Under the Asian Influence

Beck (Japan 2010)

2011-08-07T14:39:00.001-07:00

No surprise here (at least in terms of Japanese entertainment), but Beck is the live-action adaptation of the manga and anime of the same name. I don't see a lot of anime, but I did see Beck and I thought it was alright (review possibly to come?), and it's generally fun to see how they bring a cartoon to life. The live-action Beck however, wasn't fun. Go figure.

The story of Beck centers around a quiet loner by the name of Yukio "Koyuki" Tanaka (Takeru Sato), a seemingly average middle-school student without any real direction or desires in life. To make matters even more cliche, he's always on the butt-end of the bullying stick. He doesn't really know where his interests lie and by chance, or fate, he runs into the English-speaking, yet very Japanese, Ryusuke Minami (Hiru Mizushima), by helping Ryusuke's dog Beck from being bullied by a bunch of gaijin (foreigners!). Ryusuke is obviously thankful to Koyuki and the two hit it off. Koyuki soon discovers that his new friend is an amazingly talented guitar player by witnessing Ryusuke perform live. This, as you can imagine, was a life-altering moment for young Koyuki as he was able to witness the awesomeness of guitar and live music in all it's glory. Koyuki now knows that he wants to learn to play the guitar and begins taking lessons with an eccentric middle-aged man named Saito (Takanori Takeyama). He also meet's Ryusuke's younger sister Maho (Shiori Kutsuna), a spunky, firecracker of a girl who has no problem telling people how she feels, in English no less! Naturally, Koyuki's sparks fly when he sets his sights on Maho, but the attraction isn't exactly going both ways. Meanwhile, trouble brews in Ryusuke's band because the "leader", Eiji (Kensei Mikami), seems to be more concerned with the band's image than the music. The two guitarists go their separate ways and vow to each start the best band possible. Dun dun dun! Ryusuke begins recruiting different musicians from around town that are well-known for their specific abilities. He grabs Taira (Osamu Mukai) for his killer bass skills and battle-rapper Chiba (Kenta Kiritani), for his vocal ability and energy. Saku (Aoi Nakamura), is a transfer student that just started at Koyuki's school. He strikes up an instant kinship with Koyuki because of their shared interest in Dying Breed, the million-selling American band that Ryusuke introduced Koyuki to. Ryusuke and Eddie (Dying Breed's guitarist) ran the streets together in New York and decided to break into a car, stealing the dog, Beck, and a guitar with bullet-holes in it named Lucille. Trust me, this comes into play later on. Back in the now, a wonderful coincidence occurs, Saku is a great drummer and Koyuki has gotten pretty darn good at guitar from months of non-stop practice. Could they two be the missing links for Ryusuke's upstart band? You wouldn't be foolish to think so dear readers. During a meeting, in which to come up with a name for the band, Chiba suggests, "Beck", in reference to Ryusuke's dog. Everyone thinks it's a little weird at first but decide to go with it.

Soon, Beck are making a name for themselves by playing a lot of shows around town and releasing their own E.P. However, Eiji's new band, "Belle Ame", are making an even bigger name for themselves by recruiting pretty-boy actor, and friend of Maho, Yoshito (Yuta Furukawa), as their singer and by having one of the biggest, and most evil promoters in the game, Ran (Shido Nakamura), backing them. I said it would come back to haunt us, but the guitar Lucille was stolen from Leon Sykes (Cinque Lee), a famous-yet-villainous promoter from America. He saw footage of Ryusuke playing Lucille on-stage and wants his guitar back. Beck is approached by Sato Kazuo (Yuki Matsushita), a woman driven to fulfill the wish of her deceased sister by booking the Grateful Sound Festival with real quality rock bands. She feels that the festival her sister started before her passing has gone downhill in recent years and believes that Beck would be perfect for the lineup. Beck, of course, would love the opportunity but Ran stands in their way. This dude has some clout. So Ryusuke, having an uncomfortable meeting with Leon Sykes, then has the nerve to ask Leon for help in getting Beck in the festival. Leon, presumably intrigued at Ryusuke's gall, agrees to let Beck in one condition...a condition that Ryusuke agrees to. So Beck are in, and will have their opportunity to face off with Belle Ame, but at what cost?

Good Lord, I didn't realize how much nonsense went on in Beck until I started writing my review for it. That, in and of itself, is my biggest problem with the anime and the movie. The story is, to be frank, overly-complicated, to the point where it detracts from what is actually interesting and engaging about Beck; the characters and their journey to make music together. The Leon Sykes storyline is a mess and feels like an unnecessary last-minute attempt at creating drama and tension. The same can be said for the story of the guitar Lucille and how it got the bullet holes in it. It's simply not as interesting as just following these guys and the ins-and-outs of the music industry. I'm also going to point out that there is quite a bit of English in this movie (and the anime) due to Ryusuke and Maho having spent time abroad, but my God, I found it incredibly annoying and distracting because of how bad their English sounds. Hey, don't get me wrong, kudos for trying in the first place, but it's pretty cringe-worthy, as is most of the English acting from everyone else. Also, in the anime, it turns out Koyuki has a pretty solid singing voice and sings quite well in English. In the live-action movie, they play some generic music over Koyuki's vocals so you don't get to hear him sing. They do this throughout to the point where it feels like it's an intentionally huge build-up and you'll finally get to hear him belt out a tune at Grateful Sound. However, they do the same thing at the music festival! They play music over his vocals so you don't hear him!! What is that!? Every time he sings in the movie they make it seem like an angel came down from heaven and whispered in their ears, but yet the viewing audience gets a giant middle-finger from the filmmakers. To the man or woman responsible for making that decision, resulting in an absolute climactic finale failure: fuck you. You may be wondering if I liked anything about the live-action Beck movie. Well, not much. I thought the casting, in terms of looks, was pretty solid and they all seemed to be playing their instruments, or at least doing a darn good job at acting like it. They also tried to follow the anime storyline as much as possible and I suppose that should be commended but oh how time can be an enemy. Hmm, that's all I got for positives.

You would think that an ideal as simple as friends starting a band to jam would be a lot more simple than this, but Beck chose the route of trying to do too much. The anime worked (mostly), because it had around 27 episodes to tell the story, but the film is a 2 and 1/2 hour bore-fest with far too many shortcuts taken. It's a poor example of fan-service, which is ironic because only fans of Beck will watch this crap, and non-fans will wonder the heck is going on. When compared to the anime and possibly the manga, it's just a real disappointment. (Lee)

Grade: D

Official Website

Akunin (Japan 2010)

2011-07-24T00:08:00.000-07:00

Well it' about time! I've been wanting to see Akunin ever since I saw previews for it last September. Fast forward almost a year later and I've finally seen it. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely. Sometimes the high expectations we create get met.

Yuichi (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is a quiet, socially-awkward loner who lives in a small, rural village in Nagasaki working construction. He stays with his grandmother, Fusae (Kirin Kiki), and grandfather, Katsuji (Hisashi Igawa), and helps to take care of things around the house, as well as helping others in the neighborhood. His grandfather is in poor health so Yuichi often has to help bathe him and take him to and from the hospital on a regular basis. With a basically non-existent social life, he started emailing women on an online dating site. Yuichi corresponds with a young woman, Yoshino Ishibashi (Hikari Mitsushima), who leads a bit of a double-life by working in insurance during the day and getting paid for sex with Yuichi at random times. Yoshino's father, Yoshio Ishibashi (Akira Emoto), a barber living in a rural town in Fukuoka with his wife Satoko (Yoshiko Miyazaki), has no idea that his little girl is spending her free time doing such very adult things. While Yoshino has a sexual relationship with Yuichi, she's actually infatuated with spoiled, rich-kid Keigo Masuo (Masaki Okada), who lives a care-free life as a playboy, getting pretty much anything he wants. Masuo really has no interest in Yoshino but humors her by responding to her emails with the intention of just getting in her pants. On a night when Yoshino plans to meet with Yuichi, she runs into Masuo while Yuichi is within eyesight. She ditches Yuichi and gets in the car with Masuo which enrages our blonde-haired protagonist, prompting him to follow the two as they drive off. However, after Yuichi begins to tail the two of them, we fade to black and settle in on the next morning with Yuichi getting ready for work. Wait...what happened last night!? Ah, we'll we find out soon enough as Yuichi makes his way to work, which happens to pass by the same area Masuo and Yoshino were driving by last night but now it looks like a crime scene. What happened here? Well, we soon see Yoshino's dead body being pulled up the embankment on the side of the road by the authorities. Again I ask, what happened last night!?

Later on, Yuichi gets an email from Mitsuyo Magome (Eri Fukatsu), another member from the dating site, and decides to meet with her. After an initial misunderstanding with their intentions in regards to a relationship, the two find themselves to be quite a match. At least they seem to think so. Mitsuyo, while nowhere near as socially awkward as Yuichi, is just as desperately lonely as he is, fueled even more so by seeing her older sister in a healthy relationship. The two really seem to be hitting it off, but all is not well as the police have started asking grandma Fusae about Yuichi and his relationship with the deceased Yoshino. Turns out Masuo claims he didn't kill Yoshino but simply kicked her out of his car by the side of the road. What exactly did Yuichi did that night? The grieving Yoshio and his wife grow more emotionally unstable with the news that the police might not have the right guy after all. Yuichi panics at the news that the police are snooping around his home and decides to leave town, asking Mitsuyo to go with him. He doesn't have a plan, he knows he doesn't want to go home, and he finally musters the courage to make a confession to Mitsuyo. She doesn't seem to care about what he tells her, and only knows that she doesn't want to leave his side.

I really battled with how much of Akunin I wanted to give away. I didn't want to come right out and say so and so murdered Yoshino, so I'm not going to and I'm certainly not going to tell you the circumstances of her death. These are all things you should experience as a viewer with no real prior knowledge. The film does a great job at building suspense and maintaining a real air of mystery while the lives of all it's characters continue to move along. Speaking of which, there are an abundance of characters in Akunin and at first I wondered if the film would lose it's focus while shifting to so many different perspectives. Thankfully, when it does change perspective and focuses on a different character, it doesn't feel like the pace of the movie suffers and, as it should, still feels geared around the central storyline. I really felt that each character was interesting in their own right and I genuinely wanted to see how their side of things played out. Akunin won a small truckload of acclaim, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Satoshi Tsumabuki) and Best Actress (Eri Fukatsu), at numerous awards shows and after seeing the movie, that makes perfect sense to me. While everyone in the film put forward incredibly strong performances, Satoshi and Eri, if I may be so bold, acted their asses off. The situation they're placed in is a tale as old as Romeo and Juliet, a forbidden love that tries it's hardest to defy the odds and those opposed. I could relate to the aspect of wanting something so bad, knowing it's near impossible and yet still trying even though you know it may be all for naught. Another theme that's accurately shown in Akunin is that sometimes our desires make us selfish and we end up hurting those that care for us, forcing their lives to change in the process.

The minute Akunin starts, you get the feeling that things aren't going to end well. However, you hang in there because of a cast providing incredibly strong performances, a story that keeps you guessing and a doomed romance that you can't help but wish had another chance under different circumstances. I'd be hard-pressed to find something negative to say about Akunin and have it be anything buy nitpicking. Truly a powerful film. (Lee)

Grade: A-

Official Website

Highschool of the Dead (Anime 2010)

2011-07-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

Zombies, guns, blood, gore, T&A, oh my! How can you go wrong with that winning combination? Well, let me tell you...you can go wrong, and H.O.T.D. is proof of that. Don't get me wrong, the series oozes with promise and possibility, and there are some great moments, but that just makes it's glaring flaws all the more frustrating.

Takashi Komuro is just a loner high-school student that is lost in thought, pondering life, love, and how unfair both can be. His "me" time is interrupted by his old childhood friend, the pink-haired Saya Takagi, who seems to be constantly on Komuro's case about being stupid, a day-dreamer and so on. Both students are interrupted by a rattling coming from the front gate of the school. When some faculty members make their way over to the gate, they realize something is very wrong with the stranger trying to make his way in. The man at the gate bites one of the teachers and for all intents and purposes, kills him. After a few seconds though, the recently deceased begins to move again and gets up with a moan in his voice and a lifeless look on his face. What we have here is certainly no longer human. That's right folks, the zombie invasion has begun. Komuro and Takagi take no time in realizing that all is not right at the front gate and rightfully decide to kick things into high gear. Komuro's first stop is in getting his classmate and friend, Rei Miyamoto, and her boyfriend (who happens to be Komuro's best friend) Hisashi. Meanwhile, Takagi runs into the fat, nerdy, and somewhat awkward Kohta Hirano, and explains that there may be a situation at the school and that they need to prepare themselves. Luckily, everyone here seems to be familiar with the concept of zombies so they make sure to grab whatever they can to use as weapons. Komuro, Rei, and Hisashi decide to make their way to the rooftop, thinking that help will come for them if they barricade themselves away. Fighting their way to the top, Hisashi is bitten and things take a turn for the dramatic. Once securely barricaded away, Hisashi begins to turn into one of them and Komuro is forced to take his best friend's life. Rei is overcome with emotion in having to witness her boyfriend's death, but she and Komuro realize that they need to stick together in order to survive. As zombies continue to swarm the rooftop, the two realize that being stuck on the roof might not be such a good idea after all and begin making their way out of the school. They run into Takagi and Hirano on the way, and just before they leave they also meet Saeko Busujima, a kendo expert, and the school's giant-breasted, mostly aloof nurse, Shizuka Marikawa. Ah, the band is together and ready to rock. Everyone brings something unique to the group with Komuro's leadership skills, Rei's defensive skills (taught to her by her policeman father), Hirano's expert aim with firearms, Takagi's genius, Busujima's kendo skills, and Marikawa's ability to care for the injured. Wow, it's like an RPG game! The group decide that the best plan of action is to get the heck out of the school and stick together in checking on each others families.

Time to smash some zombie brains!

So what lies in wait for our band of unlikely heroes? Well, mostly a world in turmoil and countless walking undead. Turns out this is a worldwide pandemic and nations across the globe are in panic mode, unsure of what to do. Chaos is breaking out in the streets and no one is safe. The group, having picked up some other students and a teacher, Koichi Shido, who is hated by Rei, make their way to the city on a school bus. Shido tries to convert everyone into making him the boss, and it gets to the point where Rei can't stand to be on the bus with him anymore. Rei leaves and Komuro goes with her, thus separating the group but they all (minus Shido and his brainwashed followers) agree to meet at the police station the next day. Being alone gives Rei and Komuro time to bond and understand each other better, while Takagi and the others eventually separate themselves from Shido as well. Shizuka tells the group that they can rest up at her friends apartment close by and luckily, Rei and Komuro stumble upon the group just in time. Now that everyone is back together again, it's business as usual as they all continue to talk and bond, forming friendships and slaying zombies together. Their goal remains the same, to try and find family alive and well (wait till you get a load of Takagi's parents), and they even take in a little girl, Alice Maresato, whose family was killed, and an annoying little dog name Zeke. Sure, you'll find out why Rei hates Shido so much, and just who is Mirakawa's friend with the well-stocked apartment, so fear not.

Pink-haired girls and shotguns...awesome.

I'm obviously not going to tell you every little thing that happens in H.O.T.D., because I'm a spoiler-free advocate, but it's safe to say at this point that you get the gist. A group of survivors, mostly high school kids, are just trying to stay alive in a world gone to hell. This type of zombie-apocalypse scenario is generally right up my alley, and there are certainly a lot of things in H.O.T.D. that I dig. For one, there's no shortage of action and with that action comes plenty of blood and gore. There's also a lot of half naked (and sometimes fully naked) girls and women in this series, with breasts and crotch-shots flying across the screen in almost every scene. I feel like this anime is paying homage to those low-budget zombie movies of yesteryear, what with the over-the-top action sequences, and the out-of-nowhere panty shots and breast-bouncing. I mean hell, throw in the rock/metal guitar riffs for good measure and you basically have all the ingredients for cliche zombie entertainment. I say this because H.O.T.D. both takes itself seriously at times and at other times it's quite comical, but intentionally so. It's an interesting blend to say the least. There are 12 episodes here, and that's really not that many episodes when you consider all the scenarios you could put these characters in. Oh the possibilities! However, that's where things go horribly wrong and totally piss me off. For one, it takes three of those precious twelve episodes for the group to get out of the school. The fourth episode is half flashbacks from the first three episodes, and the sixth episode is a pointless, hentai-esque, filler episode in which nothing of real significance happens except for nudity...which is kinda awesome, but let's not get sidetracked. What is going on here!? Why are we squandering such potential on nothing!? I mean, I like looking at half naked animated women with big breasts as much as the next guy...I guess, but for 20+ minutes while the crap is hitting the fan just outside your door? Anyway, consider all the time wasting a low point for me in this series and a major reason why I didn't like it more. I should point out the art and animation are both quite good, although I'm not a fan of mixing the CG with traditional 2D art. Thankfully those moments are more in the minority. I also want to say that the character design is decent enough, although Rei's hair looks strange to me, like she has two alien antennas coming out of her head and Mirakawa's boobs are...well, ridiculous. The characters themselves though are all interesting enough with Busujima being my personal favorite, mostly because she seemed to have the most depth to her. Although I would've tossed that little dog Zeke to the first group of zombies I saw...maybe even Alice too.

H.O.T.D. overall is a fun series and any hardcore anime fan will love it, and more than likely any hardcore anime fan has already seen it and probably did love it. I'm just a casual anime viewer however, and I had a good time with the series for the most part, but I'll never forgive it for all it's filler and squandered potential. It came so close to hitting the mark across the board. I hope they have a second season and if they do, I'll be waiting with my always fine-toothed comb. (Lee)

Grade: B -

Official Website

Perfect Blue (Japan 1997)

2011-07-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

It's certainly not the first anime film to do so, but Perfect Blue is a perfect (pun intended?) example of how animation can convey very real subject matter in an effective way. It's also a pretty good example of not all cartoons being suitable for children. Duh.

Mima (Junko Iwao) is a member of the J-pop trio CHAM! and enjoys a certain amount of success from being arguably the most popular of the group. However, fame and success isn't always as satisfying and fulfilling as it appears to be for us outsiders, and such is the case for Mima. What she really wants to do is to quit singing in an idol group and be taken seriously as an actress. We've all seen that happen with plenty of stars, but it turns out things aren't that easy and making that transition proves to be quite the challenge for Mima and her manager Rumi (Rica Matsumoto). Nevertheless, Rumi gets Mima a small part on a crime-drama called, "Double Bind", and through her perseverance and general likability, she eventually secures herself a larger role. So while things are starting to look good on Mima's end, not everyone is happy about her leaving CHAM! She receives a fax labeling her a traitor and on occasion we see a rather homely looking individual who appears to be stalking Mima. This dude is everywhere she is! The biggest issue coming from those labeling her as a traitor seems to the be the fact that Mima's taken on a complete image overhaul. Her role in, "Double Bind", puts her in provocative situations and I suppose they're angry that her innocence is lost. Listen, I'm trying to think like one of these lunatics okay? Anyway, Mima stumbles across a website (which, keep in mind, was the early days of the internet), called, "Mima's Room", and it eerily details her day-to-day activities in journal format. The only problem, and this is a biggie, is that Mima's not doing the writing. Yeah, creepy stalker alert! As you can imagine, Mima's anxiety and general paranoia of obsessive fans escalates ten-fold and she's constantly looking over her shoulder when she steps outside. She tries her best to keep up with her work responsibilities, which include seductive photo-shoots and questionable acting scenes. The next thing you know, the people associated with tarnishing Mima's image start turning up dead. This just puts Mima in a more vulnerable position, mentally and emotionally and pretty soon she finds herself not being able to differentiate between reality and fantasy. The girl is losing her mind...rightfully so. Is there anyone left that Mima can trust? Who else will turn up dead? Can she find away to snap out of her spiral of madness before it's too late!?

If you couldn't tell by now, Perfect Blue, from renowned anime director Satoshi Kon (may he R.I.P.) is a straight-up psychological thriller that doesn't pull any punches with how it presents it's content. Some have said it's "graphic" at times, I would simply tell those people to stop being sissies. Sure there are some edgy scenes best meant for the 17 and over crowd, but it's nothing you probably haven't seen before in an R-rated movie. The animation itself is top-notch in my opinion. I'm a big fan of Satoshi Kon's style and if I'd seen this movie back when it was released in 1997, it probably would've made my head explode. I mean that in a good way. This movie is all about Mima for the most part and for better or worse the film has a bit of tunnel vision. Meaning that she is the focal point and the movie doesn't really branch out from her. For me, she's not a particularly engaging character, but thankfully the circumstances around her are. Kon and company also do a good job at creating a frightening world of paranoia and a feeling of isolation and just how unsettling that can be. However, when Mima starts to lose her mind, things don't only get a bit muddled for her, but they did for me as well. It's bit difficult trying to follow exactly what's happening, what's real and what's not. If you don't pay attention, you could easily get lost. To their credit though, this confusion doesn't go on for too long before things get clear again. While I didn't find anything to be particularly surprising in terms of story-telling (including the ending), I did find the revelations, and the way in which things played out, satisfying.

Perfect Blue might not seem like anything revolutionary these days, but I imagine that for it's time it was pretty extreme. Fourteen years later I'd have to say that it holds up quite well as a complete package. It's dark, edgy, not without it's flaws, but most importantly it's fairly well-executed. Check this one out, but I wouldn't recommend it for family movie night. (Lee)

Grade: B+

Official Website

SCHOOL!! (J-Drama 2011)

2011-07-13T01:21:00.000-07:00

Oh for the love of...well, I mean come on! How many school dramas am I gonna come across? Don't answer that. Japan is in love with the school-based drama and this time they didn't pull any punches and just called the show SCHOOL!! As you can probably assume, this is very familiar territory but it ever-so-slightly manages not to fall into the been-there-done-that pile largely due to strong performances. Still, this drama won't set the world on fire.

Naruse Seiichiro (Eguchi Yosuke), is a man just brimming with personality and beloved by his co-workers in the underground tunnel construction business. He knows how to run a crew and he's great at what he does. Professionally speaking, things seem to be as they should until he and his crew get the news that the company has gone bankrupt. Naruse is now without a job but luckily his unemployment is short-lived as he is soon approached by a friendly face from his past. Takeichi Mikihiro (Kishibe Ittoku), used to be Naruse's teacher in his elementary school days and asks Narsue to take over as principal at his old stomping grounds, Shingu elementary. Having no prior experience in being a principal or working at a school, Naruse takes the position in order to fulfill an old promise to Mikihiro and hey, let's face it, the man needed a job. He takes up room and board at Mikihiro's house, alongside Miki's two daughters, Kanoko (Kitano Kii), a teacher-in-training at Shingu elementary, and Yuriko (Horiuchi Keiko), who's currently separated from her husband. The teachers at Shingu are a bit hesitant to take Naruse seriously as the new man in charge and reluctantly find themselves following his orders. Naruse may not have any experience in this line of work, but he certainly brought his passion and free-thinking to an otherwise sterile, by-the-numbers environment. Kirihara sensei (Nishijima Hidetoshi), is one teacher in particular who seems completely at odds with Naruse's manner of running things. He basically disagrees with everything Naruse deems right and assures the new principal that his methods will be his downfall. What a delightful man.

Sure it's a pain having to deal with subordinates who don't respect or understand you, but the real problem here is the 5th grade class. To say this class was troubled with some nasty, unruly child-demons would be an understatement. Of course they're not all horrible, after all, there have to be one or two that are bullied. That's where Hara Shoko (Arakawa Chika), and her two cohorts come in. She makes sure that there is always one student in class at a time that is referred to as "kuki" (air), meaning that whoever is air doesn't exist. They aren't seen and always ignored. Oi, kids can be so cruel. Shoko is a total nightmare, but she isn't the only source of trouble in this class. Naruse, with Kanoko almost always by his side, have to tackle a number issues; bullying, both amongst students and towards Ohashi sensei (Tsukamoto Takashi), a boy who doesn't eat lunch with the other kids because he can't afford to, a girl that tries her best to be an ideal student but suffers on the inside due to family issues, and most importantly, the future of Shingu elementary due to budget cuts. All of this while having to manage the personalities of the teachers working under him, parents who don't understand him, a school board who also question his decisions and his own inner demons that continue to haunt him. Talk about having a lot on your plate.

Don't even look at me...you disgust me. (Naruse to Ohashi)

SCHOOL!! has to be one of the more frustrating dramas I've watched in recent memory. Not because it was terrible per se, but because of the obstacles Naruse's character had to overcome to get things done. Yeah, I know there are cultural differences going on here that my American butt isn't used to having to deal with, but I admit that and there were times in this series where I wanted to pull my hair out. The bureaucracy that they portray in SCHOOL!! (and other J-dramas) can be infuriating for those unfamiliar with it and some of my Japanese friends have told me it's only slightly exaggerated. So while it may drive you insane, I guess it helps in creating more drama right? Anyway, let's not get too heavy with a show review. Make no mistake, Eguchi Yosuke, as the passionate protagonist, is the real star of this show. He plays principal Naruse with a warmness that makes you really believe in his fatherly sensibilities. He's also cool in the sense that you wish you had a principal like that when you were in grade school. He deals with a lot of crap with the teachers and students, but there's also a small side-story about his own family that is quite touching when fully revealed. Naruse's mentor, Miki-chan (as he prefers to be called), is also a great character that Kishibe Ittoku portrays in a way that makes him fun to watch and listen to. On the other hand, I found Ohashi to be an irritating character because he was so weak and pathetic to the point where you almost stopped feeling sorry for him. I understood what they were trying to do with him, but he just came across as, well...pathetic. Kirihara was a character that served to stand as the complete opposite of Naruse, the yin and and yang situation, but he was so one-note and robotic that he just annoyed the heck out of me. By the time they told me what his deal was, to make him so cold, I didn't really care. Too-little too-late, and it didn't really excuse his behavior. Kitano Kii was her bubbly and charming self as Kanako. A bit annoying and nagging at times, but more cute about it than bothersome. I should also point out that while I absolutely couldn't stand the 5th grade girl, Hara Shoko, I'm willing to say kudos to young Arakawa Chika for creating a character so vile, that a grown man like me wanted bad things to happen to her. The sign of a true villain. She did her job well.

I can't really say that SCHOOL!! was a great drama, mostly because that horse has turned into a fine mulch at this point due to the beating. However, there are some character highlights and some performances that are fun to watch. There's also a lot of frustration as well but it's as if the creators knew this and made it only nine episodes long. If you haven't gotten your fill with school dramas, then I suppose you can check this one out. Otherwise, just leave well enough alone. (Lee)

Grade: C -

Official Website

Guilty Akuma to Keiyakushita Onna (J-Drama 2010)

2011-06-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

Well hello again boys and girls, I've returned with a review for the Japanese drama series, Guilty Akuma to Keiyakushita Onna (The Girl Who Made A Pact With The Devil/ギルティ悪魔と契約した女 ). It's dark, over-the-top at times, people are killed and hearts are broken. Wow, sounds like everything I'm looking for in a J-drama, yet it somehow still misses the mark. Sad face.

For the sake of this review, I'm going to proceed by referring to this drama as just Guilty because the title is too darn long. Airing on Fuji TV from Oct 2010 to Dec 2010, Guilty is 11 episodes of fairly engaging television. Nogami Meiko (Kanno Miho) is a dog groomer at an upscale pet-salon. Her life seems ordinary enough...hell, she seems ordinary enough, however reality is never as clear-cut as it appears to be. Meiko has a dark side in which she seeks revenge against those responsible for falsely imprisoning her when she was 19. She "allegedly" killed her brother-in-law and nephew with a poisoned chocolate cake, which in turn made her mother practically disown her. The chick is a total loner as a result. Now we also have Detective Mashima Takuro (Tamaki Hiroshi), who constantly walks around with a look on his face like, "I cannot be bothered". He's on the hunt for his boss, Miwa Shuhei (Moro Morooka), a man that Mashima looks up to, who has disappeared without a trace. His new boss, Ukita Hajime (Yoshida Kotaro), is pretty hard on Mashima and wants him to get his act together. Mashima also has a co-worker/ex-girlfriend, Kichise Michiko (Enomoto Mari), on his case about him returning to his former self. So why is Mashima so down? Well, turns out that his younger, inexperienced partner from years past was murdered by a madman named Mizuguchi (Kanai Yuta), while the two of them were hunting him down. He's never forgiven himself for letting his junior die while he stood by helplessly. Makes sense.

