Focus by Satoshi Isaka (Japan)

This film was shot in a TV documentary fashion. It's a satirical drama on the Japanese media, which were shown to be incompassionate and uncaring for anyone but themselves, willing to do anything for a 'great show'. I don't think that's not atypical of any media corporations anywhere in the world, actually. TV programmes seems to be all about good ratings these days, spinning content that caters to the lowest common denominator, and that's one of the many reasons I practically never turn on the TV set or watch TV shows anymore. It's also particularly disheartening to watch shows you like turn to shit once the third or fourth season rolls around.

Anyway Asano Tadanobu was the main reason I watched this for, and he doesn't disappoint. The show is paced fairly well, and it's incredible once the suspense builds up. The long takes are admirable, especially the rape scene which went on for so fucking (pardon the pun) long. Overall, a great directorial debut for Satoshi Isaka.

4/5 stars
IMDB

Batman Begins by Christopher Nolan (USA)

Watched it in the theater. I love the score, it was intense and suited the mood immensely, but I was rather disappointed by the movie. Mostly because of the shaky cam during the action scenes. It was just too much, and considering there was so much action this really detracted from my enjoyment of the movie. There were quite a few cheesy one-liners too, but that is to be expected with comic action movies. Also, the chase sequence involving the 'Tumbler' was way too long. Yeah it's a cool car and all, but that whole part was really draggy.

Christian Bale was good, and so was Michael Caine. Gary Oldman was ok, actually I was disappointed I didn't recognise him at first. Katie Holmes was bad and Morgan Freeman was excellent as usual. I like the 'Office Space' reference too. In my opinion, I don't think this movie can ever beat 'Batman Returns'. Admittedly though, I'm not really a big fan of Batman.

6.5/10 stars
IMDB

Divergence by Benny Chan (Hong Kong)

This was a heavily-stylized cop melodrama. There were a lot of nice shots with a great accompanying score. Unfortunately the plot was flawed and boring. Nice acting by Aarok Kwok, but it's too over-the-top with all the melodrama.

6/10 stars
IMDB

The Twilight Samurai by Yoji Yamada (Japan)

Amazing chambara movie by Yoji Yamada. Its deliberate slow pace, beautiful character development and thoughtful script has left quite a profound effect on me. The main character, dubbed 'Twilight' by his compatriots, is a poor samurai whose wife died and left him alone to fend for his two small kids and a senile mother. It was during the late Edo period, where the ways of the samurai were slowly giving way to the ways of the West. Swords were losing their significance to guns, and the samurais were beginning to lose their status in the country.

Twilight works as a clerk for his clan, keeping accounts of food stocks or something. Fate brought him to a childhood friend, Tomoe (played by the amazingly hot Rie Miyazawa), who has just been set free from an unhappy marriage to an abusive drunkard. As luck would have it, Twilight's poverty has led him to refuse marrying Tomoe, given his low income and all, even though they seem the perfect for each other.

We've come a long, long way from the days where status and caste means everything. Looking back though, nothing much has changed. Capitalism and democracy has only managed to constantly divide the rich from the poor, the majority from the minority.

8.5/10 stars
IMDB

15 by Royston Tan (Singapore)

This was the feature film, an expansion of an infamous local short by a similar name by Royston Tan. '15', or better known as that 'ah beng movie' among some circles here, is choke-full of fast cuts and oversaturated colors. It takes balls to produce something like this, especially when the government labels your film a 'threat to national security'. It was originally banned in Singapore, to my understanding, and was screened only once in its entirety during one of the Singapore International Film Festivals.

I didn't watch the short before this and I was really anxious to see this movie, but after watching it, I think the feature was a little lacking. There just wasn't enough of a storyline to keep it going. Being a film on troubled teens, it really delves into issues of abandonment, suicide, drugs, camaraderie or 'Brotherhood' as they call it, but since the actors were just street kids, sometimes you're not really sure what they were actually feeling or thinking since they didn't show it well enough. The soundtrack could have been better in some places too. It was visually entertaining though. There was a bit of violence with a few comedic touches and bits of gang-related chants being sung, but mostly it seems like just another movie editing exercise with some clever subtext. Royston Tan is obviously talented here, and I wouldn't mind him making more films, but that's probably hard when the government and local censorship boards don't like you.

6.5/10 stars
IMDB

Cure by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Japan)

This was a confusing one, perhaps fitting for a film about hypnotism. It doesn't help that I was watching it at 4 in the morning either. I think repeated viewings are needed in order to pick up on some of the subtle hints that I'm definitely sure I missed. I can see similarities between American thrillers and these, but with Hollywood flicks, things usually seems clear at the end, like the movie Se7en. However the ending here confused the hell out of me.

The subtext seems to imply on identity crisis being prevalent in today's society. By doing things according to your primal instinct, you're freeing yourself. You're not defined by society; under the surface, who are you really? Anyway this film was really creepy and the soundtrack really helped to substantiate that fact. Sometimes I wasn't sure what I heard and it just adds to the overall mindfuck.

7.5/10
IMDB

My Wife is a Gangster by Cho Jin-gyu (Korea)

Decent gangster comedy with some genuinely funny moments. Worth watching for the laughs, but it offers little else. A good thing is that it tried to keep the humor intact and going at all times, even during sad scenes. However the plot wasn't really interesting and most of the characters were one-dimensional. I guess that's what separate top comedies from the rest - solid, interesting characters. Watch out for the Hollywood remake that's rumored to star Queen Latifah.

