Reviews

"Even before we entered the world we were marked by karma."

Lady Snowblood is the film that inspired Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films. Yuki's blood spewing revenge is a cautionary tale of feminine vengeance. Splendidly filmed with an impassioned OST, the unique style based on a manga, and the excellent acting make this film one worth seeking out if you enjoy this genre.

Born to a dying mother in a prison on a snowy day, Yuki was charged with her family's vendetta against the villains who murdered her father and brother and viciously raped her mother. She grew up trained by a ruthless master to become the hand of death to the group that had decimated her family. One by one she hunts the villains down, in her lovely kimonos with a deadly umbrella to gracefully slash her way through the people who had inspired this life she'd never asked for. Beneath her beautiful veneer lay a dark and fiery need for payback for her dead family, one she had never known. Tasked with never feeling emotion, Yuki retains shreds of compassion as she interacts with those she comes across in her rampage. Ironically, she opens another cycle of vengeance by her actions.

The film lays the blood spewing on thick, every slash sends the gooey red paint flying everywhere. Puddles of blood enough for a slain army float around the unlucky bodies. As the story begins on a snowy day with a child born pure but commissioned with her first breaths with the bloody job of vengeance, so the ending scene leaves the beautiful assassin with her butterfly kimono covered in blood in the snow wondering if there is life after revenge.

There were some subtle and not so subtle political messages about corruption in the upper echelons of the military and government. And though the plight of the poor was pointed out, it dispelled the myth that the poor are always good hearted. I wish there had been more of an attempt to understand what a woman must feel growing up with brutal training and an unbreakable oath for people she had never met.

As many older martial arts films with swordplay tended to do, this one used the almost dance and slash technique. Best to not think too hard about the fight choreography from a realistic stance but to admire it for the stylistic forms.

Lady Snowblood was in many ways similar to other revenge fueled martial arts movies but elevated by the haunting music, colorful cinematography, and the stellar acting of Kaji Meiko. If eyes were knives, her targets would already be dead with the cold steely glare she honed in on them with. Kaji's expressive face and graceful moves enhanced the tension filled moments of her hunting her prey even when she had to settle for satisfaction instead of revenge.

If you are looking for a modern movie you may be disappointed. This is a film rich in character with old style effects. Revenge is a dish best served cold and Lady Snowblood served it on a silver blade.

"Forgive me! Spare me!"
"I shall do neither."

3/2/23

Leia Mais

A charming and delightful film based on a manga and about manga

BL Metamorphosis is the story of Urara and Yuki (Sunshine and Snow) who build a cross-generational friendship based on their mutual enjoyment of BL manga. Urara (Ashida Mana) is in her second to last year of high school and facing the choice of what college programs to apply for next year. She's working at a local bookstore when a recently widowed calligraphy teacher Yuki (Miyamoto Nobuko) wanders in to escape the summer heat and a finds a popular BL which catches her eye. Urara is an embarrassed secret fan of the genre, and Yuki had no idea such a thing existed but quickly finds that she loves it and seeks out Urara's advice to learn more about it and get her recommendations.

Acting is reacting, and, as ever, Ashida's reactions are on point, expressing all the embarrassment and social awkwardness of a young woman who has not found herself yet. Yes, she has a crush. But he's already dating the tall, popular, beautiful Eri, and what would happen if he or, worse, THEY ever found out she's into BL? Nevertheless, Urara guides Yuki into the world of BL fandom, and Yuki encourages Urara to try making a manga of her own.

The film is quite smart with lovely parallels drawn between the manga that the two are reading, and the other things happening in their lives. The score and song choices help to propel the story along and as whole the film feels much shorter than its two hour runtime.

It is, indeed, rare for a film to center on a friendship between two people with an age difference of over 60 years, and this film does so lovingly and well. Ashida, if she chooses to, will be Japan's breakout star in the coming years and Miyamoto is a good solid veteran actor. Together their scene work provides all the warm-fuzzies you could want.

Leia Mais

Even when knowing what's going to happen... you can't imagine how bad it is.

I seriously felt like I knew what I was getting into but I clearly wasn't. This movie makes you face the worst part of humanity, and doesn't give you a lot of hope. However, I recommend watching it as it will make you realize how much we have to be ready to fight for people who are suffering, because no one else will do it for you.

A few random points I'd like to add:
The actors are brilliant, all of them, children included. It was so heart wrenching to watch such horrible things happen to children so realistically. But the worst part was probably the helplessness of the very few adults willing to help. Even some of them who clearly realized something was wrong still didn't act. It really makes you think a lot about how much bravery and strength is needed to go against the status quo.

This story is important. So important that even if the movie was horrifying to watch, I don't regret it. Because these children suffered so much, no one should ignore them. It's the least we can do since clearly we all failed them.

