Asian Cinema Drifter - Asian film reviews for your unspoiled amusement

Police Story 2 review

2008-10-03T00:25:00.000-07:00

It may be an exercise in futility to attempt a worthy sequel to Police Story. Still, Chan gives a valiant effort continuing Chan Ka Kui’s life after he apprehends the first film’s troublesome drug dealer. Kicking off with an exciting highlight reel to recap some of the more daring parts of the last film, we’re set up for a fall when the sequel can’t measure up to these scenes of which we were just reminded. The departure of the last antagonist removes a truly memorable threat from Police Story 2, which would have been especially effective as Chan finds himself in Spider-man esque situations trying to protect the ones he loves from his enemies.

Despite the absence of Brigitte Lin, and the spotlight on Maggie Cheung and her character’s relationship with Ka Kui, certain emotion is lacking as it altogether feels a tad bit contrived. Coupled with the fact that the comedy seemed dimmed down as well, fans of the first will be a bit underwhelmed. While the plot doesn’t create too rousing fight scenarios, most of the actual hand-to-hand combat has improved with the lightning quick punches choreographed in a comprehensible fashion. The choice of locations was a plus as well with a restaurant, playground and explosive warehouse that’d make you want to pick a fight there yourself. The usual environment interaction is there, top-notch and still completely unique to classic Jackie films. Police Story 2 isn’t a bad film by any means, it’s still way above average as a standalone work. It just unfortunately suffers from sequelitis that repeats all the elements we came to love from the first, but fails to top it with the zest we’d hope for in a sequel.

A-

Police Story review

2008-10-03T00:06:00.000-07:00

After a botched police drug bust, Chan Ka Kui arrests Selina Fong, secretary to the suspected drug boss. When she agrees to testify against her boss, Chan is assigned to protect her despite her ambiguous motives, while trying to keep his job and upholding the honor of the police force.

As the other landmark series in quintessential 80’s Jackie, Chan crafts another piece to prove he’s one of the few worthy to direct his films. There’s the indescribable aura to the film (and Police Story 2 to a lesser amount) in this combination of 80’s camp, crime drama and Jackie’s unique action touch. Layered with apparently standard cop tactics and less than surprising traitor plot twists, Police Story simply contains things that can never be duplicated. Down to the cheesy, yet catchy cop music or the flawless blend of comedy and action, these elements were solely products of their industry and time. The stunning opener hardly relies on Jackie’s fighting prowess and more on the glorification of stunts and ridiculous explosions. Movies are not made like this anymore.

Action-wise, the crazy stunts and subtle environment oriented fighting is at its best, especially with a mall showdown that just keeps on pushing, satisfying your prayers that it never ends. The film straddles the line between comedy and drama as it shows a satirical view of the silly parts of police life, while it depicts the bold strength of commitment and sense of duty earnestly. It even ties in cute bits of romance with Jackie’s all too pathetic relationship with Maggie Cheung as May, and the necessary bits of vulgar misunderstanding in Chan’s job to protect Brigitte Lin’s character. As carefree, entertainment based experiences go, Police Story stands near the top as a classic. If you’re going to watch one Jackie movie, this may just have to be it.

A

Volcano High review

2008-10-02T23:48:00.000-07:00

Kim Kyeong-su is on his 9th high school and on the verge of failure for his repeated assault offences amongst other expulsion-worthy behavior. At Volcano High, his last chance at success, he sets restraints on himself in a school that by chance happens to revolve around the strength of the children. You see, there was a “Great Teacher” war in this post-apocalyptic world and the school was left in chaos with a secret manuscript legend that would endow the script’s finder with the power to create peace. While attempting to win over the most beautiful girl in the school (and head of the Kendo club for kicks), and dealing with the emergence of new oppressive teachers quelling the mad rushes for power, Kyeong-su finds himself questioning his role and the responsibilities of his powers.

Calling his powers subtle wouldn’t exactly quite cut it. When he’s not engaging in all out energy projectile hurling showdowns, Kyeong-su enjoys the complete control of water, various other CGI enhanced traits and long walks on the beach. While this isn’t your average high school student, this isn’t your average high school either. The best parts of Volcano High come from the amusement at seeing the Kendo club stand off on their own against a rising faction exercising power to control the school, or joining forces with the Rugby Club to defeat the Weightlifting Club in a complicated set of alliances. It’s nostalgic, high school fantasy manga material, where kids are allowed to fight in school, challenge the best and hold the title in their class.

The lighter, first act accentuates these traits and is naturally interesting when Kyeong-su, as the new student, finds himself in a number of funny situations, enhanced by the school’s quirky characters. The film may not be as laugh-out-loud funny as it intends, but some of the intense over-acting and the bits of corny or legitimate humor can often bring a smile to your face. It’s nice and all when the glitz and wackiness isn’t constrained by a plot that soon governs the film. When the time finally comes to lay down a conflict and actually tell a story, the film’s appeal slowly wanes, only to be minimally maintained by the occasional goofiness of Jang Hyuk

Even the traditionally “cool” segments of the film aren’t nearly as stylish as we expect and contain painful flaws. The action has the right tempo and energy, but it never feels genuine with its combination of awkward CGI and poor wire moments. It’s a messy overflow of too many elements attempting to mimic the Matrix or something, but completely lacking its polish. Glossy cinematography and flashy effects do enhance the visuals, but the cheesy looking effects stick out like a sore thumb. It is too earnest to be camp, but too amateur to be taken seriously.

While the fighting fails spectacularly, the premise offers a wide range of creative characters with memorable personalities. Still, the main characters all lose their charm and the film has little draw. It’s wonderful that Kim Tae-gyun could get a movie like this made in Korea back then, but in the tradition of action films, Volcano High is missing a lot of key elements and heart.

D

Throwdown Review

2008-10-02T23:25:00.000-07:00

Sze-to, a former judo champion, present drunken club owner, owes a great deal of money to his bosses and makes the wise decision to gamble what he has away, probably while under the influence. In comes Tony, the eager newcomer giddy to challenge anyone and everyone including Sze-to because of his alluring reputation. Also arriving at the nightclub is the homeless Mona, desperate to kick-start a singing career by getting a job at the club. When the bills and judo rivals start to pile up, Sze-to finds himself pressured to question his reasons for quitting in the first place.

The Good?
Throwdown is one of the very few mainstream Judo films in existence and Johnny To manages to capture the appeal to this martial art, despite its less than spectacular visuals He focuses on flashier aspects from intense flipping, counter-flipping, counter-counter-flipping and more intricate tossing fight sequences smoothly strung together. Even while characters don’t have an opponent, we’re treated to interesting training sequences of fighters flipping themselves and almost dancing through the streets in what look like violent gymnastic floor exercises.

The film has a dedication to Judo and elements of the martial arts genre, taking a modern day look at a classical concept and paying homage especially to Akira Kurosawa, whose first film, Sanshiro Sugata, was about a judo fighter. When we thought the idea of challenging dojo masters to duels was over, along comes Tony Leung Ka-fai to fight all takers and lay down an invitation.

To dives into an unexpectedly rich, slower atmosphere with scenes accompanied by sweepingly rich operatic scores, jazzy tunes, and gorgeous, vacant, nighttime Hong Kong streets.

The Bad?
While the film is stunning visually, it is difficult to take the script seriously with its silly themes and clichéd characters. Mona dreams of making it big. Sze-To has mysterious remorse and reluctance to fight. These character moments make the film drag, while the best scenes have little to do with the narrative’s ultimate goal and simply exist for aesthetic pleasure.

B

Shall We Dance? review

2008-09-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

Sugiyama feels the pain of a mundane day job and little in life to look forward to after accomplishing the standard goals for a socially restricted middle-class father. On his way home, almost in response to his wife’s unheard suggestion that he enjoy himself, a dance studio with a beautiful woman inside catches his attention from the train. With an awkward and less than satisfactory start, Sugiyama begins questioning his decisions and deals with his growing passion for dance, which grants him indescribable feelings of bliss.

The Good?
The film has a very strong premise. For international audiences, it sets up the almost-taboo nature of ballroom dancing in the country because of its intimacy and public displays that render it embarrassing. For a male to be participating in this female activity is unheard of, so it becomes a strong conflict when Sugiyama falls into this world.

Director Masayuki Suo makes the dancing comical, accessible and appealing to newcomers. As cheesy and overdone as it is, the amateur to adept story is still inspiring and entertaining, complete with elegantly edited waltz montages of Sugiyama improving in the studio, or dancing at work or in the train station.

The film has an unexpectedly rich comedic side from deadpan humor to awkward situation comedy and recurring gags. If it's not funny, it's definitely a light, fun time.

More characters slowly enter the fray, from an obstinate partnerless dancer, Toyoko to the double-life leading Aoki, who is a quiet, refined office worker in the day and a lavish wig-wearing, energetic dancer by night. They offer a strong variety and contrast to our main character and some amusing subplots. Mostly, there's a sense of warmth to be had from all these characters, whose lives have been touched by Sugiyama's simple act of impulse to dance one evening.

The Bad?
The inclusion of all these extra characters draws some attention away from Sugiyama. He's the easiest for us to understand and empathize with, so the sub-plots sometimes leave us itching to return to his main development.

A-

Just One Look review

2008-09-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

Between selling sugarcane and watching movies every week, Fan and Ming, two youths of a small Hong Kong island, fall for a drummer girl at a festival. Meanwhile, Fan also dealing with issues of his own past, begins to take notice of a mysterious girl clad in white, and makes an effort to win her affection.

The Good?
This is an odd and unexpected film in the Hong Kong film industry. Riley Yip sucks the viewer into a very particular nostalgic period to make his own American Graffiti or Dazed and Confused. Yip lets us drift along, building a day in the life mentality capturing Fan's group of friends occupy themselves with films, elaborate rat deaths and the occasional gang war with silly little fights.

The film is built on strong, situational character moments. Genres are seamlessly blended as the story moves from comedy and romance to bits of action, revenge and drama. Once in a while, the film feels like it is stretching itself thin, but the audience is living life and coming of age with these characters, so it feels very natural as well.

The cast does a fine job making their characters the most likable and engrossing elements of the film. Charlene Choi and Wong You Nam are the most naturally convincing of the kids, with light, breezy scenes of cute teen love. Gillian Chung and Shawn Yue are stuck with conveying the deeper, more substantial relationship. It doesn't fit as well, but they do the best they can.

Anthony Wong steals the show as the antagonist with a flawless performance ending the film with more depth than anyone else in the cast. He can anger you to the edge and win your heart over in the blink of an eye.

The Bad?
Gillian Chung and Shawn Yue's relationship gets too serious and melodramatic and feels out of place. The actors struggle to find a healthy medium for it within the story, partly because of a script that gives them very little to build the romance on.

B+

Protege de La Rose Noire review

2008-09-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

Charlene, a homeless alien and Gillian, a homeless student with a temper, both discover an ad for a job providing food and housing. Enlisting a friendly taxi driver to take them up to an enormous gothic house, they find themselves victim to the strange owner, Rose, who imprisons and subsequently trains them as superheroes.

The Good?
Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung are charming because this film was built for them of course. The few highlights involve the two from Charlene's awkward and odd dances to showcase her alien powers, to the two in Jackie Chan 70's haircuts performing Drunken Master training montage parodies.

The film might be unintentionally funny at times. It's hysterical to watch for the bad humor and try to determine the writer's mode of thought for each particular joke. The film also parodies the Matrix with another bullet time joke. That's not particularly funny, but the fact that someone in the world thinks it is funny and invested in that joke for a major motion picture is hilarious.

Donnie Yen's little sister, Chris Yen, can actually do martial arts. She has the occasionally attractive action sequence. Did Donnie direct this film solely for her reel?

The Bad?
The list is too long. The film is filled with horrible jokes and gags like a clunky robot running through scenes trying to cut off male genitalia. The jokes aren't authentically good enough to even get a smile nor obviously bad enough for the sake of ironic humor. It's just painful.

The plot is nearly incoherent. It feels like a group of ten-year olds penned it after eating a bulk order of pixie sticks.

The characters are all horribly annoying, and do nothing but hurt the reputations of the actors playing them, from Ekin Cheng to Teresa Mo.

If you're sick of the Twins at this point, their charm will not work. You'll want to kill yourself.

As interesting as evil bikini-clad antagonists, killer schoolgirls, Robin and Shiu Hung Hui with a cleaning obsession sound, the film somehow manages to fail. Really.

