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Killer Imports: Coweb

Reed — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:03:02 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. Whenever I appear on the Film Junk podcast and review a film, I invariably have a negative opinion. And when I write film reviews for the Film Junk web site, I invariably have a positive opinion, even for films that many Film Junk readers would consider bad. The discrepancy has to do with the fact that I don’t get to choose which films to review on the podcast. I find it easier to give reasons on why I like something rather than why I don’t like something. So for me, writing a positive review is easier to write and seems more worthwhile since someone may be influenced by a positive review to watch a film that I feel deserves attention. No one in a right state of mind sets out to make a “bad” film, and I know the task of actually getting a film made is not easy. I prefer not to say anything bad about the result of someone’s efforts. But I thought I should correct the discrepancy between having all my podcast reviews being negative and all my written reviews being positive. So it is with a heavy heart that I must say how much I disliked Coweb. To be fair and in the effort of full disclosure, the DVD I have of the film had the audio slightly out of sync with the video. This is really bad for fight scenes when you see someone getting hit and a slight moment later, you hear the sound of the impact. (Have you ever noticed in horror movies with lightning and thunder that you always hear the thunder at the same time you see the lightning? For anyone who has taken a basic science class or who has paid any attention as to what happens during an actual thunderstorm, the sound of thunder can occur after you see the lightning with the duration depending on how far away you are from the lightning. I wonder if any filmmaker has tried to subliminally influence an audience by shortening the duration as a movie progresses in order to build tension. It may seem like that I’m digressing from actually talking about Coweb, but like I said, if I don’t have anything good to say about something, then …) Oh, I should mention that I couldn’t understand the plot of the film because there were no English subtitles, but I think I understood enough of what was going on. However, I don’t understand the significance of the title, Coweb. Maybe it refers to the corporation that is filming fights that are staged, unbeknownst to the fighters, in various locations for the purposes of illegal online gambling. Basically, the film involves a former woman cop (Jiang Lu-xia) who is hired as a bodyguard, fails to protect her client, and sets out to resolve the situation that culminates in infiltrating the corporation. The makers of Coweb did try to make the fight set pieces interesting. There are fights that take place in a kitchen, on a water covered arena, on bamboo scaffolding, and on a street with rapper-type, free-style, break-dancing fighters. The editing and the framing of the shots allow you to see the full motions of the fighters, but I didn’t find the fighting to be all that exciting. Maybe the camera angles and movement were lacking. Maybe the fight choreography wasn’t varied or different enough. Maybe the fights lacked pacing with their unrelenting activity. To me, many of the fight scenes seemed obviously blocked out. The music was uninspired as well. I’ve seen Jackie Chan and Jet Li movies with kitchen fight scenes before, and the kitchen fight scene in Coweb didn’t add anything new. She fights a much larger Caucasian guy (Wanja Götz) for the whole kitchen fight, and the fight seems like it goes on forever. Maybe some of you can appreciate the fights in Coweb more than I can. To put things in perspective, I’m not a fan of old-style martial arts movies where the fights seem to go on forever. I’ll make an exception for Jackie Chan films only because Jackie is so creative. Perhaps I should also mention for all you purists that besides during the bamboo scaffolding fight, I don’t think much wire-work is used as the acrobatics are somewhat subdued. But I could be wrong. When she infiltrates the corporation, she fights a mass of men and pulls out a nunchaku! Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed by the whole sequence. There is a climactic duel between her and a martial arts expert (Kane Kosugi) in a fighting ring. (I don’t think this is spoiling anything, because many martial arts movies adhere to the Enter the Dragon template. And I suspect Enter the Dragon wasn’t the first movie that had a climactic duel.) Yawn. For those who have been following my written reviews of films, I have a soft spot for films involving women as the main protagonists who have no problem dealing out punishment. As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, I tend to develop infatuations with these women. I didn’t find Zhang Ziyi particularly attractive at the beginning of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but by the end of the film, I was smitten. With Coweb, I didn’t find myself physically attracted to the star, Jiang Lu-xia, at the beginning, and unfortunately, she still didn’t do anything for me by the end of the film. Her characterization was no different from Zhang Ziyi’s character either. She seemed to have a blank face with occasional moments of scowling. There was no attempt to feminize her and her clothing was rather drab. Her tomboy-ish haircut didn’t help. There is one interesting aspect about Jiang Lu-xia that deserves mentioning. She was a finalist in a Hong Kong reality-type television show hosted by Jackie Chan. I don’t know what the name of the show was, but its title probably translated to something like, “So You Think You Can Kung Fu?” (Okay, the show was actually called, The Disciple, but I bet if the show came over to North America, the producers would use my title.) She had actually gained some notoriety by posting on the Internet short films of herself displaying her martial arts skills. I think you can find some of these films interspersed with some making-of shorts for Coweb. To promote herself, she used the name “Kitty Darling,” but if you try searching the Internet for that name, you’ll probably find yourself looking at some risqué stuff. She has studied martial arts since the age of 6 and I don’t believe she has ever acted before. The director is a first time director, Xiong Xin-xin. There was no major sponsor financing this film, so much hardship was endured in order to complete this film. Before becoming a full director, Xiong was a wushu martial artist and stunt performer (sometimes doubling for Jet Li) who eventually became an action director. His Hollywood credits include action choreography for The Musketeer and Steven Seagal’s Half Past Dead. He did win a Hong Kong action choreography award for Tsui Hark’s Seven Swords. Apparently, the feeling in Hong Kong is that there have been no fresh martial arts actors being given a chance to take over from the aging stars like Jackie Chan and Jet Li in the international market. Studios in Hong Kong and China won’t finance movies with complete unknowns and the actors who can cause movies to be financed have not been able to penetrate international markets. Years ago, even Donnie Yen failed to succeed with a push from Quentin Tarantino in marketing Iron Monkey. And I’m wondering how many of you reading this know who Jacky Wu Jing is. Xiong has taken upon himself the task of trying to introduce some fresh talent. And so we have Jiang Lu-xia in Coweb. As I said earlier, I hate writing negative reviews, but another reason why I hesitated posting this review earlier was that I thought I should wait for this film to become widely available and to see if a buzz developed over this film. (I had seen “Coweb” back in the summer.) I was afraid that if I wrote a review too early, then many of you would simply ignore the review. But I have yet to see this movie available anywhere with English subtitles. Perhaps you’ll never get a chance to see this film for you to make up your own mind. The main advertising image is sort of abstract with yellow lettering on top of Jiang Lu-xia in a red hoodie, her hair covering most of her face, with a background of red splattered on black. It’s not obvious to me that this is a martial arts film. Maybe the producers should be commended as well for choosing a non-traditional title for this martial arts film. But choosing an action film based on its title given the choice of Coweb or Ninja Assassin, which would you choose?

