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Oppai Volleyball (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Ayase Haruka (Actor)
| Nakamura Toru (Actor)
| Aoki Munetaka (Actor)
| Hasumi Eichiro (Director)
All that most male viewers probably need to know is that Oppai Volleyball translates as "Breast volleyball" and that it stars the gorgeous swimsuit model turned actress Haruka Ayase as a teacher who tries to inspire a young school boy volleyball team by promising she will show them her breasts if they manage to win. Adapted from a novel by Mizuno Munenori and supposedly based upon a true story, the film was directed by Hasumi Eiichiro, previously responsible for Umizaru and ski comedy Season of Snow. Surprisingly, despite its potentially sleazy premise, the film is actually a light hearted mixture of underdog sports story and coming of age journey - albeit with probably more mentions of the... [read more]
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A Blood Pledge (DVD) (2-Disc) (First Press Limited Edition) (Korea Version)
Oh Yeon Seo (Actor)
| Jang Kyeong Ah (Actor)
| Lee Jong Yong (Director)
The landmark Korean ghost series Whispering Corridors returns for its fifth instalment with A Blood Pledge marking the debut of director Lee Jong Yong, an interesting choice for the helm, given his previous work under Park Chan Wook on the likes of JSA and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. The film continues very much in the tradition of its predecessors, being set at an all-girls school, dealing with contemporary themes and concerns of friendship, and of course presenting a new set of up and coming young actresses no doubt hoping to follow in the footsteps of former Whispering alumni Kim Min Sun, Kim Ok Bin, Kim Kyu Ri, Seo Ji Hye, and Choi Kang Hee. Interestingly, the film not only performed... [read more]
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Sisters On The Road (DVD) (First Press Edition) (Korea Version)
Kong Hyo Jin
| Shin Min Ah
Sisters on the Road marks the debut of female writer director Boo Ji Young, and as the title suggests, is a drama following two sisters on a voyage of discovery and an exploration of their shared pasts. The film has an impressive cast, with the two siblings in question being played by actresses Shin Min Ah (recently in The Naked Kitchen) and Kong Hyo Jin (superb in the award winning, Park Chan Wook produced Crush and Blush), and has enjoyed success at festivals, premiering at Pusan in 2008. The film starts with young Seoul businesswoman Myung Eun (Shin Min Ah) travelling to Jeju Island for the funeral of her mother, having not been home for some years. Although she had effectively cut... [read more]
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Thirst (DVD) (US Version)
Song Kang Ho (Actor)
| Park Chan Wook (Director)
| Shin Ha Kyun (Actor)
| Kim Ok Bin (Actor)
After the critical and commercial misstep that was I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, Korean auteur Park Chan-Wook returns to a dark but very familiar place with Thirst. Filled with extreme violence, explicit sex, dark humor, and impressive camerawork (plus a bit of fantasy), Thirst is the return of the Park Chan-Wook that worldwide audiences know and love. Despite the current popularity of the vampire genre, this is a surprisingly risky choice for Hollywood studio Universal's first Korean co-production, as Thirst is too extreme to be considered a commercially viable film anywhere outside of its native land, where Park, star Song Kang-Ho, and the film's Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival... [read more]
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Honokaa Boy (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Matsuzaka Keiko
| Baisho Chieko
| Fukatsu Eri
| Aoi Yu
Taking inspiration from Leo Noshida’s autobiographical novel, Honoka‘a Boy falls into that ever-enduring category of movies known as the coming-of-age-story. This 2009 iteration of the genre comes from Japanese filmmaker Atsushi Sanada, whose previous directorial effort was the 2005 omnibus film, All About My Dog. With a languorous and unassuming narrative, Honoka‘a Boy weaves an intriguing tale of friendship, love, and the power of things left unspoken. Honoka‘a Boy begins with the disintegration of a relationship and ends with a reaffirmation of another. The film's opening introduces us to a young Japanese couple on the verge of a breakup. In the midst of a Hawaiian vacation gone awry,... [read more]