F+

Chinese Odyssey 2002

2008-09-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

Yi Long (Tony Leung), known as “Bully the Kid” in his childhood village of Meilong, is avoided for his reputation when he returns after a two year trip of wandering. Determined to find a husband for his tomboyish sister, he discovers an escaped princess, (Faye Wong) unbeknownst to him, who is disguised as a man, and he proceeds to set up the relationship. Princess begins to have feelings for him as Yi Long's sister begins to fall for the Princess. While Yi Long is confused about his feelings, the princess’s brother enters the confusing love triangle. In the meantime the queen is set on forcing both the royal siblings back to the palace to marry worthy royalty.

The Good?
Jeffery Lau directs the film as if it were a serious, engaging story and throws in hysterical jokes every once in a while to catch the audience off-guard. The film is a spoof in terms of genre, but its slow rate of gags defies the conventions. Lau gives the audience just long enough to settle back into the plot before effectively debunking it with another silly bit.

It walks along a thin line of pastiche, using respected elements such as Shakespearean plot devices, wu-xia settings and Wong Kar Wai stylistic choices, with a light tone that imitates these films, but is aware of their ridiculous and cliché aspects. The cast helps with slight overacting, while also opening up to actually allow the audience to invest in the characters.

Great technical elements from a catchy soundtrack and musical dance number to gorgeous cinematography, sets and costumes.

The Bad?
The last fifteen-twenty minutes of the film become complete melodrama without an ounce of humor. Rather than build on the lovable relationships and tone of the film, the film takes itself way to seriously with uncomfortable Tony Leung poetic monologues. The film just needed to be consistent.

B+

Audition review

2008-09-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) has been living a dismal life ever since his wife died a few years ago. His friend Yasuhisa Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimura) presents him with a clever ploy to get a new relationship going. They stage a fake audition for a supposed acting role and interview each candidate until Aoyama takes special notice in Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina) whom he calls and they hit it off.

The Good?
Takashi Miike's suckerpunch genre twist defines this film. He paints a sweet, earnest romance where there is something a little unsettling and 180's the film into a completely different genre to intensify the shock and make the horror real.

The cast is small but effective. Ryo Ishibashi gets a good, well-fleshed out starring role, and newcomer Eihi Shiina does a fantastic job pulling off the versatility that her character requires.

It's great to see Miike go in a different, non-yakuza direction and give his film substance along with pure insanity. Scenes from this film will stick in your mind forever and haunt you. That's the best horror films can ask for.

The Bad?
Miike occasionally goes a little overboard with arty storytelling techniques and cliché methods of conveying information. The second half has scenes that are a little inconsistent and unclear, and it doesn't make us uncomfortable as it does confused.

A

Infernal Affairs review

2008-09-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

The film that revitalized the Hong Kong film industry presents a brilliant “why didn’t I think of that?” premise, realistic and earnest character development through perfect performances from a star studded cast, stirring visuals and tense execution to thrill the viewer to the very end.

For those unaware, Infernal Affairs tells the story of two moles, Ming (Andy Lau) and Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai). Ming, a highly honored officer is truly a mole placed by his triad boss, Sam (Eric Tsang), years ago to infiltrate the police. Yan in turn is a tough and skilled cop chosen to infiltrate Sam’s gang with a trustworthy position after years on the job. Both walk the thin line of good and evil and struggle internally with their identities, while delivering non-stop entertainment in a fast-paced dual cat and mouse game. There’s no one person responsible for the quality of the slick crime thriller, as Andrew Lau’s encompassing direction takes glimpses at the well-written parallelism in the main character’s lives and respective organizations. It could be Leung winning our compassion by putting up with one hazardous situation after another to win back his life. Or Lau with a debatable mix of good and evil, always one step ahead with his cleverness. All these interconnected elements make up the blueprints for a successful film anywhere. Careful attention to every contribution is what helped piece together this blockbuster that can only make you sit back and try to come up with an idea just as ingenious as this.

A

Samurai 3 review

2008-09-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

Still on his wandering quest with his apprentice, the now humble Musashi Miyamoto receives an offer from the Shogun to become his teacher of swordplay. Meanwhile, the skillful and ambitious Kojiro Sasaki challenges him to a duel to finally settle who Japan's greatest swordsman is. While dealing with Otsu's and Akemi’s love and seeking enlightenment in unlikely places, Miyamoto prepares for the fight of a lifetime.

The Good?
The passion. All four dedicated main characters struggle to achieve what they've been seeking the entire trilogy and they find themselves at odds with each other. Inagaki juxtaposes the suppressed, straight-faced culture against these two swordsmen who dream passionately of becoming the best, and against the two women's utmost devotion to Miyamoto.

The change in lighting is a godsend. This film eliminates the messy night-time action and chooses beautiful sunshine filled scenery to glorify Japan. These wondrous settings in front of beaches, waterfalls, rainbows and verdant forests make for captivating, epic and emotional backdrops to fittingly end the trilogy.

The final fight uses the beach especially well with a memorable, tracking camera following two strafing samurai running down the length of the beach, reading each other's moves against a colorful sunset background. Inagaki handles the historically famous climax, as it should be.

Miyamoto and Otsu. Inagaki is a master of endings. Not with action, but an endearing, timeless romance filled with growth, restraint and tragic cleverness that remind us why this series is a classic.

The Bad?
Suddenly, Kojiro Sasaki has become Miyamoto's lifetime rival between the second and third films. Japanese audiences (along with those familiar with the history) won't have as big a problem with this sudden jump, but more build-up scenes illustrating this are essential.

A

One Missed Call review

2008-09-01T15:33:00.000-07:00

While at a bar, Yumi’s (Kou Shibasaki) friend Yoko’s cell phone rings with a call coming from itself. Upon checking the message (dated two days in advance at a specific time) they hear Yoko’s voice followed by a scream and the sounds of her apparent death. Disregarded as a prank call at first, things begin to become serious when the death really occurs two days later and Yumi and her friends discover that whatever killed her is using her phonebook to choose its next victims.

Call it an ode or a rip-off, Miike’s commercial decent into true Japanese horror can work on some level. With a generic story highly reminiscent of Ringu and Ju-on, the film may have you second-guess his directorial credit. Nevertheless, One Missed Call is a strong genre film that has its ups and downs and rotting flesh for if nothing else, a fine continuation of an apparently dying horror wave.

The beginning of the film starts off familiarly enough with the usual skepticism and character naivety standard for horror films. There’s little to note here in terms of uniqueness aside from the transition to the cell phone to even further scar the general populace and add on to the fear Ringu created. Still, Miike knows what the audience is expecting and he moves the plot along so we don't get hung up on the usual, annoying details and can right into the action.

The fun begins in the second half. The film gets spookier with gore shots and antagonist revelations akin to Takashi Shimizu’s creepy wandering ghosts. There’s a rather original bit with a television broadcast that is one of those creative ideas that’s always on your mind in horror films but never gets tackled until Miike comes along here. The film isn't nightmare caliber scary, but if the overall premise doesn’t frighten you, or the atmospheric tension and victims screams don’t creep you out, there are cheap shots that can make you jump while watching this at noon on your TV.

Kou Shibasaki is the star and we know she can act, so it’s no surprise she does a fine job here. Even though there's rarely any suspense and mystery to horror films with a big name main character or two and a supporting cast of monster fodder, here it hardly matters. Simply Miike's name gives the film limitless possibilities. Her male companion in the film is played well by Shinichi Tsutsumi who has a rather abrupt introduction but fits along well. Aside from Kazue Fukiishi as Yumi’s friend Natsumi, whose fear can shake you up more than the actual killings, the rest of the cast isn’t given enough focus and can be best described as good screamers.

Though the film lacks originality, Miike does a good job of capturing the essentials of the genre. With a solid script, cast and technical crew, One Missed Call simply offers an interesting experience with a cell phone ring you’ll remember and an ending that leaves you with an indescribable combination of thoughts and feelings. Even if it doesn’t have the expected magic of Miike and J-Horror, its pretty darn good in convincing us it does.

B

Il Mare review

2008-09-01T15:01:00.000-07:00

Upon moving into his newly built Il Mare house in 1997, Sung-hyun finds a letter waiting for him in his mailbox, dated 1999. In that year, Eun-ju leaves a letter to the next occupant presenting them with a forwarding address for her mail. Strangely enough, it finds its way to the past, sparking a mysterious and intimate relationship separated by time.

Oddly, Il Mare was released in the same year as Ditto, but presents a more original look at this slowly-losing-its-cleverness premise. Instead of rehashing the ham radio idea from Frequency, the film makes creative use of a mailbox. The premise has its limitations because the conversations can't exist in real-time like in Ditto, but Lee Hyun-seung cleverly directs and edits the film to accentuate this key difference. For these lonely characters, letter writing and reading is paradoxically a social and solo activity and Lee takes advantage of this idea to strengthen the film's themes and structure.

The film is monologue heavy as letters are exchanged and read together to simulate conversation between the two characters. Lee turns these potentially boring scenes into atmospheric montages that engulf us in a mesh of beautiful seaside scenery and melancholy piano scores. These moments make the film magical, contrasting the characters' dreary lives with the little joy the daily letters bring. The scenery even reflects this as the Il Mare house transforms from a lonely house on a desolate dry beach to a gorgeous residence on the water with the high tide.

Il Mare has the uncanny ability to elevate the most insignificant scenes, be it the rush of seeing a character put on earmuffs or simply a tense, long walk as we anticipate the words of the next letter. There are times when we can be as bored as the characters are, when we have those day in the life montages, but they dwindle down soon and don’t seem to matter once the relationship intensifies.

Both actors deliver fine performances. Jeon Ji-Hyun as the peculiarly subdued Eun-ju works quite convincingly. Her quiet lovelorn personality shows her range as an actress. Lee Jung-Jae is good as well and offers us some achingly painful scenes with the utmost awkwardness. The characters are fleshed out and maintain a steady consistency, but this occasionally gets annoying as Eun-ju complains about her lost love. The delivery of her repetitive testaments of it show hints of cleverness and originality but never fully reaches the level it should to engage us, especially with the amount of time spent on the subject.

Given the obvious paradoxes and potentially painful interpretation of time-travel films, Il Mare falls victim to a cop-out and illogical solution during the climax. Most of the plot is handled smoothly enough to keep us from really questioning the logistics of the situation. We just accept it as a magical “love story” and put our focus in the characters. Coupled with the creative use of a simple mailbox, even the cheesiest scenes can make you smile. But the ending could have gone in two distinct directions, and they make a poor decision here. Even so, it is difficult to shake off the emotion and tension of everything leading up to the climax, and those strong feelings do reflect the hold the rest of the film has on us.

B

My Tutor Friend review

2008-09-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

After her father loses his job and her mother is forced to work to support the family, college student, Su-Wan (Kim Ha-neul) must take up a painful job of tutoring high schoolers. She soon finds herself teaching a rich 21-year-old delinquent, Ji-Hoon, who has been held back for two years and refuses to cooperate.

The Good?
The characters. Kim Ha-neul is perfect in her sweet-natured awkward role in direct contrast to the moody, confrontational Kwon Sang-woo as Ji-hoon. They grow on us and the film's best moments consist of the two of them alone in argument with vague signs of friendship emerging, and then disappearing completely when they lapse into arguments again and threaten each other with death.

The plot isn't logically structured, so it doesn't resemble your average teen comedy. It focuses on unexpected elements at times, some that work, some that don't. But in either case, it's nice that the film tries to be a little distinctive at times.

The film is entertaining despite its shortcomings. It's nicely polished and a light, breezy, all-over-the-place watch for viewers to just sit back and amuse themselves without worry.

The Bad?
The film feels a lot longer because they throw in all these unexpected, and often unnecessary scenes. There are decently choreographed action scenes that feel elaborate and out-of-place. At one point, Ji-hoon copies Jet Li's Kiss of the Dragon pool ball kick.

The comedy does not work. It's either bad translation or poorly written dialogue, but there aren't many real laugh-out-loud moments.

B+

Running Out of Time review

2008-08-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

Cheung (Andy Lau) a man diagnosed with cancer given only fourteen days to live decides to fill them with a complicated three day game involving hostage negotiator Ho. Full of diamond heists, identity confusion and clever revenge driven cons, Ho is in it to win by arresting Cheung.

The Good?
Andy Lau steals the show. He combines the smooth, witty criminal with the vulnerable blood coughing terminal patient to create a character you can't help but root for and love.