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Killer Imports: Shinjuku Incident

Reed — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:06:31 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. See Jackie Chan drive a farm tractor on an iced, shallow pond and fall through! That’s the only promotional blurb I can think of to sell this latest Jackie Chan movie to a Jackie Chan audience. Shinjuku Incident marks Jackie Chan’s first full attempt at a dramatic role. His role in the 2004 New Police Story movie was more of a transitory role in which he got to do some emoting as a drunken cop and for which he received a Best Actor nomination by the Hong Kong Film Awards and a win by the Golden Rooster Awards. And although there is action in this movie with gangs fighting each other, Jackie’s trademark stunts and fighting skills are nowhere to be seen. Instead of Jackie dealing out the punishment, we see him taking the punishment much more than usual. Jackie portrays a farm tractor repairman who enters Japan illegally to find his missing girlfriend Xiu Xiu (Xu Jinglei). While he is in Japan, he meets up with a good friend Jie (Daniel Wu) from his hometown and other illegal Chinese immigrants, befriends the Yakuza leader Eguchi (Masaya Kato), and rises to prominence in the Shinjuku district. His friendship with Japanese police detective Kitano (Naoto Takenaka) complicates matters. The Japanese prostitute/bar hostess Lily (Fan Bingbing) also plays an important role. The movie takes its background setting from the historical significance of an influx of illegal Chinese immigrants into Japan in the ‘90s. This was something that I was unaware of. I had thought that the enmity between the Chinese and Japanese as a result of the Japanese invasion of China during the World War II years had dissipated somewhat. In this movie, we see a more benign invasion reversal, yet human nature being as it is, some Japanese people of a recent generation have developed hatred. The frequent news reports of illegal Chinese immigrants probably fueled the hatred. I do find it strange that some Chinese would choose to go to Japan with the awareness that they are not welcome, but I suppose the allure of a better life would make people bear the occasional insult and overcome the fear of being caught someplace where they were not supposed to be. The overt racism is apparently ignored by Japanese authorities since there are nightclubs displaying signs saying that Chinese are not allowed entry. I recall the scene in one of Bruce Lee’s movies where he is not allowed entry into a park that displays a sign saying that Chinese and dogs are not allowed. I love dogs, but to equate an ethnic group with an animal species seems like a huge insult. Bruce Lee’s character’s reaction to the sign is to kick the sign off the wall and then kick the sign into pieces in the air. It’s no wonder that Bruce Lee instantly became a hero to the Chinese. I’m sure dogs elatedly barked in unison as well. To be fair, the Chinese are not shown in a totally positive light as they are shown taking advantage of Japanese trust by stealing from the marketplace. And in-fighting within the group of illegal Chinese immigrants is just as evident and violent as within the Japanese Yakuza. It is interesting how illegal Chinese immigrant women are accepted as wives in Yakuza households. The uproar over the roles in Memoirs of a Geisha taken by Chinese women seems less relevant in light of this revelation. (I’m being somewhat sarcastic in that last statement.) The plot does unfold with too many coincidences, which is a usual lament of movie critics. I was fine with what happens as the drama kept me watching nevertheless. Be prepared for no humor though. The gang fight scenes are done with a minimum of flair with the exception of one short slow motion sequence. I must admit that I was expecting a more powerful climax. In keeping with Jackie’s much mentioned obligation as a role-model to his fans, the character he plays is decent and his rise to gang prominence is done with the noblest of intentions even though he does do things that are not lawful for which he regrets but for which he is willing to accept the consequences. At film awards held by China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, Jackie Chan has been receiving nominations and wins for his acting in his action films since 1985 for Project A all the way up to 2005 for the aforementioned New Police Story. I suspect that these awards are awarded with popularity in mind. With all due respect, I don’t think Jackie will be receiving an Oscar for his acting anytime soon although I do think he is competent at doing what this role demands. And for those keeping tabs, Jackie along with Daniel Wu is fearless when it comes to displaying full rear nudity. I recognized the actor Masaya Kato, who portrayed a Yakuza leader, from a film called The Last Supper based on a novel by Kei Ohishi, who also wrote the novelization of the film Ju-On: The Grudge. In The Last Supper, Kato portrayed a cannibalistic plastic surgeon / chef. I’m guessing this somewhat obscure reference will probably have no relevance to anyone reading this except to indicate the somewhat obscure films I sometimes watch. If you ever happen to come across the DVD cover for The Last Supper, then you’ll understand what attracted me to this bargain bin find. The director Derek Yee has also been an actor, writer, and producer with his acting starting in the mid-70s. He has received recent acclaim for his directing of One Night in Mongkok in 2004 and Protégé in 2007. I did see Protégé, but I can’t say it was memorable even though someone at Dragon Dynasty thought it deserved to be released by them. I generally haven’t appreciated the recent slew of Chinese crime dramas that have attracted attention with the most notable being Infernal Affairs that generated a remake from Martin Scorsese. I’ve noticed other reviews not having much affection for Shinjuku Incident, so I feel reasonably confident in not recommending this movie even though I’m more inclined to recommend one see this film to judge for oneself. Unfortunately, I found it hard to find reasons to see this film. Perhaps this film will be remembered for having Jackie Chan’s first sex scene.