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One Million Yen Girl (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Taiwan Version)
Aoi Yu (Actor)
| Moriyama Mirai (Actor)
| Takezai Terunosuke (Actor)
| Tanada Yuki (Director)
Director Yuki Tanada's One Million Yen Girl charms, in no small part due to its star, the wonderful Yu Aoi. As unlikely ex-con Suzuko, Aoi is reserved yet emotionally strong, and possesses a forthright determination - even if what she's determined to do is keep running away. Suzuko's stint in the big house comes after a series of bad circumstances lands her with an awful roommate, their dislike escalating to bad blood before she inadvertently does something that gets her arrested. The letter of the law dictates Suzuko's sentence, but is she really deserving of a criminal record? Not at all, but that's what she receives. Life is not known for being fair. Suzuko was also unlucky at the family... [read more]
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Accident (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Richie Jen (Actor)
| Louis Koo (Actor)
| Johnnie To (Producer)
| Cheang Pou Soi (Director)
Slip in the shower recently? Well, it wasn't a random accident - someone was trying to murder you in the most circuitous way possible. At least, that's what Ho Kwok-Fai (Louis Koo) of the Milkyway-produced Accident (working title: Assassins) seems to be thinking 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A paranoid thriller about hitmen who kill in roundabout ways, Accident was brought to you by director Soi Cheang, whose last film Shamo was as guiltily entertaining as it was bizarre and ill conceived. Accident hews closer to Cheang's Dog Bite Dog, restoring the director's tense storytelling style while eschewing the brutal violence that characterized his last two films. With some contribution from the... [read more]
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Portrait of a Beauty (DVD) (Single Disc) (Korea Version)
Kim Min Sun (Actor)
| Kim Nam Gil (Lee Han) (Actor)
| Choo Ja Hyun (Actor)
| Jeon Yun Soo (Director)
Portrait of a Beauty sees Le Grand Chef director Jeon Yun Soo offering a fascinating take on the life of Shin Yun Bok, one of the greatest ever Korean artists, based upon the supposition that the painter was actually a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to chase her dreams in the male dominated Confucian society of the Joseon Dynasty. Although the film draws its premise from the same best-selling novel by Lee Jung Myung that inspired the 2008 television drama series Painter in the Wind which featured Moon Geun Young in the lead role, here Jeon ups the stakes somewhat by adding an erotic charge to the proceedings. The film begins as a young girl called Shin Yun Jung from a family... [read more]
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Handphone (DVD) (Single Disc) (Korea Version)
Uhm Tae Woong (Actor)
| Park Yong Woo (Actor)
| Park Sol Mi (Actor)
| Kim Han Min (Director)
Mobile phone related films have been pretty popular of late in both Hollywood and Asia, with the likes of Connected and Cellular manipulating the modern over-reliance on technology for tense thrills. Thankfully, Korean director Kim Han Min, previously responsible for the offbeat mystery Paradise Murdered takes a different, somewhat more interesting route, exploring how the simple loss of a phone can lead to a series of wildly escalating events that push two very different men over the edge. The result is a thriller which is not only fast moving and gripping, but which has a fascinatingly amoral edge, with no clear cut heroes and villains. The film begins with sleazy talent manager Seung Min... [read more]
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Do-Re-Mi-Pa-Sol-Ra-Si-Do (DVD) (Single Disc) (Korea Version)
Jang Geun Suk (Actor)
| Cha Ye Ryun (Actor)
| Jung Eui Chul (Actor)
| Im Ju Hwan (Actor)
Teen angst raises its head once more with Korean drama Do-Re-Mi-Pa-Sol-Ra-Si-Do from helmer Kang Geon Hyang and online novelist Guiyeoni, who also gave the genre He Was Cool and Romance of Their Own. The film treads a similar path to these earlier efforts, again revolving around a love triangle and packing in plenty of melodrama, though this time with somewhat of a musical twist. More so than for its plot, the film is likely to be of interest thanks to its hip cast of young performers, with the hotly tipped actor Jang Geun Suk (recently in Crazy Waiting) and promising actress Cha Ae Rin (Bad Love) as the star-crossed leads, and with able support from Jung Euh Cheol. The film begins as the... [read more]