Johnnie To pulls off the unexpected humor very well, making it one of the film's best qualities. Anything from cross-dressing and mistaken sexual identities to silly, clever tricks, Suet Lam gags and moments of awkwardness are scattered throughout the film.

The film handles the standard conventions of crime and cat and mouse dramas well, such as the cop/criminal cooperation from the Negotiator or the respectful relationship between the two in The Killer. There is a sense of familiarity, and "been-there, done that" moments in the film, but it benefits from being able to handle these solidly.

A clever script with interesting heist scenes consisting of 'unexpected' turns. Fans of films like 2001's Ocean's Eleven will find themselves at home.

The Bad?
The lack of originality in many areas lessens the impact of surprising plot twists and clever ploys. It stays safe and makes reliable choices, but it keeps this good film from becoming a great film.

B

Initial D: The Movie (Anime 3rd stage) review

2008-08-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

Takumi, the breakthrough talented Toyota ’86 driver is nearing graduation. Dealing with his relationship problems with Mogi Natsuki, settling unfinished rivalries, questioning his dreams and an offer by Takahashi Ryosuke, Takumi drives us through the seasons in a stylish transition to his future after school in the 4th stage.

The Good?
This is a continuation of the series we’ve grown to love. It maintains all the conventions, pushes the story forward and gives us more of what we want.

In the end, Initial D is primarily a character drama. It’s exciting to watch the races, but solely because of the conflicts between the characters behind the wheel, and what fate the outcome will hold for them. Takumi’s conflicted “love life” adds to the amounting drama and makes thestory even more engaging.

The Bad?
Newcomers will want to catch up by watching the 39 or so episodes that lead up to this movie. The film treats us to flashbacks to remind us what Takumi’s been through, but nothing really substantial and beyond neat racing music video style excerpts.

The series does get progressively worse, mainly because it is hard to recreate the underdog magic that makes the first two seasons so appealing. It’s an impossible task, but the writers have still done a good job at continuing the story to lead to a very interesting prospect in the series that follows the film.

A-

God of Cookery review

2008-08-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

Stephen Chow (played by Stephen Chow), the proclaimed God of Cookery sits high and mighty in a life of fame, passing his stern judgment down upon up-and-coming cooks. When a rival chef publicly reveals him to be a con-man with little actual cooking skill, the former cuisine king is reduced to starting at the bottom again, befriending shop owners and using “Pissing Beef Balls” to work himself up back to the title of the true ‘God of Cookery.’

The Good?
Chow has a talent for the classic gags from food in the face to cheesy “look-over-there” jokes. It’s universally hilarious and consistently silly. There’s a general layer of camp to the film that allows occasional serious, dramatic moments to stand right next absurd kung-fu battles in the middle of cooking

The cast gives a perfect performance complete with tacky dialogue. Karen Mok and her unattractive makeup job and toughness, or Vincent Kok and his hilarious transformation from an elevator defecating loser to the coolest chef in town. Or the arrogant but still likable Chow, down to the nose-picking school “girl.” All the characters, including the minor ones are a joy to watch and have something unique about them.

This film is about as refined as it gets for a Stephen Chow film. Chow works within a standard story structure and the film is for the most part, normal and comprehensible.

The Bad?
There’s one completely out-of-place awkward flashback element to the finale that tries to maintain and even up the ridiculousness of the film, but it feels almost anticlimactic and leaves us on a bad note. The film is still a hysterical comedy, but it could have done without this.

B+

Shiri review

2008-08-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Two of South Korea’s best special agents uncover killings in connection to an apparent resurfacing of Hee, North Korea’s best sniper and assassin. Upon the discovery of a highly trained North Korean Special Forces team’s plot to detonate a dangerous new explosive in the South, the agents and counter-must stop any potential threat that will further escalate the North and South Korean conflict.

The Good?
An A-list cast of Song Kang-ho, Han Suk-kyu, Kim Yun-jin and Choi Min-sik put in great performances all around. Granted it’s an action movie and there isn’t much room for acting, but this is a film to see for the stars.

The film has a solid, fast-paced plot full of twists and constant shoot-outs, typical of the genre and handled well. One of the agents (Ryu) has a personal matter that although predictable, is a nice twist that grabs our attention.

The Bad?
Although it’s hard to find anything wrong with the film, it is hard to fall in love with it as well. Perhaps because the film isn’t breaking any new ground with a typical plot full of Heat type shoot-outs, 10 explosives planted around the city and threats of moles in the agency.

In the end, the film is forgettable because there is no heart in the characters. The makings of an extra layer of emotion are there, but the film doesn’t take advantage of it. Without any charming, likeable or even interesting characters, it is hard to truly care about where the plot will go, despite the exciting action.

B

Last Life in the Universe review

2008-08-28T23:33:00.000-07:00

Kenji, (Tadanobu Asano) a suicidal Japanese librarian in Thailand lives an indifferent life, consistently stopped from entering what he expects to be a blissful death. Unfazed by a series of tragic events and drawn to a Thai woman (Sinitta Boonyasak) who appears to be his complete opposite, things begin to slowly change for the two as they connect with one another.

The Good?
The atmosphere. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang creates a dream-like atmosphere with solid Christopher Doyle cinematography and a subtle, captivating score. It’s a perfect stylistic choice to put us in the mind of these characters aimlessly floating through life, their minds constantly pre-occupied with life and death.

The characters are very unique and likeable. Tadanobu Asano puts in a great performance as the obsessive-compulsive Kenji that earns our sympathy very early on with his understandable state of mind explained by interior monologues.

Sinitta Boonyasak also puts in a good performance as a snarky, rude woman dealing with tough emotional problems. They have a lovely relationship filled with many not-your-average-relationship moments that set it apart and show subtle chemistry.

The Bad?
The film’s plot sometimes doesn’t particularly exist. Character may wander and laze around for long periods of time without any real action pushing them to develop. It works thematically, but also gets a little slow.

Occasionally, the woman, Noi has some character problems. It isn’t as easy to empathize with her because the film doesn’t set up her other relationships and background information. It’s hard to believe her reactions at times because we don’t know enough about her without the luxury of internal monologues.

A-

Getting Any? review

2008-08-28T23:21:00.000-07:00

Asao, a perverted middle-aged man full of sexual fantasies decides a car is a necessity to act out these dreams. Along the way, with tons of screw-ups and blessings, he finds himself in all sorts of situations involving filmmaking, yakuza, crazy scientists and more.

The Good?
This film is hysterical. It’s the Kitano Japan first began to know and love. He focuses on all-out slapstick cartoon-y comedy filled with sexual humor, pop culture parody and absurdly weird gags.

The film throws joke after joke at the audience constantly. The plot feels like a cross between Woody Allen’s Take the Money and Run and a Roadrunner cartoon as Asao simply tries ploy after ploy to acquire money, a car and sex.

The humor is universal. For frequent Japanese filmgoers, you’ll be able to spot the Zatoichi, Lone Wolf and Jo Shishido references, but if you don’t, there are plenty of classic gags from people slipping on objects to just sheer sci-fi ridiculousness.

The Bad?
The plot structure is nothing to phone home about. It gets predictable and is simply a 90-minute compilation of random events with Asao that go horribly wrong. But it’s completely forgivable. It’s not like Airplane or Naked Gun had particularly compelling plots either.

The last twenty minutes go significantly downhill. There’s a sudden drop off in humor and the film drags a little. Maybe the jokes simply get boring. Maybe they ran out of material. Either way, it’s a sour note to end on.

B+

Dolls review

2008-08-28T22:27:00.000-07:00

Dolls tells three love stories of flawed relationships tied together by the dominating tale of a groom-to-be’s return to a past love he mistreated. One sub-story deals with an old yakuza boss returning to his eccentrically faithful love from the past, and another about a fan’s obsession and relationship with a pop star.

The Good?
Technically, this film is gorgeous. It’s full of beautiful seasonal scenery and images of vivid, meticulous color choice. There are flashes of classical Japanese culture with masks, puppets, music and exotic locations, but we’re reminded of the modern setting with a flashy J-pop music video as well. The visuals, coupled with Joe Hisaishi’s ambiance creates a strongly wistful mood.

The main story is very touching. Kitano tells a potentially melodramatic story in a very minimalist, contemplative style full of long, silent walks and frequent staring. The relationship is heartbreaking, yet their actions are so slight and restrained.

The film is rich with symbolism and multiple, dense layers of meaning. It is endlessly interpretable. Even though Kitano has made dramatic movies in the past, this is his most serious one to date. There’s only one joke.

The Bad?
While the main story captures our hearts, the other two relationships, although unique, fail to create that same connection. Both of these minor relationships are built on a really odd foundation that can easily weird us out in a few instances and it is hard to earn back the empathy.

The film is very slow, sometimes without much reason. It can be a trial to sit through and isn’t conventionally entertaining. The viewer must be prepared and in a certain state of mind.

B+

Fulltime Killer review

2008-08-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

Tok (Andy Lau), a highly skilled eccentric assassin is after the #1 hitman spot for Asia in order to become a living legend. Occupying the spot is O (Takashi Sorimachi), the fundamental opposite of Tok, as a solemn and serious killer insightfully exploring the workings of his job. Both seem to fall for Chin (Kelly Lin), while dealing with their rivalry and the full-forced pursuit of the police led by Lee (Simon Yam).

The Good?
This movie is a clear love letter from Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai to their favorite action films. The action is a joy to watch as they approach these scenes with enthusiasm that isn’t necessarily fresh with all the slow motion action, blaring classical scores and standard police shoot-out settings. But they love what they are doing and they get it right.

Lau and Sorimachi portray their characters distinctively. Lau captures his character’s ecstasy when he succeeds at his job, while Sorimachi counters with a stolid, seasoned assassin’s look .

The Bad?
Kelly Lin as Chin is supposed to be the connecting character, the love that ties both assassins together and creates tension with a triangle. While the two assassins are great on their own, Lin’s wooden performance makes their love for her completely unbelievable. There’s no chemistry, whatsoever. In the middle of the film, one of the characters outright says that she has transformed from her quiet, unemotional demeanor. But nope! She’s consistently boring.

The plot takes some pretty embarrassing turns to tie up lose ends and wrap up the story. Simon Yam’s cop character suddenly takes the main role as he begins to write a novel based on the events of the film. He even talks about making it into a film and how he tritely struggles to “end a story when it hasn’t ended.”

The plot begins with a great premise, but it’s disappointing as it just gradually goes downhill from there.

B/B-

The Bird People of China review

2008-08-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

It’s not necessarily expectations of another perverse, stylish gore-fest that hurt Takashi Miike’s The Bird People in China, but rather a slowly paced script, ineffective in holding our attention. We follow a Japanese businessman whose company sends him to report on the jade findings of a small village in rural China. Accompanied by a guide and a yakuza member, whom the business owes money to, he finds himself stranded at the village after a series of mishaps and soons discover the secrets of the place. The film kicks off with a stirring start revealing a moody emptiness to the city and tying in bits of dry Miike humor ranging from hallucinogenics and defective steering wheel gags to sudden acts of comic violence. The film’s purpose is clear as characters comment on the village’s innocence, the peacefulness of nature and the blessed ignorance of a technologically free location in the world.

While Miike conveys this message, the story is tiring and mundane with a few uninteresting subplots masked under the guise of glorious verdant cinematography. Miike deserves credit for the move away from his usual work and the success in creating a definitive, serene mood for the film. While the beginning and ending are very striking moments, the lack of plot action and poor character development makes most of the film difficult to sit through.

C-

Casshern review

2008-08-28T21:56:00.000-07:00

In a future world, a costly but victorious war for the Greater Asian empire (against Europe) leads to pollution, terrorist threats, and totalitarianism. Dr. Azuma (Akira Terao) plays a scientist in the pursuit of curing his ill wife, pushing the advancement of his Neocell research, which allows any parts of the body to be rejuvenated or reconstructed. Lightning unexpectedly strikes creating a group of mutants who are threatened by the uncompassionate government and are forced to retreat to a base where they construct thousands of advanced robots. Dr. Azuma’s son Tetsuya, reconstructed with a strong robotic body is forced to battle the mutants and return peace to the world.

The Good?
The film’s addictive trailer making the rounds online highlights the main selling points. Casshern’s technical achievement with a 5-6 million dollar budget is astounding. The viewer can really feel this dark, engaging futuristic atmosphere thanks to the rock and classical music infused soundtrack and the gorgeously bleak, polished cinematography.

