2LDK (Japan, 2002)
Only one half (and also the better one) of the notorious “Duel Project”. Director Yukihiko Tsutsumi challenges you with a mangaesque Chick-Fight between two Pin-up Models (one of them the voluptous Eiko Koike), where various household items are employed as murderous weapons. “2LDK” hurts like a bitch, but also provides you with a whole load of unadulterated fun.
Kamikaze Girls (Japan, 2004)
Maybe the one and only movie with a theme about Embroidery, that still can be considered “cool”. Kyoko Fukada as cute Lolita-look Aficionado and Anna Tsuchia in a tough Biker-Gang Wardrobe make up a most strange, yet sympathetic pair of friends. Makes you laugh, makes you feel warm, yeah, even nostalgic. “Kamikaze Girls” is the archetypal essence of Manga-Culture come alive, pure J-Pop Fanservice in psychedelic, overbidding videoclip visuals (including one hysterical Anime story sequence), and one of those rare movies, where you don’t ever want to see the credits. Also features a great entrance by my favorite Pin-up Idol Eiko Koike.
Story of the Detective (Japan, 1983) - 2,5/5
19 year old Hiroko and Yusaku Matsuda in a romantic 80’s detective story. A sure winner you might think. Unfortunately it isn’t. Hiroko’s performance, while not bad, is probably the least impressive I’ve seen from her so far and miles from her work in Tonda Couple and Sailor-fuku. Yusaku Matsuda fares pretty well as a middle aged detective who becomes Hiroko’s love interest. Still, it’s almost weird to see him playing such a serene role, just four years after his mad and wonderfully gritty performance in Toru Murakawa’s masterpiece Resurrection of Golden Wolf. But despite the critisism the actors play together well. The story kinda works but is mostly an excuse for the character drama. Hiroko’s theme song at the end is a pretty decent one. Aside the good actors there isn’t too much to set this film appart from any average suspense story.
Kaza-hana (Japan, 2000) - 3/5
Somai’s last film (he died in 2001), and unfortunately not one of his best. The little story there is is too conventional coming from someone like Somai and Koizumi’s character lacks depth as well. Thankfully both leads act wonderfully and the execution is as beautiful as you’d expect from Somai. The first 30 minutes is such a great showcase of peaceful editing and great cinematography that it had me expecting a masterpiece. The rest of the film is quite is okay but suffers from predictable storyline. A serious flaw in otherwise such a delicate film.
Ohikkoshi (Japan, 1993) - 4/5
Somai returns to form with a sweet tale of a young girl trying to cope with her parents divorce. Endlessly beautiful and wonderfully edited film suffers from conventional middle third but it’s easy to forgive when the actors are this good. The last 40 minutes is mesmerizing, especially the magnificent closing scene. Full review here: <LINK_TEXT text=“Bullets 'n' Babes - Index page … php?t=3469”>Ohikkoshi (Shinji Somai) - Bullets 'n' Babes</LINK_TEXT>
Peking Opera Blues (Hong Kong, 1986) – 4,5/5
The magic is still there. Easily one of Tsui Hark’s greatest films and also one of the best HK films of all time. A perfect combination of action and romance with a terrific cast and one of the best HK soundtracks of the late 80’s. The kawaii level is so high that you sometimes forget you’re not watching a japanese film. But Cherie Cheung, Sally Yeh and Brigitte Lin more than justify the use of that word.
SPL
Alot of people are in agreement of the quality of this film. I, for one, disagree. I felt the film was all shine and no depth. The charectures felt phony. The scenes were disjointed. And the fight scenes, which were too few, didn’t meet my expectations. Thats why I had accurately guessed Donnie Yen was the fight choreographer. Quite simply put, he sucks! The knife fight looks like two kids swordfighting with sticks. Just watch Princess Blade or Highlander Endgame and you will wonder why anyone hires him. Moving on, some scenes in the film were flatout bad, the one with the two cops where both are killed, the one where another one is killed because someone doesn’t take a shot, and the rediculously tacky ending. If you want to see a good crime drama starring Yam, chose First Shot instead.
Sailor-fuku to kikanju (Japan, 1981) – 4/5
Not quite as good as Shinji Somai’s best work but still one of the best idol films of all time, if not the best. Hiroko is almost perfect in the lead role and Somai doesn’t go too far mainstream. The 130 min complete cut has better pacing than the theatrical cut although the new scenes don’t make the film notably better. The old flaws (some weak scenes featuring supporting characters from other gangs) remain. The amount of amazingly good scenes is still incredible, probably three times any average â€
Throw Down (Hong Kong, 2004) – 4/5
Johnnie To’s Akira Kurosawa tribute exceeded all my expectations by being of the best HK movies of recent years and probably my favourite To film. First of all, the characters are superb. I couldn’t help but to feel they were very manga esque, with some video game feel thrown in. At one point while watching the film it made me think about Dragon Tiger Gate, and also realize what a bad film that was compared to Throw Down. I loved Louis Koo and Tony Leung and kinda liked Aaron Kwok’s drunken sleep walking, too. And don’t even get me started with Cherrie Ying who looked like she had taken some lessons on how to look cute. The judo sequences may come as a disappointment at first but they’re pretty cool once get used to them. Don’t expect any huge martial arts showdown though, judo is more of way to tell story here. And finally, the soundtrack is perfect. It’s the single most important thing that makes the film so damn good. The only thing that keeps the film from being a masterpiece is that the ending doesn’t quite meet the expectations. Don’t get me wrong, I love the finale but storywise I expected it to take place on a higher, more mythical level.
