What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[HungFist]

Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance (Japan, 2009) – 3/5
The second remake movie doesn’t quite strike as the first one – at least for a viewer unfamiliar with the original series. Suffering from a load of dull mecha battles in the beginning, 2.22 does slow down quite nicely as it advances. Real depth is never found, though, and many of the strengths, such as humor, are already familiar from the opening installment. The soundtrack also falls behind its predecessor. Nevertheless, 2.22 is a solid viewing that leaves the audience look forward to the next film. And, the scene showing Tokyo waking up to another (deceiving) beautiful sunrise – with music from The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979) slapped on top – that is pure perfection.

[gasteropod]

Fallen Angels: 4.5/5

The scene with Michelle Reis and the jukebox was mesmerising! The imagery combined with the Laurie Anderson track, wow, incredible.

[Markgway]

The scene with Michelle 'attending to herself' was a textbook example of how to do hot without nudity.

The rest of the film was blah.

Mind you Michelle would look hot in a bin-liner.

[grim_tales]

That scene was amazing!

[gasteropod]

It sure is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7c9FjlSZR0

[bradavon]

The scene with Michelle 'attending to herself' was a textbook example of how to do hot without nudity. The rest of the film was blah.

Agreed. One good scene does not make a movie though.

I don't really know why, Chungking Express, 2046, In the Mood for Love are amazing but Fallen Angels, Happy Together and Days of Being Wild just didn't work for me.

[HungFist]

Good film, although I always hated that slutty scene despite its nice use of colors.

[grim_tales]

I prefer CKE to Fallen Angels but FA is good. CKE is excellent as is ITMFL.

[Yi-Long]

I never really cared all that much about Fallen Angels. It's just a bit too dark and the characters aren't very likeable. I do love the soundtrack and the great song that plays whenever Leon goes on a 'hit'.

My thoughts at the time on this movie (I think this review is over 10 years old) can be found at CityonFire.com
http://www.cityonfire.com/hkfilms/ef/fallenangels.html

[HungFist]

964 Pinocchio (Japan, 1991) – 1.5/5
Shinya Tsukamoto’s former assistant director Shozin Fukui’s feature length debut was a labor of love; made with shoestring budget and filmed mostly in guerilla style due to lack shooting permissions, it took a year to finish the movie. The stories behind the film are fascinating and even heartwarming – the director distributed self-designed posters on the streets, and even operated the improvisational audio system in the single only theatre that played the film because he couldn’t afford to hire a professional. It soon became underground phenomena, and the three day test run was extended to 10 weeks and nationwide tour. The film itself – categorized as industrial noise punk – is an opinion divider like all true punk films ought to be. Pinocchio is a sex slave android kicked out on the streets by a disappointed customer. He finds a new owner from a punk girl, but Pinocchio’s creators wish him no good. To make matters worse, his mind is about to explode! After a promising opening the film turns into an endless screaming rally constructed of remarkably long scenes. For strictly selected audiences only. Clever ending and fantastic closing credits song reward the patient viewer, though.

Rubber’s Lover (Japan, 1996) – 3.5/5
The second feature length movie by Shozin Fukui is one of the seminal Japanese cyber punk films. It’s also one of the scariest movies ever made. Shot in black & white – apparently because Fukui thought the rubber suit looked silly in color – and clearly demonstrating the director’s eye for visuals, it’s a story of two mad scientists trying to unleash the psychic powers inside a human body through extreme physical pain and specially developed drugs. Rubber’s Lover will divide its audience with a butcher knife; if you can take the frenzy editing and constant yelling it will be an experience to rip your heart out. If not, you’ll be likely to turn off after 10 minutes. Fukui does, however, have his tranquil side as well, creating one mesmerizing mood scene in the middle of the violent and occasionally borderline pretentious mayhem. The ending feels a bit stretched, though, lessening the film’s remarkable intensity.

S-94 (Japan, 2009) – 3/5
Underground favorite Shozin Fukui returns to his roots with this post apocalyptic cyber punk tale. The 30 minute film is set in the future where humans have become almost extinct due to a virus epidemic. Two women hide in an underground base, trying to contact other survivors by radio. Reportedly only the first chapter in Fukui’s end-of-the-world vision, S-94 is hugely interesting if almost equally flawed. The non-existent budget is decently well hidden, and the digital black & white cinematography looks very stylish. Acting, while certainly akin to Fukui’s punk cinema traditions, is more problematic. Nozomi Hatsuki doesn’t convince, and manga artist Yuko Tatsushima is downright terrible. The film’s ending will also divide audiences; some will see it as cheap shock, others as a powerful teaser of what may be coming later if the director’s planned follow ups ever see the light of day.