The film updates and deepens its goofy 70’s anime source material with a larger agenda for contemporary audiences. Kazuaki Kiriya squeezes in as many themes and messages as he can, providing commentary on global issues and philosophy, including but not limited to, war, terrorism, existence, humanity, pollution, government, and of course love.

What little action the film has, is definitely worth the wait. Kiriya uses standard anime conventions and techniques in the live-action film medium to great success. This film is visual bliss and has a fresh, striking take on anime adaptations.

The Bad?
You can’t help but feel disappointed as the film winds down and characters continue to ramble on. The film’s newfound depth results in unnecessary, strained explanations when the director’s imagery would have been suitable enough.

The film drags because it is not balanced well and viewers will be annoyed when it gets preachy with repetitive anti-war footage and repetitive monologues deciphering humanity, instead of rewarding with action and a satisfying climax. Perhaps this is the marketing division’s fault, perhaps the source material called for more action, but in either case, viewers will not get exactly what they expect.

B

2LDK review

2008-08-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

Bless the duel concept. A major filmmaker challenge between Ryuhei Kitamura and Yukihiko Tsutsumi over who can create the best duel film. Using only two characters and an enclosed environment, they both managed to ultimately make very different films, entertaining in their own respects.

2LDK is the more creative venture, placing its emphasis on dark comedy over action as two upcoming actress roommates share an apartment together, while vying for the same part. The audience delves into their environment with the girls battling over boyfriends, house responsibilities, and friends’ respect solely within the confines of these 2 bedrooms, Living room, dining room and kitchen. We take glimpses at their pasts, families, personalities and goals and eventually, their growing distaste for each other's presence expressed by interior monologues with bitter thoughts that completely contrast their sweet words.

The hate slowly rises to the inevitable climactic duel, which manages to be brutal and over-the-top as the gorgeous apartment is reduced to piles of glass and blood stained floors. Two seemingly weak females are thrown into walls, hit by metal toilet covers in the head, and electrocuted.

The main problems may be the uneventful build-ups and lack of the actresses’ charisma in preparation for the final bout, but coming away from the film, we feel like we've witnessed a fresh piece of filmmaking and a pretty damn entertaining movie if nothing else.

B+

Samurai I review

2008-08-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

Adapted from the story by Eiji Yoshikawa, Samurai I chronicles the transformation of Takezo (Toshiro Mifune) from an idealistic teen to an insane outcast to the legendary model samurai, Musashi Miyamoto. Through this journey he engages in a bloody civil war, single-handedly fights off groups of bandits and faces persecution from his own village and relatives.

The Good?
The fight scenes, although not particularly breathtaking, do excel more than other jidai-geki films of the time. Even if the set-up isn’t as epic as the final scenes of Seven Samurai, you do see how cool Toshiro Mifune is facing off against 10 fighters. For those looking for something a bit more stylized than Kurosawa, but a bit more realistic than Zatoichi, Inagaki is a good compromise.

Toshiro Mifune gives one of his great eccentric wildman performances reminiscent of his characters in Rashomon or Seven Samurai. He handles the transformations fantastically as well.

The story is crafted with constant shifts and plot twists involving key female characters easily overturning our emotions and opinions. All the actresses mold perfectly to these drastic character changes and make it believable.

The film gains a clear focus in the final twenty minutes and really shows us how easy it is to get lost in the narrative and fall in love with the characters. The film plays with our emotions so much, it is easy to almost see this as a samurai soap opera.

The Bad?
Out of the three films in Inagaki’s trilogy, this is the only one that does not work structurally. The film is chronicled in several distinctive segments that don’t seamlessly flow together like a film should. The events in this third of the Miyamoto story would have been better off serialized (which it has been in other incarnations).

A-

Project A review

2008-08-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

In late 19th century Hong Kong, the navy was geared towards capturing pirates who consistently gave trouble in the waters. The trouble shifts to the land as Dragon (Jackie Chan) soon discovers corrupted high officials working with the pirates, ultimately destroying the navy and giving the pirates the upper hand. With the police and gangs out to get him, Dragon seeks to get eliminate the pirate threat and bring prestige back to the navy.

The Good?
The seamless transitions from plot to action. There are no fights for structure’s sake here. They are woven into the plot and seem to occur spontaneously and plausibly.

Not to mention the fact that this is some of the best Jackie fighting out there. It’s the usual comedic, prop filled action we’re used to, but the fighters constantly find new material in chairs, tables and everything else at their disposal.

Project A is remarkable for its gorgeous group choreography in scenes where Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao get involved. As they fight a never-ending flow of thugs and pirates, the trio’s punches and kicks interconnect smoothly as they set each other up for anything from partnered flip attacks to innovative chair-leg whacking. This is the performance, the spectacle, the attraction, the reason we watch martial arts films. We want to see thoughtful, dense action like this.

There’s a five-minute fight scene on bicycles.

The film is hilarious when it is not wowing its audience with action. There are randomly funny acts of violence, cheesy misunderstandings and ridiculously kitschy dialogue. Hey, some of it’s unintentional, but you’ll be laughing anyway.

The Bad?
The whole pirates conflict never holds the significance it should. The villains don’t get us riled up nearly as much as the police (which climaxes in an early police vs. navy bar fight). The pirates should have been given a much more threatening, stronger presence.

A-

The Bride with White Hair review

2008-08-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

A war between an eight-clan alliance and an outcast evil cult begins. Lien (Brigitte Lin) and Cho (Leslie Cheung) are two lovers and opposing champion warriors of their respective sides caught in the middle of the chaos.

The Good?
Leslie Cheung and Brigitte Lin are the two biggest attractions. Cheung as an emotionally torn warrior manages to get us to love and hate him at the same time. Both actors in retrospect somehow tie in their expressionless disciplined characters with the emotional lover sides. Brigitte Lin brings an indescribable sadness to her character while maintaining her usual tough girl persona. They seamlessly portray the expressionless, disciplined sides of their characters when apart and the emotional, loving side when united.

The plot is paced well with equal focus to its very likable characters. It is easy to get invested in the story and the constant stream of problems make it quite intense.

Most of the action scenes are shot with a blurry, fuzzy composition to create a unique fantasy mood. Slower scenes are visually appealing in a subtle atmospheric way. The soundtrack, the camera, the combination of eccentric action with an over-the top romance montage, all contribute to a very particular melancholy mood that puts us right with the characters.

Bride manages to be incredibly weird with strange characters and twists, but never lapses into points of complete absurdity like other wu-xia.

The Bad?
The film fails to explain how Lin’s character falls in love with Cheung’s. Her character isn’t explored until later and no explanation is ever given. The hole is crucial at first and it takes some time to get over it, but the characters are so likeable that we can deal eventually. Still, the film has to try extra hard because the relationship feels a little empty at first.

The plot sounds cliché and overused, but it really isn’t an issue.

A-

Boiling Point review

2008-08-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

The mild-mannered gas station attendee Masaki (Masahiko Ono) and Iguchi (Gadarukanaru Taka), both members of a minor Japanese baseball team, manage to get into some trouble with the local yakuza. After the gangsters seriously injure their coach, Masaki and a friend from team set off to Okinawa to purchase a gun. Upon arrival, they meet an odd yakuza member (Takeshi Kitano) in debt who is planning his own revenge on his yakuza.

The Good?
The first half is filled with pointless, yet hysterical situational comedy. It’s classic Kitano humor with awkward moments, odd characters, and random outbursts of sex and violence.

Kitano’s character is anything but lovable in this film. He’s cruel, perverse and completely ridiculous, but he carries the entire second half. He frequently offers his girlfriend for sex and gets severely pissed at her for finally agreeing. Maybe it’s just because Kitano is playing him, but we still love watching him.

The Bad?
There are tons of one dimensional characters that didn’t seem like throwaway side or joke characters. They were given an uneven focus and it was difficult to get drawn to them or tell what Kitano intended to do with them.
The plot is really simple and light. It is filled with barely satisfying, neat tie-ups that hardly seem realistic, but just conveniently end the film. But this is still primarily a comedy, so when it’s funny, how much does a shaky narrative really matter?

B-

Zatoichi review

2008-08-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Zatoichi, a blind masseur/master swordsman enters a town ridden with gang wars, while citizens are pushed around for protection money. Befriending a gambling addict, a poor woman and two revenge driven siblings, Zatoichi seeks out help for the innocent because he’s the only one who can see the truths hidden in this town.

The Good?
The action shines in its own unique way as the fighting is choreographed with swift outbursts consisting of Zatoichi with his trademark sword grip, mowing through enemies with incomprehensible speed. Takeshi Kitano makes Zatoichi even more bad-ass.

Kitano manages to even infuse Zatoichi with his trademark comedy, from clever dialogue to sidesplitting visuals. He sprinkles the absurd into the most dramatic scenes (an enemy draws his sword a bit too hastily), but he manages to keep the silliness from undermining the serious parts of the story. It’s a very fine, difficult line to walk, but we know Kitano can handle it.

Very odd, eccentric characters are peppered around the village. An insane neighbor dressed only in underwear and samurai armor running in circles screaming maniacally is quite funny.

The film’s glorifies Japanese culture from lavish kimonos and longer-than-usual geisha entertainment to ‘Stomp’ style scenes of the labors rhythmically hammering away to create catchy soundtracks.

Kitano also throws in a very contagious five-minute tap scene with the film’s entire cast and again, it’s baffling how it fits in perfectly, but it does.

The Bad?
While Kitano fills the film with interesting characters, none of them are explored enough. Zatoichi lacks any dimension. Two siblings bent on revenge make up a boring sub-plot that takes up too much time. And Tadanobu Asano’s antagonist character doesn’t get the back-story needed to make his inevitable confrontation with Zatoichi as epic as it should have been. Kitano impresses us on every level, but abandons his characters in the process.

B+/B

Fudoh: The New Generation review

2008-08-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Fudoh presents us with Takashi Miike's unparalleled skill in entertainment through perversity, gratuitous violence, and over-the-top storylines where probability takes a backseat to insanity. What can you say about a film that makes effective use of a schoolgirl shooting projectile from down under as her skill? Or a young yazuka generation using 5-7 year olds for assassinations? Miike has an uncanny ability to create these eccentric characters completely straight-faced and attach them to the exciting premise and theme of youth versus the elders. Tying all this together for a direct to video release is remarkable when most theatrically released filmmakers can't achieve this kind of originality. Yakuza/Crime films have reached a threshold, so these twists and the genre bending are welcome changes. Not to say it doesn’t falter in plot structure and the script department, but it’s difficult to find any concrete negatives about the film because everything, including the bits of corniness fits in for a “feel-good” time with Miike.

B

Looking for Mr. Perfect review

2008-08-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Grace is a tough Hong Kong police detective on vacation in Malaysia with her up-and-coming model friend, Joey. Pursued by two men she doesn’t love, and dreaming of her “Mr. Perfect, Grace gets mixed up in a plot involving a few groups of people attempting to steal a missile system. Along the way she encounters the man who she believes to be her Mr. Perfect, while he has to agenda to deal with

The Good?
The film pleasantly works as one of those genre-defying, light Hong Kong flicks that blend action, comedy and romance. It’s a very difficult line to walk, but Ringo Lam handles it well by simply maintaining a coherent plot and comedy that doesn’t undermine the serious aspects of the story.

The action is well choreographed from its over-the-top boat chases to hand-to-hand combat that takes its cues from Jackie Chan films. One fight uses a range of physical props like fruits and umbrellas, Looney Tunes sound effects and catchy show tune music and it successfully blends the entertaining, professional choreography with funny gags and physical humor.

The variety of eccentric characters heightens the comedy and never lets the film get boring. HK regulars play the parts of anyone from a nervous thief to a perverted agent and a dancing gangster couple. Simon Yam snaps his fingers and tap dances in a bright pink suit and it’s ridiculous and somehow probable in this world at the same time. The sheer number of these characters make for endless combinations with their one-note jokes in different circumstances.

The Bad?
It’s hard to really care about any of the characters. Shu Qi meeting the love of her life is last on the list of our concerns with so many things happening on the side. The film sacrifices the depth of its characters for the variety and the constant situation comedy, and that does make up for it.

