Specialforces.com, a supplier of police and paramilitary supplies and equipment, labeled itself as hacker proof. Their customer database has been hacked by the same people who hit Stratfor [The Strategic F. Hack "Data Breach Now Affects More than ¾ Million people: 859,311 Email Addresses, 68,063 Credit Card Numbers, 50,618 Addresses, and 50,569 Phone Numbers" - IdentityFinder ].
Here's the release. The credit card numbers of the customers there were encrypted, unlike at Stratfor, but were decoded after the group owned the server. I personally snatched this scrolling by in real-time at Pastebin. A few minutes later it got released everywhere, so it doesn't make much difference I just happened to see it scrolling by. There's not much more to tell.
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AnonNews took swipes at destructivesec, but destructivesec got a greetz in a 5k Barnes and Noble gift card hack giveaway. Dude must have some legitimacy in their little community. Wonder if they kept it to 5k thinking it wouldn't be big enough to generate a major investigation though. If so, oops, it went big after getting posted.
Statfor Hack [Updated]
A group claiming to be Anonymous hacked security firm Stratfor and released names, emails, passwords and credit card numbers for over 10,000 people either involved with the firm or who are at the firm's client end. All of that information can be found here. To give you a better example of the nature of the information released, if you just wanted the names,emails, passwords and numbers of people whose last names begin with "b," that can be found here. It goes on like that for a while.
A second less complicated hack took place after the first, just because it could be done, but also so a few late comers could get in on the tail end of the exploit. Meanwhile, in an "emergency Christmas press release," Anonymous claims not to have executed the attacks. Perhaps the definition of that word should be brought to their attention. There was a point, though:
Anyway, an example of "acceptable" credit card use: http://imgur.com/kr8sM -- taking into account the whole Robin hood theme. This is such a bad time for there to be no metro wifi. Please no, "I can haz free shipping with my 55" plasma screen?" [Somebody isn't going to find this funny...]
Author listens for sounds of vans outside library - retracts links upon further consideration of value of freedom. Cryptome has all of them anyway. This was only written and posted after I discovered the entire Comodo-hacker GPS RSA spoofing story (Iran got a United States drone out of it) had not been written up for almost a week after I read about it, and may still not have been written up in English. I hate to waste valuable news information.
Supposedly the hack involved a brute force dictionary exploit, using such a program as can be found here. It couldn't have been too difficult. Some senior Stratfor executives used "stratfor" as their password. Now that's elite! For any 12 year olds who are dying for more tools, more advanced scripts in Perl and Python can be found here.
Update:
Hours ago Anonymous responded to "emergency Christmas press release" claiming Stratfor hack was not the work of Anonymous. The response has been titled Anonymous Emergency Press Release Part Deux. Entertainment like this can't be purchased:
For my own holiday season exploit I may into roomie's computer via usb stick root password change [now that takes real knowledge!] to use video capability and monitor. How dare there be a password in my way? Need... more... hd... anime.
A second less complicated hack took place after the first, just because it could be done, but also so a few late comers could get in on the tail end of the exploit. Meanwhile, in an "emergency Christmas press release," Anonymous claims not to have executed the attacks. Perhaps the definition of that word should be brought to their attention. There was a point, though:
It may be that a group of Anonymous has just picked the "low hanging fruit," but it seems that if someone really wanted to stick it to a private intelligence firm that worked with/for the government they would have gone after more shady intelligence companies such as GK Sierra [26], Aegis [27], GPW [28], or Hakluyt [29].
Anyway, an example of "acceptable" credit card use: http://imgur.com/kr8sM -- taking into account the whole Robin hood theme. This is such a bad time for there to be no metro wifi. Please no, "I can haz free shipping with my 55" plasma screen?" [Somebody isn't going to find this funny...]
Author listens for sounds of vans outside library - retracts links upon further consideration of value of freedom. Cryptome has all of them anyway. This was only written and posted after I discovered the entire Comodo-hacker GPS RSA spoofing story (Iran got a United States drone out of it) had not been written up for almost a week after I read about it, and may still not have been written up in English. I hate to waste valuable news information.
Supposedly the hack involved a brute force dictionary exploit, using such a program as can be found here. It couldn't have been too difficult. Some senior Stratfor executives used "stratfor" as their password. Now that's elite! For any 12 year olds who are dying for more tools, more advanced scripts in Perl and Python can be found here.
