What’s in a name? The Story Behind Catracing.org

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What’s in a name?  The Story Behind catracing.org

  While I am hard at work on the next blog (Backing up your Windows 10 workstation to a network share), I thought I would take the time to answer a question I often get asked about my domain name.  Catracing.org?  Do they really race cat’s?

  Where did the name come from?  Why is it a .org?

  To answer this question, one would have to go back to when I fell in love with boats and sailing.  My dad and a several of his fellow doctors owned a Hobie Cat 16 catamaran they kept on a local beach in San Diego.  Some of my earliest beach memories are around 4 or 5 years old, where my dad, mom, brother, and sister would all pile on the catamaran and sail around La Playa basin.  I would go hang off the trapeze, which is a wire attached to the mast, that the crew or skipper would attach themselves to with the use of a harness so you could stand off the side of the boat to counter balance the sails healing motion.  You normally will hike off the windward side of the boat, however I soon discovered that you would get a lot more wet if you hiked off the lee side.  I was light enough at the time, that with everyone one board, and my brother or sister’s weight on the windward site we wouldn’t capsize the boat.

  Fast forward about 25 years, I bought my own Hobie 16, and began racing the boat in actual class regattas.  As the Hobie 16 is a 2 person boat (Unless you happen to weigh the minimum class legal crew weight, of about 250 some odd pounds.) You had to sail with a crew.  I was involved with a group of people that went to UCLA (Not sponsored by UCLA) who would arrange crew for the racing skippers.

The intent at the time was to setup a server that could facilitate private email, calendar, blog/newsletter type of services.  So catracing.org was born using Zimbra, and a webpage created on Apple’s iWeb.

  However shortly after all of this got facilitated and setup I got my job in Korea, sold the Hobie Cat and moved over the seas.  Since I had already paid for the domain name, and was only expecting to be an expat for a couple of years I kept it.  In 2013, after deciding to really get into photography the idea of the blog as it is today was formed.  It now serves as a foundation to improve my photography skills, share my experiences in Korea, helps other expats with reviews on pensions, hotels, and restaurants.  It also helps me with my technical writing abilities associated with my career in IT.

  The catracing.org domain name just lives on, even though the focus of my blog has evolved and matured over time.

  Sorry to disappoint those who either came here carrying torches and pitchforks thinking this was some terrible sport like greyhound racing, or wanted to see how we managed to organize a bunch of felines to run around a track.. 

  Thanks for stopping by!  Our next technical blog should be out soon.  If you wish to be notified by email when new content is posted you may register by clicking HERE!

Photography – Don’t Be Afraid To Pay For Help.

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Photography – Don’t Be Afraid To Pay For Help.

  Something has been bothering me for some time.  I took the following HDR photo on one of my bike rides along the Han River a couple of years ago.

  I always felt that it was one of my best photo’s, but upon showing it to a fellow photographer I was disappointed right away that he noticed the image plagued with halos, which are quite common with HDR photography.  It really stands when it is printed, and this is really a photo that I would love to have on my wall.

 

  While the photo has won awards on Pixoto and Gurushots.  I do not feel it has gotten the ranking it has deserved, and I believe that to be because of the the halos.

  Honestly, my photoshop skills are not that great so I decided to start looking around for a service that could correct the photo for me at a reasonable cost.  Searching around the web led me to COLOR EXPERTS International, Inc.  It appeared from their web site that they offered exactly what I was looking for, the question now all came down to cost. 

  After a quick chat with their service representative I was instructed to upload my photo and they would have a graphic artist take a look at it and offer a price.  I received a quote of $30.90 within a couple of hours.  At that price, why not!  My only concern was that I had originally exported the JPEG from Lightroom with the settings I use for posting photos on my blog.  I wanted a full quality JPEG, so off went another email.  They advised that a higher quality photo could up the price, but go ahead and upload the newer photo and they would let me know.  The full quality JPEG did not alter the cost, and less than 2 days later I received the corrected photo.

