Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't decide what it wanted to be
Review: "Tell me something" has some rich visuals, an authentically morbid atmosphere and will appeal (mildly) to fans of giallo. But this neither Dario Argento nor David Fincher: it is neither an action film nor a mood piece: it is neither a mystery nor a straightforward psychological thriller. Think of John Woo trying to direct "Deep Red". It is all of these things thrown into one unimpressive blend of mediocre acting, bland (*not* shocking gore), and an ending so stupid that one may check one's watch to see how much time one has wasted watching the preceding hour. I really wanted to like this movie, but I didn't. To compare it to "Seven" is ludicrous, as it has neither the believability nor the raw, disturbing force. It barely works as a novelty. I gave it three stars for the occasionally frightening woman who turns out to be the killer (don't worry, you won't care about the revealed ending), although I didn't bother to read her name. She does the part well. The cop is just okay. Blah
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't decide what it wanted to be
Review: "Tell me something" has some rich visuals, an authentically morbid atmosphere and will appeal (mildly) to fans of giallo. But this neither Dario Argento nor David Fincher: it is neither an action film nor a mood piece: it is neither a mystery nor a straightforward psychological thriller. Think of John Woo trying to direct "Deep Red". It is all of these things thrown into one unimpressive blend of mediocre acting, bland (*not* shocking gore), and an ending so stupid that one may check one's watch to see how much time one has wasted watching the preceding hour. I really wanted to like this movie, but I didn't. To compare it to "Seven" is ludicrous, as it has neither the believability nor the raw, disturbing force. It barely works as a novelty. I gave it three stars for the occasionally frightening woman who turns out to be the killer (don't worry, you won't care about the revealed ending), although I didn't bother to read her name. She does the part well. The cop is just okay. Blah
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't decide what it wanted to be
Review: "Tell me something" has some rich visuals, an authentically morbid atmosphere and will appeal (mildly) to fans of giallo. But this neither Dario Argento nor David Fincher: it is neither an action film nor a mood piece: it is neither a mystery nor a straightforward psychological thriller. Think of John Woo trying to direct "Deep Red". It is all of these things thrown into one unimpressive blend of mediocre acting, bland (*not* shocking gore), and an ending so stupid that one may check one's watch to see how much time one has wasted watching the preceding hour. I really wanted to like this movie, but I didn't. To compare it to "Seven" is ludicrous, as it has neither the believability nor the raw, disturbing force. It barely works as a novelty. I gave it three stars for the occasionally frightening woman who turns out to be the killer (don't worry, you won't care about the revealed ending), although I didn't bother to read her name. She does the part well. The cop is just okay. Blah
Rating: 
Summary: Korean "Seven" Ends Up Closer to a Six
Review: A man enters a door in a darkened hall; moments later, we get to watch every gruesome detail of his half-conscious dissection. As the story progresses, dismembered bodies keep turning up everywhere: a basketball court, an abandoned area, a crowded elevator--although none of the body parts found together match each other. The victims, all male, share only one thing: a previous relationship with a beautiful, mysterious woman named Su-Yeon Chae.For all but the final five to 10 minutes of this film, "Tell Me Something" matches its American kindred spirit, the Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman thriller "Seven." It narrows down the focus by limiting the film to four major characters: Chae, two Detectives Cho and Oh, and Chae's closest current pal, Sung-Min. This allows director Chang Youn-Hyun to develop each character extremely well, and allows him enough time to grow the relationship between Cho, who is slowly falling for Chae, whom he has been assigned to watch. "Tell Me" betters "Seven" in making the past play such an important role in the film. Each character's past, save for Detective Oh, is explored enough to set up their particular personality flaws, insecurities, and perhaps motivations. Cho starts off the film under investigation as to how he has been able to fund the care of his dying mother on his policeman's salary; the case is a tainted badge's shot at getting back its luster. Sung-Min has her own intricate past that somehow ties in to Chae. Chae's tangled web is the most important, mixing father issues, former lovers, and a penchant for dating talented, successful men, then going single again when the men become too aggressive. Each performance is top caliber. The film's dirty, unlit urban landscape is excellently portrayed. The camera angles are cropped tightly enough to keep you paranoid and at the edge of your seat. The sound is selectively suspenseful, be it the biting music clips, or the footsteps and labored breathing of a character. Very technically sound, and on the same level as the top American efforts. But then comes the film's final sequences. They are riveting, fast-paced and...ultimately confusing. I watched the entire film three times in a row, and the end sequences twice that; I still ended up having to go online to see if anyone, anywhere agreed with any one of the number of theories I had about the movie's ending. That didn't help. It's not so much a question of who the bad guy eventually was--that's answered in the film--but a question of who else was involved, why, since when...etc., etc. If you're easily frustrated by movies that force you to think through the plot again--be prepared to be frustrated. If you're a thinking man's movie watcher, bring some like-minded friends along, pay good attention, and try to solve the thing afterward. It's still, I believe, a must see for all fans of a good grisly murder mystery in the "Seven" mold. A 3.5 stars would be a more appropriate rating if they had one; I'm just one of those people for whom loose ends are like a fishbone stuck in my throat. For those less bothered by that, four is all good.
