Think I'm finally going to get around to Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance...Oldboy is probably my absolute favourite Asian film, and I've owned the other 2 in the trilogy for AGES.

Hopefully I haven't built it up too much...

mad detective

To be perfectly honest I don't watch many Japanese or Oriental films. I find them a bit wearing, and I don't like reading subtitles. If I want to read something I would take a good book off a shelf, and besides, these sort of films are less sophisticated compared to their American counterparts, and they seem to be remakes most of the time (such as The Grudge, I much prefer the American original). Still, each to their own, hey ho. Though I did see one good Japanese film a couple of months ago. I can't remember the name but it was an involving drama about one woman's desperate bid to hold on to her children in a man dominated family. It actually made me cry. I am confident with my emotions. Although I do like to work out physically, I feel every individual also needs to work out emotionally, beit through film or music or sitting in profound silence. I know I'm new here, and I don't mean to come across as too preachy or odd, but a lot of people say I can be overbearing. I've never had a great number of friends, but I am a rich tapistary of contradictions. For example, I work out but I like my food. The two balance themselves out. Though I have to say the scales do tip towards the food these days, and my doctor says I have to be careful because I might have a heart attack before I'm 30 if I carry on eating BBQ pringles. I'll do anything for anyone and I'm a very good listener. I did enjoy listening to the Japanese language - there is a beautiful and ebb and sway to the Japanese tongue, but their movies just arn't for me. Though if I was offered a part in a Japanese film I would certainly give it a go, and try my hardest to learn the language. Though Japanese people always sound cross, don't they?

It's incredible. Let me know once you have seen it!! It's my favorite of the three.

although i have all 3 i've only watched Oldboy so far.
I'll have to check these out when i get the chance to watch another 'adult' movie again.

I watched Exte:Hair Extensions after a reccomendation on this week's Rue Morgue Radio. Such a wierd concept that you would think it would suck but man was this a good movie. Strange, but good.

Organ : This one was just weird. The first 10 minutes are promising, then everything spirals into a web of undescribable crap. I tried my best to understand what was going on, but failed. Didn't care much either. 4/10

"Apartment 1303" 5/10

A haunted apartment. A long haired ghost. No creepy moments.

Nothing to see here. Move on.

The Rebel (2007)

A Vietnamese action film. There were some good martial art sequences and the villain was so tough that both the "hero & heroin" gave combined efforts to kill him.:D

>>: B-

I don't see any 2007 Rebel anywhere..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reb...ietnamese_film)

Didn't look very hard, did you?

Not good enough for IMDB i guess.. hrmf!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0782154/

It was under 2006. It's a pretty decent movie.

Johnny is a pretty good martial artist. SOLD!!!

Sun faa sau si (Bio-Zombie)

Thoroughly enjoyable Hong Kong zombie movie. There's charming buffoons-turned-heroes, and classic cliched two-dimensional mini-bads. And, of course, hot damsels in distress.

It's a silly Hong Kong interpretation of Dawn of the Dead - Victims and zombies trapped in a shopping mall. And hilarity ensues.

4/5

"The Park" 8/10

A haunted amusement park theme. Great!

Horrible dialogue and actors. But director Wai-keung Lau (Infernal affairs 1, 2 & 3) sure had quite a lot of scares up his sleeve. Some more original than others.

Exte
 

Watched Exte or Hair Extensions last, funny film taking the piss out of the whole 'women with the long black hair'. Same time its not a bad watch.

If you havent seen them 'H' and 'Tell me Something' they are relatively entertaining.

suicide club and battle royale.

Just saw The Victim, sort of ok.

The Loner a.k.a. Hikikomori (2008)

Typical Asian horror with a nice twist at the end. Liked it.

>>: B

Dollmaster. nothing like a little asian horror to kick of Christmas.

A Tale of Two Sisters.

Katakuri-ke no kôfuku (The Happiness of the Katakuris)

Wow. Sorry, Des, but I was a little disappointed in this one. Considering Miike's skill and obvious eye for camp, I think that he could and should have pushed the envelope further on this one. I thought that the beginning was strong - fantastic quirky characters (not to mention the fantastic claymation) and the family's first musical number was absolutely superb and set a great tone.

Another highlight was the romance between the daughter and Richard - Their meeting number is fantastic, but the energy just didn't hold up and after a while I found myself just getting... bored.

I think that he should have stuck with the initial high level of camp and absurdity... I think that I was expecting the family to be more out there and eccentric or that there would be more eccentric characters coming in and out of the family's life.

I don't know - Big disappointment. :(

2.5/5

Z E B R A M A N ... ... ... .....

It's next on the queue... :rolleyes:

REINCARNATION

The freaked out film from the director of The Grudge is seriously wack. It's brilliant. The story of a crew filming a recreation of a mass murder in a hotel that happened 35 years ago careens through different realities, locations and perspectives that end up fitting together seamlessly... I'm not sure exactly what it all means but it's told magnificently. I was even about ready to hate the ending which at one moment seemed like a cop out- but then it pulled it all back with the biggest WTF in the entire film.

The lead actress playing the lead actress and the actor playing the director were particulaly great.

Wonderful and recommended.

Noted & added to the wish list.:)

The Maid (2005)

>>: C

Tokyo Gore Police - It's bonkers blood splattered mayhem all the way through,what's not to like? 8/10

A Bittersweet Life =)

Zebraman

I've FINALLY watched this movie and - what fun!!

SUPERHEROES VS. ALIENS!

A fantastic superhero romp that lampoons Japanese Manga Super-heroes while at the same time creating a seriously charming character and a great hero tale.

Miike showcases his talent and love for the super hero genre in his own hero origin story. Quirky and eccentric, this movie revolves around a dejected school teacher whose only escape in life is to dress up as Zebraman, a short-lived television show superhero. Miike creates some fantastic superhero parodies while simultaneously creating a fantastic, fun superhero action movie.

I highly recommend it.

4/5.

The Red Shoes. I had been waiting quite a long time to see this, and was mildly disappointed. The ending left a little too much to be imagined.

Chanbara Beauty [Onechanbara] (2008)

Japanese chicks-in-bikinis & cowboy hat fight against zombies.....wasted time!:mad:

>>: D

Yeah i was the same with Red Shoes, was abit too ambiguous, but im gona watch it again and see how it goes down a second time.
Watched Cure last night, v disappointed. Nothing compared to H, which was released about 4yrs or so ago, and has a similar plot but much more content and a great twist ending.
Cure - 6/10
H - 8/10

Last night I watched Ring again. For some strange reason I found it scarier this time.

From this year's After Dark Horrorfest:

Du saram-yida (Voices)



It was refreshing that ADH once again decided to bring a foreign film into the mix (ADH I, after all was the vehicle for 2005's gem Rinne). Voices is directed by amateur Korean director Ki-hwan Oh. The story centers around a high school girl whose life takes a turn for the worse when her Aunt is almost murdered on her wedding day and then all of a sudden her friends, family, and confidants seem to want her dead.

Not your typical Asian ghost movie, Voices examines the human monster in all of us: jealousy. How often do you say to yourself, "I could KILL them!" either in rage or in irony - There's a point where the phrase "I'll KILL you/him/her" has become an expression of speech and, incidentally, has lost all meaning. Voices considers the concept: What if that urge became real? What if you couldn't control that urge? What if those around you couldn't control that urge? A base, everyday emotion suddenly becomes a legitimate threat.

There are also some well-done supernatural aspects to the film. Ki-hwan Oh creates some truly haunting imagery and suspense that literally caused me to jump in my seat. I felt true horror and threat for the plight of our heroine; what would you do if your friends and family suddenly tried to kill you?

Perhaps what is most striking about Voices is Ki-hwan Oh's ability to truly put the audience in the shoes of our heroine; when she's in love at the beginning of the movie, you're surrounded by cheesy stereotypical Asian flourishes while, when she's haunted in the end you are caught up in a truly suspenseful and atmospheric film.

An innovative addition to Asian horror, Voices has been a true highlight of the festival. I highly recommend.

4.5/5

Audition
 

I got round to watching AUDITION last night and I did enjoy it but thought that its was overated for what people told me about it........but gave it 6/10

was strange ending but I made my mind up he was dreaming all that bad shit up that happened to hime because when he woke up again she was in bed still then when he went back to sleep he fell into that awful nightmare again please tell me if I wrong but thats the way I got it.......

Casshern.

beautiful looking film ... not without they typical asian chiches .. but still very interesting.

there was a little too much theatrical posturing - very typical of asian male actors ...
a love story that - as usual - wasnt fleshed out in any way shape or form ...
we're just to accept that these people were inseperable.

i did like the the way things wrapped up in the end though - the explaination.

all in all i like the film ..

Seven days in a Coffin (2003)

>>: D

"CJ7" 8/10

Liked it a lot.