Death Note

The first of a two part live action movie based on the anime of the same name. Really good, though it ends with a cliffhanger. I'm planning on doing a full review of this later this week.

The Host: Pretty good though I watched the English dubbed version; which may have taken a lot out of the quality of the movie. Nevertheless I would give it 7/10.

The Doll Master ~ I enjoyed it a heck of lot more than I expected to, love the dolls.

Zebraman.

Everyone- go watch this NOW. This movie just BLEW ME AWAY.

A boy in a wheelchair, a mild mannered schoolteacher who imagines himself a superhero, alien green blobs invading the Earth, government conspiracies..,. all melded into one cockeyed plot that straddles genres with perfect finesse. Manages to be domestic drama, sci fi, horror, satire- and it all WORKS.

Inspirational, heartwarming, hip cool, and hilarious all at the same time. Honestly, I haven't been so impressed with a movie in a long long time.

Manages to get some hilarious barbs in against the ghost woman with long hair, buildings sealed with red tape and Ultraman type superheros. So many deft small touches of humor and even some symbolism and political comment. And to top it all off, it's Miike.

I just can't rave enough about this movie.

OMG

yeah...specially I liked the death scene at the toilet. Though there were some nice creepy moments but the ending was somewhat disappointing.

Nope.
My netflix rating system says I won't enjoy this film, so I have to pass.
:D
It's queued, thanks for the recommendation.
I've bypassed this movie for awhile, thinking it was like Mystery Men for some reason:confused:

Good scene. I thought it was a little uneven thoughout, and yes, the ending was a little weak. But I wasn't expecting that much going in, so I was pleasantly surprised.

And neverending I will definitely be checking Zebraman out very soon.

Anyway, just watched Black House a little while ago and I loved it....until the end, which again was a little weak. Oh and the police were absolutely useless which always frustrates me in films like these. But otherwise, a solid, and very dark, mystery thriller.

Carved ~ I had high hopes for this one, but was disappointed. I loved the look of the slit-mouthed woman, and the instances of child abuse through the film were very disturbing to me....but I didn't like the ending at all, and didn't really get the actions of some of the characters. Overall, just an okay watch.

Infection

Found it for only five bucks and it's still one of my favorite movies. I heard a rumor that this may become an American movie soon, which I don't think will be very great at all....

Last watched The Three Extremes. Dumplings and Box were decent but nothing outstanding IMO... Cut was fricking awesome! Park delivered the goods yet again in this short story. I'm sure if anyone watches it, there will be at least one of the three stories that you will enjoy.

Cut was so good, a great short story and perfectly executed. Miike was brilliantly low-key (his was the least gory, whodda thunk) with Box and the narrative was spot on. Dumplings was a fun, sick and disgusting ride which to be honest, the more I think about it the more I like the short version better than the full length film.

I LOVED Cut, and Dumplings was good, too...Box bored me, honestly...Have you watched 3 Extremes 2?...Not nearly as good as 3 Extremes, but worth a watch



We just watched One Missed Call 1, 2, and 3 back to back...They were pretty good...We have the American Remake, but haven't watched it yet...Not really in a hurry to, either

Same here!...The long version didn't really contain anything of substance, just slightly more storyline...All of the good stuff is in the short version...That's much better for impatient people like me :)

No I haven't watched the first one but I'll probably give it a shot one of these days. Maybe I'll check out the One Missed Calls too. I hated the American Version which is the only one I saw. Don't waste your time on that one.

And Despair, I don't understand the love for Box. Maybe I should check it out again. I may have missed something...

I thought, of the three shorts, Box was my favorite. I thought that Miike really did well in slowly building up atmosphere (as he generally does) and the surrounding mystery around the twins. I would say that my only problem with it was the very end of it, but I'm willing to forgive it. Of the three, this was the one that actually creeped me out.

Cut was absolute brilliance and again Park shines.

Dumplings was good - I think that it's really the epitome of Chinese and Hong Kong horror - It was really interesting to watch, though slow at times.

...

As for me, I finally got around to watching Ricky-Oh: Story of Ricky. An absolutely brilliant piece of Japanese Schlock, Ricky-Oh is a pure kung fu splatter-fest. Exploding heads, fists going through bodies... What more can you ask for? A-/A

The only way to watch American version and Asian version: is to not compare them at all.IMHO
Watch them on there own merit.