B+

Musa the Warrior review

2008-08-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

In 1375 China, the new Ming dynasty is still troubled by the previous Mongol Yuan regime. Korea sends a group of soldiers and delegates to make peace with the new empire and they are labeled as spies and exiled into the desert. While marching, Yuan soldiers kill the Ming, but spare the Koreans leaving them free but trapped in the desert. After discovering the Yuan are holding a Ming princess captive, and with little choice for getting home, the Koreans decide they must save the princess to get home safely.

The Good?
Technically, this film is quite involving with its stark yellow color palette and breathtaking desert cinematography. The audience joins the group on their journey in this world engulfed in a pale, yellow hue from the sand to the sky and water.

A handful of memorable characters in the group with striking conflicts, from Jung Woo-sung as a skilled spearman slave with no master, to Ahn Sung-kee as a low ranking expert archer who has more charisma and authority over the group than the actual general in charge, played by Ju Jin-mo.

Great fight scenes with a grittier, historical edge that recalls Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia .When the likable characters are involved in the action, it’s an exciting ride.

The Bad?
Sadly, there are only a few memorable characters, while the rest of the traveling group is simply fodder for the Yuan army to slice through. We have little sympathy for most of the other Korean soldiers.

While there is some good development for a couple key characters, the flaws are prevalent among the others and make for an uneven viewing. As a result, the movie lacks the heart of Lawrence or Gladiator because we aren’t nearly as invested in the fates of most of these characters, and the ending is not as effective as it could be.

B-

Twilight Samurai

2008-08-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

The film follows the daily life of Seibei Iguchi, a samurai with a meager salary and declining respect in his village. After going into debt with the sickness and death of his wife, he’s stuck with the tight responsibility of looking after his ten and five year old daughters and his senile mother, while maintaining his crops, crafting, and working at an office job. The samurai days are declining with the Meiji era ready to begin and Seibei is gradually growing more akin to becoming a peasant rather than remaining a samurai.

Twilight Samurai are refuses to be epic and focuses on the little things. As a historical samurai film, taking another route other than the epic isn’t entirely fresh, but it’s a nice variation. The main conflict Seibei faces is society. He has to deal with maintaining his reputation in a terrible position and the way he prefers peasantry is a unique take. The film effectively captures the constraints on family, class, money and women at the time, and the struggles for those samurai that weren’t always considered the heroes. The plot flows well with only a couple action scenes, which are built up perfectly by the character tension. There’s nothing more exciting then seeing Seibei stand off against an enemy with absolutely no idea what will happen. The fights may not be visually impressive by today standards because they are slightly stylized versions of classic, realistic swordplay like Inagaki’s.

The characters are the natural draw to this drama with an incredibly likeable lead that we view through the eyes of his proud daughter. We witness the disrespect he receives, the busy life he leads and his personal struggles with constraints on everything he does. The film is spot on with its characters, as they never act outside of their boundaries for a plot purpose. Everything is based around the societal rules and the character’s morals and it’s a wonder to see how they conflict.

Twilight Samurai is definitely a film worthy of viewing if accepted as a drama above anything else. Seeing it in a theatre is always nice, as it’s visually superb with the stark peaceful scenery and tight indoor shot composition.

A-

Old Boy review

2008-08-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

After Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the Old Boy anticipation grew and knowing of its second place at Cannes built up these huge expectations. While it may not be as emotional as Sympathy, Park Chan-wook lives up to these expectations by breaking away just enough to keep his ideas fresh, but maintaining a style and level of quality that we’ve come to love. Old Boy remains thematically similar to his last film, retaining the revenge story, but here he adds a psychological mystery element to it. With these little tweaks and improvement over his previous films Park crafts another near-perfect exploration of motives, relationships and dumplings.

On his young daughter’s birthday, Oh Daesu (Choi Min-sik) is on his way home with a present for her. After using a phone, he disappears no more than four feet behind his friend and finds himself imprisoned in what looks like a hotel room. He is held there for 15 years with no explanation whatsoever. With nothing but a television set and daily meals, he slowly finds an escape and begins what any logical person would do after. Find the answers as to why, and seek brutal, torturous revenge against whoever did it.

Old Boy kicks off with a sharp contrast playing out the early talkative Oh Daesu. We undergo major character shifts in the first fifteen minutes as he convincingly transforms into a stolid vengeful man through a stylish montage of television programming, cogitative preparation and physical training. Daesu then turns to the audience, starting a voice-over narrative that solemnly guides us through his journey and easily creates sympathy for him. The entire aura of mystery and his dark monologues fit perfectly as the imprisonment scenes capture the confinement and intensity of the situation.

It’s a shame when the plot begins to alter its direction and lay everything on the table for plot advancement. The ambiguity of the early scenes created an appealing mood for the film but in order for the plot to work, the mystery was shed rather early. Still, it’s interesting that when Daesu gets out; the mystery is rather limited, confining him to a set path that feels just as constrained as his prison. Along his path of revenge we’re treated to offbeat characters and violence that leans in the Miike direction, and a fantastic one-shot fight sequence that never lets up. The second act lacks the pull and curiosity of the first, but it’s a fun ride to the unforgettable climactic, revelations-filled third-act.

Fantastic performances all around, most notaby, Choi Min-sik as Oh Daesu, walking along the edge of insanity while struggling to retain compassion, and dramatically shifting to make it feel like he played three characters instead of just one. His performance in the climactic scene will go down in history. Yu Ji-tae turns in a believable, charismatic performance too in a nice change from the last role I saw him in.

The technical brilliance has also improved here with merely the little things. The camera work is superb, distinctively adding to this feeling of confinement we feel with close-ups and tight shooting. My favorite change was the addition of a soundtrack that Park hardly used much in his last two works. It was a classical film score with the rare rock tune or two but it added so much more to the mood. It’s difficult to imagine how this film would have been without one.

Old Boy comes highly recommended because Park only keeps getting better and better. This is the film to show people who may question or doubt the importance of Korean cinema.

A

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance review

2008-08-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

What a painful film. Incredibly beautiful and brutal, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance just angers the viewer to the point of utter desperation. The whole film is tormenting as the characters engage you in the first five minutes and just repeatedly haunt you through cold violence and dark emotion. With a seemingly obvious departure from JSA, Park Chan-wook crafts a thematically similar work that deals with relationship, conflicting emotion, desperate situations but most importantly, vengeance.

Ryu, our blue haired, deaf and dumb protagonist needs a kidney for his sick sister. After an illegal organ deal gone bad and the chance donation of a suitable kidney, Ryu needs 10 million won in less than a week to pay for the operation. With the help of his activist girlfriend, they plot a “safe” kidnapping of his boss’s young daughter, but things take a turn for the worse spiraling into conflicting vengeance.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance takes the award for the most unfortunate sequence of events committed to a film. The mainstream current placeholder is Requiem for a Dream, which can’t compare in those terms to this moody tragedy. Think you’re having a bad week? Sit back, watch and either depress yourself extensively, or feel significantly better about your life.

The characters immediately hook you with poor Ryu just getting kicked around by his boss and his sister’s doctor. Things are merely getting started when he loses his transplant money in several physically and emotionally painful scenes for him. The characters grab you immediately and you can’t help rooting for them. Exploration behind all the characters’ motives always justifies their shady, ambiguous actions under harsh circumstances. Events may soon become predictable, but yet you wince at the thoughts and hope for a happy outcome.

Song Kang-ho follows up his two previous hits with a nice performance. It isn’t entirely effective as the script gives us a generally negative feeling about him, but he does offer explanation for his actions through his acting. The show stealer is Shin Ha-kyun as Ryu who arouses so much sympathy and comes across entirely convincing with the deaf role. He is absolutely perfect in revealing his emotion and thoughts using only his expressions and the occasional subtitles in conversation for his sign language. His girlfriend played by Bae Du-na fits very nicely as the tough but likable support for Ryu. Using seemingly little depth in the characters, the screenplay and acting performances are strong enough to carry the intensity of the film.

Park does it once again, technically matching Sympathy with the story. The camera is a noticeable departure from JSA as here; he uses the dead camera style for beautiful shot composition and images. It feels like Kitano as he presents powerful long or establishing shots that maintain the melancholy ambiance and then combines it with the intensity of painful close-ups. There are so many set-up shots that staged scenes so well, encompassing all the necessary elements. The only possible problem was the lack of a soundtrack as the closest we got to music was some 5-second crashing rock type music at key moments. They were quite effective, yet out of place due to the long gaps between them.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance comes highly recommended for a serious viewing. Emotionally powerful and sometimes a bit slow, it isn’t a breezy watch; it’s much more than that. Park really proves himself by moving in a different direction and creating something that he seems more passionate about than JSA. The film feels like a Takashi Miike one at times with the violence and offbeat characters, but is handled much more maturely and seriously to make a significant impression on the viewer and leave them thinking about the characters long after watching.

A-

Zatoichi: The Fugitive review

2008-08-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

In the fourth installment of the Zatoichi series, Tokuzo Tanaka adds a more dramatic edge staging a rewarding build-up rather than forcing unnecessary action for filler. Zatoichi really shines here feeling like a serial by reintroducing characters from his past with meaningful situations and emotion. With a lush palette of colors in nature and very modern looking cinematography, The Fugitive is another worthy addition to the series.

After arriving in a town and discovering a reward on his head, Zatoichi is forced to kill a yakuza landowner and create turmoil involving land disputes, lost loves and a rival samurai out to defeat him.

Seeing movies like these in the theatre really confirm how much more engaging an experience it can be there. With a newly restored 35mm print, it’s unbelievable that it was from 1963 as the colors stood out vibrant as ever. Perhaps my visual experience was better than the DVD release but nonetheless it’s only a supplement to the drama and character exploration.

Shintaro Katsu shines once again as the strongest pull to the film. We grow to worship his presence because he portrays so damn likable a character. From the light-hearted comedic moments, to his badass stand-offs and his sorrow, any scene he’s in is near-perfect. This shines more than the action scenes because in fact, nothing is more satisfying then his quick draw to slice a teapot.

Don’t get me wrong, the Zatoichi series has the best swordplay of all the classics. Without any gore and graphic violence, Zatoichi stands off against a circle of mobsters and with swift slices and entertaining choreography we are treated to the good ol’ exaggerated deaths. The action is sprinkled a bit for the beginning but it’s merely a sample until the pay-off at the end. This perhaps makes The Fugitive more accessible for Zatoichi fans interested in the drama and story instead of only the fights.

The Fugitive is another fine installment of the series and a must see if a local theatre gets the new print.

B+

Running on Karma review

2008-08-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Big (Andy Lau), a former monk turned stripper/body builder is arrested after a club raid involving a rookie cop, Lee Fung-Yee (Cecilia Chung). Yee is transferred to a case involving a gruesome murder committed by a skilled Indian fighter and receives Big’s help, martial arts expertise and power to view karma (and in turn see the future) to catch him. Beliefs and friendship begin to conflict as Big views Yee’s karma and doesn’t seem to like what it holds.

Running on Karma has characteristics that take risks and break convention and narrative structure to make it a more likable film. After the 15-minute set-up we’re under the belief that since time is being put into the murder case and Yee and Big’s relationship, it’s logical that the plot be a simple twist on the generic killer thrillers we’ve come to hate in Hollywood. Luckily the narrative is completely all over the place showcasing a few martial arts sequences, weaving in and out of an engaging romance and diving into contemplative religious interpretation. Despite the inconsistency, the movie uses the light-hearted mood for character development and entertainment that sets up the depth later. This depth is dependent on our connection with the characters and the choices Big needs to make. Still the key aspect is (I’ve been waiting to use this) the film runs on karma as the consistent message. A clever conversation pokes fun at the workings of karma but then leads into deep interpretations trying to seriously discuss the topic. It works successfully as the plot device that ties the entire film together so scenes don’t seem as out of place and as random as they actually are. Even with the disconnected plot and blend of genres, the thematic and character consistencies hold it together.

The relationship between the lovable Cecilia Chung and Andy Lau make up some of the best moments of the film ranging from a few clever lines to Big constantly crashing into walls on a scooter. Both actors do a fine job and especially Andy for sticking with the huge body suit and coming across as believable as you can get with the role.

The film's main problems are the plot structure and the gratuitous scenes. Most notably, the overexposure of Andy Lau’s “physique” detracts from the plot and although it does add some lightheartedness it feels gimmicky and unnecessary. Sure you can accept the opening striptease scene, maybe it added something to the characters but honestly, constant indecent exposure? A bodybuilding contest? This isn’t uneasiness talking, it’s just odd and out of place. The other gratuitous aspect can’t be described without a spoiler, but an integral part of the story is just handled …disrespectfully for lack of a better word. Instead of maintaining a mystery, it shows more than it should and adds uneasiness and annoyance rather than whatever they were trying to do.

