Snowpiercer has been the underground hit of the summer. While its theatrical financial haul pales in comparison to that of the monster summer blockbusters, the actioner has managed to find a relatively large audience through Video-On-Demand. For those that have seen the film, whether in theater or at home, the film's vivid and unique take on a dystopian future quickly becomes a topic of conversation that forms a bond akin to that of belonging to some secret club. Directed by South Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho and based on a French graphic novel, the film takes place on a train that constantly circles a frozen post-apocalypse. The people on the train, who are the last surviving members of the human species, are divided up into two classes: the privileged and the unprivileged. The wretched poor live extremely meager existences at the back of train while the elite live rich, comfortable lives at the front of the train. This is how society on the train remains until the poor start a revolt and make their way to the front. The film has some really bizarre moments that clearly signify its South Korean roots, but its unique vision and style is fascinating and hard to take your eyes off. In a perfect world, the film would be a major Oscar contender in a number of categories, but if the Academy could at least nominate Tilda Swinton for her crazy, goofball villainess performance, the world will be a better place.
A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.
