rametla1

I thought Barbie was a great movie. In a seaside resort lives a fractured family; a mentally challenged father with two daughters and his morally bankrupt brother. The youngest daughter is sickly, spoiled and dreams of going to America, the oldest does her duty taking care of most of the day-to-day chores associated with running a humble beach resort, more like a beach motel really. The uncle of the girls has brokered a deal of some sort with an American businessman and his daughter. This begins a conflict between the two sisters as it is revealed that the oldest will leave Korea for the States.

(I don't want to share to many details as that would give the movie away, and I hate spoilers.)

At first I thought I had the movie figured out...turned out the motives of American were different but equally appalling. It's a drama with thriller elements but mostly you hang in there to see what is truly going to happen...I was rooting for the relationship between the two girls (the eldest sister Soon-Young and Barbie) but I was relieved that it ended the way it did...and that makes me sad and makes me question my own moral compass.

Watch it then tell me who you rooted for...

A chilling recounting of Soviet serial killer Anatoly Onoprienko's crimes. If you are a fan of crime documentaries (Cold Case Files, etc.) this account of not only Onoprienko's life but also how the transitional political climate and even the Ukraine weather, facilitated these crimes, will be of interest to you. The reporting is objective with only the barest of assumptions voiced however the interviews with the victim's families are few. There is also a lack of Onoprienko's family interviews. I would have liked more interviews in this documentary but this does not detract in any way from the feature. There is gore and crime scene footage but none of it is sensationalistic or dramatized for effect and all of it is necessary to the recounting of facts. This documentary also refrains from asserting or discrediting any psychological and theological theories, they merely report on what the doctors and family members opine and leave you to decide if Onoprienko was insane or if he was evil, and that is refreshing as most reporting nowadays has some sort of agenda.