Topic
Any fans of Asian movies here?
I've just finished watching Confessions and I can tell you one thing, Japanese movies are amazing.
The plot was pretty simple (at first): An elementary school teacher tells her students that it would be her last month to teach her class... but first, she must avenge the death of her 4-year old daughter who was killed by 2 of her students.
Starts out slow but by the end, things get pretty intense. ^____^
Next in line would be Departures. :)
I've already watched:
Joint Security Area (Korean) - a tight friendship between North and South Korean guards are shook when it was discovered.
Battle Royale (Japanese) - high school kids stuck on an island and are ordered to kill each other. Probably won't be welcome in America with Columbine and all.
Tae Guk Gi (K) - war movie. this almost beats Saving Private Ryan.
Oldboy (K) - revenge movie... please please please don't make a Hollywood version.
Kisaragi (J) - murder/mystery in a one-room setting
Man From Nowhere (K) - TAKEN, Korean style
Grave of the Fireflies (J) - anime about two kids trying to survive on their own after the Hiroshima bombing
Replies
- I have an online friend who loves asian horror and we have watched a bunch of them using Skype screen-share... oh god we must have watched over 30 movies.... they make some messed up stuff lol.
- What horror movies exactly? Ringu? The Host? :)
- I can't even remember most of them... um... Whispering Corridor movies, Death Bell, Suicide Club, The Audition, The Red Shoes, The Wig.. on and on.
- Audition was really really creepy and disturbing. I don't want to watch that movie again...
- Yeah I agree.. supernatural stuff is different... but torture-y stuff... I had to close my eyes haha. When I told my friend that she was like "Oh lets watch Hostel!" >_>
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I highly recommend Departures.
Whooooa. That was A movie. -
Most of the movies I enjoy are either Japanese and Korean (or Spanish, but as far as I recall it's way out of Asia), or single movies produced by several countries. Of course, in their original version (subtitled). This is probably what led me to learn Japanese.
Recently, I've seen 明日の記憶 (Memories of Tomorrow).
A nicely produced movie bringing awareness on the Alzheimer disease.
I remember having watched and loved:
녹색 의자 (Green Chair)
珈琲時光 (Café Lumière)
색즉시공 (Sex is zero) - an hilarious Korean comedy, however the sequel bored me
阿弥陀堂だより (Letter from the mountain) - i just remember having been delighted by this refreshing movie, will have to watch all of them again.
タンポポ (Tampopo) - a classic !
大醉俠 (Come drink with me)
绿茶 (Green Tea)
Most of Studio Ghibli, if not all. Especially their old movies.
Very recently:
しんぼる (Symbol) - by Hitoshi Matsumoto
ソラニン (Solanin)
パレード (Parade)
A very strange sci-fi production without much of a plot:
アサルトガールズ (Assault Girls)
I have yet to watch:
女左男右 (Herbal Tea)
茶の味 (The Taste of Tea)
シーサイドモーテル (The seaside motel)
20 30 40
I also enjoyed most of the Zatoichi's -- NOT the 2003 film, but the 26 films from 1960-90. Some were too similar though, but overall it's still nice.
About horror movies, I didn't go very far. I only remember ステーシー (Stacy / Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies), that I enjoyed. Fun and sick zombie movie with the neat Bruce Campbell's Right Hand 2 reference to Ash's chainsaw from Army of Darkness III. -
I actually liked Beat Takeshi's Zatoichi, though I wouldn't be adverse to watching the older ones if I could locate them! =)
Shimotsuma Monogatari is another of my favorites, and pretty much anything Stephen Chow has touched. I don't generally go out of my way to watch movies from a specific region though. -
Oldboy, Departures, and Battle Royale have all been on my list for a while. and i want to do a big kurosawa marathon at some point--i've only seen Rashomon.
there's a really interesting collection of short films about tokyo called Tokyo!--none are by japanese filmmakers, and bong joon-ho is the only director of asian-descent. bong joon-ho's is my favourite of them, but they're all worth watching once.
some recent-ish korean films that i kind of liked: I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK and Mother.
really love Pom Poko, also. -
My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (Korean)
Very touching (and very funny) drama. ^~^ -
I think I missed 'Detective Dee' at the 'art house' cinema. (About 30 mins away from home. The local theater is completely mainstream.)
There was another Dee film, during the Bruce Lee/Kung Fu trend of the 70's: "Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders" - made for TV, starring Khigh Deigh, who also played the villain Wo Fat on the original Hawaii Five-O. - there is a box set for battle royale 1and 2. Chiaki Kuriyama who played Go Go, the Kick butt Asian girl with the ball and chain in Kill Bill, was also in the first BR movie which she played the total opposite character as in Kill Bill. I read she was casted for Kill Bill after Tarantino saw her in BR.
- Oldboy was a great movie that I am never going to watch again. Just "urgh".