Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Robokon (Japan, 2003)


This is a surprisingly terrific, feel-good down to earth film about a high school robot competition held in Japan. It starts off as a quiet, meditative movie then builds up into an exciting robot contest. 

Masami Nagasawa turns in another wonderful performance as a high school student who ends up going into the "Robokon" contest. Shun Oguri also stars as a robot engineer going through personality problems. Near the end of this flick, you'll be cheering for both of them to win the trophy. 


Rating: @@@@

God of Cookery (Hong Kong,1996 )


This is a nice little film from Stephen Chow, the king of supreme non-sense comedy. In this movie he stars as a con artist pretending to be a gourmet cook to bring in millions of HK dollars into his bank account. 

But when he gets upstaged by a real "cooking master", he goes on a quest to become a powerful cook to dish out some righteous payback. 

RATING: @@@

Saturday, June 19, 2010

The Road (Hollywood, 2009)


In the not too-distant future, the apocalypse has arrived and what's left of Earth is just a barren landscape. 

There's hardly any sunlight and there are no more plants and animals. Viggo Mortensen plays a father who journeys across America with his son in order to find a better place to survive.

For some people it will be boring due to the slow pacing of the film, but even so it's still a pretty decent movie. 

RATING: @@@

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Nana (Japan, 2005)


Aoi Miyazaki stars as Nana and the film follows her as she goes to Tokyo to be with her boyfriend and along the way she meets the character of Mika Nakashima who happens to be named Nana as well. 

One of them is a cute "princess-type" while the other is a Gothic punk rocker. They may be worlds apart in the personality department, but they have a lot more in common than they think. 

The story is a bit simple and straight-forward but the acting and the direction of the film is handled quite well. The musical score is also kick-ass. 

RATING: @@@@

Election 2 (Hong Kong, 2006)


This sequel is as dark and moody as the first film. The story continues where the last Election movie ended. Two years has passed and it's time to pick a new triad leader. 

But this time it's all-out war since the current head of the Wo Sing crime syndicate doesn't want to relinquish his power. Election 2 is a visually stunning dark triad picture. 

RATING: @@@@

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Daybreakers (Hollywood,2010)


Ethan Hawke stars as a vampire scientist in a world where vampires rule and what's left of the human race is being used as living blood suppliers. 

Near the ending of the film it becomes too gory and might be a turn-off for some viewers. Still, this is a good vampire/sci-fi action film. 

RATING: @@@

The Classic (Korea, 2003)


Son Ye Jin plays the lead in this movie which made her into a bankable star in Korea. The Classic is a true classic in a sense that it's as close as it gets to being the perfect romantic-drama film. 

The story starts in the present day when a girl finds a collection of her mother's love letters and finds them "classical" in their writing. Then the movie goes into flashback in the 1960s to re-live the mother's love story.

RATING: @@@@@

Touch (Japan, 2005)


One of the best teen-drama movies to come out of Japan. The story is about twin brothers who grow up with the girl next door and how they fall in love with the sport of baseball.  

Masami Nagasawa ends up in a star-making role in this flick, playing the girl who has to choose between the two brothers. 

This is the kind of movie that makes you want to be in high school all over again. 

RATING: @@@@@

Mr. Vampire (Hong Kong, 1985)


This is a very original and entertaining film from Hong Kong that manages to be scary, funny, and action-packed all at the same time. 

The movie follows a Taoist master and his assistants as they go against naughty earth-bound spirits and jumping corpses. 

This film produced a slew of sequels but the first one will always be remembered as the very best. 

RATING: @@@@

Legion (Hollywood, 2010)


The story is simple: God has lost faith in mankind and now He wants to wipe out everybody on the planet and sends angels to do the extermination. 

But the archangel Michael doesn't think that this is the right course of action, so he goes against God's will and tries to save us. 

Nothing new to see in this film but the same old action flick with average special effects.

RATING: @

The Bow (Korea, 2005)


Another magnificent film from the weird yet original filmmaker Kim Ki Duk. This time it's about an old man and a young girl living together in a boat in the middle of the ocean. 

The old man's plan is to marry the girl when she turns 18. As always the movie boasts eye-catching cinematography which is so beautiful in its simplicity.   

RATING: @@@@

Cyborg She (Japan, 2008)


The film stars Haruka Ayase as a super-advanced android from the future (like in the Terminator films) who goes back in time to save the guy who will eventually invent her someday. 

Most of the film deals with the cyborg and her young master going through different misadventures and eventually falling in love with each other. It's nothing original, but a lot of fun to watch. 

RATING: @@@@

Chungking Express (Hong Kong, 1994)


This is a so-called "new wave" Hong Kong film from the early 1990's which was directed by the great Wong Kar Wai. 

The movie consists of two stories involving cops and their love lives. The first part stars Takeshi Kaneshiro as a lonely police officer with an upcoming birthday.

The second part has Tony Leung meeting Faye Wong at a diner in the Chungking district. 

Sparks don't necessarily fly between the characters but the movie soars thanks to the combination of great music and visuals. 

RATING: @@@@

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Avatar (Hollywood, 2009)


Twelve years after James Cameron made Titanic, he comes back with a vengeance with Avatar. 

The film follows a young marine as he uses an avatar to infiltrate an alien tribe in a distant moon. 

The visual effects is simply amazing and James Cameron did a great job creating a whole new world.

RATING: @@@@@

The Killer (Hollywood, 2023)

  This dark action thriller from director David Fincher is a stylish "Hitman Procedural" that follows Michael Fassbender as he goe...