The Asian Film Thread

I'm suprised Yamamanama didn't create this thread.

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Originally Posted by Blackbord

I'm suprised Yamamanama didn't create this thread.

I'm surprised your avatar isn't black.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by quest2368

I haven't seen Initial D yet. It's a HK movie starring Edison Chan, Jordan Chan, Shawn Yu, and Jay Chou. Some people said it was a blow off movie. For those who've already seen it, what do u think?

Oh yes, Initial D...
It's a good movie to watch if you're...
A) A fangirl of those four guys you mentioned
B) Into Initial D
C) Into cars and and Anne Suzuki
D) All of the above

Other than that (I apply to 'A') Jay Chou is a horrible actor and should only be a singer for the rest of his life. The storyline is ok I suppose... expect another Initial D movie coming very soon.


As for Movies that I really really love and can't stop watching them cuz they're just THAT great...
Stephen Chow stars in both of these movies and no it's not Shoalin Soccer or Kung Fu Hustle
A Chinese Odyssey I and A Chinese Odyssey II
They're both fairly old but omg.. Stephen Chow is the best!!!
The story is about the Monkey King and how he came to be. It's also got the Stephen Chow touch to it so the movie is funny. And of course it's got action and drama, romance... but very funny too...

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Speaking of Initial D, there's news that Edison is going to be in the Grudge 2.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=28&cs=1

What I'm looking forward to is the US release of Lady Vengeance. Even though it'll probably never reach me in theaters, I'm waiting for the Region 1 DVD because I still haven't gotten a all-region player.
http://films.tartanfilmsusa.com/lady...TrailerLow.mov

I was lucky to catch most of April Story by Shinji Iwai on TV yesterday and really loved it. It's about a shy girl who comes from Hokkaido to Tokyo to attend university.

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Originally Posted by Shinka

I was lucky to catch most of April Story by Shinji Iwai on TV yesterday and really loved it. It's about a shy girl who comes from Hokkaido to Tokyo to attend university.

"April Story" is the international title. "Shigatsu monogatari" is the original title for those who want to know.
You saw this on TV?? Where do you live? What tv station?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I just went back and watched The Lotus Lantern yesterday. It's a rather old animated movie (Chinese!), but it's still fun to watch. It's about a boy who is the son of a goddess and a mortal man, but because the gods weren't really supposed to marry mortals, the boy's father was killed. Eventually, the mother gets punished and is trapped under a mountain. The boy then tries to rescue his mother. The end.

I really liked this movie. It was cute, and I got quite a few chuckles out of it. Definitely worth watching. I'm not too sure about how popular it was when it first came out, I'd call it a classic. I also love the music.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by jouhou

"April Story" is the international title. "Shigatsu monogatari" is the original title for those who want to know.
You saw this on TV?? Where do you live? What tv station?

The channel is called AZN TV which I think is only on cable TV. They play a lot of the same movies over and over again but I lucked out when they played this.
http://www.azntv.com/fc_movie.aspx

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Anyone see Miike's bit in Masters of Horror, Imprint? Considering American standards, it's no surprise it got pulled. In and of itself though, it's still one grotesque work. You can spot a mishmash of elements from recent great Asian cinema - oldboy, Three: Dumplings, Audition

Spoiler:

with incest, abortion, and torture, respectively

- but it is nonetheless its own hand-y beast.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The last Asian movie I watched was Suicide Club. It was pretty boring and didn't make a whole lot of sense, so I just turned it off and never finished it.

I downloaded Battle Royale (I know, old news) a few days ago, but I haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Battle Royale is great; almost everyone will say the sequel is crap; and the novel is infinitely better. Most obviously, having so much more space to tell the story of an entire class gives more room for character development. Nonetheless, though I like the portrayal of Kazuo in the novel as amoral, the film version of him as simply a psychotic killer is great and absolutely creepy.

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That and he has an awesome hairdo.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Dhsu

That and he has an awesome hairdo.

As the saying goes, "quoted for truth."

FELIPE NO

Just watched Mr. Vengeance.

Messed.

UP.

And that's not even counting the pedophilic undertones.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Dhsu

Just watched Mr. Vengeance.

Messed.

UP.

And that's not even counting the pedophilic undertones.

Pedophilic undertones? You mean the retarded guy getting the girl's necklace?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I actually never figured out what was the deal with the retarded guy.

But yeah, that and a couple other times, like when Ryu lifts up her skirt when he's playing with her.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I've always seen the retarded guy as a sort of deus ex machina. It never hurts to rewatch to think of something else because the rest of the film is so finely crafted.

