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It's possible that this dark comedy will slip from my memory before too long, but as I write this just having viewed the film (on home video), I have to say it made for an excellent viewing experience. It's rare to see a comedy in this day and age with such an offbeat sense of humor, let alone one that keeps viewers guessing so much as to where the plot will head next. There's also a lot of care put into the cinematography and editing of this film, adding some extra layers of satisfaction from a cinephilic perspective; this is one comedy that doesn't insult the viewer's intelligence, and need never be regarded as a guilty pleasure.

Specifically, the way this issue pinpoints its moment in time regarding Korean culture's evolving relationship with dogs is constantly mined for humor, but also provides moments of real insight and touching emotion.

I watched this film on the strength of director Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder, an excellent thriller with a deep mordant streak. If this previous film had to be nailed down to a genre, I'd call it a dark comedy -- albeit an extremely idiosyncratic one -- but there are effective splashes of the thriller and horror genres throughout, not to mention some nicely done surrealistic touches. All in all, these two films make me sorely regret missing Bong Joon-ho's "Host" at this year's Toronto film fest; I've added his name to my short list of Korean directors (the others being Park Chan-wook, Hong Sang-soo, and Kim Ki-duk) to follow closely.

"What Time Is It There?" remains my favorite film by Tsai Ming-liang, but it's fascinating to follow his work and see how he builds his own imaginative world -- close to, but not exactly, our own -- film by film.

"I Don't Want to Sleep Alone" took me a little longer to get into than any prior film by the director, but by about the half-hour mark I was fully absorbed. Thankfully, "I Don't Want to Sleep Alone" rewards patient viewers by reserving some fantastically humorous, mysterious, and even hypnotic moments for its last acts. Whereas in previous films, familiar visual tropes such as umbrellas and watermelons have played recurrent symbolic roles, here it's mattresses and anti-smoke facemasks, somehow used just as evocatively. Other obsessions -- dripping water, holes in floors and ceilings, mysterious and unspoken attractions -- recur here in ways that recall the director's previous works without depending upon them.

I wouldn't suggest curious viewers start with this film, but rather delve back as far back as possible into Tsai Ming-liang's back catalog and proceed from there -- easier than ever before to do now, what with the increased DVD availability of early gems such as "Rebels of the Neon God." For those unsure if they want to make that level of commitment, check out "What Time Is It There?" or "Goodbye Dragon Inn." But for the already converted, rest assured that "I Don't Want to Sleep Alone" is a strong, worthy addition to Tsai Ming-liang's body of work.

As a resident of Baltimore, home to "Homicide," "The Corner," and "The Wire" -- not to mention gritty, must-see docs such as "Omar & Pete," "Girlhood," and "Boys of Baraka" -- I was wondering how I'd react to a documentary about the mean streets of... the Toronto suburbs. However, I'd seen a previous film by the director that I'd loved, and gave it a chance.

I'm glad I did. The story presented in EMPZ 4 Life is unfortunately a universal one -- young black teenagers subject to a racist system that calls them stupid, flunks them, turns them out on the streets, and then imprisons them (usually, but not necessarily, in that order). The director captured some amazing footage detailing racial profiling and the systemic failure on the part of the public-school system on the part of these kids. Or I guess I should say his crew did -- as an old white guy, director Allan King indicated that he wasn't on location at all, thinking a younger, ethnically diverse crew would earn the trust of the kids of EMPZ 4 Life more than he would/could. In any case, it's hard to walk away from this film unaffected; your heart will really go out to the kids , their parents, and the dedicated volunteers who try to help them get a good education despite the best efforts of the system to prevent this.