[Korean DVD News] "Lee Chang-dong Collection" Up For Pre-Order

"A few years back, I waltzed into a Blockbuster video store and rented a Korean movie,"

I just have to stop and reflect on the awesomeness of this sentence. It seems like only yesterday that this would have been the stuff of science fiction. We've come quite a ways since then, haven't we?

Sentence FRAGMENT, excuse me.

rythm-x : the subs help, of course, but for me it was X that broke open the perception of another countries output... he made some recommendations, gave good regular coverage and explained himself and the films very well for quite some time. but you're right, of course, a few years has made a big difference and it would probably have been a dream a few years back to have easy access to korean films so regularly in blockbuster, and for many, anywhere at all, if it hadn't been for some cracking films like 'oldboy' too.

Kinda miffed about paying $100 + shipping for the OOP set.

BtoFu, look at it this way...you're getting five discs for $100.00 or so along with a booklet that the newer set doesn't have! I too invested a similiar price not that long ago for this set. I have no regrets.

Shiri has to be the biggie for western exposure in the mainstream, and Spring, Summer in the Arthouse?

My guess as to why Blockbuster is paying more attention to S.Korea. I've noticed that the big renters are stocking a fair number of oddball foreign choices. I recently rented "HEAD ON" at Blockbuster, and I also saw Takeshi's on the same shelf along with Baran and The Green Butchers and Kontroll.

I've actually stopped bitching and moaning about the large chains as they all now deal predominantly in Wide-Screen, have adequate (if not humungous) Foreign Sections and stock animation from around the world from Miyazaki to Ocelot.

My only real complaint now is the complete lack of knowledge of the staff (there are exceptions) and that the store doesn't hold onto anything for longer than 6 months. (The upside is that I comb their bins for the foreign product at $5 prices).