Update:
Hours ago Anonymous responded to "emergency Christmas press release" claiming Stratfor hack was not the work of Anonymous. The response has been titled Anonymous Emergency Press Release Part Deux. Entertainment like this can't be purchased:
THE PASTEBIN CLAIMING THAT THE STRATFOR HACK IS NOT THE WORK OF ANONYMOUS IS NOT THE WORK OF ANONYMOUS
Stratfor is an open source intelligence agency, publishing daily reports on data collected from the open internet, essentially making millions of the work of other people and using free interships to do the actual work. they also have a very extensive network of NARCS inside and outside the "official anonymous collective" (you know who you are <3). Stratfor employees claiming to be Anonymous have distorted this truth in order to further their hidden agenda, and some Anons and Media outlets have taken the bait.
The leaked client list represents subscribers to a daily publication which is the primary service of Stratfor, it's composed of a hoard of evil companies that Stratfor analysts are trying to protect to save their neo-con face. Stratfor analysts are widely considered to be extremely unbiased, which is utter crap. Anonymous does not attack media sources, that is why Antisec released the PI and CC deets of the fucking evil corporations that are clients of Stratfor, like the fucking army, Monsanto, Coca Cola, Walt fucking disney and whatever more... fuck, even GOLDMAN SACHS IS IN THERE, HOW COULD WE NOT DO THIS ?!
[snip]
"INSERT USELESS QUOTE FROM STRATFOR IN ORDER TO GET MORE SEO POINTS AND MAKE PEOPLE SKIP TO THE END
FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER
[snip]
#antisec has been purposefully misrepresented by these so-called Anons and portrayed in false light as a collective that hacks the little man, the 99% or even the 89%... Stratfor employees are well versed in counter-intelligence, though they kinda lack intelligence per-se and are nothing more than opportunistic attention whores who are definetly agent provocateurs. As a media source, Stratfor's work is protected by the freedom of press, a principle which Anonymous does not give a fuck any day of the week. only moralfags do. and we all know where moralfags go when they die (they join fucking internetwhitekights and anontalk pedos in hell)
This 30k view pastebin is most definitely not the work of Anonymous. (see how it's spelled correctly? this copy paste is obviously too well written to actually be anonymous)
For my own holiday season exploit I may into roomie's computer via usb stick root password change [now that takes real knowledge!] to use video capability and monitor. How dare there be a password in my way? Need... more... hd... anime.
Massive Twitter Security Flaw
For an uninformed user of twitter, OAuth can cause them to provide access to their twitter account from secondary devices even after changing passwords at the source.
Obviously this has huge implications for citizen journalists, activists, and human rights workers among others. Anyone who is detained and whose twitter passwords become compromised (as well as other applications, i'm guessing the facebook app for iPad also uses OAUTH, though it may just store the password) is at risk of providing ongoing access to these apps if they fail to remove the OAuth authorization after changing their passwords.
[sic]
cryptome
Anti-SOPA and "Protect IP" Songs
SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, which would literally destroy Internet freedom while making no guarantee at all to help anyone but the lobbyists for the bill. isn't even close to being dead. Neither is the ironically named Protect IP bill. Here are two songs about it. If you didn't know about it before, you may not be able to get it out of your head after this.
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SOPA opposition community
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SOPA opposition community
My Kingdom
My Kingdom is a lot better than reviews might lead you to believe; it's difficult to discern what the critics expected. If anything the movie suffered because it had greater ambitions than it could possibly live up to, but the overall viewing experience was not conspicuously unpleasant. The choice for General Lu was the biggest flaw of the film. Many problems existed, but none of them crippled the entertainment value. Most of the other problems were easy to ignore.
Here's what My Kingdom has:
International cinema fans have been spoiled by the above average quality of the movies that come our way. Hollywood has such a stranglehold on the industry that foreign directors face a much higher artistic standard to become successful here. Because of that many really magnificent pictures have come out of Asia in the past ten years. To become commercially successful on this side of the Pacific requires nothing less. When a movie like My Kingdom comes along and it is merely entertaining instead of a virtuoso production the criticism leveled against it can be less than fair. My Kingdom was easily better than 60% of the movies being made in the United States today, even though it was really very average and had more than one continuity problem.
