Reviews written by Kevin Kennedy
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Tokyo Friends (The Movie) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Tokyo Friends (The Movie) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region 3
(1)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:November 15, 2009 For fans of the series"Tokyo Friends: The Movie" is a sequel to a five-episode direct-to-DVD series. If, like me, you come to this movie without having seen the preceding series, you will feel like you are entering in the middle of a story ... which, of course, you are. As the movie begins, Ryoko (Maki Yoko) is about to marry her co-manager at a pub, Hirono (Matsumoto Rio) is throwing herself at her ex-boyfriend, then joining a theatrical troupe, Maki (Kobayashi Mao) is working in an art gallery in Manhattan, and Rei (Otsuka Ai) is gaining a following for her band, Survival Company. Maki phones Rei and tells her that she saw Rei's old boyfriend and bandmate Takashi (Eita) from a distance on a Manhattan street. Rei drops everything to travel to the Big Apple to search for Takashi. Against all odds, in a city of 8.3 million people, Rei bumps into Takashi on a New York street. Will Rei and Takashi get together again? Will Rei pack in her singing career just when it is about to take off?
If you have seen and enjoyed the five-episode series, those questions likely will make you eager to see this movie. If you haven't, well, then those questions are not so gripping. Fortunately, the film's attractive cast and great J-Pop music make "Tokyo Friends" a watchable film even for novices like me. When Otsuka Ai gets behind a microphone and begins to sing, the film comes to life.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Otoko wa Tsurai yo - Tora-San, The Matchmaker (23rd Story) (DVD) (HD Remastered) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Otoko wa Tsurai yo - Tora-San, The Matchmaker (23rd Story) (DVD) (HD Remastered) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version) DVD Region 2
(1)Our Price: US$44.99Usually ships within 7 - 14 daysRelated promotions:November 15, 2009 Great showcase for Kaori MomoiIn "Tora-San, the Matchmaker", the 23rd film in the series, Tora rescues impetuous Hitomi (Kaori Momoi) from the advances of a bumbling sexual predator. We next encounter Hitomi, in the midst of her wedding ceremony to the scion of a wealthy family (Fuse Akira), hyperventilating as she feels trapped in a fate she doesn't want. She flees the wedding and makes a beeline for Toraya, where Tora is more than happy to help the young woman with whom he is smitten.
Her jilted groom does not give up his pursuit of Hitomi. However, in his own attempt to find himself, he quits the family firm, becomes a mechanic, and moves to a run-down tenement. Will Hitomi come to embrace the love of this good-hearted man? Kaori Momoi's natural, spontaneous acting style perfectly suits the character of Hitomi. Also excellent is veteran actress Koguri Michiyo as Hitomi's rather starchy mother. The film is capped off with a lovely song by Fuse Akira.
"Tora-San, the Matchmaker" is filled with funny, warm, and heartfelt moments. I recommend it very highly. This Shochiku remastered DVD provides brilliant, crystal-clear image quality, a huge improvement over the fuzzy images found on the less pricey Panorama DVD. If your budget will allow, definitely choose this Shochiku release.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Stranger Of Mine (Hong Kong Version)
Stranger Of Mine (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region 3
(2)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:November 13, 2009 Ingeniously conceived romantic comedy"A Stranger of Mine" is a delightful surprise. It opens as a quirky comedic romance, then splinters Rashomon-style to examine fragments of that theme through strangely different perspectives, and closes by bringing those strands back together in a masterful exposition of fallen human nature. If all of that sounds too high-faluting for you, don't worry. "A Stranger of Mine" also happens to be very entertaining.
Crestfallen office drone Miyata (Nakamura Yashui) has just been dumped by his gorgeous girlfriend. His old schoolfriend Kanda (Yamanaka Satoshi), now a scruffy gumshoe, invites him to dinner at a restaurant. Kanda urges Miyata to start seeing other women, then asks a disconsolate woman sitting alone at another table to join them. Kanda then vanishes, leaving Miyata and the young woman Maki (Kirishima Reika) to get acquainted, which they do in their shy, awkward manner. Maki, it turns out, has just broken up with her fiance and has no place to stay. Miyata offers to let her spend the night in the spare bedroom of his apartment. However, after they arrive, Ayumi (Itaya Yuka), Miyata's old girlfriend comes to pick up some of her things and Maki takes the opportunity to leave. Miyata, in an uncharacteristic act of boldness and determination, sprints after Maki's taxi and, after finally catching up to it, persuades the hesitant Maki to give him her phone number.
At this juncture, the story fractures into wild subplots involving the old girlfriend Ayumi, who turns out to be a grifter, the detective Kanda who becomes entangled with her scheming, and a yakuza boss (Yamashita Kisuke), from whom Ayumi unwisely seeks to steal a pile of cash. These subplots are tautly menacing, yet laced with wild humor, putting one in mind of Itami Juzo's great films. In the end, defying expectations, all roads lead back to Miyata and Maki and their nascent romance.
Kudos to director Uchida Kenji (who also wrote the script) for pulling off an exciting, edgy, funny, and friendly little romance. "A Stranger of Mine" deserves a wide audience; I recommend it very highly.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (US Version)
Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (US Version) DVD Region 1
(1)Our Price: US$19.95Usually ships within 7 - 14 daysRelated promotions:November 12, 2009 Ichi in love?"Zatoichi and the Chess Expert" spins an intriguing tale of detection and an exploration of Ichi's character that goes beyond anything we've previously seen in the series. As Ichi is entering a boat, a wandering samurai saves him from falling into the water; Ichi and the samurai quickly become friends and Ichi delights in the samurai's fascination with chess. Next Ichi encounters a woman and child travelling the countryside as musical performers; the child inadvertently is injured as a consequence of a scuffle between Ichi and some gangsters he had cheated. Ichi, feeling responsible, takes the woman and child under his wing and, when the little girl contracts tetanus as a consequence of her wound, Ichi goes to great lengths to obtain expensive medicine for her cure. Ichi's affection for the woman and child go beyond mere friendship and the woman reciprocates Ichi's feelings. Then a third strand is woven into the story; at an onsen, meets a sickly man and his sister (who is dressed as a samurai). The sickly man's retainer is murdered and, after a bit of sleuthing, Ichi suspects he knows who did it.
All of these strands get come together to produce a climax in which both Ichi's nobility of spirit and his self-loathing drive the story to a satisfying conclusion. The film is smoothly directed, attractively staged, and creatively lensed. The image quality of this film is much, much better than that of the previous DVDs in this Home Vision series; the pictures are sharp and the colors pop in this beautiful release of the film. All Zatoichi fans will embrace this movie; it will be a particular treat for those who prefer exposition over action. Highly recommended.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
The Re-incarnation Of Golden Lotus (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
The Re-incarnation Of Golden Lotus (DVD) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All
(1)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:November 9, 2009 A Joey Wang classicBefore she is to be reincarnated, in order that she not bring into her new life past loves and hatreds, Golden Lotus (Joey Wang) is asked to drink three cups of a memory-erasing potion. She refuses to do so, swearing revenge against those who have wronged her. The reborn Lotus is a dance student during the Cultural Revolution era, when she witnesses the burning of the "Jin Ping Mei", the book that describes her former life as an ill-fated concubine. As she matures, she draws the unwanted attention of the school's master, then is thrown out of school when she is accused of stealing a pair of athletic shoes that she gives to the boy she loves (Wilson Lam).
Ten years later Golden Lotus is selling fruit along the roadside outside of Guangzhou, when tourist Wu Da (Eric Tsang) meets her and falls head over heels in love with her. Soon he is buying her expensive gifts, but the air conditioner he buys her short-circuits the electricity to her village, drawing the wrath of her jealous neighbors. Wishing to escape her meager surroundings, she agrees to marry Wu, although she has no feelings for him. However, when she arrives in his Hong Kong home she soon draws the ire of her in-laws, who consider her a golddigging interloper. Coincidentally, her chauffeur in Hong Kong turns out to be the boy she loved in her schooldays. Out of loyalty to his employer (Wu and the chauffeur grew up together in Shantou), the chauffeur rejects the advances of Lotus. Feeling dejected and hopeless, Lotus soon winds up in the bed of a degenerate photographer, with consequences that threaten to blow her marriage apart.
Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that these events mirror the same tragic circumstances that ruined Golden Lotus's former life. Can she avoid the same fate and instead find true love? Joey Wang looks gorgeous and gives one of her best performances in "The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus". This is a dense, multi-layered story; I enjoyed it the first time I viewed it and found it even more engrossing when I watched it again and could better understand the parallels between Lotus's contemporary and past lives. Given its occasionally lurid content, this movie should be restricted to mature audiences.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Steal It If You Can (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Steal It If You Can (DVD) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All
(4)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:November 8, 2009 Can Sang Tae become king of his castle?In "Steal It If You Can", super-wealthy computer game designer Choi Kang Jo (So Ji Sub) in his spare time gets his kicks by breaking into people's homes and stealing trivial items and small amounts of cash. The more sophisticated a home's anti-burglary systems, the bigger the challenge and thrill for Kang Jo.
Nebbishy administrator Ko Sang Tae (Park Sang Myun) seems to have won the 'lottery of life'. Although his is not particularly smart, not particularly ambitious, and not at all good-looking, he somehow has managed to marry a gorgeous bride (Song Seon Mi) who comes from a family of great wealth, has two lovely children, and lives in a spectacular home. However, all is not well for our chubby hero; his wife and kids view him as a hopeless loser.
Now Kang Jo has set his sights on Sang Tae's home, breaking into it at will, each time nabbing the remote control for the family's immense TV, stealing a few bucks from the wife's pocketbook, taking food from the refrigerator, and leaving behind messages to woo Sang Tae's bride. Now it is time for Sang Tae to stand up and defend his home and, in doing so, to regain the respect and love of his family. But bumbling Sang Tae hardly seems up to the task.
The first part of "Steal It If You Can" provides uncomfortable moments as we see Sang Tae being thoroughly dissed by his family. The film picks up comedic energy as he seeks to defend his home, first by obtaining an easily-foiled guard dog, then by training with a crazed martial arts instructor, and finally by installing a host of over-the-top home-made barriers to entry. It leads to an exciting and dramatic showdown between the master thief and the hapless homeowner. Unfortunately, the filmmakers squander the climax by being a bit too clever. Nonetheless, "Steal It If You Can" provides plenty of laughs and an enjoyably different take on its familiar underdog-rising-to-the-occasion premise.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Shall We Kiss aka: First Kiss (US Version)
Shall We Kiss aka: First Kiss (US Version) DVD Region All
(6)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 7 - 14 daysRelated promotions:November 8, 2009 Top-notch rom-comMovie magazine reporter Yeon Hwa (Choi Ji Woo), reeling from a relationship break-up, is thrown together in her job with photojournalist Kyung Hyun (Ahn Jae Wook). Their personalities could not be more different. Yeon Hwa is a repressed, introverted bookworm who lashes out at the world because of her wounded feelings. Kyung Hyun is a stylish good-time guy, the life of every party. Kyung Hyun, however, knows that he and Yeon Hwa have in common something very important ... and, consequently, can't help but be drawn to his work-partner, in spite of her spiky personality.
Filled with colorful characters and great humor, simmering with yearning for true love, and capped by an exceptional performance by Choi Ji Woo, "First Kiss" is an almost-perfect romantic comedy. And it gets better with repeated viewings! I recommend "First Kiss" very highly.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Hua Yao Bride From Shangri-La AKA: A Bride From Shangri-La (Hong Kong Version)
Hua Yao Bride From Shangri-La AKA: A Bride From Shangri-La (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All
(1)Our Price: US$10.99Related promotions:November 8, 2009 Colorful display of minority culture"Hua Yoa Bride from Shangri-La" is filled with thrilling music, colorful costumes, exciting dances, an attractive cast, and creative cinematography. In short, it looks and sounds great and its depiction of the minority culture and lifestyle is interesting. It has a good premise: A 'wild child' young woman is betrothed to a traditional young man, but the local culture dictates that they must live apart during their three-year betrothal. The willful girl chafes at this arrangement, leading to sparks flying between the couple. Can this marriage be saved? This premise is set against the backdrop of the training of a team of women dragon dancers for a big competition, which offers many opportunities for great song and dance.