[Beat TG]

Little Big Soldier (2010)

A very good watch. I was worried to have a The Myth all up on me but things developed pretty nicely. Settings (mountains, forests, villages, deserts etc), cinematography looked like it combined all HK/Mainland-ish ancient battle movies in one but the feel came off original on its' own which I liked. Didn't mind the overall cast as everyone did good jobs. Chan's performance is terrific and besides showing some dramatic range, also get to do some excellent comedy along the way which were huge surprises and had great timing to me. Comedy stuff like this hasn't been the same for Chan since the old days so I'm glad Chan brought that back. The action was pretty good too. Chan's style is as consistent as ever but the ideas he came up with were really refreshing and quite amusing to watch. All in all, LBS is as great as Chan can get these days, greater than Shinjuku Incident in fact I'd say.

4/5

[HungFist]

Woman on the Night Train (Japan, 1972) – 1/5
Nikkatsu’s arthouse director Noboru Tanaka’s Roman Porno films vary from mesmerizing psychological dramas (Beauty’s Exotic Dance: Torture) to bland art affairs suited mainly for film critics. Woman on the Night Train, one of his best received films, falls in the latter category. A tale of jealousy between aristocrat sisters, the film plays out almost like a classic murder mystery with its mansion setting and violin/piano soundtrack. European cinema’s influence on Tanaka’s directing is obvious, with experts pointing out similarities to Luis Bunuel and Roger Vadim. The cinematography is technically speaking grade A, but doesn’t capture that true beauty (that admittedly is in the viewer’s eye) or energy that is found in some of the director’s best efforts.

Shinobi no shu (Ninja: Iron Castle) (Japan, 1970) – 3/5
Shinobi no mono director Kazuo Mori returns to the genre with an entertaining although slightly underperforming ninja adventure. Hiroki Matsukata, best known as a mid-70’s Toei yakuza film star, plays a ninja sent on a dangerous mission: he has to kidnap a noble lady from a heavily guarded castle filled with traps. While falling short in terms of action choreography, ninjas sneaking on roofs and trying to survive deadly traps is solid entertainment from beginning to end. Executed with a serious tone – sometimes closing melodrama – and shot stylishly in black and white, some of the early outdoor scenes have a too casual look and are crying for movie studio sets. Thankfully the rest of the film retains the cinema magic.

[saltysam]

Ip Man 2 BD 3/5

2nd time around watching this inferior but entertaining sequel. For the first hour this is very good,detailing Ip's struggles to establish his martial arts school in Hong Kong and his conflicts with local boss Sammo Hung. Characters from the original make crowd-pleasing returns and it's nice to see a couple of old school veterans in there. the last 45 minutes though becomes a retread of Stallone's Rocky 4 right down to Yen giving a post-fight speech to the crowd the British characters are portrayed as racist,corrupt twats and even worse their acting is abysmal.For all that it's a good film well worth getting,Yen has certainly found the role he was born to play.The HK blu-ray looks great but i can't really recommend it,the last part of the film has a lot of english spoken dialogue for which the subs stay on.Best wait for a western release that should iron out that problem.

[HungFist]

Tokyo Fist (Japan, 1995) – 4/5
Possibly Shinya Tsukamoto’s best film, Tokyo Fist inserts Tetsuo’s body horror to a more casual, less fantastic storyline. Here the comparisons to David Cronenberg are more accurate than ever before. The director’s own input is the hectic approach that takes turns with mesmerizing mood scenes, all played against the well used Tokyo setting. Tsukamoto himself stars as an inept businessman whose wife is about to be stolen by a hard fisted childhood friend (played by the director’s brother, Koji Tsukamoto). Increasingly violent yet beautiful film, Tokyo Fist also comes with one of the best sex scenes in movie history when a beaten up wife and her tough guy turned crying loser meet.