  No more HALO’s.  This is the photo I had always wanted!  I quickly replaced the image on Pixoto, and in less than 24 hours it is already my 3rd highest ranked photo!  I am hoping to finally beat my best photo!

   If you have a photo that you feel its potential is not being met due to imperfections that are beyond your skill to fix.  Don’t be afraid to reach out and get help, even if you have to pay to get it!  I would highly recommend COLOR EXPERTS International INC, They are Courteous, Fast, and do great work!

  DISCLAIMER: COLOR EXPERTS International Inc. is not reimbursing me nor offering me free or discounted for this blog, nor is my site monetized in any way.

  Thank you for stopping by Brent’s World!  If you would like to be notified when new content is posted.  Please register by clicking HERE!

We also offer discussion forums at www.catracing.org/hendrb/forum

Technical – Apple Switching to their own ARM based processor, what does this means to you?

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Technical – Apple Switching to their own ARM based processor, what does this means to you?

  If you watched the Apple WWDC keynote address on June 22nd or have been following the tech sites you are already aware that Apple will be ending its partnership with INTEL and using their own processors in all of their future Macs.  Why did Apple do this?  What are the advantages?  Will there be any disadvantages?  As a long-time user of Apple products I will try and answer these questions.

  There are several reasons why Apple may have chosen to go down this road, and it is not the first company to build computers using their own processors or custom chipsets.  Some of my viewers may not remember Commodore Business Machines, CBM for short, but they designed the bestselling home computer in 80s and early 90s called the Commodore 64.  It’s predecessor and immediate follow-up the Commodore 128 contained only Commodore made chips.  This included the MOS6502 (Commodore owned MOSTek), the sound chip called the SID, and the video chip the VICII.  It was not until Commodore purchased the Amiga that they used a CPU designed and produced outside the company.  The Motorola 68000, which incidentally was also the CPU used in the original Macintosh.  This method of manufacturing all of your products components is called vertical integration, and has several key advantages such as being able to control development, production and supply and it costs significantly less to have everything in house.  Apple should be able to significantly reduce the production costs by doing their own chips.

  Another factor that may have driven the switch from INTEL processors, is for the same reason Apple went from the Motorola/IBM PowerPPC processors back in 2005 (Also announced at the WWDC.).  The power requirement/performance ration was stagnating and was seriously hampering Apples roadmap for their mobile devices (Macbook and Macbook Pro) computers.  There was just no way Apple was going to be able to put their latest processor, the G5 into a portable computer!). So Apple had to break with a partnership that existed from the very beginning of the Macintosh design.  This could have not been an easy decision and could have ended up being a technical nightmare!  Imagine the work involved in not only having to recompile your operating system to work on a different platform, and fix any bugs that came with it, but come up with a way to make most of the software that has been written for your product for the last 11 years work.  Fortunately Apple was not new at this, and they had a plan!

  So, what does this mean to me?  Well, in the short term.  Not much!  Apple stated at the WWDC (though they did not elaborate), that there are several new Intel Mac products in the pipeline, and I can not see any scenario where Apple is not aware they will still need to support the purchasers of the new “Cheese grater” Mac Pros that were released last year.  Could you imagine the pain and anguish of spending $6000 for a workstation and having it be unusable by the years end?  That would just be idiotic and it will NOT happen.  I base this on the fact that MacOS X continued to run on PPC based Macs until 2009, 4 years after the switch to INTEL was announced.  Which given my own personal model usage of 5 – 6 years between models, would just fit in to when I would be getting a new Mac model anyway.

  In the long run, when you decide to buy a new Mac should you be worried?  I would not be.  Apple is unmatched in the industry when it comes to these types of critical architecture changes, and that reputation is well earned.  This is not their first time at the rodeo.  They went from the classic Motorola 680×0 to Motorola PowerPC migration in 1994, the transition to Intel in 2005 as noted above, and now moving to their own ARM based silicon.

