Tigers and Cranes

this week’s japanese movie review is about kitano takeshi’s “dolls”. while not the most fast paced nor exciting, it is nevertheless quite well done. excerpt:

“the main story revolves around a young man named matsumoto, who on his wedding day, ditches his (wealthy)bride and his family to be with former fiancee, who upon hearing of matsumoto’s marriage to his company’s president’s daughter, attempts suicide. she is saved in time, but now has seems to lost her mind, unable(or maybe unwilling) to recognize anyone and is now in a perpetual state of zombie-like incoherency…”

full review and screenshots

happy weekend, everyone!

i have posted a review for my all time favorite movie, “old boy”, a korean film with vengeance and retribution as its theme. here are some reasons why i love this movie so much.

1. cinematography: it’s just a fancy word for camera work, but in this film, there are so many unique and creative use of camera that surely this movie will be studied by film major types for years to come.

2. action: it’s got action in spades, and unlike many hokey hong kong flicks with its wires and kung fu, the combat and action scenes in this movie is all about gritty, realistic hand to hand combat. and no wires.

3. perhaps the greatest single fight scene ever put to a film: there is a particluar fight scene in which the hero battles maybe 20-30 thugs, armed only with a true man’s weapon, a hammer. the whole scene lasts maybe two minutes, and the enitire time, the camera does not cut away once, and it is a continuous footage of carnage, reminiscent of some side scrolling fighting video game.

4. tiwsted plot: there are stories within stories, a tale of vengeance within a greater subtext of vengeance.

full review and screenshots

i have a new review about a movie i should have watched a long time ago, as it’s one the funniest and well drawn anime’s i’ve ever seen! do yourself a favor and get this movie… it’s fantastic.

excerpt from the review:

it’s the story of hana(a homosexual dude who longs to be a woman), gin(a middle aged homeless dude), and miyuki, a young girl who is a runaway and now lives with hana and gin. the three unlikely trio live in heart of tokyo, and although the film doesn’y specifically say so, i’d guess they live somewhere in yoyogi park or its vicinity. the film is well rendered, and small details such as the cardboard hovel that the three live in(which looks pretty nice and cozy), and the tokyo cityscape are well represented…

for full review and screenshots click here

it’s the weekend!

i have posted a japanese movie review, a 2004 film called “2LDK”, about two japanese women out to destroy each other, first psychologically, then physically, using all manner of weapons around the apartment.

excerpt from the review:

in 2004, directors Tsutsumi Yukihiki and Kitamura Ryuhei were challenged by the producer Kawai Shinya to produce a film with only two actors, filmed within a span of one week. one was “Aragami”, and the other was 2LDK by tsutsumi.

So, you have this image in your mind that Japanese girls are these nice, polite people, do you? Then you owe it to yourself to check out this demented, yet unintentionally hilarious film about two young actresses who are, let’s say, not so nice to each other.

read the review here

i have posted a japanese movie review. future japanese and korean movie reviews can be found on the right side of the column, under “pages”. please feel free to comment, and to post your own ratings, if you’ve seen the film. thanks!

excerpt from the review page:

“shin yukiguni” 新雪国, [new snow world, or new snow country] is a film by the director goto koichi.

it’s a story of a failed tokyo business owner kunio shibano sullenly played by okuda eiji. in his fifties, after his business having failed and a mountain of debt and creditors out for his blood, he sells his house, is divorced from his wife, and with what cash he can muster, decides to find a quiet place up north in the small town of tsukioka to blow his meager remaining fortune and, ultimately, to die…

read full review and screenshots