The film, unfortunately, has two failings. First, the story remains on quite a superficial level. The audience gets few glimpses into the hopes, dreams, fears, and motivations of the film's characters. Second, the director clearly encouraged a very broad acting style from his cast. We see lots of mugging, lots of overblown expressions, and very little subtlety in these performances. This is particularly disappointing in the case of lead actress Zhang Jing Chu, who displayed fine acting skills in "Peacock" and "Red River", but here is reduced to doing exaggerated schtick.
Despite these failings, "Hua Yoa Bride" provides a colorful and entertaining display and is well worth a look.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Best & Covers (2CD+DVD)(Hong Kong Version)
Best & Covers (2CD+DVD)(Hong Kong Version) DVD Region 3
(1)Our Price: US$18.49Usually ships within 7 - 14 daysRelated promotions:November 5, 2009 Put on your dancing shoesShimatani Hitomi was almost entirely new to me; before buying this collection, I had heard only the first track from the "Cover Best" disc. This, however, is such a generous compilation, offering 26 songs and a DVD of 17 videos, that I figured I would take a chance. And I'm glad I did.
Miss Shimatani has a strong, clear voice and seems comfortable singing in a variety of styles. The sixteen song Original Best disc features lots of catchy, infectious dance tracks. Indeed, it actually overdoes the dance tracks. Of the sixteen songs, fourteen of them are uptempo numbers and, after a while, all those whomping dance beats become quite numbing. I recommend that this disc be played just a few songs at a time for optimal appreciation. The two ballads on this disc are terrific; they left me longing for more of them.
Many of the ten tracks on the Cover Best disc will be familiar to even casual fans of J-Pop. I love this disc! With its great diversity of rhythms, tempos, and arrangements, it really shows off Miss Shimatani's vocal chops. She makes these cover versions just different enough from the originals to make for fascinating listening.
The DVD contains 17 tracks, including all of the songs from the Original Best disc and the cover of the Kiroro song. I really appreciated this DVD -- not just because Miss Shimatani is easy on the eyes, but because watching these videos really helped me to distinguish among all of those dance tracks from the Original best disc. All in all, this is a sweet package at a nice price for all J-Pop otaku.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
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The World Sinks Except Japan (Hong Kong Version)
The World Sinks Except Japan (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region 3
(2)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:November 3, 2009 Silly disaster film parodyIn "The World Sinks Except Japan", seismic shifts cause one continent after another to sink beneath the oceans. Only Japan is left above water and it is to Japan that the world's refugees flock. This disaster film parody has a great premise and takes delight in skewering corrupt politicians, Japanese xenophobia, the pomposity of Hollywood movie stars, and other themes.
Unfortunately, the film suffers from crummy production values and dreadful performances by some of its amateurish cast. Comedy usually requires dialogue to be delivered at breakneck speed. Comic dialogue is like table tennis; the conversational ball needs to be batted back and forth sharply and deftly. Here, however, the dialogue too often is delivered much too slowly, draining the comedic energy from the scenes.
Intermittently amusing, "The World Sinks Except Japan" is worth a look. Its conceptual humor often is hilarious. However, in between the bits that work, there is an awful lot that, through poor execution, simply doesn't work.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Slave Love (AKA: 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant) (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Slave Love (AKA: 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant) (DVD) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All
(1)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 1 to 2 daysRelated promotions:November 1, 2009 Occasionally funny mess of a movie"Slave Love" (or "100 Days with Mr. Arrogant") has a premise which conceivably could be amusing and has committed performances by its two attractive and talented lead actors, but it squanders these assets with a chaotic story and a host of truly disgusting gross-out humor. Disconsolate after breaking up with her boyfriend, Ha Young (Ha Ji Won) kicks a pop can lying on the road; the can then smacks Hyung Joon (Kim Rae Won) on the noggin, causing him to crash his expensive car. He demands repayment for his damages, but high school student Ha Young has no money. Consequently, Hyung Joon seeks repayment in services, forcing Ha Young to become his 'slave' for 100 days. In more skillful hands, this set-up could have been mined for comic gold, but here the story is allowed to stray on pointless tangents that wreck the film's pacing.