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Killer Imports: My Sassy Girl

Reed — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:28:31 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. I think I once loved a girl. The reason I bring this up is that I recently watched a Korean movie called My Sassy Girl and the woman referenced in the title reminded me of her. I wouldn’t normally review a romantic comedy, but I had read about this movie after having seen one of the director’s previous movies, Cyborg She, which I favorably reviewed recently. Both these movies are a part of a trilogy by the writer and director, Jae-young Kwak, although the science fiction element in My Sassy Girl is not the basis of the reality in the movie. I’ll get to that soon enough. Since this movie was released in 2001, I’ll admit that I’m late to the party of supporters for this movie. In Korea, this film was the second highest grossing film in that year. And at the time, it was Korea’s highest grossing comedy ever. Its success even caught the attention of Hollywood. Dreamworks got the rights for a remake for $750,000 plus 4 percent of the worldwide gross. More on this in a couple of minutes or so (depending on how fast you read). A Japanese television series was even created based on the original source material. As in most romantic comedies, the two protagonists don’t experience love at first sight. It takes time for the attraction to blossom and circumstances get in the way. In my case, I met the girl I think I once loved when I started my first job after graduating from university. Strangely, memories long buried have just come to mind. My boss is leading me through a dark corridor that opens up into a small room. As we enter the room, I notice a woman seated at a computer workstation. She swivels in her chair and doesn’t bother to stand up as introductions are made. She is dressed attractively in a black skirt, white shirt, and red cardigan. Her hair is in a pony-tail. She does not smile. We were the only two employees in the company. In My Sassy Girl, the guy encounters an unaccompanied drunk woman on a subway and is reluctantly swept up into helping her. He knows that she is not really his type, but a relationship forms nevertheless as he is unable to ignore her. She speaks her mind, and generally embarrasses him when they are out in public. Some might wonder why he puts up with her, but I can vouch for the reality of the situation. I didn’t know anyone else in the city. Her initial cold demeanor might have been because she had a boyfriend who lived out of town. Her relationship with him was tempestuous. I probably knew it was a bad idea to spend time with her outside of work, but I couldn’t say no when she asked for favors. She didn’t own a car. In my mind, I thought by hanging around her, I might meet other women like the woman she shared a place with. The sassy girl played by Ji-hyun Jun isn’t given a name in the movie. Like the male protagonist, I found myself adoring her as well. Her hobby is screenwriting. During the course of the movie, she forces the guy to read two of her bad screenplays. One is based on Terminator, and the other is an historical sword epic. This allows the movie to go into brief interludes where the guy imagines that he and the girl represent the main protagonists in the screenplays. People who watch this movie’s trailer with the scenes from the guy’s imagination will be disappointed if they expected a lot of action from this film. There is a scene involving a lot of soldiers that seems to be somewhat contrived. The movie is kind of schizophrenic, but this may be intentional to represent the girl’s state of mind. My girl will remain nameless as well. I will admit that I loved her dog, and I think the love was reciprocated. Once, I remember that the dog was so excited to see me that it urinated on the porch before I could take it for a walk. Well, maybe it was a case of the dog being leashed on the porch for too long. But we did do a test where my co-worker and I stood equidistant from the dog and then each called the dog. The dog was confused, but it eventually shuffled on its belly over to me. Well, maybe it thought it was being called by its owner for punishment. Tae-hyun Cha plays the guy. His acting seems too broad, but the occasional dopey music seems to support the non-naturalistic style. Diverse Korean films with comedic elements like Volcano High, The Host, and The Good, The Bad, The Weird seem to employ the same absurdist attitude. I watched the Director’s Cut, which is over two hours long. Some people have complained that this is too long for a romantic comedy, but I liked the additional interaction we got to see between the two leads. I got to know my co-worker over several years of spending a lot of time with her. She was sensitive and demanding. I don’t remember denying any of her requests. In her bedroom, I remember watching the premiere episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. We even shared a bed, and I’m not using the word “shared” in a euphemistic sense. In all the