All in all, it's a movie that makes you think about yourself and about society. It's a movie that puts you face to face with real life monsters, and I'm not only talking about the rapists and abusers, but also about those who choose to let them continue their rampage only for the sake of money or other menial things. I hope anyone who watches this movie will find it in themselves to act against such abuse if they are to witness it in the future.

Leia Mais

If You Liked The Series, This Is More Of That

All the boys and their cats are back for a tepid continuation of Neko Bukken. If you enjoyed the chill nature of the series, you will likely enjoy this movie that continues from where the series left off. The acting and production quality are pretty much what you saw in the series, but the writing is ... well, let's just say that it's what you might expect for the worst episode of any episodic television series that you like. The script pretty much reverses the character growth of all the housemates in order to bring them back together, and presents a plot objective and obstacle pulled from the dustiest bin of tropeville which the protagonist Yuuto proceeds to address in the stupidest way possible. Because of the wisdom of cats, or some such nonsense. Abetting him as usual is the long-suffering Yumi who manages to get a backstory that is nearly as ridiculous as the larger plot of this "film". And in the end, the people of the Cat Property all come together to live happily ever after. Yay?

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Honestly, the best things about this movie was Suda's hair and the undeniable chemistry him and Nana have. This was written and directed by the same person that did that travesty Netflix film Hot Gimmick. It has the similar weird artsy fartsy style of Hot Gimmick sprinkled with cut and paste dialogue and scenes that make little sense. It reeks of trying too hard. However, the immaturity found in adolescent relationships is the one thing done right in this movie, where characters make grand gestures and absolutes of loving someone forever or dying together in the process.

Drowning Love is pretentious (geez, even the title is) yet has a beauty to it. The cinematography and tone will take your breath away. Very dreamy and atmospheric. If a teen girl's Pinterest board could be captured on film this would be it, with a hodge podge of moody dreamscape palletes to feast the eyes on. Suda and Nana have never looked better than they do here, equal parts alluring and mysterious. I'd say Drowning Love is the more palpable version of Hot Gimmick. It's a hot mess and trash but beautiful trash.

Leia Mais

Can we ask for more?

The concept was original and interesting, it leads to darker tones.
Developing it a series or a longer film would allow the main characters to develop or we could understand better their past and their thoughts.

SungWoo is an interesting character, with a devastating family history. If the new boy is the 11th, SungWoo probably repeated the brother reunion act many times. I understand his want to stay out from home.

The dad is interesting too. He obviously is selfish, leaving his son with the desolate pieces of his wife, but he kept looking for actors?, boys grown up in orphanage?, whoever wants a family?, to play the part of the brother that came back. Where did he go (or why) is not known.

SungKyu is the most difficult to understand, hence the ask for a longer version. If I get his crave for a family and a mom, it's interesting how he relates with SungWoo. I'd have done everything to make him like me, while SungKyu even threaten to out him to his parents. Apparently he's attracted by SungWoo too (they have an extraordinary sexual tension is such a short time), but the end left us wondering. He's a nobody, okay. But why that painting, emotionless face in the last scene?

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A LONG AND EPIC MOVING ART.

Okay, this is a long one and a masterpiece. This is the first time I watched a movie with over 3+ hour runtime. It's basically a 4-hour movie (3hrs and 50mins to be exact). At first, I hesitated because I am not fond of watching a film that too long. But I promise, It's worth your time.

This is a story of 4 different people that struggles in their depressing town each experiencing a depressing life. Each has story of its own. A boy has an abusive father and had a problem in their school after having an accident caused by him. A girl who has a negligent mother and having an affair to the vice dean of their school. An old man with nowhere to go after forcing him to leave out at his apartment by her family for financial reasons. And a middle age man, who has a family issue and having an affair to his best friend's wife.

I like every seconds of this movie especially to have a style of long and floating shots. Its very quiet, not too much dialogue but the emotions of the main leads deliver the story so perfectly. They all have very sad faces and as you look in their eyes, it's like they are telling us that there has no meaning in "living". The cinematography is also soothing, every shot is worth it.

I really love this movie and maybe my favorite movie recently. Even the story is depressing, I see hope in the ending.

Leia Mais

No holds barred fun!

Flash Point is a good old fashioned Hong Kong crime drama with plenty of shoot-outs and hand-to-hand combat between cops and bad guys. The story is paper thin and the writers didn't worry about using almost every trope from the genre. What sells this movie is the fight choreography---your enjoyment will be determined on how much you appreciate watching Donnie Yen and Collin Chou fight in their prime.