Not worth buying. Worth a cheap rental. Definitely worth a Netflix viewing if one is running low on things to watch on a nasty, wintry day. Or you could watch it with friends and make fun of the awkward parts, which would not be difficult to accomplish.
Here's what My Kingdom has:
- Choreography from Sammo Hung.
- A beautiful leading lady
- Two "ridiculously good looking" leading men
- A plot that does not get boring, no matter what else it does
International cinema fans have been spoiled by the above average quality of the movies that come our way. Hollywood has such a stranglehold on the industry that foreign directors face a much higher artistic standard to become successful here. Because of that many really magnificent pictures have come out of Asia in the past ten years. To become commercially successful on this side of the Pacific requires nothing less. When a movie like My Kingdom comes along and it is merely entertaining instead of a virtuoso production the criticism leveled against it can be less than fair. My Kingdom was easily better than 60% of the movies being made in the United States today, even though it was really very average and had more than one continuity problem.
Not worth buying. Worth a cheap rental. Definitely worth a Netflix viewing if one is running low on things to watch on a nasty, wintry day. Or you could watch it with friends and make fun of the awkward parts, which would not be difficult to accomplish.
Patents [heavy sigh]
Morale among progressive reformists rode an all time peak going into January 2009. President-elect Barack Obama was poised to take power and spirits were running high. So many people believed great changes were in store for our nation. As soon as the appointments began that elation subsided rapidly.
Software patents have been a huge obstacle to the advancement and development of new technologies and the opening of new avenues of business. For creative, hardworking programmers and development teams with innovative insights, building on available knowledge faces legal challenges and financial hurdles because of the current judicial interpretation of patent law. It's impossible to say exactly how many worthwhile, life-improving software projects have been shelved because of litigation hungry corporate legal departments with their feelers out for ideas that traverse terrain that has been registered, but the impact on software developers has been very significant and burdensome.
For a clearer explanation of dept of that impact one must look beyond the initial claims of infringement. Software patents stop business projects in their tracks not only when pieces of code and processes under a claim of ownership have been used, but all advancement that would be built on that usage is also halted. The existing new software under a claim of infringement becomes unavailable, and also any future advancements that may have come from that software ceases to be possible. The effect of software patenting is stifling.
Many supporters of the Electronic Frontier Foundation had high hopes that the 2008 shift in power would herald a more insightful legal approach to patent law. Fingers were crossed that Justice Department appointments would contain the names of some of our nation's full field of brilliant, forward thinking attorneys. The announcement of the appointment of a significant percentage of attorneys who had previously worked with the Recording Industry Association of America put a damper on the emotions of anyone who was giddy with optimism. Those appointments indicated that the interpretation of digital rights wasn't heading down an openly reformist path. For some people, at that moment those appointments were announced at the very beginning of the Obama Administration, progressive supporters had been betrayed.
Currently, in related news, there's a case before the Supreme Court involving medical patents. Rather than attack the fact that such patents shouldn't exit at all the defense attorneys are arguing over the scope of the patent in question. Perhaps they believe that path has a higher probability of success. Once again, however, an opportunity to challenge the validity of current patent practices has been missed. The lower courts have created law through ruling, and so far it still stands.
This issue may seem like trivia to the average citizen. Patent law may become more important to them when someone in their family faces medical hardship because of it. Perhaps that's what it takes for more people to care about how corporate greed has defined the law of the land. The technical details of obscure rulings may have to start killing people before the issue really takes center stage. Hopefully it won't come to that.
Updated:
It should be pointed out that the stifling effect of current patent jurisprudence as applied to medicine is that potentially life saving advancements may be shut out due to doctors being barred from applying an independently derived procedure if the procedure applies to an area that has already been patented. As with software, the initial block to innovation potentially blocks much greater progress. That avenues of treating people may be shut off because of legal interpretations based on corporate profit is really quite chilling, and very serious.
Dos:
I completely left out the biggest reason these patents shouldn't exist, for those who need context. They all deal with intangible processes. They have nothing to do with concrete inventions.
Software patents have been a huge obstacle to the advancement and development of new technologies and the opening of new avenues of business. For creative, hardworking programmers and development teams with innovative insights, building on available knowledge faces legal challenges and financial hurdles because of the current judicial interpretation of patent law. It's impossible to say exactly how many worthwhile, life-improving software projects have been shelved because of litigation hungry corporate legal departments with their feelers out for ideas that traverse terrain that has been registered, but the impact on software developers has been very significant and burdensome.