  While no transition is ever seamless, Apple has been one of the few companies that have been able to pull of switching their core architecture several times, with the help of emulation, virtualization, and “fat” applications (Applications that contain code for multiple architectures.). Software written for the Intel architecture should easily run trouble free on the new hardware, and while there are sure to be a myriad of features that will run on the new ARM processor, but will not if you have an INTEL Mac.  Your experience with Mac OS will still be usable and enjoyable.

  The only thing that I know I am going to miss in the future, will be the loss of bootcamp, as I rely on it, in order to run Prepar3D, a flight simulator.  Which due to it’s graphics overhead would not be usable in emulation.  Though that is only one single use, so it may be time to re-evaluate moving on from the flight sim world when that happens.  Given that Apple’s biggest third party app developers Adobe and Microsoft are already on board it will only be a matter of time before everything runs natively and the additional layers to run legacy apps disappears (As we saw with the phasing out of Rosetta with the Intel transition.)

  This is big news, and it will be very exciting to see what comes of this!  The advantages of integrated apps between the desktop, iPad, and IPhone and the increased performance/power consumption (and heat production) ratio far outweigh any growing pains.

  Thank you for stopping by Brent’s World!  Do you agree with my assessment of Apples move to their own chips?  Register and share your thoughts on our forums, or comment below.

  If you wish to be notified when new content is posted, register and click HERE.

Walk The Wire – An Exciting New Memory man Mystery By David Baldacci.

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Walk The Wire – An Exciting New Memory Man Mystery By David Baldacci.

   Ever since stumbling on Total Control by David Baldacci, I have been a huge fan of his work.  Reading most of his suspense/thriller novels, which mostly center around government or corporate corruption.  Amos Decker dubbed The Memory Man, due to the fact he is afflicted with Hyperthymesia (The ability to retain all memory, down to the smallest of details), and Synesthesia, (A condition that makes people see things such as numbers in letters as colors) while sustained in the NFL.  These conditions make Decker is extremely gifted at his job.  It all comes crashing down when his wife and daughter are murdered.  Resigned from the police force, and homeless, Decker becomes a private investigator.  After a man turns himself in for his family’s murders, he is called back in the help with the investigation.    Which due to his success brings him to the attention of the FBI, where he is offered a chance to come on board a special group as a consultant.

   Which brings us to Walk The Wire.  The latest in the now 6 part series,  a gruesome murder takes place in London, North Dakota, an oil town currently booming due to fracking.  Amos Decker and partner Alex Jamison are called in solve the case.  Very little details are known about the victim, other than she was a teacher for a group of Anabaptists called The Brothers.  Was the murder the work of a serial killer?  Does it have anything to do with the Top Secret Air Force radar installation next door?

  As clues and bodies start piling up, and attempts on Deckers life are made, another pair from David Baldacci’s cast of characters makes an appearance, and an international conspiracy with far reaching economic implications is discovered.  Will it be stopped in time?  How does it tie in with the original murders?

  Pick up David Baldacci’s latest novel and find out!

Available at Amazon.

Kindle – $14.99
Hardcover – $17.40

  Thank you for taking the time to read my latest blog!  Be sure to come back next week for more great content.  If you wish to be notified by email when a new blog is posted consider registering by clicking HERE.

Korean Movie Review – Cheer Up Mr. Lee

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Korean Movie Review – Cheer Up Mr. Lee 힘을 내요, 미스터 리

Emotional packed comedy by Lee Gyeo Byeok.

  It seems like I never have a chance to screen and review any new Korean films, for instance my last review of Christmas In August was released in 1998,  which was recommended to me by a taxi driver who was dropping me off at the train station for my final move to Gunsan where the movie was filmed.  Happily, we will break the mold today as we review Cheer Up Mr. Lee, a comedy by director Lee Gye-Byeok.

