SFist spends more time than is seemly pondering where our beloved action film genre is headed next. We feel like the Matrix thing, beautiful as it is, is long over, and the wisecracking action dude is tired as heck. What's next?

We got a peek at a possible answer to that question at SFIAAFF's jam packed screening of 2004 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix Winner and bad-ass Korean gangster film at the Kabuki last week. The line was long, but we didn't care because we had the best damn time at this movie.

Oldboy, the second in Park Chan-wook’s triolgy (the first film being Sympathy For Mr. Vengance and the third,entitled Sympathy For Lady Vengance, is currently in production and the reason neither the director nor the star of Oldboy could join us at the SFIAAFF), is a dark, intense, twisted story of punishment and revenge.

All photos by Tim Ehhalt

Oldboy