Saving Face by Alice Wu (2004, USA)

I understand that the Chinese really hate to 'lose face', so this movie is all about the battle between following one's own dreams and desires vs keeping the honor of your familly and cultural expectations. In a fast-changing society, these things often clash but this movie ended on a bright note. The mix of drama and light-hearted comedy is good and I like the jazzy soundtrack with some spots of bossa nova and strings. The three lead women gave solid performances but I feel the script needs more work. Lynn Chen is gorgeous, and if there's ever one thing I don't get sick of, it's asian lesbians making out.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

The Foul King by Ji-woon Kim (2000, South Korea)

Haha, what a sensational comedy by Kim Ji-woon. This movie is just another reason to love Song Kang-ho. In what appears to be his breakout movie, he plays an underdog wrestler that specialises in cheating to win. This movie was just funny from the get go. What's impressive is he does all the stunts himeself, apparently also the backflips off the top rope.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

This Charming Girl by Yoon-ki Lee (2004, South Korea)

I'm not gonna lie, this movie was pretty fucking boring at first, but I decided to stick with it, and was duly rewarded. The ending climax was intense and I loved every moment of it. When I looked back I realise how smart the plot and screenplay is. From the minimal editing and dialog to the cuts and the camera shots that linger around, everything all seems thought out perfectly. Wonderful acting by Kim Ji-soo, she displayed a wide range of emotion so effortlessly, and is the sole reason I stayed watching the entire time (she charmed me). This is a brilliant character study piece, with a rewarding finish.

4/5 stars
IMDB

The 40 Year Old Virgin by Judd Apatow (2005, USA)

I love Steve Carell as much as the next goon, but I bought a little too much into the hype surrounding this film. It just didn't seem that inventive or original to me, which is fine since I wasn't really expecting much more than a "laugh-out-loud" sex romp, but it seems they wanted to go a little more than low-brow here, which ruined it for me. The cast was good but the jokes just doesn't seem to be that funny. I'm willing to give this film another chance though, since I found out that the waxing scene is actually real and the blood on Carell's shirt afterwards is actually his. Ouch.

3/5 stars
IMDB

A Wacky Switch by Yeon-won Jeong (2004, South Korea)

Oh man, I love the soundtrack of this movie. It had everything, from 80's disco hits to slow rock tunes and shit. A few great scenes here and there, and I like the flow of the movie overall, even though I feel the whole gangster falling in love thing doesn't really work well for this comedy.

3/5 stars
IMDB

Mad Monk by Siu-Tung Ching / Johnny To (1993, Hong Kong)

Pretty funny Stephen Chow throwaway comedy. Anthony Wong, Ng Man Tat and Maggie Cheung spices everything up, and a cast of familiar faces helped made this movie enjoyable. There was a few funny scenes, particularly the ones between Anthony and Maggie.

The cheap effects really defined a lot of Chow's early comedies. In fact I think it was an integral part of it, especially for the the two-parter 'A Chinese Odyssey' which is probably my favorite Chow comedy ever. It just adds an element of laid-backness, which combined with his slapstick performance and the unique tone of his comedies just add up to something really really wonderful.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

Gozu by Takashi Miike (2003, Japan)

Excellent film by Miike. I'm not sure whether he makes controversial stuff for the sake of being controversial, or that he truly believes in self-parody. He makes so many films a year it seems some of his films are parodies of each other.
Anyway, this was a great what-the-fuck movie you can watch for countless times, especially if you have friends over. It makes no sense but I think the adult birth ending means something, I just need to figure it out first.

4/5 stars
IMDB

A Tale of Two Sisters by Ji-woon Kim (2003, South Korea)

Kim Ji-woon, a man with such talent and versatility. All of his films possess a certain charm and display of technical ability such that I feel the Korean film industry owes a lot of their success to this man. Of course he's just one of the more out of the others, but I don't feel like name-dropping here.

This was a mindfuck thriller. Comparisons can be drawn to M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, but I felt this had an edge over Shyamalan's, especially since the twist was revealed halfway through. A second viewing will help tremendously to clear the doubts and many confusions in this movie, as well as help appreciate some of the subtle hints dropped throughout. Great acting, great plot, great direction and cinematography, not to mention the top-notch production values. Perhaps one the best Korean horror movies produced ever.

4/5 stars
IMDB

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance by Chan-wook Park (2002, South Korea)

This film just begs to be seen. It's so wonderfully-crafted by Park that you feel exactly what he wants you to feel. The acting is great all around, and Bae-Du Na was unbearably cute, so much so that the way her character died was a horrifying tragedy. I think Park achieved exactly what he wanted here. I actually find this more appealing than Oldboy, which seems to be more directed towards the masses despite the controversial theme.

4/5 stars
IMDB

Seven Swords by Hark Tsui (2005, Hong Kong)

I was expecting a lot from this movie, since I heard from the local papers that it could be Tsui Hark's return to form ever since his less than glorifying career following his stint in Hollywood. Well I guess I was expecting a bit too much, because this movie was a huge letdown. Other than the first act, which had incredible pace, the rest of the story falls flat with no real sense of direction or character development. I felt no sense of pity or loss when one of them dies, even though I know the director was trying hard to make me feel otherwise. A few camera tricks and a bunch of high-profile actors can't save this from flopping.

2/5 stars
IMDB

Failan by Hae-sung Song (2001, South Korea)

A heart-wrenching story. Choi Min-sik proves that he's a great actor even before Oldboy here, and Cecilia Cheung simply shines as the poor Chinese girl lost in a foreign country. The ending was painful, effective I would say. Korean melodramas don't get much better than this.

4/5 stars
IMDB

The Wig by Shin-yeon Won (2005, South Korea)

Pretty average Korean horror stuff. The leading actress is really cute though. The plot gets a little too contrived towards the end, especially with the twists, but overall this movie has a few cool shots and some good scares.

3/5 stars
IMDB

Oil Storm by James Erskine (2005, UK/USA)

This made-for-TV movie had portrayed some surprisingly similar chain of events that happened with the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina. However I didn't really bought into too much of the story, which is the chain of events that occured following the aftermath of the Hurricane Rita in this movie. It does stirs some legitimate thought in my head though and it's worth a watch in my eyes, especially in all the gloriousness of the HDTV version.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

The Longest Yard by Peter Segal (2005, USA)

Trite, Hollywood garbage. My 5 bucks wasted are dearly missed.

1/5 stars
IMDB

Last Life in the Universe by Pen-ek Ratanaruang (2003, Thailand)

There are so many superlatives I can use to describe this film, but I'll only use one - Breathtaking. Simply breathtaking. Every shot, every scene is so full of subtle details that sometimes I get afraid to blink because I was afraid I would miss something. The imagery and cinematography is excellent beyond words - Christopher Doyle at his best.
The on-screen chemistry between Asano Tadanobu and Sinitta Boonyasak is amazing. The moments of silence are powerful, and the emotional impact this film had on me when I first watched it was tremendous. I've since watched it about 2 or 3 times more, once in a theater. And each time it's still as breathtaking as the first time I watched it. Also this happens to be the first movie I watched which starred Asano Tadanobu.

4.5/5 stars
IMDB