I saw The Grudge never knowing there was anything Asian it was copied from, never watched much Asian horror ...until I got here:)
But I have since watched almost everything recommended and also watched some of the American versions and came to the conclusion that I cannot put these movies in the same catagory.
I like some of the Amer. remakes very much but if I were to compare it to the quality of the original-I would HATE IT.
Know what I mean?

Miike's style is definitely an acquired taste. I'm still in the phase of finding his stuff on the bizarre tip. I loved Audition, and liked Ichi and Visitor Q. I still need to watch Gozu (I have it lying around somewhere).

Oh and I finished off the Vengeance Trilogy by watching Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. It was solid. The story, cinematography and acting were top-notch. I do think that it was the weakest of the three films however. You know, Mr. Vengeance stands out for its brutality, Oldboy for its action, high-end production and crazy twist. I'm not sure what really sets this one apart from the rest though...

Kairo. I thought it was pure cow dung. So many questions about the movie because of poor execution of the story....yet I don't care to have them answered. 4/10

One Missed Call Final. It wasn't as good as the first two but it was good enough.

Grave of the Fireflies: A great Manga. It really depicts the hardships the Japanese faced during WWII. Extremely sad and profound story. 8.5/10.

Ricky-Oh: The Story of Ricky: Hilarious! The horrible dubbing and over the top gore was enough to make me laugh throughout the movie. Definitely an entertaining and different viewing experience. 8/10.

The Great Yokai War by Miike. Cool kids movie with lots of bizarre creatures.

Oh, boo. I was looking forward to seeing this one. Pulse was actually one of the few remakes that actually impressed me (it wasn't amazing, but I had absolutely no expectations, so it was easy to exceed) and I was pretty psyched to see the original. Too bad about the bad rating.

Glad that you liked Lady Vengeance! I thought that the end climax... Was just... absolutely incredible... Have you watched Joint Security Area yet? I have it at home from Netflix, but haven't watched it yet. heh.

I was really impressed with that film. It was a fun little romp. Not to mention, it was really neat to see Miike to a kid's film. The only problem that I had with the movie (and I realize that this is SO not the fault of the movie) is that I honestly wish that i personally had more of a Japanese cultural context because I spent a lot of the movie intrigued about the Yokai forms and wanting to know the stories and legends behind them. I would have loved to experience the film with that context - I think that I would have appreciated it even more. :D

[QUOTE=ChronoGrl;754593]Oh, boo. I was looking forward to seeing this one. Pulse was actually one of the few remakes that actually impressed me (it wasn't amazing, but I had absolutely no expectations, so it was easy to exceed) and I was pretty psyched to see the original. Too bad about the bad rating.

Glad that you liked Lady Vengeance! I thought that the end climax... Was just... absolutely incredible... Have you watched Joint Security Area yet? I have it at home from Netflix, but haven't watched it yet. heh.

Hey welcome back! It gets kind of lonely in this section sometimes :( . Don't let me be the one to turn you off Kairo... It's the type of film that you will either love or hate and it just wasn't for me. I liked the American Version better (I think that's a first). Definitely check it out for yourself if you still want to.

And I did see JSA. I wrote it on one of my previous posts. It's a really deep, intelligent, political movie. A lot of the actors in The Vengeance Series are in this one too.Just don't expect anything like The Trilogy and I guarantee you'll enjoy it.

Last seen movie: The Ebola Syndrome: I was expecting it to be plain disgusting...which it was. It was also funny as hell! The right amount of cheese and some of the funniest subs ever. I kept chuckling constantly all throughout. 7.5/10.

Ahem... ZEBRAMAN!!!!

Sorry for missing your previous comments! I can't wait to check that one out.

I'm sorry, which movie are you talking about? :p

My favorite part of The Great Yokai War was

*************SPOILER ALERT*****************





























That one scene where the kid is in the house with that lady with the stretchy neck...all the sudden it got completely surreal- the eyes on the walls and the big face outside... bizarre!












*********************END OF SPOLIER******************






Loved that part!

Evil Dead Trap : Not your typical J-Horror flick. It had plenty of gore, deaths, traps...even some alien suff going on. I enjoyed the first hour of the movie but then it kind of dragged on. The story totally takes a turn for the worse and by the end you're just wondering "what am I looking at right now?" I wonder if James Wan was inspired by this movie because there's a couple of similarities with this and the Saw Franchise. Overall I give it a 6/10.

Tokyo Zombie - Kinda entertaining and likebly daft. 6/10

Survive Style 5+ - Offbeat,oddball,stylish and original,I loved it!The film took me completely by surprise,it was funny,bizarre and even quite touching.Recommended 10/10

Hey Chrono- don't let one bad rec stop you from seeing Kairo- I loved it!

