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

[HungFist]

Kantoku banzai (Japan, 2007) – 1.5/5
The creative destruction of Kitano’s career: part two. Kitano continues wrecking his fame with yet another film biz comedy. This time Kitano stars as a failure filmmaker trying his luck with all imaginable movie genres. Occasionally very funny – the karate sequence is priceless, and Kitano’s ninja spoof beats most real ninja movies – the film eventually falls into the same problem as Takeshis’: extended running time. Nearly all scenes run twice as long as they should, effectively sinking the entire movie. Shame about Anne Suzuki being wasted once again in a poor movie.

Heaven’s Story (Japan, 2010) – 4/5
Takahisa Zeze started his career with infamous sex films clocking around 65 minutes. Now he has made a near 5 hour drama that was awarded at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival. Heaven’s Story is a revenge tale - in some ways a more impressive one than any other film in the genre. Taking full use of the 278 minute running time Zeze digs in unbelievably deep into the topic of revenge to show its effects in full, brutal glory. With nearly dozen main characters the focus may seem a bit lost at times, but eventually the piece come together and forms something bigger than the sum of its parts – a theme fully explored. Occasional weaker parts, such as a few bits of cheap melodrama, are compensated with some majestic visuals, mesmerizing sequences and fantastic final 90 minutes. All in all, Heaven’s Story is long, flawed, and, quite frankly, rather magnificent. The most unforgettable film of 2010 by a mile.


- full review: http://sketchesofcinema.wordpress.com/2 ... ens-story/

[gasteropod]

Stolen Desire - 3/5
Shohei Imamura's directorial debut, but with not being written by him it isn't anything particularly special. Nice bonus to have with Pigs & Battleships though.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa marathon:

Retribution - 4/5
Enjoyed and understood this more than ever, really is kind of like a sequel to Cure, with ghosts.

Charisma - 4.5/5
Totally unique.

Doppelganger - 3/5
Not entirely successful as a comedy - interesting but flawed.

Bright Future - 3.5/5
Full Japanese cut this time.

[Heka]

Crazy Thunder Road (Japan, 1980) - 4/5
A grainy film about freedom, punk and Bōsōzoku. This was the film school graduation project of director Gakuryū Ishii and you can see that the director is showcasing some of his skills. That is in no way a bad thing because the direction is top notch. The film follows a biker gang (Bōsōzoku gang) that has a hard time and the different individuals of the gang experience the twilight days of the group differently. The main character Jin has an exceptionally difficult time letting go of the past and he does the only thing that right for a badass like him in the one of the most epic movie endings I've seen in a while. Punk is freedom is the only thing I have to say about the soundtrack.

Return of the Street Fighter (Japan, 1974) - 3/5
Not as good as the first one but still a good film. This time Takuma Tsurugi (Sonny Chiba) is tangled in a mafia plot to steal lots of money and violence ensues. I like the fact that Japan is more advanced in female rights than the west. It seems that in Japan it's as acceptable to punch a chick than a dude. I eagerly await when we in the west can enjoy such equal rights. Back to the film. The sidekick character in this film isn't as good as in the first one. I'd pick a funny gay guy over a annoying chick every time (wait, what did I just say?). Also the excessive use of flashbacks bogs the film down.

[HungFist]

Return of the Street Fighter (Japan, 1974) – 3/5
Anti-racism à la Sonny Chiba: kick everyone’s ass regardless of race, sex, or religious beliefs. The follow up to The Street Fighter sets Chiba against mafia with a full variety of multi-cultural crooks. Chiba’s still got his charm, plus a set of overwhelmingly dirty moves, but the production seems rushed. The storyline takes half an hour to find any form, flashbacks are over-used to the extent we get to witness a flashback of a flashback, and the charming Yoko Ichiji is somewhat drowned under an over-dine Pippi Långstrump look. Chiba himself shows a bit more human side than would be appropriate for Takuma Tsurugi. That’s not to say the film isn’t solid genre fun, though, nor does it mean Chiba doesn’t break arms, gulp an opponent’s eyes out, and stab people with a pistol after running out of ammo.