My favorite parts of the movie are Ha Young's wildly comic fantasy sequences; Ha Ji Won shows off an impressive gift for physical comedy. Unfortunately, the film-making here is so ham-handed and some of the humor is so tasteless that the movie is unsuitable for children and unlikely to appeal to many adults.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Otoko wa Tsurai yo - Tora-san's Talk-of-the-Town (22nd Story) (DVD) (HD Remastered) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Otoko wa Tsurai yo - Tora-san's Talk-of-the-Town (22nd Story) (DVD) (HD Remastered) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version) DVD Region 2
(1)Our Price: US$44.99Usually ships within 7 - 14 daysRelated promotions:November 1, 2009 Solid entry in the Tora-San series"Tora-San's Talk of the Town", the 22nd film in the series, is a prototypical Tora-San movie. The film begins with a funny dream sequence featuring 'Tora Buddha' showering riches and good health on his family. Then, over the title sequence, we once again see Tora walking by the Edogawa causing a ruckus as he returns to his home. Naturally, once he returns home it doesn't take long for him to stir up trouble there. And, of course, Tora will encounter a great beauty and fall head over heels in love with her. We see these elements over and over again in the Tora-San films -- and yet they never lose their charm, they never fail to engage us and cause us, once again, to laugh and cry along with Tora's family.
Tora's uncle is bothered by back pains. The family decides to ease his burden by hiring someone to help out at Toraya and do the delivery work. They are stunned when Sanae (Ohara Reiko), a pretty, professional-looking young woman, shows up to apply for the job. She is hired and is embraced by the entire family. But Sanae harbors a secret. She is married, but she is separated from her husband, who she acknowledges to be a decent man, and is seeking a divorce. Tora's family is shocked. (One wishes the story might have explored Japanese perceptions of the morality of this nice woman divorcing a good man.) Tora, naturally, falls in love with Sanae. And she turns Tora's world upside-down when she tells him that she likes him. But Tora is not the only man smitten by Sanae's charms; her cousin has loved her since they were children and now hopes that he may have a chance with her.
During his travels, Tora encounters Hiroshi's father. This odd couple always is a source for comic gold, as the dour, bookish old man is bemused by Tora's pleasure-seeking. Tora seeks (and inevitably misunderstands) the wisdom the old man imparts, wisdom around which Tora seeks to shape his life ... until he encounters the next pretty face. "Tora-San's Talk of the Town" is a slight, but very enjoyable, film. The Shochiku remastered DVD is a joy, delivering clear, crisp images. The inexpensive Panorama DVD is adequate, although its picture has a yellowish hue. I actually prefer the looser, less formal translation found in the Panorama disk's English subtitles.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
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28 Days Later (Widescreen; Lenticular) (US Version)
28 Days Later (Widescreen; Lenticular) (US Version) DVD Region 1
(1)Our Price: US$14.98Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:November 1, 2009 A good one to watch on HalloweenDanny Boyle, the director of "Trainspotting" and "Slumdog Millionaire", here manages to create a very creepy and scary tale on a very small budget. The movie begins with a group of animal rights activists who break into a primate research center to free a group of chimpanzee's who have been subjected to horrific testing. A researcher begs them not to release the chimps; they have been infected with "rage" and, if released, will spread this terrible virus. But the activists disregard the researcher's pleas.
Twenty-eight days later, in a hospital in London, Jim (Cillian Murphy) emerges from a long coma to find the hospital entirely empty. He stumbles onto the streets of London to find them equally empty. He strays into a church and their encounters a priest who appears to have lost his mind and is bent on savagely attacking him. He bashes the priest and flees, finally encountering two normal people who take him in and explain what has happened -- people infected with "rage" have destroyed society. The remaining handful of healthy people are in an unending battle for their lives. The receive a radio broadcast from Manchester promising sanctuary, so they head for that destination ... but what they encounter there may be even more disturbing.