Porno jidaigeki - Bohachi bushido (Japan, 1973) – 4,5/5
What do you get when you take a Kazuo Koike manga and hire Teruo Ishii to turn it into a live action featurette? Not just one of the best exploitation films of all time but also one of the finest chambara films ever made. Tetsuro Tamba stars as the ultimate anti hero surrounded by corrupt officials, deady assassins and naked female bodyguards. Think about Female Yakuza Tale meets Lone Wolf and Cub. The most colourful colourful swordplay film I’ve ever seen.
A Scene at the Sea (Japan, 1991) – 4,5/5
One of Kitano’s many masterpieces and possibly his most beautiful and charming movie. In terms of quality he would later make even greater masterpieces but his films would also become more visuals driven. He never got quite as close to the characters again. Wonderfully directed and paced, taking its time with the characters and never letting such things as plot or dialogue get on its way. Comes with the usual perfect Joe Hisaishi score.
Memories (Japan, 1995) – 4/5
Three short stories based on Katsuhiro Otomo’s (Akira) mangas. The opening episode, Koji Morimoto’s stunning sci-fi nightmare, is the most impressive of the bunch. Since the second episode could not possibly retain the same quality it comes as a pleasant surprise that Tensai Okamura has chosen an opposite kind of style and approach for his instalment. Okamura’s hysterical army/science parody manages to be a lot of fun on it’s own right. The closing story, an Orwellian vision of a small futuristic city where everyone’s life is centered around maintaining and firing huge canons, is the most intelligent of the three. It was directed by Katsuhiro Otomo himself.
Mr Vampire (Hong Kong, 1985) – 4/5
The original hopping stiff corpse classic. Ricky Hui can admittably be a bit irritating at times but he’s really the only downside, everything else is great. Lam Ching Ying is the coolest Taoist priest in the history of cinema, only rivalred by Anthony Chan who also appears in the film. Moon Lee is cute as usual and Pauline Chan makes a good ghost, lol. Several hilarious scenes, decent martial arts and plenty pure HK cinema essence.
Tokugawa irezumi-shi: Seme jigoku (Inferno of Torture) (Japan, 1969) – 4/5
Probably Teruo Ishii’s most coherent exploitation work. Technically top notch with endlessly stylish visuals and haunting soundtrack. This level of film making is rarely reached even by so called A-film directors. Despite the english title the actual theme is tattoo, not torture. Beautiful, sad and slightly shocking half-masterpiece.
Sex & Fury (Japan, 1973) – 4,5/5
Time to revisit the film that originally made me a pinky violence fan. Norifumi Suzuki’s visually gorgeous mix of old school yakuza roots and 70’s exploitation cinema holds up as one of most entertaining genre creations. Also features possibly the best swordfight scene ever shot on film. The excellent cast features Reiko Ike as the lead and such genre veterans as Yoko Mihara, Rie Saotome and Tatsuo Endo in supporting roles. And don’t forget Christina Lindberg as the british spy with a cute swedish accent… and some mini skirts for that don’t exactly belong to Meiji Era.
Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (Japan, 1974) – 4/5
Pinky violence acid for those who are tired of artsploitation. Yukio Noda’s cop thriller is cool as hell and harder than steel. Think of Dirty Harry meets Full Contact and you’ll get the image. Miki Sugimoto stars, Tetsuro Tamba, Yoko Mihara and Eiji Go support. Comes with a groovy soundtrack and ultra violence packed ending.
Angel Terminators (Hong Kong, 1990) – 3/5
I can see why this movie has its fans although I didn’t find it that mind blowing myself. It’s a solid femme fatale action with a classic ending and lots of good action but it didn’t have that much personal impact on me. Still very recommended as if this film hits you, it probably hits hard. Otherwise it’s just another enjoyable early 90’s HK actioner.
Voices of a Distant Star (Japan, 2003) – 4,5/5
I blindly ask a friend to bring some anime to an anime novice and he brings me this 25 minutes of perfection. A young a boy and a girl are separated by war when the girl is recruited to UN space army forces. As she moves further away to outer space their emails start taking longer and longer to reach each other. First weeks, then months, finally years. Incredibly beautiful and touching film with a perfect soundtrack.
Now and Then, Here and There (Japan, 1999) (13 episodes) – 4/5
Extremely impressive and powerful anti-war anime series. The opening is very funny and filled with humour and beautiful sunset images. But there’s more laughs in the first 20 minutes than in the following 200. The series soon become inreasingly dark with themes of death, torture and rape of a child. Yet it remains always hopeful and beautifully executed.
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A Scene at the Sea (Japan, 1991) – 4,5/5
One of Kitano’s many masterpieces and possibly his most beautiful and charming movie. In terms of quality he would later make even greater masterpieces but his films would also become more visuals driven. He never got quite as close to the characters again. Wonderfully directed and paced, taking its time with the characters and never letting such things as plot or dialogue get on its way. Comes with the usual perfect Joe Hisaishi score.
I really need to see this.