Guan yun chang - The Lost Bladesman

Guan yun chang - The Lost Bladesman
Hong Kong (2011)
Starring:  Yu Ai Li, Hong Chen, Siu-hou Chin, Donnie Yen

I just got my hands on this movie and the only subtitles I could find were a re-translation from a Vietnamese sub.  The resulting subtitle I used could have had a serious effect on the story as there are a few things that I seem to be missing - the gist of the movie I know I got fairly well.  My recommendation for those of you in the same situation I am in is to try and find a better subtitle file, but the movie is still good.

The Lost Bladesman was a super interesting movie on many levels.     Guan Yu, played by Donnie Yen, is a true Chinese general that helped bring an end to the Han Dynasty and ushered in the beginning of the Three Kingdoms.  It is still common to see small shrines dedicated to Guan Yu in Chinese stores and restaurants around the world.  The movie also depicts the warlord Cao Cao in a way that I had not thought of him.  In this movie he is depicted as a wise manipulative man and not necessarily the feared man who rained death upon everyone in his path.

With all of that said this is one cool movie.  The cinematography is great all the way through.  Most of the fight scenes use the pudao sword requiring large movements that were gracefully executed.  The history and the story part I'm still a little fuzzy on and I might have to do some reading and then watch it again when a different subtitle file is available.   All in all if you are a fan of epic period martial arts flicks involving kings, generals, provincial leaders, and an honorable hero this is certainly one movie you should be happy to get your hands on as well.

Samurai Ayothaya - The Samurai of Ayothaya

Samurai Ayothaya - The Samurai of Ayothaya
Thailand (2010)
Starring:  Seigi Ozeki, Kanokkorn Jaicheun, Sorapong Chatree
Awards:  2011 National Film Association Award (Best Score) - Thailand National Film Association Award

Finally months of patience and perseverance have paid off and I was able to acquire a subtitle file for this movie enabling me to watch it and more to the point: write this review.

The Samurai of Ayothaya is an interesting movie to me.  It loosely follows part of the life of the historic figure Yamada Nagamasa.  In history Yamada became the Govenor of the Nakhori Si Thammarat province.  In the movie Yamada became one of the elite warriors from the Ayothaya province.

Betrayed by his countrymen and left for dead Yamada is saved by an enemy tribe and slowly brought back to health.  He finds tranquility and identity with his saviors and decides to stay after his recovery.

This movie has some really cool fight scenes.  There is this humorous tone to the movie that muay thai is the be all end all of martial arts and is the destroyer of all other forms.  What else should I expect from a Thai movie though.  I don't think the history portrayed in this movie is close to accurate, but I'm okay with that.  The choreography of the martial arts is pretty good in this movie.  The scenes are really cool - including the full moon festival.  The movie served it's purpose of entertainment.  I enjoyed watching it.

Mo hup leung juk - Butterfly Lovers

Mo hup leung juk - Butterfly Lovers
Hong Kong (2008)
Starring:  Charlene Choi, Chun Wu, Ge Hu

Butterfly Lovers itself as a movie didn't really "wow" me on many levels.  The story however is altogether something else.  This movie is based on a story that is almost 2000 years old and is a traditional folktale in China.  Liang Zhu as the tale is often referred to, in honor of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, is a love story that has truly transcended history to bring us a tale of two lovers who are bound by a love so strong heaven itself cast them to live upon the earth and never truly realize that which they sought after most.  It is a fascinating story and may be older then it's Hindi counterpart Heer Ranjha and certainly older then our western Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  When comparing the similarities of the major characters in these stories the parallels are quite amazing.  It makes me wonder if such stories spread and with a change of characters and local were brought back to life and made famous again in a foreign land, or if the stories have absolutely no connection and from arbitrary chance one story was believed to have happened while something very similar was dreamed up with no influence passing either way.

The main actress and the director in this movie both get slammed in popular reviews citing she is not believable in her role.  There are a few moments where I felt the same way, but there's a few good giggles, a couple decent martial arts scenes, an evil villain fighting to possess a heart that is not destined to be his, and then of course the story that makes butterfly lovers of Butterfly Lovers.  I enjoyed the movie and the history lesson I received while trying to bring you the background on it.  I enjoyed it.  If you're looking for a romantic martial arts flick, I will stand behind this one.

Quote:  Butterflies should be a pair, one left behind will be lonely.  So wait for me.

Wu ji - The Promise

Wu ji - The Promise
China (2005)
Starring:  Cecilia Cheung, Dong-gun Jang, Hiroyuki Sanda
Awards:  Orient Express Section Special Jury Award (Fantasporto 2007)

I looked for this movie because I came across an old review from the LA Times I think that called it one of the most beautiful films imaginable.  The Promise was without a doubt visually striking.  It was worth getting the blu-ray version of it.  From the costumes to the scenes to the story itself this movie was cool all the way through.  It truly is a beautiful story.

In a world where men and gods live side by side a slave from the Land of the Snow and beggar turned princess pick their destiny.  Cheung was promised by a goddess a life of riches, but without love.  Jang was born a more noble human from the Land of the Snow and forced into slavery.  Their paths cross in a complex turn of events and the rest is the story that is worth watching.

This movie was awesome.  Just when I thought that I'd exhausted nearly every major cinematic release from the past decade I found a movie that made me wonder how I had missed it!

Quote:  Destiny can be changed, time sometimes does flow backwards, snow can fall in the spring, and even a frozen heart can come back to life.

Mulan

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.

I 100% enjoyed this movie.

Goemon

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

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.

All in all it was a fun little movie.

Casshern

Casshern
Japan (2004)
Starring:  Yusuke Iseya, Kumiko Aso, Akira Terao, Kanako Higuchi, Fumiyo Kohinata

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.

Season of the Witch

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.

The Experiment

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

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

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.

Ninja's Creed

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

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. . .

Ajeossi - The Man from Nowhere

Ajeossi - The Man from Nowhere
Korea (2010)
Starring:  Bin Won, Sae-ron Kim, Hyo-seo Kim


Ajeossi was unique.  It certainly isn't the typical bullet ballad or is it a straight kick ass movie, but it has aspects of both.  The beginning is a little slow, but when the action starts to kick in the pace changes completely.  


As the movie starts it opens up defining this awkward relationship between a pawn shop owner that shuts most of the world out and a little girl that is without friends or a father.  There's speculation due to his seclusion that the pawnshop owner is a sexual predator, but we soon learn that is far from the truth.  


From one silent good deed to the next he takes care of the little girl till her mother betrays the wrong group of people and she is kidnapped.  From then on this silent pawn shop owner goes up against gangs, villains, organ harvesters, police, and his own past. . . when all the forces at work in the movie come together there's one spectacular bang. 


The Man from Nowhere touches on some subjects that we all wish didn't exist.  In some very blunt ways it depicts the atrocities committed by organ harvesters, the dark underworld of gangs and drugs, and the violence created by these shady paths of life.  This movie is super graphic and will leave you going WTF? a few times.  To me it is in a small way a reminder of the acts committed against other humans on a daily basis, we should all be so lucky as to never see this part of life in reality.


With that said, the choreography is done well.  The cinematography is also pretty good.  Every person in the movie had a foul mouth and the way things were translated gave me a good laugh.  It could be the movie was actually written that way and it was designed to interject humor through dialog - I would welcome someone's opinion who can understand it in it's native language.  All in all I'm glad I watched it.  If you want to see it in English though, I'd go for the subtitled version instead of the dubbed one - the audio on the dubbed version is all kinds of horrible.   
Quote:  He didn't flinch when I shot the gun.

На игре 2. Новый уровень/Na Igre 2. Novyy uroven - Hooked 2. The Next Level

На игре 2. Новый уровень/Na Igre 2. Novyy uroven - Hooked 2.  The Next Level
Russia (2010)
Starring:  Sergey Chirkov, Marina Petrenko, Pavel Priluchnyy, Evgeniy Kharlanov, Tikkhon Zhiznevskiy, Nodar Siradze, and Aleksey Bardukov


Na Igre 2 picks up right where the first left off.  It's the beginning of the struggle between multiple parties for and against world domination via an army of programmed gamers.  This movie features a well knit web of deceit and domination that evolves into a struggle for life from all sides.  If you watched the first one... you've gotta see this one too.


All of the open story is closed in this movie.  I have to give it up for the director and writer of this movie (Pavel Sanayev and Aleksandr Chubaryan) they really didn't leave loose ends.  This movie was just as difficult to acquire, it was kind of luck that I happened upon them both.

на игре / Na Igre - Gamers. In Search of the Target

на игре / Na Igre - Gamers.  In Search of the Target
Russia (2009)
Starring:  Sergey Chirkov, Marina Petrenko, Pavel Priluchnyy, Evgeniy Kharlanov, Tikkhon Zhiznevskiy, Nodar Siradze, and Aleksey Bardukov


Na Igre seems to be patterned after a guy's teenage dream; any gamer from the olden days of Street Fighter tournaments at the local arcade to the Halo fanatics of today can appreciate the concept behind this movie.

In Gamers there is a group of video game tournament winners who are given a CD.  Once played the CD programs the brain granting the skills of the games each played to the winners.  From there on out it is a battle for control of the CDs by many different parties.

All in all Na Igre was worth watching.  It was different and unique.  It is kind of amusing to watch these super first person shooters try to out smart themselves and the world around them.  There are a few things in the movie that don't really connect and make sense, but if you can forgive that and were a game fanatic - it's worth an attempt at watching.  Na Igre certainly was a difficult movie to get my hands on though.

Daybreakers

DayBreakers
USA
2009
Starring:  Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Neill

Daybreakers is a modern day vampire movie.  Some of the concepts it tackles and the way the movie is presented it is not your average teen vampire flick.  This movie touches on global catastrophe, greed, corruption at the highest level, extremely twisted population control methodologies, and then of course vampires creating some action.

Daybreaks starts out by describing what the human race went through and how vampires rose to power.  With their food supply dwindling and having farmed nearly all the humans left in existence the vampire race is facing a widespread change coupled with near extinction after a decade or two in complete power.  The surviving groups of humans aren't about to give in without a fight.

All in all the movie was pretty cool.  The story was unique and the effects were fairly decent.  I would recommend this one for vampire movie lovers.

Quote: "Living in a world where vampires are the dominant species is about as safe as barebacking a $5 whore."

Aladin

Aladin
India - Bollywood
2009
Starring:  Ritesh Deshmukh, Jaqueline Fernandes, Amitabh Bachchan, and Sanjay Dutt

I can not express how insanely happy it made me to find this movie.  There are just certain stories that always capture my interest, Aladin and the Genie have been one of them for almost 30 years.

The story has little new to it, but it comes from close to the land of the original tale and so from that perspective it is new enough.  This story begins with Aladin hiding from his heritage.  Through a strange twist of fate he ends up with the magical lamp and from it summons Genius.  Aladin can not conceive of three wishes and is prodded by Genius who is eager to get the three wishes over with and go about his way.

This movie has the comedy, the love story, the Bollywood dance, a cultural overlay, magic, carnies, a genie, and some interesting visual effects.  Oh, there is this funny song that you have to hear.  There's a Genie rap in the movie that cracks me up, I wish I understood the Hindi part - but, that might take some of the humor away.  All in all I was happy to see the movie and at just over two hours the time was much better for this story then the typical near 3 hour epics that Bollywood produces.

Quote:

Veer

Veer
India (Bollywood)
2010
Starring:  Salman Khan, Zarine Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, and Jackie Shroff

As the poster says, it Veer is the epic love story of a warrior. The movie boasts some decent sweeping visual scenes as well as a multicultural tale.  Veer is a story of honor, betrayal, and love against the backdrop of a historically epic time in India.

Veer is a Pindari warrior whose father and tribe are betrayed by the British and Madhavgarh's King.  Fate one day brings Veer and his warriors to rob a train that will change the course of history for the Pindari.

Veer has extremely mixed reviews on all fronts, still I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Some say the final scenes aren't necessary, but I find some cosmic peace in the ending; others say the battles were unnecessary, I'm not sure how else one would portray this warrior without them; and still others yet say it was cheesy, every Bollywood romance has a huge element of that.  All in all I'd watch it again.  I hope Netflix soon brings it to the USA masses, I'd like to see Zarine Khan boosted into stardom and this first movie of hers referenced as one of her greats in years to come.

Quote: This story belongs to fearless the Pindari whose saga of bravery was not considered as a part of history by the British. But, they could not stop them from becoming a legend.

"What is the Greatest Thing for a Pindari?" - "Courage"
"And greater than courage?" - "Promise"
"And greater than a promise?" . . .