years, our only physical contact was a peck on the cheek from her (in the presence of her cousin) when I stood up for her in an altercation with a store clerk (even though I thought the store clerk was in the right). Her boyfriend was a nice guy. His trust in me wasn’t misplaced although truth be told, I did admit to her that I had feelings for her when it was clear she was “using” me and the topic of why I stuck around came up. Her attitude towards me changed from that point on. By that time, she was able to find other employees to answer to her beck and call. Frankly, I was tired of being her whipping boy and I don’t mean that literally. Even though I enjoyed this movie, I’m not sure why this film has gotten the wide following it has or why exactly it’s a notch above other romantic comedies. Some have said that the story doesn’t unfold conventionally. Some have complained that it gets melodramatic towards the end. But I actually appreciated the change in pace. Eventually, the sassy girl’s behavior is explained by the end of the film. You know the old saying, “If you love someone, set them free”? Well, I let her go. She ended up marrying her boyfriend and having kids with him. I suppose in his story, I was the other guy who never got the woman. After she moved away, I didn’t pine for her. Maybe I was too rational, but that was probably a good thing for me. In my review of Cyborg She, I mentioned how I felt so much empathy with the lead male character. I found myself feeling the same with regards to this movie. Jae-young Kwak seems to be familiar with the male template that I find myself representative of. His trilogy apparently deals with the theme of love over time. Windstruck is the middle movie that I will need to see. After seven years, My Sassy Girl got its American remake and was called… My Sassy Girl! For political correctness reasons, I’m surprised that the term “girl” was retained. Originally, the remake was to be directed by the director who was hot off of Bend It Like Beckham, but the remake ended up being directed by Yann Samuel who had only previously directed a French hit comedy Jeux d’enfants. Jae-young Kwak got a screenwriting credit for an early screenplay. The remake stars Jesse Bradford (Clockstoppers, directed by Commander William Riker aka Jonathan Frakes, Flags of Our Fathers) and Elisha Cuthbert (24, The Girl Next Door). I recently saw this film in a bargain bin, so maybe I’ll end up doing a Bargain Bin review for comparison’s sake. As for me, I’ve never “loved” since.

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Killer Imports: Fatal Move

Reed — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:09:28 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. There’s a scene in Fatal Move that made me appreciate this film. The camera is shooting from a relatively high angle, looking down at the aftermath of a shooting in which Chinese Triad members are laying on the pavement beside a car. We see another car enter the scene quickly. And the car runs over one of the men lying on the road! Normally, in the movies, you would expect a car to swerve around a body on the road, because you would be expecting a stuntman to be lying on the road. I didn’t rewind to see if the film-makers used a dummy or a CGI facsimile, but this subversion of expectation is the visual sleight of hand that I love. Last month, I had watched the first twenty minutes of this film and I didn’t think too much about it, so I moved on. When I returned to this movie recently, I think I got hooked at the midway point. There is a lot of CGI blood that is the blood of choice when filming movies with swords nowadays. In this movie, the splattering CGI blood does appear unreal but maybe that’s because you don’t normally see the blood in a movie when a person is slashed with a sword. Or judicious editing and camera placement avoids showing the blood as the sword swipes across a body part. I don’t remember the blood from the Kill Bill movies looking this unreal. Perhaps what makes Fatal Move different is that the camera seems to hold position at times while allowing you to see someone slashing his way through opponents. There are several instances of a head, limbs, and fingers being graphically severed, but I don’t think it’s overdone (even in the uncut Hong Kong version). Because the director would not edit these scenes out, this film was never released in mainland China. Action sequences are interspersed throughout the film, but there is considerable drama. I have seen many films with Sammo Hung, and I’ve never thought much about his thespian talents. I have noticed his comedic flair in the past, but Fatal Move is the first movie where I’ve seen him demonstrate some dramatic heft. He plays the leader of a Chinese Triad gang. The plot of this movie involves Chinese Triad gangs fighting for territory. This is a popular Chinese film genre. As an interesting side note, Sammo has a scar between his nose and his mouth, and this is quite evident in the film. I’m not sure I really noticed the scar before or paid it much attention. Anyway, according