Rating:
Summary: MAKES HANNIBAL LECTOR LOOK LIKE "THE SOUND OF MUSIC"
Review: A South Korean crime film in which a weathered detective becomes entangled with a woman who is apparently the next target of a serial killer. This is one of those films in which it's impossible to explain the plot without narrating the whole movie, so just let it be said that nothing is what it seems in this movie and the actors playing the cop (Suk-kyu Han) and the woman he's assigned to protect (Eun-ha Shim) both play their roles very well and keep this VERY graphic movie from being just another slasher flick. All the same, it would be prudent to follow the advice on the back of the video box, which stated that this film "is best viewed on an empty stomach." And no, I didn't make that up.
Rating: 
Summary: stylish, I guess, but really irritating
Review: As this film progressed, I got quickly wrapped up in its story and characters. For the first 30 minutes, it had me - the mystery was there, the questions were unfolding ... and then my heart started to sink as I realized that many of these questions were not going to be answered. And I was right - as the film reached its conclusion, I knew that the end was coming and my frustration started to mount: "No, they couldn't end it like this! What about ... and what about ... and how about ... No, they ended it!" At any rate, a good thriller needs to be, if not airtight, understandable within the world of the story. This film has excellent photography and good performances, but after a while it just doesn't make sense. Too many moments in the film's second and third acts are treated like amazing revelations, but contain anything but. What explanation of the plot there is defies logic, as do the motivations of the characters and the film's structure. In the end, I was actually angry. The film had dangled a good story in front of me, thrown some smoke and mirrors around, and then left me with no answers. And this wasn't an ironic "Wow, it asks more questions than it answers" or "It wants you to decide for yourself what it means" either. This just didn't attempt to deal with what it set up. All in all, 2 stars for its style, but remember - there are plenty of stylish films out there that actually make sense and won't leave you feeling like you've lost two hours trying to solve a 200-color Rubik's cube. Watch this one at your own risk.
Rating:
Summary: stylish, I guess, but really irritating
Review: As this film progressed, I got quickly wrapped up in its story and characters. For the first 30 minutes, it had me - the mystery was there, the questions were unfolding ... and then my heart started to sink as I realized that many of these questions were not going to be answered. And I was right - as the film reached its conclusion, I knew that the end was coming and my frustration started to mount: "No, they couldn't end it like this! What about ... and what about ... and how about ... No, they ended it!" At any rate, a good thriller needs to be, if not airtight, understandable within the world of the story. This film has excellent photography and good performances, but after a while it just doesn't make sense. Too many moments in the film's second and third acts are treated like amazing revelations, but contain anything but. What explanation of the plot there is defies logic, as do the motivations of the characters and the film's structure. In the end, I was actually angry. The film had dangled a good story in front of me, thrown some smoke and mirrors around, and then left me with no answers. And this wasn't an ironic "Wow, it asks more questions than it answers" or "It wants you to decide for yourself what it means" either. This just didn't attempt to deal with what it set up. All in all, 2 stars for its style, but remember - there are plenty of stylish films out there that actually make sense and won't leave you feeling like you've lost two hours trying to solve a 200-color Rubik's cube. Watch this one at your own risk.
