Your name is on the Blu-ray cover, you can't fool anyone!

I agree with you. My Way is actually one of the best war movies I've seen in a really long time - emotional, original and with cool action scenes.

Clicking around on a few reviews today, I'm a little surprised that MY WAY wasn't as well-liked by some such as Film Biz Asia and Variety.

toddly, by the way, nice review you did there for THE MONKEY KING...I always enjoy reading your reviews.

One more comment in relation to MY WAY and other films like it...by "like it" I mean other films that feature more than one spoken language. MY WAY for example is in Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, German, and English. I've watched enough now that I easily pick up, for example, the difference when someone is speaking in Korean versus Japanese. But I'd guess that many viewers out there might not be aware of the difference...especially in terms of the Asian languages. Not for this movie, but I've certainly clarified to some when watching a Korean movie, for example, that a character in a particular scene wasn't speaking Korean but was speaking Japanese. So I'd like to see an option that includes colored subtitles to represent the difference in languages being spoken. I'm actually a fan of Animeigo and their different colored subtitles to represent different characters speaking, so I'd like to see a like-minded option for subtitles in a film such as MY WAY. But, yeah, I know it'll never happen.

Thanks Flix! Did u ever see The Monkey King Uproar in Heaven?

No toddly, I haven't watched it - or picked up the Chinese release - yet. But I most certainly plan to do so, and that is based entirely on your bringing it to my attention via your review.

And in case some might not be up to speed on what we are talking about, just click on the link in toddly's signature.

and note to all, I did not produce the Blu-ray release of Monkey King.

I am enjoying this one!

Cool 3D! - Sex and Zen 3D Extreme Ecstasy

Helpless (2012 - South Korea) - Presumably tipping its hat to SPOORLOOS in that they both share similar opening scenes, this too is a missing person mystery as a man, and from what I gather his half-brother, investigate the disappearance of his fiancee. I'd rank this as standard-issue fare for the genre. Perhaps reflective of its based-on-a-Japanese-novel origins, the pace here is dry, measured, and featuring a detailed plot propelled by dialogue, and person-to-person investigation and research. Unlike most South Korean entries of this broad type, HELPLESS is actually more plain in terms of technical presentation. If it were more visually-driven or atmospheric or suspenseful, then I might have used the term "Hitchcockian" to describe the film, but again it doesn't have strong enough "cinematic" qualities and was a little wanting in terms of perhaps maybe needing an occasional jolt now and then to spice up the proceedings. In a sense, and too considering that HELPLESS went with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio versus the more standard for Korea 2.35:1, it again maybe felt a little more Japanese than South Korean...not that one is preferable in any way, simply trying to convey that HELPLESS is more plain than typical Korean mystery-suspense-thrillers. I'd guess that a viewing of HELPLESS would best serve fans of the mystery film genre.

Motorway (2012 - Hong Kong) - Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. Some might recall that my time spent with Hong Kong cinema was not too fruitful the last go 'round. No matter...into the valley of death...if at first you don't succeed...etc. With MOTORWAY we have the latest Milkway production...specifically the latest entry - and a minor one at that - in their fading crime film cycle. This effort features a spare plot as a young hotshot-driver cop (Shawn Yue), under the guidance of his old "use the force Luke" master of a partner (Anthony Wong), tangles with a primo getaway driver. First off, I feel the movie needed to be even more minimalist, moody, and zen-like to have had better chance of success. The runtime - excluding end credits - was only 85-minutes. In that they should have trimmed away the three female characters in the movie as they only served as a drag to the goings on. The opening twenty-plus minutes was lackluster and unremarkable. The high point of the film was definitely from about the twenty-two minute mark to the one-hour point. This section - though not without unwanted moments because of the female characters - offered the most entertaining of the film's driving/action scenes (the hillside location of one will remind of the 2005 drift racing flick INITIAL D). After that though, the closing twenty-five minutes offers nothing to rival what came earlier in the film (the finale in terms of locations gave trace recall of BULLET IN THE HEAD). Some random thoughts...Hong Kong cinema needs some new blood in terms of performers, the current batch is beyond stale. Also, with regard to MOTORWAY, I find the smell of burning rubber to be particularly stomach-churning...in this movie characters stand around in clouds of the stuff as if it were nothing more than a morning's fog...yeah, I get they are car junkies, but still. I'd rank MOTORWAY as below-average...outside of some quality action in the middle there is nothing of interest. Director Soi Cheang still hasn't delivered anything for me to enjoy as much as I enjoyed his 2004 entry - LOVE BATTLEFIELD.

