Bajo Aguas Tranquilas - Beneath Still Waters

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.

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:

Joong-cheon - The Restless

Joong-cheon - The Restless
South Korea
2006
Starring:  Jun-ho Heo, Woo-sung Jung, and Kwang-il Kim

The Restless presents life and death in a distinctly unique fashion.  From hoards of demons, legendary swordsmen, ethereal guardians, legions of the dead, and of course one beautiful love this movie moves through the life and afterlife with stunning visual sequences.

This movie is listed as a horror in virtually every database, but it's certainly not what I as a westerner consider a horror.  The movie has elements of adventure, action, fantasy, and romance.  All the ingredients I need to sit down and try to dedicate a couple of hours to something.

Joong-cheon  is also full of visually stunning sequences.  It was nomiated for the Most Visually Stunning movie in the 2007 Asian Film Festival and it won the Best Art Direction award in the Grand Bell Awards.  It contained some very well choreographed fight scenes too.  The Restless is a unique journey through this world and the afterlife.  For fans of the fantasy martial arts genre I recommend this movie.  There are some parts that I had to shake my head at, but all in all this is a pretty cool movie.