to Bey’s Blog at the Dragon Dynasty web-site, the scar is a result of an actual street fight in which Sammo got a broken Coke bottle swung into his face from behind! Sammo thought his friend had his back. When I first heard about Martin Scorsese's The Departed, I sort of wondered why the source movie, Infernal Affairs, was so admired. I had seen Infernal Affairs and I had thought it was a somewhat ordinary undercover good guy versus bad guy story with twists. People generally acknowledge that Infernal Affairs is an awkward title for a film of its caliber, but I don’t see an improvement in the American remake title. I can see Fatal Move as a prime candidate for being remade in America. I have read some unfavorable reviews of Fatal Move, so maybe I’m in the minority for thinking there’s something unique in it. It would be interesting to find out if Coppola’s Godfather films have influenced Chinese filmmakers who have made Chinese Triad films. In various genre movies, there are some conventions in place in order to justify violence inflicted by heroes or villains. In science fiction movies, we normally have enemies being robots or non-humanoid aliens. In horror movies, we have the monsters killing promiscuous teenagers. In superhero movies, most heroes don’t use lethal guns and they never kill the criminals. Until post-Vietnam, war movies had humans killing other humans for patriotic reasons. Nowadays in war movies, there is no justification for humans killing humans. One thing I find interesting about gangster films where you have gangs fighting each other is that morally, the violence inflicted upon each other seems valid since they’re only hurting themselves. I mean, if the cops were to resort to such violence, then it wouldn’t feel right to cheer for the cops. Sammo’s gang has some cool fighters, and I found myself cheering for these guys, even though they’re not really good guys. However, they are loyal, which is one redeeming trait of being a gang member of any nationality. I don’t see how anyone would consider joining a gang after seeing this movie. Generally, in any film with bad guys, the bad guys have no qualms about killing insubordinates or incompetents. Sure, working for a legal organization still might involve backstabbing peers, but you won’t necessarily be killed! I understand the appeal of feeling like you’re a part of a family that looks out for you. Joining a gang is sometimes a survival tactic. That’s unfortunate. I guess that’s why there are people who try to get at risk youth involved in programs that will hopefully keep them away from bad influences. Getting back to the movie, one of Sammo’s henchmen is a martial-artist / actor who I understand has been trying to make his claim to fame. His name is Wu Jing aka Jacky Wu as well as a slew of other similar pseudonyms. In Fatal Move, he can be easily identified as the guy with the blue hair. I had seen him in minor roles in other films, but I hadn’t taken notice of him until Fatal Move. I was sufficiently impressed to go out and buy Invisible Target and Legendary Assassin, the latter film being his most recent and for which he is a co-director. Maybe I’ll review those two films later. (In case you’re wondering, I liked Invisible Target more than Legendary Assassin even though he has a smaller role in it.) North American fans of Chinese crime films might be pleased to know that Simon Yam and Danny Lee have major roles in the film. Apparently, both these actors were selected by the director in order for the film to have some North American appeal. I’m not a big fan of many of the crime films that John Woo, Ringo Lam, and Tsui Hark have done. Recent Asian films have shown a level of polish and refinement that better suit my tastes. I’m not familiar with this film’s director and writer, Dennis Law. I still need to buy his previous unrelated film, Fatal Contact, that was a starring vehicle for Wu Jing. Some reviews have complained about the melodrama and uninspired performances from the actors because of the clichéd script, but these criticisms feel hyperbolic to me. I doubt that all the actors would treat the material as second-rate. (To be fair, I have been criticized for not being able to properly critique acting skills, but I do feel vindicated that William Shatner has been nominated and won awards for his acting.) Most reviewers seem to like better the film SPL, which starred many of the same actors as Fatal Move, and also Donnie Yen. There were some scenes in SPL that I really enjoyed, but I think Fatal Move is thematically cohesive and thus the better film. For fear of ruining any plot elements and possible surprises in Fatal Move, I have avoided describing too much of what happens in it. Some of the regular readers of Killer Imports might think that I pretty much enjoy every film I see and that I’m not very discerning. Generally, I prefer to review films that have given me a good impression. I’ve recently seen a widely circulated film that I absolutely hate. It stars a female that kicks ass. It’s called Coweb. I’ll try reviewing it for my next Killer Import.