  The story centers around Cheol-Soo an attractive, physically fit, but mentally handicapped Korean (Played by Cha Seung-Won) who works at his family’s noodle restaurant in Seoul.  Cheol-Soo’s life takes an unexpected turn when he kidnapped by a woman (Kim Kye-Ok) who turns out to be the grandmother of a daughter, he never knew he had named Saet-Byeol (Um Chae-Yeong) who is in the hospital dying of childhood leukemia.  The grandmother is hoping Cheol-Soo’s blood will match so that a bone marrow translate can be performed saving Saet-Byeols life.

  Saet-Byeol soon escapes from the hospital with the intent of going to Daegu to obtain a signed baseball card for one of her friends and fellow patients at the hospital.  Cheol-Soo goes with Saet-Byeol to help keep her safe and is soon pursued by his younger brother and niece and Saet-Byeol’s grandmother.  Chae-Yeong’s friend and owner of the gym he frequents learns that the family is frantically trying to locate him, and he enlists the help of the Korean mafia.

  The movie plods somewhat slowly through the first half, and the audience is left with a lot of questions.  What is the background story of Cheol-Soo, how come he did not know he had a daughter, how and when did Saet-Byeol get sick?  This is answered for us in the second half, in jarring dramatic fashion, that might extract a few tears.

  Saet-Byeol and Cheol-Soo are found by the family, and she is able to get the autographed baseball memorabilia for her friend.  The media attention gained by the backstory attracts a mass marrow detitanation search, but will it be in time?

  I enjoyed Cheer Up Mr. Lee, even though it was slow going until the middle part, the second half definitely made up for it. , I would definitely recommend this for a date, or family film night.  The only problem is that it may be hard to find.  If youa re able to watch the film please come back to our forums and discuss it. (Please do not post in the comments as it will spoil it for those who wish to watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCJnfhkj3HM

  Where can I buy Cheer Up Mr. Lee?

 https://www.yesasia.com/global/cheer-up-mr-lee-dvd-korea-version/1036834049-0-0-0-en/info.html

Price $28.99

Oh No! My Photo Sucks!!! Now What?!

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Oh no!  My Photo Sucks!!!  Now What?!

Accepting and learning from criticism.

  “Publish or perish”, the mantra of the research world is no less true for photographers.  Fueled by our innate need for recognition and restrained only by our fear of rejection.  At some point in time you’re going to share your work with your friends and family, or on social media.  You may even decide to enter your photos in a contest at a fair or online.  If you’re lucky everyone will love it. You may end up winning awards, or you may even end up being published.  On the flip side will have that one person, or even a group of people that say, “your photo sucks!”, “You have no business calling yourself a photographer!”, or “What did you take that with an iPhone 1?!”

  When I purchased my first DSLR I went through the phase of just knowing I was going to be hot shit, the next Ansel Adams.  I was going to go to events and people would ask me for the pictures I took!  I would take it on vacation and get published in magazines. 

   Looking back over 10 years later, not only do the photos that I took back then make me cringe, but I cannot believe some of the comments I made to some of my friends and family members who are seasoned photographers, I obviously had no business talking like I knew anything.

  My first day shooting I sent an email with a photo of a helicopter taken at 4000/th of a second with its rotors stopped.  Proudly proclaiming, “Look how great my camera is!!!  The rotor blades are perfectly stopped, and how clear they are!”  Not realizing  the awkwardness that the scene creates because unless that is a aircraft about to crash, there should be some motion blur.

  Also early in career as a grouchy photo critic, my favorite feature on my 20 and 30D was Auto Depth Of Focus, which would match shutter speed, and aperture to get everything in the viewfinder in focus.  Oh what magic I proclaimed!!!  Not realizing that you want to use a sharply focused subject, while blurring everything else to isolate the subject, a technique called Bokeh (BOKE-AY).

 Time moved on, and my 20D got stolen, my 30D fell in the water, and I purchased the 7D, Canons most advanced cropped sensor DSLR at the time, but it did not have A-DEP!!  Oh, how I agonized about this, but I did not want to buy a plastic body camera just to have an automatic  feature.  I am much too clumsy for plastic! 