Running on Karma is still definitely worth seeing weirdness and all. It’s one of this films you figure is just going to entertain you, but while its doing that it delivers some easy to digest philosophy and religious thought.

B+

Returner review

2008-08-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

A girl named Milly (Anne Suzuki) from 82 years in the future is faced with the task of traveling back in time to prevent an alien invasion that eventually destroys the human race. Upon arrival she meets a reluctant gunman named Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who aids her in trying to find a solution. The situation intensifies though, with only two days left and a murderous mob boss named Mizoguchi standing in their way.

While action is the primary draw to this film it will disappoint if you’re expecting Matrix caliber action. There are some great sequences, but hardly enough and never anything special. This is by no means a major problem as the action goes hand in hand with the plot and never feels forced, but this movie is hyped as an action film, and it feels skimpy at that.

The film borrows (“or pays homage”) to American sci-fi, but uses the elements in creative, slightly different ways. Here, Milly has a watch that allows her to move 20 times faster than normal, giving way to bullet dodging and tight escapes. The way its visually handled may be considered a Matrix rip-off, but it’s by no means the same. Bullet-time was used sparingly in the Matrix as a random interjection into fights to showcase the intricacy of the moves. In Returner, it’s essential to the plot and the characters base their actions around it, giving a completely different purpose to the technique. It’s similar to the recycling of the Terminator, “going back in time to change the future” idea because of the entirely different situation in Returner. It’s a borrowed premise, but not a completely borrowed plot. Returner has its own take on the material.

Kaneshiro and Suzuki’s surprisingly good relationship keeps us engaged with the plot. Their characters have a love-hate friendship that gives way to funny dialogue, mean-spirited humor but some bit of emotional attachment as well. You may not even feel it until the very end, but seeing the story resolved and determining how their relationship will be affected does strike a chord. It may even be more interesting than the extinction of the human race.

With an occasional pulsating rock soundtrack, tinges of stylish action, interesting use of borrowed elements, and surprisingly good special effects, Returner comes recommended for anyone who loved the sci-fi movies it borrowed from; ranging from Terminator and Independence Day to even E.T. Kaneshiro fans should see it as well, for he does a good job with the walking cliché of the bad-ass hip guy with a heart.

B+

Leaving Me, Loving You review

2008-08-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

Dr. Chow (Leon Lai) and Yuet (Faye Wong), a couple living in Shanghai, break up. After instigating the break-up and beginning to doubt himself once his job involves him with Yuet again, Dr. Chow begins to reconcile with her but she doesn’t seem to agree.

The Good?
Faye Wong and Leon Lai. They have terrible characters, so it’s mainly just to see their pretty faces.

The shot composition was quite nice to view with lush colors, attractive camera movement and editing. This film works very well as a long-form tourist commercial for Shanghai.

The Bad?
Everything else. The plot lacks any substance of depth. Every scene between the two of them retreads the same ground with little emotion and boring dialogue. It’s the same old “Please take me back, let’s start again” scene repeatedly.

Terrible, forgettable characters do not make a good film. If you want sad, two-dimensional characters that can barely be described, you’ve found your new favorite film.

This film is grating and insanely boring. If you are a hard-core Faye Wong fan and you want to say you have seen all of her movies, just lie about it. You’ve read this review, that’s plenty.

F

Metropolis review

2008-08-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

In a future world, a detective from Japan and his nephew, Kimichi arrive in the advanced city of Metropolis filled with robots and advanced technology, looking for a criminal. Incidentally, Kimichi discovers Tima, an advanced robot who secretly was funded to be the key to Metropolis. Being pursued by gun toting enemies and lost in a huge city, the two of them must discover the mystery behind their newfound friend.

The film’s stunning animation is a double-edged sword. The seamless blend of 2D foreground and 3D environments is one of the best displays of computer animation in recent film. Countless intricate details are added from panning overviews of the city to the tiny particles of wireworks. It doesn’t simply feel like they’ve crafted the locations for the backgrounds of the scenes, but they have created an actual, living, breathing world. The problem is the story never feels quite up to par with the animation.

While the plot is not wholly satisfying, there are plenty of specific scenes that shine. Character moments between Tima and Kimichi and Rocket’s involvement as the main antagonist were a blast. They just didn’t come together as a whole.

The soundtrack of Toshiyuki Honda’s jazz and the use of a Ray Charles song at a key moment were both fantastic. They added to the light atmosphere ranking up there with Yoko Kanno’s Cowboy Bebop soundtrack. The action scenes with the catchy upbeat jazz really were almost the highlights of the film had it not been for the ending scene that was impossible not to love. The music and animation make this film.

Metropolis hits you hard with emotion at the end and feels a bit uneven, but it still works decently. With characters breaking away from usual anime standards and astounding technical achievement, Metropolis is a suitable introduction for newcomers to the genre and a refreshing take for seasoned anime fans.

B

Joint Security Area review

2008-08-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

Two murdered North Korean soldiers are found dead on their side of the Joint Security Area (the border between North and South Korea) with a kidnapping claim from the South Korean soldier (Byung-hun Lee) who confessed to the killings. In an effort to determine the truth from the conflicting depositions and to figure out why all this happened, a Neutral Nations officer (Yeong-ae Lee) is brought into to solve the case.

Aside from the slightly tedious start, JSA’s strengths lie in the script and the characters. Through early flashbacks we are informed that the conflict arose out of a forbidden act of friendship. Two South Korean soldiers find themselves good friends in two North Korean soldiers, but given the strict division and tension (demonstrated well in the beginning even for foreign audiences) they are forced to secretly meet in the night. Easily being able to shift from the fun dialogues between the friends, and the tense political relations, Chan Wook-Park puts the emphasis on the characters, which make the murders so much more meaningful. We’re left very early in the film trying to figure out the intricate aspects of the four soldier’s relationships, even if we understand the eventual outcome.

Most of the drama from the story comes from our connections with the characters. Everything they are doing is right. They are revealing the absurdity of the borders and separation with the message that they can still be friends and have no differences. Although this sounds like a cheesy after-school special, the film gives us a genuine friendship that brings a smile to your face, especially in scenes where they have to do their jobs while secretly remaining friends. The sole plot problem lies in the Neutral investigator, who is outshined by the charisma and interaction of the soldiers. Apparently, the source material is more focused on the investigator, but in the film it seems to drag and feel more like filler rather than the initial plot.

All fine performances by the four main soldiers each conveying their respective character well even with their eccentric qualities, such as Kim Tae-woo providing a convincing and strong nervousness to add stress to crucial scenes with Song Kang-ho’s balancing composure.

Without getting preachy and simply focusing on the themes and characters’ friendships, Joint Security Area comes recommended as a nice introduction to Park Chan-wook and as a political thriller for people who don’t like political thrillers.

B+

Ninja Scroll review

2008-08-21T19:57:00.000-07:00

A wandering Ninja discovers his old nemesis is alive and planning on taking over the government with a group of supernatural demons at his disposal. Along with a “poisonous” ninja girl and a clever old hermit-like character, he must face off against each unique demon to help save the country.

The Good?
The unique and exciting story that places a strongly creative emphasis on its villains. After a stunning opener with the mysterious golem villain, the prospect of watching Jubei hunt down seven more similarly inventive enemies will excite anyone. The film delivers epic, sequential confrontations that force our hero to find a clever technique to defeat each new enemy and that’s all it really needs.

Its influence on anime and live-action film, happily embracing excessive blood, over-the-top action and gratuitous nudity. This is classic anime and it uses these elements right, in such off-beat ways.

The animation is well-done with a more artsy feel to it. The action is very clear with blood, gore and forest detail in every shot. While it’s not the best animation now, or for its time period, it does its job.

The Bad?
Anime fans today might be jaded and uninterested in this film if they have seen all the elements before. But it’s still well-crafted and odd enough that this probably won’t be the case.

A

Pistol Opera review

2008-08-21T19:50:00.001-07:00

Pistol Opera, Seijun Suzuki’s pseudo-remake-sequel to Branded to Kill inserts a female assassin (Makiko Esumi) in the Number 3 position pressured to seek out the Number 1 spot. We’ve all wanted to see Branded to Kill in full color and got our wish because Pistol Opera seemed to be Suzuki’ most visually stunning piece yet. His lavish choice of color leads to beautiful cinematography and along with the stylish jazzy soundtrack, Pistol Opera had the chance to surpass Branded to Kill. But Suzuki seems to have also advanced with his absurd abstract filmmaking as well, driving this film without any clear narrative, confusing symbolism and little action. It is excruciating to see little hints of genius such as an extreme long shot for a gunfight, but to no real benefit. The weird characters are still there, but they can’t compliment an even weirder storyline that just leaves the viewer disconnected after the first thirty minutes. You want to like it and you’ll try really hard to like it, but the disappointing entertainment and convoluted plot will hurt.

C-

Chungking Express review

2008-08-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

Chungking Express is comprised of two love stories set in the busy streets of Hong Kong connected by way of a take-out restaurant. The first story explores a connection between a drug dealer who loses her shipment (Brigitte Lin in one of her last starring roles) and a lonely cop 223 (Takeshi Kanshiro) still hung up on his ex-girlfriend. The second story deals with another lovelorn cop (Tony Leung) who befriends a detached lovable cashier (Faye Wong) at the restaurant. She gains access to his apartment and begins to amuse herself by changing little details and seeing if he notices.

The Good?
Pretty much everything. Wong Kar-Wai creates characters that are impossible not to love. All four have their own cute, little idiosyncrasies that define them and make even the most insignificant scenes worth watching.

Wai’s use of sentimentality stays away from cliché and feels so genuine and earnest. The two cops are hopeless romantics; one who believes his apartment is crying because it misses his ex, and the other who jogs because he wants to dehydrate his body so he can’t cry. Wai’s writing builds everything from these tiny details that feel like poetry, capturing and revealing strange, specific feelings to which we completely relate. It’s hard to be original about love, but Wai accomplishes it.

The most acclaimed facet of the film is Wai’s technical mastery and ability to capture a mood and location. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle drops us in the frenzy of Hong Kong with grainy handheld footage and a blurred, impressionist composition that has defined Wai’s career.

The visuals, coupled with a gorgeous, almost haunting ambiance and the Mamas and the Papas on repeat, set a dreamy mood that you’ll lovingly remember as one-of-a-kind. This is THE romantic comedy.

The Bad?
Nothing, really. People say its all style with no substance, but they are generally wrong.

A

Battle Royale review

2008-08-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

In the “near future,” Japan is in a state of turmoil. Kids are out of control and are rebelling against adults. In order to keep them in line, the government sets up the “Battle Royale act” which publicly selects a 9th grade class of about 40 kids to be sent to an island for 3 days. The government and army attach collars to their necks (which will explode when tampered with) and give strict detailed rules to follow. They give each kid one weapon and tell them there must be one survivor at the end of the three days or they all lose.

The Good?
The film follows through on its original and catchy premise. It is an intense, simple and unique idea that generates discussion, empathy and horror.

Kinji Fukasaku takes an easily exploitative premise and treats it maturely by giving many of the characters depth and personality to make their sudden deaths all the more meaningful. The choice to use a director who lived through World War II shows.

The suspense and mystery to the plot make the film very involving. The focus is spread amongst many characters so any seemingly “main” character could die. A welcome change from horror films where the biggest names are usually the survivors. Tension lurks around every corner in every single scene.

A very strong cast with Takeshi Kitano as the director of the whole island program, leaving us uneasy with his combination of deadpan humor and serious delivery. Kou Shibasaki, Masanobu Ando, Tatsuya Fujiwara and Chiaki Kuriyama are all memorable and realistic in their roles. You won’t forget many faces, even years after watching this film.

Good on the technical level, from cinematography to the soundtrack, Fukasaku chooses classical pieces to add maturity and irony, creating his own Apocalypse Now.

The Bad?
The potential offensiveness of the film may be a turn-off for some. It is very violent, dark and cynical and the argument can be made that it still is exploitation.

Fans of the book will be disappointed because the character depth in the film comes nowhere near that of the novel. Viewers never truly understand more than a few key relationships, but the novel really connects everyone in the class and puts us in the heads of all the students. It would be impossible to fit all that into a film, so hey, that’s why it was a book first.

