"Blackbelt" 6-10

I last saw Re-cycle. I'll give it 8/10. If anything just for the atmosphere that the film was trying to create. By this i mean pounding drums, matrix like effects and a great story. I really enjoy Japanese horror, because of it's obvious difference to other types. There seems to be a focus on karma mixed with spiritual/ religious belief through these films. This film was no different, a woman writing a novel, who notices that her life and events are being put into motion due to what she is writing and ultimately the pages that she is discarding. I don't want to say anymore, other than if you enjoy Japanese horror then give this a look. The downside was that the subtitles seemed to be very small. Also the english word translations were broken at times. I look forward to the next movie that the "Pang brothers" release. They also directed the original version of The eye.

I just saw Re-Cycle (you taking advantage of Sundance On Demand this month too, stenchofdeath? :)).

First, I'd like to say that I am incredibly unimpressed with so far with what I've seen of Hong Kong Horror (the Pang Brothers are from Hong Kong, stenchofdeath, not from Japan). While The Eye, for example, is fairly iconic amongst Asian Horror fans, I found it lengthy and disappointing (though conceptually brilliant).

As for Re-Cycle. This movie can be summed up in one word: Turgid.

Overwrought, over-directed, over-produced... Far too much soundtrack, far too much insipid story line...

Like The Eye, the concept was brilliant. And the myriad of nightmarish visuals that take over the middle of the film are beautiful, macabre, interesting, and compelling... I felt as though I was at times wandering through Neil Gaiman's nightmares, or traveling through a live action version of Paprika... As soon as she steps off the elevator and begins her journey, I was captivated... But soon my attention was lost in what turned into a sappy contrived resolution. I think that this would have made an AMAZING 45-minute short of just her journey into The Abandoned. The boring and contrived background story coupled with the cheesy Disney-clad resolution at the end of her travels (What Dreams May Come, anyone?) made me just... angry.

I give this movie a C/C+, giving it extra credit for the stunning visuals. If the Pang Brothers had a better editor, this could have been a much, much better film... But, ultimately, I was just annoyed.

So the other night the boyfriend and I attempted to watch Ghost of Mae Nek, an insipidly derivative Thai ghost story. I was interested in the representation of the ghost (a black mouth-like oval was placed in the center of the apparition's forehead, which I found pretty interesting). Unfortunately that wasn't enough to keep our attention. The story was fairly insipid, so we turned it off. Meh.

...

Tonight, however, we watched The Red Shoes, a delightful little Korean chiller. I thought that the direction was clean, atmosphere was sufficiently eerie and suspenseful, and overall this was a fantastic little find. I thought that the scares were good, though, ultimately the movie went a bit long and its final ending was a bit contrived.

Overall, however, I would watch it again and definitely recommend it. B+/A-

Don't watch "Nang Nak" then.

Ghost Of Mae Nek is like a sequal to it.

Nang Nak has got a better IMDB rating and i thought THAT movie was dull...

Good to know. I'll steer clear of that one, too.

Memories of Murder (2003)

Based on true events that took place in Korea from 1986 to 1991, Memories of Murder is not a typical serial killer movie..it's more than that. Instead of focusing on the murder scenes and shocking images like most conventional serial killer films, the movie puts much more time and details into the story, the situation of the time the incidents took place.
At the very beginning it was said that the case still remain unsolved but I almost started to forget this fact as the story runs with a great flow. The frustration of witnessing the many problems the investigators were facing and the very high tension during the murder scenes kept me hooked all along. Director Bong Joon-Ho beautifully portrayed every aspect of the film. Intense humor, brilliant cinematography, excellent character developments with the incredible casts delivered in a remarkable way.

Surely I'll always recall this movie in my all time favorite list.

>>: A+

Gong Tau
The Spiritual World
Bloody Buns
Art Of The Devil 3

Casshern (2004)

>>: B

"Tales of terror" 3/10


33 episodes of horror, each lasting 5 minutes.

What a horrible idea.

No story, no depth. You just sit through them, not giving a crap about any of the many colorless characters, waiting for something remotely scary to happen in the last seconds of each episode.

I was a little disappointed in this one. I thought that the visual effects were absolutely stunning and they obviously had a budget, but overall I thought that it lacked a little substance (and some of it wasn't very well thought-out and a little nonsensical). Overall I wound up being bored.

I could have given it a bit more of a chance, though. I admit it.

...

We watched Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance the other night.

And. WOW.

In some ways, Mr. Vengeance is a stronger film holistically than Oldboy was. I thought that the tone was consistent and I was completely riveted the entire time. Chan-wook Park is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorite directors of all time. I thought that Sympathy for Mr Vengeance was beautiful, tragic, and truly emotional. And, honestly, there was a moment where I shed a tear - And I don't really do that. If you're looking for atmosphere, emotion, clean direction, and a compelling set of characters - This is a perfect movie. His study of vengeance and motivation was intelligent and breath-taking. This movie might just be in one of my top 10 of all time.

A/A+
...

People who've seen Oldboy and Mr. Vengeance - Thoughts? Comparisons? Liked better? Worse? Chan-wook Park is simply brilliant.

