Bong-Joon Ho's THE HOST (2006)

A monster movie always needs a bit

Of slapstick, but these laughs come with a punch

Right to the gut. A class on how this fit

Together could, sure, benefit a bunch

Of students. Here the monster shows up soon

And clearly, and is sinuous and cool

And interesting to watch, at night or noon

(That's right: broad daylight, often tough and cruel

To creatures, only makes this better! I

Would nothing change, unless, perhaps I'd give

To Chekhov's archer more to do than fly

That arrow; Doona Bae just makes me live. 

But Ko Asung does, too, and Kan-Ho Song

Paired with her never, ever, can go wrong!

Bong-Joon Ho's MOTHER (2009)

A bit Twin Peaks and Hitchcock, but instead

Of hard-boiled gumshoes or the FBI,

Our sleuth is someone's mama. A girl's dead;

And all assume it's this poor, simple guy

Who's duped into confessing. But in fact

Did he commit the deed? His mom says no

And sets herself to keeping full, intact

Her baby's honor. No Miss Marple, though

Is she. Her sordid course through what occurred

A girl's last night is full of error and

Of churning images that soon are stirred

Into a muddy moral mess (on-brand

For Ho) shows off how Hye-Ja Kim can dance

Through any scene or mood, given the chance. 

Bong Joon-Ho's PARASITE 2019

To see Kang-Ho as Daddy once again

Is comforting, but as one e'er should know

He's no sweet Mr. Roger's type, as when

A Chekhov's Smell goes off! But there you go.

What's played for laughs at first of course gets dark

(Though still quite beautiful). And then that rock,

Itself a character, comes through to park

Itself right at the movie's heart. No shock

That Yeo-Jeong Jo steals ev'ry doe-eyed scene

She's in, or that Ho found a window frame

To be the vis'ual anchor, cracked and mean

Or so expansive that it seems a shame 

It's never shattered. Just too on the nose?

Perhaps! My love for Bon-Joon Ho just grows...