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Fate (DVD) (Single Disc) (Korea Version)
Song Seung Heon (Actor)
| Kwon Sang Woo (Actor)
| Ji Sung (Actor)
| Park Han Byul (Actor)
Pretty people do some pretty ugly things in Fate, the latest addition to a long tradition of Korean gangster movies. This time it's all about the stars: Song Seung Heon takes on his first film after completing his two-year duty in the army, and Stairway to Heaven heartthrob Kwon Sang Woo takes on a rare villain role. In addition to the abs-filled poster, the main selling point of the film is the two macho tough guys going up against each other in a violent grudge match that only a Korean gangster film could deliver. Those also happen to be the best things in this exhausting and sometimes sadistic crime melodrama. One of the posters for the film shows the two manly men hugging each other like... [read more]
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Mother (2009) (DVD) (2-Disc) (Special Edition) (First Press Limited Edition) (Korea Version)
Kim Hye Ja (Actor)
| Won Bin (Actor)
| Bong Joon Ho (Director)
| Jin Gu (Actor)
After the the mega-blockbuster The Host (now Korea's highest-grossing film), director Bong Joon-Ho outdoes himself by trying not to outdo himself with Mother, a mystery-thriller that plays like a more intimate version of the director's 2003 classic Memories of Murder. While Mother doesn't achieve that level of masterful filmmaking, it still has the superb directorial touches and great performances to make this an easy pick for one of the best Korean films of 2009. However, the film's potentially melodrama-infested plot is not the reason for the acclaim. Mentally-handicapped Do-Joon (Won Bin, in his first role since completing his military service) lives with his sometimes-overbearing Mother... [read more]
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Heroes (Commemorate Edition) (CD+DVD)
Denise Ho (Singer)
Following the socially conscious Ten Days in the Madhouse, Denise Ho returns with Heroes, an even more ambitious album that elevates her message about people and society into an almost mythical level. Working again with Hanjin Chen and her older brother Harris Ho (both of whom co-composed almost the entire album), Heroes takes a major step towards fixing Ten Days in the Madhouse's main problem by giving heavier emphasis on more pop-friendly compositions and less on experimental arrangements. Part of the reason is the structure they're working with. Lyricist Wyman Wong, in charge of the entire album's lyrics, worked with HOCC (Ho's nickname) to create the structure for Heroes, using the idea... [read more]
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Cafe Seoul (DVD) (Special Box) (Japan Version)
Saitoh Takumi
| Kyono Kotomi
| Kim Dong Wook
| Take Masaharu (Director)
Korean star Kim Jung Hoon from Princess Hours and Japanese actor Saitoh Takumi from Boys Love team up for the delicious Korean-Japanese co-production Cafe Seoul. Directed by Take Masaharu (Cafe Daikanyama 2), Cafe Seoul complements its ikemen cast with a heartwarming story about pulling together and holding on to the warmth of the past amid the fast-changing trends of modern-day Seoul. Saitoh Takumi plays a Japanese journalist who travels to different countries to write about traditional desserts. In Korea, he comes across a traditional cafe run by three brothers of very different personalities - Kim Jung Hoon, Choi Sung Min (Bad Love), and Kim Dong Wook (Antique). Kim melts hearts as an... [read more]
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Kung Fu Chefs (DVD) (2-Disc Edition) (Hong Kong Version)
Sammo Hung (Actor)
| Vanness Wu (Actor)
| Cherrie Ying (Actor)
| Fan Siu Wong
At first glance, Kung Fu Chef looks as cheesy and low-rent as 2007's unimpressive Kung Fu Fighter. The combo of director Yip Wing-Kin and stars Vanness Wu and Fan Siu-Wong couldn't prevent Kung Fu Fighter from being a crappy Kung Fu Hustle clone, and since they all return for Kung Fu Chef, it's understandable if confidence in this latest Kung Fu [insert noun] iteration is not high. But Kung Fu Chef surprises. Thanks to decent fight scenes, fun cooking scenes and the presence of the venerable Sammo Hung, the film surpasses its numerous negatives to deliver something approximating decent, harmless fun. Who knew? Sammo Hung stars as martial arts chef Wong Ping-Yee, who years ago saved a banquet... [read more]
