There are a few things I have to say about Gen Con. One of them is about a movie. I’ll start there.
Oldboy is a Korean revenge film. It is, by far, my favorite movie since Fight Club. It is, by far, one of the most fucked up and disturbing movies I have ever seen.
Recommended by jim pinto and memento-mori, I picked it up at the show, came home, got a Coke and some chips, sat down, and watched it. At the end, I was stunned. Nobody in Hollywood is making movies as daring, dangerous and disturbing as this. I never finished my Coke. The potato chips remained untouched after the first twenty minutes.
The story concerns a man–a pathetic, anonymous man–who is kidnapped and kept isolated for fifteen years. His prison is a locked hotel room where he is slipped food through a slot in the front door. His only companion is his television set.
Of course, there is an escape plan and there are direct references to The Count of Monte Cristo. (There is also a reference to the Philip K. Dick Book, The Man in the High Castle. But I’ll leave that alone for right now.)
The rest of the movie concerns our protagonist’s revenge against those who imprisoned him and the consequences of a ruthless search for the truth. And, as promised by my two recommenders, it has the best fight scene ever filmed. I shit you not, Faithful Reader.
I cannot recommend this movie with any higher degree of enthusiasm. Go rent it, buy it, do whatever you have to. See this movie. It will fuck you up beyond all recognition.