It made my list for the best of 2004, it made Devin’s list for the best of 2004, and it made Dave’s list for the best of 2004, which is what we call the CHUD trifecta around these parts.
It’s Oldboy, Chan-wook Park’s uncompromising and unforgettable film, one that challenges its audience in all the right ways and one which tests the conventions at every turn. It’s a masterpiece, one that I know I would have had higher on my list had I originally seen it in a theater rather than on video. Thankfully, it got a release stateside in 2005 (and EW proved its foolhardiness by giving it a C or a C-). If you aren’t sold on the Eastern trend in the film business, you’ve been waiting for this movie. If you’re a diehard fan of Asian cinema, you’re salivating for this disc. Either way, you need to spin it around and around and around.
CHUD.com has a handful of the DVDs for this classic as well as a handful of the spunky new UMDs of it (for your Sony PSP, a machine I have been playing religiously since its release date) for some lucky readers who are ready to go beyond the call of duty in hopes of winning fun stuff and spreading the word of CHUD.com in the real world as well as by sharing your immense film knowledge with the rest of the folks out there. Here’s the steps, and don’t forget to enter using the DVD link if you want that and the UMD link if you want that. Look for Micah Robinson’s review of the UMD in the coming weeks in our MCP column as well as the DVD review right here on Oldboy apologist central.
Step 1. Get a CHUD MB account HERE. Ifr you already have one, just post under your existing account in the thread HERE telling us of your first experience with Asian cinema on how it affected you. I beg you, if you are a new signee, please stick around and contribute to the intelligent discussion on the site. Post a link to your post using the correct link below.
Step 2. Pimp CHUD somewhere on the web or in the real world. If it means posting a quick thing in your blog, directing folks here from a message board, or by doing a sign at the office and sending a jpg of it, do a little grassroots promotion for a site that’s been around forever but could certainly use a little "ooomph" in the awareness department. Send a link or a jpg if it applies (using the link below).
Step 3. Tell me what ONE aspect of the site constitutes the most important aspect of the CHUD experience for you. The boards? The news? The free shit? The comic strip? The CHUDstories. Fess up, and tel lme using the link below which applies.
Step 4. Spread the word about Oldboy. This is still a niche film, a cult film. It’s also the film that could wake up a lot of sleeping American and Canadian filmgoers to the fact there is a whole continent over there kicking ass with their Arriflexes and Panavisions and Digital Camcorders.
So, here’s what should be in the email you send me:
Your mailing address (you know, in case you win).
A link to your post in that Asian CHUD thread.
Evidence of your CHUD pimping.
The one aspect of the site you most love.
Now, choose which format… and be wise, I’m not allowing duplicates. Pick your format and stick with it! Oh, and if you don’t use the link or have the ALL CAPS subject title designated below, I won’t be able to search for them in my email so please use the link. GOOD LUCK!