Painted Skin: The Resurrection (2012 - China) - This film is also referred to as PAINTED SKIN 2, following on PAINTED SKIN from 2008...a film which I've watched but recall nothing about, nor do I recall anything of the 1990's King Hu version of PAINTED SKIN. This latest entry was a recordbreaking hit at the Mainland China box-office.

The core of this period romantic fantasy/adventure is the relationship between a female demon in need of a heart and a scarred princess longing for beauty. The third primary player is a general whom the princess has loved since childhood. Courtesy of a big-budget, this film exhibits first-tier production values. It is undeniably a very satisfying experience in a visual sense. For those who might be a little finicky in terms of CGI, there is some weak videogame-like CGI in the beginning, specifically a shot of a mountain at the opening and later a weak CGI bear. Outside of that though, it is very pleasing to watch in an eye-candy sense.

All that said, while it was a pretty movie, it was also rather inert otherwise. There is plenty of slow-motion and perhaps an operatic vibe but it just wasn't coming to life in terms of being pulled in to the story and characters. I should also mention that besides the three primary characters there is an unsuccessful sidebar - almost like an old Hindi movie - which focuses on a sidekick female demon and her romance/comedy relationship with a demon-chasing peasant. Basically, this sidebar was required to keep the two characters around so they would be on-hand to participate in the climax.

All the set-up does start to pay dividends in the second half as the female demon and scarred princess work towards an understanding, while the tension and urgency also escalates with the arrival of a villainous princess and her evil wizard. I really liked these two villain characters; they are the sorts that would be perfectly suited for a universe such as found in maybe a CONAN THE BARBARIAN film.

Everything really starts to come together during the last quarter of the 131-minute runtime. And the movie certainly finishes out strongly over the last quarter (though I myself would have altered the fates of the characters at the very end).

All-in-all, while I wish I could have connected earlier with the characters and ultimately been more touched in terms of emotion, I still ended up enjoying this one. For the first half it looked like it would be a success only in terms of visual reward, but ultimately it did build nicely enough that I'd grade it out as better-than-average. Those swayed by high production values will likely find it even more satisfying as it is certainly first-rate in that regard.

In terms of replay when compared to other recent fantasy-type offerings - despite their being lesser in terms of production values - I'd likely choose something like the A CHINESE GHOST STORY remake, THE SORCERER AND THE WHITE SNAKE, or MURAL...but PAINTED SKIN 2 is certainly quite an okay option as well.

THE NAKED ISLAND (1960)


ONIBABA (1964)


KURONEKO (1968)



Director Kaneto Shindo died on May 29th of this year; he was 100 years-old.




Postcard (Japan - 2010) - This was his last film. I'm not really big on auteur theory. That being said, if ever a film was the work of an auteur, then POSTCARD is it. Going in to the film I was familiar with the background of Mr. Shindo's life. Most relevant to this film is that Mr. Shindo was one of only six in his unit of one hundred men to survive World War II. POSTCARD is a result of that experience. The story is a simple one...a soldier who survived the war goes to return a postcard to the widow of his friend (who of course did not survive). The first forty minutes of the 114-minute runtime primarily focuses on the female character in her small hut-like home on a farm in rural Japan. She lives with her in-laws and you see them send her husband off to war and later receive news of his death, and even more events follow. This section of the film is rather haunting. There are a few instances in the film where the female lead utilizing a theatrical-styled performance crosses over into something approaching madness. It is a interesting effect in that it adds a horror-film element to this movie. Following the opening forty minutes, the rest of the film consists entirely of the surviving soldier and his visit with the widow (interrupted every once in a while by the appearance of a third character). In many ways, this film could have been a filmed stageplay. To reiterate, I think it is very important to be familiar with Director Shindo's background heading in to this movie. That being the case, there was a scene early in the second half that had my eyes welling up with tears as I watched it and listened to the words being spoken. Yes, there were actors playing characters in this movie, but there is no doubt everything about this film came from the heart, soul, and mind of Kaneto Shindo...rest in peace.