Rating: 
Summary: Get your refreshments before you push PLAY
Review: Because once this Korean masterpiece starts you will not be able to tear yourself away from this thriller ..... Interestingly enough the film has a dubbed English track, the dubbed sound is good and the English is pefect, but, unfortunately the voices loose some of their impact and it's pretty hard to be able to duplicate the sweet lilting voices of the young female stars ....
There are of course a lot of cultural differences that will be noticable immediately between the police work of these Korean detectives and the ones that we are more accustomed to with the FBI. The two police detectives don't really believe in 'backup' and they don't even have 'walkie talkies' ... If they call in they use their cellphones ... As well, you may see a task force room set up for catching a vicious pshychotic killer, but thats about it from there on in our detectives might as well have been private eyes working on their own like 'Dirty Harry' ...
The movie is complex, violent and shocking .. great or what ..... the viewer is immediately subjected to the suspense of the story and it doesn't let up till the very last minute ... literally ...
If this movie doesn't change you perception of sweet young Oriental girls that wouldn't harm a fly ... get a copy of 'Auditon' at the same time and, trust me, you'll probably never get into an elevator alone with one of these young beauties ... LOL
The DVD quality is superb ... sound.. cinematograhy all fabulous and first class .... definitely a keeper DVD ... Oh yes ...
Rating:
Summary: More like "Basic Instinct" than "Se7en"
Review: First, let me say that I enjoyed this movie a lot. Understood it? Well, now, I wouldn't presume to go that far. However, I would like to clear up that this movie was NOT like "Se7en" for me. "Se7en" was about a man with a plan to show people how the Seven Deadly Sins could truly be deadly, PLUS it oh so nicely wraps up the plot with the completion of the seventh sin (those of you who saw it should know what I mean).
But this movie, so I have read is more about "a quilt" (if you would allow me the metaphor), an "artsy" quilt as well as transgendered children (or something) and revenge?
So yes, it has its nice gory scenes... I really enjoyed the cop in the elevator scene (I have dreams like that ;) However, still not "Se7en", not worse just different.
Rating:
Summary: Caution: spoilers ahead
Review: I am writing this to try and help those that had trouble figuring out what was going on in this film. (sorry about the technical ineptitude of this article I am just trying to get it over with). The conclusion is as follows: Suyeon is the actual killer, Seungmin is actually her sister/accomplice covering up for her due to the great affection she feels towards her (her affection is also expressed in the flashback sequence in which the "tomboy" seungmin sets fire to the house in an attempt to save suyeon). You might be asking yourself how i can jump to the conclusion that she was actually the kid, well, if you notice during the fire "his" leg is aflame and later in the film we see seungmins leg which has very bad burns in the same place. The reason behind suyeon murdering and mutilating her ex-lovers was more symbolic than literal (no they werent killed because "they knew too much" or anything of that nature). She wanted to enact a sort of revenge against her father for the abuse that she suffered but did so by killing these men that she was amorously involved with who had traits and characteristics that he had (i.e. they were artists, obsessive, overbearing, etc.) The reason why certain body parts of the men werent discarded in refuse bags is because suyeon was trying to create a metaphorical representation of her father with their body parts (shes trying to create a piece of "art" that embodies all that he was). This is verified when we see the body in the tank during the films climax. The body is male and appears to consist of mismatched appendages sewn to a torso, the head is missing but when you put two and two together it is almost impossible not to draw the conclusion that her fathers head was going to be the finishing touch.I will have to admit that everything is not fully explained like why that kid was in room 703 with suyeon and what led up to him falling to his death (the significance in him connecting suyeon to the murders is apparent, but the details behind the situation in the room are never revealed "why was he there, what was he doing hanging out the window") ambiguity plays a big role in this movie and im not neccesarily saying that my perception is right im just relaying the only semi-cohesive conclusion that i could come up with. Tell me something is a thinking mans horror film and i advise that it be watched with an open mind and full attentiveness so you can sift through the evidence and characters motivations and put together the conclusion that you think best fits the film. But be prepared to be frustrated after you watch it the first time as you will probably be tearing at your hair in disbelief at how disjointed the ending seems (there is very little dialogue and almost all the clues to the film are visual)I should probably mention that I hold this film in high regard and recommend it to anyone who wants to watch a film that you will be thinking about days after youve seen it. Just remember that the ending is open to interpretation and it will be awhile until you can connect the dots and even than there are still some plot holes that are never filled in.
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