A Snake of June (Japan, 2002) – 3.5/5
Tsukamoto’s psycho sexual thriller follows a young woman extorted by a dying man (Tsukamoto himself). Shot in “black and white” with strong blue tint, the film is beautiful to look at but at the same time threatening and almost claustrophobic, with the latter enforced by the director’s decision to use 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Once again, Tokyo provides the background for the storyline. For a film dealing with sexual desires as its core subject A Snake of June in facts shows very little in terms of skin and physical action, but this is the director’s approach for the entire film. Many of the vital story points are, in fact, only referred in dialogue or seen in photos. Tsukamoto’s regular composer Chu Ishikawa’s soundtrack is stylish and beautiful. An engaging film.



General notes: like Japan’s recent gore maestros Yoshihiro Nishimura and Noboru Iguchi, or the great Akira Kurosawa back in his days, Tsukamoto has always been considered an outsider in Japan. This is still the case and it was sad to see Tokyo Fist playing for two viewers at Sapporo Tsukamoto festival, with A Snake of June receiving double the popularity with 4 viewers (Saturday afternoon screening, the second of the total three screenings held for the film). It is a sad truth that in almost any foreign country these films would easily receive 20 times larger audience on a single festival screening. It’s no wonder Tetsuo The Bullet Man had nearly one year long festival run before its domestic release. Tsukamoto is not an especially big name in Japan, while even in my home county Finland anyone with basic knowledge of cinema knows him. Some remember his films from festival screenings, others from the video tapes that could be found even in a small town video rental stores.

[grim_tales]

The Missing Gun: 4.25/5

Intriguing Mainland thriller involving a policeman's search for his gun, which unexpectedly goes missing after a night of partying at a wedding. He has to work out the guilty person among the people in the town. Then, he finds his ex-girlfriend has died, and the bullets appear to be from his gun!
The mystery is played out in a Rashomon sort of way with the different characters having their own version of what exactly happened.

[HungFist]

Detonation: Violent Riders (Japan, 1975) – 3/5
Toei and Teruo Ishii go biker gang. Based on the bouzou zoku phenomena – motorcycle gangs formed by Japan’s frustrated, post WWII youth – Violent Riders kicks off exactly as would be expected from a genre film directed by madman Ishii. Fast bikes, mean guys, stunts performed on public streets, and topless party girls. It’s the storyline that drags; the romance between newcomer Iwaki (future TV star Kouichi Iwaki, born for the role as far as rough looks manners go) and innocent but gang tied Michiko (Tomoko Ai) is told in a fashion far from dynamic and engaging. The all out gang war at the end of the film is messy climax as well. Motorcycle money shots, on the other hand, are what Ishii handles without difficulties. Close ups, sunset backgrounds and high speed scenes on the streets are plenty, even if there isn’t much in terms of bike tuning. Supporting cast features several one timers – real gang members by a good guess – and the man Sonny Chiba himself, in a rather small and inactive role.

Detonation: Violent Games (Japan, 1976) – 3.5/5
Teruo Ishii and William Shakespeare are a rare couple. The second installment in the Detonation series manages such oddity with a small donkey bridge: the film is a remake of West Side Story, which in turn was a modernization of Romeo & Juliet. Ishii’s explanation for the rip off stunt was that it would make the film more entertaining. And he was right; Violent Games is a superior sequel with a solid storyline following the forbidden romance between race driver Masaki (real life Formula driver Masami Kuwashima) and the sweet Yuki (Yumi Takigawa), both under the influence of rivalry gangs. If it wasn’t for this exciting West Side Story plagiarism Violent Games would be just another Japanese gang film, even falling slightly behind its predecessor in terms of bike-fetish footage. As an exploitation film it’s mild, but Ishii’s dancing gangsters are an inspiring sight bar none. With small reservations, this is a cult film waiting to be discovered by larger audiences.

Season of Violence (Japan, 1976) – 2/5
The Detonation series continues in tired fashion with Ishii sitting in the director’s chair for the last time. Any expectations of a violent gang saga, fueled up by the film’s memorable title, are best buried right in the beginning. For an outlaw action film of the 70’s, Season of Violence is notably violence-free, up to the point of escaping the action film categorization. Superb opening chase aside, Season of Violence is a mostly romance drama and beach slacker movie – somewhat like Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo, but with worse storyline and lesser cast. The tattooed neo Nazis and bike riding Travis Bickles that filled the character galleries of the first two Detonation movies are certainly gone. That being said, it’s not en entirely bad film, with moments of Ishii strangeness here and there, and overall passable Kouichi Iwaki entertainment for the actor’s fans. For others, it’s most likely a pass.