POSTCARD was Japan's submission to the Oscars held earlier this year.

I viewed the film via the Region 3 Hong Kong DVD.

Following is a link to Director Shindo's obituary in The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/02/ar...es-at-100.html

Ok, since it was on Netflix, I watched the entire Season 1 of Spiral (aka Engrenages).

I think it does get better from episodes 5-8. But some of my criticisms are the same as yours. I find the main plot(who killed the Romanian woman) interesting. But some of the other stories are just kinda there. There was a crime of the week which wasn't very useful because I just couldn't connect it to anything. I don't think it illuminated anything substantial. If it was supposed to spotlight some social inequality that goes on in Paris, then there wasn't time to explore this.

I think you're too kind on the characters. They're all morons in some way. One cop is so hopped up on drugs that he can't even do his job. The head cop fails to suspend him even after he has botched up a simple surveillence operation and after that in a later episode he tosses a suspect through a door. Still nothing done. Only when IA gets involved does she dole out some punishment.

Even the one guy (Judge Roban) isn't immune to this as he gets an important piece of evidence stolen from his home.

Also watched one episode of S2 and found it really difficult to sit through. After that snoozer, I'm out. Just not enough to keep me motivated to sit through 50 minutes of this.

Still not the worse cop series I've seen this year, The Killing (USA remake) Season 1 was far more boring.

sleepyhead55, good of you to post your thoughts...I appreciate learning that there is at least one person who sees it as I did. As mentioned, I'm entirely baffled by all the positive reviews both SPIRAL and BRAQUO seem to have gotten...I just don't get it.

Unfortunately I do have SPIRAL series 2 and 3 on-hand, and given your comment with regard to the opening episode of series 2, it might be a long while before I subject myself to the experience. I have THE KILLING (U.S.) Season 1 too...picked it up when it had a good sale price...given your comments, I guess that needs to be buried deep in my to-watch pile as well.

I just picked up AMERICAN HORROR STORY...I sure hope that registers in the win column...will be starting it next week.

Just a quick post since I've watched the first episode of AMERICAN HORROR STORY...

Quote whore review:
A wickedly intoxicating brew of modern societal dysfunction served straight up in a classic-horror rimmed mug!

note to self: keep your day job

Acidic review:
Ten times better than anything Ti West has ever done!

Dirty little secret review:
The French maid hottie alone is worth the price of admission!

Seriously, she is a true stunner in the looks department.

The Four (2012 - Hong Kong) - Director Gordon Chan's most recent effort following on MURAL (which I quite liked). This is a tale of investigative intrigue as rival royal court security agencies are tasked to a counterfeit currency scheme and tangle with black magic villainy. It starts of impressively enough with first-tier production values and a nice tracking shot followed by indicators that had me anticipating perhaps a Chinese period film version of the X-men. That wasn't to be the case. Instead it is more cut from the cloth of detective wuxia like DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME. The big fault here though is that THE FOUR is just too darned talky and stagnant. Equal concern lies in that there are just far too many characters. It is overstuffed to the point that it takes maybe half the film's 118-minute runtime to gain a decent grasp of all the characters and how they fit together with the story. Because of this I suspect that the movie would be less unsuccessful on a second viewing as you would have a comfort level from the get-go so it wouldn't feel like such an uninvolving and distancing viewing experience. That being said, the problem of it being too talky and stagnant would still exist no matter. I can't help but feel that this type of material played out better in late era Shaw Brothers films. There is no doubt that you can cut a great looking trailer from THE FOUR, but as a film it rates thumbs down. It'd actually be better-fitted as a character-driven television mini-series instead of a feature film.


Not really sure what is on tap next...South Korea for sure...maybe NAMELESS GANGSTER or A MUSE.