  One of the turning points in my photography was finding DigitalRev TV on YouTube.  Which at the time presented by Kai Man Wong.  His sarcastic and fun presentation style really made me start to understand that I needed to get out of my comfort zone and understand what different focal length does to your composition and feel of a photograph.  How to compose my shots to make them look interesting.  To take the time to try multiple focal lengths, apertures, and exposures.  Don’t just push the shutter button and walk off thinking my job is done. 

  Take the time to think about key compositional elements that make a great photo.  Is the horizon straight?  Do you have a foreground element, or are you just taking a picture of a bunch of clouds on the water?

 

  I find the biggest mistake people make, is they make the effort to capture the sunrise, or sunset. Then just take a picture of a sunrise of sunset.  Fine and dandy!  While it might make a good desktop background.  ANYONE can do that! 

  Frame the shot in something, a window, a tent, some trees.  Add someone enjoying the sunset, a group of photographers trying to capture the sunset   That tells a story!  That is unique It isn’t another snapshot that says “The sun goes up, the sun goes down, it does the same thing every day…” Think about something that will make your photo special!

 For example, on this predawn light painting trip to a closed amusement park in Gunsan, South Korea I had wanted to see what a picture of this skull would look like being lit from the ground by the light of a candle.  The picture actually came out relatively flat. 

This idea was born, that did not work out too well either.

  For some reason I decided not to extinguish the candle and try it in other shots, which lead to this picture, which actually worked pretty well.  So this goes to prove two points I made up above just because one idea does not pan out, keep trying!  Something may stick.  Just because someone may comment negatively one of your photos, doesn’t mean the idea can not work in a different setting, framing, or time.  Keep working to make your idea a masterpiece.

 

   After actually taking the photo and post processing it, take the time to filter your work.  If you have a photo that it is special to you, that makes you feel a certain way but you feel that it might not be a great representation of your work maybe make it a desktop photo, or a background for your phone, but I  highly recommended that you refrain from putting it on your website, in your photo gallery, or even online period, unless it is specifically to ask for tips on how to improve. 

  You may take great photos most of the time!  You may be the areas hottest wedding photographer, but go out one weekend to try landscape photography and the work may be okay, but not stellar.  Would you want that photograph to represent your business or you as a photographer?

  If you find public criticism too biting, there are plenty of anonymous contest websites available that can be a great tool to gauge your work, Pixoto and Gurushots are the two that I use.  On Pixoto you can either upload your content to be “dueled” between other photo’s or enter public contests.  Gurushots is more of a directed game, where you earn experience points, and gain levels the higher your photo’s rank.  I have been trying to move from Advanced to Veteran for over a year now.

  You will still experience let downs and frustration, for instance this picture I took at a closed amusement park in Gunsan.  I though it is a great picture, and I really thought it would do better, I am not sure if it is because I decided to change the crop at the last minute or if the photo really is not that interesting

   To wrap up, as you take more and more photos and have more and more of an online presence, at some point in time you are going to encounter negative feedback about your work, it is inevitable.  There are 3 ways you can go from there, to make it a driving force to improve your game, to ignore it, or to let it get your down and wonder if you should hang up your gear.      

  The choice is obviously up to you, I do not encourage the 2nd or third option, and hopefully have provided a few tools to make you more comfortable presenting your work.  There are plenty of free resources on the internet from blogs to vlogs that will help you improve.  Nobody gets better by always being told their work is flawless, it is only through trial and error that we move forward.

  Thank you for taking the time to read my blog!  If you would like to receive email notification when new content is posted, please register at www.catracing.org/hendrb/wp-login.php.

  Get out there and keep shooting!

  Earlier last week, I finally made the Veteran level on Guru Shots!This photo ranked top %30 in the Cowboys and Cowgirls contest!