I can't recall the skirt-lifting scene very well, but it's not intentional and I'm pretty sure you don't think so, though correct me if I'm wrong.

What is your final evaluation of the film? Good? Bad? Obviously those undertones you perceived aren't a good thing, but the messed up doesn't give me a good idea.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I definitely enjoyed it. It was a little slow for the first half, and I had a hard time figuring out the basic scenario and characters. I was actually starting to think there wasn't going to be any actual violence and it would just be more of a psychological mind-rape film. But it turns out it had both, and it made up for the lack of violence in the first half with the sheer brutality of the second.

I think as long as people don't go into this movie expecting to see Oldboy 2 or something, they'll see this film stands out in its own right.

Now for Lady Vengeance!

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Definitely a very different film than oldboy. Park Chan-Wook has said that the visual overload in oldboy was a result of his being so tired of his minimalistic approach in SFMV.

Lady Vengeance is the most arthouse-like film in the Revenge trilogy so hopefully that will be helpful in shaping your expectations.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Do any of you like older asian movies? Yasujiro Ozu stuff? "Tokyo boshoku" and "Tokyo monogatari" are pretty good movies; i have monogatari on here if someone wants and can't find or anything.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I honesly don't quite understand this movie. So the opening scene of 50 girls jumping right into the tracks of the number 8 train was "entertaining", but I was quite confused with the rest of the movie elements. A few twists I didn't expect:

Karudo:

Karudo (the police detective) commits suicide. Did he really think this was his fault that he couldn't connect and his family was at stake for it

The "girl" at the end:

So instead of committing suicide, she decided there was a purpose in life, and all the children cheered?

I basically don't quite understand the ending, and it's funny after the credits that it announces THIS FILM IS BASED ENTIRELY FICTION, ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONS OR EVENTS IS A COINCIDENCE. I sure as hell hope so, or else my next trip to Japan will be postponed indefinetly.

Who was the blond haired freak and what was his roll? Who was the Bat and what was her purpose? To play a joke?

FELIPE NO

I saw Tokyo Story a few days ago; good movie. Personally, I prefer Kurosawa over Ozu's films (Ikiru is probably my favorite though it's been a while). I haven't seen much of Ozu, though.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

What are some good "Kurosawa" films?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I think most people will recommend The Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Rashomon. Those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by a_kitchen_utensil

I honesly don't quite understand this movie. So the opening scene of 50 girls jumping right into the tracks of the number 8 train was "entertaining", but I was quite confused with the rest of the movie elements. A few twists I didn't expect:

Karudo:

Karudo (the police detective) commits suicide. Did he really think this was his fault that he couldn't connect and his family was at stake for it

The "girl" at the end:

So instead of committing suicide, she decided there was a purpose in life, and all the children cheered?

I basically don't quite understand the ending, and it's funny after the credits that it announces THIS FILM IS BASED ENTIRELY FICTION, ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONS OR EVENTS IS A COINCIDENCE. I sure as hell hope so, or else my next trip to Japan will be postponed indefinetly.

Who was the blond haired freak and what was his roll? Who was the Bat and what was her purpose? To play a joke?

That movie was horrible. Sion Sono (I think that's how it's spelled) got praised to no end and the hype for this was incredible. It turns out it's just some completely disjointed piece of crap with lots of incredibly violent scenes. By the by, did anyone spot the reference of this in the much worse film Hostel?

Anyway, the blonde guy was someone who was seeking infamy by taking credit for the entire suicide trend/cult/mania going on throughout the city. It was just a red herring to set up the surprise revelation that it's this group of kids. Been a while since I saw it, so up for discussion on points.

My favorite scene is hands down the little montage with the kids music playing and everyone around the city is commiting suicide. I really flinched with the mom in the kitchen. Ugh.

Did anyone here thought the music was catchy? "Mail me..."

As for older Asian films, I've seen in parts that one Seijun Suzuki movie, the one with the sequel of it being Pistol Opera... I forgot but I'd like to see his other more linear works.

Haven't seen Kurosawa which needs to be remedied.

Is anyone excited for "I'm a Cyborg But That's Ok," Park Chan-Wook's upcoming comedy (yes, Park Chan-Wook as in "tendon-cutting and teeth-pulling" guy and comedy as in "funny ha ha")?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Don't forget he's also

Spoiler:

Mr. "four guys jacking off to the chick making noises in the next room."

He can have a sense of humor sometimes.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?