"28 Days Later" is wonderfully tense and atmospheric and takes the time to develop characters about which the viewer comes to care. I had two quibbles with the film. First, while the few survivors necessarily are quite a cagey crew, on a couple occasions they do something very stupid and the viewer knows that they are about to be attacked by "the infected". It strained credulity to think that they would behave so foolishly. Second, the screenwriters littered the script with f-bombs. Its always "f***ing" this and "f***ing" that. All the swearing becomes very, very tiresome. Nonetheless, I can recommend "28 Days Later" to a mature audience; it is a truly frightening film that is much more than merely manipulative.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
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My Life as McDull (Movie Version) (DVD) (New Version) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
My Life as McDull (Movie Version) (DVD) (New Version) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All
(1)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 1 to 2 daysRelated promotions:October 30, 2009 Enchanting animated tale"My Life as McDull" is one of the funniest, most heart-breaking, and most heart-warming animated films I've ever seen. Not particularly bright, not particularly handsome, and not particularly lucky, McDull is your average, everyday Hong Kong kid (or, in this case, piglet). He loves his mom, loves his school, and loves his school friends, although he sometimes struggles with all of the above. He wants to make his mark on the world, but, given his lack of special talents, it is not clear how he can make it happen. And he dreams of traveling to the Maldives, but his mother has no money for such a trip. Somehow, out of these unprepossessing circumstances, the filmmakers craft a loose-limbed tale filled with laughter, optimism, and genuine affection.
The film's animation is superficially crude, but its imagery and effects create a fully-realized world. Indeed, that world -- the city and culture of Hong Kong -- is captured so vividly and exquisitely that it becomes almost a character of its own in the movie's tale. The film's story is told in anything but a linear fashion; it goes off on tangents and flights of fancy that can seem baffling at first, but which add wealth of richness to the characters and the setting.
While "My Life as McDull" certainly will appeal to children, I don't regard it as truly a children's movie. Lots of the story will go way over the heads of small children, but will leave adults in stitches (and, in some cases, in tears). In short, this is a movie that will appeal to viewers of all ages. "My Life as McDull" is a delight!Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
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Hwayobi - The Gold
Hwayobi - The Gold
(1)Our Price: US$13.99List: US$18.99Save: US$5.00 (26%)Usually ships within 7 - 14 daysRelated promotions:October 29, 2009 A superb career retrospective"The Gold", Park Hwayobi's career-spanning, fifteen-song compilation album, blew me away. As soon as I received it, I played it straight through, then played it again. What an amazing singer! Hwayobi's voice sounds quite similar to Baek Ji Young's; both have a velvety, smoky tone. Perhaps it is no coincidence that in recent years both have needed surgery on their vocal cords. Hwayobi, however, has a greater vocal range than Miss Baek and, to my ears, sings with a greater emotional intensity. Her range truly is breathtaking; in a single song she can go from her steamy, sultry lower register to soaring in her clear, pitch-perfect upper register.
The songs primarily consist of lushly-orchestrated love songs and ballads, but there is a little jazz, Latin, and mid-tempo pop mixed in. And make sure you listen all the way through to the end because the fifteenth track is among the album's best. "The Gold" is a gem and so is Park Hwayobi. If you love K-pop ballads, don't miss this collection.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Under the Sky of Seoul (DVD) (Korea Version)
Under the Sky of Seoul (DVD) (Korea Version) DVD Region All
(1)Our Price: US$18.99List: US$23.99Save: US$5.00 (21%)Usually ships within 1 to 2 daysRelated promotions:October 28, 2009 Father knows best???"Under the Sky of Seoul" is unusual in its balance of melodrama and comedy. Set after the end of the Korean War, it stars Kim Seung Ho as Kim Hak Gyu, a curmudgeonly doctor of traditional medicine who wages unending war against modernization. The film begins as melodrama as we meet Kim, his long-suffering wife (Han Eun Jin), his war-widow daughter Hyon Ok (Choi Eun Hee), and his unemployed college graduate son Hyun Gu (Shin Young Kyun). The daughter is wooed by Dr. Choi, a young doctor practicing Western medicine across the street from Hak Gyu; Hak Gyu hates Dr. Choi with a passion, viewing him as a rival and an interloper. He forbids any communication between Hyon Ok and Dr. Choi, a futile ban that serves only to make his daughter feel guilty. For their son, Hak Gyu and his wife seek an arranged marriage to the homely daughter of a wealthy family; Hyun Gu has other ideas. He has fallen in love with (and impregnated) the pretty daughter of a saloon-keeper in the neighborhood. All of these tensions threaten to blow the Kim family apart.