A slight change to the viewing schedule...

Cow (2009 - China) - I've been curious to see this for nearly three years now...basically ever since it came out on an English-friendly Mainland China DVD. I was anticipating a Hong Kong release but it never came, so I finally quit waiting and picked up the Mainland China release. Was it worth the wait?

The film takes place in the early years of the Second Sino-Japanese War (aka just prior to and during the early years of World War II). A local village man is yoked with the duty of protecting a "foreign" cow belonging to the retreating Chinese Army. This is a serio-comic-tragic tale spanning the assorted challenges the man must face in order to protect the cow from enemies both foreign and domestic.

The film is not told in a linear or chronological manner and during the first half-hour or so (of the 109-minute runtime) I thought it was an error in judgment to structure it as such. The film sort of starts in the middle, and then jumps to the beginning, and jumps back to after the opening scene...and it just felt a awkward and choppily edited. After a while though the unsettled feeling caused by the non-linear structure fades away and the film settles into a nice rhythm with the cutting back and forth and wherever. Also, there are a couple of curious editing decisions later in the film where they start a scene and cut off in the middle and drop you in the the aftermath, and it feels like you are missing a deleted scene in between...but stay with it as they do bounce back and fill you in on the missing information by showing you the middle section almost immediately.

One of the film's strengths is the setting. It takes place in a weathered stone-built village and the mountainous countryside which surrounds it. Both the village and the mountain region give the movie a pleasing factor in terms of it as a visual experience.

I thought the film got steadily stronger as it progressed...though I thought it felt slightly rushed at the very end. All said, this story of the dutiful bond between a man and his cow scores a comfortable recommendation. Eat Mor Chikin!

As to the DVD, there are a few typos in the subs, and they do miss subtitling a line now and then. For most, the easiest place to find the DVD would be at YesAsia where it is only $11.

I wonder if I should follow-up this movie by now watching South Korea's ROLLING HOME WITH A BULL.


Off-topic note: I've finished up episode three of AMERICAN HORROR STORY, and I'm really liking the show for a number of reasons. That being said, and with specific regard to this third episode, hand-scrubbing floors, a short skirt, and actress Alexandra Breckenridge aka the hottie housekeeper...I just want to say - God Bless America!

And a deeply felt thanks to her costume designers as well!!!

AMERICAN HORROR STORY update...finished off 6 out of 12 episodes...even with the titillation factor offered by the hottie housemaid missing in action these last three episodes, the show hasn't missed a beat and is still rating an easy recommendation.



Nameless Gangster (2012 - South Korea) - CHOI Min-sik stars as a weaselly Busan customs inspector who step-ladders his way up in life by using his assorted social connections to ingratiate himself into the world of Busan's gangster clans. Meh...this didn't do a whole lot for me at all...disappointing for sure, and rather dull, dry, and uninvolving. It is basically your done-to-death, rise of a gangster storyline...thoroughly unremarkable in that regard. The 1980s historical/period setting offers slight interest, but it also resulted in an artificial, "play-acting" type feel which also contributed to this being a distancing viewing for me. By that I mean it was, albeit to a lesser degree, somewhat akin to Michael Mann's unsuccessful PUBLIC ENEMIES...it was too much about the period dress-up and too little about succeeding as an engrossing crime film built around plot and characters. These past years, I've been rather thorough with regard to viewing Korean crime films, and NAMELESS GANGSTER does not rate well within the genre in terms of pure entertainment or interest. I never felt pulled in to the movie and certainly felt the length of the 134-minute runtime. At best (thereby considering technical aspects), NAMELESS GANGSTER would rate as average, but I can't quite bring myself to rate it as such...my scorecard reads thumbs down on the same old same old of NAMELESS GANGSTER.

whats the story on Warriors of the Rainbow, where there's a 4.5 hour cut and a 2.5 hour "international" version, both on blu/dvd. any thoughts on if its needed to see the 4.5 hour version or not?