The reasons for the creation of the Battle Royale program, its thematic implications and social commentaries have been changed and simplified for the film. The book has a more complicated, reasonable explanation that justifies the story. This is why the movie can be viewed as exploitative, while Koushun Takami’s source material is no less than brilliant.

B+

Last Hurrah for Chivalry review

2008-08-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

Kao, a well-off swordsman bitter from the murder of his family, hires a swordsman, Chang, to take his revenge for him. Meanwhile Chang befriends a compulsive drinker and soon the truth begins to reveal itself through hidden motives and double-dealings.

The Good?
The fight choreography is a superb blend of swords and fists, superior to many Shaw Brothers flicks with its modern, more realistic tinge. The cinematography showcased the full visual beauty of the fight, instead of relying on stifling insert close-ups prevalent in contemporary Hollywood films and corner-cutting martial arts films.

John Woo just keeps pushing the climactic action. You finally think there’s one fight left and then 20 more men pop out. He knows what fans love and keeps on rewarding us with constant variety, epic odds and pleasing pay-offs.

The Bad?
An incredibly cheesy, simple plot typical of kung-fu films. Some interesting twists occur in the second half, but the storytelling is very surface and not too involving.

The pacing of the film is very uneven with a slow first-half concentrating on uninteresting plot development that is difficult to tread through. This space should have been filled with more fights or an actual story worth telling.

B+

About the Reviews

2008-08-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

There has always been and there will always be only one reviewer for this site.

The reason the reviews are so eclectic style and quality-wise is because I began Asian Cinema Drifter at the start of my writing career and for the last four years, I've consistently been learning what makes good writing.

Basically, the earlier reviews I wrote are purely embarrassing and I have neither the time, nor the energy to go back, re-watch the film and rewrite a review. Chances are, another four years from now, I'll be ashamed of how bad I am now.

So, my solution has resulted in embracing generally three kinds of reviews on this website.

1. The normal long-form reviews with which I started Asian Cinema Drifter. The ones that don't make me cringe too much have been left alone.

2. The short "60 second" reviews that long-time visitors may remember. These are typically a short description and a very compact 1-2 paragraphs efficiently reviewing the film. These were my favorite because shorter and direct is better.

3. The "Good and the Bad" review format has been introduced in this blog incarnation of the site. It's rather self-explanatory. It consists of a short premise description, a sentence or two for each main positive of the film, and a sentence or two for each main negative.

There's a lot to read out there on the web and I'm the type of person that wants my information fast and to-the-point. As great as flowery, well-written, verbose film criticism is, it is its own seperate art form.

So this site will now be favoring the short and direct approach (#'s 2 and 3). Older long-form reviews will probably be converted, so if you miss an old review, contact me and maybe I'll send it to you for nostalgia's sake.

Hopefully this means I'll be able to review more films, and the reader will have an easier time with the one question this site was meant to answer:

"Do I watch this movie or what?"

Millennium Mambo review

2008-08-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Millennium Mambo tells the story of a beautiful Taiwanese woman named Vicky (Shu Qi) transitioning through her relationships. The film explains how she dropped out of school to live with Hau (Tuan Chun Hao) who ended up turning into a manipulative, jealous, lazy “leech.” We follow Vicky’s trouble with the antagonistic boyfriend as they constantly break up and get back together and her newfound acquaintance Jack (Jack Kao) who sympathizes and treats her nicely and respectfully. She works at a nightclub for both their sakes and eventually must decide if she is ready to break away and make any true changes in her life.

The Good?
Hou Hsiao-hsien and Mark Lee Ping-bin showcase their visual genius with gorgeous nightlife composition and meaningful mundane, static imagery to create another Chungking Express and What Time is it There in cinematography at least, for the new millennium

The film glorifies Shu Qi in everything from stunning slow-motion reflective scenes over a steady beat of electronica to subtle facial expression and acting. It forces you to fall in love with her

The trendy style is perfect and a wonder to behold on a big screen. Hou Hsiao-hsien knows precisely how to make us feel we are a part of this lifestyle with a very evocative and memorable tone.

The Bad?
The plot is unclear and unnecessarily complicated. The premise is simple, and thus requires filler, but it becomes a problem when that affects the main storyline.

Jack, her perfect guy, is too rushed in and has poor chemistry with the limited number of scenes he has with Vicky.

The characters are not particularly likeable nor memorable, leaving much to be desired from the film content-wise. It only shows an interesting perspective of Taiwanese youth culture, but there is a genre for that called the documentary.

C-

In the Mood for Love review

2008-08-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

This is the best film ever made.

A

The Killer review

2008-08-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Killer follows a hit man named Jeff (Chow Yun-Fat) out to pull off his last job for enough money to help a girl he accidentally blinded from a previous hit. Her name is Jennie (Sally Yeh) and he slowly begins to fall in love with her. Double-crossed on the pay off for his last job, he’s forced to face an entire mob of gangsters and a clever inspector hot on his tail.

Leaving behind him a trail of dead bodies, empty clips and his own blood, Chow Yun Fat manages to capture everything likeable about his character while maintaining the firm discipline that comes with his job. Finding no difficulty in showing his heart of gold, Jeff affirms his morals, gains the audience’s sympathy and follows through with a trite plot in trying to leave to business to live a life of peace.

Woo’s dizzying and meaningful gun fights instated The Killer as a staple of the genre. In combining “glamorous” showdowns with meaningful character development and a simple story, Woo is able to tease the audience just enough and finally deliver the goods when it counts. Much of what lies in the excitement of an action movie is the build-up. The Killer helps set up these conflicts, tie together characters and introduce pretty bad-ass scenarios for Jeff to follow through with. With a meaningful (still cliché) story and set-up, the rewarding action scenes are earned and worth the wait. Fights never seem out-of-place and as the tension rises between Jeff and his antagonists, the film explodes into blissful action. Every subtle action matters in the fights. Woo favors the stylish nuances like sliding on a table rather than running past it; and it is in this innovative use of the environment the fights make for some exciting and jaw-dropping sequences.

The other role that stood out was Sally Yeh as Jennie. She puts tons of emotion into this role as a helpless girlfriend, but not the usual type that stays off to the side. She is a key part in even the action and adds depth to her character. Her fear strongly connects with the audience because of her blindness; and because of the dimension she added to her role the audience roots for her well-being along with Jeff’s.

The Killer is a staple of the HK action genre and is the one film to watch to create a Hong Kong film addict. Woo’s landmark film is required Asian cinema viewing for its influence and its lasting appeal on all action since.

A-

The Princess Blade review

2008-08-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

Adapted from the manga of the same name, “Shurayukihime” and inspired by the classic, Lady Snowblood¸ The Princess Blade is simply a neat popcorn flick. Containing great fight sequences courtesy of Donnie Yen choreography, it is another decent offering of the swordsplay/martial arts revival occurring in Japan right now.

In an unnamed land in the future, the country is ruled by a seemingly cruel dictatorship as rebels attempt to overthrow it. A group of top-notch assassins from the House of Takemikazuchi were hired to suppress these rebels, but as demand declined they turned into professional killers willing to murder anyone for money. The last surviving heir to the Takemikazuchi family, Yuki (Yumiko Shaku) discovers the leader of the group is responsible for the death of her parents and leaves, vowing revenge. The house sends assassins to kill anyone who leaves, so as a result, Yuki finds herself pursued by her former partners and is forced to seek shelter, befriending a young man (Hideaki Ito) and his sister.

It is natural to compare this film with Kitamura’s works as they are the recent top swordplay films in Japan. The Princess Blade bares many similarities to Azumi (released two years later), such as the female leads, stylized swordplay and the theme of revenge. In The Princess Blade, the world never feels authentic as there were only about four locations in the entire film, most of which is in the forest or a house. With the premise of a futuristic dictatorship, the film is set-up with more than it actually explores and generally ignores the big picture of the story, but doesn’t effectively use the small story to fill in for it. The other strong story telling fault of film is its failure to connect with the audience. Personally, the story felt empty until the ending scenes. Both keeping their similar pasts mysteries, the interaction between the Yuki and Takashi (Ito) feels forced and meaningless.

However, Donnie Yen choreographed the action very well. With a beautiful opening involving a hit the group performs with neat bits of slow motion, The Princess Blade promises and delivers entertaining action. The action isn’t as eccentric as Kitamura’s nor does it occur as often because of the attempted story, but it action does satisfy with a blend of modern stylized combat and classic jidai-geki simplicity. The action also holds a bit of realism involving the outcomes of fights, a welcome addition to create tension.

The cast was average with Yumiko Shaku in the lead role and Hideaki Ito as the main supporting actor. They fit the roles fine, but they didn’t contain enough charisma to draw in the audience. The lead character is not explored and Shaku does not really convey her stolid character’s feelings to add some depth. Ito does a better job and I found his scenes to hold my attention but his character’s relationship with Yuki (which is key) fails to work.

Overall, Princess is a good action film that suffers from plot problems. It deserves credit for the attempts to add substance, but it ultimately hurts the film because it detracts from the only positive element, the action.

C

Ichi the Killer review

2008-08-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Ichi the Killer is the outcome of Takashi Miike going back to his v-cinema yakuza roots with of course a much bigger budget and a deeper story. This is probably one of the most well known films overseas here, solidifying his shock cinema reputation and with good reason too.

Kakihara, (Tadanobu Asano) a masochist yakuza leader learns his boss is missing at the start of the film. Kakihara goes on a desperate hunt to find the kidnappers, eventually leading him to a fascination with the prospect of a true sadist, Ichi (Nao Omori), who is controlled by a former yakuza boss through memories of a dark childhood.

Using shock techniques, creative torture methods and obscene amounts of blood and gore, Miike clearly wants us to have a good time with the sheer absurdity of the situations. Tadanobu Asano brilliantly portrays Kakihara, conveying dignity and insanity at the same time. He is the epitome of cool and shows it in every scene. Nao Omori turns up a good performance too as the emotionally fragile Ichi but tends to be more on the annoying side instead of sympathetic.

With a number of neat digital effects David Fincher style, Miike is all about “elegantly” keeping the viewer’s attention. Randomly switching it up to slow motion with an intense electronica soundtrack or displaying “Koroshiya 1” in semen, everything is just thrown out there for fun’s sake.

So when the climax adds unnecessary depth missing from the rest of the film, it feels haphazard and uneven. The vague symbolism and sudden care for the characters almost takes the fun out of the film.

Still, it’s a fun ride for most of the running time, full of scenes to make you squirm, laugh and rewind to see it again.

B+

Branded to Kill review

2008-08-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

Branded to Kill simply has one of those giddiness-inspiring concepts. Falling along the lines of kung-fu tournament stories, a film about ranked killers in Japan has this initial pull just through the premise’s potential.

Hanada is the number 3 ranked hit man in Japan. A girl with an odd fascination for butterflies and suicide comes to him for a simple hit, where through a chance encounter with a butterfly, Hanada accidentally kills a civilian. Breaking a core tenet of this invisible code, he has to face the punishment, the termination of his job. Basically, he’s a dead man. Attempting to dodge his pursuers while searching for the mysterious number 1 killer, Hanada stylishly makes his way through excessive sex, creative hits and stunning gunfights.

Coming thirty years before Tarantino, Miike or Woo, Suzuki manages to make this film stylish and timeless. The gunfights are visually stunning merely through simple cinematography and editing decisions. While they aren’t as unique as Tokyo Drifter, they are fast and exciting, but choreographed in a slower, more comprehensive fashion. It isn’t frenzied action like nowadays but it isn’t simple over-in-ten-seconds western dueling either. It has the long-drawn out qualities of classic Bond gunfights, but still retains this fresh cool vibe.

Jo Shishido and the beautiful Annu Mari are easily the two most salient actors in the film by brilliantly composing the peculiarity of their characters. Koji Nambara, as the #1 killer gets increasingly ridiculous and completely throws off your expectations of a hitman’s conduct.

And even though Suzuki is only credited as a director, the story behind his termination from Nikkatsu studios suggests his strong hand in the eccentricities around every corner. The bizarre character fetishes, out of place spliced animation and dark humor to sheer absurdity were all ahead of its time.

Suzuki’s technical genius perfectly compliments the elaborate plot. The memorable arena climax takes place in complete darkness, save the thin streams of light that rush in through gunshot holes. The result is a beautiful, appropriate maze and trap for the characters. Stepping into the light means certain death. But so does firing pistol.