 

Canon Camera Connect – Canon Remote Control Via WiFi

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Canon Camera Connect

Canon Remote Control Via WiFi

  Did you see the Hallowen special photowalk we did at Yongmaland?, are you wondering how I was able to nail focus with the Canon EF 851.4L IS wide open by myself?  I rediscovered a feature of the Canon 5D MK IV that isn’t talked about much and was widely panned at its release in 2016.  The 5D Mark IV was the first model of the 5D line to include built in WiFi, and the capability to remotely control the camera using a smartphone or tablet app.  I think since owning the camera I have used it about 4 times.  I may begin using it more in the future.

  The first time using the app was when I wanted to get a picture of the fall leaves using the ground as my horizon. However when I inverted the tripod I found that unless I lay flat on my stomach  there was no way I was going to be able to frame the picture and release the shutter.  I could use my wired remote release and live view but that thought spawned another idea!  I could just use the Canon Connect app to perform the framing, focusing, and shutter release!  

  I then totally forgot about it until hiking on Mt. Palomar during a trip to the United States!  I found myself in a situation where there was just no way I could get into position in the 10 seconds allotted by the built in self timer.   Yes, I could have pulled out my trusty intervalometer, programmed it for extra time, but it really just seemed like too much trouble for what it was worth!  Yes, I know that sounds like blasphemy to the serious photographer.  It wasn’t until I was reviewing the photos later that I remembered the picture on Namsan and realized I could have used the Canon Connect app on my iPhone!  I also realize there are 5DIV owners out there screaming that the Mark IV has an intervalometer built into the camera!

  Fast forward a few years and I once found myself in a similar situation.  How do I set the camera up then get in position in this small space in 10 seconds and pose for the shot?  The flashbulb did go off in my head this time and I remember I could release the shutter remotely on my iPhone!

  So fumbling around, I managed to remember how to get my phone connected, launched the app, and positioned myself for the shot!  (For instruction on setting up Wifi and Canon Camera Connect on the Canon 5D Mark IV Click Here.)

  Okay this is going to work!

  Okay, No it’s not!  It is too dark inside the car!  I know, fill flash!

  That’s better!  Oh, drats, I’m out of focus.  WAIT!  Look at this!  I can select focus with Canon Connect too!

Much Better, and wide open at f2.8 too!  I am going to have fun today! 

Most of my shooting that day was spent using the Camera Connect app, and let me tell you it was a life safer!  I was able to test my new Canon 85mm f1.4 ISL lens, using myself as the subject wide open.  Which would have been almost impossible otherwise!

  Here is the flow I used to take self portraits using Canon camera connect.

  • Setup and frame picture with the tripod.
  • Set camera to timer mode (10 seconds).
  • Verify connection between camera and the Canon Camera Connect App.
  • Get in position.
  • Verify framing with myself in the picture.
  • Focus on my face/eye using Camera Connect App.
  • Start the timer by using remote shutter.

 

  If you find yourself vacationing , at an event, or on a photo walk alone and want to take self-portraits but are just unable to get in position fast enough or are finding it difficult if not impossible to nail focus at a wide aperture.  I highly recommend giving Canon Camera Connect a try!  The app does have short comings, but in this instance it really helped me accomplish something that may have been impossible otherwise!  Give it a shot and let me know if it ups your game!

   

Korean Movie Review – Christmas in August

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Korean Movie Review – Christmas In August.

I know it has been a while since I have posted new content to Brent’s World!  I would like to apologize to my faithful followers for the lack of content, I am working on several technical blogs that will be posted in the future, in the meantime let’s grab some popcorn and discuss an older Korean film that I recently had a chance to see.  The film, Christmas In August was actually recommended to me by a taxi driver in Seoul who was driving me to the train station after I mentioned to him that I was moving to Gunsan city, as this is where the story takes placed, and it’s filming location.  Strangely enough this was one of the harder film reviews I have had to write!  There was so much I wanted to say about the film, that I ended almost finishing  a 3 page synopsis before realizing that left as is, you may not feel you need to watch the film.