Detective Mashima. (Yes, he always looks like this)

Throughout the series, Meiko plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by having her normal life at the pet salon and eating her revenge-seeking cake too. She contacts the guilty parties one-by-one and basically demands that they atone for their crimes with their lives. So technically she's not a murderer if they kill themselves right? Well, she finds a way in each case to make suicide seem like the best option for these unsavory individuals. Eventually, Mashima runs into a pattern with these suicides and deduces that Meiko seems like the most likely of suspects. He's assisted by this crazy, homeless, fallen-from-grace journalist Dojima (Karasawa Toshiaki). The guy may look like he's in need of a shower, but that's because he knows how to dig up some dirt. Yeah, that was clever. Sure, focusing on Meiko takes his attention away from the search for Miwa, but they have to stop this string of suicides. It's making the police look bad! Mashima buddies up, undercover-style with Meiko by leading her to believe he's a software engineer. The two of them eventually develop a nice friendship in which they start to feel as if they each, finally, have someone they can confide in. Meanwhile, chief Ukita is up to shenanigans and isn't exactly the upstanding officer we all thought he was. Could it be he knows more about Miwa's disappearance than he's leading on? Where the hell is Miwa anyway? Will Mashima discover the truth about Meiko and will it make a difference in how he feels for her? Can Meiko finally find peace after years of distrust and anger (rightfully so) and will she find out Mashima's true identity? Oh the questions!

Meiko Nogami. (I'm going to kill you! I mean...make you kill yourself!)

Believe you me, you'll find out the answers to all of these questions. Are you going to like how everything plays out? Well, that depends on how picky you are. I personally had a few issues with the way things played out in Guilty. I'm a huge fan of Miho Kanno and she was my main motivation for watching this series. Not surprisingly, I found her performance to be as spot-on as she always is, but most importantly, I enjoyed seeing her play a darker role than I'm used to. Having her as a scorned, fragile woman seeking revenge was pretty sweet. Tamaki Hiroshi's Mashima character was alright I suppose, but he was really dramatic most of the time. I know that sounds strange, because this is a drama, but I mean this guy just seemed bothered by everything, and I do mean everything. After a while his constant brooding and inability to smile got on my nerves. The hobo-journalist Dojima, while being interesting to look at and amusing at times, seemed a bit out of place in the dark, serious world of the drama. Ukita is a solid villain and certainly has a face and personality that make you want to punch him. The real focal point throughout the series though is the relationship between Mashima and Meiko and watching how it develops as she continues on her quest for revenge and he tries to sort out his feelings. Sure, you want to find out who really set up Meiko all those years ago and figure out where Miwa is and why he disappeared in the first place. That's all interesting enough. However, by the time you get to the final episode you'll probably just want to see what's going to happen between Mishima and Meiko.

Detective Enomoto and Meiko. (Judgmental eyes!!)

At this point you may be wondering, "well, did he like it"? My honest answer is, it was alright. There are some horrible musical choices, including this Eminem-style rap song that sounds completely out of place. Mashima is incredibly one-note as a character and his journey to overcome his sadness by confronting the man who killed his partner left me unsatisfied. Not surprisingly (as portrayed in many dramas), the cops seem incredibly incapable. God how I hope the portrayal of police in Japanese dramas is a major exaggeration. I'm sure it is, but there are times where you scratch your head and think, "really!?". The big reveal, in who was responsible for setting up Meiko starts veering into, "wait, who are these people?", territory, meaning they're introduced way too late in the series, but I let it slide because I had a feeling they'd be getting what was coming to them anyway and that was satisfying enough. I liked that Guilty was dark and wasn't afraid of getting gritty (content-wise), and the mysteries were engaging enough up till the end. So there you have it, a complete mixed bag. Miho Kanno, this was all for you. (Lee)

Grade: C+

Official Website

Liar Game: The Final Stage (Japan 2010)

2011-06-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

Another movie based off of a manga-turned-television drama, Liar Game: The Final Stage aims to wrap up the long-running storyline in theatrical fashion, albeit with mixed results. You're either going to love or hate this (the movie that is...and possibly the review).

Just as a quick rundown for those not in the know, Liar Game is a competition that pits contestants against one another in an attempt to win money by using lies and deceitful tactics. There were two, 9 episode seasons of the television show that focused on Nao Kanzaki (Erika Toda), a ridiculously naive and honest college student who comes home to a package of 100 million yen and an invitation to participate in the Liar Game Tournament which consists of a number of rounds. She ends up working with an intelligent con-man (technically speaking, but debatable), Shinichi Akiyama (Shota Matsuda) who runs riot on the competition through various trials and slowly befriends the innocent Nao. That's the nuts and bolts of the series but I'm here to focus on the movie, which if you've seen, or read, any of the series, you'll know what to expect here. However, the film serves as a means to wrap up the story of the Liar Game Tournament and those responsible for it...or so I thought. Nao and Shinichi are back to put the final nail in this coffin and arrive at an island, dubbed the Garden of Eden, where the final stage (hence the title) of Liar Game will take place. Our two protagonists are once again thrown into a room with other contestants and are competing for a 5 billion yen prize. The twist this time around is that instead of using lies and deceit in order to win, the contestants must trust each other and work together in order to walk away with some cash and/or without debt. Some familiar faces return for the Final Stage, such as mushroom-head Yuuji Fukunaga (Suzuki Koysuke), and the LGT employees we've seen from the start, Eri (Michiko Kichise) and Mitsuou Tanimura (Ikkei Watanabe). The contestants feel that the game should be easy enough if they can all agree to work together for the sake of beating the LGT office, but a traitor, X, hides amongst them and begins to sabotage the group's plans. Can Akiyama, in true Akiyama fashion, outsmart the mysterious traitor, or will he and the others have finally me their match?

Defensive shields up! Now I felt the need to do that because Liar Game has a hardcore-nerd following and I definitely don't fall in that group. To be honest, I really disliked the first season of the show. I couldn't stand the far-too-many-to-count cuts in the filming style and the over-the-top acting and over-dramatics of how things would unfold. I understand that the show was based off of a manga, and the show is incredibly stylized, but this is ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that Nao Kanzaki is basically brain-dead. I understand she's supposed to be naively stupid because of her belief in being honest, trustworthy and generally believing in the best in people. However, this girl is just plain stupid and never appears to learn anything. Even when she does, the next thing she does tosses her prior knowledge out the window. I also wasn't a fan of the fact that each episode had enough substance to sustain probably 15 minutes of television with the remaining 30 minutes being comprised of reaction shots and Akiyama explaining to the other contestants (and the audience at home) how he figured out the game and out-smarted the others. That being said, there's nothing I can do to change the style, and being the masochist I am, I felt the need to see how they wrapped Liar Game up. On to season 2, considerably better based on the fact that the Ryou Katsuragi (Rinko Kikuchi) character was an interesting villain. I even learned to find Fukunaga amusing. Also, the games were more interesting. So I crawled my way to the movie with the mind-set that I honestly wanted to see who was behind the LGT and get some closure that the very existence of the movie aimed to provide. Alas, disappointment smacked me dead across the face. The closure I was looking forward to was met with what felt like a 2 hour episode of the show. They're honestly just trying to work together and figure out the identity of X for 2 hours and when the game is finished, the reveal, if I can even call it that, is quite disappointing. I also felt that Nao's character, who had appeared to have taken a page out of Akiyama's book, so to speak, in the smarts department for season 2, had regressed to her former, stupid self in the movie. As usual, Shota Matsuda, as Akiyama, is the most interesting character to watch and listen to. Here he's as compelling as he ever was. Suzuki Koysuke as Fukunaga is also a highlight, albeit briefly, because he's quite amusing, with his flamboyant outfits and over-the-top reactions, but he's really underused here and his existence seems to be more out of fan-service than anything else.

If it were a stand alone movie you'd probably think, "ah, well that's a bummer", but as a film that exists as a conclusion and extension of 2 seasons of a show, the ending is beyond disappointing. It felt as if it were not even a thought in the minds of those making the film. Now I don't know how the manga ended, having not read it, but if the ending is similar, I'm fine never reading it. I'd probably toss the book out the window. That being said, if I were a hardcore-fan of the series, I'd be all the more disappointed and upset at how they wrapped things up. I can only recommend Liar Game: The Final Stage for hardcore-fans (late to the party) or people curious to see what the talk was about. (Lee)

Grade: C -

Gokusen: The Movie (Japan 2009)

2011-04-29T10:43:00.001-07:00

What's this!? A movie for the much-loved, long-running Japanese drama of the same name? Consider me intrigued! Having been a fan of the three "seasons" of Gokusen, I was curious to see how well the show's material would translate to a film version. Well, it's over-the-top, both in acting and in premise, it's overly-dramatic, cheesy at times, and has no shortage of laughs and heart. This is definitely Gokusen.

Gokusen: the movie starts with our loveable heroine Yamaguchi Kumiko, aka "Yankumi" (Nakama Yukie), in one of her most absurd scenarios yet. Along with two of her fellow teachers, (Takano Aoi and Ayukawa Sakura), Yankumi is returning from her summer trip to Hawaii, asleep on the plane and completely oblivious to the fact that it's being hijacked by terrorists. While everyone is silently freaking out, as usual, nothing seems to unsettle our bubbly Ojou (princess for the uninitiated). Side note: Yankumi was next in line to be the 4th generation leader of her Yakuza family but her heart led her to teaching. Making quick work of the hijackers, Yankumi returns to her regular life of being a teacher of the delinquents class, 3-D, at Akadou academy. Now principal, Sawatori Goro (Namase Katsuhisa), tells Yankumi that they're expecting a student teacher and that she'll be overseeing his experience at Akadou. Much to their surprise, Odagiri Ryu from Gokusen 2 (Kamenashi Kazuya), walks through the door as the unlikely teacher-in-training. Beaming proudly, Yankumi introduces Odagiri to her new class of trouble-makers, led by Takasugi Reita (Yuta Tamamori) and his four cohorts. Of course these kids get involved in a mess by mouthing off to the wrong guys, in this case the Black Skulls motorcycle gang, and Reita uses his fists to settle the matter. Of course the Black Skulls aren't going to leave it alone and Reita challenges them all on his own in an attempt to spare his friends. Naturally, he gets the stuffing beat of out of him, but Yankumi refuses to let anything happen to her precious students, so she arrives just in time to make quick work of the Skulls, with a little help from Odagiri. Yankumi's actions once again open the eyes of her students in that they can in fact trust her, a teacher, and that she'll always be there to protect them. She's had this affect on all of her past students, and the cast from Gokusen 3 are here to show their life after high school. Ren Kazama (Haruma Miura) is working, but not earning enough so he takes on a night job that promises big money for little effort. Never a good idea right? Turns out life isn't that easy and he soon discovers that he's helping to smuggle drugs. Now he's on the run from the police and is reluctant to involve his friends and Yankumi. So, just whose drugs are these anyway? Well the charming, successful, soon-to-be politician Kentaro Kurose (Ikki Sawamura), of course! Apparently this guy isn't as honest and down-to-earth as people are perceiving and he's really all about money and power. Using Kazama as a drug smuggler does not sit well with Yankumi, as you can imagine, so she'll do whatever it takes to bring this corrupt businessman down and protect her precious students at all cost.

Oh I get it. The story is a bit nutty, but somehow within the world of Gokusen, it all makes sense. One of the biggest challenges this movie succeeds at, and where many fail, is making a successful transition from a television drama to a feature film. The filmmakers do a good job at making it accessible to the uninitiated, but fear not Gokusen faithful because there is a ton of fan service going on here, especially in regards to familiar faces making cameos. Some of the over-the-top performances and silly comedic elements, such as cartoon-ish sound effects, CG usage, and heavy dramatic moments might seem odd to those unfamiliar with the show, but again, it's all in the vein of why people fell in love with Gokusen in the first place. Yankumi's co-workers are all teachers from Gokusen 3 and she interacts with a lot of her past students. This will all mean a lot more to those who watched the series, so in that respect, someone just watching the movie on it's own might not get that nostalgic feeling or that desire to point at the screen and say, "oh, there's ____!". That being said, the story felt like just a way to get all of these characters back together and to give the audience and long-time viewers some closure on the series and all the characters they grew to love. I feel like this is the end of the series and they did a great job with wrapping up the loose ends. Again, that won't mean much to newcomers, but there's still a fun, action/drama/comedy here with a lot of pulling-on-the-heartstrings moments and characters that you can instantly take to.

I'm a bit conflicted as to how to grade Gokusen: the movie because your overall experience with it weighs largely on whether or not you followed the series. If you did, there's no reason to dislike the film. It gives fans everything they could've wanted and then some. If you didn't, I really believe there's still an entertaining film here, but probably one-too-many fan-service elements to recommend it wholeheartedly to those unfamiliar with the show. Either way, it's a fun way to kill a couple of hours and a fitting end to a series that had a good run. Fight - OH! (Lee)

Grade: B

Haunters (Korea 2010)

2011-04-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

Oh man. You know those times when you read about a movie and start developing expectations for it and then the cold, hard hand of reality smacks those expectations to the dirt? Well I really set myself up for disappointment with Haunters aka Psychic (which is ridiculous because his abilities aren't even psychic abilities). However, if I were psychic, I could've seen beforehand what a pile of garbage I'd soon be watching. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

1991. Cho-in (Yang Kyeong-mo), a boy with a wooden leg and gauze over his eyes, is being dragged through the rain by his mother. His mother explains that he isn't to take the gauze off of his eyes and that he should just trust her. The boy's insanely abusive father comes home swearing and starts beating the boys mother. Fed up, the boy removes his gauze and suddenly we see the man under the boy's control and he deals with his father accordingly. This kid is anything but normal. 2010. Im Gyoo-nam (Ko Soo), is working at a junkyard with his best friends Ali (Enes Kaya) and Boba (Abu Dod), but soon finds himself out of work after he's involved in an accident which lays him up at the hospital. Looking for a new job, Gyoo-nam answers a help-wanted ad at Utopia, a pawn shop run by Jeong-sik (Byeon Hee-bong). Happy in his new position at Utopia, Gyoo-nam seems to be without a care in the world until Cho-in (Kang Dong-won), walks through the door and puts everyone in freeze-mode with his magic eyes...everyone but Gyoo-nam that is. Cho-in can't believe that he's finally run into someone invulnerable to his abilities after all these years. Seems our super-powered figure has been using his ability to rob various shops of their money. He's abnormal and not a good guy. Double whammy. Gyoo-nam tries to fight off Cho-in but during the melee, Gyoo-nam's boss Jeong-sik is killed. Gyoo-nam feels like he's let his boss down and is having a hard time forgiving himself, so with the help of his two goofy, foreign friends, he aims to hunt down Cho-in and bring him to justice.

Well, that was certainly one of the shorter synopsis' that I've written up for a movie. That's probably because almost nothing happens in Haunters. I could tell you that this movie is chock-full of spoiled potential but that would probably just depress you even more. The opening of the film, showing a bit of Cho-in's back-story, looks really good and you think you're in for a really cool, sci-fi/fantasy film with a sharp, glossy look to it. However, after the movie places us in 2010 that all goes out the window. Suddenly the movie looks incredibly low-budget, as if it were made in the 1990's. Not only does it all look different, but everything feels different as if you're watching a completely different movie. The acting is very comedic, which I'm sure was unintentional, but Haunters feels like something you'd catch on a cable network at 2:30 in the morning. We all know that Kang Dong-won is better than this (see: Secret Reunion, Jeon Woo Chi), but here it seems that he's simply dialing it in and collecting that paycheck. His character has zero depth and we really don't ever get to find out what his motivation is for being "evil". Ko Soo and his cohorts are fine enough characters...in a different movie, but here they just feel out of place and Ko Soo's heroics seem to come out of nowhere because he's never perceived as anything but bumbling beforehand. I place a lot of the blame on writer/director Kim Min-suk for Haunters being as big of a mess as it is. Everything feels so unbalanced, from the acting, to the score, down to the abysmal dialogue and inconsistent look. I have to also point out that either Cho-in is terrible at being a villain and using his abilities, or Gyoo-nam is just this insanely lucky guy that can't be brought down. The latter being a bit of a spoiler, but it never gets explained. I always keep my reviews spoiler-free but I have to go on record as saying the ending to Haunters makes zero-sense. Just another hash-mark in the tally of missteps this film goes through.

If the previous paragraph didn't give away my thoughts on Haunters, well then let me make myself even more clear; this is a terrible movie. It can be viewed as amateur at best, but even that would be generous as there are no redeeming qualities to be found here. I never bash movies just for the sake of bashing, but goodness me, I can assure you these harsh comments are not without warrant. (Lee)

Grade: F

71 Into The Fire (Korea 2009)

2011-04-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

I've said it time and time again (but who's listening), war is hell, and 71 Into The Fire is yet another film that drives that point home. What's different this time around is the perspective in which we view the atrocities of war; through the eyes of teenagers. That can't be right...can it?

It's 1950 and the Korean war is in full effect with the North making it's advances. A unit of South Korean soldiers, led by Kang Seok-dae (Kim Seung-woo), are feeling the pressure and are in constant retreat. With limited resources at their disposal, Seok-dae recruits as many fresh bodies as he can which is where our 71 teenage students come into picture. The 71 students are thrown right into the mess of things (hence the title of the film), with Oh Jang-beom (Big Bang's Choi Seong-hyeon), put in place as the acting commander of his fellow students, because he's the only one with actual battle experience. Reluctantly left in charge of a varied group of misfits and troubled, inexperienced youth, with Koo Kap-jo (Kwon Sang-woo) being the biggest pain in the butt and murderer no less, Jang-beom must muster up the courage to hold down the fort at an abandoned middle school with his comrades to keep the North from advancing. Sounds like a pretty tall order for any of us, let alone being a teenager and having never really handled a rifle before. The group of North Koreans pushing forward are led by General Park Moo-rang (Cha Seung-won), who is as cool as can be and seems completely battle-hardened. Jang-beom tries against all odds to keep his troop together, but Seok-dae and his two goofball buddies have their own agenda and refuse to take orders from our young commander. So with limited weaponry and unruly subordinates, will Jang-beom be able to rally the troops in time to effectively stop the advancing North Korea troops? Or will General Park's men be far too much for these kids to take on? And where the hell is Seok-dae with the backup!?

Premise alone, 71 Into the Fire might sound like a campy, almost comedic take on the war-film genre. However, don't be fooled dear reader as this is indeed a serious film with plenty of blood sprayed across your screen. I suppose it just seems unheard of to most of us to picture teenagers having to lock and load and go to battle with basically no battle experience. However, desperate times call for desperate measures and the Korean war was certainly such a time for many. That being said, let's get down to business. The first half of the film left me mostly unimpressed for a number of reasons. The story is super basic stuff. Northern troops on the move, but Southern troops, teenagers mind you, block their path. However, director Lee Jae-han said, "hey, let's stretch this premise out to two hours shall we?", unnecessarily. Let's shorten some of these scenes...tighten it up people! The action really looks amazing though, I will say that much. If you love explosions, gunfire, slow-motion and people catching rounds with their bodies, then 71 Into the Fire delivers the goods.

Try as I might, I couldn't get past the fact that our young commander was played by a singing and dancing pretty boy, Big Bang's T.O.P., as he's known. Smudging a little mud on the cheeks doesn't exactly make him look like a tough guy. I didn't want to just write him off and as the film went along I did enjoy the journey his character took, from quiet and intimidated to a guy that could lead his fellow men into battle. I warmed up to him but ultimately Choi Seung-hyeon lacked the charisma that takes a lead to another level which made him feel one-note. Oh, what's this!? Another pretty boy, Kwon Sang-woo, playing the bad-boy role yet again? Alas, I really had issues with his character. He's introduced to us as a murderer on his way to juvenile detention but they keep him around because hey, he has a bone to pick with the North Koreans that killed his parents and the South needs soldiers. Sounds like a deal! Add the fact that he's as difficult as can be and altogether obnoxious and you have a character that you roll your eyes at everytime he's on screen because you know what to expect from him. There was some retribution for him later on in the film but it felt like a case of too-little, too-late. The real stand-out performance for me was the North Korean General, Park Moo-rang. This guy was hardcore the minute you saw him and remained that way throughout. Nothing ruffles his feathers and he just made being a bad guy look cool. Job well done I say. The cast of young soldiers were very affecting and there were times where I was genuinely moved by the madness they were all experiencing and the sadness they were conveying. This supporting cast, far too numerous to credit here, were effective and helped in creating a realistic atmosphere.

Let's be honest, the really touching thing about 71 Into the Fire is that it's based on a true story and the actions of these 71 kids that slowed down the North for eleven hours, thus giving the US and South Korean troops an advantage with a counterattack. With that in mind, I believe the filmmakers succeeded in making the importance of that fact clear and while I question some of the casting choices and felt they could've snipped a few minutes here and there, the end result is a mostly successful and ultimately touching look at the unlikeliest of heroes. (Lee)

Grade: B -

Hansel & Gretel (Korea 2007)

2009-10-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

One of the best examples of wasted opportunity, Hansel & Gretel is by and large one of the biggest cinematic disappointments for me in recent memory. What could have been, never was and the end result is a flat-out boring film. Shame really.

Eun-soo (Cheon Jeong-myeong) is on his way to visit his mother when he takes his eyes off the road and ends up wrecking his car into a ditch. When he awakes, he finds himself wandering lost into a forest where no one is around and the sun is starting to go down. Out of nowhere a young girl, Yeong-hee (Sim Eun-keyong), comes out of the darkness and greets him warmly, inviting the injured Eun-soo to her home. Once at the home, Eun-soo meets the Yeong-hee's parents and two siblings, Man-bok (Eun Won-jae) and Jeong-soon (Jin Ji-hee). The family lives in an incredibly charming home that appears to be straight out of a fairy tale. However, Eun-soo starts to become skeptical about his new hosts after the parents nervously comment about how they have no phone service for him a call. Eun-soo stays the night and takes notice of other strange things around the house, such as the fact that they only eat sweets and that the television seems to be working without even being plugged in. He tries to leave the home but the family keeps making excuses as to why he shouldn't, all the while the parents act as if they're afraid of their children and what they may do. The children begin to take a liking to Eun-soo after their parents go missing and ask for him to stay and take care of them. Eun-soo resists and continues his snoop around the premises and struggles to escape. He eventually discovers that every adult that has ever come into this home has met a terrible fate and he's afraid that he'll be next. These innocent-looking children aren't what they appear to be and Eun-soo fights to keep them happy while working to discover the secret to this home and these children.

So what you can gather from my quick synopsis is that the house and the children are big red flags in Eun-soo's life, however, unlike every other site, I refuse to tell you exactly what is going on with these kids in this house. That's the big secret of the movie and I refuse to ruin that for you. Suffice to say, it's a pretty cool premise once you find out what it is. Let me get this out of the way, Hansel & Gretel is one of the most visually-stunning Korean movies I've seen in a long time. Director/actor Park Hee-soon (who also plays the horrible Deacon in the film) does a great job in creating this fantastical looking environment within the home, it's grounds and the style of the children. It truly does look like something out of a children's book. I do enjoy the fact that they take a bright and colorful world and spin it in a very dark direction as it makes for an engaging contrast. However, the problem is with the pacing of the story. This is a big problem because the movie is around the 2 hour mark and to be honest, not a lot happens and when it does it's too few and far between. The film follow Eun-soo on a daily basis, keeping the viewer informed with on-screen text (day 1, day 2, etc.), and at times it feels like you've been watching the movie for days. I guess the biggest problem for me was that I was under the impression this was an actual horror/dark remake of the traditional Hansel & Gretel story, so if you thought that, get the idea out of your head because it simply borrows ideas here and there. The story they come up with is alright and the villains (Park Lydia and Park Hee-soon) are truly evil and are also the most engaging characters in the movie. On another note, I typically hate child actors in television, movies, etc., but the three siblings in this film are actually quite good and were very convincing in their roles. However, Eun-soo's character annoyed the crap out of me. There was nothing remotely endearing about his character and I didn't find myself rooting for him to get out of that house. Not a good thing if you're the protagonist of the film. I know a lot of people enjoyed this movie, got high marks and was generally highly-regarded in Korea, but my God I simply don't see it.

Maybe my expectations were shot because they were so unrealistic, but expectations aside, Hansel & Gretel was still a bore. Two thumbs up for the look of the film, which I guess is only worth something if you watch it on mute. (Lee)

Check out the trailer and you'll see exactly why the editor deserves an award for making this snooze-fest look incredibly entertaining.

Ip Man (Hong Kong 2008)

2009-05-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

In an almost admirable attempt at being a bio-pic, Ip Man fails at giving us a thorough understanding of the man behind Wing Chun, but excels at showing us Donnie Yen beating serious ass. Sometimes the latter is more than enough, but I can't help but feel a bit cheated on the former.

Ip Man (Donnie Yen) and his family are on top of the world and live a quiet life in the town of Fuoshan. Everyone respects Ip Man for the amazing martial-artist that he is and though his skills surpass those of everyone else on dojo street, he has no desire to start his own school. However, Ip Man is the only one that can take on Master Jin, who comes to Foushan from the north to challenge all of the martial-arts masters on dojo street in order to prove that he should and could run his own school. After Master Jin (Louis Fan) beats everyone senseless, Ip Man steps in and serves him properly, sending him and his goons back with their tales between their legs. This victory wins the town their respect back, and the love and adoration for Ip Man by the townspeople grows even more. However, the good times apparently weren't meant to last as the Japanese attacked China in 1937 leaving thousands dead and displaced, and towns destroyed. Ip Man's way of life was forever changed as he and his family now lived a life of poverty. General Miura (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), a martial-arts advocate, recruits fighters from around Foushan to challenge his troops, and many are willing to participate in order to earn rice to feed their families. However, Ip Man is reluctant to participate until he realizes that the Japanese aren't playing "fair" and are killing people that he knows and cares for. Meanwhile, one of the few working factories is town is bein harassed by Master Jin and his goons and are defenseless against their skills. They employ Ip Man to help them learn how to defend themselves, and in a sense, empowers them as a people. The Japanese General is so impressed with Ip Man's fighting ability that he offers him a position teaching the Japanese troops his style of martial-arts. Ip Man's refusal to help the Japanese in any way makes life for him and his family all the more dangerous and he's left with no other option but to leave the country he loves...but not before he faces the General one-on-one.

I know that Ip Man is a bio-pic of sorts and I've heard and read that it isn't historically accurate, and knowing that the film is a joint venture between China and Hong Kong, I can imagine as much. However, it's not really my job to verify the authenticity of the events taking place, so think of that as a disclaimer to anything I might say about the film. For what it is, Ip Man is an engaging tale of the man who struggled through harrowing times and established Wing Chun as a dominant fighting style. The problem however is that I was left wanting more, and to be specific, more about his personal life. The film is mostly focused on the Japanese attack on China and how terrible the Japanese appear to be (at that time in history of course). The atrocities of war are never fun and they really drive that point home here. Donnie Yen puts in an excellent performance and really tones down his presence in this role which absolutely works. However, his character is really presented in a way that makes you believe he can do no wrong. Clearly Ip Man has no flaws right? At least that's what you're left believing, and we can assume that isn't accurate. The fighting, as with any Donnie Yen film, is pretty much second-to-none, and with Sammo Hung as the action director, I need not elaborate further on this point.

If you want to learn a bit about Ip Man, and I do mean a bit, then by all means see this film, but you more than likely want to see Donnie Yen go to work, and boy does he! I've read that a second film is in the works, which is great because I'm hoping for further elaboration on the life and times of the man that went on to train Bruce Lee. (Lee)

Rough Cut (Korea 2008)

2009-05-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

The line between reality and fantasy are crossed in Rough Cut, a film that really asks it's audience to suspend disbelief in order to be entertained. That being said, if you can keep that in mind, this film can be quite entertaining indeed.