For a clearer explanation of dept of that impact one must look beyond the initial claims of infringement. Software patents stop business projects in their tracks not only when pieces of code and processes under a claim of ownership have been used, but all advancement that would be built on that usage is also halted. The existing new software under a claim of infringement becomes unavailable, and also any future advancements that may have come from that software ceases to be possible. The effect of software patenting is stifling.
Many supporters of the Electronic Frontier Foundation had high hopes that the 2008 shift in power would herald a more insightful legal approach to patent law. Fingers were crossed that Justice Department appointments would contain the names of some of our nation's full field of brilliant, forward thinking attorneys. The announcement of the appointment of a significant percentage of attorneys who had previously worked with the Recording Industry Association of America put a damper on the emotions of anyone who was giddy with optimism. Those appointments indicated that the interpretation of digital rights wasn't heading down an openly reformist path. For some people, at that moment those appointments were announced at the very beginning of the Obama Administration, progressive supporters had been betrayed.
Currently, in related news, there's a case before the Supreme Court involving medical patents. Rather than attack the fact that such patents shouldn't exit at all the defense attorneys are arguing over the scope of the patent in question. Perhaps they believe that path has a higher probability of success. Once again, however, an opportunity to challenge the validity of current patent practices has been missed. The lower courts have created law through ruling, and so far it still stands.
This issue may seem like trivia to the average citizen. Patent law may become more important to them when someone in their family faces medical hardship because of it. Perhaps that's what it takes for more people to care about how corporate greed has defined the law of the land. The technical details of obscure rulings may have to start killing people before the issue really takes center stage. Hopefully it won't come to that.
Updated:
It should be pointed out that the stifling effect of current patent jurisprudence as applied to medicine is that potentially life saving advancements may be shut out due to doctors being barred from applying an independently derived procedure if the procedure applies to an area that has already been patented. As with software, the initial block to innovation potentially blocks much greater progress. That avenues of treating people may be shut off because of legal interpretations based on corporate profit is really quite chilling, and very serious.
Dos:
I completely left out the biggest reason these patents shouldn't exist, for those who need context. They all deal with intangible processes. They have nothing to do with concrete inventions.
Open Source: Some Context and Direction
This blog contains a lot of references and commentary on open source computing, Linux primarily. Before switching to Linux from Windows, open source operating systems seemed like something only programmers and experts used. Having used Unix and Apple computers while I was a young adult I had the mistaken impression that anything that ended in *nix meant command line computing only. Immediately upon installing a Linux system that mistaken notion was forever dispelled. It turned out Linux these days isn't any more complicated than Windows, at least not for someone who uses their computer for more than entry level productivity.
The primary attraction behind switching to a Linux system was security. First Windows 95, and then Windows 98, exhibited a pattern of bogging down after a few of months of use. Applications and processes slowed down over time, until usability was so impacted the problem could no longer be ignored. By the time Windows XP came out protection against spyware, adware, backdoor orifices, trojans, viruses and worms wasn't optional. For anyone who spent a lot of time on the Internet without security software the computer was a sitting duck. On top of that, quite often the security slowed down the computer almost as much as malware and malicious code. Linux is invulnerable to the vast majority of such material, and so the switch was made.
In the course of developing proficiency in creating a desktop to be proud of, compiling, command line code and in depth security fluency becomes part of one's knowledge base, at least for those who desire a full featured computing experience. A computer is a marvelous thing. It can be used as a home entertainment system, an advanced tool for calculations and scientific processes, and it is especially magnificent in the realm of communications and data transfer. It is in the lattermost area that security information is so incredibly valuable.
It was while learning how to streamline the Linux kernel that I first discovered the answer to all the questions I ever had about hacking. Once the mystique of hacking vanishes the dividing line between ethical hacking and the malicious and illegal becomes absolutely clear. Those who use the techniques available for intrusion into private and public systems can provide no rationalization for their actions that can make the practice acceptable, although the justice system does take into account the difference between thrill seekers and those out for profit.
