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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 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 (Kim... [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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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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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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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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Himalaya, Where The Wind Dwells (DVD) (2-Disc) (First Press Limited Edition) (Korea Version)
Choi Min Sik (Actor)
| Jeon Soo Il (Director)
Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells is the latest effort from noted Korean independent director Jeon Soo Il, who previously won praise and prizes for his With a Girl of Black Soil. This time, he heads to the wilds of Nepal for a minimalist, yet grand tale featuring some truly breathtaking scenery and a documentary style look at the local culture and way of life. The film is arguably somewhat of a step up the industry ladder for Jeon, with the presence of actor Choi Min Sik, here taking on his first role since Park Chan Wook's Sympathy for Lady Vengeance back in 2005, likely meaning that it will reach a far wider audience than most indie features. The plot is fairly simple, following Choi Min Sik... [read more]
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On His Majesty's Secret Service (DVD) (US Version)
Sandra Ng (Actor)
| Louis Koo (Actor)
| Barbie Hsu (Actor)
| Fan Siu Wong
Wong Jing goes back to the old school with On his Majesty's Secret Service, a truly madcap period set comedy in the classic early 1990s style. Although the master of the form himself, Stephen Chow, isn't starring in such films anymore, there's certainly no reason to stop making them, and in his absence, Louis Koo has stepped up to the plate, accompanied by a great cast of Hong Kong and Mainland stars including Barbie Hsu, Tong Dawei (Red Cliff II), Song Jia (Curiosity Killed the Cat), Liu Yang (Bullet & Brain), Fan Siu Wong (recently in Ip Man) and even veteran genre favourite Sandra Ng. The plot, such as it is, follows Koo as Royal Dog, an inventor and royal guard, who does his best to... [read more]
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Kungfu Cyborg: Metallic Attraction (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)
Ronald Cheng (Actor)
| Alex Fong Lik Sun (Actor)
| Hu Jun (Actor)
| Betty Sun (Actor)
With so many Chinese films still being called Kung Fu something or other, and with the continuing global success of Michael Bay's blockbuster Transformers franchise, Kung Fu Cyborg: Metallic Attraction was pretty much inevitable. The Hong Kong director getting in on the act is none other than Jeffrey Lau, who previously had hits with the likes of A Chinese Tall Story and the classic Stephen Chow A Chinese Odyssey vehicles. Perhaps unsurprisingly given Lau's predilection for the mass mixing of genres, although the film's advertising suggested non-stop brawling robots, he delivers something quite different, backed by a top cast of Hong Kong and Mainland stars and some boisterously over the top... [read more]
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Castaway On The Moon (DVD) (2-Disc) (First Press Limited Edition) (Korea Version)
Jung Jae Young (Actor)
| Jeong Ryeo Won (Actor)
| Lee Hae Joon (Director)
Leave it to the co-creator of the eccentric sports film Like a Virgin to make the urban isolation-themed comedy-drama Castaway on the Moon. Writer-director Lee Hae-Joon makes his solo directorial debut with this universal story about a man trapped on a deserted island trying to survive. Thanks to its eccentric Korean humor, the film turns out to be a strange delight that's worth checking out. The first sign of the film's strangeness is that the deserted island isn’t in the middle of the ocean. – it's actually Bamseom Island, which lies under a bridge in the middle of the Han River in Seoul. Spurred on by mounting credit card debt, Mr. Kim (Jeong Jae-Yeong) tries to commit suicide by jumping... [read more]
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Your Friends (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Korea Version)
Emoto Akira
| Nakamura Asami
| Kitaura Ayu (Actor)
| Fukushi Seiji
In some ways Your Friends, the latest film from pink film director turned arthouse favorite Ryuichi Hiroki, represents a major change for the director. After all it includes none of the sexual content or domestic violence that have attracted attention to his work for years. In the most important ways, however, Your Friends is Hiroki through and through. Though they've used sex as a primary metaphor for years he stopped being defined and limited by that long ago, the key element to Hiroki's work being their resounding emotional intimacy and that factor is in full effect here. The story of a young woman, crippled in childhood, and the small handful of relationships that have defined her life... [read more]
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The Shonen Merikensack (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Taiwan Version)
Miyazaki Aoi (Actor)
| Sato Koichi (Actor)
| Aikawa Sho
| Tanabe Seiichi
As the writer of Takashi Miike's Zebraman, cult hit Maiko Haaan and his own directorial debut Yaji and Kita, The Midnight Ramblers, multi-talented writer-director-actor-musician Kankuro Kudo has become one of the most visible faces for the sort of manic, extreme Japanese comedy that cult film fnas lap up on the festival circuit around the world. But what often gets forgotten is that Kudo is also a hugely acclaimed - and award winning - dramatist as well, his theatrical productions having won some of Japan's most prestigious literary prizes, while the scripts he wrote for Ping Pong and Go early in his career also show a sensitivity to character and dramatic tension seemingly at odds with his... [read more]