Gang-pae (So Ji-sub) is a rough-around-the-edges gang boss who's real dream in life has always been to be an actor. He admires the work of one of the biggest leading men in the industry, Soo-ta (Kang Ji-hwan), who fills every stereotype you can imagine pertaining to a stuck-up, entitled celebrity. Soo-ta is having a difficult time as of late because of his short-temper which resulted in him actually hitting one of his fellow co-stars. Now he has the paparazzi all over him and he's even beginning to lose some of his sponsorships. A chance encounter, where Gang-pae requests Soo-ta's autograph results in Gang-pae getting an idea of the type of person Soo-ta really is: a jerk. However disrespected, Gang-pae remains professional (whatever that means in the world of gangs) and shrugs off the encounter with Soo-ta. However, as things get worse for Soo-ta on the set of his movie, he realizes that the film isn't going to come out nearly as realistic as he'd like it to be, so he remembers Gang-pae's desire to become an actor. Gang-pae agrees to help out Soo-ta in his desperate time of need, but as his new official rival in the film he requests that all of the action must be real, including the fights. Soo-ta reluctantly agrees, much to the dismay of director Bong (Ko Chang-seok), because he realizes how much he needs this movie to succeed in order to become favorable with the studio and his audience again. As filming progresses however, the line between reality and film making begin to cross as Gang-pae's dangerous world refuses to take a back seat for his new hobby. Is it too late for Soo-ta to rebuild his image? And can Gang-pae really leave his life as a gangster behind him?

First things first, the premise of this film is quite absurd, because in what reality would a movie studio be willing to employ a "real" gangster in their film for the sake of realism? I'm sure it would not happen here in Hollywood, but I'm accepting the fact that it's a movie, or maybe I don't understand the behind-the-scenes aspect of Korean film making that well. Regardless, it just seems silly in a movie where everything is taken quite seriously to having such an odd element for the story. Premise aside, the acting in Rough Cut is actually quite excellent. Set aside the fact that Soo-ta is the biggest jerk you'll ever see, because that is the nature of his character, but Kang Ji-hwan plays it excellently. I particularly enjoyed So Ji-sub's performance as a man caught between the world he lives in and the world he dreams of. His desire is a great underlying piece in the film that brings out the most emotion in Rough Cut, because you really get a sense of how much he wants to act, but his circumstances don't seem to allow it. There are also some genuinely tense moments when you know that all of the action is "real" and you wonder how far the parties involved are willing to go.

There is a lot of good things going on in Rough Cut, and the performances are what help put it above the "average" label. Again, the story is a little bit out there but manages to be intriguing at times, and the general seriousness of the character's surroundings make it all worth watching. Well worth your time. (Lee)

Venus and Mars (Korea 2007)

2009-01-18T23:34:00.000-08:00

With a name referring to just how different men and women are, Venus and Mars, shows us the extremes people are willing to go to when relationships don't work out as planned. The world of marriage and divorce has never looked so ugly.

Jin-ha (Kam Tae-hee), and Sang-min (Seol Keyong-gu), have officially called it quits after two years of being married. It's safe to assume that things didn't work out between them, and in their case, it really didn't work out, because these two simply cannot stand each other. Sang-min is working at a university teaching entomology, and Jin-ha is working as a glassblower, trying to start her own line of glassware products with her best friend Hyang-mi (Jeon Soo-kyeong). With the distaste these two have for one another, there would be no other reason for them to come into contact, except for the fact that Sang-min has obsessive compulsive disorder. After the seperation, they decided that it would be best to just split everything 50-50, and Jin-ha ended up with the pendelum for the clock that Sang-min bought while on vacation in Europe. Sang-min's OCD about his missing pendelum drives him insane to the point where he meets with Jin-ha in order to get it back. However, their reunion doesn't go so well and soon the two are screaming at each other, with Jing-ha refusing to give him back the pendelum because she knows it means so much to him. Sang-min can't stand Jin-ha for her stubborness, and the fact that she won't give his pendelum back, and Jin-ha hates Sang-min because he can never admit he's at fault and refuses to apologize for anything. Clearly, there is a lot of pent up resentment here. When Jin-ha get's her big break marketing her products on the Korean Home Shopping Network, Sang-min ruins the opportunity by faking his involvement in a car accident. These two go back and forth with their screaming matches, and attempts at hurting one another, with Jin-ha even going so far as to run Sang-min's car into an oncoming train. So fed up with the behavior she's exuding, Jin-ha finally agrees to give Sang-min his pendelum back. Before they meet, so she can give it to him, the two are speaking on the phone when Jin-ha yells out that her workplace is on fire. Sang-min assumes that she's pulling a fast one on him, as he did to her, but her situation is all too real. When these two meet again, face-to-face, they finally have a chance to let out of their emotions, but is it enough to mend the history, and the relationship they once shared together?

Venus and Mars shows the ugliness of people coping with a divorce. It obviously isn't a pleasant thing to experience, and it can make even the best of people show their worst side. The general theme of the movie is pondering the question, "how can two people that love each other so much, end up hating each other to the point where they'd do anything to hurt them?". I can understand having feelings of resentment towards the person you split with, but Kim Tae-hee and Seol Kyeong-gu are absolutely insane in this movie. These two are so psychotic, they make marriage look like the last thing you would want to do simply because of the possibility of divorce. All that aside, there are some entertaining parts in the film, mostly when these two are trying to kill each. The problem is, that's pretty much all these two do the entire time. It's basically an hour and a half of screaming, fighting, and not much more. There is a lot of emotion on display, and both actors definitely deliver it, but it all gets really old after awhile.

I can't say I recommend Venus and Mars, mostly because there isn't a lot that happens. I'm not saying you have to have a busy story to keep things entertaining, but you have to have something. There simply isn't enough meat on these bones to keep it satisfying. Fine performances, but nothing more. (Lee)

Beyond Our Ken (Hong Kong 2004)

2009-01-18T21:10:00.000-08:00

Feeling like one of the most indie-style films I've personally ever seen out of Hong Kong, Beyond Our Ken, is an interesting performance piece for both Gillian Chung and Tao Hong. A story of two women, the man that did them wrong, and the resulting emotional fallout.

Things start off with Ching (Gillian Chung), meeting with Shirley (Tao Hong), and explaining that she used to date Shirley's current boyfriend, Ken (Daniel Wu). The reason she wanted to meet with Shirley was to explain to her that Ken might not be as perfect as he seems to be. Ching explains that after sleeping together, Ken posted pictures of the two of them on an adult website, which resulted in her getting let go from her job. Shirley, naturally resistant to the claims Ching is making, soon starts to realize that they both have had the same experiences with Ken. He used the same lines and the same moves on both girls. Ching wants Shirley's help at getting the nude photos that Ken took of her because she's afraid that he may post more in the future. She tells Shirley about all of the horrible things he did when he was with her and how Shirley needs to stay on her toes unless she wants to be hurt as well. Ken is definitely deserving of the ill-feelings both girls share towards him, because he's clearly a womanizer, a point both girls find clearly evident as they continue to share stories. Meanwhile, Ken goes about his relationship with Shirley oblivious to the two girls meeting with each other and actually starting to build a friendship. Out of the blue, Ching calls Shirley and tells her that Ken has posted more photos of the two of them in the nude, and Shirley is a sympathic ear in Ching's time of need and is now, more than ever, willing to help her get the photos back. Still in possession of Ken's house key, Ching takes Shirley along to sneak into his home while he's at work, with only Ken's Grandma as an obstacle. So what becomes of Shirley's relationship with Ken? And is Ken really as horrible as the girls seem to think he is?

That is the whole synopsis in a nutshell, of course without giving away any specifics. Beyond Our Ken, directed by Pang Ho-Cheung, is filmed in a interesting, criss-crossed fashion, with transitions between past and present that ultimate piece the story together for the viewer. There are a few big reveals in the movie that make it necessary to be filmed in this manner as to not ruin things from the beginning, and when you see what's really going on, it takes the proceedings into an entireley different direction. Needless to say, it's all really engaging stuff. The acting on display, especially from Gillian Chung and Tao Hong, is fantastic to the point where you couldn't expect more. I believe this was Tao Hong's first major film and she comes out like a true professional, and with Gillian Chung, previously dismissed as just a cheesy popstar, she dismisses her critics with a truly impressive performance as well. There is a slightly amusing irony in reviewing this film now, as the story of Beyond Our Ken seems to run parallel to the real sex scandal that Gillian got caught up in with Edison Chen back in 2008. Where is she now? It's really a unfortuante mess. Regardless, the emotions on display in the film are portrayed in way that seems wholly realistic, leaving you feeling somewhat empathatic.

With a creative sense of cinematic flair, Beyond Our Ken, proves that you don't need a huge budget, special-effects, or even a huge cast of big name stars to make a really great movie. It is however, a perfect example of how the core ingredients of a good story, fantastic performances, along with smart pacing and cinematography are all you need. (Lee)

Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (Japan 2005)

2009-01-18T20:11:00.000-08:00

A period piece unlike any you've probably seen, Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, is a tale of tragic love with special-effects laden action scenes. Reading that sentence, I don't know why anyone would want to see this film, but it honestly isn't as bad as it sounds.

The year is 1614, and the Iga and Koga clan are keeping the ruler of the Tokugawa shogunate from moving society forward by remaining isolated in small villages across the land. The head of the Koga clan, Danjo Koga (Minoru Terada), and the head of the Iga clan, Ogen (Riri), are summoned by the shogun and are told that they must assemble the five best warriors of their respective clans in order to battle each other to the death. However, the shogun hasn't issued such an order just to see which clan is stronger, or to end their ongoing feud, but more so to have each clan eliminate each other so that his reign isn't threatened. Danjo picks his five best, headed by Gennosuke (Joe Odagiri), and Ogen picks her five best, headed by Oboro (Yukie Nakama). Both clans have an interesting cast of characters with abilities that range from taking on the appearance of ones enemy, delivering a kiss of death, to a character that uses his long hair as a weapon. Unbeknownst to each clan, Gennosuke and Oboro have been having a secret romance with one another and have even made plans to marry. Gennosuke, realizing that he may soon be pitted against his beloved, is completely against the idea of going into battle. When his chief goes head-to-head with Ogen from the Iga clan and doesn't survive the encounter, he begrudgingly leads his crew into battle with intentions of making it to the shogun to question his orders. Oboro feels the same way as Gennosuke, but as the two clans members continue to battle one another and people begin to die, her hatred begins to consume her. The two clans fight their way through the land and soon Gennosuke will be face-to-face with the woman he loves. Will their love be strong enough to ignore the bloodshed of their fallen comrades?

Shinobi: Heart Under Blade is truly a love story at it's core, but that doesn't mean it's without some really cool, comic-book style action. Each member of each clan has a unique ability that is shown off with style and decent special-effects. From the very beginning you know that the love shared between Gennosuke and Oboro is doomed, but you're left watching and wondering how, if possible, will they be able to overcome their forced situation. The storytelling is really the strength of Shinobi for me, because as a viewer, you're instantly pushed into their romance and hope that they can find a way. The action of course is a visual treat, with our two main protagonists having some of the more intense abilities, which I hate to ruin for any potential viewers. The film as a whole rides that fine line between being too comically cheesy at times and taking itself too seriously, but in the end, I think it does a great job of striking the right balance.

I always felt that Shinobi was going to be one of those silly movies that relied on fancy special-effects in order to reel people in, possibly because of the way it was marketed, but I was definitely wrong with that perception. I'm glad that I took the time to see what this movie was all about, because the mix of various elements actually made for a surprisingly entertaining viewing experience. (Lee)

Truck (Korea 2008)

2009-01-11T23:29:00.000-08:00

An edge-of-your seat, high-suspense thrill ride...OK, maybe that's being a little too "Hollywood" in it's description, but Truck, aside from the ridiculously bland name, actually does a good job of fitting that description.

Truck driver Jeong Cheol-min (Yoo Hae-jin), leads a simple life as a single, widowed father to his seven-year old daughter Da-yeong (Lee Joon-ha). His daughter is his whole world, and it appears that he wouldn't have it any other way. Sadly, his daughter has a hereditary heart defect that ensures that she can't over-exert herself in a physical manner. It's work as usual for Cheol-min until he gets a phone call from his mother saying that Da-yeong had collapsed on the playground and is now in urgent care at the hospital. The doctor, unfortunately, has no good news for Cheol-min, as he informs him that he'll need to come up with $60,000 so that they can go forward with the heart surgery she so desperately needs. Immediately, Cheol-min does everything he can, from cleaning out his savings, to borrowing from loan sharks, in order to collect the money he needs. Still coming up short, an acquaintance of his tells him about a high-stakes poker game that he can get in on, and that he'll also help Cheol-min win big by giving him signals to let him know when to bet more. The game doesn't end up as planned and Cheol-min loses all of his money, chasing after the man who took it all. He ends up busting in on a gang boss (Kim Joon-bae), who murdered a room full of people. The bosses thugs explain the situation with the poker game and the boss gives Cheol-min an opportunity that will let him keep his truck and the winnings. Cheol-min must dispose of the corpses that the boss and his gang load into the back of the truck. Reluctant and afraid, Cheol-min begins his drive to a lake in the middle of the country where he hopes the bodies will never be found. Along the way, he sees a police transport vehicle wrecked, laying on it's side on the side of the road, and everyone inside is dead. It turns out the police were transporting serial killer Kim Yeong-ho (Jin Goo), and now he's nowhere to be found. After picking up Yeong-ho, disguised as a police officer, Cheol-min is unaware that he's assisting a serial killer in his escape. It's not long before Cheol-min discovers the true identity of his passenger, but due to the contents of his truck load, involving the police isn't an option. What does Yeong-ho want with Cheol-min? And will Cheol-min complete his mission in order to save his daughters life?

Writing up that "synopsis", I realized just how much is going on in Truck. It seems like almost enough just to have Cheol-min transporting countless dead bodies to be dumped in order to save his daughter, but that wasn't enough for the filmmakers. They threw in a serial killer storyline just to amp things up, and it actually works. There is genuine suspense in the interactions between Cheol-min and Yeong-ho. Unfortunately, sometimes inconvenient things happen for the main characters a little too conveniently. There's always a cop at the wrong time, or a roadblock with police checking out vehicles for instance. But it all makes for some intense moments and can be easily overlooked by simply wanting to see what happens next. The acting is excellent, especially from Yoo Hae-jin, and Jin Goo plays a suitably creepy serial killer in convincing fashion. It has to be said, young Lee Joon-ha is absolutely adorable.

I honestly didn't expect much from Truck, mostly because of the title. However, in a movie where the name is about as unimaginative as it gets, the actual imagination shown in the storyline is surprisingly good. Truck really is a great suspense-thriller that will have you engaged until the very end. (Lee)

Almost Love (Korea 2006)

2009-01-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

The super-duo from My Tutor Friend, Kim Ha-neul and Kwan Sang-woo, are back in Almost Love. Is it as good as their first pairing together? Of course not, and not many Korean romantic comedies are. A sharp turn into the melodramatic keeps this one from being a complete success...oh so close.

Ji Hwan (Kwan Sang-woo), is an aspiring stuntman who emulates his lifestyle, and look, after that of the legendary action-star Jackie Chan. His best friend since childhood, Dal-rae (Kim Ha-neul), also aspires to enter the world of entertainment as an actress. The two friends know more about each other than anyone else in the world and it shows. They have the best times together and they also can get on each others nerves better than anyone, and Ji Hwan definitely loves driving Dal-rae crazy. The textbook definition of best friends. Dal-rae begins dating Young-hoon (Lee Sang-woo), who is a friend and fellow Taekwondo teammate of Ji Hwan. It's soon apparent that three can definitely be a crowd when they all hang out together, because Young-hoon can't help but notice that no matter how hard he tries, he will never know and understand Dal-rae as good as Ji Hwan does. It isn't all bad though as Dal-rae, after countless failed auditions, lands her first acting gig, and Ji Hwan finally gets his big break pulling off the main stunt in a major film. Things couldn't be better for the two in a professional sense, and naturally they look forward to telling each other about their success. However, they aren't able to savor their achievements when personal tragedy strikes Ji Hwan. What happens is so incredibly huge that Ji Hwan can't even bear to face his friends and family and disappears on a year-long soul search. Dal-rae, Young-hoon, and Ji Hwans father (Jeong Gyoo-soo), are frustrated at his disapperance, but try their best to understand what he's going through. Ji Hwan must come to terms with the new life that awaits him if he wants to see his loved ones again. Is his bond with Dal-rae strong enough to bring him home?

Make no mistake about it, the on-screen pairing of Kim Ha-neul and Kwan Sang-woo is cinema gold. These two have proven they have entertaining chemistry together and it's clearly evident in Almost Love as well. That being said, the issues I have with the movie have nothing to do with the competency, or quality, of the actors, but more so in the brick wall of melodrama that the story crashes into. The first half of the movie is romantic-comedy all the way, and it does that just fine. After the personal tragedy for Kwan Sang-woo's character, the second half of the movie turns into a melodrama, thereby making the movie feel like two separate genres, and almost two separate movies...almost. However, the relationship between our two protagonists is so strong, and so well built, that even through the sudden change in the story, they manage to keep things entertaining, engaging, and even very touching.

Almost Love is an unbalanced affair, but still a very worthwhile viewing experience. Most will watch this one for it's two main stars, and that's really who this film is for. That target audience of fans should be more than pleased. (Lee)

Papa Loves You (Hong Kong 2004)

2009-01-09T00:51:00.000-08:00

The movie poster for Papa Loves You should have been a dead give-away that below-average quality was rearing it's ugly head. Surprisingly, there are some slightly entertaining and even heart-warming moments to be found here. However, don't let those few moments fool you into thinking this is a great movie, cause boy howdy it ain't!

Yam (Tony Leung Ka Fai), is an over-protective single father to his teenage daughter Ellen (Charlene Choi), who happens to be at that age where she wants nothing more than to resist her obsessive fathers ways. Having to come to terms with the fact that his daughter is growing up, Yam continues to grow concerned about Ellen's behaviour and begins following her around to see just what it is she's up to. While dining in a cafe, Yam just happens to stop an attempted hit on Triad boss leader Hung (Eric Tsang), with his "shadowless hands" technique, a move that he only seems to use in cleaning up around the house. This fateful turn of events changes Yam's life considerably. Not only is Hung indebted to Yam, but Yam also develops a reputation around town as being the legendary Mo Ye Fei Ying, an assassin who supposedly took out over 100 men during a knife fight. The boys at Ellen's school, Orange (Kenny Kwan), and Fung (Steven Cheung), become obsessed with Yam, thinking he's a hardcore assassin, and want to learn how to fight from him. Of course, Yam has nothing to teach these boys, but he makes them believe he does and will teach them everything if they promise to keep an eye on Ellen to make sure she stays out of trouble. Things don't end up going so well when Ellen actually does get involved with the real Triads and Yam has to face their leader down, fronting as the legendary assassin. It's definitely not a good thing to be known as an exceptional fighter and triad member, when in reality you just teach piano. That type of reputation eventually creates a problem when Yam is forced into having a showdown with the real Triads in order to protect his daughter.

Let me be as frank as possible by saying that Papa Loves You is a ridiculous film. I know it's meant to be a comedy, and there are a few scenes where that genre label actually seems to fit. However, most of the film is so absurd and even downright cheesy, that you feel embarrassed to be watching it at all. This movie came out when popstars were still running rampant throughout every movie in Hong Kong, so the overall feel of the film has that artificial, childish vibe to it that only those who are familiar with the EEG films will know what I'm talking about. Tony Leung, as many know, is a more than adequate actor and his role here seems shockingly out of place, but he pulls it off to some charming extent. Eric Tsang, who I hold in pretty high esteem in the HK cinema ranks, turns in a "what was he thinking" cameo as triad leader Hung. Honestly, the whole movie will leave you scratching your head with it's questionably entertaining content.

I know my words seem incredibly harsh, but Papa Loves You is mostly deserving of those words. It's complete throw-away, teeny-bopper entertainment that really only serves that one specific demographic. Everyone else should probably steer clear, because calling the movie cute is about the best compliment I can muster. (Lee)

My Wife Is A Gangster 2 (Korea 2003)

2009-01-08T23:56:00.000-08:00

The sequel to the highly-enjoyable My Wife is a Gangster, part two, sadly, isn't nearly as entertaining as the first. However, Sin Eun-kyeong, as our beloved protagonist, is still interesting to watch. It's everything you would expect from a sequel...which isn't much.

Gang boss Cha Eun-jin (Sin Eun-kyeong) is up to her usual activity when the film kicks off with a major rooftop brawl with her gang mixing it up with another group of thugs. During the melee, Eun-jin is knocked off the roof of the building and is, understandably, knocked senseless. A very drunk Yoon Jae-choi (Park Joon-gyu), notices Eun-jin laying in the gutter and ends up carrying her off to his neighborhood where he runs a small Chinese restaurant. Eun-jin's crew assume the worst, and every attempt to contact their boss doesn't seem to pan out, yet they continue to search for her. Why the police aren't involved in the search is anyone's guess, but I imagine gangsters don't work with the police on any level. Regardless, the story picks up months later, and Eun-jin is working as a delivery girl for Jae-choi at the Chinese restaurant with no memory of her former gangster life. Jae-choi is aware of the fact that she doesn't remember a thing, but she's so good at deliveries, even going so far as to invent a delivery box for serving, that he is in no hurry to help her regain her memory. Eun-jin genuinely seems to be happy with her new life, working and living with her new boss and his teenage daughter. However, little-by-little, Eun-jin begins to piece parts of her former life together, not to mention the fact that she really knows how to fight, when new situations in her life bring out that side of her. White Shark, the gangster whom I believe is from part one, returns, albeit it with a new wig and vocoder on his throat. He plans to finally seek revenge against Eun-jin, and even though she can't remember who he is, White Sharks threats against her and her bosses family prove enough in getting her to take action.

Sequels...what can I say? Love 'em or hate 'em, they can either be seen as a genuine extension of a story created in part one, or simply as a way to cash in on the name. My Wife is a Gangster 2 unfortunately falls into the latter category. As much as I enjoyed certain aspects about this film, it just couldn't match up to the level of it's predecessor. The biggest smack in the face comes from the fact that Eun-jin's husband from part one is nowhere to be found in this film, and they don't even mention him, so you're left wondering what became of his character. Park Joon-gyu, serving as the male comedy relief this time around, does an admirable job filling those shoes, but it definitely isn't the same feeling that Park Sang-myeon provided. It's a shame he was written off. The relationship of the characters is completely different this time around, and when you have a character as cool as Eun-jin is, that isn't necessarily a good thing. She's definitely more amusing in part two, but I missed her character from the first film. That isn't to say that everyone will feel the same as I do, because these changes might please a lot of viewers out there, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. For example, White Shark, while feeling like an actual villain and threat in part one, was portrayed as an incompetent goofball in the sequel. It's creative decisions like this that take away from the feeling and overall vibe created in the first film, ultimately making it feel like an unbalanced sequel.

There are laughs and good times to be had in My Wife is a Gangster 2, but like most sequels, as a whole, it isn't as good as the first. It feels more light-hearted than it's predecessor and that could be an intentional move by the filmmakers, but for me, it took the series in the wrong direction. If you loved the first one, by all means check part two out, but by all means, lower your expectations. (Lee)

My Wife is a Gangster review

My Wife is a Gangster 3 review

My Wife is a Gangster (Korea 2001)

2008-12-12T00:55:00.000-08:00

My Wife is a Gangster holds a special place in my heart because it played such a big part in getting me interested in Korean cinema. It has action, comedy, and drama, and while all of these elements don't always mix together perfectly, the end result stills makes for a highly entertaining film. I promise to remain objective.

Eun-jin (Sin Eun-kyeong) is anything but the typical woman. In fact, she just so happens to be the boss of a major gang who has worked her way up to legendary status. Out of the blue, one of her minions receives a phone call and tells Eun-jin the news she's been waiting so long to hear; the sister she was seperated from as a child has been found. Sadly, their reunion is hampered by the fact that Eun-jin's sister (Lee Eun-kyeong) is dying. She tells Eun-jin that her dying wish (literally) is to see Eun-jin happily married before she passes. Feeling as if she has no other choice, she orders her gang to find her an eligible bachelor for a shotgun wedding. Eun-jin's right-hand man, Romeo (Ahn Jae-mo), brings in a woman (Choi Eun-joo) to help the boss become more lady-like, albeit with mixed results. By coincidence, her gang finds a suitable match in Soo-il (Park Sang-myeon), an ordinary civil servant who also hasn't had much luck in love, which makes him all the more willing to go along with the arranged marriage to Eun-jin. The two are soon married and naturally don't see eye-to-eye on almost everything. Soo-il wants to have an intimate relationship, and Eun-jin promises to break his fingers if he touches her without her permission. However, it's all to please Eun-jin's sister who is beyond thrilled to see her sister so "happily" married. Meanwhile, things are getting more dangerous in the gang world as Eun-jin's boss (Myeong Kye-nam) returns to check on his gang, annoyed at the news of his second in commands marriage. He feels that her marriage and new lifestyle are going to weaken the image of the gang, and the leader of the opposing gang, White Shark (Jang Se-jin), plans to exploit this new-found weakness in Eun-jin and her gang. To make matters more complicated, Eun-jin's sister informs her that she would love to see her have a child!

That is definitely a wild plot, and even a bit preposterous, but above all else, My Wife is a Gangster seems to present itself as a comedy above all else. That fact alone would make the proceedings more forgiveable, but the problem is, that while the film is humorous for the most part, there are many elements of drama and even some tragic scenes that make things seem unbalanced. Aside from the mild case of schizophrenia, I can't help but love this movie, mostly due to the outstanding performances by Sin Eun-kyeong, and Park Sang-myeon. While they may be the ultimate odd-couple, they definitely are amusing together and play their parts exceptionally well. This movies excels due in large part to it's wonderful casting, with a cast of characters that are always entertaining to watch. There are some action/martial-arts scenes, and most of them look good, but there are occasions of way-too-obvious wire use that detracts from these moments. The real goldmine here lies in the characters and their interactions with each other.

I can't say that My Wife is a Gangster is anywhere near perfect, but it is a great movie that is highly entertaining for many different reasons. It was a huge hit in Korea when it was released and when you start watching it, it's easy to see why. There is an undeniable charm and uniqueness to the film that made it, and makes it, so great. (Lee)

Voice of a Murderer (Korea 2007)

2008-11-30T22:18:00.000-08:00

Based on a true story, and serving as one of the most heart-wrenching films I've seen in years, Voice of a Murderer is a fictional account of the very real disappearance of nine-year old Lee Hyung-ho in 1991. Stories like this stay with you for a long time.

Kyung-bae Han (Kyeong-gu Seol) is a successful news anchor who is recognized and admired the nation over. He seems to be on top of the world, with his beautiful loving wife Oh Ji-sun (Kim Nam-joo), and nine-year-old son Sang-woo. The families wonderful world is suddenly torn apart when Sang-woo doesn't come home after playing outside. Immediately, Ji-sun begins to panic and wants to alert the police, but Kyung-bae keeps a level head and feels it would be better if they just waited a bit to see if he returns. A short time later, the telephone rings, and when Kyung-bae picks up the line, the person on the other end explains that Kyung-bae needs to get 100 million won together if he ever wants to see his son again. The kidnapper explains that Kyung-bae needs to get a phone installed in his car, and that when he calls, either Ji-sun at home, or Kyung-bae in the car, that he'll only let the phone ring three times. As you can imagine, if any of the demands or rules aren't met, Sang-woo will be killed. Ji-sun panics and calls the police, much to the disappointment of her husband and the kidnapper. The kidnapper is infuriated that the police are involved, and the couples chances of getting their son back begin to diminish. The phone calls, demands, and meaningless tasks continue for more than a month, and the only thing keeping Kyung-bae and Ji-sun's hope alive is a few seconds of hearing Sang-woo's voice over the phone, pleading for help. The police are completely stumped as to who the kidnapper can be, and are running out of answers to give the worried couple. As the days slowly pass, everyone begins losing hope that Sang-woo will come home.

Voice of a Murderer is a re-telling of actual events that took place in 1991, and even though director Park Jin-pyo changes some of the details, the story at it's core remains the same. If you really do the research, you'll see how this story ends, but for the sake of this review, I promise not to spoil anything for you. I always have a hard time with movies that are based on true stories, especially when the subject matter is so dark and depressing. It's hard for me to find any entertainment value when dealing with such subjects based on reality, and if you're like me at all in that respect, watching this film can be difficult. It's not that the movie is bad by any means, in fact, the story is told in a manner that really places you in the nightmare that these parents are going through, and being engaged in the story like that is what filmmakers generally strive for. The acting is really top-notch. Kyeong-gu Seol, and Kim Nam-joo, as the victimized parents, put in stellar performances that looked absolutely draining for them emotionally. It's possible that people might have issues with the film being slow at times, and that's because it takes you through this harrowing journey that lasts nearly 45 days. I can understand the directors intention with showing the daily process of the investigation, but it can be a bit much for less patient viewers. It really just depends on how engaged with the proceedings you are. I have to point out that the ending is easily one of the most haunting things I've seen or heard in a movie and will stick with me for quite some time.

Again, Voice of a Murderer is the type of film that doesn't exist to entertain and won't easily be forgotten after viewing. It exists to tell a story, that whether you like it or not, is real. I recommend this film for that very same purpose, because this is a story that deserved to be told and should most definitely be seen. (Lee)

Death Bell (Korea 2008)

2008-11-23T16:59:00.000-08:00

Akin to more well-known movies like Saw and even Japan's Battle Royale, Death Bell may not be the most original horror movie ever conceived, but it's entertaining enough so that it doesn't necessarily have to be. Some genuinely startling moments, and creativity help make this film worthwhile.

Chang-in Foreign Language high school is preparing for it's special class, consisting of the top 20 students, to cram for the upcoming college entrance exams and to help put on a great face for the school. The pressure to succeed in school can put a tremendous strain on the students, but Mr. Hwang (Lee Beom-soo), is there to help guide these students to success. However, during the first day of the special class, a mentally unstable student begins to see things that may or may not be there. His behavior becomes erratic and the authorities are brought in to take him away. Could the stress of the exam be that great? Once the children have calmed down, a strange song begins to play over the PA system and a mysterious person with a disguised voice begins to address the class. The school television monitors then show one of their classmates trapped within a glass aquarium that has a math problem written on it. He instructs the class that they have to figure out the problem or the girl will die, and that if they try to leave the school, they too will be killed. No one can figure out what is going on, and aren't quite sure they believe what they're seeing...until the girl in the aquarium begins to drown. The students begin disappearing one by one, and Mr. Hwang, along with English teacher Choi So-yeong (Yoon Jeong-hee), and the remaining students, have to figure out more puzzles in order to save the these kids. Eventually, one of the students, I-na (Nam Gyoo-ri), figures out that the students are being taken according to their rankings in the school exam. Now the group knows who to keep their eyes on, but who's killing these kids, and why? When the truth is discovered, everyone begins to question who they trust.

Death Bell doesn't try very hard to differentiate itself from the popular horror movie Saw. The children are each taken and placed in near-death situations that are almost impossible to get out of. The only difference is the victims are counting on the smarts of their peers to get them out alive. If you're into gore movies with clever trappings, than you'll more than likely enjoy this films way of presenting things. The presentation is enthralling, and really does a great job in creating a tense situation. I particular like some of the creative death scenes, as morbid as that sounds. The actors are all more than competent, which is high praise considering I hate child actors. There is a sub-plot with the aforementioned mentally unstable student seeing ghosts, but that story isn't told very well and seems to clash with the rest of the movie, when in fact it should be better intertwined. Like any horror movie, there are moments where you question the actions of the characters because they seem so absurd and illogical, but then you realize it's all part of the fun. My biggest gripe has to do with the ending, which I hate admitting almost as much you probably hate reading. When you realize who or what is behind all of the killing, it will seem completely unfathomable, especially considering how intricate the kidnappings and killings were played out. Sadly, you'll also question why the these students were being killed in the first place.

It clearly borrows ideas from proven successful films, but Death Bell still does enough on it's own to keep you entertained while following the whodunit storyline. There are problems with the film, but forgiving audiences can definitely overlook them and just have a good time (and a good scare), and Death Bell will fit the bill just fine. (Lee)

Miss Gold Digger (Korea 2007)

2008-11-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

Miss Gold Digger, a romantic comedy that aims to show us that sometimes it's alright to live for yourself, is almost a complete failure thanks to an incredibly annoying protagonist, amongst other things. This film has so many problems that it's downright embarrassing.

Sin Min-soo (Han Ye-seul) is a successful advertising specialist who is extremely confident in herself, her work, and her love life. She is so confident in fact, that she manages to juggle three different boyfriends; aspiring district attorney Yoon-cheol (Kim In-kwon), young, directionless singer/rapper Hyeon-joon (Son Ho-young), and the incredibly wealthy, and over dramatic Joon-seo (Kwon O-joong). However, when a new neighbor, Dong-min (Lee Jong-hyuk), moves into her building, the two get off on the wrong foot which leads to a number of awkward encounters. The two just can't seem to get along, and once Min-soo has begun to accept that fact, a situation at her work requires that she get along with him. Dong-min isn't making things easy for Min-soo, because unlike her three suitors, he sees Min-soo for the lying, self-centered snob that she is. As you can imagine, Dong-min's cold shoulder is appealing to Min-soo because no one has ever treated her that way. Meanwhile, the three boyfriends are doing everything they can to win Min-soo over, but she refuses to commit to just one. She really wants to weigh all of her options with each guy in order to determine who can provide her with the most fulfilling way of life. Eventually, Dong-min begins to find himself caught up in Min-soo's web of seduction, whether he likes it or not. Min-soo has her fair share of men to choose from, but will she eventually come clean with them? Or will she be forced to learn a harsh lesson?

To be as frank as humanly possible, I really hated Miss Gold Digger. From the very beginning the filmmakers decide to make Min-soo's character as nasty as they possibly can. She's conceited, a liar, and only looks out for herself, showing almost no remorse for the terrible behavior she exudes. This didn't really bother me because I knew that she would eventually learn a lesson from the way she acts, but that didn't happen until there was only 15 minutes left in the film. Honestly, by that point it was too little too late. Her character had gone so far into the red, so to speak, that there was no turning back for her. I felt absolutely no pity for her whatsoever when her world started falling apart. When it did, I just thought to myself, "serves you right!", when the filmmakers probably intended viewers to sympathize with her. I felt no chemistry between Min-soo and Dong-min, and the three boyfriends were the only amusing characters in the movie. When you see the ending, you'll wonder if Min-soo's character learned anything at all. Negativity aside, I will say that the film is filled with competent actors who all play their parts well, and the feel of the movie was also consistent from start to finish, with no major emotional highs or lows detracting from things.

Miss Gold Digger was just mind-numbingly bad the entire two hours through. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie where I literally didn't care about any of the characters. I've seen Han Ye-seul in television dramas before and thought she was great, so as her big screen debut this film was all the more disappointing for me. Maybe next time, but this is a definite pass. (Lee)

Going By The Book (Korea 2007)

2008-11-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

Going by the Book, a comedy about a police training exercise taken too far, has a premise that manages to be both unique and paper-thin at the same time. If that hasn't grabbed your attention, then this may not be the film for you.

Jeong Do-man (Jeong Jae-young) is a traffic cop working in a small country town who takes his job very seriously (as the film title implies). He takes it so seriously in fact, that when his new commanding officer, Son Byeong-ho (Lee Seung-man), arrives in town, and just so happens to take an illegal left hand turn, Do-man gives him a ticket even after he learns who the man is. After settling in at the police station, Byeong-ho is disturbed at the high number of bank robberies taking place within their town in such a short amount of time. Public confidence in the police and their capabilities is at an all time low and people are concerned about using the banks. Byeong-ho devises a plan to prove to the media and the public that the police are capable of stopping the banks from getting robbed. A drawing takes place, where every officer will receive a different part to play in a publicly televised training program in which a robbery staged by the police will take place. After seeing Do-man's police work first-hand, and hearing about this by-the-book reputation around the station, Byeong-ho knows exactly who he wants to play the robber in this scenario. Do-man, reluctant to take the position, eventually agrees under the pretense that he is to do his best and that his captain feels he is the only one who will take the responsibility seriously. So Do-man begins a meticulous training regimen of sorts, by studying up on past bank robbers and learning different methods on how to approach the situation. When he finally gets to the bank and makes the demand for cash, the undercover agents at the bank, as well as everyone else, are startled at just how serious Do-man is. With the whole country watching, Do-man plans to give his fellow officers a training experience they aren't soon to forget.

As you can probably tell, and as I mentioned previously, the premise for Going by the Book is one-dimensional for the most part. It's literally a bunch of bank robberies triggering a public training display by the police. However, the way in which the idea is executed is somewhat inventive and can be quite funny at times. Obviously, Do-man isn't going to kill or hurt anyone, so the running gag with the signs he hangs around his hostages necks is quite amusing. The hostages range from funny to annoying, with only one of them being relevant to the big picture. The problem with the story for me is that when the training goes too far, and too long into the night, the police seem to have no way of infiltrating this bank. I got the impression that Do-man was definitely a by-the-book cop, but he's later presented as the most intelligent cop ever by out-smarting everything the police throw at him. Do-man is always one step ahead which I thought was a bit much. There is a bit of a back story when they explain why Do-man is just a simple traffic cop and not in a higher ranking position, but it really wasn't needed in a movie as silly as this one, and to be frank, I didn't care about his past because there isn't any character development in Going by the Book. Characters are simply just thrown together. Speaking of which, some characters are well-rounded, while others seem like over-the-top parodies (such as the SWAT commander). On the plus side of things, I will say that the film stayed a comedy throughout, with the exception of a few small instances, and that seems to be a rarity today in Korean comedies. I'm happy to report that there isn't some misplaced melodrama halfway through. There is some terrible music played throughout the movie, but I may just be nit-picking at this point.

Truth be told, Going by the Book is a fun movie because it feels unique and has some amusing gags. Just don't expect anything great from it, either in terms of story-telling or performances. It's mindless entertainment, and in this case, there's nothing wrong with that. (Lee)

L: Change the World (Japan 2008)

2008-11-16T15:54:00.000-08:00

He's back! Everyone's favorite brain with a sweet-tooth, L, from the insanely popular Death Note series, returns with a movie of his own. The bad news is that it's nowhere near as good as those movies, but the good news is that it still manages to entertain at times. However, calling it a prequel seems inaccurate.

L (Kenichi Matsuyama), still has 23 days to live, but now he's all alone as his beloved caretaker Watari (Shunji Fujimara) has passed on. However, he still chooses to spend his remaining days working and solving major cases with Interpol. We learn that L is merely one in a number of similar agents, all with one-letter names, that come from the Wammy House organization. He has reestablished contact with the mysterious K, and another fellow agent, F, is seen in a virus-ridden village in Thailand trying to rescue a small boy who appears to be immune. He makes sure the boy is delivered to L, and before long, L finds himself practically running a daycare when 12-year old Maki (Mayuko Fukuda), also carrying the virus, shows on his doorstep as well. The girls father, Nikaido (Shingo Tsurumi), the brilliant doctor who developed the virus, is killed by the those wanting to use the virus for their evil deeds. Nikaido knew Watari and told his daughter he'd be able to care for her. However, L is now responsible for these children and has to find out who's after the virus. The bad guys want to use the virus as a form of population control, so they can rid the world of people they feel are too stupid to exist. Only the brightest minds should live in their utopia! With the days literally counting down the rest of L's existence, time is now a luxury for the three as they rush to find a cure and stop the villains from executing their plan for world domination. Could the children be the key to finding a cure?

L: Change the World is bit of a letdown when you think about where this character was last seen. In the Death Note films, his superior intelligence was really on display in the battle of smarts with Light Yagami. So it's definitely a letdown to see the L character in a film where he doesn't appear to use the characteristic that made him so special when viewers first saw him. Truth be told, a doctor later on the in the film does most of the thinking for him. The story of stopping a virus from eliminating most of the world's population, again, is nowhere as interesting as the content we saw L dealing with in Death Note. It feels too ordinary of a story for such an extraordinary character, and the way it's told just isn't that interesting. For such a simple idea, the movie seems to go out of it's way to make it all sound more complicated than it really is, which makes the movie feel long at times. However, that doesn't take away from the charming performance Kenichi Matsuyama gives as L. He does such an outstanding job with this character that you really can't picture anyone else playing it at this point. He truly made L his own. The cast of characters all do a great job in their roles and are entertaining to watch, but the story they're stuck in definitely works against them.

In the end, L: Change the World, is a spin-off for the character of L, who stills manages to be fascinating to watch, but isn't strong enough to float an entire movie on his own. The world his character comes (Death Note) from suits him best, and when taken out of that world, it doesn't translate into that same feeling you got when you first saw him. If you love L, you'll probably enjoy watching him here, but you can't help but feel as if he just doesn't belong. (Lee)

The Chaser (Korea 2008)

2008-11-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

A battle of the wits, cat-and-mouse style Korean thriller, The Chaser, has it's moments of real suspense, but the relationship of it's characters seems underdeveloped thereby making the proceedings feel somewhat unwarranted. Above-average entertainment awaits.

Jung-ho (Kim Yoon-seok), is an ex-cop turned pimp who finds that his new career choice isn't without it's problems when his girls start to go missing. Determined to find out who or what is responsible for this mess, he begins to connect the dots by matching up the phone number with the corresponding nights when these girls seem to disappear. The problem is trying to figure out who's making the phone calls and requesting these women. Once the suspect calls in again for another woman, Jung-ho sends Min-jin to service his needs, but this time Jung-ho orchestrates a plan so that he can catch the caller. He instructs Min-jin to text him the caller's address upon arrival and that he'd be in there to handle business shortly thereafter. The problem is, the man responsible for these women disappearing has already planned ahead. Min-jin is now trapped in this house with Young-min (Ha Jeong-woo), the psychotic who's been kidnapping and murdering these call girls, and she has no way of contacting Jung-ho. Thanks to retaining some of his detective skills, Jung-ho eventually finds out that Young-min is the prime suspect, and Young-min actually confesses to his crimes almost immediately. However, when the police chief comes in to hear his story, Young-min stays quiet and acts as if he never admitted to anything at all. He knows that the police can only hold him for a certain amount of time without any evidence, so the police and Jung-ho are in a race against time to find Min-jin and possibly more bodies.

The Chaser is a really interesting movie in the way that it's story is told, because it doesn't take very long at all for Jung-ho and the police to catch Young-min. While I was watching it, I wondered where the story was heading because all of this was happening so fast. However, I soon realized the real intensity of the story happens when Young-min begins toying with the police and playing the oblivious card. It's a fairly unique method of story-telling, when you realize who the bad guy is instantly, and having him get caught right away, you wonder what's left to show. That's where The Chaser really shines. The suspense created by having this impending time constraint, with how long the police can hold Young-min and trying to find Min-jin during these few hours, is really intense. There are definitely some edge-of-your-seat moments to be found here as you follow the search for Min-jin. The problem is the incredible desire Jung-ho has in finding Min-jin, as if he has this strong emotionally connection with her. Don't get me wrong, I can understand him wanting to find her because they might share a bond or a strong relationship, but as a viewer I never really felt that and during the climax of the movie, Jung-ho's reactions seem a bit over-the-top. The use of Eun-ji (Kim Yoo-jeong) as Min-jin's daughter, as an attempt to connect Jung-ho to Min-jin, felt unrealistic to me, regardless of how cute the kid was. The character development with the protagonists just aren't that strong, but Ha Jeong-woo as Young-min is the star of the show. He has the frightening calm about him, where you truly wonder what he's thinking and what he'll do next. He can turn his emotions from zero to eleven at the drop of a dime. The ending is also a strong part of the film, because by the time I got there, I honestly didn't know what to expect, and what I saw was intense (there's that word again) to say the least.

Overall, The Chaser earns big points by presenting it's story in a somewhat original fashion. It's a suspense-thriller and it lives up to that genre definition. I would have loved some more character development, but other than that I would definitely recommend the film to anyone looking for a fun, nail-biting time at the movies. (Lee)

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Korea 2002)

2008-09-11T10:26:00.001-07:00

"Part one" of the unofficial vengeance trilogy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is as every bit affecting and haunting as you may have heard. It's dark, gritty, emotionally-charged, and will leave you feeling with a new appreciation of just how good a movie can be when all the pieces fit. For those who expect more from their movies, Mr. Vengeance delivers in almost every way.

Deaf mute Ryu (Sin Ha-gyoon), is working at a smelting plant for a meager wage, yet saves every penny of his money in order to save so that his sister can have a kidney transplant. When he finally gets enough money, the only thing standing in his way is having to wait for a donor to come forward. As his sisters condition worsens, Ryu becomes increasingly desperate. To make matters worse, he gets laid off from his job because he was taking too much time off to care for his ailing sister. Ryu remembers an ad he saw in the men's restroom advertising a black market for organs and decides to call the number. He then meets with two questionable individuals that take him to an isolated and abandoned parking garage where upon he meets the woman behind this shady operation. The woman informs Ryu that she'll get him the kidney he needs in exchange for 10,000 won (which just so happens to be the amount Ryu had saved). Awakening the next day on the floor of the same building, which now shows no signs of anyone having been there, Ryu is lying naked on the floor with a horrendous scar signifying that his kidney has in fact been removed. With all of his money gone and no new kidney in which to save his sister, irony comes into play as the doctor informs him that they now have a donor.

Running out of options, Ryu seeks the help of his girlfriend Cha Yeong-mi (Bae Doona), and the two of them devise a plan to kidnap the daughter of Ryu's former employer Park Dong-jin (Song Kang-ho). The plan is to get enough from the ransom money to cover the cost of his sisters surgery. Yeong-mi and Ryu have no intentions of hurting the girl, but things don't go exactly as planned and the child's life is cut tragically short. The young girls death causes Dong-jin to pursue his child's kidnappers with no concern for his own safety and well-being. Once he confronts both Yeong-mi and Ryu, the two are are both apologetic and sympathetic towards Dong-jin for what's happened, but at the same time, his daughter would still be alive if she'd never been taken and Dong-jin won't just let it go.

It's almost difficult to put into words how great Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is. Without being incredibly unique in premise, it still manages to feel otherwise. The acting is simply stellar. I'm a huge fan of Song Kang-ho and I'm impressed with him as always. However, Sin Ha-gyoon is unbelievably impressive as the deaf mute Ryu and his performance is really a show stealer. The story of Mr. Vengeance is told in such a way that you don't really know who to root for, and whether or not you should rooting for either to be perfectly honest. There are no good guys or bad guys per se, but rather just human beings that ultimately make the wrong choices by letting their emotions take them down the wrong path.

I won't tell you that Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is revolutionary or "the best movie ever!", but it's got all the right ingredients (acting, story, pacing, etc.) that work perfectly together because they're all executed wonderfully. The extreme content and lack of backing-down where others would makes this film a hard sell for all crowds, but if you can look past the blood and dark subject matter, you'll find a movie with a powerful story to tell that you won't soon forget. (Lee)

2LDK (Japan 2002)

2008-09-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

2LDK (meaning two living rooms, dining room, and a kitchen in Japan real estate terms), is an ambitious film that has only two stars, one setting, and a lot of clever, witty dialogue that spans a mere 70 minutes in length. All of these elements combine to create an incredibly fulfilling viewing experience that feels wholly unique and inspired.

Nozomi (former gravure idol Eiko Koike) and Rana (Maho Nanami) are two aspiring actresses living together in Tokyo, and both are up for the same part in a major motion picture called Yakzua Wives. Nozomi is a low-key individual who comes from the tiny Sado Island and has a background and appreciation for theater. Rana on the other hand is the complete opposite as high glitz and glamour, looks, and being a household name is her ultimate goal. The two girls are living in an incredibly nice high-rise apartment, all the while waiting anxiously for the phone call that could change one of their lives. As the night progresses, the two of them start make small talk in a cordial manner, but soon find themselves getting into arguments over matters such as using stuff that isn't yours, boys, acting skill and ambition, and so on. The arguments eventually take a turn for the physical as the two girls let loose in an all-out brawl that has the two using anything they can get their hands on to unleash damage.

For the story of 2LDK, that's it in a nutshell. It's an incredibly simple premise, shot in a raw indie style that only took director Yukihiko Tsutsumi eight days to shoot (day and night mind you). Definitely an impressive feat, but more than that, the film has a great look and feel to it all and the dialogue exchanged between the two girls, including what the girls are really thinking about one another, is really clever and often times amusing. As we go deeper into these characters, we begin to understand the flawed nature of them and how deceptive one's appearance really can be. The acting from both Eiko and Maho are really exceptional and the sheer fact that they can anchor an entire film is proof of that. Some of the arguments between Nozomi and Rana may seem petty, but I feel there's a deeper meaning to the film and in particular Japanese society. The Japanese, by most accounts, are a people who exist and thrive by subduing emotional urges (including anger), with the greater goal being to maintain the harmony within any given situation. Sure, I may be looking into things way too much, but get out of it what you will. There's definitely more being said here than just two girls acting catty towards one another. 2LDK feels like an experiment in showing how things, even if seemingly exaggerated, can get out of control when you do in fact let your emotions get the best of you.

Some of the over-the-top violence may offend and turn-off a lot of viewers, but the creativity shown in the concept of 2LDK is enough to warrant a viewing. The acting and writing can simply serve as icing on the cake. A definite must-see. (Lee)

Rob-B-Hood (Hong Kong 2006)

2008-08-25T00:10:00.000-07:00

After Jackie Chan had seemingly returned to Hong Kong to show us what he's made of (see: New Police Story), I was starting to wonder if he would continue giving us that brand of comedic-action that he's known for. With Rob-B-Hood, not only does Jackie give us the stunts and action that we've come to love from him, but the slap-stick antics as well. Still, the film as a whole is far from perfect.

Thongs (Jackie Chan) and Octopus (Louis Koo) are two burglars under the direction of Landlord (Michael Hui) who find themselves in a hairy situation while trying to steal prescription meds from the hospital. Security finally catches on to their thievery, but before they can do anything about it, they're distracted by some madman (Terence Yin) trying to steal a woman's newborn baby. During the ruckus, the kidnapper falls to his death with Thongs coming to the rescue of the newborn. As we learn more about our thieving trio, we see that Thongs, even with a very large family, is really all alone. They obviously don't approve of his questionable lifestyle, and with a major gambling problem, he still tries to win them over with lavish gifts. Octopus can't stop spending his money on expensive clothes, cars, and women that he takes out on the town...even though his wife Yan (Charlene Choi) is working as hard as she can to keep his attention. Landlord has been saving his cut of the money over the years and is planning his retirement with his wife (Teresa Carpio). She seems to have lost her mind due to a miscarriage from years earlier that left her mentally scarred and desiring a baby, which her husband can no longer provide. Things seem to be completely normal in their world until someone robs Landlord of his millions in savings. Desperate, he tries to convince Thongs and Octopus to take on one last job which will result in a massive payday for the three of them. Little do Thongs and Octopus realize, Landlord plans to kidnap a baby (unbeknownst to his understudies), the same baby (Matthew Medvedev) caught up in the ruckus at the hospital, which goes against everything Landlord has taught the two. However, as the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. During the escape, Thongs and Octopus (with baby in tow) are separated from Landlord who was captured by the police. Now the two thieves are stuck with a baby and neither of them have any idea how to take care of one. Let the hilarity ensue!

Thongs and Octopus struggle with buying the right type of diapers, changing those diapers, feeding the baby with the proper food and so on. A cute, friendly nurse (Gao Yuanyuan) assists the two in taking care of the child and possibly even crushes on Thongs in the process. All the while, Landlord is working on a deal with a crime boss (Chen Baoguo) who wants the baby in order to find out if it's a party of family. See, the son of the crime boss was the madman trying to steal the baby from the hospital, claiming he was the father. Needless to say, Thongs and Octopus grow increasingly affectionate towards the baby are not exactly thrilled in handing him over to the baddies. When they do, they realize the mistake they've made and storm through the front gates to get him back.

What can you say about Jackie Chan, who despite his age, still manages to muster up enough inspiration to amuse and entertain his audience in creative new ways. Sure the addition of a baby thrown into the mix makes for more CGI moments than I care to see, but I don't expect to see the child really hanging off the side of a building so it's easy to let moments like this slide. Jackie's performance is amusing as always, but even next to the man with the tan, you can't help but feel like Louis Koo is the real comic relief here. Basically, both actors do a great job at providing the laughs. Michael Hui rides that fine line between being someone you can sympathize with and someone who's just a complete weasel. Teresa Carpio as his mentally distraught wife, while at times portraying someone quite pitiful, comes across more as over-the-top to me. The action scenes are great to watch, and the inclusion of Yuen Baio as Officer Mok amps up a cleverly choreographed apartment scene. The action scene in the final act, against the men in white, is the true stand-out of the film and props are cleverly used in true Jackie Chan fashion. The only real trouble with Rob-B-Hood is the ending. I know, I know...the ending is so important to the film in the grand scheme of things, but the insanely dramatic and wholly unnecessary manner in which things are played out (cars, batteries, babies!), while somewhat emotion-inducing, was also enough to make me scratch my head.

R0b-B-Hood is a good movie, not great, but definitely entertaining and innocent enough to please the young ones. It isn't without it's flaws, and few movies are, but in the grand scheme of things, they can be overlooked due to having far more good parts than bad. A worth-while viewing and a must for Jackie Chan fans. (Lee)

Two Faces of My Girlfriend (Korea 2007)

2008-07-27T15:29:00.001-07:00

In what could've been an above-average romantic comedy, Two Faces of my Girlfriend is marred by the all-too-familiar curse (at least in Korean cinema) of unnecessary tragedy making it feel like two completely different movies. At least Bong Tae-gyu is fun to watch...sigh.

Guchang (Bong Tae-gyu) is an unemployed, 7th year college student who freeloads off of his sister. Needless to say, he appears to be a bit directionless in life. However, a chance of fate in the school cafeteria, in which he stumbles upon a wallet someone left behind, seems to put his life on a more optimistic path. Not only can he afford to eat (regardless of whose money he's using), but Guchang ends up meeting the owner of the wallet, Anni (Jeong Ryeo-won), and things don't seem so bad after all. Guchang and Anni begin to spend plenty of time together, and the two really seem to hit it off during Anni's birthday celebration. But when Anni has a bit too much to drink and Guchang's friends think he's going to finally make his move, things take an interesting turn as the seemingly sweet and innocent Anni begins acting like a completely different person. She begins to punish and torture Guchang, and insinuating that he tried to take advantage of her, all the while Guchang can't believe what's happening. The next day, Anni acts as if she has no idea what Guchang is talking about, as if the events of that night never took place. In fact, an encounter with a group of punks picking on Guchang's nephew shows that Anni isn't in control of her hardcore alter ego at all. It seems that the cause of her split-personality stems from the fact that she hasn't been able to get over her ex-boyfriend, who is now engaged to another woman. Her "other self" is how she deals with the pain. Interestingly enough, Hanni (Anni's alter-ego) tell Guchang to leave Anni alone and that he better not try and take advantage of her in her fragile state. Anni on the other hand is still obsessing over her ex and continues to pry into his life, which only makes her more miserable. It seems as if Anni's condition gradually continues to worsen, with Guchang struggling to reach her. When Anni finally does strike up the nerve to confront her boyfriend at the airport, things don't go as planned and everything changes. Will Anni ever get over her ex and let Guchang in? More importantly, will Hanni let Guchang get to Anni's heart?

