May you find exposure to movies here that that you would not have otherwise and the inspiration to watch one or two of them. Feel free to comment, subscribe, or help educate the Invisible Children through the social vibe link on the right.
Aparecidos - The Appeared
Argentina (2007)
Starring: Ruth Diaz, Javier Pereira, Pablo Cedron
On the wake of a difficult decision Pablo convinces his sister to go on a road trip to discover more about their father. After discovering a diary that recants a grim tale two decades old many strange things begin to happen.
Aparecidos wasn't particularly scary, but it was kind of different. Of course you should expect a little of the precursor to being a ghost, blood and gore. There are a few parts that are a bit twisted too.
Aashayein
India (2010)
Starring: John Abraham, Sonal Sehgal, Anaitha Nair
Aashayein begins by showing a gambler that winning is not what life's all about. Rahul is a compulsive smoking gambler placing everything on one last bet; this wager contained his girlfriend's life savings. Strangely enough he won. He does what any man would do that won a fortune, he throws a party for a few friends to announce his intentions in life and proposes to his girlfriend. There could be no grander stage of happiness that could be built from which someone could fall.
In the moment of his greatest joy Rahul takes ill. Shortly afterward he is diagnosed with lung cancer. Fighting the million ways that his heart and thoughts are tugging his soul fate finds him while in the deepest of his despair. He runs away to a place where those with terminal diseases go to die and somehow blesses them with the most beautiful of gifts - life.
Aashayein is not the most upbeat of movies out there. In truth it has taken me about 4 months to watch it because I've known that. It is, though, a beautiful movie that is touching and thought provoking.
Quote: I don't know what tomorrow will bring. But now, now I have to live.
Hua Mulan
China (2009)
Starring: Wei Zhao, Jaycee Chan, and Rongguang Yu
Awards: Golden Deer (Changchun Film Festival 2010), Shanghai Film Critics Award (Shanghai Film Critics Awards 2010)
Mulan is another epic. Epic in story, history, deeds, and the filming. When I first watched this movie it reminded me of Joan of Arc. It wasn't till a little later that I discovered Hua Mulan is a true historical Chinese figure dating roughly back to 300AD.
Hua Mulan, a woman who couldn't bear to see her aged father be called to battle sacrificed herself and went to fight for him. Women of course weren't allowed in battle so she disguised herself as a man and took her father's place. Legend has it that she fought for 12 years under his name. A noble tale of sacrifice and honor.
Goemon
Japan (2009)
Starring: Yosuke Eguchi, Takao Ohsawa, Ryoko Hirosue
I'm just going to open this up with the fact most of Goemon was visually stunning. Between the scene settings whose detail was amazing to match the period, the fight scenes, and some pretty good CGI this movie was one of the most impressive that I've seen in a while. With that said there were some periods of the movie where I caught myself thinking, "just get on with it." All in all though it was phenomenal.
The story itself is based off of a mythic legend from the 1500's in Japan. Goemon was somewhere between a simple thief, a runaway ninja, or the son of a samurai family. The story of Goemon is mirrors that of Robin Hood. He was a man who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. His fighting skills have grown to nearly super-legendary levels over the past few hundred years. In truth little is really known about hit, but that doesn't change the fact that his legend lives on. Today a round cauldron like bathtub is still named after him Japan.
Red
USA (2010)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman
Red is an acronym in this movie for Retired, Extremely, Dangerous. It fits the title. Frank Moses, a retired CIA agent is beginning to find a peaceful life. From the picture perfect house to decorating for the holidays Frank continues to find new amusements to ease his retirement blues. Included in his daily diversions are long conversations with Sarah. Forced from retirement Frank goes to save Sarah from being the target of the same people who are trying to kill him. From there the comedy in the movie just grows.
Red is about a group of super bad-ass retired CIA agents getting back together for a cause. They come replete with aching backs and a madness driven by boredom. The topic is amusing to me in thought, it's akin to a superheroes rolling in wheelchairs out of a retirement home.
Casshern, is ghost hero in local folklore from one of the small towns in this movie. Based on an old Japanese anime this movie follows Tetsuya through the transition into Casshern where he might become the hero legend. In this movie you will find there is a blur between being alive and being the ghost of the living. I decided to get this movie for two reasons. Casshern is a superhero in a sense and the imagination that goes into creating superheros is unique, so it piqued my curiosity. The other reason is because I read about it being better then both of the Matrix sequels.
I found this movie to be extremely well put together. The scenery and effects are masterful at some moments. The concept of this superhero ghost is unique. The plot is very different. Kazuaki Kiriya filmed this movie in such a way that it made me think to put it together and afterward. Granted I could be incorrectly projecting meaning where there is none, but that's part of why I like this movie. The action though left a little to be desired. It seems as if the beginning starts out great, but where great forces come into play later in the movie they are filmed with regular actions it seems - potentially a money saving venture aimed at reducing special effects costs. Even so, if you like a semi-dark twisted sci-fi anime based superhero story check this one out.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
USA (2010)
Starring: Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley
Based on a series of books I haven't read since I was about five, I found this installment of C. S. Lewis's books to be what I expected. The details of the story I had long forgotten so most of the movie was not as familiar as you might expect of someone who had read the book. It seems like there are some occurrences that weren't in the book and of course many that were in the book that weren't in the movie. Still, all in all, I was pleasantly surprised by what I watched. If I was my little brother's age I would have loved this movie, I am sure.