I loved Oldboy. 9/10

Mr. Vengance.... I don't know. A tad too dark and cruel for me. 7/10


I have a feeling you will like Ji-woon Kim's (A tale of two sisters) "A Bittersweet Life".

And "Dog Bites Dog" if you haven't seen that already.

"Rattle rattle" 8/10

Nicely fast paced ghost short story with a delightfully scary ghost.

100% agree with you!:)

After seeing the Vengeance trilogy I have also become a big fan of Chan-Wook Park. Amongst them I love the Mr. Vengeance most, then Oldboy & Lady Vengeance. Though Oldboy was the most shocking film I've ever seen and Park delivered it in a magnificent way but the moral dilemma of the Mr. Vengeance touched me more deeply and I truly admire this film with my any other all time favorites in the world cinema. But besides this Vengeance trilogy I haven't seen Park's any other film. So I'm eagerly waiting to have more fascinating experience with his arts of films.

Btw, have you seen Joon-Ho Bong's Memories of Murder? I have seen it recently and I just only like to tell you now that besides Mr. Vengeance this was another brilliant Korean movies I have seen so far. If you haven't seen it yet, then I'm highly recommending you to please experience this masterpiece asap. I'm sure you'll love this one too.

I loved Oldboy too... I actually have a hard time comparing the two because it's clear that Chan-Wook-Park was trying to experiment with different kinds of vengeance and different versions of human disintegration. In a way, Mr. Vengeance reminds me a LOT of the classic Italian film The Bicycle Thief. Have you seen that one? Not quite as dark, but still incredible.

I'll have to check out "A Bittersweet Life." I thought that Tale of Two Sisters was great, though ran a little long... Though of COURSE Netflix doesn't have it. :( I'll have to find it somewhere else. Hmph.

Haven't seen Dog Bit Dog. Just added it to the queue. Just tried to look for Rattle Rattle, which you liked too, bout couldn't find it - Does it go by any other name?

I need to see Lady Vengeance! It's at the top of my Netflix queue right now, so hopefully either by the end of the week or the beginning of next week. Have you seen the short that he did for Three... Extremes? He did the second film, Cut, which was bloody but emotionally shocking at the same time. I thought it was brilliant.

I'll add Memories of Murder - I noticed that you graded it well on the previous page and meant to add it. I'll do that now. Thanks. :)

We watched The Maid the other night.

For the most part, I was fascinated. The plot revolves around a girl from the Philippines who travels to Singapore to live with and be the Maid of a Chinese family. It just so happens that it's July which, in China is "Hungry Ghost Month," the month where the Gates of Hell open and the Dead walk the earth.

The brief description sounds really silly, but it's not; I was fascinated about the depiction of Chinese belief and ceremony (the burning of paper money and prayers to appease the Dead as well as putting on Opera and reserving the front row "for the Ghosts"). The cultural aspect was truly interesting and I thought that the feeling of alienation was captured quite well.

As a ghost story/horror movie, there are definitely some creepy moments, but it turns a little Sixth-Sense-ish by the end of it.

I give it a B.

Makes sense.

It's the first of 3 short stories from a movie called "Unholy women".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0959314/

I saw it for free on this magnificent site:

http://asian-horror-movies.com/

:)

I really enjoyed Rattle Rattle it was very effective piece,although I thought they overdid the ghost effects towards the end.Out of the three stories I think Steel edges to the front for me,it is wonderfully weird!The Inheritance I found to be fairly dull,it was underpinned by a thoughtful story but it was not engaging enough imo.

Really.

I need to see the other 2 stories some day then.

And yes "rattle rattle" had a tendency to be almost laughable at times with the ghost keep showing up every other minute. But that was also what made it so damn entertaining. And the ending... didn't really make a lot of sense.

But what the fuck, it had a cool looking Ghost. what more do you really need. :)

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/3506/ratrat1au6.png

a funny little flick indeed. Thanks to Angra for providing the link. That's really a cool site. :)

Hehe.. That was a pretty sweet moment.

Awesome - Thanks! I'll just go ahead and bookmark that site right now...

Really.

Steel is on a par with Uzumaki in the very fun but very,very weird stakes.:)

SOLD!!! :D

I watched THE TRAIL last night.

Scary Hair?

Are you sure that's the right title?

Aaaaaaha!

Thought it was rather dull. And not scary whatsoever.

Only in Ju-on the grudge 2. :)

Calm down, homo. It's juuuust a movie.

Salems Lot, on the other hand.. IS REAL!!. :eek:

Hold me, I'm scared. :(

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Your name screams to be made fun of. Sorry.

But enough about you. Lets talk about me. Or even better, lets talk about last seen asian movies.

How about Homo? :D


No, i'm sure my name is fun in another language as well.


And it's not that your name is ugly or anything. It just rhymes with... you know.

Born to Fight

Tony Jaa doesn't have anything to worry about but this was still a good action flick. No deep plot or anything, just a lot of mindless (almost video-game like in parts) action. Loved the burning 2x4 fight.

Hell yes.

I would love to see the lead dude in af fight against Jaa. Would make me drool of pleasure overload. :D

And when you say video-game i'll bet you're referring to the long 1 take scene where the lead dude is running around firing a shot-gun, right? ;)