Rating: 
Summary: Stylistically nice but...
Review: I don't know if us westerners are just used to air-tight cop shows or what, but this movie is just full of holes both in terms of plot logic and -basic- police proceedure.If one didn't know better, one'd think that the Soeul PD are the biggest buncha dummies in the world. Again, nice style to the flick, great music, and even a compelling story line, but you keep on tearing out your hair at seeing the police screw even the most basic stuff out.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than Se7en
Review: I don't want to give away too much of the plot, so lets just say this is a Korean version of Se7en. It does have a FEW scenes of incredible gore, but it's not overdone. Some of them are fairly shocking, but also fairly brief. This is NOT like a Miike film in that regard. I know it's heresy for many to say any movie in this genre is better than Se7en, and it's equally obvious that film owes a LOT to Se7en. As a "New Asian Cinema" version of Se7en, I think it tops the original. The actors are better, the cinematography is definitely better, and I like the story more. One previous reviewer complained that the movie did not wrap up all the answers at the end, but that is a personal complaint on his part. Se7en broke ground in the US in that it did not have the mandatory Hollywood "happy ending", yet in most Asian cinema, the happy ending is a rarity in all but romance films, and even in those it's not mandatory as in the US. Tell Me Something is a film you should own. It has a fantastic cast of very good actors, is shot beautifully, and manages to very successfully convey a very unsettling air as the story progresses, with the usual twists in the story line. I loved the ending, but it may not provide enough "resolution" for some, but to me it perfectly ended this movie. Other standout films of the "New Asian Cinema" variety that you may want to see are: The Eye - The best non-slasher horror flick in ages, period.
So Close - Charlies Angels as done by Hong Kong, MUCH better.
Bangkok Dangerous - the life of a deaf/mute hitman in Bangkok, VERY GOOD.
Running Out of Time - soon to be remade by Hollywood, see the original version of a great cop and robber movie with a twist.
The Returner - this Japanese film manages to incorporate parts of the Terminator, Independence Day, ET, and a few more films with great special effects. It's getting some distribution in the US in the Art House theaters, go check it out if you can.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Se7en
Review: I don't want to give away too much of the plot, so lets just say this is a Korean version of Se7en. It does have a FEW scenes of incredible gore, but it's not overdone. Some of them are fairly shocking, but also fairly brief. This is NOT like a Miike film in that regard. I know it's heresy for many to say any movie in this genre is better than Se7en, and it's equally obvious that film owes a LOT to Se7en. As a "New Asian Cinema" version of Se7en, I think it tops the original. The actors are better, the cinematography is definitely better, and I like the story more. One previous reviewer complained that the movie did not wrap up all the answers at the end, but that is a personal complaint on his part. Se7en broke ground in the US in that it did not have the mandatory Hollywood "happy ending", yet in most Asian cinema, the happy ending is a rarity in all but romance films, and even in those it's not mandatory as in the US. Tell Me Something is a film you should own. It has a fantastic cast of very good actors, is shot beautifully, and manages to very successfully convey a very unsettling air as the story progresses, with the usual twists in the story line. I loved the ending, but it may not provide enough "resolution" for some, but to me it perfectly ended this movie. Other standout films of the "New Asian Cinema" variety that you may want to see are: The Eye - The best non-slasher horror flick in ages, period.
So Close - Charlies Angels as done by Hong Kong, MUCH better.
Bangkok Dangerous - the life of a deaf/mute hitman in Bangkok, VERY GOOD.
Running Out of Time - soon to be remade by Hollywood, see the original version of a great cop and robber movie with a twist.
The Returner - this Japanese film manages to incorporate parts of the Terminator, Independence Day, ET, and a few more films with great special effects. It's getting some distribution in the US in the Art House theaters, go check it out if you can.
Rating: 
Summary: very good horror/slasher movie in the vein of copycat
Review: i usually dont fall for foreign horror movies.for the most part they tend to be either too talky and/or cartoonish.theres none of that here.the acting was convincing and the story plausible.my knock against all foreign movies are those annoying subtitles which i hope can be deleted on the dvd version.i highly recommend this.
Rating:
Summary: Stylish thriller in the spirit of Basic Instinct with holes
Review: I watched this movie with my sisters late at night. Just as Basic Instinct was about three flawed characters (a psychiatrist, a cop, and a writer), Tell Me Something is about a cop, a physician, and an artist (also a museum curator) who are intricately linked through the gruesome murders and the dark past of the artist. Some complained that the plot was confusing, but the hints are sprinkled here and there to make the story coherent and compelling. One glaring weakness is that the cop makes more procedural mistakes than a bumbling idiot. My sister kept saying that he deserved to die for his sheer incompetence and I agree. Despite the gore, the movie somehow failed to deliver the gothic, bone-chilling horror of the Silence of the Lambs. There were just too many scenes of mutilated bodies and the novelty wore off quickly after the first few minutes. The scenes just seemed artificial and obligatory. However, I found the psychological aspect of the movie more appealing. The movie doesn't explain everything to the viewer's satisfaction, leaving us to ponder what each one's motives were and why they behaved in a certain, sometimes illogical way. I wish that the director spent extra ten minutes probing the relationship between the cop and the artist while skipping some gruesome, ineffective scenes. Overall, it was a thought-provoking movie with an interesting twist at the end.
