Mike Goes To Movies

Parasite: Ushering In A New Era For The Oscars? Last night's Best Picture win by Parasite was a major milestone for the Academy Awards. It marked the first time in history that a foreign-language film won the Oscars' highest accolade. As many voices are currently discussing, this may be the precursor to a new era of internationalism for the Academy Awards, as well as, for Hollywood and Western cinema.  Firstly, let's just say with certainty that Bong Joon-Ho's Parasite deserved the myriad of awards it received last night: Best International Feature, Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. Notably, making the wins even more special was the fact that it was the first time a South Korean had been nominated for either Best Picture or International Feature. Parasite really is a marvelous film though, and one that should be seen by all. The film is about a 'parasitic' lower-class family who slowly infiltrate an upper-class family through various i...

Parasite (2019) For anyone who knows anything about contemporary film I'm sure you've heard of Parasite. It's that new one by veteran Korean writer/director, Bong Joon Ho, that won a little something called the Palme D'Or at this year's Cannes... whatever significance that all holds. Okay, now for real, Parasite really is a near perfect thriller illustrating the masterclass talent, as both writer and director, of Bong. Parasite has the feel of a Hitchcockian thriller - it is grounded in its strong characters, its tension mounts and mounts towards its epic climax, and to give too much away about its plot, which is slowly drawn out, would be to ruin much of the fantastic surprises. I will tell you though that the film's title is very apt in its description and relevance to the plot, as well, that this is a story about family (or two families): the dynamics between them and within its members and their everyday activities in order to get by. The cast are all ...