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Samurai Princess (2009) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (UK Version)
Shiina Mao
| Mihiro
| Shimazu Kentarou
| Kaji Kengo (Director)
More Japanese gore madness arrives from 4Digital Asia in the shapely form of Samurai Princess, the cover art not coincidently bearing a striking resemblance to that of its recent sister in slaughter, Chanbara Beauty. The film's pedigree should certainly give fans of the form reason to be excited, with it having been directed by Kengo Kaji, the co-writer of Tokyo Gore Police and featuring effects by Yoshihiro Mishimura, the director of said genre highpoint. Also likely to be of no small enticement is the presence of AV actress Aino Kishi in the lead role, with support from fellow AV star Mihiro (recently in the horror The Cruel Restaurant). The film's plot is essentially nonsense, with Aino... [read more]
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Secret Couple (AKA: My Girlfriend is an Agent) (DVD) (2-Disc) (First Press Limited Edition) (Korea Version)
Kim Ha Neul (Actor)
| Kang Ji Hwan (Actor)
| Shin Tae Ra (Director)
Secret Couple (a far better title than the rather familiar and misleading My Girlfriend is an Agent) is basically a Korean take on the recent Hollywood action couple comedy thriller Mr and Mrs Smith. Strangely enough, the film was directed by Shin Tae Ra, whose previous efforts were the intense, grisly serial killer horror Black House and the offbeat Brain Wave. Here, he turns his talents to an entirely different form, backed by an appealing pair of leads in the form of genre favourite Kim Ha Neul (also in the likes of Lovers of Six Years, My Tutor Friend, and Ice Rain and Kang Ji Hwan (recently excellent in Rough Cut), who last worked together on the television series (90 Days, Time for... [read more]
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Blood: The Last Vampire (2009) (DVD) (First Press Edition) (Korea Version)
Jeon Ji Hyun
| Koyuki
| Allison Miller
| Corey Yuen (Action Director)
Blood: The Last Vampire is an interesting proposition, not only because it sees Jeon Ji Hyun (My Sassy Girl), one of Korea's most popular actresses, making her English language debut, but also since it represents one of the few Hollywood Japanese anime adaptations to make a real effort to build upon its source material. The film is based upon the 2000 anime from Production I.G of Ghost in the Shell fame, which was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo (one of the key animators who worked on the classic Akira), and was helmed by Chris Nahon, who previously had cross-cultural cinematic experiences with the French-English outings Empire of the Wolves and Kiss of the Dragon, arguably one of Jet Li's... [read more]
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For Eternal Hearts (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Jung Jin Young (Actor)
| Seon-min Kim (Actor)
| Jung Kyung Ho (Actor)
| Cha Soo Yeon (Actor)
Writer/director Hwang Kyoo-Deok's For Eternal Hearts attempts to mix two seemingly disparate genres - romance and horror. On one hand, the film is a nostalgic journey back in time narrating one's man's experience of first love. On the other, it's a creepy ghost story, complete with all the visual trappings associated with the genre - a haunted mansion, creepy long-haired women, and plot twists galore. A successful melding of these two formulas isn't completely out of the question - Ghost (1990) might be a good example - but, all in all, For Eternal Hearts feels like a terrible patch job. It's not romantic enough to be a love story, but it's not spooky enough to be an effective ghost story... [read more]
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McDull Kung Fu Ding Ding Dong (DVD+AVCD Edition) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Anthony Wong
| Sandra Ng
| the pancakes
| Brian Tse (Director, Producer)
That lovable little pig with the low IQ, McDull returns in the long-awaited McDull Kung Fu Ding Ding Dong. Formerly known as McDull Wudang among other names, this long-in-production sequel supplies the same stuff that the previous animated McDull movies did - a love of Hong Kong culture, abundant local satire, identifiable emotions, and simply the resigned feeling that it's okay to live an average life. That last message sounds like a total downer, and in some ways the previous McDull movies were. However, both My Life as McDull and McDull, Prince de la Bun gave that message a strange and affectionate nobility, making an average or below-average life seem sad, pathetic and yet worthy and... [read more]
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Turning Point (DVD) (US Version)
Anthony Wong (Actor)
| Francis Ng (Actor)
| Michael Tse (Actor)
| Herman Yau (Director)
Before the Hong Kong TV series E.U. premiered back in February 2009 on local TV station TVB, the buzz was all about it being the third drama in the Academy series (a.k.a. TVB's attempt at a contemporary version of the 80s Police Cadet series) and the glorious return of Kathy Chow Hoi-Mei to TVB after a ten-year absence. However, no one expected that a supporting character named Laughing Gor (played by Young and Dangerous veteran Michael Tse) would end up overshadowing stars Ron Ng, Sammul Chan and even Kathy Chow. When the wisecracking triad boss/undercover cop Laughing Gor died, the "Laughing Gor" group on Facebook skyrocketed to 150,000-plus members, making him one of the most popular... [read more]
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United States - English
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