Flying Swords of Dragon Gate - China - Martial Arts
Story: Set three years after Dragon Inn was overun, innkeeper Jade has disappeared and a new inn has risen from the ashes - one that's staffed by marauders masquerading as law-abiding citizens, who hope to unearth the fabled lost city buried in the desert.
This was Tsui Harks' next film directly after Detective Dee, so hopes were high for this film. Whilst it's decently entertaining I can't help but feel a little let down by it. After a clever middle portion with tense mind games at the Inn, it descends into a flashy National Treasure-esque treasure hunt, with far too much obvious CGI for my liking.
Rating: B-
Memories of Murder - Korea - Serial Killer film
Story: In 1986 South Korea, a young and beautiful woman is found dead, raped and tied and gagged with her underwear. Detective Park Doo-Man and Detective Cho Yong-koo, two brutal and stupid local detectives without any technique, investigate the murder.
Well, the picture above has undercut me. Basically yeah, what it says above^. Excluding horror based serial films like Halloween, Friday The 13th etc, realistically this is one of the best serial killer movies I've ever seen. The key here is that it is.... and isn't like any serial killer film you've seen before, primarily because it deals with the (real life) very first serial killing case in South Korea. These guys had no flipping clue how to investigate and the procedures and methods of the police at that time weren't... ah... kosher I would say. What you end up with is a film that's borderline black comedy, but it's still exciting and meaningful when it needs to be. From the director of The Host.
Rating: A+
From the director of The Host
Kung Fu Hustle - Hong Kong - Kung Fu Comedy
Story: In Shanghai, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious "Axe Gang" while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
Pure entertainment from start to finish, this hilarious CGI fuelled kung fu romp will beat the fun out of you. Stephen Chow really needs to make movies more regularly. If you enjoy this, then make sure you check out Shaolin Soccer and Journey into The West - same type of movie.
Rating: A+
I have I saw the Devil on Netflix, was hesitant before but with your recommendation I'll watch it. Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle are so much fun. I loved them.
Battle Royale - Japan - Thriller
Story: Based on a controversial novel, in the near future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act every year.
Quite different tonally from the book, Battle Royale the movie is a super charged emotional snapshot of youthful folly. With only a couple of days to live, these schoolkids work through their emotional problems and friendships, whilst dodging killers left right and centre. So over the top, it's just as funny as it is deliciously exploitative.
Rating: A+ for Japanese cinema
Note: Battle Royale 2 is complete crap, avoid at all costs!
SteelAttack said:I have I saw the Devil on Netflix, was hesitant before but with your recommendation I'll watch it. Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle are so much fun. I loved them.
I Saw The Devil is quite graphic BTW, the Korean release had to be recut for release. The Bluray looks stunning, more detailed than any other HD movie I've seen.
Stephew Chow also directed a film after Ku Fu Hustle called CJ7 which is good for families and funny in its own right. But it's more geared for younger viewers. His recent film Journey into the West is really fun. I'd hunt that down if possible.
Ponyo - Japan - Studio Ghibli
Story: An animated adventure about a boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become a human.
The ultimate magic bullet against kids and virtually the only way to shut up my nephews, for near two pure hours of blissful peace and quiet. Ponyo is a gift, a blessing, a miracle in so many ways. It also happens to be one hell of a movie in its own right. Magic is hard to define but Ponyo has it in spades.
Rating: A+
Note: if you read the subtitles the English dub has been altered from the original script. So if you're not having to watch it in English, with kids for instance, watch it in Japanese with subtitles.
Bonus poster:
Steamboy - Japan - Animated Steampunk - English Dub
Story: In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.
I've seen some mixed reactions to Steamboy and I can't understand it, I personally love the film. Steamboy is the equivalent of Studio Ghibli making an action movie. From legendary Akira Director Katsuhiro Otomo, Steamboy gives most action movies a run for its money, Steamboy from about halfway through is a non-stop awe inspiring thrill ride of imagination.
Rating: A+
Criminally there is no western Bluray release and no western friendly Eastern Bluray release (with English subs). There is a directors cut DVD.
Mother - Korea - Crime Drama
Story: A mother desperately searches for the killer that framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
After Memories of Murder and The Host, my hopes were high for Joon-ho Bongs' next movie. Whether you like Mother or not will depend on how your mind processes the ending. For the majority of the film it's of a fairly similar quality and style to Memories of Murder, but then the ending somewhat plays with your feelings and leaves you unsure of where your loyalties should lie.
Rating: B-
The Wolf Children - Japan - Animated - English Dubbed
Story: After falling in love with a Wolf Man, he tragically dies and Hana decides to move to a rural town to continue the difficult job of raising her two wolf children Ame and Yuki.
From Mamoro Hosoda, visionary directer of Summer Wars comes The Wolf Children. Whilst, a very good film, the end message undermines the whole endevour. All the beauty, angst and breaktaking, exhilarating freedom, is ultimately undermined by the overall message of the films' final moments. It's even in the very final line of the movie: raising kids is thankless, hard, back breaking, soul crushing work and they'll eventually leave you alone in an empty house anyway. Rotten kids.
Rating: A-
Running Out of Time - Hong Kong - Crime Thriller - 1995
Story: Police inspector Sang finds himself in over his head when he is pulled into a 72 hour game, by a criminal out for vengeance on Hong Kong's organized crime Syndicates.