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Killer Imports: Cyborg She

Reed — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:15:25 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. I wish I had made this movie. I think that’s one of the highest endorsements I can give. (If I had made it, I would have subtitled it “The Reed Farrington Story.” (Just kidding.) I’ll explain this a little during this review.) If you don’t want the movie spoiled, then I suggest you force yourself to forget the title of the movie, that is, Cyborg She. Oh, sorry about reminding you about the title. Well, I suppose it doesn’t have to be a secret, but the fact that the love interest is a robot, I mean cyborg, isn’t revealed in the movie until about a half an hour or so into the movie. But I think revealing that she is a robot in the title of this movie is meant to help this movie find its audience. I suppose if this movie was called "Love Eternal", some female audience members expecting a straight-forward romance would be upset. In Korean, the movie is titled Boku No Kanojo Wa Saibgu which literally translates to "My Girlfriend is a Cyborg". Even though the literal translation is a bit too straight-forward, it makes more sense than Cyborg She. I have no idea why the movie ended up with the English title Cyborg She. I wonder if I’m missing a clever play on words. This movie is also known as "Cyborg Girl", which makes more sense. Anyway, I found this movie while I was looking for I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK (an even more awkward, straight-forward title) by Park Chan-Wook, the director of Old Boy. There’s a suspicion that this movie was inspired by Park Chan-Wook’s film, but I don’t know if there is evidence to confirm this. This movie has been described as The Terminator told as a love story. (I thought The Terminator was a love story between Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese, but let’s not get into that discussion.) The cyborg refers to herself as a “cybordyne model 103,” a direct reference to The Terminator. (I’m guessing “cybordyne” is a bad English sub-title translation of “Cyberdyne” although the actress does sort of pronounce the word as “cybordyne.”) The movie even chooses to use the exact visual effect to show someone coming back through time. The difference in this movie is that someone figured out how to bring your clothes back in time with you. The cyborg female arrives wearing a futuristic skin-diving suit. (I’m guessing the producers wanted to keep this movie family friendly.) Interestingly, the cyborg female doesn’t do what Arnie does to get suitable period attire. If you recall, Arnie would find someone his size and ask for his clothes in a not so polite way. Instead, she goes to a women’s fashion section of a department store! I’ll try not to ruin the story too much for you. Basically, a dweeb with no social life (someone like me) encounters a gorgeous woman who follows him around. Now no gorgeous woman has ever followed me around, but I wish this would happen to me. His reactions to her and how he gradually begins to be comfortable around her seemed so believable. I can imagine myself behaving in the same way if a gorgeous woman ever took a fancy to me. The story spans over a century into the future, and is about how the dweeb and the gorgeous girl fall in love with each other. That’s about it. I empathized with the dweeb quite a bit. The dweeb’s living space with books and knickknacks would be what I imagine my living space to be if I lived in a bachelor apartment. Although I don’t have a pet Gila monster, I think it would be cool to own one. There is some goofy and corny humor that I didn’t mind, reminiscent of the type of humor found in Jerry Lewis movies circa 1965. I’m not French (although I speak and write “un peu”), but I love Jerry Lewis! There’s a running gag with a university professor who throws a piece of chalk at anyone who is napping or not paying attention. I had a professor who would get upset as well, especially if he caught you reading a newspaper during class. He wouldn’t throw his chalk, but he would give us a stern lecture about wasting our tuition dollars. On several occasions, I felt like standing up and telling him that he was wasting the entire class’s tuition dollars by wasting time chastising all of us. But I was too busy napping. I wanted to avoid ruining too many of the scenes for you in case I manage to convince you to see this film. I’ll mention an inconsequential scene only because it’s a popular movie cliché that I’m told people should not imitate. (I’ll admit I did this for a neighbor’s cat.) The dweeb gives his pet cat a dish of milk. I’ve been told