While the classics aren't represented in their entirety I am enjoying the surge of movies written with a classic literature or historic background that have been coming out in the past 10 years. This one especially so. For everyone who can remember being a kid and reading this book by flashlight or candlelight long after you should have been asleep I thoroughly recommend allowing this movie to take you back to the times when magical things were possible in your mind.
Season of the Witch
USA (2011)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Claire Foy
Season of the Witch enticed me for a few different reasons. First it deals with Templars whom I considered a mystical bunch that were nearly the stuff of fairy tales. Second because it involves witches, which are the stuff of fairy tales. And third, unlike many, I like Nicolas Cage as an actor.
The film didn't disappoint me. I wasn't expecting a whole lot and as such I wasn't quite wowed nor left feeling like I had wasted an hour and a half.
Dominic Sena shot this film in Austria to give it a good backdrop. I give him props on that move. There are some really cool scenes that would have been quite a bit different if he had filmed it anywhere else. The acting was okay and the plot was the stuff of fairy tales. The scenes were set well which only helped form the shell for this story to be told. I wouldn't call it one of Nicolas Cage's best movies, but a good one in his line of movies and it did what it was supposed to: entertain.
Lang zai ji - The Warrior and the Wolf
China (2009)
Starring: Maggie Q, Jo Odagiri, Chung Hua Tou
I was hoping for a Chinese version of Dances with Wolves... That didn't happen.
I will have to say the scenery was cool in this movie, but that's about where it ended. The dialog lacked as much as the recently reviewed Valhalla Rising and it was not nearly so easy for me to glean a story from this film. I fell asleep about half way through and can't find it in me to start it again from that point. Someone will probably tell me that I missed one of the most monumental endings a film has ever had....and I'd probably be okay not watching it still.
The Expirement
USA (2010)
Starring: Adrien Brody, Cam Gigandet, Forest Whitaker
For years I've heard of this story about a sociology experiment where a class was divided and half became prisoners and half became guards. Over the past two or three decades a few have said it was their class and a couple people knew someone who was in the class. Once I heard the story a few times I kind of wrote all first hand recollections off much the way you would if someone told you they witnessed the Roswell incident. None the less I had to watch the movie.
The movie ended up as I would have expected. There weren't very many surprises. Either there really was a sociology experiment and this movie is based off of it or this movie is based off the fictitious legend someone created. All in all there was some action, a shocking scene or two that makes you think about what it really takes to manipulate a person or a group of people.
Valhalla Rising
Denmark (2009)
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Maarten Stevenson, Alexander Morton
Awards: International Fantasy Film Award - Special Mention ( 2010 Fantasporto); International Fantasy Film Special Jury Award (2010 Fantasporto)
The first thing that I noticed about this movie was the scenery which was consistently stunning all the way though. The film itself was dark and not just in story, but in the actual brightness as well. There is limited dialog and so much is inferred through the actions, travels, and cinematography.
I enjoy the concept of Viking, Nordic, and other Scandinavian tales so I decided to give the one a whirl. I'm pretty sure I won't do that again - just wasn't my type of movie or storytelling.
There is a fair amount of blood and some fight scenes for those of you who are after that. There is also a good underlying tale and moral to the story about trying to conquer lands that aren't yours. I really enjoyed the part of humans acting on behalf of God or in his name. The superstition that is projected from those in the native land of this movie from a millenia ago was fairly amusing, for about 5 minutes. If you find something you like in this movie I'd enjoy hearing about it.
K-20: Legend of the Mask aka The Fiend with 20 Faces
Japan (2008)
Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Takako Matsu, Toru Nakamura
Award: 2009 Hochi Film Award
I went on this long hunt for foreign superhero movies and K-20: The Fiend with 20 Faces emerged.
From his humble beginnings Heikichi Endo is forced to move from being Japan's number one circus act to becoming Japan's number one enemy. With his name in ruin Heikichi trains to gain the skills required to capture the man who set him up.
This Japanese fantasy movie is pretty cool. There's some fun stunts, a few decent scenes, a number of good laughs, some drama, a couple of scenes that beg for the audience's emotions, and a bit of scientific mystery. Sure there were parts that didn't really jive and some scenes where the helicopters looked like little remote control helicopters, but it was worth overlooking that.
I would have watched this even if it had horrible reviews, just because it is a foreign superhero movie. Regardless of why I would have watched it though, I'm glad I did.
20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End 20-seiki shônen: Honkaku kagaku bôken eiga
20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope 20-seiki shônen: Dai 2 shô - Saigo no kibô
20th Century Boys 3: Redemption 20-seiki shônen: Saishû-shô - Bokura no hata
This is a series of three movies produced from 2008-2009 from Japan. The movies is based on an award winning magna series called Yawara written by Naoki Urasawa.