Both of these questions you might not even care to know the answers to by the time any inkling of an answer starts to rear it's ugly head. I was honestly on board with Two Face of my Girlfriend for the entire first hour, but the minute I found out what was really going on, is almost the exact same moment I stopped caring. Why? Because the last hour of the movie feels completely different from the first. As two separate pieces, they would both be fine in two different films, but alas that is not the case here. Bong Tae-gyu as Guchang is quite the entertaining actor to watch, and his looks alone add to humor of his character. I enjoyed the silly CGI elements, such as the arrows shot into Guchang's chest and how his stomach was sad when he couldn't eat anything. The relationship he has with Jeong Ryeo-won's character and his three friends is cute stuff and his interactions with Anni's hateful alter-ego is amusing. The problem is that the film rehashes too much of it's own jokes with there being countless scenes of Anni turning into Hanni and wreaking havoc on Guchang and his friends. It was funny the first few times, then it just got old. That leads me to Jeong Ryeo-won's performance, which I found rather engaging and impressive as it seems quite the challenge to convincingly convey several different "characters". There is indeed a tragic twist in the film that I'm not entirely sure I saw coming, but was unimpressed with nonetheless. It seemed to be way too much and inappropriate for the movie I thought I was watching.

Again, I can't help but feel like I've been led astray by this overplayed formula that is way too prevalent in modern Korean cinema. Two Faces of my Girlfriend would've been a great comedy, even a cute romance, but as is, it's just a major unbalanced letdown. (Lee)

Two Faces of my Girlfriend is currently out of stock at YESASIA!

Oldboy (Korea 2003)

2008-07-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

I've been asked, "why are you even bothering to review that movie?", when I mentioned I'd be taking on Park Chan-wook's already classic Oldboy. I was asked this because the movie is considered that good amongst nearly everyone whose seen it. It is as good as you've heard, and almost defies the need to be reviewed. However, almost leaves me just enough room to voice my opinion.

Oh Daesu (Min-sik Choi) is a drunk and belligerent man whose been brought into police custody while on his way home to be with his daughter for her birthday. Once his friend Joo-hwan (Dae-han Ji) comes to pick him up, he makes a call to his daughter to let her know he's on his way home...or so he thought. The next time we see Daesu, it's been months since he went missing on his daughters birthday and he's been imprisoned in a small room with nothing but a bed, TV, toilet, shower, and a regular diet of the same fried dumplings on a daily basis. Daesu is literally a prisoner of this room, with no idea who his captors are. Watching the news, he learns of his wife's murder, with him as the prime suspect as things taken from his "new" home are placed at the scene of the crime. All he can do is watch helplessly. Months turn in to years, fifteen to be exact, and as the years go by, Daesu fills his time by digging an escape tunnel behind his bed, training his body and mind, and watching television; his only contact with the outside world. Just as his escape tunnel is near completion, Daesu is surprisingly released from his prison and awakens on a rooftop in the outside world. As you can imagine, the world he once knew has changed significantly. As he begins to explore this new world, he is intercepted by a homeless man in front of a sushi restaurant who hands him a wallet full of money and a cellphone. Just because he's been released, doesn't mean he isn't being watched. After going into the sushi restaurant, he meets a beautiful young woman by the name of Mido (Hye-jeong Kang) preparing the sushi. When she reaches to touch Daesu's hand, he passes out, later awakening in her apartment. The two seem to be taken with one another, and Mido, after learning of Daesu's tale, agrees to help him on his quest to find out who's responsible for killing his wife, what happened to him and where his daughter could possibly be after all these years. Eventually Daesu confronts the person responsible for his capture, Woo-jin Lee (Ji-tae Yoo), but instead of exacting his revenge on the man, he decides to play Woo-jin's game in order to find out the why instead of the who.

Oldboy is considered to be part two in Chan-wook Park's "vengeance trilogy", with parts one and two being Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance respectively. That being said, this is in no way a sequel and is a stand-alone film that simply shares vengeance as the central theme that ties the films together. With that out of the way, I can say that Oldboy is a movie that puts an entirely new spin on the desire to seek revenge. The story is smart, in the sense that it has you guessing from the very beginning as to who's responsible for ruining Daesu's life and as to why they're doing it. It's done in such a strong, well thought out way that when everything is finally revealed to the viewer, you'll genuinely be shocked at the end. There is a lot of shocks to be had in this movie, and it can be graphic at times, but none of it seems contrived. The way in which Oldboy is filmed wonderful, and I hate to mention the hallway hammer scene as everyone seems to, but it's a sight to behold and the shot is outstanding. The acting is award-winning stuff, and the Grand Bell Awards in South Korea seemed to agree as Min-sik Choi was awarded best actor and Chan-wook Park was given the best director award. Seriously, Min-sik as Oh Daesu is simply amazing and shows a range that couldn't be described as anything but professional. Ji-tae Yoo is also superb as the emotionally drained Woo-jin. Both actors make all of the pain expressed seem absolutely real.

So is Oldboy worth all of the acclaim it's received? Absolutely. If you disagree or don't "get" the movie, than I'd honestly be surprised. Do yourself a favor and see what all the fuss has been about. With an American release courtesy of Tartan (r.i.p.), the film is now more accessible than ever, so you definitely have no excuse. (Lee)

Buy Oldboy on US Version UMD, US Version DVD, US Version Blu-ray, and US Version 3-Disc Limited Edition DVD from YESASIA!

Hana and Alice (Japan 2004)

2008-07-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

Based on a series of short films made to celebrate Kit-Kat's 30th anniversary in Japan, the story of Hana and Alice was expanded into a feature-length release. It's an interesting portrayal of friendship and how first loves can change that dynamic, but with a run-time of 135 minutes, it's entertainment value is dragged down considerably.

Best friends Hana (Anne Suzuki) and Alice (Yu Aoi) have a friendship that can only be developed over years, and it appears that nothing could come between the two. On one of their routine train rides to school, the girls begin to take notice of a Masashi (Tomohiro Kaku), a boy that rides the same train as them. Alice tries to get Hana interested in him, but she doesn't seem to really care. However, it appears she's just playing coy and secretly pines for him, to the point of stalking him with her camera. Heck, she even goes so far as to join the same comedy club as him at school. After school one day, Hana follows Masashi home, and he is so engaged in his book that he smacks his head against a metal gate which knocks him unconscious. Hana, seeing an opportunity, convinces the confused boy that he has confessed his love for her and just can't remember. Hana's lie eventually turns into a relationship with Masashi, but he can't help but feel completely lost as to why he's with her. Meanwhile, Alice is also caught up in Hana's lie, as she plays Masashi's ex-girlfriend and has to act as if she used to go out with him. See, Masashi found the photos that Hana took of him and the only way he'd believe that Hana wasn't crazy was to make it appear as if Alice took the photos. The two girls are basically creating the boy's memories for him. Aren't lies wonderful!? When Alice isn't trying to convince Masashi that they used to be an item, she's discovered by a talent agency and begins going on various modeling and acting auditions. However, she has no real talent, other than ballet, so she comes up empty handed at each opportunity. The more time Alice begins to spend with Masashi, the more the two of them begin to develop real feelings for one another. This, as you can imagine, creates a rift between Hana and Alice and poor Masashi is stuck in the middle. Will the girls finally tell Masashi the truth? And will Masashi want anything to do with either of them if he does find out the truth?

Ah young love. Is there anything cuter than that? Well I'm sure there is, but it's unquestionably a major turning point in any young persons life and the attempt at portraying it in Hana and Alice is a noble one. I have to admit that I haven't seen the three shorts films that the movie is comprised of individually, but I still can't help but think that those shorts films would have sufficed in getting the story across just fine. No buts about it, Hana and Alice is a long movie folks. It doesn't take long to get the ball rolling with Hana convincing Masashi that they're a couple, but after that, it's a lot of stuff that doesn't have much at all to do with that major plot point. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously, and that's possibly where I had my biggest problem with it. I could never understand why Masashi didn't get more upset over the fact that these two girls were so blatantly deceiving him and seemed to think nothing of it. Most of the film just acts as if this sort of behavior is normal, and that seemed incredibly bizarre to me. On a brighter note, the cinematography throughout the film is wonderful, with some scenes having been shot beautifully. There is a quirky sense of the humor to the film, that while not flat-out hilarious, will make you smile on more than one occasion. The performances, most notably from Anne Suzuki and Yu Aoi, are impressive, with Yu Aoi going on to win a Best Actress award in 2005 at the Japanese Professional Movie Awards. These girls just seem like complete naturals in front of the camera, which in turn, seems like an ironic joke in regards to Alice as she performs so terribly at auditions within the movie.

In the end, Hana and Alice is a cute look into the friendship of two teenage girls and how their friendship is compromised because of a boy. This is certainly a reality for many young people out there, but the way it's played out here doesn't necessarily feel realistic. Hana and Alice is at times heart-warming and engaging, but with little substance to stretch over such a long running-time, even the most patient of viewers will find this innocent look at love a trying experience. (Lee)

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Seven Days (Korea 2007)

2008-07-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

I know what you're thinking, "Hey! I recognize that lady in the poster! Isn't she in that show Lost?". Why yes...yes she is. Seven Days stands as Yoon-jin Kim's return to Korean cinema after becoming a break-through star with the previously mentioned hit television series. Sure it's another movie about child abduction, and we all know that's nothing new, but it's still somehow entertaining.

Superstar attorney Ji-yeon Yoo (Yoon-jin Kim) never loses a case and has become something of a media sensation because of it. Her lawfirm takes on all the big cases because their confidance in Ji-yeon is unwavering. Seeing as how she takes on so many cases and is almost always working, this leaves her very little quality with her seven year old daughter Eunyoung (Ra-hye Lee). Eunyoung really wants her mom to particpate with her in her schools mother-daughter relay race, and Ji-yeon promises to be there. On the day of the event, everything seems to be going according to plan, until Ji-yeon finishes her winning run only to find that Eunyoung is nowhere to be found. Ji-Yeon, naturally, contacts the police and prepares a large sum of money as payment for what she assumes is a ransom situation. However, the kidnapper interestingly enough isn't after money, but makes a demand for Ji-yeon to use her outstanding skills as an attorney to free someone on death row. Not understanding the details of the case she's dealing with, it doesn't take Ji-Yeon long to agree to the terms as she only has seven days (hence the title) to prove the inmates innocence. She gets her detective friend Seong-yeol Kim (Hee-soon Park) to help her in her quest to find her daughter while she tries to focus on the court case as well. As you can imagine, it's a race against time to get her daughter back before the case is closed for good.

My interest to see Seven Days stemmed from the fact that I'm a big fan of Lost and I wanted to see Yoon-jin Kim's return to the movies as the main star. I'm pleased to say that she puts in a wonderful performance, showing a gamut of emotions I can only imagine one goes through when faced with a nightmare scenario such as this. In fact, I don't appear to be the only one that feels this way as Yoon-jin later went on to win the Best Actress award at the 45th annual Daejong (Grand Bell) festival in South Korea. Hee-soon Park, her "sidekick" for most of the movie, is just one of those guys that you really love to stand behind because he means well in his intentions and looks cool while doing it. The child-abduction formula is given a mild breath of fresh-air thanks to an interesting plot-twist that doesn't have anything to do with money. However, there's not all praise to be given here as writer Je-goo Yeon, while doing alot of things right, also tries to cram way too many story elements into a movie that's based around limited time. This can be annoying when you wish the film would just focus on the main plot of Ji-yeon and Seong-yeol getting Eunyong back. Director Sin-yeon Won does an excellent job at making everything look incredibly polished, in a Hollywood blockbuster way, and that look fits the bill just nicely.

So if nothing else, Seven Days proves that Yoon-jin Kim really is a great actress that is more than capable of being an engaging lead and that Korean audiences will embrace her with open arms. After this performance, I'll be more than happy to join them. (Lee)

Seven Days is temporarily out of stock at YESASIA!

The official Seven Days website *In Korean

New Police Story (Hong Kong 2004)

2008-07-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

Yes...I know it's the DVD cover.

Symbolizing the long-awaited (by most) return to Hong Kong cinema for Jackie Chan, New Police Story is almost exactly what you'd expect from everyone's favorite death-defying entertainer. It's got high-flying leaps, well-choreographed fights, and a lot of shattering glass, which is customary in Benny Chan territory. Not the best JC movie on the market, but an excellent return to form nonetheless.

Detective Kwok-Wing Chan (Jackie Chan) is merely a shell of his former self. What remains of the happy-go-lucky policeman of yesteryear is a sad, drunken, mess of a man, who honestly has every right to be that way. It's only been a year since the team under his command was brutally murdered on what appeared to be a fairly routine operation. However, Wing severly underestimated the sadistic nature of Joe (Daniel Wu) and his cop-killing cohorts (say that three times fast). The gang get their kicks by robbing banks and killing as many police officers as they can to earn "points" for their sick game. Wing and his men, including his soon to be brother-in-law (Deep Ng), were led into a warehouse rigged with numerous traps that led to them being picked off one-by-one. Clearly distraught by having his men mowed down, Wing is unable to fight Joe and his croneys off by himself, leaving him with unbearable amount of shame and guilt. Fast-forward to today and Joe and his gang still haven't been caught as they continue to rob banks and kill cops all for the thrill. The newest cop on the force, Frank (Nicholas Tse), has been assigned as Wing's new partner to take on the case. Frank knows that Wing has a score to settle and wants nothing more than to help return Wing to his former glory. Not only does this entail getting him back to the detective he used to be, but by also restoring his relationship with his girlfriend Ho-Yee (Charlie Young), as the two haven't been the same since her brother's death. Needless to say, Frank gives Wing the push he needs in order to get back in the saddle and take down these baddies once and for all.

We eventually see what makes Joe tick, as his father is a chief police inspector who constantly beats Joe at home for being a lazy, good-for-nothing brat. This in turn makes Joe hate authority figures, police included. Growing up I could definitely understand the desire to be angry with authority figures, and while I've never been treated as poorly as ol' Joe in New Police Story, the urge to murder every single cop I possible could never seemed like the right avenue for me. What I'm saying is, the motivation driving Joe and his gang of thugs seems a bit much, but it's an action movie, so no one is really going to care. They just want to see Jackie Chan do what he does best, and in New Police Story he delivers in spades...for the most part. Jackie isn't getting any younger, so naturally the presence of more wire-work is more obvious, but you can still overlook it for the sheer fact that you still know it's Jackie putting his butt on the line for your entertainment. Not many Hollywood-types can claim to go so far. Also of note is Jackie's performance in the film. We're all used to see the wacky, slapstick-humor Jackie in just about every one of his movies, but in New Police Story we see a different side to his acting. He's carrying a lot of emotional baggage and is generally just an unpleasant person to be around. Life has hit the man hard, and his portrayal of such a distraught soul is admirable, if not a bit over-the-top at times. Nicholas Tse is great at taking over the comic-relief role, and even Daniel Wu (Golden Horse Winner for Best Supporting Actor) conveys the troubled-youth angle in a believable fashion. Andy One (on the the gang members) does an excellent job holding his own in the fight scenes with Jackie. All I'll say is I love Legos! Charlene Choi of TWINS makes an appearance as the police departments IT personality, and is really only notable because I know there are a lot of TWINS fans out there.

I really welcomed New Police Story with open arms. Jackie had been reduced to side-kick only roles (for the most part) here in the states, and when he was the leading man, it was a sad sight to see (The Medallion, The Tuxedo, etc.). I really couldn't have expected more out a man well into his fifties, that continues to impress and entertain with his acrobatic ability. It has the feel of a well-polished popcorn movie, but for Jackie Chan fans, it's a ray of hope in what appeared to be a career on the downward spiral. A return to the motherland, is a return to form. Viva la Hong Kong! (Lee)

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Shaolin Soccer (Hong Kong 2001)

2008-07-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

This is how posters look when Miramax gets a hold of you!

Good lord! How long has it been since I've posted a review? Don't think about that question for too long, cause it's been four months. Why has it taken so long? Well for one, life got in the way and secondly, I wasn't sure if I was going to keep doing this due to what appears to be a lack of interest. Regardless, I thought to myself, why not just keep doing because I want to do it. So that's exactly what I'm doing. If you enjoy the review, well then bless your little heart and I hope you continue to do so.

Shaolin Soccer, the 2001 masterpiece (yes, I said masterpiece), by the amazing Stephen Chow (hailed by People magazine as the Jim Carrey of Asia...hmm, whatever), is exactly what I look for in a Hong-Kong comedy: wild slap-stick humor, entertaining acting, fun and decent-looking special effects with a story that does a good enough job taking the film from point A to point B. A must-see for any fan of Hong-Kong cinema or simply comedy for that matter.

The once much-revered soccer star Golden Leg Fung (Ng Man-Tat) is now a washed up, handicapped, street-beggar after being let go by his once teammate/boss Hung (Patrick Tse). A particularly important soccer match when both were in their prime led to Fung being crippled by a group of rioting fans, and Hung took over his spot as team favorite. Now that Fung is out of a job, he also has nowhere to go. He eventually runs into a lowly street cleaner by the name of Sing (Stephen Chow) who, when he's not collecting trash, is trying to peddle kung-fu lessons to anyone who will give him the time of day. The two men discuss their views on soccer and kung-fu, resulting in Fung storming off and believing Sing is just some crazy guy with an incredibly strong kicking leg. Sing then meets up with brother Iron Head (Wong Yat-Fei) whom is trying to make a living working with a bunch of gangsters. Sing is desperatley trying to find a way to incorpate his Shaolin kung-fu with other forms of entertainment (singing and dancing for example). After having his interest peaked on the soccer field, Sing thinks that mixing his Shaolin kung-fu with soccer would be a great way to get the public interested in kung-fu and Fung sees the potential in Sing's "steel leg". Seeing as how the upcoming soccer tournament could make Fung a cool million dollars, he agrees to teach Sing how to play soccer and the two of them head out to recruit Sing's "brothers" to fill up the team. Each member of the team, Iron Head included, have special Shaolin kung-fu abilities that they can ulitize on the soccer field. Now they just need to learn how to play the game. The ability to play the game and Hung's "Evil Team" are the only things standing in their way of the million dollars the championship trophy.

Well this definitely wasn't the first time that I'd watched Shaolin Soccer, but I figured it was time to get a review going for this modern-day classic. Really, I feel like this is already a classic. Stephen Chow won awards for best director and actor and the list of awards and nominations for the film fall into basically every single category imaginable. Sure, the story is a simple one of redemption and underdogs having their moment in the sun, but the entertaining characters, special effects, and overall feeling of "what are they gonna do next!?" is what makes Shaolin Soccer so enjoyable. The magic these characters pull off on the field is always a blast to watch and you'll really want to root them on when they're faced with daunting challenges.

Shaolin Soccer put Stephen Chow on the map in the States, and continued solidifying his already concrete-career throughout Asia. It's a film that will make you want to explore the man's impressive catalog of films and you'll almost certainly be a fan that will follow his future works as well. For that reason alone, you should really purchase this movie and see what all the fuss was, and in some circles, continues to be about. (Lee)

Suffer throught the trailer of the American release of Shaolin Soccer! My apologies...

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Brave (Thailand 2008)

2008-03-16T19:27:00.001-07:00

"Whoa! Now that the truth is revealed, get ready to go to hell!"

Brave is a film attempting to do what Hong Kong martial-arts cinema God Jackie Chan did the best in the late eighties and nineties. Basically, take action with an unlikely hero that uses the environment's, wit, and charisma to outshine his opponents. So does Brave have what it takes to bring us all back to that classic time? Maybe.

B (Pairote Boongerd), is a young guy thats forced by the biggest mafia gang in Thailand to steal client information from Wealthy Bank, an international credit card company. He shows up "looking for a job" and makes his way in. Once inside, he places some calls for a ton of food to be delivered to the various businesses within the building. After taking care of some martial-arts experts/credit-card call center workers, B finds Lita (Supakson Chaimongkon), the company's vice president, and forces her to give him the password that will allow him to finish his assignment. With the cops everywhere, he's bound to mix it up with at least a few of them and still manages to find enough time to sneak away disguised as a food delivery driver. Now B has the data he can use to negotiate the release of his brother Tong (Afdlin Shauki), who has been captured, tortured, and held hostage by this gang. So B goes to rescue him and make the switch, but the gang sets up the old double-cross, "rig your buddy with explosives trap", in an attempt to kill both B and Tong.

Later, the mob boss Kovit (Sahaschai Chumrum), finds out that B and Tong are still alive, so he sends waves of gang members to finish the two off, as well as B's former best friend Mia. Meanwhile, Lita's husband, the CEO of Wealthy Bank, takes his own life due to the embarrassing and disrespectful loss that his company has experienced. B and Tong find out about this man taking his life and feel nothing but guilt because of it. They try to find Lita to explain that B was just a pawn in this gangs evil plan, but when they get to her home, they find that the gang has already arrived.

There are things going on in Brave that will really make you want to like it, but sadly, there are also too many red flags that get raised to let you. As with most action movies, the action taking place is definitely the film's selling point, but in the search for the perfect action movie, the narrative is always the one part getting the short end of the stick, and Brave is no exception. It has these odd sub-plots that keep rearing their ugly heads and sends the viewer into mass confusion. So really, you'll just end up ignoring them and continue waiting for more action. At times, the acting is passable. The bad guys say as little as possible and mostly stand there looking menacing. The "sidekick" (Tong), overacts and gets exciting about everything, while Lita cries a lot and seems to question everything that happens. B does his best Jackie Chan impression, from the smiling, light-hearted, good-guy antics, down to the facial reactions he uses to "sell" his pain during the fights. It's not a bad thing per se, but he just has to make all of this his own, and it seems a bit sacrilegious to play on the masters work.

Now, as for the fighting and the stunt work in Brave, I will say that this stunt crew takes some pretty darn good bumps and falls. Just about every scene has a slew of guys flying through something or falling from way too high up, which is always a treat to see. The use of an old building sets up an exciting jump that Pairote Boongerd takes, and it does that classic martial-arts "double-take" replay, and yeah...it's worth it. The fights as a whole do a good job of gradually getting better as the film progresses, with the best being saved for the climax. Seasoned fans will notice that some of the choreography could have been a little tighter at times in order to keep a better flow during some fights. Other than that, most scenes were quite entertaining and you can really tell that the action was the main focus. So is the Thai martial-arts action film on par with Hong Kong martial-arts action? No. Is it headed in the right direction? With a little help and time, I'd say so. (converter)

See You In You Tube (Hong Kong 2008)

2008-03-08T19:16:00.000-08:00

"Would you choose love or friendship?"

In the movie See You In You Tube (yes, that's really what it's called), that question does indeed get answered. Add together a series of wacky hijinks, mix well with one hand-held shooting experience (camera) and you'll get to the see the full effect of a trend that is putting the world of cinema into a choke hold. Who wouldn't want to see what comes of all this?

Janice (Janice Man) and Ling (Elanne Kong), are best of friends and have been since they were little girls. They compete in everything from school grades to popularity. Him (Law Chung-Him), is a buff film student that can't seem to get enough money for one reason or another. Janice first meets Him on the bus where she witnesses Him pickpocket one of the passengers. Later on, Ling becomes one of his victims. She gives chase and follows him into an alley only to end up being saved by Him when a gang member attacks her. After that, and the girls don't seem to care, but instead see that the VERY same guy, that victimized Ling and that Janice caught in the act of pickpocketing mind you, has a video club that can teach you how to make movies. So now the girls decide to show up to his makeshift class, both with their tag-along boyfriends that are whipped beyond belief. There are also a rag-tag collection of other cardboard cut outs. After Him and his buddy get the group hanging on to their every word after a few meetings, Him notices that these girls have a very competitive streak between them. So he makes them split into two teams and participate in a game where the teams have to do outlandish things to win points.

Challenges such as, sing the Happy Birthday song at a Triad members funeral and see how long it takes you to get beat up, or even a commercial jingle at the funeral of a child. A kung-fu fight with random produce. How about going into a jewelry store in a ski mask with a fake AK-47 to buy a necklace? HA! Now that's a knee-slapper! (For those who don't know, these places are always guarded by a man with heavy firepower). There are more challenges for the two teams to go through, but which team will end up the winners?

To say that See You In You Tube (God, I hate the title), is a terrible movie is nothing but the whole-hearted truth and even that's being nice. I don't care that Oxide Pang produced this film and that there were seven directors (four of them students). Hell, that would explain why nothing in the story made any since or happened for a reason. For example, why would these kids even consider risking their lives or the safety of others for no clear reason? Never explained. They use this black and white, documentary-style of filming the interviews taking place at random with various characters of the group and it really doesn't change anything for me. At that point, it's too late and it's not like I'm going to be relating to these kids. I had to research the cast to see if any of them had worked prior to this because I don't think any of them had ever seen a video camera before. It was that bad. Most of the time the movie tried to keep that "shaky" camera feel, but only sometimes. Mainly when it was convenient for them which comes off as inconsistent. I'm sure they were just trying to give it an authentic feel, but really it was just annoying. Oddly enough, they did stick to a theme, but unfortunately it was the, "annoy the viewer" theme. What could be mistaken as a high-energy romp with a good time to be had by all, ended up as a movie with a questionable running time of nearly two hours in which I was done with after fifteen minutes. In short, there is no way I can recommend this train-wreck of a movie, unless you're a fourteen year old girl that feels the exact way the two leads in this movie do. In that case, I do believe See You In You Tube was made solely for you and you alone, and for that I'm truly sorry. (converter)

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Eat The School: Osaka Telephone Club (Japan 1997)

2008-03-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

"Dear Diary, I just killed someone today."

One part pink-cinema, one part avant-garde, and one part college film project. Eat the School Girl seems to be more out to "shock" the audience than entertain them, but oddly enough, it doesn't appear to do either.

On the busy streets of Tokyo, Japan, two young guys work for a small-time gang of thugs pushing sex fliers and tapes. One is a sex-crazy, wired-up neurotic, and the other (our main protagonist), is a solemn, lonely time-bomb of a man that is addicted to phone sex. After calling his favorite operator and enjoying some "me time", he's off to handing out fliers with a special "idol-ish" girl on it and selling some sex tapes. The two return to their bosses hangout to receive change from their sales and end up getting a peek into the seedy underworld that's making these hardcore pornos. The gang is basically kidnapping random girls off the street and film the debauchery themselves. The two are chased off to resume selling the tapes and as the day comes to an end, the two go their separate ways. Neurotic hits the streets and tries to pick up various women while the Protagonist goes home to place that certain phone call. However, when he gets home, he's greeted by a naked woman that just happens to look like the one from the flier. She boldly proclaims that she is all for him and that he may do as he wishes. He gets so worked up and frustrated that he leaves and heads back to the streets dressed as a schoolgirl and kills a man in a tunnel with a box cutter. Then we see him "climax" on the body, all while trying to regress the memories of seeing his family brutally murdered in front of him as a child. When he finally realizes what he's done, he run off into the night.

There's more that I could add that takes place in Eat The School Girl, but it all seems pretty pretentious and just seems to be trying to hard to "shock" us. For a film with a running time of only an hour, it all becomes "old hat" and just comes across as a total yawn by the end. The acting is incredibly campy and difficult to watch. The gorilla-style shooting style on the streets got annoying in the first five minutes, but the real bad guy here is the story. The story keeps this, "leave it all up the viewer to decide what's happening", way of things. Was there a girl on the other end of the phone? Is she an angel telling me I need to kill someone to climax in order to be free? This smug and vain way of story-telling is spotty and there's not enough substance to captivate and makes you want to ask the previously mentioned questions. In the end however, you simply just won't care. All is not lost however, as some people may enjoy this for the gore, the simulated rape scenes, or for the so-called "shock" factor. Maybe I've become desensitized over the years, but you'll have to excuse this horror-veteran (Japanese or other-wise), when I say that you'll simply have to do better than this. Naoyuki Tomomatsu missed the mark big time with Stacy and Eat The School Girl on all accounts. So here's hoping that Zombie Self-Defense Force turns out better than his previous work, but I doubt it. (converter)

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Trivial Matters (Hong Kong 2007)

2008-03-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

A wide array of experiences in life, death, and relationships, Trivial Matters is the film version of seven short stories from director Edmond Pang Ho-Cheung aimed at amusing the masses. Problem is, the more stories you have, the higher the risk of a hit-and-miss situation, which is exactly what this package as a whole provides.