This is an oldie but a goodie. Based on a French film, Johhnie Tos' Hong Kong remake is a clever, crowdpleasing crime movie based on a battle of wits, subterfuge and mind games; played by the sympathetic lead character. More about making you smile than a hard edged crime thriller, both lead actors play off each other brilliantly. And that music, never heard anything like it before or since.
Rating: A
Running Out of Time 2 - Hong Kong - Crime Thriller
Story: Sang finds himself wrapped up in another cat-and-mouse game, this time against a tricky magician.
Still more about making you smile than a hard edged crime thriller, the surprises are less plausible and more 'magic' based which does hurt the film. If you can accept the miraculous and highly improbable turnarounds by the thief this time, you'll get good mileage from this. If not, you might think it sucks.
Rating: B+
The Lost Bladesman - China - Martial Arts drama
Story: The story of legendary General Guan Yu crossing five passes & slaying six generals. He played a major role in the civil war that led to the collapse of Han Dynasty & the establishment of Shu Han of the 3 Kingdoms, making Liu Bei its first emperor.
Alan Maks' best film since co-directing the Infernal Affairs trilogy. The Lost Bladesman is solid and workman like but still reaches a good base of quality. Donnie Yen finally manages to choreograph fight scenes that last longer than a couple of punches. The Lost Bladesman also sort of acts as a companion piece to Red Cliff and is interwoven in the Three Kingdoms period.
Rating: B
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OVA (Original Video Animation)
Which has 4 episodes on it and about half an hours worth of comedy sketches set within the world. You can watch all the comedy sketches in one block like an episode of a sitcom and it's damned hilarious, one Roy Mustang phone rap I watched about 6 times laughing out loud. The episodes are:
- Ed and Al go to investigate the only successful human transmutation - it's a standalone episode but one with a surprising and heart wrenching ending.
- Winrey and her earings is a strange episode that doesn't amount to much where Ed and Al try to bribe Winry with jewellery
- The Tale of the Teacher - shows how Ed and Als' teacher Azumi survived in the Briggs mountains when she was learning Alchemy. It's really funny and kinetic, she fights bears and wolves and stays alive so she wont die a virgin.
- The last and best shows how Mustang and Hughes went through basic training and follows them into the Isbal war.
All in all you're getting about 1 and a half hours of content on one disc for a fairly expensive price. But for Brotherhood fans it's essential.
Rating: B+
A Tale of Two Sisters - Korea - Horror
Story: A family is haunted by the tragedies of deaths within the family.
Riding the wave of Asian horror movies, Kim Je Woon (I Saw The Devil) delivers a film that feels meandering and strange at first, but which all comes into focus near the end. Saying anymore would be letting the cat out of the bag.
Rating: B
The Good The Bad and the Weird - Korea - Action Adventure
Story: The story of two outlaws and a bounty hunter in 1940s Manchuria and their rivalry to possess a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits.
The film without a story, this is a pure McGuffin chase movie. At first disappointing because of the lack of story, when watched and appreciated as pure nonsense entertainment, this is a rollicking good time.
Rating: B+
Crazy Stone - China - Comedy - Crime Caper
Story: Three thieves try to steal a valuable jade that is tightly guarded by a security chief. But the security guards are not the only obstacle these thieves are facing. An extremely unlucky internationally known master thief is also trying to get a hand on this piece of precious jade. What would be the final destination of this piece of crazy stone?
Award winning comedy, full of belly laughs and random stupidity. The ending scene alone may bring tears to your eyes. Crazy Stone is well worth tracking down.
Rating: A
Story: A defense officer, Nameless, is summoned by the King of Qin for terminating three assassins that were a threat to the kingdom.
Dubious politics aside, the first of Zhang Yimous' wuxia films features the same mix of slow motion, artful, martial arts ballet and strong dramatic themes.
Rating: A
P.T.U (Police Tactical Unit) - Hong Kong - Crime
Story: Over the course of one night, a team of cops frantically search for their colleague's missing gun.
Exploring the seedy underbelly of night time Hong Kong, PTU is an exceptionally great looking film in terms of cinematography; with extreme contrast, deep blacks and fine detail. This atmosphere comes across in the movie, immersing you into the night world of the PTU (Police Tactical Unit). This spawned a number of sequels, all of which I never managed to keep up with. PTU itself, as a standalone film is a high quality project with a fun ending.
Rating: A-
Fearless - Martial Arts Drama
Story: This film tells the story of Chinese Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia (1869-1910). Huo Yuanjia was the founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation and stood up to foreign aggressors who labelled China as the sick man of the East.
Fearless is one of my favourite Asian movies, featuring exceptional production design and inventive setpieces. Jet Li rightfully picked up a few acting awards for this effort too. Legendary fight choreographer Yuen Woo Ping did the fight scenes and boy are they great.
Rating: A+
Shaolin Soccer - Hong Kong - Comedy
Story: A young Shaolin follower reunites with his discouraged brothers to form a soccer team using their martial art skills to their advantage.
True story, when my friend tried to get me to watch this many years ago I looked at the cover and gave him a funny look. On the surface of the cover it would appear to be one of those barely comprehensible Lunar New Year comedies, made shoddily and a complete waste of time. Instead Shaolin Soccer (from Kung Fu Hustle director) Stephen Chow is a massively entertaining comedy with great special effects.
Rating: A