Donnie plays a detective who is always being disciplined for being too aggressive with perps in his job. The upper white shirts allow it because he's so good at closing cases. His latest case involves his partner, Louis Koo as Wilson, who has gone undercover with three vicious Vietnamese smugglers and their gang. The first half of the movie has a modicum of action, it takes the time for us to build empathy for Wilson who is not the brightest UC cop and Donnie whose only motivation in life is bringing down criminals. It also shows just how violent the three brothers are so that we can wait with anticipation for Donnie to clean the floor with them. As the officers close in on the bad guys and appear to have a strong case with numerous witnesses, the witnesses are murdered one by one until Wilson is the lone person to be able to testify. Character building time is over children, now the blood letting begins. I started thinking of Wilson as Timex, he took a licking and kept on ticking, it almost became comical how many times he was injured. Don't expect much from the basic plot because it had as many holes as a paper practice dummy.

The high point of this film was in the final act as the bodies started stacking up. Even something as simple as jumping a fence became a chance for doing something more creative. During one brutal battle, Donnie's character loses control and the blood lust overtakes him leaving him shaken. The final extended fight between Donnie and Chou was worth the price of admission for this movie. It was vicious, fast, and well-choreographed combining a number of styles and looking more like MMA than kung fu. While there were a few "movie moves", for the most part the brawling seemed fairly realistic. And brawling it was as the two not only kicked and punched but grappled on the ground with bones breaking. Donnie won a Hong Kong Film Award and a Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography and he earned it. The stunt guys who did the more dangerous work are to be commended as well.

The loose cannon cop who doesn't play by the rules and the bad guy who can get to anyone has been done a hundred times over and this film certainly didn't break any new ground. The entertainment value for people who love Hong Kong crime and action films lies in the ferocious tension filled confrontations. You may groan at some of the idiotic mistakes the police make but you may also hold your breath in wonder at how fast and limber Donnie and Chou were and remind yourself it may just be acting but these cats were fast as lightning.

3/1/23

Leia Mais

Dud in the Desert

Duel in the Desert is what you get when you mix a convoluted story, bad direction, poor martial arts choreography, and almost no Angela Mao---few duels and more duds.

The story starts with everyone converging on the inn Angela's family runs to find a place to stay so that they can take part in a horse race with a 500 gold tael purse. And that's the end of that storyline. Pai Ying and Hsieh Han, along with Wan Chung Shan are looking to make money on a deal regarding 3 treasure chests full of Imperial jewels. Unfortunately for them so are a lot of other people. Theft, revenge, subterfuge, a murder case, betrayal, a secret letter (there's always a secret letter or book!), deals and double dealings, hidden identities, and undercover police officers are shuffled together in hopes of finding a story.

To make matters worse there were few fights and even those weren't very good. Most of them were of the grab, lock, pose kind. Don Wong and Ling Yun had a fight that moved faster and didn't seem as posed. In many of the other fights you could see how far people missed their hits and kicks. Angela is always a delight to watch but she only had a short fight at the one hour mark and in the final couple minutes of the movie. Even her kicks, fierce gaze, and snake kung fu couldn't save this film.

The version I watched was dubbed which might have been fortunate. The film was faded and badly cropped, subtitles would have been hard to read and run off the screen. People's faces were almost completely cut out of some scenes due to the cropping.

If there had been some good fights and more Angela it might have made up for the ridiculous story and all the people running around trying to either steal the jewels or save the jewels. Either way, this is a film only for lovers of 70's Taiwanese kung fu movies and Angela Mao and even then it might require a great deal of patience on the viewer's part.

3/1/23

Leia Mais

watch this short masterpiece (on GagaOOLala)

Beautiful, realistic, brilliant. I don't even have words to say how well done this short film is but I'll try without spoiling anything. This story and characters felt extremely realistic and relatable, these are people I could meet in real life. All three/four of the actors did an amazing job, it was especially great to see Huang Chun Chih again (lead in HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count). This is an exemplar of how to do a short film well. You have a narrow plot/idea that you want to convey with only a few characters/locations.

My only complaint is that it's too short and we need a whole series or a full length movie to really delve into the glimpses that we got here. Watched on GagaOOLala.

Leia Mais

I did not expect to have my brain cells in gear

At the time of writing this review, I am currently on a quest of watching all of Lee Joon Gi. This is among the most accessible ones and diving into it I had no idea what I was getting into. I might be calling this a masterpiece for how much it took me off guard, since I was on an impression of a light-hearted, 2-hour immersion. Maybe it's good to not let titles fool you, just as they say to not judge the book by its cover (hah). Out of all the things this movie might impress you by, I'd say with how well the script is written it is the crème de la crème, and only the best acting gives justice to this level of writing. Overall, it inspired me to write this review to say I now understand why Lee Joon Gi became who he is after this film. But of course, everyone in the film has levelled with him (superb acting). Watched it for him, I definitely got more than what I expected.

P.S. all the awards this film amassed was well-deserved.
P.P.S just wanted to add it's a film ahead of its time for its theme, and one that is timeless.

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