Open source makes securing Linux desktops and servers easily possible for the individual, instead of something that has to be done with third party software. While learning about security all of the techniques and methods used by malicious hackers becomes transparent. When the task of hardening your system becomes tedious and time consuming any mistaken romantic perception of the hacker conjured by pop-culture, like the movie with Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller, will likely go right out the window. The learning experience is still highly enjoyable. None of that experience comes out of using a proprietary operating system.
So, yup, there's some context and direction...
;)
Also, and it is a BIG also, many Linux distributions come with GIMP, the GNU version of Photoshop. I'm a visitor using Windows here and I am hurting without a photo manipulation program. Thanks for nothing, Mickeysoft.
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*
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Creepy Walls: Pyramid Head at the top, with his impression of Boxxy ♥s Addy [Pyramid Head will mess you up, man] -- all Silent Hill.
The primary attraction behind switching to a Linux system was security. First Windows 95, and then Windows 98, exhibited a pattern of bogging down after a few of months of use. Applications and processes slowed down over time, until usability was so impacted the problem could no longer be ignored. By the time Windows XP came out protection against spyware, adware, backdoor orifices, trojans, viruses and worms wasn't optional. For anyone who spent a lot of time on the Internet without security software the computer was a sitting duck. On top of that, quite often the security slowed down the computer almost as much as malware and malicious code. Linux is invulnerable to the vast majority of such material, and so the switch was made.
In the course of developing proficiency in creating a desktop to be proud of, compiling, command line code and in depth security fluency becomes part of one's knowledge base, at least for those who desire a full featured computing experience. A computer is a marvelous thing. It can be used as a home entertainment system, an advanced tool for calculations and scientific processes, and it is especially magnificent in the realm of communications and data transfer. It is in the lattermost area that security information is so incredibly valuable.
It was while learning how to streamline the Linux kernel that I first discovered the answer to all the questions I ever had about hacking. Once the mystique of hacking vanishes the dividing line between ethical hacking and the malicious and illegal becomes absolutely clear. Those who use the techniques available for intrusion into private and public systems can provide no rationalization for their actions that can make the practice acceptable, although the justice system does take into account the difference between thrill seekers and those out for profit.
Open source makes securing Linux desktops and servers easily possible for the individual, instead of something that has to be done with third party software. While learning about security all of the techniques and methods used by malicious hackers becomes transparent. When the task of hardening your system becomes tedious and time consuming any mistaken romantic perception of the hacker conjured by pop-culture, like the movie with Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller, will likely go right out the window. The learning experience is still highly enjoyable. None of that experience comes out of using a proprietary operating system.
So, yup, there's some context and direction...
;)
Also, and it is a BIG also, many Linux distributions come with GIMP, the GNU version of Photoshop. I'm a visitor using Windows here and I am hurting without a photo manipulation program. Thanks for nothing, Mickeysoft.
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Creepy Walls: Pyramid Head at the top, with his impression of Boxxy ♥s Addy [Pyramid Head will mess you up, man] -- all Silent Hill.
More Than A Few Words
Recently Whiskey Fire had 8000 unique hits in one week. An uptick in political interest, especially an expanding interest in the smart mouthed left wing intelligentsia, warms away some of the chill of the mausoleum where some of us crawled away to die after the plague of bipartisanship consumed the passion of the 2008 election. 2012 will have none of the fire and thunder "Renegade" conjured to life during his first whirlwind campaign, but with contenders like Newt Gingrich waiting in the wings there's at least sure to be plenty of high entertainment.
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Bin-jip, or Three Iron, from director Ki-duk Kim, delivered a surprising neural experience with lengthy periods of silence and fluid examinations of internal space. The story follows a young man who breaks into the homes of strangers in order to feel life from their perspective. Along the way he picks up a battered wife who appreciates the allure of the peculiar nefarious practice. She speaks almost as little as he does.
The couple wind up in police custody after staying at the home of a deceased older man. Even so, while the mute burglar goes through a period of confinement the mood of the film only sinks briefly. Shortly after his release he haunts the residences where he previously trespassed before returning to the home of the discontented wife and her loathsome husband.
Ki-duk Kim began to develop the theme of secrets outside the 180° range of human vision and the impossible hidden relationship between the woman and the burglar as the movie ran out of time. Perhaps Kim judged that the improbabilities of the plot grew too cumbersome, but the suddenness with which the movie ended felt like an admission of defeat by the director. The story cried out to be made more plausible and wrapped up tidily. Instead it ended with what seemed like an obvious appeal to admirers of dreamy romance.