Rypro 525, I've seen only the proper (aka longer) version. I thought the film was too long but that is primarily a by-product of being dissatisfied with it on other levels. I'm rather certain my issues with the film would still be present in the shorter cut. I'd say, be a good cinephile and watch the longer version. Perhaps there will be something you will find in the longer cut that you can take away as a positive experience with the movie. For example, I've mentioned earlier that I liked some scenes with music...not having seen the shorter cut I can't say if they were carried over or not, but they do seem like something that'd be cut out when we are talking two hours of cuts.


Headshot (2011 - Thailand) - A fractured narrative adds a significant sense of mystery and interest to an otherwise generic hitman tale. I'd credit that non-linear structure for my grading this film as a notch above average. HEADSHOT is the latest film from Director Pen-ek Ratanaruang (INVISIBLE WAVES, LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE). Maybe I'd describe the movie as a serving of THE AMERICAN (2010) flavored with I COME WITH THE RAIN (2009) and a sprinkle of zen. HEADSHOT is out on R1 U.S. Blu-ray and DVD.

I assume you've also seen The Thieves? it opens here in the dc area tomorrow

Rypro, I haven't seen THE THIEVES yet (didn't catch MASQUERADE either).


Off-topic longwindedness...I just caught THE HUNGER GAMES and I'm rather surprised - all things considered - that I liked it more than PROMETHEUS (which I also just recently watched). I wonder how much the opening scenes of each film contributed to that. The opening scene of THE HUNGER GAMES (which felt like something out of WINTER'S BONE) gave me the impression that the film was going to be about relationships and in that sense it certainly delivered. The outstanding and spellbinding and enchanting opening scene of PROMETHEUS had me expecting something challenging...about ideas...and in that sense it perhaps misdirected my expectations and thus I felt let down in the end (though I still enjoyed the movie).

Aside from movie viewing, I'm watching the TV series MAGIC CITY. Just two episodes in out of eight total but I'm enjoying it...it isn't anything new under the sun and has some things that need a little work, but no question it is a success in terms of my being entertained by the experience. The description of it as a mid-grade and derivative fusion of MAD MEN and the SOPRANOS seems a fair way to label it. I hope MAGIC CITY finds an audience because I think - in terms of storytelling - it has a wealth of potential.

And sort of drifting back on-topic, for anyone considering a viewing of the Korea/Thai co-production THE KICK, I'd say don't bother...same goes for BANG RAJAN 2.

In regards to The Raid, is there a Blu-Ray release of the "original" cut?

squidget, I could be wrong but I suspect you might have meant to ask about MERANTAU not THE RAID. No matter.

I am not aware of any Blu-ray (or English-friendly official DVD) offering the original/long cut of MERANTAU. I can't sit here and tell you that I've searched the world over (South America, Northern/Eastern Europe, etc.), but - from what I have followed - a Blu-ray offering the original cut of MERANTAU has not shown up on my radar. Also, I don't recall seeing any mention of one from the fine folks over at the kungfucinema forum either (and I'd guess they'd be likely candidates to dig it up first if one existed).

As to THE RAID - setting aside transfer quality and other technicals - the U.S. Blu-ray does offer both the original music score and the new score.

And on a related note, I wonder whatever happened to the U.S.-based Indonesian e-tailer - esindo.com - one day they just disappeared...no warning, nothing...I hope no great misfortune befell them.

yes, I did mean Merantau - thank you for fixing my error. That is too bad on the lack of the original film - I saw it on Netflix instant and though I did enjoy it, it was hard to follow and felt like something was missing. Glad to know it wasn't just in my head.

Dang, I have the first three seasons of 'Spiral' but haven't watched yet. I hope it's better than you guys say.

And I keep waiting for "The Killing" seasons (original, not the US remake) to drop in price at amazon UK but they never do.

Anyway... I've been a tad out of touch with Asian cinema for a while (not to mention cutting my spending habits...) so, can you recommend a shortlist of 4-5 titles from the past couple of years?

I already put "My Way" on the list. War/action/crime/police drama/horror is fine, but I don't care much for rom coms or asian comedies in general.

The Killing starts out slow, but if you can get through the first three episodes, you'll be fine. I loved it. Didn't really expect to like it because I got it for cheap and became a Casual Sunday Blind Movie Watch.