Branded To Kill comes highly recommended. It’s unexpectedly funny, contains must-see action sequences and is just a once-in-a-lifetime film. It’s rare to see truly bizarre and sincere pulp movies as entertaining and fitting as this. See this and then Tokyo Drifter and have high hopes for Suzuki to recreate this in modern Japanese cinema and beat the pants off the crap Woo does now.

A-

Innocent Steps review

2008-08-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

Young-sae was one of the best dancers in Korea, as we witness in the opening to the film. He dances beautifully with his love and protégée Se-young in the middle of a dance competition, until his rival Hyun-soo signals to two other dancers to “accidentally” knock Young-sae over and mess up his leg. Se-young later goes to dance with Hyun-soo and Young-sae spends his time a depressed wreck living in his messy apartment without a desire to dance.

Two years pass until Young-sae’s friend forces an imported Chinese girl upon him as his new partner. The girl is supposed to be Jang Chang-min, a girl with some dance experience, but her younger nineteen-year-old inexperienced sister comes in her place. Still, Young-sae decides to teach her dancing from scratch in the next three months before the annual dance competition and his dramatic comeback.

Addicted director Park Yeong-hoon returns with a slightly more formulaic upbeat romance in Innocent Steps as the inevitable happens and the two begin to fall for each other. Again, despite Moon Geun-young’s ridiculously young physical appearance, her cuteness shines just as it did in My Little Bride, reminding us how much better these films are because of her charm. The odd age difference quickly moves to the back of our mind though as the chemistry between her and Park Geon-hyeong works its wonders on the dance floor and off, in humorously awkward moments when they are trying to fake their marriage to avoid deportation.

The film’s attraction lies in the formulaic first hour as the two meet, try to deal with their circumstances, vigorously practice dancing and gradually form an irresistible bond. Fans of Shall We Dance and Dirty Dancing should surely enjoy the neat little montages of improvement, and the charming “love while you dance” approach. Fans of romantic comedy should get exactly what they want and more.

The film is on this road to perfection until it takes a strange dark drop for the final third. Granted, part of this criticism is based on our connection to the characters at this point, but even so, the plot takes a severe misstep. It gets points for being completely original in this section, but the tonal difference is so drastic from what we expect that it hurts the film a great deal. It’s very difficult to appreciate the “supposed” climactic dance finale to which the first half was working its way up. There are major character problems that do not get solved correctly.

The serious final third of Korean romantic comedies are supposed to slow down the fun, but still at least offer some pay-outs and righting of wrongs in the characters’ lives. Either Innocent Steps has a very pessimistic outlook on life, or no one really read the script. The film keeps us on our toes near the end because we notice the change in direction, but the film never delivers a viable alternative to the formulaic solution we had been expecting. Still, a lot of this is forgivable because of the earlier fun parts, and it just goes to show why so many of these films stick to what’s safe. If they deviate from the formula, they really have to get it right.

B/B-

The Bow review

2008-08-15T09:46:00.001-07:00

Kim Ki-duk’s latest offering is another festival film, void of commercialism and filled with contemplation. With The Bow, Kim continues familiar themes in familiar ways, sticking with his indie film sensibilities and keen priority of character exploration despite his rapidly increasing international popularity. Sado-masochism aside, the film at first recalls The Isle, as it takes place in one single maritime set, here an old boat in the middle of the ocean. Its only two occupants are a sixty-year old man and the sixteen year old girl he found ten years ago and raised solely on the boat. They survive by bringing in fishermen from town (though we never leave the boat) that come to relax, drink and make sexual advances on the girl. Usually at least until the old man scares the wits out of them with his bow and arrows.

The fishermen usually assume the two are related, however, the man actually has plans to marry the girl when she turns 17. These plans, along with the girl’s love for the man are soon jeopardized though, when she falls for a teenager who arrives one day and feels she needs to see the world beyond the boat.

With a running time just short of ninety minutes, The Bow still drags. There is plenty to appreciate, from the perfect acting behind the man and the girl who never speak during the entire film to the symbols at work. There’s the underlying Buddhist mysticism to enhance the film with magical realism. And the humanistic themes of morality, trust and relationships that keep us thinking over the course of the film. But it’s just lost its appeal to some degree. Our constant exposure to mute characters in most of Kim’s films lessens the impact. The themes in his love triangle do not have as striking an effect either. Newcomers may be fascinated by some of the same old Kim techniques, but many fans will be wishing for more originality.

However, The Bow isn’t completely rehashed work. Kim makes it his most musically dependent film ever, as the old man’s bow doubles as a stringed instrument when a drum is added to it. This folky violin-esque music works well for the mood with the strong visuals of gorgeous ocean scenes. Kim also layers the relationship in this film with new questions and feelings for the audience. The ambiguity in this relationship is still fascinating when we must wonder if the girl is there of her own will. Or if we feel we should sympathize with the old man. Is he her savior and protector? Or are his intentions purely perverted? Kim knows exactly what we are thinking, and adds nuances to the plot in this way to twist our emotions. The plot’s action drags because Kim focuses on this aspect of his craft.

Still, the film personally had little effect. The film can leave a Kim Ki-duk fan with mixed reactions. We want to like the film because it is uniquely Kim. And we’re glad he’s retaining certain characteristics, while slowly making progress like he does with each subsequent film. But when The Bow ends, part of me wants to laugh and the other part is still waiting to be impressed. It never feels as special as it tries to be.

C

Asian Cinema Drifter is back

2008-06-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

Due to irresolvable problems with our last hosting situation resulting in the year long disappearance of Asian Cinema Drifter, we have moved to a simpler, minimal blog style.

In other words, people screwed up and I gotta do a whole lot of work making sure all these reviews don't go to waste. I'll slowly be re-adding our archive in this new format and hopefully get to adding some new ones as time goes on. The links should hopefully get redirected. Thank you to the people who still may visit on occasion.

The City of Violence review

2008-06-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

Tae-su, a tough cop from Seoul receives news that his childhood friend Wang-jae has been stabbed to death after a brawl in his bar. He returns home for the funeral and meets up with the rest of his friends: Pil-ho, Dong-hwan and Seok-hwan. Seeking answers and revenge, Tae-su and Seok-hwan begin their own investigations of their friend’s murder and they stumble onto an unexpectedly deeper plot behind it.

The City of Violence brings director Ryoo Seung-wan back to his crime genre roots thematically, but really, it’s his chance to update 70's action films with his own touch.
This outing is low on the fantasy elements of Arahan or the character development of Crying Fist, and high on being slick, smooth and stylish. Ryoo takes a touch of The Warriors, throws in some well-choreographed tae-kwon-do action and glosses it over with some cheesiness inherent in 70s exploitation from the characterizations to the groovy soundtrack.

It’s all a joy to watch, but it’s a struggle to care about much. Plot revelations are hardly as surprising as they should be, childhood flashbacks are a delight but barely there, and most of the main characters undergo little change, besides the standard gradual rise of anger.

The second act stumbles with plot development made too complex for its own good, and a poor follow-up on the subtle character detail in the first act. Highlights include a wonderfully corny slow-motion flashback to the main characters’ high school days and a ridiculous Warriors-esque gathering of schoolchildren gangs poised to teach our main character a lesson about digging too deep. The strong theme of corruption of the youth is responsible for these scenes, but it is abruptly dropped for little reason.

The fights remain tense simply because the star pair played by Jung Doo-hong and Ryoo Seung-wan are so damn cool and likeable. We want them to avenge their fallen comrade. Simple as that. The action build-ups and climax rely on this simple, effective hook to work their magic.

The fights are gorgeous, solidifying Ryoo as the most visually exciting Korean action director working today and Jung Doo-hung as a master of stunt choreography. Despite the emphasis on style, the hits still hurt, from baseballs to the chest to sashimi knife cuts all over. The action is covered with tight precision, a wonderful variety of locations and dynamic cinematography that captures the constraints of restaurant walls, or the openness of the city streets (unless packed with hundreds of armed school children).

Ryoo also has his fun with the extended climax and the second act street fight by pitting his heroes against insurmountable odds. It feels like a long time since a couple of guys took out this many enemies in a martial arts film, and it’s nice to see a throwback to the scenario. Though Ryoo’s last climactic martial arts sequence (from Arahan) may have seemed unnecessarily long, The City of Violence gets it just right. There’s a healthy level of variety in the fight scenarios and our main characters slowly get whittled down to the point where (gasp) we don’t really know how they will get through the next fight and remain standing. In the end, isn’t that the essence of the action movie?

B+

I'm a Cyborg but that's OK review

2008-06-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

Offbeat romantic comedy I’m a Cyborg but that’s OK seems to be Park Chan-wook's attempt to remind us that he can make other types of film. Though it doesn’t submerge itself in a vengeance-based story, Park’s creative touch is easily apparent, unlike his "neutral" debut Joint Security Area.

Opening with our main character’s absent-minded suicide attempt in a rich, colorful radio factory, Cyborg, tells the story of Young-goon, a young woman who believes she’s a cyborg and Il-Sun, a young man who believes he can steal other people's souls. The plot details her stay at the hospital from her arrival, her attempts to acquaint herself with her other fellow electronics (soda machines, florescent lights), her detrimental refusal to eat, and her encounters with the hospital staff and patients.

Poor ticket sales and high critical acclaim is indicative of the type of picture this is. It’s difficult to imagine how this wildly creative and endearing film could hardly even sell one-third the tickets of Old Boy, but the slow pacing and the director’s artistic departure from revenge-driven flicks are believable enough reasons. Not to say Cyborg doesn’t have its share of violence. Among the film’s highlights are beautifully rendered scenes of cyborg transformations and hospital bloodbaths in the alternate world of our imaginative main characters.

Within the reality of the mental hospital, Park crafts alternate ones, so we explore the worlds the patients believe they inhabit. The script creates vibrant characters with individual eccentricities from a large woman with a ridiculous obsession over proper skincare to a middle-aged man who believes he is responsible for every unfortunate event and refuses to stop apologizing for it.

Park remains consistent with his characters and finds a medium between accentuating their quirkiness for humor and their humanity for some drama. By treating characters’ mental illnesses as new worlds, Park gives them respect. It doesn’t alienate the audience from the “crazies.”

Perhaps Park simply wants to say “crazy” is subjective, a theme touched upon lightly by Old Boy. Each character has a history, a family (everyone must have a grandma!), their quirks, their fears and their own world. Sometimes these can be shared, and so blossoms a charming, protective romance between our two main characters.

The wide-eyed Lim Su-jeong and world famous pop star Rain put in strong performances to help the romance. Lim works brilliantly for her off-kilter remarks, neurotic behavior and a staunch refusal to lapse into explicit cuteness. Rain doesn’t have quite as much range but he fits the role as for both his endearing and scheming qualities. The supporting cast is exceptional with a delightful mix that feels like a true community.

Though the film is decidedly different from Park’s previous work, his visuals are one definite improvement. Park, along with cinematographer Jung Jung-hoon capture a slick environment filled with rich pastel color, close detail and seamlessly blended special effects from the shine of a single discharged bullet to a extreme close-up of a bug’s back in a surreal yodeling moment that showcases Rain’s vocal talent.

If Park’s work interested you beyond the violence and dynamic action, I’m a Cyborg is worth the time. His scripts are often underappreciated for their characterization and Cyborg offers the clearest view of that without relying on gimmicks, violence or twists.

B+

Anime

2008-06-01T18:07:00.009-07:00

Horror

2008-06-01T18:07:00.007-07:00

Comedy

2008-06-01T18:07:00.005-07:00

Romance

2008-06-01T18:07:00.003-07:00

Drama

2008-06-01T18:07:00.001-07:00

Kung Fu

2008-06-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

Swordplay

2008-06-01T18:04:00.001-07:00

Action

2008-06-01T18:03:00.001-07:00

The City of Violence
Director: Ryoo Seung-wan
Starring: Ryoo Seung-wan, Jung Doo-hong
B+

Thailand

2008-06-01T17:58:00.003-07:00

Taiwan

2008-06-01T17:58:00.001-07:00

China

2008-06-01T17:57:00.001-07:00

Hong Kong

2008-06-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

Japan

2008-06-01T15:20:00.001-07:00

South Korea

2008-06-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

The City of Violence
Director: Ryoo Seung-wan
Starring: Ryoo Seung-wan, Jung Doo-hong
B+

I'm a Cyborg but that's OK
Director: Park Chan-wook
Starring: Lim Su-jeong, Rain

B+