This movie would be great for a dreary, rainy day when the viewer has nothing else to do. The fact that it is subtitled makes it cumbersome for a date or for watching with a group. However, it was quite a pleasant diversion.
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The L.S.U. Tiger football team: It really doesn't get much better than this season. For superstitious reasons nothing more will be said here, except Geaux Tigers!
*
The Housemaid: An excellent flick about the trials and tribulations of a live-in servant. Husband does the nanny. Wife's mother tries to kill the maid. Wife poisons the lady's unborn baby. The rich bitches destroy her life. The wealthy husband shrugs and goes on with his. Nanny hangs herself and burns to death simultaneously. An extremely captivating reel.
*
The Twilight Samurai completely destroyed any notion that it might be part of the stereotypical Samurai slice-and-dice genre. Yôji Yamada created a classic with this work. The portrayal of a low level Samurai working for his lord in the pre-Meiji years came across as brilliantly realistic. The continuity of the tale glowed with a vivid, transcendent normalcy, and thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhe camera work almost makes the viewer feel like a present observer.
It's difficult to understand why this movie is not more heralded by fans of historical fiction and Asian culture. Perhaps it's because of such travesties as the :
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Bin-jip, or Three Iron, from director Ki-duk Kim, delivered a surprising neural experience with lengthy periods of silence and fluid examinations of internal space. The story follows a young man who breaks into the homes of strangers in order to feel life from their perspective. Along the way he picks up a battered wife who appreciates the allure of the peculiar nefarious practice. She speaks almost as little as he does.
The couple wind up in police custody after staying at the home of a deceased older man. Even so, while the mute burglar goes through a period of confinement the mood of the film only sinks briefly. Shortly after his release he haunts the residences where he previously trespassed before returning to the home of the discontented wife and her loathsome husband.
Ki-duk Kim began to develop the theme of secrets outside the 180° range of human vision and the impossible hidden relationship between the woman and the burglar as the movie ran out of time. Perhaps Kim judged that the improbabilities of the plot grew too cumbersome, but the suddenness with which the movie ended felt like an admission of defeat by the director. The story cried out to be made more plausible and wrapped up tidily. Instead it ended with what seemed like an obvious appeal to admirers of dreamy romance.
This movie would be great for a dreary, rainy day when the viewer has nothing else to do. The fact that it is subtitled makes it cumbersome for a date or for watching with a group. However, it was quite a pleasant diversion.
*
The L.S.U. Tiger football team: It really doesn't get much better than this season. For superstitious reasons nothing more will be said here, except Geaux Tigers!
*
The Housemaid: An excellent flick about the trials and tribulations of a live-in servant. Husband does the nanny. Wife's mother tries to kill the maid. Wife poisons the lady's unborn baby. The rich bitches destroy her life. The wealthy husband shrugs and goes on with his. Nanny hangs herself and burns to death simultaneously. An extremely captivating reel.
*
The Twilight Samurai completely destroyed any notion that it might be part of the stereotypical Samurai slice-and-dice genre. Yôji Yamada created a classic with this work. The portrayal of a low level Samurai working for his lord in the pre-Meiji years came across as brilliantly realistic. The continuity of the tale glowed with a vivid, transcendent normalcy, and thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhe camera work almost makes the viewer feel like a present observer.
It's difficult to understand why this movie is not more heralded by fans of historical fiction and Asian culture. Perhaps it's because of such travesties as the :
A 19th-century samurai tries to protect a battered wife.That description could not be any farther from the truth. This movie is worth owning, and that is not something one will read here very often.
Yet Another Review
Any aspiring screenplay writers out there should know that there really is very little in the way of adrenaline exploitation that has not already been done, nearly ad infinitum, in Asian cinema. The Man From Nowhere delves into that sub-sub-genre of crime scenarios that deal with organ harvesting, heroin trafficking and child slavery. Thankfully the subject has now been covered with all due sensationalism, and no one will be led to cover it for its newness. Never fear: The culprits meet their deaths in gratuitous bloody sequences, along with just about every character connected to them in any way.