  The film written and directed by Hur Jin-ho and was released in 1998 centers around Jung-Won Yoo (Hanh Suk-Kyu) a middle-aged photographer and camera store owner in Gunsan City who is diagnosed with a terminal illness.  Instead of wallowing in self-pity or spending his remaining days in reckless abandon, he goes about his life as if nothing has changed.  He chooses to only tell his father (Shin-Goo) and sister, and one of his closest friends from elementary school, (and this is told to him only as a joke.). 

  Da-Rim (Shim, Eun-Ha), a traffic enforcement officer with the Korean National Police meets Jung-Won when she needs film quickly developed when needed for evidence.  While initially put off my Jung-Wons closed nature.  They strike up a conversation when he tries to make amends by bringing her an ice cream while she waits outside in the hot Korean Summer.  She then makes it a point to come by the store more and more and they strike up a close friendship. 

  Jung-Won, while obviously having feelings for Da-Rim does not want to bring heart ache into her life with a romance that will soon end with his passing.  Though this ends up causing her pain because she feels her feelings are not being returned.

  We see the passage of time in the changing Korean seasons, and through the progression of his illness through several hospital visits, and the preparations Jung-Won makes for his death.  Such as teaching his father how to use the VCR, and writing step by step instructions on how to operate the developer in his store, and the final act of writing a final letter to Da-Rim, letting her know that even though he did not show her love in the present, that his love for her is everlasting and that he thought of her in his final moments.

  The movie chooses to not judge Jung-Won for his decision to withhold his looming death, nor does it really resolve the feelings of love each character has for each other.  We are not even made aware the letter is ever delivered, as the addressed letter is shown being placed in a box of the photographs, he took of her and placed on a shelf in his shop.

  It was a well-done film, and delicately explores the subject of how one must reconcile the final moments in their life once discovering their time is soon coming to an end.  For the foreign film buffs, it is an interesting glimpse into Korean social customs dealing with courting, love, and the aging process in Korea, as depicted through the “memorial” photo. 

  As with most Asian films, there is no clear-cut resolution, we do not know if the aging father is able to keep the store open, just that he drives away on Jung-Won’s scooter with his prized camera.  Da-Rim comes to the store in what look like cloths worn at a funeral, though she does not approach the father to engage him in conversation.  We do know she read his letter, as she smiles as she recalls a poignant passage from it.  So, the viewer is left to come up with their own conclusions.

  This was a good film, and a big departure from the latest action, or action comedy movies that are big now.  It had a wide fan base in Korea and Singapore and is stll used as an example in cinematography courses at Korean Universities.

  If you are looking for a different style of romantic drama, I would highly recommend the film.  It is also an interesting look into the media technology of the 1990s such as photo stores, film developing, land line telephones, and VCRs to name a few.

  Once you watch the film, please head on over to the forums and discuss it.  www.catracing.org/hendrb/forum.

  Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read the blog, the effort put into it is really for my readers enjoyment.  To be notified by email of new content, consider registering by clicking here!

Halloween Movie Review – A Tale of Two Sisters

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Halloween Movie Review – A Tale of Two Sisters

  I am not sure what’s spookier, being pretty sure that I had already done a review of this movie, either in blog form or a simple post in the forums.  Or that fact that I have not done a Halloween movie review since 2015?  If you missed the review on the short film Selfish People, I highly recommend checking it out!  I have verified the URL to the video still works.  Even though A Tale of Two Sisters is an old film, (released in 2003), It was one of the first Korean Horror films I watched after moving to Korea.  There is even a US remake that was released in 2009 called The Uninvited that I may watch this year for Halloween.  So without further ado, let’s get into the movie!

  A Tale of Two Sisters is a psychological horror film written and directed by Kim Jee-woon (The Quiet Family, The Foul King, and Coming Out.) staring Im Soo-jung, Kim Kap-soo and Moon Geun-Young). 

 

 

  As the film open we see a teenaged Su Mi (played by Im Soo-Jung), being released from a mental institution as her doctor is seeing washing his hands in a porcelain bowl, washing his hands of Su mi and the unknown reason she was hospitalized.