Rating:
Summary: well directed but confusing
Review: i'm really glad that other people found this movie confusing at times. i was afriad i was just stupid or something. i actually watched the movie twice, trying to go back and piece things together. while i can see that there are plot twists galore everything isn't spelled out like it is in my american thillers. the end had a bit of a david lynch feel to it. it's like the audience is supposed to understand the relevance of certain things, but it's not clear how or why. i'm fairly desensitized to gore, and was impressed with with the murder special effects. the movie is well done, just a bit frustrating.
Rating:
Summary: Confusing Mess
Review: Let me start that this mess could be attributable to the cheesy english overdub. A "lost-in-the-translation" problem. But I found this movie to be completely uncomprehendable for the last 45 minutes or so. Why did the detective end up in that alley? I don't recall him "following a lead". Who owned the video editing office? What happened to the young initial suspect? What was the signifigance of the "window" guy? Why did her girlfriend want to ......? What did the photo "explain"? I'll watch it again and see if things get clearer. But, my initial reaction is "confusing mess".
Rating:
Summary: Better than most American equivalents.
Review: My only caveat is that one of the (major) red herrings could have been deployed a lot better - it's the only element that really strains credibility. There is nothing gratuitous about the gore - which is rather detailed in the opening scenes. Western viewers are more likely to complain about the slow pacing, but I rather enjoyed this element of the film. This is a stylish and somber genre flick of above average intelligence that is well acted, written and directed. It's also a good opportunity to see what's been going on in Korean cinema lately - which seems to be coming into it's own. "The Foul King" is another recent gem from Korea.
Rating:
Summary: [Tell Me Something]
Review: TELL ME SOMETHING is one pleasant surprise. It's plot is tight, it's pacing is solid, and it's surprises are frightening. Lieutenant Cho's back is against the wall. Brought up on charges of police corruption, he's a heartbeat away from losing his career. However, a series of brutal murders -- linked by the fact that the arms, legs, and heads are interchanged on the bodies of the victims -- pulls him away from the charges as he's placed in charge of the investigation. As it turns out, all of the victims are former lovers of a reclusive artist, Suyeon Chae, and now Cho must face the secrets of her past to unravel the mystery of the present ... and, possibly, her future. Drenched in an atmosphere of the best film noir, TELL ME SOMETHING is a superb 'whodunnit' that keeps the viewer guessing up until the very end. A cerebral combination of the police procedural and noir's best elements, the film presents a roller coaster full of suspects with an equal number of motives. However, it isn't until the very last scene of the film that the true killer is revealed ... a clever twist that haunts the viewer to a repeat viewing for all the clues that were missed along the way. Extraordinarily edited and wraught with suspense, TELL ME SOMETHING is not for the soft-stomached. The film boasts a fair share of blood and flesh scenes, shockingly simple in their construction but packing one terrific wallop visually. The performances, especially of the two leads (Han Suk-gyu as Cho and Shim Eun-ha as Chae), are dead on ... no pun intended. That's not to say that the film is perfect; there are a few clues that probably would've been handled differently, and one situation regarding a youthful neighbor of the disturbed Chae is a bit hard to swallow. However, the drawbacks are minor, and they do little to diminish the utter sense of dread and failure overwhelming Lieutenant Cho is the film's ultimate climax. Watch it with the lights on. It's well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Baffling, but entertaining
Review: Tell Me Something may be one of Korea's most popular films ever (as the admen say), but it surely isn't their most comprehensible.
It starts slow, with some puzzling plot points that from the beginning threatened to derail my enjoyment of the film. But the production values were good, the soundtrack was excellent (Enya used to best film effect I've ever seen. Creepy, somber, scary--kudos! Nick Cave was well used, too, but he's kind of like that always, y'know), and I was willing to be beguiled. The story slowly cranked up, drew me in, and I decided to overlook the problems I had. Given the limited number of suspects about, they did a pretty good job of keeping me guessing.
But by the end I realized that one reason they kept me guessing was because they decided to just jump a few links in the chain of logic. When it's all over, I'm left going, "Does this make sense?" And I'm answering myself (because I watched it alone), "Not really. But sometimes the soundtrack was surely cool." Was that Placebo's "Crawl?" Why, yes it was! And Shim Eun Ha is really pretty.
I'd recommend. But don't invest too much in the mystery. Watch it for the cinematography. And turn up the sound.
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