The "man from nowhere" dishes out the beyond-the-law vigilante justice, and his character is about as cliche as they get. Former spy -- check. Martial arts expert -- check. Mysterious air -- check. He's not the conventional muscle bound protagonist, however, as the movie starts out with glimpses into his life as a pawn shop owner and operator. When his dream life was shattered by criminal hands he abandoned his service to the state and went into the hock trade. He just happens to be the neighbor of a little girl who gets snatched up by the scuzziest people the writer could envision. Like any mysterious hero lethal in hand to hand would, he embarks on a quest to save the child.
Hollywood did not dump this film on the world. The California film industry may not be cutting edge with a lot of its story choices, but that can be a good thing, depending on one's perspective. Korean film makers don't seem to be burdened by the same PTA outrage that would surround a movie like this in the United States. Sometimes the lack of moral filters allow for a truly inventive and awe inspiring work of cinema, but at other times the viewer winds up with a movie like this. Anybody who can watch this movie and simply shrug their shoulders has probably seen too many movies. Welcome to the club. The proper reaction is probably to be deeply shocked and offended by the violence and subject matter. For those who are already jaded: It wasn't totally terrible, it was just mostly terrible, but it did make a couple of hours go by very quickly.
**
::bonus review:: :)
Meanwhile, in the romance genre, Windstruck tells the story of the person with the worst aim in all of Korea, a policewoman in Seoul. Don't let other descriptions fool you. You may hear that the movie is about love and loss, that it deals with matters of the heart and grief, and the touching of two souls. It is really about how the lead female actor (who would have been great in any role) can't hit the broad side of a barn with her sidearm. That fact remains consistent throughout the movie. Sure, she has a lover that bites the dust, but that doesn't help her get any better with her pistol. I'd be frightened to meet a person who could make it through the entire two hours and three minutes without laughing.
For the sake of honesty it should be said that the movie is a sappy romance, frivolously so. It waffles between happy and sad and has a wide variety of endings to choose from. The director made it impossible to know for certain if the boyfriend was shot to death. Instead the viewer is forced to choose their own interpretation of events. The movie is a flop as a normal romantic comedy, but was still enjoyable overall. It really helps that the leading lady is so pleasant to look at.
The "man from nowhere" dishes out the beyond-the-law vigilante justice, and his character is about as cliche as they get. Former spy -- check. Martial arts expert -- check. Mysterious air -- check. He's not the conventional muscle bound protagonist, however, as the movie starts out with glimpses into his life as a pawn shop owner and operator. When his dream life was shattered by criminal hands he abandoned his service to the state and went into the hock trade. He just happens to be the neighbor of a little girl who gets snatched up by the scuzziest people the writer could envision. Like any mysterious hero lethal in hand to hand would, he embarks on a quest to save the child.
Hollywood did not dump this film on the world. The California film industry may not be cutting edge with a lot of its story choices, but that can be a good thing, depending on one's perspective. Korean film makers don't seem to be burdened by the same PTA outrage that would surround a movie like this in the United States. Sometimes the lack of moral filters allow for a truly inventive and awe inspiring work of cinema, but at other times the viewer winds up with a movie like this. Anybody who can watch this movie and simply shrug their shoulders has probably seen too many movies. Welcome to the club. The proper reaction is probably to be deeply shocked and offended by the violence and subject matter. For those who are already jaded: It wasn't totally terrible, it was just mostly terrible, but it did make a couple of hours go by very quickly.
**
::bonus review:: :)
Meanwhile, in the romance genre, Windstruck tells the story of the person with the worst aim in all of Korea, a policewoman in Seoul. Don't let other descriptions fool you. You may hear that the movie is about love and loss, that it deals with matters of the heart and grief, and the touching of two souls. It is really about how the lead female actor (who would have been great in any role) can't hit the broad side of a barn with her sidearm. That fact remains consistent throughout the movie. Sure, she has a lover that bites the dust, but that doesn't help her get any better with her pistol. I'd be frightened to meet a person who could make it through the entire two hours and three minutes without laughing.
For the sake of honesty it should be said that the movie is a sappy romance, frivolously so. It waffles between happy and sad and has a wide variety of endings to choose from. The director made it impossible to know for certain if the boyfriend was shot to death. Instead the viewer is forced to choose their own interpretation of events. The movie is a flop as a normal romantic comedy, but was still enjoyable overall. It really helps that the leading lady is so pleasant to look at.
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