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Fever (Preorder Version) (Hong Kong Version)
Sodagreen (Singer)
Working at a rate even quicker than most Hong Kong idols, Sodagreen has released another album - the second in their series of season-based albums - only 4 months after The Daylight of Spring back in May. As the title suggests, Fever is all about the heat of the summer, which means the musical style would naturally lean towards light rock. With a mix of punk, pop-rock, and even poetry, Fever is a little more ambitious than your typical band album in its range and structure, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. Produced by Will Lin and arranged entirely by the band with Lin, Fever is tightly constructed with fluid pacing, masterfully carrying off the transitions between genre and... [read more]
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Crazy Racer (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Jiu Kong (Actor)
| Huang Bo (Actor)
| Jack Kao (Actor)
| Jie Xiang (Actor)
Ning Hao, the talented director behind Crazy Stone, is back with Crazy Racer, the latest in his unofficial series of clever and enormously entertaining Chinese caper comedies. Originally called Silver Medalist, Crazy Racer stars the affable but unattractive Huang Bo (Crazy Stone, Fit Lover) as professional cyclist Geng Hao, whose initial gold medal win in a cycling competition is immediately downgraded to silver medal status. Afterwards, he's framed for doping and summarily banned from the sport, plus his coach (Ma Shao-Hua) suffers a stroke. It seems life couldn't be worse for Geng Hao. Geng Hao's downtrodden status doesn't change, but it does open up a Pandora's Box of crazy circumstances,... [read more]
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Dream Lovers (Joy Sales Version) (Hong Kong Version)
Chow Yun Fat (Actor)
| Brigitte Lin (Actor)
| Yeung Suet Yee (Actor)
| Lam Chung
Drenched in melancholy and regret, Dream Lovers is the kind of movie that drives the well-balanced amongst us into a deep depression.Chow Yun-fat plays a conductor of classical music who returns to Hong Kong as the toast of the town after spending years overseas with his fiance. The two buy an apartment and settle in as young people with a future. Before they can even move in the furniture, Chow Yun-fat becomes possessed by visions and dreams of Brigitte Lin (who isn't?) finding himself hypnotically drawn to the exhibition of terra cotta warriors recently excavated from the Qin Emperor's grave. His fiance can only stand by and wonder what's up. What's up? Reincarnation. Chow and Brigitte are... [read more]
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Tracing Shadow (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Francis Ng (Actor, Director)
| Jaycee Chan (Actor)
| Pace Wu (Actor)
| Xie Na (Actor)
Tracing Shadow marks the fourth directorial outing for popular Hong Kong Star Francis Ng, and sees him again co-helming with Marco Mak, who he previously worked with on Dancing Lion. The film itself is somewhat of a throwback to the glory days of Hong Kong cinema, being a wacky martial arts comedy that focuses on the search for a legendary treasure. Although essentially pretty daft, it does pack in plenty of action, and boasts an appealing cast that includes Ng himself, along with Jaycee Chan (who recently impressed in Jiang Wen's excellent The Sun Also Rises), and actresses Pace Wu (Marriage with a Fool) and Xie Na (Two Stupid Eggs). The film begins during the Ming Dynasty with a gang of... [read more]
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Like You Know It All (DVD) (First Press Edition) (Korea Version)
Kim Tae Woo (Actor)
| Ko Hyun Jung (Actor)
| Gong Hyung Jin
| Uhm Ji Won (Actor)
The cinematic medium can make for a fascinating subject, especially in the hands of a director willing to explore it through personal insights. This is certainly the case with Like You Know it All from Hong Sang Soo, one of the current champions of the Korean independent film scene, whose previous works such as Women on the Beach and Woman is the Future of Man have offered fascinating and offbeat looks at modern life and relationships. This, his ninth feature, screened as part of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight, and features a host of former collaborators including Kim Tae Woo, Ko Hyun Jung and Uhm Ji Won. Aptly enough, the film's protagonist Ku (Kim Tae Woo, who... [read more]
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