6/10
IMDB

Judgement by Park Chan-wook (Korea)

A nice short by Park, very stylishly done in b&w. This was a story about greed and retribution, I guess. The dead body of an unidentified girl was found, and a group of people were arguing over whose kid it was. Each one had an agenda of their own. Tragedy strucks in the form of an earthquake which helped triggered a mass electrocution in the whole room, but this time only one survived. I guess he's the only one who wasn't hoping to gain something from out of the whole deal.

The score was a little reminiscent of Oldboy, to me. Anyway I love the work and quality here. It's Park first film, and it's a testament to his talent. I'm not quite sure why random stock news footage of the after-effects of an earthquake were sporadically inserted during the whole thing. Maybe it's a sign of the impending doom that was to occur, but it's probably something more.

7/10 stars
IMDB

Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha by Takashi Miike (Japan)

The very first thing I noticed about Dead or Alive is that the first 10 minutes of this movie is quite possibly one of the best intro sequence in the history of film. It was very experimental, almost surreal (snorting literal meters of coke?), but definitely genius. It sucked me in right away. So we got a brilliant intro sequence, which is followed by a 'cop vs yakuza' melodrama with quite a few eye-openers such as the bestiality scene and the one where the chick drowned in a pool of her own feces, followed by a spectacular restaraunt massacre, and then it ended on a literal joke.

I'm curious about the ending; why did he create such an intentionally crazy ending, knowing a lot of viewers would hate him for that. Any other ending where one of the side loses would probably suck, I guess. This is Takashi Miike after all, and after that mind-blowing intro, surely the movie should have an equally, if not over-the-top explosive ending. Or it could have been a surreal metaphor maybe? Inquiring mind needs to know.

7/10 stars
IMDB

Memories of Murder by Bong Joon-ho (Korea)

This was a masterpiece, or very close to one. Bong Joon-ho has made something quite marvellous with his internationally acclaimed film, based on a true investigation of a serial murder case. Set in the late 80s in rural Korea, the cinematography here was excellent, beautiful and gritty at the same time. It sets the mood rather well. The camera wasn't shy at all. There were lots of long, unflinching shots of dialog and sequences intermingled with action, and backed by a solid soundtrack.

The casting was definitely top-notch. I have always been fond of Song Kang-ho and his acting abilities, and he didn't disappoint here as the detective who prefers 'thinking with his feet' as opposed to the city cop (played brilliantly by Kim Sang-kyung) that relies too much on intellect and his methodical approach. There was enough screen time to flesh out each character, and we were treated to some great displays of violence by the detectives themselves. Also, there were a lot of dropkicks in this film. It seems the preferred method to start a fight back then was a good ol' dropkick to the face. Song Kang-ho even dropkicked someone in the face while on a slope. (how cool is that?)

One of the main things that was so great about this film was the mood. It manages to stay on a constantly dark, brewing tone, growing tense during the actual crime parts and then shifting back to the sombre mood, all while keeping the audience in suspense and managing a few chuckles here and there. This film was a cinematic feat in itself, and is certainly one of the better thrillers of our time.

4.5/5 stars
IMDB

Rewind by Kim Hak-sun (Korea)

I'm not big on romantic movies, especially when it's about middle-aged guys trying to cope with loneliness. However this film has a certain charm that makes it engaging in a way. Perhaps it's the way the main actor portrayed his life; a video shop owner living a carefree life with no higher-ups to contend with and no long-term relationship to commit to. Or perhaps it was those mysterious love letters and wanting to find out which woman was responsible for it. Maybe it was just the warm soundtrack and the alluring cinematography that leaves you wanting more.

Well as the ending tells us, fate plays quite a big role in love and affairs, and some things just don't come no matter how long you wait for them. This was a pitiful journey into the life of a lonely man who's just trying to find meaning in his life while wallowing in self-denial.

3/5 stars
IMDB

Iron Monkey by Yuen Woo-ping (Hong Kong)

Donnie Yen is such a fine actor and martial artist, it's really such a pleasure to watch him act and do stunts on film. This story is about the 'Iron Monkey', sort of a Chinese Robin Hood who steals from the rich to help the poor. Since he is highly wanted by the corrupted officials, they had to forceably hire the help of Wong Kei Ying (one of the Ten Tigers of Canton), played by Donnie Yen, by taking away his child, Wong Fei Hung, who was portrayed as a child in this movie. He too had his fair share of stunts and was amazingly acted by a girl. (woah) Somewhere in between, the two men realized they shouldn't be fighting each other and teamed up to take out a strong evil monk who has defected from Shaolin.

The fights and stunts in this film were amazingly choreographed by master choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, notably the intro fight with 'Iron Monkey' fighting the officials and the final fight where they jumped around on burning poles. It's incredibly memorable with a few moral themes and such. I regret watching this classic only now.
Note to self: Watch more classic kung-fu flicks from now on.

4.5/5 stars
IMDB

Birdcage Inn by Kim Ki-duk (Korea)

Kim Ki-duk uses silence well in this movie, from the opening shot right to the last few scenes. The movie was about a prostitute, living with a family in their 'Birdcage Inn', where their visitors are usually men looking for a one night stand. Lee Ji-eun stands out in this movie as the beautiful whore with a heart, Jin-A. Demure and fragile, and too easily manipulated. I can't help but feel sad for her as the film progresses and shows how she gets manipulated by everyone. Her own brother used her for money and sex, and the family's father and son took advantage of her.

The plot is easy to follow, with the daughter hating the whore right from the start, but gradually finding similarity in their lives, and eventually learning to understand her feelings. Ultimately this film was about female bonding, and the main reason I was engrossed with it is because the role of Jin-a was superbly acted.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB