last hurrah for chivalry

Sword of the Beast (1965). This wonderful though short samurai flick (85 min) is filled with intrigue, plot complexities, and honor, or a lack thereof. The irony here is that the hero, compelled to abandon his samurai code, is one of the few people that is truly honorable in the story. Though a little shy of swordplay, there is one scene that sports such a sudden frenzy of swords a swinging that one cannot but be delighted by the superior skills of the two warriors. This fight scene may be one of my all-time favorites (though nothing compares to the end of Sword of Doom). As stated previously, i only wished that this flick was longer so that i could have enjoyed it for longer. Ashe.
derek

Ab-normal Beauty (2004). Oxide Pang again demonstrates ability to make an artistically stylish film. Either ripe or murky with color as dictated by the scene, this visually striking flick is sure to please any retina. The story itself is rather dark, and while it may leave lots to be desired for gore-hounds, it will surely please those appreciative of an morbid art deliciously served up. The acting was solid, the art direction was absolutely stunning, and some of the scenes were brilliantly depicted (the suicide scene was awesome- don't worry, this is not a spoiler). At times, there was even a Requiem of a Dream feel to this wonderful movie. A well-done, dark psychological thriller all around. Ashe.
derek

Sword of Doom (1965). Better the second time around. Definitely my favorite samurai movie; probably the darkest one of the bunch. Ashe.
d

The Soul Guardians (1998)

>>: C-

fearless: dir cut

fatal move

Youth of the Beast (1963)

I haven't seen any Seijun Suzuki's film before, so this is my first one and believe me..this is an absolute blast for any Yakuza movie fan! Pretty tightly paced story with lots of 60's typical actions & humor that shows through beautiful camera works & settings (particularly the office set up for 2 Yakuza boss were fantastic..one in a sound proof room in a night club with one sided mirror and other one behind the screen of a movie theater!). Loved it.

>>: A-

Mongol (2007). An absolutely epic tale of the rise of a Mongolian Khan, this film is intensely enjoyable. The beginning has almost too much action, and the viewer rarely enjoys a breather. After a tumultuous start, it relaxes just enough for one to catch his breath. With cinematography that is spectacular, and some of the fight scenes are epic, the story never strays away from the main characters as the central part of the story. The trials and tribulations that must be endured here would tax away the life out of just about everyone but our hero, but that is what makes the rest of us schmucks so ordinary. i would say this is a must see for just about everybody, save for those that are bothered by a little (actually a lot of) blood. Ashe.
derek

Kiru AKA Kill! (1968). Another absolutely incredible Japanese classic by Kihachi Okamoto. This wonderful samurai flick somehow takes all of the cliches of this genre and lightly makes fun of them. While the story is standard fare, this movie is more about the characters and a wonderful balance between humor and gravity than the story itself. Not that the story is weak, with all of the twists and betrayals and codes of honor that are perfectly sprinkled in. What makes this movie so awesome is the shadowy humor that is infused in between the cliches and sometimes heart-wrenching scenes. Tatsuya plays his part as the disillusioned samurai turned vagrant yakuza with much aplomb. After watching this, it would not be a faux pas to place him even above the inimitable Mifune as one of the greatest Japanese actors of his time. This man has scope (his role in The Human Condition also shows this). All in all of of the most enjoyable samurai flicks of all time. Ashe.
derek

Noroi (2005) aka Noroi: The Curse. Great paradocumental movie with all strong sides of The Blair Witch Project, with addition of very good and complicated plot. The tension, dark atmosphere are amazing and the final is one of the scariest ones I saw recently. Great movie.

Kwaidan (1964). Absolutely beautiful in all aspects, this little gem of a ghostly anthology is more an art form than it is a collection of stories. There are no real scares, and some of the endings can be guessed at the outset . Like classical tragedies, these short stories are instead an expose of humanity. The chilling part is how the supernatural world is so naturally integrated into these short films, creating the creepy notion that ghosts are more natural than supernatural. With incredible direction and spectacular colorful sets, they can be viewed as a purely visual treat as well. The acting of course was superb, and the cinematography splendid. Kobayashi has definitely gone to the threshold of storytelling here, and the result is nothing short of brilliant. Ashe.
derek

Premonition


Great.

Goyokin (1969). Labelled as an antisamurai flick, i feel this label to be unfair. To be sure it does not portray the samurai as perfectly noble, but instead portrays them as humans caught in the impossible sitaution of holding true to their morals whilst remaining loyal to the clan, a sitaution made impossible by their corrupt government and its insuperable taxing regimen. The inimitable Tutsuya gives an incredible lead performance, playing the tortured samurai destined to make things right. The rest of the acting falls right in place, with powerful and believable performances by all. The swordplay is wonderful if not realistically brutal. The cinematography is also wonderful, being the first japanese flick to be filmed in Panavision. The opening scene is outstanding in its portrayal that something dark is to be expected. The stark realities of nature, with wickedly muddied streets and frozen landscapes where much of the fighting takes place, is an experience in itself. That the fighters must find ways to keep their hands warm such that they can at least close thier fingers on their sword's handle was a wonderful touch. The story itself was powerful and well crafted. This classic was absolutely incredible in all regards. Why this one gets so little attention is a mystery. Ashe.
derek

Save the Green Planet (2003). Blending genres to the point of being a genre of its own design, this was a wonderfully original flick from South Korea. Don't let the DVD cover fool ya as this wickedly humorous flick is not for the light-hearted nor is it a good choice for the whole family. This one is somehow bizarre yet heart-felt, silly while being a study of cultural tragedies, torturous yet darkly comedic. With great direction and acting, and a delicious soundtrack that jumps back and forth between punk and a string section orchestra, this hidden beauty will sure to be both entertaining as well as moving. Ashe.
derek

last asian horror movie i watched is the korean movie in titled 'the doll master'...it's very creepy and scary...i couldn't remember how many times i shout...

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garden design

H (2002). A slow burning Korean flick that seems to borrow heavily from Silence of the Lambs and Sevin. While some of the imagery is rather disturbing, this is not a tense flick. This one seems to rely most heavily on the story itself, and while it was was well acted, their characters are not so important in the telling of this story. This is in itself an odd thing because their characters reveal so much history that should have been animated by their tortured pasts. Somehow, they remain pretty flat. Though the story itself was strong enough to carry it this flick, most will probably find the lightness of the characters to be a disappointment. The end was definitely worthy, and the last scene was powerful. For those that appreciate slow burning, rich Korean story-telling might just might really appreciate this one. Ashe.
derek

[QUOTE=links03rjean;838016]last asian horror movie i watched is the korean movie in titled 'the doll master'...it's very creepy and scary...i couldn't remember how many times i shout...

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Oh yea.

Who can forget the poop scene... really don't remember much else from it. But it was above average yes.

Jet Li's Fearless (2006). Packed with some incredible fight scenes, this is more that just a silly story centered around lots of fighting. The story itself was well crafted. It was also an inspiration towards fomenting national pride, especially for a country that at that time in history needed a shot in the arm. I would contend that the antagonist and protagonist were really one and the same, with the moral of the story being that one must conquer oneself to... Many might be bothered with the slightly down your throat life philosophies. Whatever, as that is their loss. The ending was perfect IMHO. Ashe.
derek

sick nurses

Seven Samurai (1954)

An undeniable treasure of world cinema. Still not a bit less than admirable & amazing as it was on first time viewing.

>>: A+

Absolutely!!!
d

Busty Asians #26



oh wait - is this the horror forum ?

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970). Expecting this to be awesome, it turned out to just be decent. Zatiochi's character was too goofy here to be believable. The fights scenes were overly chaotic, and Zatoichi's fights just seemed unrealistic. Mifune as Yojimbo was the best part, though he definitely wavered a bit from the original Yojimbo character. For comedic relief this was a pretty fun movie, but it is definitely more entertaining that artistic. Maybe that was the point. The story itself was pretty good though a tad complicated. At nearly two hours, they could have easily trimmed it up to better effect. Either way, though not my favorite Zatoichi flick, it is still probably a must see for any Zatoichi or Mifune fan. Ashe.
derek

"Wild card" 5/10

Boring crime flick.

Dragon Tiger Gate (2006). Pretty fun modern Kung Fu flick with some incredible fight scenes. While the story may not be deep, as it was taken from a comic series why should it be? Instead, this was a highly entertaining movie with some stylized action in front of many stunning backdrops. Ashe.
d

Thirst (2009). This movie was another top notch flick by Chan-wook Park that just seemed to lack something. While i found every scene to be executed perfectly, and with great acting, nice cinematography, great direction, as well as plenty of sex and gore, i still found myself wondering how much longer it was going to be. The last third picked up a bit in interest and at least held my attention until the end. The ending, while taking a little too long, was pretty decent. Thinking back, it seemed that movie had everything but that subtle force that drives a movie forward. Still a must see for any fan of Asian cinema, this had so much potential but it somehow lost its punch. Ashe.
derek

Iron Monkey (1993). Apparently this wonderful Kung Fu flick was retranslated and re-presented at the behest of Tarantino. If so, then thank you, cuz this was one fun movie. Starting out almost too goofy for me, it wound up being a light-hearted yet beautiful Robin Hood Kung Fu comedy with fight scenes that were perfectly over the top. Absolutely enjoyable entertainment. Ashe.
derek

Ringu 0 (2000). A little less ambitious than Ringu 2, i went away from this one feeling more competent than confused. More of a psychological thriller than a horror flick, its atmosphere was still genuinely creepy. The story itself was well crafted. The audio was such that some rather mundane sounds were explicitly heard, giving the sense of actually being present in some scenes. Of course the direction was awesome, and the acting was again top notch. In fact, the whole experience was great. i will probably have to watch the whole series again in a serial fashion to fully understand the trilogy, especially the second installment. Ashe.
d

Those are my my concerns about the movie... HOWEVER, I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to see it. I have it at home from Netflix but the boyfriend has very little interest in seeing it. :(

Bad Guy (2001). Ki-duk Kim has yet to disappoint me as a director, as this wicked film attests. Somehow, the worst of the worst in human nature is used to whip up touching tale of love. That said, this is by no means a chick flick and is about as rugged a love story that i have ever seen. The acting, direction, cinamatography, story,... was all incredible. Discounting a couple of incredulous notions of biological reality, there is nary a complaint to be found in this wonderful offering. Not a movie for everyone, this dark and complex tale of humanity and love is a must see for those that appreciate such things. Ashe.
derek

Youth of the Beast (1963). A colorlful and wickedly stylized entry form Seijun Suzuki, this was a treat of film in all aspects. Hip, fun, dark and intriguing, this is a must of any fan of Japanese classic theater. Ashe.
derek

The Protector (2005). A simple but endearing story coupled with some furious and brutal fighting. The fight choreography was awesome, even if it did tend towards MTVism at times. Ashe.
d

Raging Phoenix (2009)

This is the story of a girl who has been abandoned by everyone in her life, from her mother to her band mates. While drunk one night she is kidnapped and carried off. She gets away only be chased down by the villains. She is then rescued by a group of people who have had their loved ones taken by the kidnappers. She ends up joining them in the fight to stop the kidnapping.

A time passing Thai Drunken Martial Art movie. Not so good as I expected.

>>: C

A World Without Thieves (2004). After the first five minutes or so i was was afraid that this film would end too soon. It was that incredible. The rest of the film did not disappoint. The acting was great, the story smart and touching. The action was subtle and smooth. The editing was pretty fun at times, and the cinematography was wonderful. While most of the film took place in a claustraphobic setting, it had a universe within a universe feel to it, masking any sense that a claustraphobic setting can generate. The ending threatened to be almost stupid, but its powerful impact was hidden in its subtlety. Ashe.
derek

J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (2000)

Magnificently crafted & beautiful tale of 'brotherhood' over the borderline.

>>: A-

Dead or Alive (1999). This one is probably one of my favorites from Miike, though i probably said that about all of them. The frenzied beginning is about as adrenalin pumping as anything i have ever scene. The story then settles down into the perfect Miike Yakuza flick, with incongruent and disturbing scenes that would nonplus the most stalwart of individuals, but that our characters instead accept as standard fare. The scenes are all wonderfully crafted, and the story is driven forward brilliantly. The ending is one that only Miike could get away with, and it somehow worked beautifully.

Yeah, that was a great flick, revealing that which hides behind the facade of the uniform is likely no different than you or i. Ashe.
derek

Wow. Well said d, pretty well said.:)

Branded to Kill (1967). When the back of the dvd cover reads "From a cookie-cutter studio script, Suzuki delivered this brutal, hilarious, and visually inspired masterpiece, and was promptly fired." you know it's gunna be good. This dish From Seijun Suzuki is as crazy as it is splendid. Filled with sex, intrigue, and violence, events are played out in a universe where time warps come to blows with Einstein's theory of relativity. Ashe.
derek

Mr. Vampire (1985). This fun and charming classic somehow blends martial arts with a vampire and ghost story, with the end result being an entertaining flick on all accounts. Simply a blast of a movie. Ashe.
derek