I second that recommendation, great film.

when i saw it it felt like it was influenced heavily by Italian supernatural films to me ... right down the reveal/explaination

And to also throw in my opinion, I think its a very good film (I personally thought it dragged just a bit at times, but its very creepy and atmospheric). You have to watch it ChronoGrl, you might not like it of course, but its one that is kind of a must see in my opinion.

You mean Evil Dead Trap or Saw?

Last seen Movie: Men Behind The Sun: Messed up movie. The gore is definitely cranked up in this bad-boy. Just the fact that this is based on true events made me queasy even more than normally. I can stand the normal mutilation in horror movies, but anything to do with experiments and surgeries...blech! Regardless, I was entertained and I got a history lesson at the same time of getting grossed out. 6.5/10

I'm going to guess and think he meant Evil Dead Trap, but only because I felt the same way. EDT may be the closest thing I've seen to an Asian Giallo (with a few runners ups).

Thanks, Guys.

It's in the Netflix queue. Guess I'll just have to bump it up. :D

I was honestly impressed with the remake - Have you guys seen it?

...

Yesterday I watched Ekusute (Exte: Hair Extensions)

It's hard to give an impartial review because a) I was fighting the first wave of this death flu, b) I had to get up ever 45 minutes to change laundry, and c) I had to turn it off during the climax because I had a party to run to.

I REALLY shouldn't put in movies when I simply don't have the time to enjoy them.

But anyway.

It wasn't bad. It had some pretty stunningly gruesome visuals and I can definitely appreciate the esoteric and self conscious nod toward the growing archetype of the Onryō as well as the obvious dig to feminine vanity and the obsession with hair. It also rated well on the disgusting gross-out scale with, oftentimes, well, hair sprouting from literally every where.

Honestly, though, my favorite scenes in the movie weren't even necessarily the Kill scenes or the plot scenes; our Big Bad is this absurd caricature who is obsessed with hair, wears an American flag t-shirt and has long dancing and singing scenes in a room literally filled with hair; it was well-crafted absurdity that honestly separated the film from just another Onryō film.

Also, we have the glorious Chiaki Kuriyama (Gogo from Kill Bill), though she plays the cliched giggling JA girl. That being said, I honestly sympathized with her and was interested in her own personal story (at the beginning of the film, her garish sister dumps her niece on her), which turns into a pretty touching mother/daughter theme.

Overall, there are good things (our absurd Big Bad, our touching mother/daughter theme), but I'm not sure whether or not they actually fit well together. The Kills are a bit disappointing (I was expecting more gore I guess) and there wasn't really a whole lot of suspense. It just seemed... Absolutely disjointed.

What's weird is... I'd watch it again. So, it couldn't have been that bad.

It's the kind of movie where, I'd recommend it, but don't expect anything particularly novel. And I wouldn't suggest necessarily paying for it.

2.5/5

The Eye 3 (2005)

>>: C+

VISITOR Q - TAKASHl MllKE

My tag lines.. "Got Milk", "Corpses Have Orgasms too!"

Untold Story: I liked this one. It really resembled the Ebola Syndrome except I found it even more demented. The acting was ok but I don't understand why they had to have goof cops provide comedic relief. It kind of took away some of the film's morbid impact. Still, the final 20 minutes are crazy and not like anything I've ever seen. 6.75/10.

Kung fu Hustle

This is the second time that I've seen this film, but I somehow managed to let time lapse just enough between viewings to forget the intricacies that make this film absolutely great.

Needless to say, I remember enjoying this film the first time, but it was even better the second time.

Brilliant writing and direction, hysterical comic timing (purposefully cartoony at times), and some amazingly choreographed kung fu. Delightfully over-the-top hero kung fu movie. If there are movie enthusiasts out there who still haven't seen this movie, go out and see it.

A/A+

Actually, that was called The Eye 10, was renamed 'The Eye 3' in the US, and wasn't really related to The Eye 1 and 2 (at least not the same storyline)

The Eye 3 (which IS related to 1 & 2) was supposed to come out this year...I hope they haven't given up on it...Maybe they'll just call it 'The Eye 4' in the US
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0896815/

Reminds me of how Shocker was named 'House 3' (but had nothing to do with House 1 & 2), so House 3 became House 4...and how Halloween 3 wasn't related to the other sequels at all...

the guard post