When my week long venture of watching these three was over I was happy. I can see why this might have been a huge success in Japan. It was kind of gory and in some ways seriously creepy. The story continuously develops and devolves as more and more information lost in the minds of the group who wrote a story during their childhood. This is the story of one man, Friend, who climbed to the top of the religious/global political ladders and a group of childhood friends who must gather together years later to fight against the evil that Friend is unleashing on the world.
Aside from being a super long story this set of movies was cool. The special effects left a little to be desired and the style of filming was a little different, but all in all for another take on the end of the world it was worth the watch. I don't think I'll watch it twice though.
Delhi-6
India (2009)
Starring: Waheeda Rehman, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor
Roshan was born to a Muslim mother and a Hindi father. He was raised in America and when his grandmother takes ill he is the only one that is willing to travel back to the city the family came from. He willingly thrusts himself into a world where he placed between two major religions, a culture unlike any he has ever dreamed of, beliefs and customs that people are willing to die to defend, and a black monkey. As he discovers the roots of his family, meets his parents old friends, and his family's oldest supporters Roshan's life completely changes the more he is immersed in his new world.
This movie depicts culture shock in a wonderful light. It partially shows the edges of the boundaries that different religions, castes, races, and cultures create simply by being. It's full of good humor, song, dance, and of course a Bollywood love story - but, it also has a bit of racial and religious clashing. In the arena of Bollywood movies I found Delhi-6 a good one; finally a movie where I didn't feel like I wasted my time for the first time in a week!
Loong Boonmee raleuk chat - Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Thailand (2010) Starring: Thanapat Saisaymar, Jenjira Pongpas, and Sakda Kaewbuadee Awards: 2011 Best Film (Asian Film Awards), 2010 Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival), 2010 TFCA Award (Toronto Film Critics Association Awards)
Ok, so generally I see that a movie which carries a generally accepted set of genre tags such as comedy, drama, and fantasy and then the awards that were won along with a few other nominations and I think, "wow that might be a good movie. To get such attention from everyone this one at least has some potential."
I don't know if it was that I couldn't identify the title with the occurrences within this movie or if it was a cross between the ghost, the monkey spirit, the guy who mated with the monkey spirit, or the catfish god having sex with a princess. . . but, this movie didn't really impress me.
Bajo Aguas Tranquilas - Beneath Still Waters
Spain (2005)
Starring: Michael McKell, Raquel Merono, Charlotte Salt
Beneath still waters was...
There were some parts where you could tell some great imagination came into play during the script writing. There were some parts that were kind of, semi, maybe partially a little creepy. That's about it. By the time this movie was over with I felt like it was a complete waste of time. If you are snowed in with no alcohol, no internet, a pen, a dvd player, and a TV that get's no network channels, and this DVD - take the pen and use the DVD as a surface for some artistic outlet and doodle on it.
Guru aka Gurukant
India (2007)
Starring: Mithun Chakraborty, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai
Guru is a movie that has sat in my collection for months, once again I should have watched it sooner.
This movie is about a villager who left his family and went to Turkey to work at a young age. His father never accepted that he would become anything. When he was to receive a promotion he saw little sense in continuing to work for someone else while remaining poor and quit working to go back home and follow a dream. From that point forward the story unfolds. Unlike many Bollywood movies that go on and on and on while playing out the plot with nothing new being introduced, Guru was constantly brining new issues or causes into the movie all the way through. Also unlike many Bollywood movies, Guru is not a sappy love story all the way through; granted the love story does play a main part in the movie, but it is not the focus. There are a few cute dance scenes which of course I love just because they involve the beautiful Aishwarya Rai.
This movie was about overcoming obstacles. It depicted how much having the right person at your side can make all of the difference while enforcing that without determination you will never reach your goals.
All in all I have to say I really enjoyed this movie. Partially because of the messages the movie contains and partially because of it's uniqueness as a Bollywood flick.
Quote: If you're with me I can beat the whole world.
If law can be made in a day, it can be changed in a day.
Think big, think ahead, and think fast.
Ninja's Creed aka Royal Kill
USA (2009)
Starring: Alexander Wraith, Gail Kim, and Lalaine
I'm not even going to go through the trouble of finding a trailer and embedding it. While there was a reason to watch Alien vs Ninja, I can think of no reason to watch this movie.
Ninja's Creed started out with some amazing scenery and I thought to myself, "maybe all of the other critics are wrong and it's just an under appreciated movie." Nope. . . I don't even know how this movie received funding.
Alien vs. Ninja
Japan (2010)
Starring: Mika Hijii, Ben Hiura, and Shuji Kashiwabara
This came around in the San Diego Asian Film Festival last year and I was bummed that I didn't see it. I spent months looking for it and finally Netflix put it on streaming. For all of the time that I spent looking for this movie it wasn't worth the wait. With that said, if you feel like watching a mindless flick with a little gore and some funny but off kilter humor it's worthwhile.
All in all you can make the decision. I watched it once, but I won't watch it twice. Mika herself was more worth watching in the movie then the movie itself. . .