Detonation: 750cc zoku (Japan, 1976) – 3/5
The fourth and final Detonation film, 750cc zoku brings the series to a conclusion with mixed results. Director Yutaka Kohira (Dragon Princess) is no match for Teruo Ishii in terms of mad imagination, but as an action director he’s a step ahead. 750cc zoku doesn’t line up well with the first two Detonation films simply for not being that much of a motorcycle gang film. Introduction aside the protagonist never belongs to a gang, and his primary vehicle is actually car. As far as storyline goes, 750cc is dullish and only spiced up by good soundtrack and Iwaki’s superb, beard + sunglasses enhanced charisma. All is forgiven when the final, 20 minute non-stop motorcycle vs. police force chase kicks off. It’s a breathtaking climax – not even weakened by a discreet use of fast motion – that reminds how a film can redeem itself at the end, even if the road there may have been slightly bumpy.

Hell’s Angels: Crimson Roar (Japan, 1977) – 2.5/5
A mismarketed piece of Toei action from the late 1970’s, Hell’s Angels: Crimson Roar scratches a lot of genres – pinky violence, biker, and others – without really landing in any of them. The few action bits, just enough for an explosive poster artwork hide a relatively serious minded crime drama behind them – something of a bit more mature than Toei’s typical girl gang films. The leading lady Yuuko Iruka, crowned as “Violence Queen” in the original trailer, fails to make an impression, but supporting star Hiroshi Tachi is brilliant as a drug shooting small time crook. Pop-star Yasuko Naito makes an appearance as well, and performs a few songs for the soundtrack. The film’s brief but ice cold climax is impressive, and helps to forget that the actual storyline struggles to carry the film. The truth is, however, that without the strong climax, and Tachi’s superb acting performance, Hell’s Angels would be little more than an average crime drama among all others.

full reviews: https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... &start=143

[HungFist]

Angel Dust (Japan, 1995) – 2/5
Sogo Ishii’s return to cinema screens after a 10 year break is a hugely over-rated psychological thriller. The serial killer chase is original but intentionally vague. Ishii invests in mystic atmosphere, dream-like scenes, and unexplained characters, to the extent of making the actual storyline and its pieces feel disconnected and meaningless. After keeping the audience guessing for nearly 2 hours the film arrives to a disappointing climax. What seems like a simple ending might reveal more layers in a closer look, but the pieces of the puzzle seem to exist mainly for playing with the viewer rather than creating a sensible entity, making it an unrewarding challenge. Ishii’s stylistic choices don’t always hit the target either; the music fails more often than not, and the main character’s fashion sense is a sad memory from the mid-90. The film’s unpredictability and occasional nice audio-visual touches nevertheless manage to keep the viewer slightly interested. Ishii followed Angel Dust with his youth oriented 1995 film August in the Water, which implemented some similar elements into a semi-apocalyptic new age story. The result was one of the decade’s best movies.

[DangerousLeeHandsome]

Little Big Soldier - 4/5
Thoroughly enjoyable! Remarkable how charming and effective Jackie is in this film even though his character hardly gets to fight. Very selfless of Jackie to allow his much younger costar to outshine him. A career best perormance for Jackie. Best Jackie Chan film of the last decade! A-.

Ip Man 2 - 3/5
Loved the first film but came pretty close to hating the sequel. Despite some hiccups in the script, the first three quarters goes releatively smooth with some fantastic fight scenes that easily match, if not top the first film. Then enter the Brits and boy are they terrible in this movie. Not only are they mean as heck but they are terrible actors. The ADR work is some of the worst Ive heard in a long time. I'm sick of the Rocky IV comparisons but I cant deny it. For the fights alone, C+.

[HungFist]

Adrift in Tokyo (Japan, 2007) – 3/5
Satoshi Miki’s pleasing Tokyo stroll is a showcase for two actors: Joe Odagiri and Tomokazu Miura. Both excellent in their roles, the duo play two men on a three day Tokyo walk that takes them to the more distant and peaceful areas of the town. The film plays at very restrained pace and the characters get plenty of room to breathe. Adrift in Tokyo would be an excellent film if it wasn’t for supporting characters and subplots that quite honestly have no reason to exist in the film. Some of these characters also bring hyperactivity into certain scenes, an element otherwise missing from the film’s humor and characterization.