  Returning home to families secluded estate with her father who is a rich physician and she is met by her younger sister Su-yeon (Moon Geun-Young).  Her father is heard talking on the phone with someone, whom he recommends should not come over to the house right away.  This later turns out to be the girl’s stepmother, whom is shown to be psychologically and physically abusive to the young girls.

  Strange things begin happening around the house, as we are drawn further and further into the events that lead to Su-mi being placed in psychiatric care, and the shady story of her family.  The ending really will surprise you! 

  I enjoyed the film, and was taken aback by the ending.  Some of the scenes were confusing for me, I think mostly because I do not understand some of the more subtle nuances of Korean culture, but this did not distract from the overall enjoyment of the film.

  Even though it is an older film, I think it will stand up to the test of time. I highly recommend that you watch it.

A Tale of Two Sisters – Trailer.

A Tale of Two Sisters is available on Amazon both streamed for Amazon Prime Video customers, and is available in DVD format.

Click HERE to take you to Amazon.com

  If you do choose to watch the film, please come back and discuss it on our forums.  https://www.catracing.org/hendrb/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=27480

  Be sure to come back next Thursday for a Brent’s World Halloween special post as I explore a closed amusement park in Seoul called Yongmaland!  Will I meet my demise on a spooky ride of terror?  Find out next week.

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Korean Movie Review – 걸캅스 “Girl Cops” (Miss & Mrs. Cops)

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Korean Movie Review – 걸캅스 “Girl Cops” (Miss & Mrs. Cops)

Fun Korean crime comedy with action to match the laughs.

  We’re back with another great Korean movie recommendation!  After the rather stale Extreme Job, I was not quite sure how I was going to feel about Miss and Mrs. Cops, though it came highly recommended, as one of the must watch films of 2019!  I am glad I gave it a chance, as not only was the movie extremely funny, but it contained enough action to keep the Asian martial arts fans happy!  So sit back, grab some popcorn and let me introduce to you, Miss and Mrs. Cops.

  Mi-yeong (played by Ra Mi-ran), is a former top cop from an exclusive criminal investigation squad that was made up of Korean female sports stars.   After receiving several commendations for arresting some of Korea’s toughest and most elusive criminals she gave it all up to start a family after getting married, and moved to the departments customer service center.

  Mi-Yeong’s sister in law Ji-hye is also a police detective, who after a botched undercover assignment goes wrong is moved to the customer service center as punishment.

  After a woman visiting the customer service counter leaves her mobile phone and attempts to commit suicide, Mi Yeong and Ji-hye find out that she has been the victim of rape and extortion.  An unidentified group drugged the victim at a posh club in Seoul, filmed the crime, and is threatening to release the video if they do not receive payment.

  With the help of the centers IT technician they team up to locate and apprehend the criminals before the video can be released!  The departments detective squad does not believe the crimes are more important than the drug trafficking cases they are already working on and It is up to solve the case on their own, working under the nose of their by the book supervisor.

  The acting was very well done, and the on-screen gags fit well, and are easily understood by non-Koreans.  For such a heavy topic, even with such a sexual plot there is no sex shown on screen.  If this had been a Hollywood release, there would have to have some thrown in somewhere just to get some t&a on screen, so the film would also  be appropriate for a young adult.

  If you are looking for a good foreign crime comedy, I highly recommend Miss & Mrs. Cops.  You will not be disappointed.

  It is available for sale or rent on the Apple Music store, as well as Amazon Prime Video.   https://www.amazon.com/Miss-Mrs-Cops-Sung-Kyung/dp/B07VZQ3Q1S/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=miss+%26+mrs+cop&qid=1569136070&s=gateway&sr=8-1I was unable to locate a DVD or Blu Ray version. 

  If you watch this film, please come back and discuss in our forums. (LINK TO TOPIC).

I hope you enjoyed our Korean movie review and will come back next week for more great content!  If you wish to be notified by email when new content is posted, please register by clicking HERE.

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