stars Cillian Murphy and traces Ireland’s struggle for independence, recounting the early days of the IRA in the 1920s.

Loach, 69, has said the film is also a critique of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

“Maybe if we tell the truth about the past, maybe we tell the truth about the present,” he said in his acceptance speech.

Despite seven previous nominations for the award, this was the first time Loach won the Palme d’Or.

The prize jury was led by Chinese director Wong Kar-wai and included actors Tim Roth, Monica Belluci and Samuel L. Jackson (”Snakes on a Plane”!!!).


Cannes Will Crack the Code

The eagerly anticipated movie version of The Da Vinci Code will open the 59th Festival de Cannes on May 17, says the Hollywood Reporter.

That’s two days before the film opens worldwide.

It will be screened out of competition at Cannes, but it’s still a project of impeccable pedigree. Directed by Ron Howard, based on Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, and partly shot in the Louvre Museum, the film boasts an international cast featuring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Ian McKellen and Alfred Molina.

The novel has been criticized by the Roman Catholic Church as well as scholars for having no historical basis. That didn’t stop more than 30 million copies from flying off the bookshelves.

Director-producer-actor Howard first came to Cannes with his 1988 film Willow. His A Beautiful Mind won a Best Picture Oscar in 2002.


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