Vis Major - The film opens with an off-camera therapist (Jan Lam) trying to get to the root of a married couples (Chan Fai-Hung and Crystal Tin), problems. Naturally, both sides have their own unique spin on the story of their sex life which is recreated through the use of no-name actors as both husband and wife explain their discomfort over the therapist visualizing them having sex.

Civism - Next, we see Edison Chen and Stephanie Cheng in a dance club having a conversation on what it means to be a "civil" citizen. Edison goes into great, and graphic, detail about what it is that makes him such a great helper of the working class.

It's A Festival Today - Chan (Eason Chan) and his girlfriend Wai Ying (Isabel Chan) move in together but they each have a different motive for doing so. Wai Ying wants to save money on the rent and further develop their relationship. Chan just wants to have sex but Wai Ying wants to wait until after marriage. He convinces her that "oral" activities isn't the same as having sex, so she agrees to it because it's Christmas day and she wasn't able to buy him a present. After that, she'll only "service" him on holidays.

Tak Nga - Told from the perspective of a future race living on another planet and in silent-film style, an instructor is telling his class the story of Ai Chi (Kenny Kwan), who writes a letter to the editor of Easy Finder magazine in hopes that they'll name a star after his crush Tak Nga (Angela Baby) for her birthday.

Ah Wai The Big Head - Ah Wai (Gillian Chung) is an insecure secondary school student who often relies on the advice of her friend Kate (Stephy Tang) before making any decisions. Ah Wai mentions that a garage worker by the name of Eagle has taken notice of her and she can't decide if she should date him or not. Kate really doesn't care about Ah Wai's problems and seems to just tell Ah Wai what she wants to hear in order to get rid of her. Kate is busy being in love herself and is planning a trip to Japan with her boyfriend Ronald. When things take a serious turn for Ah Wai and she needs Kate's help more than ever, their quasi-friendship is put to the test. Eventually the girls find themselves in similar situations, but the end result is the opposite of what both girls expected.

Recharge - We're back with Chan and the story of his prudish girlfriend, but now the focus is on his best friend Ah Keung (Chapman To). Through narration, Ah Keung gives the impression that he's no stranger to the "services" prostitutes provide and soon finds himself in a hotel with a woman from Shanghai by the name of Fay Fay (Zhang Zheng). The two of them exchange some small talk and eventually conduct "business" together. However, by the end of their encounter you can tell by the looks on their faces that both have been somewhat changed, even if it's ever so slightly.

Junior - The last story starts with killer-for-hire businessman Feng Xiaogang explaining to his client Peter Kam, a long time customer of Feng's company K&C, that due to his frequent use of their service, he's now eligible for a new bonus scheme they've implemented. Peter now has a coupon worth one free kill as long as the killer is someone from K&C's Junior Hitman Training Program. Enter our junior hitman (Shawn Yue) who finds his target Chan Wei Yeung, working at the bowling alley. When Junior confronts his target, gun drawn and all, Chan is caught hitting the bong red-handed. Instead of doing his job, Junior decides to get high with his target instead.

Based on producer/screenwriter/director Pang's collection of short stories, it's safe to say that not all of the stories portrayed in Trivial Matters translated to film successfully. I haven't read the collection, but I can only hope this was the case. Some of the stories are genuinely entertaining; It's A Festival Today and Ah Wai The Big Head were the stand-outs for me. The former for just being funny in a dark way and the latter for telling an affecting story about friendship. As a side note, I'd like to point out that Eason Chan may have the worst hairstyle in all of Hong Kong cinema. Tak Nga and Junior were quite pointless and Junior in particular felt like an inside joke that none of us were meant to get. The only thing I can say about Civism is that I don't think it's real word and it made me dislike Edison Chen more than I already did because I get the distinct feeling that his "character" in this story is how he is in real life. The attempt at humor in Vis Major was somewhat lost on me, as I've yet to hit that married, middle-aged period of my life but it was cute nonetheless. Recharge, while showing a fine performance by Chapman To, also felt completely unbelievable. A man who frequents the use of prostitutes is suddenly smitten by one girl in particular with no real connection (outside of the sex mind you) to make him feel this way. While I'm at it, I should point at that Trivial Matters isn't too shy when it comes to nudity. Mostly of the female persuasion, but a cameo by Chapman's tubby bottom does make it's way into the film.

Trivial Matters, if nothing else, is aptly named and a fine display of potential from Pang. The variety of stories within seem to aim at having something for everyone, but that alone should tell you, possibly even warn you, that your overall enjoyment of the film will vary. (Lee)

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The City of Violence 짝패 (Korea 2006)

2008-02-24T15:15:00.008-08:00

With a name like The City Of Violence, you can only expect for things to be brutal and well...violent. Both adjectives fit the film perfectly in the grand scheme of things, but unfortunately the package as a whole is only slightly above average. Entertaining, but also nothing spectacular.

Seoul police officer Jung Tae-soo is stunned when out of the blue he gets a phone call from his friends wife, Miran, informing him that her husband, and one of Tae-soo's oldest friends, Oh Wang-jae (Ahn Kil-kang), is dead. When he arrives at the funeral house in Onsung, it's a bittersweet reunion of sorts as he meets up with his childhood friends Pil-ho (Lee Beom-soo), Dongwan (Jeong Seok-yong), and Dongwan's younger brother Seok-hwan (writer/director/actor Ryoo Seung-wan), all of whom he hasn't seen in years. They head off to the bar that Wang-jae ran by himself and Tae-soo wants to know everything about his friends death. It seems that the bar was particularly busy on the day when a trio of thugs came in and started causing some commotion. Wang-jae, trying to best to keep a cool head, couldn't just let them harass his customers, so words are exchanged and the thugs begin to trash his bar. The three thugs then make a run for it, but Wang-jae being the old hardened ex-con that he is, followed in pursuit which ultimately led to him being stabbed in an alleyway scuffle. Tae-soo refuses to go back to Seoul until he sees this case closed and Seok-hwan has every intention of killing those responsible for Wang-jae's death. These two are taking matters into their own hands and are meeting resistance around every corner in the form of stylized teenage street gangs all too reminiscent of the 1979 film classic, "The Warriors."

As for the other two, a lot has changed in the ten years since Tae-soo has been home. Wang-jae used to be a high-ranking gang member who left the life and passed his position on to Pil-ho. Pil-ho is strong-arming the community in order for a casino to be built on a piece of land in total gang-leader fashion, and Dong-wan, having blown the family money on what he claimed was "scholarly pursuits", has in reality been spending it all on drugs. After the police starting shutting down all of Pil-ho's boys, Dong-wan started sending over his students to work for Pil-ho in exchange for market space for his mother. Mr. Jo, a casino operator from Seoul, started making things more difficult for Pil-ho by threatening their partnership, amongst other things, if he didn't get the land for the casino. Things really came to a head when Pil-ho, using the funds from his Seoul partners, began loan-sharking operations to people around town. Wang-jae and Pil-ho's falling out resulted from Pil-ho basically ruining the town by trying to rule it with an iron fist. Now everything is a mess with Tae-soo and Seok-hwan working desperately to try and find Wang-jae's killer; Dong-wan trying to redeem himself as more than a junkie; and Pil-ho losing his way because of a power-hungry mentality.

There is always something a little depressing about a storyline that shows childhood friends growing apart as they get older. It's also a story that many of us can relate to because we ourselves have experienced it. Granted, the angle that The City Of Violence takes with this premise is much darker than the lives of the average joe. The search for those behind the murder of a friend and straight-up revenge are what fuel this, at-times, action-packed ride. The fighting, when it happens, is filmed rather well and is definitely entertaining to watch. The finale, where the casino members meet, is the clear stand-out scene with wonderful sword-play and martial-arts choreography taking place. Triple-threat Ryoo Seung-wan definitely knows what he's doing behind the camera and his unique style of filming, especially the fight scenes, are refreshing to say the least. The acting, while given many opportunities to be portrayed in an over-the-top fashion, is handled in a more admirable way making for a cast of interesting characters. Lee Beom-soo as Pil-ho is definitely the one to watch in this film.

Truth be told, the story in The City Of Violence, while not completely engrossing, is overshadowed by some rather exceptional action scenes. Die-hard martial-arts fans will definitely get their money's worth out of this film, and in regards to the fighting, it's a rare treat to see such style coming out of Korea. With my bad-luck streak of movies reviewed lately, I'll gladly take above-average. (Lee)

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(2-Disc Set US Version) on DVD
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Special Edition Japan Version DVD *No English Subtitles

Soo 수 (Korea 2007)

2008-02-23T14:15:00.004-08:00

Soo is a tale of revenge that's heavy on the bloodshed and Park Chan-wook isn't the man behind the lens. This time it's Japanese born director Yoichi Sai, who goes by the name of Choi Yang-il in Korea, filming his first all-Korean film. So how did he fair? Park my man, you don't have anything to worry about just yet.

Tae-Soo (Ji Jin-hee), or Soo as he's known, hasn't seen his brother Taejin (again Ji Jin-hee) in over nineteen years. When the two of them were young and had no one to rely on but each other, Soo made the mistake of trying to steal money from a gang boss by the name of Ku Yangwon. Since the boys are twins, the gang grabs Taejin mistakingly, beats the hell out of him, and from there out the boys were separated. After years of searching and using private investigators, Soo finally gets the call he's been waiting for. He contacts his brother so they can get together, but just as they are about to meet face-to-face, a bullet flies clear through Taejin's head, killing him instantly. After a heart-wrenching scene with what remains of estranged brother, Soo begins to look into Taejin's life to find out who he was. Taking things a step further, Soo even goes so far as to take on his brothers appearance (not hard considering they were twins) and identity by taking up his position as homicide detective at the local precinct. Settling into his new position, Soo is taking a statement from a thug brought in after getting into a fight. However, there's more to this guy than how he appears. He admits to Soo that he's a bit baffled to be sitting in front of him because he had put a bullet through his brain the night before. As you can imagine, Soo is losing his cool as he realizes the thug sitting before him is his brother's killer. At that moment, Soo receives a phone call from a mysterious man that thinks he's talking to Taejin. Police officer or not, it's clear that Taejin was dealing with some shifty characters and Soo wants to find out who these people are and what they're were all doing together. The minute the thug is released onto the street, he makes an attempt on Soo's life, with Soo confronting his attacker to try and get some answers but lets the killer go because he knows too much about Soo impersonating his brother. When he gets home, Soo is confronted by Taejin's girlfriend (Kang Seong-yong), also a cop, who can see through Soo's facade and wants answers, but Soo isn't ready to give 'em. Begrudgingly, the two of them begin to work together to find Yangwon's location so Soo can get his revenge.

There isn't a lot to Soo besides a simple plot of revenge. The gang killed his brother and now he wants them dead. Period. Before I started watching it, I was under the impression that this was going to be an "edgy" film with lots of over-the-top violence in it. For the most part the violence is there, but it's the bloodshed that feels over-the-top. I mean, these guys are practically swimming in the red stuff. I wasn't shocked or even that impressed with the action taking place. One scene has Soo using a lighter and a can of hairspray to stop invaders from breaking into his apartment. Instead of being a clever tactic, I thought it was too much and felt like watching "MacGyver". The "action" scenes are unfortunately spaced too far apart, and you're left with incredibly boring story elements in-between. Kang Seong-yong, who plays Taejin's girlfriend, acts as if shes in love with Soo even though they've only known each other a few days. The two of them get in way too many fights that seem as if they're an old married couple and it just feels strangely out of place. Her character got on my nerves because she just nagged Soo the entire time. There are other story elements in place here, such as the homicide detective trying to find Soo and the relationship that Soo has with his mentor (Jo Kyeong-hwan), but both feel like nothing more than distractions from Soo trying to get his revenge. Really, you just don't care about these elements of the story. By the time Soo confronts Yangwon I knew it would just be more stabbing and not much else. Basically, not very satisfying.

As a whole, unsatisfied is exactly how Soo left me feeling. Maybe I was foolish for expecting more (damn you internet forums!), but what started off interestingly enough, ended up as entirely mediocre. It's been said many times before, but you'd be much better off watching any of Park Chan-wook's revenge-themed films (Sympathy for Mr./Lady Vengeance and Old Boy). (Lee)

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The official Soo website *In Korean

Dragon Tiger Gate (Hong Kong 2006)

2008-02-18T22:23:00.002-08:00

"Never go against someone from the Gate."

Take one long-running manhua (comic book), and team up the combo of the great Donnie Yen with Wilson Yip, the same men that brought us the fantastic SPL and Flash Point, and you should have a movie that beats 100% ass! Well at least you'd hope...

The Dragon Tiger Gate is a martial-arts school that has helped rid the town of gang activity and has also become a safe haven for kids that have become orphaned due to the Triad. Dragon (Donnie Yen) and Tiger (Nicholas Tse) are orphans in their own right, and are the sons of one of the schools co-founders, Wong Fu Hu, albeit from different mothers. Dragon's mother chooses to leave the Gate and live alone with her son. She gives him a jade pendant which has the character, "dragon" written on it, and tells him that Tiger wears the matching half of the pendant so that they will always know they are brothers. Dragon looses his mother to a house fire and tries to rush back and save her. Ma Qwun, the Triad boss working for Lousha Gate, a rival martial-arts gang, stops him from entering the burning building so that he doesn't lose his life. Now Dragon is under Ma Qwun's care and as he gets older, he takes on the role of Ma Qwun's bodyguard.

Years later, Tiger and his brothers from the school are dining at the same restaurant that Ma Qwun is receiving the Lousha plaque, which will prove that he is the top Triad boss in the Lousha Gate; second only to it's leader, Shibumi. While dining, Tiger sees a couple getting bullied and feels the need to intervene. The disrupts the deal going on upstairs and triggers a fight with Lousha's men. Dragon is called in to shut Tiger down, but during the fight Tiger gets his hands on the plaque. Ma Qwun sends Dragon to get it back by any means necessary. Another of Ma Qwun's retainers who is vying with Dragon to be the next in line to take over the Triad, shows up with some of his cronies to get rid of Tiger once and for all and take the credit for getting the plaque back. During the fight, Tiger receives help from a fellow patron named Shek Hak Long (Shawn Yue), and together they dispatch the horde of thugs. During the fight, Dragon looses his pendant and Tiger happens to be the one to find it; making the realization that they are indeed brothers. Will Dragon go back to his roots and rejoin the Gate? And will Tiger be able to get his help in bringing down the Lousha army?

Whew...there is a lot going on in Dragon Tiger Gate and I gave you the super abridged version. They story has been laid out by the comic book and the film tries its best to respect the source material, but when you have so much story to tell and such a short running time to tell it in while trying to keep it interesting, well that's one hell of a battle my friend. Dragon Tiger Gate does an decent job of trying to do such a task, but in the end it just comes off as stale with flashbacks happening left and right which take you away from the story at hand. So really, you just end up waiting for the next fight to take place. That's the main complaint with comic book movies, American or otherwise. Other than that, the fighting, when it happens, is pretty fun to watch. I highly enjoy the Japanese restaurant fight and the camera work that took place during it. Think Storm Riders with less "powers" and a lot more arm - swing - punch - pose. Don't go looking for a SPL or Flash Point style of fighting or you'll just be setting yourself up for disappointment. I know the idea was to make sequels for this movie, so I just would've liked to see the story paced out accordingly. As for the acting, the three lead characters were passable, but not being familiar with the comic I couldn't call them out on any discrepancies that they maybe didn't fulfill. So in closing, is Dragon Tiger Gate a great action movie in compression? No. Is it something to watch in order to fill an afternoon and say, "man, I saw Donnie Yen with long hair kickin' ass."? Yes. (converter)

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Fighting Beat aka: Pahuyut Muay Thai Chaiy (Thailand 2007)

2008-02-17T19:18:00.004-08:00

"Why the hell these guys use Muay Thai moves I never seen before, goddamn it"?!

As Thailand slowly finds it's bearing in the cinematic world, we, as lovers of foreign film get to share their successes and unfortunately their failures. Fighting Beat does one of these better than the other.

Phi Phi Island is a tropical paradise that holds an exciting bar that keeps the drinks flowing Muay Thai action hot, which keeps the foreigners happy as they spend all of their money on the festivities. This is also home to Kem (Thun Thanakorn) and his friend. They work at the bar serving drinks and letting random customers beat them in controlled fighting matches. When they lose, the customer is then encouraged to give a tip for the hospital care they have to receive for the harsh beating. Even though they're just taking a fall in order to earn some quick cash, Kem is haunted by the fact that his father was murdered in this same location years ago which left him as an orphan residing at a local temple. Under the watchful eye of his new caregiver, Kem begins to learn the ways of Muay Thai. However, things hit a snag as a group of thugs come in and want to buy the bar from the owner, Uncle Praow. Praow immediately makes it known that he isn't interested in selling. Naturally, the thugs try to take the bar by force, but are swiftly defeated by Kem and his friends. The thugs later return to their boss to report their failed attempt, but the boss isn't too concerned as he has a friend who's just gotten himself out of jail and he just happens to be the man who killed Kem's father.

When I first saw the poster for Fighting Beat, my eyes widened and my heart went a flutter. I had been looking for a balls-out slug-fest to hold me over until, "Chocolate" comes out. I actually thought to myself, "this is it." The cover alone reminded me of the 16-bit beat 'em up games of yesteryear like, "Streets of Rage", "Final Fight", and so on. So needles to say, I was eager to watch this one. The carnal rule, at least for me, when it comes to movie-watching, especially foreign films, is to expect nothing and hopefully be pleasantly surprised. If you don't follow this rule, you end up with the same feeling I had after watching Fighting Beat...sadness.

At second glance, Fighting Beat comes off like a teen Thai pop vehicle that's meant to use these multi-talented entertainment forces (i.e. Twins, Boyz) to bring in a younger audience, but even that didn't work because the movie tanked at the box office. That being said, it's left to stand on it's own merits which is where Fighting Beat does just about everything wrong that you can do in a "martial-arts" movie. The lead actor can not fight at all. He can barely mimic some kicks and jumps, and I understand that trying to show authentic Muay Thai is what the director is striving for, but Thun Thanakorn looks as if he's never heard of it. Hell, I'm not even sure director Piti Jaturaphat has heard of it, because he presents it in the most uninteresting way possible. The supporting cast is as lame as he is, if not more so. Are they supposed to be funny comic-relief or bad-ass Muay Thai students? It doesn't matter because they can't seem to be either. The women in the group are pretty hot, but that's about it. The acting is god-awful, especially when they attempt to act in English. The story is paper thin and on the wrong side of retarded, leaving you to wonder why things didn't move away from the bar within the first thirty minutes. Do these guys do anything with their beach-bum lives other than hustle foreigners? Well I guess it doesn't matter, because if you're the foreigner wasting time watching this; consider yourself hustled. (converter)

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The official Fighting Beat website *In Thai

Paradise Murdered (Korea 2007)

2008-02-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

What can I say about Paradise Murdered? It's definitely a who-dunnit-murder-mystery, but it's also an incoherent mess with questionable acting and direction. Watching this movie was no walk through paradise. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

1986; two officers make their way towards Paradise Island to investigate the disappearance of seventeen people inhabiting the island. When we first meet the villagers living on the island, which by the way was voted number one remote island by the Korean government, the village is celebrating the 80th birthday of Grandpa Cheol-yong's (Kim In-moon), the sole surviving member of his family who owns the island. After the good times, and even a near death incident, everyone retires for the evening except for two engineers and Deok-su (Park Gil-soo), who head off to the engineers place to do a little gambling. The next day, Woo-sung (Park Haeil), the doctor on the island, is awaken to Tae-gi, the resident little boy, banging on his door. When he runs to see what all the commotion is, he sees the bodies of the two engineers from the previous evening, brutally murdered, but Deok-su is nowhere to be found.

The villagers all get together to figure out what they're going to do next. During the initial search, Deok-su's shoes, and the knife use to kill the engineers were found by the ocean cliffs. This causes imaginations to run wild, and they eventually begin to think that Deok-su has been killed as well. Woo-sung throws out the idea that maybe he committed suicide in an attempt to calm the panic stirring amongst the others. However, it has the reverse effect of what he intended and the mayor (Choi Joo-bong), and others, begin to suspect the doctor. The mayor locks up the doctor under the premise that if another murder is committed while he's locked up, then it obviously isn't him. With the knowledge that patrol boats will be at the island within the next few days, the doctor agrees to being locked up in order to keep the peace. Meanwhile, Gwi-nam (Park Sol-mi), the island school teacher who arrived with the doctor, is spending her time trying to find out who the murderer is in an attempt to clear the good doctor's name. In the middle of the night, a masked man breaks into the mayor's home looking for something specific. The mayor and his two sons, Sang-ku and Jong-ku, wake up and attempt to stop the man they assume is the murderer. In the process Jong-ku is killed, and when the killer makes a run, another resident of the island, Yong-bong, tries to stop him. Gwi-nam witnessed the entire scene and believes that it's the work of Choon-bae (Seong Ji-roo), resident wacko, that's behind the murders. Gwi-nam heads to the doctor to tell him about what she saw, and Tae-gi and Bong-soon, Deok-su's daughter, are also on their way to see the doctor. During their trip, Tae-gi's ankle is grabbed by a dying Yong-bong, but when Tae-gi looks at him, it appears to be the young boy's dead father. Strange things are brewing on the island. After an unfortunate incident involving Tae-gi and the seaside cliffs, everyone on the island seems to be losing their minds and pointing the blame at each other. So what's behind the madness on the island?

That is indeed the ultimate question you'll be asking yourself when you watch Paradise Murdered but you'll probably also be asking, "what the hell is going on in this movie?". When I finally found out what the twist was at the very end of the movie, it felt like it came out of nowhere and there was nothing in the movie that really hinted at what was going on. The acting is almost not worth mentioning because it's really just a bunch of people screaming at each other for two hours. These are definitely all major problems, but the real annoyance was the feeling that the movie didn't know whether it wanted to be a serious thriller or an at-times dark comedy. Some scenes are so strange and out of place that I literally laughed out loud.

When all is said and done, I was happy when Paradise Murdered came to an end. I felt so lost watching it that I didn't really care about the big explanation at the end, and it ended up just irritating me more than surprising me. A good story should engage the viewer and leave clues along the way in hopes that they feel like they're interacting with the story. That feeling is completely missing here and so was the entertainment value. (Lee)

No longer in stock at YESASIA! (not necessarily a bad thing)

Simply Actors (Hong Kong 2007)

2008-01-19T13:40:00.000-08:00

A film centered around the acting profession and what it is to be an actor, Simply Actors seems to be suffering from bouts of misdirection in conveying it's message. There are some great and entertaining moments to be found here, but there are also some out-of-place, questionable moments as well.

After a fellow officer turns up dead, goof-ball constable Chan Man-Long (Sui-man Chim), is thrown into an acting school by his superior officers in order to be a better undercover cop. Man-Long's interest in acting and making everyone laugh at parties made him the top candidate for testing out this new method of training. Man-Long needs to infiltrate the drug lord Crazy Sam's (Chapman To), inner circle in order to bring him down. Man-Long is thrilled with this new opportunity and sense of responsibility that his bosses have deemed him worthy of and can't stand the fact that he can't even tell his wife Judy (Michelle Ye), about it. So now it's off to the performing arts academy and Man-Long couldn't possibly be more excited as he makes his way to his first class. Before he can finish introducing himself to Professor Mong and the rest of the class detailing his time spent studying drama in Italy, the doors swing open as fellow new-student and soft-core porn actress beauty Dani Dan (Charlene Choi), makes a fashionably late appearance. Man-Long and Dani hit it off instantly as Man-Long is a big fan of her "movies" and she's fascinated with Man-Long's time spent in Italy. However, he isn't the only guy in class interested in the new girl. After some training in various classes, Professor Mong tells the class that they'll be observed in order for him to select the two most capable leads for the school performance of, "Romeo and Juliet". Meanwhile, Man-Long's home life is starting to suffer because his girlfriend thinks that he isn't working as a police officer anymore and is only pursuing his dreams of being an actor.

Dani and Man-Long have a heart-to-heart discussion, in which they talk about each other's dreams, goals, and where they came from. Their talk gave them an opportunity to release a lot of repressed feelings, thus taking their relationship to another level. Man-Long's boss comes back into the picture to say that he thinks Man-Long should be ready for some undercover surveillance on Crazy Sam at his favorite Mahjong parlor. Being the nim-wit that he is, things don't go as planned and one of Man-Long's classmates, Alex (Raymond Wong), discovers his true identity in the process. As if that wasn't bad enough, Man-Long's boss gets his hands on some pirated porn movies from a warehouse raid and within the collection is Dani Dan's newest project. Little did he know that Man-Long helped her out in the filming of it, so when he recognizes his subordinate officer, he withdraws him from the performing arts school. Wallowing in his misery, Man-Long overhears the janitor (Anthony Wong...yes, that Anthony Wong) reciting lines from various plays. After the two get acquainted, our janitor friend takes Man-Long on a journey of sorts, to witness the acting taking place in everyday life. Things aren't so carefree back at the Mahjong parlor, as Brother Pang (Lam Suet) is fresh out of a Brazilian prison and looking to his oldest friend Bounce (Tin Kai-Man), Alex's dad, to collect on some money he was supposedly holding for him. So Alex goes to Man-Long for help so that they can trick Brother Pang into thinking he's got the money that Bounce had lost years ago. Man-Long and Alex recruit the rest of the gang from the drama school to get in Brother Pang's way and do the old bait-and-switch routine on the bag of money.

I know it feels like that third act with Brother Pang returning to Hong Kong for his money from Bounce came out of nowhere, and that's because it did. That in a nutshell is my biggest complaint about Simply Actors. The story completely abandoned the premise that it started with, and the sole reason for getting Man-Long to join the drama school in the first place; to bring down Crazy Sam. After the Mahjong parlor scene in which Man-Long is discovered as an undercover cop, there is no more interaction with Crazy Sam's character. What started off as a quest to bring down an evil drug lord that kills police officers, turned into a story of self-discovery with a third act that feels out of place. Also, at times it feels as if the story is just trying to find ways to add actors from Hong Kong's shallow talent-pool into the movie because Simply Actors is cameo-crazy. Story faults aside, the acting in Simply Actors is entertaining, with Siu-man Chim being the obvious highlight of the film. However, Charlene Choi shows a lot of range in her role as porn actress Dani Dan and is incredibly different from what many of us have seen her do in the past. I hate to forget Anthony Wong's role as the all-things-acting janitor. Needless to say, it was interesting, if not a bit out of place.

Simply Actors has some genuinely great moments, especially with the underlying message of a person following his or her dreams and trying to discover who they are and their purpose in life. However, these "serious" aspects are often deflected off entirely absurd and over-the-top comical moments. This mix of ingredients, while a good idea, doesn't work out as well as it could have, but is certainly more appealing than I ever expected it to be. (Lee)

Buy Simply Actors on DVD or VCD from YESASIA!

The official Simply Actors website *In Chinese

My Tutor Friend 2 (Korea 2007)

2008-01-13T15:08:00.000-08:00

Tarnishing the name of what I consider to be a modern Korean classic, My Tutor Friend 2 shares nothing more than the name of the much-enjoyed My Tutor Friend with Kim Ha-neul and Kwon Sang-woo. Those responsible should be ashamed.

Junko (Lee Cheong-Ah), a Japanese of Korean ancestry, is accepted to Ansei University in Korea and immediately leaves to find her crush, Woo-sung (Yang Jin-woo), who was a Korean studying in Japan, but supposedly had to enlist in the army. Mr. Heo (Lee Yeong-ha) runs the guest house that Junko is staying at, and his son Jong-man (Park Ki-woong) and two buddies (Yoon Yeong-seom) and Poongi (Jo Dal-hwan) also happen to live there. Being the typical young men that they are, they aren't used to having a young woman around, so after only a couple of days, Junko decides that she can't stand living around these pigs and tells Mr. Heo that she wants her money back and she'll be staying elsewhere. Jong-man then has to talk Junko into staying because of his fathers threats, so he decides to lie to Junko, saying that her crush Woo-sung used to stay in the same room she has and is sure to return there when he's on leave. Since she has no other leads as to his whereabouts, this naturally sways her to say in the room at the guest house. This is where the ONLY similarity to the original My Tutor Friend comes in; Mr. Heo forces his to teach Junko Korean three nights a week. Junko needs to polish off her Korean speaking skills for when see confronts Woo-sung about her feelings for him. Naturally, Jong-man teaches Junko some terribly offensive words to say as part of her first lesson so that she'll say it to the entire class during her first day introductions. He continues to abuse his position as her teacher, while his buddies work on ways to impress Junko.

Later, when Jong-man and his boys are hanging out and goofing around, we find out Jong-man used to be on the boxing team at school when an old teammate, Juntae, creates an awkward confrontation. We start learning more about Jung-man, including his past as a boxer, and when an old friend calls him out of the blue, he rushes out to visit someone in the hospital. Now Jong-man is never around and is off working himself ragged doing multiple odd-jobs to make extra money. Jong-man had developed a reputation as a strict money saver, but why the sudden interest in making so much money? And who is this mysterious lady from the hospital he keeps running off to visit in secret? After friendly classmate Hee-jeong (Jang Yeong-ran) gives Junko the address to her beloved Woo-sung, we start to see the jealous side of Jong-man come forward and suddenly he wants to take his job as Korean tutor seriously. Once Junko learns the truth about Woo-sung, she too begins to reevaluate her rollercoaster relationship with Jong-man. Sounds nice enough doesn't it? And then, like most Korean romantic-comedies these days, things take a turn and crash directly into the brick wall of seriousness. We learn the identity of the mystery woman Jong-man's being visiting and how past events have kept him out of the boxing ring. However, Junko knows that Jong-man still has the "fight" inside of him and without asking, enters him into the boxing tournament at school. This creates a rift in their friendship, and when Jung-man's lie about knowing Woo-sung comes to the surface, things get even worse. Will Jung-man get back in the ring to battle his past? And what will become of his relationship with Junko that was built on a lie?

If it sounds like there's a lot going on in My Tutor Friend 2, that's because there is. It also contains one of my biggest pet-peeves in a movie; making the third act incredibly serious. Listen people, it's really OK to let a comedy be funny from beginning to end. I don't need to take a breather from all the laughs in order to cry over something. Actually, in this case, I didn't find myself laughing at all. My Tutor Friend 2 has a lot of problems, with the biggest one being my disliking of the main actress Lee Cheong-ah. Her acting is just terrible. I understand that she's trying to play the part of someone who doesn't speak Korean fluently, but she comes across more like an airhead with the mind of a five year old. She spends most of the movie moping about and whining, while Park Ki-woong's character yells at her. Jong-man's buddies are good for a couple of chuckles, and it's interesting to see Julian Quintart as the exchange student George, but that's about it. As I neared the final minutes I couldn't help but think of how much more I enjoyed the "first" My Tutor Friend and how they only shared the same title in order to attract viewers to the second, because part two doesn't feel like a "true" sequel at all.

Cashing in on the name is how I feel about My Tutor Friend 2 after it was over. Being such a huge fan of the first film, I'm definitely disappointed that "part two" didn't live up to my expectations. They would've been better off giving it a completely different name. Don't be mislead dear viewers, as I was, because none of the same charm, fun and wit of My Tutor Friend is anywhere to be found with this obvious knock-off. Consider yourself warned. (Lee)

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The official My Tutor Friend 2 website *In Korean

Kidnap AKA Chain Game (Hong Kong 2007)

2008-01-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

A not exactly by-the-numbers thriller, Kidnap may be a lot like the cat-and-mouse movies you've all seen before, but it puts enough of it's own unique spin on things to keep the experience entertaining and engaging without feeling stale.

The film starts immediately with Inspector Ho Yuan-chun (Rene Liu), who is in charge of finding the kidnapped brother of theater actress Lam Hiu-yeung (Karena Lam), in the middle of staking out the suspect(s) involved in the kidnapping. Her partner Chi (Siu-Fai Cheung), tails the man responsible for the kidnapping to the roof, where everyone is shocked to see that Lam's brother is also there and is assisting the kidnapper in securing the ransom money. Chi attempts to talk the kidnapper into turning himself in, but things take an unexpected turn for the worst and both the kidnapper and Lam's brother fall to their deaths. Flash forward three years later, and it appears that Lam has moved on from her brother's untimely passing, and is back to teaching young theater students, aided by her husband Qian. Even Chi has remained a figure in their lives for the past three years, trying to help Lam move on with her life in any way that he can. However, it turns out that things aren't so wonderful after all, because Lam's husband is stricken by a terminal illness and his only hope for survival relies on a new treatment in Switzerland which will cost a fortune to undergo. Things aren't so great for Inspector Ho either, as she's divorced from her husband Siu-Chi (Julian Cheung), who was awarded custody of their son Ho-yin, and is finding it difficult not being able to see her child whenever she wants to. To top it off, her ex has already begun seeing another woman by the name of Shirley (Ella Koon), and it's a chance encounter with her son's best friend Jiaming, and his wealthy father Wang (Tao Guo), that will change everything.

Little did everyone realize, Lam hadn't gotten over her brother's death and has been holding a grudge over Inspector Ho and the rest of her team, blaming them all this time for his passing. Also unbeknownst to everyone was the fact that Lam had been meticulously plotting the kidnapping of Mr. Wang's son in order to use the ransom money for her husbands incredibly expensive medical treatment. Lam knew that Inspector Ho would be the one assigned to the case and she was looking forward to making Ho look incompetent. When the time finally comes for Lam to strike, things don't exactly go as planned and the outcome of her actions change the "game" completely.

From the beginning I thought to myself, "If you've seen one ransom movie, you've seen 'em all", and for the most part that's true. If only because they all share the same core premise and goal is always the same: get back the person that was taken. That being said, I'm incredibly pleased that Kidnap had, at least for me, a few new tricks up it's sleeve. A lot of the ideas are well thought out and it gives the viewer the impression of being "smart" in it's execution; which is partially true. It does suffer from a couple of loopholes, the biggest being in regards to a bloody shirt, but you know I can't give you all the details. Also, when the action is taking place, it's fairly engaging stuff, but when it's not, the movie tends to drag. The story tries to redevelop the relationship between Ho and her ex-husband and while the intentions are good, the display itself isn't all that interesting. However, these elements aside, as a whole, Kidnap is above-average stuff. The acting, from the two female leads anyway, is pretty much top-notch stuff, with Rene Liu exercising some serious acting chops. Her performance is Golden Horse worthy if you ask me, even if the movie itself might not be. The stages her character goes through show a lot of range and her performance was enjoyable to watch.

If anything, and like most films of this kind, Kidnap is an exercise in what people are willing to do for their loved ones. The person you are, seemingly becomes a person you never knew you had inside you. How would your character change when faced with such desperation and uncertainty? I'm glad we have movies like Kidnap to answer that question for us. (Lee)

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Ruri no Shima (NTV Japan 2005)

2008-01-01T14:47:00.000-08:00

An interesting display of what people are willing to do for the people they love and the place they call home, Ruri no Shima (Ruri's Island), while occasionally over-dramatic, is a heart warming series that proves everyone deserves a second chance.

The citizens of Hitomjima, a small island south of Okinawa, are in the middle of a crisis. See, the total population of Hitomijima is only 50 people and a majority of these citizens are employed by the one school located there. Unfortunately, the one child attending the school, along with his family, have moved off the island and now the school is being forced to close. Without any children on the island, the people of Hitomijima are faced with the inevitable closing of the school and an uncertain future for life on the island. Mr. Nakama (Ogata Ken) decides to go to Tokyo to see if he can get his grandson to attend school on the island, but his daughter won't allow it. After his initial plan falls through, his desperation leads him to plan B: adopting a child. Here we're introduce to Ruri (Narumi Riko), an 11-year old with no real direction in life, who acts out in ways that are very unbecoming of a child at her age. Her mother Nao (Nishida Naomi), had Ruri at a young age and gave her up because she was selfishly too busy living life for herself. Even through Ruri's tough exterior, Nakama still sees the innocent child in her and knows that she'd be a perfect fit for him, his wife Megumi (Baisho Mitsuko), and the island. After some initial hesitation and an overall argumentative first encounter, Ruri too realizes that Nakama isn't like everyone else in her life and that he seems to genuinely care for her.

On the boat ride to Hitomjima, Ruri and Nakama meet a man by the name of Tatsuya Kawahima (Takenouchi Yutaka), who appears to be in need of a new start in life as well. After they arrive, things get off to a bumpy start as Ruri "tries" to adjust to her new surroundings and the people on the island. Among them are Natsumi (Nishiyama Mayuko), the convenience store owner and her husband Kouji (Katsumura Masanobu), an employee at the primary school where Ruri will attend. Also, Granny Kamado (Yoshida Taeko), school chairman Harue (Hiraizumi Sei) and his wife Yoshie (Ichige Yoshie), the school cafeteria lady; school vice chairman Souhei (Shiomi Sansei); young vagabond couple Shigeru (Kashu Toshiki) and Mitsuki (Igawa Haruka); lonely Shomei (Kohinata Fumiyo) who pines to see his estranged daughter again; school principal Manabu (Kishibe Ittoku) and primary school teacher Sanae (Konishi Minami).

As time passes, Ruri begins to see the charm in each of these characters and how special her new surroundings really are. She finds herself wanting to be a part of their lives as much as they want her to be a part in theirs and finally understands what it feels like to be wanted and loved by another person; something she never had with her real parents. Along the journey, troubles naturally arise as the mystery behind Kawashima comes into light and without enough children to keep the junior high open, what will happen to Ruri and her new family after primary school? The lonely, but gentle-hearted Shomei, wants nothing more than to see his daughter Izumi (Nagai Anzu) again, but his history of alcoholism has estranged him from her. Ruri promises Shomei that he'll see her again and she'll do everything she can to help. A reporter from Tokyou shows up during the island's annual festival and doesn't like what he sees. He things the citizens of the island are only thinking of themselves and not the foster children they're bringing to live there. Various situations like these arise for the characters on Hitomijima island, but the biggest concern shows itself when Ruri's mother returns. What does she want? And will Ruri be able to stay with her new family and the people she's grown so close to?

It's situations like the one's I described above that made me really enjoy Ruri no Shima, because they aren't too "out there" or far-fetched. They're simple, yet realistic issues that are told in a believable way by a wonderful cast. The relationship's that develop amongst the characters are some of the best I've seen in a drama series and are really the strength of the show. I'll be honest, I found myself reaching for a Kleenex during the final episode and there are certainly other moments that are filled with emotion as well. The real stand-outs of the show for me were the characters of Ruri, Tatsuya, Shomei and the relationship the three of them shared. Ruri no Shima does a fine job of showing the warmth and possibility within people, and while you may not get non-stop action in every episode, you'll definitely get a lot of heart. (Lee)

Ruri no Shima MV with clips from the series

Buy the Ruri no Shima DVD Box-Set from YESASIA! (*No English Subtitles)

The Official Ruri no Shima Website *In Japanese

My Sweet, Yet Brutal Sweetheart AKA My Scary Girl (Korea 2006)

2007-12-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

"Ah Fuck. It's a porn republic because of the internet."

Korea is yet again responsible for another romantic comedy. They are the reigning champions of the genre and just might be running out of steam. My Sweet, Yet Brutal Sweetheart attempts to change all that by adding a few twists and perhaps something new.

Hwang Dae-Woo (Park Yong-Woo) is a thirty-something, shy, soft-spoken English professor that has never had any luck with the ladies. No date, no kiss, nothing. Dae-Woo is a nice guy and longs for female companionship and with help from his buddy he manages to ask out Lee Min-Na (Choi Gang-Hee), his new neighbor from downstairs. With love at first site, for Dae-Woo anyway, he finds out that she's an aspiring art student that wants to study in Italy someday. Mi-Na is everything that Dae-Woo could want in a girlfriend. She's smart, beautiful, and most important of all...she talks to him. After going on a few dates with each other, the two begin to really hit it off. Dae-Woo's dorky, "I've never been around a girl in a romantic way" charm starts to take it's effect on Min-Na and thus the sparks start to fly. Now that the two are in love, Dae-Woo shows up bringing some flowers for his sweetie, but to his surprise he finds a naked guy coming out of Min-Na's shower! Dae-Woo is naturally crushed by this discovery and wants to call the relationship quits. Min-Na explains that he's just an old boyfriend that barged his way into her place and he means nothing to her. She promises Dae-Woo that she'll take care of everything and that he shouldn't worry.

And that's about as much of My Sweet, Yet Brutal Sweetheart without giving away too much of the zing. With that said, you get a typical romantic comedy that takes a chance by implementing some new ideas. The look and feel is all up to snuff with what you'd expect from Korean cinema. In a way, it's really all up to the viewer and how much they've been exposed to this type of film in the past. If you're tired of the somewhat stale Korean romance formula, then the twists probably wont' do anything for you. On the other hand, if this type of film is your bag, then you'll most likely enjoy it for what it is and smile at it's attempts to bring you something new. As a whole, there isn't anything technically wrong with My Sweet, Yet Brutal Sweetheart, but it leaves you feeling unmoved and unfulfilled. In the long run, and unfortunately, it just comes off like an old dog trying it's hardest to do a new trick. (converter)

Buy My Brutal, Yet Scary Girl on DVD Hong Kong Version, DVD Give-away Version,VCD Hong Kong Version, and VCD Korea Version from YESASIA!

Exodus (Hong Kong 2007)

2007-11-29T22:10:00.000-08:00

"Women are planning to kill men all the time".

You can call it a war of the sexes, a conspiracy theory gone awry, over the top, or even a little silly, but it would be more accurate to call it one of the most interesting movies to come out of Hong Kong in a long while. Exodus takes itself very seriously, and with a mix of fine performances and cinematography, you'll feel the same way.

Tsim Kin-Yip (Simon Yam), is a low-ranking cop with twenty-years on the force under his belt who is handed a suspect by the name of Kwan Ping-Man (Nick Cheung). Yip begins to take Kwan's colorful statement about how he was in a woman's bathroom video taping and peeping in on them. While doing this, Kwan explains how he overheard a couple of women plotting to kill men...all men, and he was gathering evidence to prove it all. Yip takes it as the ramblings of a crazy man and pays Kwan no mind by wrapping up the paperwork in order to let him go as soon as possible. Yip heads back to his life with his wife Ann (Annie Liu), and the task of helping with the renovations of their new place. Among other things, Yip also has to deal with Ann's mother (Candy Yu), and her always harping about his age and his time spent on the force. She's constantly complaining that he should own his own business and be doing something more with his life. Yip's bored with his position at work and and he doesn't give his wife very much attention at home, which results in her acting out in a variety of different activities. But when Kwan changes his statement to a simple peeping story, and nothing related to a "women killing men" conspiracy, Yip is interested in finding out why his story suddenly changed. He finds out that his superior officer, Fong (Maggie Siu), spoke with Kwan and that's when his story changed. Yip decides to dedicate all of his time to the case and finds out that a string of men have died in unexplained ways. While looking for Kwan, Yip finds Kwan's ex-wife Pun Siu Yuen (Irene Wan), snooping around Kwan's apartment. The two form an interesting relationship that seems to do nothing more than distract Yip from his investigation. Is Yip just looking for something that isn't there or just lost in the idea of making a difference?

The way Pang Ho-Cheung handles the subject matter in Exodus accounts for the reason you will either enjoy this movie or dislike it. I, on one hand, thought that it didn't come across as funny or a black-comedy in any way. I was there the whole time with Simon Yam questioning, "is this real? are these things happening?". I genuinely wanted to know the entire time and wished that Yip was a better cop to figure out the, "murder of men" scheme. I lost myself in the hunt for the answer and not so much in the answer itself. Yam's performance as Yip was a great spin on the usual police affair, because Yip is just an ordinary, curious guy who just happens to be a cop. He's not a super-cop or detective extraordinaire and that makes for a refreshing change. There's also no explosion-laced gunfight with a ring leader face-off at the end either. It's really just a man that wants an answer for himself. He's removed himself from his boring life of dealing with his wife and mother-in-law in order to dive head-first into a shallow case that just happened to be bigger than him. Does that account for boring cinema or boring story-telling? To some, I could see where it would feel as if nothing gets done and no questions get answered, but maybe nothing is all that's meant to happen. (converter)

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My Boyfriend is Type-B (Korea 2005)

2007-11-27T08:57:00.000-08:00

"All I wanted was a boyfriend I could lean on while riding the bus".

The simple idea behind My Boyfriend is Type-B is that blood-type dictates the way a person acts and how compatible they are with another person. Now this is a weak premise for anything, let alone a movie. So with no strength to hold up an hour and a half of so-called entertainment, a shoddy movie experience is indeed on the horizon.

Young-Bin (Lee Dong-Geon) is a young heart breaker (and also happens to be type-B), that starts things off by leaving his girlfriend in the car so he doesn't get a ticket while hanging out with his boys. She naturally puts up a bit of a fuss and he has no problem with dumping her right on the spot. When he's not kicking them to the curb, he's off trying to sell his ideas for different types of phone jingles and sound effects. After a meeting with hopeful clients, he receives yet another rejection. While leaving in a huff, he runs into Han-Mi (Han Ji-Hye), a young and timid college student (who just happens to be type-A), just coming off the bus and longs for a boyfriend and romance in her life. They both spill onto the ground and their cell-phones get mixed up. Han-Mi's phone gets destroyed in the process and after a little bit of cat and mouse, and who has who's cell-phone, they two end up on a lunch date. Upon returning home, Han-Mi tells her cousin Chae Young (Shin Hee) about her exciting day. Chae Young demands to meet with this Young-Bin to see what kind of a guy he really is. See, Chae Young just happens to deal in the realm of match-making with the aspect of blood-types being a major factor. With Young-Bin being type-B, a cold, hardheaded, arrogant, jerk, douche bag, etc. Han-Mi, being type-A is a timid, soft-spoken, delicate young woman. This is clearly why Chae Young believes the two to be incompatible. However, Han-Mi believes it's destiny that they met and promises to give it her all, despite what her cousin friends might say, because she thinks she may have found the man she's always wanted. Will these too be able to make it through all the ups and downs? Or is there something to be said about a person's blood-type?

The romantic comedy is one of the tried and true hallmarks of cinema. Sure it's been done a million times, and thus should be a well-oiled machine by now, but My Boyfriend is Type-B seems to miss the point each and every single time it tries to execute anything from the genre. The two leads, the very beautiful Han Ji-Hye and Lee Dong-Geon, try to fill the screen with that campy kissy-kissy goodness, but Lee Dong-Geon's character is such an overwhelming prick that you don't care anything about him and you pray for the second that Han Ji-Hye's character stops acting like a doormat and tells this guy to get lost. The story does a poor job of giving us any incite or background on him and why he acts this way. I mean blood-type can only go so far right? One second he's treating Han-Mi like she's the only girl in the world and in the next scene he's reprimanding her like a child and speaking down to her. It just creates a situation where there is no real threat of love loss for Young-Bin when things don't goes his way or when he's "misunderstood", because it just turns into Han-Mi trying to figure him out while he pushes her away. She has endured a series of terrible crap coming from this guy and is ready to call it quits forever, and rightfully so, but this is a romantic comedy right? Maybe? Kinda?

The main piece missing from My Boyfriend is Type-B is an essential one; balance. This makes experiences of funny, silly, light-hearted mishaps with like-able characters a treat. Next time, let the couples work things out, be different, and slowly find out they have things in common, and yes, even need each other, or hell, want each other. That's what people want to see. It's something that warrants a smile, a chuckle, or sometimes even a tear. In short, balance is a simple trait that every romantic comedy needs to have in some degree. No excuses. (converter)

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Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust (Japan 2007)

2007-11-25T17:38:00.001-08:00

Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust is a time-traveling comedy that looks no further than to entertain the audience. It isn't going to blow anyone's mind, but Bubble Fiction is cute, funny, and at times incredibly campy. I love it when a movie is honest about it's intentions and comes through in it's delivery.

Nothing seems to be going right for Mayumi Tanaka (Ryoko Hirosue), a young woman who has not only recently lost her mother Mariko (Hiroko Yakushimaru), but is constantly avoiding Tajima (Hitori Gekidan), a scuzzy loan shark who's trying to collect his dues. Deep in debt and completely alone for the first time in her life, Mayumi works at a hostess club to pay the bills, all the while being observed from a distance by a mysterious older man by the name of Isao Shimakawaji (Abe Hiroshi). After approaching Mayumi, Isao informs her that he works for the Finance Ministry, and it turns out that her mother isn't really dead! Isao helped "orchestrate" Mariko's death so that she could travel back to the year 1990 and stop the then director of finance Serizawa (Masato Ibu) from passing legislation that could devastate the economy of Japan. Obviously bewildered at the news she's hearing, Mayumi wants to know what her role is in this whole situation. Isao tells her that he, and the rest of the ministry, need her help in finding Mariko as they haven't heard from her in days and fear the worst. With the incentive of having all of her debt paid in full, Mayumi agrees to help Isao. Isao takes Mayumi to her mothers basement laboratory and shows her the time machine that her mother built and that she'll be using to travel back to the year 1990.

After gearing up to take a spin in the washing machine, Mayumi emerges in 1990 Japan and immediately knows it by the fact that Rainbow Bridge (the main bridge crossing northern Tokyo bay) hasn't been constructed yet. More upsetting however is the fact that she can no longer use her much beloved cell-phone as they haven't become a staple in everyday life yet! Mayumi begins her search for her mother by going straight to Serizawa's office and naturally, he says he's never seen her. She then bumps into 1990 Isao and this version of Isao is instantly taken with Mayumi and is willing to do and agree with anything she says in hope's that he'll have a "chance" with her. Isao shows Mayumi around 1990's Tokyo and along the way she sees some familiar faces and hears music that is thankfully now a part of everyones past. Eventually, Isao comes to believe Mayumi's far-fetched story of time travel and agrees to help her find her mother and stop Serizawa from making the big legislation announcement on television. Isao also enlists the help of his TV reporter friend Kaoru Miyazaki (Kazue Fikiishi) to check the police stations for Mayumi's mother, as Serizawa has been having anyone acting suspicious or snooping into his business arrested. It's obvious that Serizawa is up to something, and Mayumi and Isao are the only one's that can find out the truth. Many surprising things come to light along their journey, but business has to come first. Saving Mariko is one thing, but can they really save the economic future of Japan?

Bubble Fiction is definitely one of those silly comedies that asks it's audience to suspend disbelief in order to really get the most out of it. The very idea of time-travel alone should be enough to make you realize that, but in case you take things too seriously, the fact that the time machine is a washing machine should give you a heads up. It's also a heads up to the type of humor one should expect upon watching Bubble Fiction, but at the same time, my major gripe about the movie is that it sometimes acts as if it wants to be taken more seriously. The story, revolving around Japan's debt and the downfall of the economy is definitely a major issue, but the movie puts more emphasis on being a comedy making it all feel a bit unbalanced. When things do get wacky however, they get really wacky and the action scene in the final act is proof of that. The "recreation" of 1990's Japan is interesting and amusing enough, but this aspect is clearly geared more towards Japanese people in what is sure to make them say, "Ah! Natsukashii!". (Ask me if you don't know!). I've complained about it before, but somehow, even with a running-time of nearly two hours, Bubble Fiction doesn't seem to drag on and has it's joke spread out well enough to keep you interested throughout. Kudos for that.

Make no mistake, Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust is a "popcorn movie" with a story better served in a dramatic format. However, even with it's short-comings it stills manages to be a successful comedy thanks in large part to it's engaging leads and an often hilarious look back in time. So put your brain on auto-pilot, sit back and enjoy the ride. (Lee)

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Hooked On You (Hong Kong 2007)

2007-11-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

It's 1997 and the Fortune Market is alive and well with a plethora of different vendors. One inparticular fish stall is run by Miu (Miriam Yeung) and her father (Stanley Fung). Miu and her gambling and promiscuous father are in debt to local loan shark Uncle Right (David Lo). With little to no help from her father, Miu works long hours and even sells congee on the side in order to make some extra cash to pay off the debt. The residents of the Fortune Market, Porky (Huang Bo) and Fishman (Eason Chan), both have an interest in Miu for different reasons, but Miu longs for a better life and wants something more than just the life of owning a stall in a food market. Fishman does his best to try and bully everyone, especially Miu, and even goes as far as to trash her stall. He loves to throw his weight around, but in reality, everyone in Fortune Market doesn't take him seriously. When Miu isn't working overtime, she's on a quest to find a high-profile husband to take her away from the mundane existence that is the Fortune Market. Fishman slowly stops picking on Miu and eventually finds himself warming up to her. Unfortunately for the Fishman, he's a part of the life at Fortune Market which is everything Miu is trying to leave behind.

Hooked On You has that rare something within the genre it's representing; namely two leads that work well together and don't annoy you as the viewer. Miriam and Eason play off each other incredibly well as their relationship volleys up and down throughout time. There are times when you really want to see the two of them happy together, as opposed to the usual "hurry up and get it over with" feeling. This is all thanks to the well-written story by Fung Chi-Keung and the direction of Law Wing-Cheong. An interesting addition to the character interaction is the way their story is marked throughout time with occurrences like the popularity of pyramid schemes, mass urban renewal, commercialization, SARS, and so on. This all plays out in Hong Kong's recent history and it's a cool addition not seen in many films. So as the story progresses through time, you see the characters grow and mature. This could possibly be the reason you feel such a closeness to them, because you really see them go through so much. For a romance comedy, Hooked On You does a pretty good job of keeping things light and interesting and tries not to bog things down with an overly sappy approach. The leads are fun to watch and both shine in their roles. A movie well worth your viewing, Hooked On You will make you smile and is undeniably "cute". (converter)

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Tekkon Kinkreet (Japan 2006)

2007-11-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

A crazy hybrid of American and Japanese animation work together to produce something undoubtedly different from typical anime fare, but with Tekkon Kinkreet, the final product is a mixed bag consisting of questionable animation and storytelling. The director, Michael Arias, and co-screenwriter Anthony Weintraub, are both best known for their work on the Animatrix series. Need I say more? And no...that isn't a compliment.

In Tokyo, in an area known as Treasure Town, the youth (referred to by public at large as "Cats") have taken over the streets and seem to run wild in an almost, "Lord of the Flies" fashion. Shiro/White (Yu Aoi) and Kuro/Black (Kazunari Ninomiya) are inseparable and get by on a day-to-day basis by pick-pocketing strangers and hustling in order to survive. Kuro has a reputation for running things on the street level in Treasure Town, and the police seem to understand and respect it as if there's nothing they can do about it. The boys seem content with their way of life, until an unforeseen Yakuza threat marches its way into town and makes plans to tear things down so they can build an amusement park, all in the name of monetary gain. As you can imagine, Kuro and Shiro aren't going to just sit back and let these guys take over their town, so Kuro goes on the attack in order to make his point. The Yakuza enlist the help of an evil, and sexually-ambiguous character by the name of Hebi/Snake (Masahiro Matoki) who promises to eradicate the "cat" problem with help from his three assassins. The assassins prove to be a major threat to our two protagonists and after a near fatal experience for Shiro, Kuro allows the police to take his young friend into custody for safety's sake. With Shiro out of his life, Kuro begins to become consumed with rage and a strong desire to exact revenge on the yakuza, Hebi, and the assassins. He continues to let these negatives feelings and emotions take over which sends him into a spiral of insanity. As Shiro so elegantly puts it, "I have all the screws that Kuro needs for his heart". In other words, the two young boys complete each other, and when they're separated, they become different people. Kuro needs Shiro so he can take back the city they love so dear, but in his current state, how will he survive long enough to make their dreams come true?

Right from the get-go, it's obvious that this story is all about balance. Even the trailer makes this point crystal clear, with the boys names, Black and White, being the biggest sign of all. As Kuro/Black's mental state continues to deteriorate, it's clear that he needs Shiro/White in his life in order to maintain "balance". There isn't much more to say about the story than that, because that really is the message being conveyed. Let's talk a little bit about what everyone says is the greatest aspect of this movie; the animation and visual design. Call me crazy, but I have to say that the visuals are entirely unimpressive and are worsened even more so by the use of CGI. How these "simplistic" character designs are examples of "amazing visual design" is beyond me. Even the animation of the characters is far from being fluid. The only attention to detail in Tekkon Kinkreet is in the background design, which would be great if Treasure Town felt like more a character, but it doesn't. The characters, aside from Shiro, are equally unimpressive, to the point where you don't really care whats happening to them. There was no emotional connection to any of them, so I really didn't care that Kuro was going crazy without his friend by his side. To make matters worse, the story is really run-of-the-mill stuff, with an attempt at conveying a more meaningful underlying message, but the impact is lost, again, due to uninteresting characters.

Scattered throughout my review for Tekkon Kinkreet, you probably caught the word that really sums up the movie as a whole: unimpressive. Granted, I much rather prefer the styling of Satoshi Kon and Katsuhiro Otomo, but I'm willing to give anything a chance. Unfortunately, the powers responsible for Tekkon Kinkreet can't even light a torch to the aforementioned names and it's painfully obvious. If this is an example of the direction "new anime" is headed in, I think I'll gladly stay rooted in the past. (Lee)

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Tokyo Zombie 東京ゾンビ (Japan 2005)

2007-11-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

It's been far too long since my last review, and for those that give a crap, I do apologize. Formalities aside, I've returned with a review for Tokyo Zombie (東京ゾンビ), the craziest, and possibly one of the most disappointing zombie movies I've seen in a long time.

The citizens of Tokyo have really given up on caring about the overall cleanliness of their environment, and as such, have begun dumping everything (and I do mean everything) you can think of into a gigantic pile in the center of town. The pile begins to become so massive that it takes on a similar shape and appearance to that of Fuji-san, or Mt. Fuji, which leads citizens to refer to this massive heap as Black Fuji. Two slacker garage workers, Fujio (Tadanobu Asano) and Mitsuo (Sho Aikawa), really seem to have nothing to do all day except practice Jujitsu. Mitsuo, severely balding and the more "skilled" of the two, is always training Fujio on the arts of Jujitsu. When their boss shows up to check up them, he isn't happy with what he sees and an altercation breaks out amongst the three men which results in the boss being beaten to death. So where can our boys take the body? Black Fuji! Where else!? Remember, I did say everything gets dumped there. For reasons unbeknownst to the viewer, or maybe it's just plain unnecessary to tell us, the zombies begin to rise from Black Fuji and take our heroes off-guard after returning to the garage. After a slightly amusing display of Jujitsu skill, Fujio and Mitsuo are officially on the run from the zombie threat. Mitsuo explains to Fujio that all great warriors and martial-artists train in Russia, so that's where they need to go if Fujio plans to be a master of the arts. On their long drive north, they run into a young woman by the name of Yoko (Erika Okuda), who is under attack by the zombies after trying to clean out a convenience store. After their convenience store run doesn't quite work out as planned, Mitsuo takes the protesting Yoko with them. The boys reach a point where they can longer travel together, so Fujio and Yoko are left to fend for themselves and that's where everything changes. Why couldn't Mitsuo continue traveling with Fujio and Yoko? And will Fujio ever make it to Russia to complete his training?

I really had to stop my description of the movie at that point, because the minute Mitsuo decides to leave Fujio and Yoko, is the same time the movie decides to bash me over the face with the "out of nowhere" plot change. Don't get me wrong, I understand that this is a dark-comedy zombie movie, and nothing that happens in it is supposed to be "realistic" or meant to be taken even remotely serious, but the third act ruined the entire film. I will say that things get even more wacky and post-apocalyptic, but not in a good way. It seriously just takes everything you saw in the first three-quarters of the movie and does something completely different. Which is really a shame, because I was on board with the style that Tokyo Zombie had going for it. The biggest offense is the fact that this is above-all, a buddy movie with Fujio and Mitsuo needing to be together to make everything else seem interesting, and once Mitsuo leaves the picture, it's no longer interesting to watch. I'm sure it's a ploy from director/screenwriter Sakichi Sato to drive home the dark zombie future isn't all fun and games, but to make everything about the movie seem like "fun and games", only to flip a 180 is a move that takes away from the enjoyment of the film as a whole.

I'm a huge fan of zombie movies (minus that Dawn of the Dead remake and House of the Dead), and I'll watch them whether they are on the comedic side or the horror side. That being said, I really wanted to like Tokyo Zombie if for nothing more than it's original take on the genre. It almost succeeded in being an interesting, funny, and original zombie movie, but the keyword here is almost, making it a major disappointment no matter how you slice it. (Lee)

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*No English Subtitles

Cutie Honey (Japan 2004)

2007-10-08T12:17:00.001-07:00

Honey Kisaragi (Eriko Sato, pin-up model extraordinaire), is enjoying a nice bubble bath when she gets a call from her Uncle Utsugi (Masaki Kyomoto), a top science professor. While on the phone, she hears him being abducted by an unknown assailant and quickly leaps into action. Honey, alter-ego of Cutie Honey, finds that she doesn't have enough energy to transform, so she's forced to dress in a clear garbage bag and run to the store for some snacks. With that catastrophe averted she's finally able to transform into Cutie Honey by pressing the heart-shaped button on her choker and yelling, "Honey Flash!". But alas, uncle Utsugi's captors have already been completely boxed in by police at the Tokyo Bay aqua line. Most notably among them is squad chief Natsuko Aki (Mikako Ichikawa, also a model). The chief finds herself in over her head when the kidnapper turns out to be Gold Claw (Hairi Katagiri), a member of the evil organization Panther Claw. Cutie Honey, dressed as a police officer, saves the chief just in the nick of time and drags her kicking and screaming out of harms way. Cutie Honey takes over from there and eventually defeats Gold Claw single-handedly, rescuing her uncle in the process. Natsuko is anything but impressed and tries to take Honey into custody. A mysterious reporter named Hayami Seiji (Jun Murakami), interjects that the chief is committing a false arrest and he finds himself being handcuffed for interfering with police business. With a smile, and some nice diversionary tactics, Honey slips away and turns back into plain ol' Honey Kisaragi, the low-status office worker with no friends who can't seem to do anything right.

Upon returning to headquarters, Natsuki is having problems of her own. Her superiors reprimand her for the damage done at the aqua line and her inability to capture the criminals responsible. With that, she finds out Professor Utsugi has been kidnapped by Panther Claw once again from right under her nose. Now we're all back to square one. So Natsuki, Cutie Honey, and Hayami come together due to the fact that they all have their own reasons for wanting to get to the bottom of exactly what Panther Claw might be up to.

Cutie Honey is based on Go Nagai's 70's comic creation. This has spawned countless OVA's comics and other merchandise over the years. Enter Hideaki Anno, of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame, Warner Brothers distribution company, and a legion of fans that have probably been waiting years to see one of their favorites manga's come to life. All of this could be a recipe for success, or it could create a movie that is aimed directly towards the hardcore fans, so much so, that it completes neglects anyone else. Cutie Honey is a perfect example of the latter. I for one have seen the animation and found it to be alright, but how it would translate into a live action movie was the million-dollar question. I like to think that it holds it's own. The presentation is bright and colorful and keeps with that anime flare. Eriko does a fine job playing a bubbly, cute, yet dim-witted at times Honey. However, the story starts without you, in the sense that it's based on a world that the fan's know all about, but be patient and you'll soon catch up. Most of the special-effects are a double-edged sword. Either you'll hate the campiness of them, or you'll totally adore it. I did notice a few animated effects that were pretty original, such as when Honey is flipping about during her fight sequences. Overall, Honey won't amuse everyone and I don't believe it was meant to. It was built for the fans and I think they love seeing Honey come to life and do her thing. (Converter)

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Flash Point (Hong Kong 2007)

2007-10-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

If you have ever had any interest in either Donnie Yen or martial-arts, Flash Point will impress you in both departments. Sure the story is about as bland and cookie-cutter as action movie plots can get, but you're here to see one thing and one thing only: Donnie Yen beatin' some ass.

Serving as a prequel-of-sorts to the much-loved S.P.L., Flash Point takes us to 1997; a time where Hong Kong was still under British rule. Why this point is made in the movie I'll never know, but I digress. Inspector Ma (Donnie Yen) is working on a case with his undercover partner Wilson (Louis Koo, aka: the man with the tan) that involves three bad Vietnamese dudes. Archer (Ray Lui) is head of the gang, and his younger and bigger brother Tiger (Xing Yu), and co-hort Tony (Collin Chou) manage to look over the illegal shenanigans while Archer faces a bit of trouble with the authorities. Wilson has a lot of info on the gang's activities and is ready to testify against Archer, because everyday they seem to grow more and more suspicious of Wilson's behavior. However, everything can't always go as plan (nor would we want them to) and Wilson's cover is blown. Already having been reprimanded by his superiors for excessive behavior and force, Inspector Ma is ready to protect his partner anyway he can. When Archer's thugs kidnap Wilson's girlfriend (Fan Bing-Bing), Wilson finds himself unwilling to testify against Archer in hopes that his girlfriend's life will be spared. This doesn't fly with Ma, so he takes action into his own hands in order to help his friends and put Archer and his boys away once and for all.

As noted earlier, the story is about as run-of-the-mill as you can get, but in all honesty it's the perfect instigator for getting Ma's character fueled with enough anger to show us what he's made of. First off, let me say that I love Donnie Yen's style and after some serious discussion, me and a few others believe he could truly be the one to save Hong Kong cinema as we used to know it. No one is doing martial-arts as aggressive, realistic and as well choreographed as Donnie Yen. In Flash Point, the grappling-style we saw him incorporate into the action of S.P.L. is still here and it produces some truly jaw-dropping, holy-sh!t moments. The final act with Ma squaring off against Tony is one of the best fight scenes I've ever seen...I kid you not. Not to discredit the others involved, but Donnie is the centerpiece of the film and everyone else is their simply to support him in his beat-down quest. Collin Chou displays some excellent fighting skills, and let's be honest...anyone that can hang with Donnie has to have excellent skills.

He proved he could make a modern movie with mind-blowing action in S.P.L., and he once again shows us that it wasn't a fluke with Flash Point. I can only guess that as he continues to direct and choreograph action scenes in future projects that it will only get better. How it can get any better than this probably depends on the story, but overall I'd still say Flash Point is a success and if you love intense and innovative martial-arts, you'll see it as soon as possible. (Lee)

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Hold Up Down (Japan 2005)

2007-10-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

A unique movie to be sure, Hold Up Down uses a Pulp Fiction-esque formula in an attempt to create a wacky, all-over-the-place comedy. For the first and second act the movie is fairly successful, but for the ending, what some would call the most important part, is where it all goes wrong. Color me disappointed.

Brace yourselves folks, because Hold Up Down is almost as hard to explain as it was to watch. Meaning that a lot of stuff happens in the movie, but most of it for no seemingly good reason. Right off the bat we're following two of the many main characters, dressed up in Santa Claus outfits preparing to rob a bank. After the hold-up, the two bandits run off and into the subway station to stash the cash in a station locker. Unfortunatley they don't have the change to lock it up, so they bother homeless musician Koichi (Okada Junichi) for his spare change. The men threaten Koichi, resulting in another foot chase in which Koichi is hit by a speeding police car (with our two other main characters). Our main hobo ends up with the key to the bank heist money, but the two police officers think he's dead. Now we meet a young man who is questioning his faith after an unfortunate incident at his church. His path crosses with the homeless man Koichi, and due to Koichi's...rustic appearance, the young man believes Koichi to be Jesus. So now we have two cops and two robbers racing to get to the stolen money in the station locker, and a young man on a spiritual journey with whom he believes to be Jesus, but is really just a homeless musician. Everyone crosses paths at one point or another throughout the film, and they all eventually come together in the end. In this case however, that isn't a good thing.

Forgive the lack of name-dropping in my review, but the characters in this movie never use their names so it was close to impossible to find out who played who. Actors aside, the story of Hold Up Down is actually really fun, in a quirky, nonsensical kind of way. It's amusing to watch everything that happens to Koichi the hobo, and a lot of the action and comedy is incredibly over-the-top. Suspend disbelief for the first hour and a half of the movie and you'll have a great time with it, but it's in the final act that everything goes straight to hell. To say the final act came out of left field would be an understatement, and to be honest, it just seemed like a last minute attempt at getting all the characters together in one spot just for the heck of it. It really didn't serve any purpose and to be honest, it ruined the movie for me.

I really wanted to like Hold Up Down, and for most of the time I did. I don't need a movie to be perfect to find it worthy of a purchase, because let's be honest, a perfect movie is strictly based on personal opinion. However, when one part of the movie is just so bad and the complete opposite of the rest of the movie, you can't look past this "flaw" for the sake of adding it to your collection. Hold Up Down succeeds in getting your hopes up, only to bring them to a crashing halt. (Lee)

*No Trailer Available

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Who Slept With Her? (Korea 2006)

2007-09-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

A comedy that's driven by the mystery element presented within the title, Who Slept With Her? is, for the most part, a success due to great casting, genuinely funny jokes, and excellent pacing. Who-dunnit storytelling that will actually keep you engaged until the big reveal.

Incredibly attractive Uhm Ji-Young (Kim Sa-Rang, best known for her participation in the 2001 Miss Universe Pageant), is the new trainee French teacher at an all-boys Christian academy. As you can imagine, her arrival has creates a big excitement on campus for the students, but not everyone is happy to see her. The Dean of Discipline, Mr. Cha (Lee Hyeok-jae), lovingly referred to as Slanted Eyes by his students, sees Ji-Young as an inappropriate distraction for the students. The movie begins after the school festival has already taken place, and Mr. Cha sees Ji-Young running off with someone after the show. He sneaks behind the two and hears them having sex in the library, but when he opens the door...it's empty except for a shoe he say Ji-Young wearing during the festival. Mr. Cha is on a mission to find out who slept with her. One month earlier, we see Ji-Young's arrival at the school, and after introductions have taken place, homeroom teacher Mr. Ahn (Park Cheol-min) suggests that Ji-Young help and participate in the big yearly festival the school puts on. The three students in charge of planning are Tae-Yo Kim (Ha Seok-jin), Jae-Seong (Park Joon-gyoo), and Myong-Sub (Ha Dong-hoon). Unfortunately, the festival has put on the same show of, "Three Wise Men and Baby Jesus", for the past ten years straight. This doesn't sit well with Ji-Young and she proposes the idea of doing a musical number to the three boys. At first they think she's crazy and they'll never be allowed to do it, but their lust for her makes them weak and willing to do anything she says. Spending so much time with Mrs. Uhm, the three boys find themselves becoming more obsessed with their new teacher, and all for seemingly different reasons.

Tae-Yo is the cool kid in the school. The guy that all the others look up to because he has experience with women and knows how to win them over. He isn't impressed with Ji-Young like all the others at first, but soon he finds himself wanting to win her over because she shows no interest in him and he isn't used to be snubbed by the opposite sex. Jae-Seong is the strangest of the three, not only because of his personality, but because he has the appearance of a man in his late 40's or early 50's, but he's only 17. He also has a "defect" in a part of his anatomy in which he can't seem to exhibit any self-control over himself. Naturally, he has a crush on Mrs. Uhm and tries to win her over with his romantic and caring personality. Lastly, we have Myong-Sub, who is the biggest pervert of the three, possibly the biggest pervert of the entire school. He lusts, more than loves, over Mrs. Uhm and in order to get him to study harder, Ji-Young says she'll humor the possibility of going on a date with him if he gets at least a score of 90 on his French mid-term exam. As you can imagine, Myong-Sub turns into a completely different person after hearing such a proposition. Even though all three boys are doing everything they can to get Ji-Young's attention, even Mr. Ahn and Mr. Cha can't resist her charms and they pursue her in their own way with hilarious results. With the archbishop coming to view the school festival, the boy's need to get their act together and work as a team with Mrs. Uhm if they want to present the school in a positive light, and Mr. Cha just wants to know who slept with Mrs. Uhm!

The story in Who Slept With Her? is a lot of fun because it has you guessing for most of the movie about who Mr. Cha saw having sex in the beginning of the film. Not only that, but the jokes throughout the film are really funny, with Sae-Jeong's appearance being the funniest on-going gag for me personally. Just looking at that guy was enough to make me chuckle. Although, Ha-Dong hoon's character Myung-Sub is really funny as well, in his special perverted way. I think most guys at that age can relate to a lot of the thoughts he expresses which makes him the easiest character for guy's to relate to. Lee Hyeok-jae is great as the incredibly strict Mr. Cha, and he often had me cracking up with laughter. Kim Sa-Rang as Ji-Young, did a fine enough job for what her character was there to do. She didn't have to pull out all the acting stops for her role. She really just had to look pretty enough for these guys to drool over her and I think in that respect she was a perfect fit. My only gripes with the story is that Ji-Young seemed to exhibit a lot of inappropriate behavior with the three main students, to the point where you just roll your eyes and go with it because it's only a movie. I enjoyed the way the film gave you background information on all three students, around thirty minutes each, because they are all, for the most part, likeable characters that you wanted to know more about.

If you just want to sit back and watch a wild, somewhat over-the-top comedy that will keep you entertained the whole way through, Who Slept With Her? fits the bill perfectly. I was pleasantly surprised and you really couldn't ask for anything more from a movie. (Lee)

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The Taste of Tea (Japan 2004)

2007-09-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

An oddly-fascinating tale, with equally fascinating and eccentric characters, The Taste of Tea (Cha no aji 茶の味） is probably like nothing you've ever seen before. Not only does it earn points for originality and uniqueness, but it's manner of storytelling is so non-typical that you'll have a hard time not liking this movie.

The Haruno family are definitely not what most people would consider "normal". Residing in rural Tochigi prefecture, just north of Tokyo, we follow along as the Haruno's go about their daily lives, which by all accounts should be a boring task, but what's mundane to them is fascinating to us. Teenager Hajime Haruno (Takahiro Sato) is experiencing what all teenage boys experience in their lives; falling in love. The girl of his dreams has moved away, and due to some rather unfortunate eaves-dropping incidents, he's developed a phobia of the opposite sex and is finding it hard to speak to them. His younger sister Sachiko (Maya Banno) is a typical 6-year old girl, in the sense that her over-active imagination has taken shape in the form of a giant version of herself that follows her around and watches her every move. After hearing a story from her Uncle Ayano (Tadanobu Asano), in which he explains a similar situation he experienced as a child, Sachiko dedicates her free-time to doing a backflip on the horizontal bar located in the forest. If Ayano could get rid of his "ghost" problem that way, than maybe Sachiko's giant-self will disappear as well. Mother Yoshiko (Satomi Tezuka) is working on some new sketches that she's hoping will re-establish her within the animation industry, as she had to take a step back due to her family responsibilities. Her father, Grandpa Akira Todoroki (Tatsuya Gasyuin) assists her in developing new poses for her characters, and otherwise displays a wide array of strange behaviors, all the while humming and singing different songs around the house. The father, Nobuo Haruno (Tomokazu Miura), has an interesting job as a hypno-therapist, where he hypnotizes people into a relaxed state, either to calm them down, or help them overcome different issues in their lives. We're also briefly introduced to Nobuo's brother Ikki Todoroki (playing himself), who is an accomplished manga artist living in Tokyo, who also fancies himself as somewhat of a singer. Uncle Ayano works as a sound mixer for a living, and Ikki requests that he mix a song that he's been working on as a birthday present to himself. This session results in a hilarious song and dance routine known as the, "Yama-yo", or "The Mountain Song". Meanwhile, Hajime is excited about everyday life again when new girl Aoi Suzuishi (Anna Tsuchiya) joins his class and shows an interest in one of his favorite hobbies; the board game Go. Will Hajime will find the strength to confess his love to Aoi? Will Sachiko overcome the horizontal bar? Will Yoshiko be accepted again amongst her peers to revitalize her career? And most importantly of all; what will Grandpa do next?

You'll be asking yourself these same questions and more as you watch The Taste of Tea, because due to the unique vision and direction of Katsuhito Ishii, you really won't know what to expect. In a lot of ways, that level of uncertainty is what makes movies, including this one, so great and entertaining to watch. The story is very untraditional in the sense that at times it feels as if you're watching a reality show, or a documentary on this family and their day to day life. Although, it's the strength of the characters that keep it from being as boring as that last sentence makes it sound. Even at two hours and twenty-three minutes, you'll find yourself wanting the film to keep going just to see what happens next with the Haruno family. Great performances (especially from Tatsuya Gasyuin as the quirky Grandpa), and a fun, almost fantasy-like feel, help to contribute to the overall experience. Director Katsuhito Ishii has an interesting way of showing us the imagination of his characters, with Sachiko's giant-self being the most obvious example.

Definitely not conforming to typical film-making standards, The Taste of Tea is a refreshing change of pace in the all too mundane cinema landscape. I love it when new things are tried in film and end up a success, and that's exactly what happened here. (Lee)

*No Trailer Available

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Tokyo X Erotica (Japan 2001)

2007-09-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

The year is 1997 and a man by the name of Kenji traveling through the tunnel underneath an overpass on his scooter. He stops when he finds a slew of dead bodies lying on the floor. He goes to investigate the bodies to see if he can help, but by the time he realizes what has happened, he's overcome by the toxic gas that has flooded the tunnel. He falls to the ground, dying from the fumes, when he begins to remember what an old girlfriend had once asked him. "Which is longer, the time before birth, or the time after death?" Meanwhile, Kenji's ex-girlfriend Haruka, who is working as a prostitute, is standing by a street corner watching a man in a bunny costume promoting a local shop. She slowly makes her way to him and invites her services. After Haruka expertly services the man, he seems to go bi-polar and begins to degrade her and questions all of the choices she's made in life. His tirade becomes more violent and the man ends up strangling Haruka to death. That marks the time that Kenji and Haruka both died. Welcome to 1995, where the couple are alive and not so well because they've just broken up and Haruka isn't dealing with it well. We then move on to a woman who is waiting for her lover and watching the news on television which begins to describe that the gas in the tunnels were the result of a terrorist attack. Her lover shows up and after the two have sex, we're transported to 1989 where we meet a younger Kenji and Haruka who are meeting with friends to party and hang out. There's a little cheating done on Haruka's part with the other two friends and once again we are whisked away to 2002 when the same couple is alive and well...again. However, now it seems as if it's just the same lead actors playing different parts. Although, relationships and death are still all in question.

Tokyo X Erotica is an example of what is called pink cinema. Where basically a movie's story is hidden within a lot of soft-core sex scenes. So if that's not your thing, you might want to stay clear of this due it's graphic depictions of sex. Tokyo X Erotica's story of life and death with sex can be a bit confusing at times due to the way the story hops around different time periods. There is a narration that tries to fill in all the little holes and move things along, but sometimes it ends up doing more bad than good. The uses of color and black and white are subject to the viewers interpretation. I believe it represents death and the times of their lives that they get to choose to live. This is the basic theme in the movie that gets explored every time you meet the characters in a different time period. There are also documentary-style interviews with random people and some of the main characters throughout different times in their lives. The interviews explore how these people live and if they're living their lives the way they truly want to. There are some key references and items that show up throughout to aid in the life and death mystery, but these soon become afterthoughts. The actors and their performances are all pretty decent, and the cinematography holds up too. Director Takahisa Zeze does a lot better with this film than say...Moon Child. All in all it's just hard to say if the adventure is really worth it. I just wanted things to be a little tighter with the story because it has an interesting premise. So if you do watch Tokyo X Erotica for just the simulated sex, you'll only be getting a few scenes and you'll be missing the point of the film all together. However, if you watch it for the story, you'll be left wanting more. (Converter)

*No Trailer Available

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War (North America 2007)

2007-09-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Jack Crawford (Jason Statham), is an FBI agent in charge of an anti-Asian gang force in San Francisco who discovers that a hitman name Roge (Jet Li), is back in town after 3 years of complete seclusion. The trail is sparked up again by Rogue's trademark titanium shells with depleted uranium slugs. Crawford has dealt with Rogue's antics before due to the fact that he killed Crawford's partner Chang (John Lone), Chang's wife and daughter, and set fire to their home. Crawford is now hell-bent on getting revenge for his partner, so much so that it's cost him his marriage and his relationship with his son. While Crawford and his team hit the streets to find out this killers whereabouts, Rogue is pulling off robberies, and a murder that incites a war between the local Triads and Yakuzas in San Francisco. All the while, he's also a personal "yes man" for local mafia head Shiro (Ryo Ishibashi), and is ordered to help him keep his control over the local syndicates. While cleaning up most of Rogue's handy work, Crawford finds out Rogue has actually changed his face with plastic surgery and his current identity is Victor Shaw (Jet Li). Now it seems that Crawford's back at square one on his revenge tangent, that is until Rogue goes looking for him.

War is undoubtedly one of the worst action movies I've ever seen. One would've thought that "The One" was terrible enough to keep Jason "I play the same character in every movie" Statham and Jet Li from ever working together again. These two have zero chemistry together and I don't buy into the hype of these two together on-screen. The director, Philip G. Atwell's career lies mostly with music videos and he has no real experience in the action movie genre and that definitely shows in War. On the other hand, it doesn't really matter, because War plays out more like a bad drama than an action film. The story is a train wreck that is just so uninteresting you'll begin to question if you even want the over-acting Statham to get revenge for his partner or he'd just be better off callin' it a day. So the story just spins around and around, with the worst part of it being the ending. It comes so fast and abruptly that you'll stare at the black screen waiting for something, anything to help explain what just happened for one hundred and three of the longest minutes of your life. The saddest thing about War is that it seemed to have had the recipe for a solid action movie; revenge always equals plain and simple text-book action. It looks like everyone involved with War doesn't read books. (Converter)

Millenium Actress (Japan 2001)

2007-09-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

Millennium Actress (Sennen Joyu) is the amazing story of Chiyoko Fujiwara , an actress for a once great movie studio. Genya Tachibana (Shozo Izuka) is a famous TV interviewer and quite possibly one of Chiyoko's biggest fans. When the studio closes, he tracks her down to get an interview with her as she's been in seclusion for over thirty years. He brings with him a key that once belonged to her. The key represents a lot of things in the movie, the first being the key that unlocks Chiyoko's memories. Chiyoko begins telling Genya and his cameraman how she initially came across the key.

When she was a teenager, the producer of the studio came to Chiyoko's town and tried to recruit her. Unfortunately, Chikoyo's mother wouldn't allow it, so she ran away from home, upset at her mother. She bumps into a young man only a few year's older than herself, who is bloody and on the run from the police. The officers chasing him ask Chiyoko as to his whereabouts and naturally she steers them off his path and brings the young man home, hiding him in the storage room where her mother won't find him. After school the next day, Chiyoko comes home and finds a whole in the wall with the young man now missing and the police searching the area for him. Chiyoko's caretaker secretly informs her that the young man took off towards the train station, so Chiyoko decides to go after him and along the way finds the key. She takes it upon herself to find him so that she can return the key to him.

The thing about Millennium Actress is that it flashes between reality and Chiyoko's movies, but as we watch Chiyoko, so do Genya and his cameraman who are both transported through time to the events in Chiyoko's life. Soon enough, her biggest fan is helping her in almost every situation as Chiyoko tries to give her mystery man back his key. Thankfully the cameraman is clueless as to what's happening, which is to say he's like the rest of the audience, waiting for someone to say what's going on. I mentioned that the key has different symbolic meanings, one of them being hope, and the other being love. It's also used to reveal the truth, and to lock away Chiyoko's feelings, but most importantly of all it's used as a reminder. The movies Chiyoko stars in also play a huge part of the storytelling because they relate to what shes going through in life at that time in her journey. I could go on and on about Millennium Actress, because it really was a great movie that had a lot of heart, and frankly, it could have been a big budget, live-action film. Even though it's a cartoon, it's still a cinematic masterpiece. I doubt that many other movies will be able to accomplish the feeling and storytelling of this wonderfully crafted film. I'll stop myself from going any further and I'll leave you to watch it for yourself, because only then will you really see what I'm talking about. (KSG-301)