Having set the stage for melodrama in its first 25 minutes, the film shifts tone to comedy drawn from the interaction among the bumptious Hak Gyu and his friends and patients. The film then alternates between development of the dramatic storylines of the conflicts between Hak Gyu and his offspring, as they attempt to carve out lives independent of the demands of their overbearing father, and what are essentially set comic bits, usually involving schemes by Hak Gyu and his friends to make money. It testifies to first-time director Lee Hyung Pyo's skill at juggling drama and comedy that, until very near the end, it is impossible to tell whether the movie will conclude with a happy ending or with the destruction of Hak Gyu's family.
The story is brought to its culmination when Hak Gyu learns that Dr. Choi is running for a seat on Seoul's City Council. Unwilling to let Dr. Choi have any victory, Hak Gyu decides that he, too, will run for the Council. This decision proves to be fateful and leads to ... a very satisfying conclusion to the film. "Under the Sky of Seoul" offers a very wise and entertaining glimpse of life as it really was lived on the streets of Seoul. This DVD of the film clearly was assembled from an assortment of prints; its image quality varies from clear and crisp in some scenes to very dark and murky in others. The film has a timeless quality that should appeal to a wide audience.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Great Pretenders (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Great Pretenders (DVD) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All
(1)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:October 27, 2009 A downmarket "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"The "Great Pretenders" are a gang of swindlers who come up with complex schemes to cheat rich people out of their dough. Comprised of Wong Seung Chin (Raymond Wong, who wrote the screenplay for the movie), Snake Wai (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), Yip Mei Mei (Amy Yip), and Yam Sai Sung (Simon Yam), the swindlers first set their sights on a the lovely Susan So (Lok Wai), a young woman from Singapore with an inherited fortune. However, Susan is more wily than she appears and she sees through the complicated swindle. The gang then recruits Susan to help them swindle the ruthless loan shark Lung Choi Tan (Leung Tin); for this task, they also need to call in the greatest swindler of all, Mr. Giant (Teddy Robin).
There is lots of over-the-top slapstick humor (mostly provided by Tony Leung, who appears willing to do just about anything for a laugh, and Simon Yam, doing an outrageous homosexual schtick), lots of Amy Yip's cleavage, and lots of mahjong, dominoes, and poker. The English subtitles are remarkably bad, making some of the dialogue impenetrable to those who don't speak Cantonese. "The Great Pretenders" strives only to be a wacky diversion and that's what it provides. If your expectations are modest, you may find it an amusing throw-away comedy.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Tokyo Sonata (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Tokyo Sonata (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region 3
(1)Our Price: US$15.49Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:October 26, 2009 Finding a reason to hope"Tokyo Sonata" is an artful and moving existential drama about a family in crisis. The head of the family, Ryuhei (Kagawa Teruyuki) is the administrative manager at a sizeable Tokyo company who loses his job when the company shifts its back-office operations to China. Ryuhei quickly learns that finding a comparable position is impossible for a man in his mid-forties. Ashamed of his fate and filled with a suppressed rage, he conceals his unemployment from his family.