Crazy Thunder Road (Japan, 1980) – 4/5
"Dedicated to all the crazy bikers!" Former punk rocker Sogo Ishii’s (now Gakuryu Ishii) film school graduation project Crazy Thunder Road marked his final break through – the 16 mm celebration on freedom, punk, and rock music was bought by Toei and blown to 35 mm film for theatrical distribution, despite Eirin’s protest against its “gang violence sympathies”. While technically a bit rough, the film deservedly became the all time Japanese punk film classic with attitude and an amazing soundtrack. The latter was much thanks to the 23 year old director’s close connections to Japan’s top punk and rock bands. The film’s finale alone – an all out street war between lone punk warrior and fascist army – is an action set piece to put almost any Japanese 1970/1980’s studio produced action film into shame. Seriously, who the hell does student films like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXt2tEmRdH4

[gasteropod]

Crazy Thunder Road (Japan, 1980) - 4/5

Return of the Street Fighter (Japan, 1974) - 3/5

Return of the Street Fighter (Japan, 1974) – 3/5

Crazy Thunder Road (Japan, 1980) – 4/5

[Heka]

I posted mine first . Though I guess Hung has made his personal review years ago before posting it.

[HungFist]

I have some 2009 reviews that haven't posted yet...

But those two I wrote today. Of course I've reviewed both films before, too, although I can't remember when. Might have been in elementary school

"Dear teacher. Today I saw a badass Sonny Chiba movie. Chiba kill people. It was good. The end."

[HungFist]

"Dear teacher. Today I saw a badass Sonny Chiba movie. Chiba kill people. It was good. The end."

Actually that sounded just like my current Japanese level.

"先生へ。今日は大胆な千葉 真一映画を見ました。千葉さんは人を殺します。楽しかったです。まる"。

I'd better attend Japanese elementary school then

[Heka]

I'd better attend Japanese elementary school then

You're a sick man....

Serioulsy though your Japanese is on a high enough level that you can manage basic communication. I on the other hand can only point at things and utter out random nouns, verbs and adjectives while trying to pretend that I understand what the other person is saying.

[HungFist]

I'd better attend Japanese elementary school then

You're a sick man....

One day this forum will find out which one of us is the creepy one...

while trying to pretend that I understand what the other person is saying.

The native speakers do the same. はい。はい。はい。ええ、そうです。はい。わかりました。はい。はい。。。　You'll blend in well

[Markgway]

Crazy Thunder Road (Japan, 1980) - 4/5

Return of the Street Fighter (Japan, 1974) - 3/5

Return of the Street Fighter (Japan, 1974) – 3/5

Crazy Thunder Road (Japan, 1980) – 4/5

[Yi-Long]

It seems as if Hung and Heka are secretly the same perverted guy...

[HungFist]

Impossible. He likes white women. And super models

Admittedly for a while I questioned my personality and wondered if Heka might actually be my second personality

But if that was the case then who's been collecting beer money from me after every movie night?

[gasteropod]

Heka is your doppelganger

[Markgway]

The secret is out:

[Heka]

Great minds think alike or was it fools seldom differ I don't quite remember...

[gasteropod]

Something to do with Finns functioning as a hive mind

[HungFist]

Blue Spring (Japan, 2001) – 4/5
“On the road to becoming a yakuza”. Toshiaki Toyoda’s Blue Spring THE high school film of the 2000’s. Dark, brutally energetic and synched to a heavy rock soundtrack by Thee Michelle Gun Elephant and The Blondie Plastic Wagon it’s essentially a yakuza film and anti-coming of age tale set in high school hell. The guy cast (there are only two female characters in the film, with their combined screen time counting for less than 2 minutes) is lead by Ryuhei Matsuda, who has created a terrific career on his own without relying on his legendary father’s reputation, and Hirofumi Arai, who would later tackle even more hard hitting role in The Whispering of the Gods (2005). Arai’s classic roof top scene, which reportedly took 16 hours to film, is one of the most memorable scenes in modern Japanese cinema.
- trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrqbFWHiElY

Sister Street Fighter (Japan, 1974) – 4/5
Etsuko Shihomi caught her first starring role when Hong Kong’s Angela Mao dropped out from what was originally intended as HK-JP co-production. Recommended by Sonny Chiba for the part, the 18 year old Shihomi made an instant hit with her adorable looks mixed with some tasty ultra-violence – most of which was cut from the original US version. Helmed by Toei’s no. 1 action vending machine Kazuhiko Yamaguchi the film turned out an almost non-stop martial arts show with “special fighters” (nunchaku, daggers, blow gun, amazons, etc.) dropping in every 10 minutes. Yakuza villain Bin Amatsu is on fire as their leader – a deliriously evil villain collecting martial artists, including genre-regular Masashi Ishibashi who appears in almost every karate film made in the 70’s. Chiba himself co-stars as a Shorinji Kenpo fighter – a martial art he would return to in the following year’s Doshin So biopic The Killing Machine.

[thelostdragon]

Blue Spring (Japan, 2001) – 4/5

3/5 to me.

[Heka]

Blue Spring (Japan, 2001) – 4/5
It was a bad line and a prank call. Someone spouting insane babble. I couldn't make sense of it. Thinking in metaphors again.
This movie is full of metaphors and you'll need to stay sharp watching it. This is quite easy since the soundtrack is ROCK and the gritty look of the movie is strangely beautiful. If I have to criticize something it would be the overused theme of becoming an adult. The Japs are way too obsessed about the whole thing. This movie is also about having power over other people and chasing your dreams. As Hung said the rooftop scene in the end of the movie is epic.

Sister Street Fighter (Japan, 1974) – 3/5
Very entertaining but the same critizism that applied for Hissatsu onna kenshi applies here. Etsuko Shihomi isn't vicious and this hurts the movie, especially when the movie has the street fighter name in the title. The different fighting styles showcased in this movie are more comic than menacing. Sonny Chiba steals the show in every scene he's in.

[gasteropod]

The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959) - 3.5/5

The first appearance of the yurei is actually quite scary!

[thelostdragon]

Never Give Up (1978) - 2.5/5
Ken Takakura is the man. Yet, again. Not so much the film, though. It has some interesting aspects which you can't fail to notice. This is actually a good candidate for what could be a great remake. I liked how the superpowers of Yoriko, the young girl, came to mention, but were never really explored. They were just there.
Ryoko Nakano is a very good actress. Too bad she had to die so early... twice.
Apart from that the film was too long and during the kende dojo scene a mic was visible moving in the top of the frame.

[gasteropod]

City Hunter - 3.5/5
In the Line of Duty - 3/5
The Black Sheep Affair - 2.5/5
Royal Warriors - 2.5/5
Mr. Vampire - 3.5/5

[Heka]

Redline (Japan, 2009) - 5/5
Despite my devilishly good looks and my unbeatable fashion sense I watch a lot of Anime. Redline is a seriously cool anime movie about racing in a scifi universe. The main dude in this anime is called JP and he's one of the radest characters I've seen in the medium. This is a "rule of cool" type of movie. This means that the plotholes and explanation don't matter because all you're thinking while watching this masterpiece of flashing color is: "Wow, that's cool!". As a harcore F1 fan I can appriciate the the feel of speed and the exitement this anime induces.

Here is a trailer that doesn't visually do justice to the movie since I'm pretty sure this is meant to be watched 1080P with your speakers turned all the way up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxWcLFULadM

[gasteropod]

Redline (Japan, 2009) - 5/5

I've been wanting to see this for ages, read a lot of good things. It's not due out here till November, though.