Night of the Felines (Japan, 1972) – 1.5/5
Noboru Tanaka’s prostitute drama isn’t entirely bad. None of his films are, some might say, but many of Tanaka’s art house pink films do tend to slide to boredom. Night of the Felines raises a notch above those thanks to good soundtrack and some beautiful Shinjuku cinematography. The actors are decently good, but the screenplay – well, it’s another piece of grainy life tale that doesn’t really attempt to tell any specific storyline as much as it’s presenting a view on one part of the society. Has found its admirers, although some character portraits may seem a bit dated for modern viewer, and sex could be less despite the subject. The film was ranked as one of the top 200 Japanese movies of all time by Kinema Junpo.

[DangerousLeeHandsome]

True Legend - 3.5/5
Yuen Wo-ping's first directorial effort in 14 yrs and it shows. Not a very well made film narratively but from a technical standpoint, its quite amazing. The wire-fu fights are some of the best Ive seen in a long time. The structure of the film has a ton of problems like the very short training sequences and a bizarre finale where our hero battles some very modern looking professional wrestlers! But the excellent fight choreography make this one a marginal recommendation. B-

K-20: Legend of the Mask - 3.5
Surprisingly entertaining! I personally am not fond of Japanese action flicks bcuz theyre usually not very good. This one is the exception. It was actually very well made with some nice parkour scenes and HK style stunts and high quality production values. The plot becomes quite jumbled with one too many twists towards the end but I found there is quite much to admire about this flick. B-

[grim_tales]

Recently saw:

King Boxer: 4/5

Great film. Quite bloody in places. The R2 UK transfer is good.

[grim_tales]

The Good, The Bad and the Weird: 4/5

Entertaining Korean homage to the spaghetti Western and Sergio Leone, I enjoyed it a lot The music is good and the action is fun.
A couple of the girls were cute

[oldeschool17]

Election: 3/5
Watched this on Netflix(forgot what version). Question: Is it an accurate translation for knick names such as "Big D", "Whistle", "Sparky", "Uncle Cocky", etc? Nothing really stood out to me with this movie

Snake Crane Secret: 3/5
Shitty boot on netflix as well. I lost interest half way in do to predictability, convoluted storyline that dragged on forever, crap print(at night) and some typical indy undercranking(although, not as bad as it could have been).

[grim_tales]

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance: 4/5

Fine film, but I found it distressing in places and maybe confusing at times (hadn't seen it for ages).
Baek was blackmailing Guem-ja obviously, but why was he blackmailing her to take the blame for something not even he had done - he hadnt killed the kid yet she did time for his murder?

[HungFist]

Love & Loathing & Lulu & Ayano (Japan, 2010) – 3.5/5
Lolita Vibrator Torture director Hisayasu Sato’s semi-fictional look behind the scenes of Japanese Adult Video industry is surprisingly restrained next to the director’s past films, but not a failure in by any means. Sadistic violence and the more shocking sex are both missing, but mainstream classification would be stretching it a bit. The film follows a university graduate who finds a new identity as a blue wigged, Sailor Moon uniform wearing daydream for anime otaku. The cute leading actress (Norie Yasui) in her colorful costumes is easy on the eye, adding an interesting yet no doubt intentional contradiction: some of the methods used to add to the film’s entertainment value are also the ones discussed in the film’s industry analytical screenplay. Cliché supporting characters and some pretentious industry commentary are found, but preaching is nevertheless light. The digital HD cinematography looks good, and Virgin Blues is nothing short of perfect closing song for a thoroughly entertaining if unremarkable film.

Gothic & Lolita Psycho (Japan, 2010) – 2/5
A night at Tokyo’s wildest gothic club: cage fighters, yakuza, katana armed bodyguards, gamblers playing with human stakes,… and a sweet gothic lolita girl to kill them all in a stylishly choreographed massacre. The opening of Gothic & Lolita Psycho shows enormous promise. That’s all the more reason to wonder how the following 80 minutes could so efficiently deliver none of what was promised during the first 8. Unsuccessfully switching to comedy director Go Ohara turns the film into a series of long jokes that are rarely funny. Good ideas are plenty but typically given a needlessly silly tongue through the cheek treatment. Yoshihiro Nishimura’s gore effects are passable but slightly unoriginal. Gravure idol Rina Akiyama portrays the lead role without memorable results. The costume department hasn’t dressed the actress as much as they have placed an actress under a costume, in order to allow the stylish goth loli dress to walk from one scene to another. It’s one way to make it work, yes.



(edit: fucking hell photobucket is pants. They took the pants down. And left the bloody skull. Re-upload to imageshack)