Eldest son Takashi (Koyanagi Yu) meanwhile leads a directionless life; against his parents' wishes, he seeks some purpose for his life by joining the US Army. Younger son Kenji (Inowaki Kai) rebels against his regimented school life and yearns to express himself through learning to play piano, but, when his father learns that he has been sneaking piano lessons, he forbids it and demands that his son concentrate on his schoolwork. Housewife Megumi (Koizumi Kyoko) quietly despairs at her lonely and unappreciated life. Each of the family members rebels against their own private hells -- and their rebellions lead them variously to the gutter, to jail, to war, and to the empty edge of the world.
On a lonely beach, Megumi has an epiphany: "You're the only person who can be you. That's all we have to hold onto." With this existentialist cul-de-sac, Megumi latches onto the only empty solace that remains when one embraces a God-less worldview. The movie ends on a more hopeful note, a hope that suggests the possibility of transcendence. Graced with skillful filmmaking and honest performances, "Tokyo Sonata" should appeal to lovers of arthouse cinema.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
The Sex Film (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
The Sex Film (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All
(1)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:October 26, 2009 A behind-the-scenes look at Korean porn"The Sex Film" appears to be Korea's answer to Derek Yee's "Viva Erotica". However, while "Viva Erotica" ultimately proved to be a warmly human tale, "The Sex Film" takes a much more clinical look at the world of blue films. Arthouse filmmaker Jin Gyu (Cho Jae Wan) can't get financing for his latest film concept. With bills to pay and no income with which to pay them, he takes a job as an assistant director for a company that cranks out cheap blue movies like McDonald's cranks out hamburgers. These are movies that place a premium on nudity and simulated copulation, movies in which plausible stories and high quality production values take a backseat.
Jin Gyu's days become a blur of production scheduling, hurried rehearsals, and haphazard filming, with Jin Gyu all the while chafing at the inattention to artistry. However, when a friend stabs him in the back on a legit film project, Jin Gyu reconciles himself to trying his best to make something of the blue films on which he works. After a night of heavy drinking with cast and crew, he winds up in bed with his company's primary starlet (Jeong So Jin), a dalliance Jin Gyu immediately regrets. The viewer suspects that Jin Gyu's empty dalliance with this porn starlet is representative of director Kong Ja Kwan's dalliance in the porn world. (One wishes we could have learned more about the starlet, who seems a lonely soul yearning for escape from her exploitative world.)
Given its truncated 71 minute running length, "The Sex Film" lacks time for character development or big messages. Like porn films themselves, the emphasis here is on the nuts-and-bolts, the gritty details of making naughty movies.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
The Inspector Wear Skirts (DVD) (Joy Sales Version) (Hong Kong Version)
The Inspector Wear Skirts (DVD) (Joy Sales Version) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All
(2)Our Price: US$10.99Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:October 26, 2009 Solid entertainment"The Inspector Wears Skirts" succeeds in spite of itself. Its story is crudely conceived; its script is cliched; its performances never rise above the rudimentary; and its production values are drearily cheap. Compounding those problems is the grainy, unremastered print that Joy Sales has released. And yet ... "The Inspector Wears Skirts" still manages to be irresistibly likeable.
The Hong Kong police force is assembling an elite group of female police officers to work in coordination with their elite male Tiger Squad. Sibelle Hu is placed in charge of the female crew and tasked with molding the rather raw recruits into a tightly-knit, effective undercover fighting force. After some intial problems in their training, she brings in Cynthia Rothrock to help whip the recruits into fighting trim. When the ladies aren't squabbling amidst their training, they are fending off (or encouraging) the advances of the testosterone-driven Tiger Squad. But all the rivalry and tomfoolery is put behind them when both squads are put to the test to prevent a jewelry heist.
It is a treat to see all the familiar faces in the film. In addition to Rothrock and Hu, the cast includes Kara Hui, Ellen Chan, Ann Bridgewater, the inevitable Bill Tung as the police commissioner, Alex To, Stanley Fung, Sandra Ng, and in minor roles Ricky Hui and Shing Fui On. Rothrock, Kara Hui, and some of the male cast members put on some impressive displays of martial arts and Jackie Chan's stunt crew performs eye-popping feats. It all adds up to good cheesy, action-packed fun.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
United States - English
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