watch more foreign films

marketed as a sci-fi film with political motivations,
it was neither.

it was, however an excellent film
and a realistic film about relationships
and all the different ways love can be lost
[heck! we already have myriad films that show found love; it’s about time we adress the flip-side]

i found these stories of solitude, socialization, sex, money, power, self-love abuse of those who love you
to be something i could more closely relate to.
and, of course the cast was beyond high caliber. every female film starlett on the Asian bigscreens. both contemporary and classic.

if international (or specifically Asian) cinema is your thing.
journey to 2046.

A rare find, or more accurately perhaps; a rare breed. This is an excellent German Comedy.

Basic plot: a boy’s mother suffers a heart attack and goes into a coma the night of the fall of the Berlin Wall, during the riots, before the fall. When she snaps out of the coma a few months l8r, the doc says she can’t handle any shock or surprises. So basically the son tries to recreate divided Germany. And that’s where the laughs start rolling in…

uh..that is unless Kung Fu is actually Kungfu or Kung-fu. In that case it would be 2 words that i have. ...nvm

An excellent film. Subtitled, marital arts, and comedy. The trinity of movie genres! If you didn’t see it in the theaters and you haven’t viewed one of those wink wink copies then i guess you’re just SOL. Ah, well, it should be on DVD, soon. Movies don’t take long to transition from big-screen to boob tube these days.

So, watch it. It’s beyond a spoof on the asian martial arts films that have been brought to us by Stephen Chow and Zhang Yimou. It is a film in a class of its own. And as cliche as that sounds, when you watch it you will know what I am talking about.

I have 3 words to leave you with:

Check It Out

This was the original Japanese horror movie that Buffy bastardised American knock-off was based on (having never seen it myself, of course). However, i found this movie neither scary nor gory (1/2 criterion which must be met to be considered “horror” by my standards). It is one of those that I’m glad I bought though, because i believe it needs to be watched more than once to fully comprehend. The story was not told in chronological order (neither forward nor backward). It is a puzzle-not to difficult of one-to be put together. I would say it was more of a mystery. And not the best at that. Definitely not a recommend for anyone into horror, specifcally Japanese horror.

When i came home from work yesterday, my dvd was in the mailbox. Fresh from ebay and totally in Chinese. A very short time later i popped it in and fiddled around to play it with English subtitles.

It is a film by director Yimou Zhang (Hero and House of Flying Daggers). It definitely resides in a different genre than his films that have become popular in the States. There are no martial arts fighting/flying scenes. And it was an earlier film (back when Gong Li was his golden girl, before Ziyi Zhang replaced her). But it had his touch (although, being new to chinese films and having only seen his films, i don’t know if this is his touch or the way Chinese filmmakers approach the cinema); it played/appealed to various senses. His use of color was emerging as a theme; predominantly red, but purposefully done so. Sound was almost another character in the film, having the ability to evoke emotion (after repetition and relation established a connotation). A very powerful film without showing any disturbing/graphic scenes (i like disturbing/graphic when done artfully but can also enjoy its absence).

A must for Yimou Zhang fans who love his vision and aren’t satiated with just his Hero/Daggers type of films (although those are excellent!!). Also a good choice for Gong Li fans.

Quick Plot Summary: (setting: 1920’s China) There is a man (i assume wealthy and prominent) who lives a life richly immersed in ancient family traditions. He has 4 wives/mistresses/concubines (gong li beeing the 4th and latest at the beginning of the film). Each night he lights lanterns in front of the house of the wife whom he favors/will stay with that night. You can imagine jealousy and scheming occur. Great exposure of raw human emotion and the effects of psychological/emotional manipulation.

I recommend it. [Not yet released on DVD in USA.]

Director Yimou Zhang is amazing. I’m hooked on his films. I bought this when it first came out on DVD and never watched until before a couple days ago. Ohmigod! It was like finding burried treasure in my DVD collection. Definitely one of my all-time favorite films now. Erotically and ominously gorgeous. Set, language, choregraphy, costuming, cinematography. I am hooked on Yiomou’s work which is why i am pre-ordering House of Flying Daggers, sight unseen, and nabbed a semi-rare DVD copy of Raise the Red Lantern off Ebay.

Found this under Action/Adventure. It wasn’t even with the Foreign Films @ Borders. Not really a Horror; not really scary, i suppose. Definitely bloody.

Just watched my first “Horror” movies last year. It wasn’t even that scary, but i was stoned and in a theater and the sound was super loud. It had me anxious. I was checking over my shoulder for zombies for a week after.

Since then, i haven’t been scared by a movie. Suicide Club (also called Suicide Circle) didn’t really freak me out either, but there were parts that were the pyschological equivalent of nails down chalkboards. Definitely has me turned on to the Japanese Horror/Action0Adventure genre, now. I enjoy artisticly presented gore with a purpose and a plot. Recommends are more than welcome!