that cats can’t digest milk properly. Oh, I should warn you about a sentimental section complete with a grandmother and a children’s choir on the soundtrack. Personally, I don’t mind children’s choirs. I thought the music throughout the film was perfect, especially for tugging at the heart strings. I liked the Japanese pop music as well. (If you purchase the Malaysian DVD from Sarawak Media, you also get the soundtrack on CD!) Now I doubt the music is going to win any awards, but it serves its purpose nicely. I loved the look of the film. There’s a wonderful looking scene on a hilltop aglow from the sun as the cyborg gives a piggy-back ride to the dweeb. From electrical energy to people being tossed around like rag-dolls to city wide destruction, the visual effects are very well done. The director and writer of this film is Jae-young Kwak, who is known for romantic films, none of which I’ve seen. My Sassy Girl seems to be his most popular film. He did co-write All About Women, which I reviewed. The cyborg and the guy are played by Haruka Ayase and Keisuke Koide, respectively. This is the first time I’ve seen these two actors, and I thought they were decent. The director is Korean, but the two lead actors are Japanese because a Japanese company financed the film. With Shaolin Girl coming to mind, it seems like Japanese companies are financing Asian talent. Inevitably, some people will find time paradoxes in any time-travel movie (although some people seem to think that Primer is self-consistent). One point made in the Wikipedia entry for this movie is that in one of the times that the cyborg journeys to the past, the cyborg is wearing a futuristic skin-diving suit that is modeled after a costume on a figurine that the dweeb later gives her before she leaves the past. This apparently doesn’t make sense. I think the simple explanation is that the suit design was later created by the dweeb as a result of having been influenced by it when he had it. Giving the figurine to her was not the reason why the suit was designed in the future. Got it? I often wonder if film-makers on purposely overlook paradoxes while they are making a time-travel movie, or if they simply don’t realize the flaws in their logic. I believe that many time paradoxes are only time paradoxes because the conception of time is flawed. People often think that time is continuous so they think of a single time-line, parallel time-lines, and even of branches on time-lines. I like to think of time as discrete. Our minds create the illusion of continuity. My conception is based on what happens at the quantum level with the notion that what we observe causes something to happen. If time-travel were possible, I would think that it’s possible to go to any possible instant at which any possible events may have taken place. So you could travel “back in time” and meet yourself and even kill yourself and that would be fine. You could even travel “back in time” to a time you remember when everything is exactly the same except that you were never born! I’ll understand if you don’t agree with me or don’t understand what I’m saying. Given my understanding of how time works, this film presents a sublime message of love within a time-travel framework. I do admit that there seems to be an inconsistency in how people travel through time. And this whole thing about what happens to your clothes seems inconsistent unless there was an instance where she traveled and changed her clothes in between trips. Technically, she’s not a cyborg either. She’s really an android or a humanoid. (I never used to be so nit-picky until I saw the latest Star Trek movie.) To be honest, I didn’t "get" the film after my first viewing. I had to think about it and read what others thought about the movie. I’m not even sure my understanding is the correct one, but I don’t want to spoil the movie for you, so I’m not going to discuss my understanding of the film. In fact, some of my statements in this review are misleading on purpose. (And no, that last sentence wasn’t supposed to be one of those word conundrums like “This statement is false.”) Suffice to say, for me, the ending is simply perfect. I normally don’t like to do the “if you liked a particular movie, then you may like this movie” scenario, but I’m going to with this film. If you liked Chris Columbus’s Bicentennial Man with Robin Williams, then you may like this movie. I don’t believe Bicentennial Man was very well received because of its cloying sentimentality. Well, this film has the same predilection. This may not be much of a ringing endorsement. Oh, I did read someone comparing this movie to a more popular movie, The Notebook, which I haven’t seen, yet. (I’m not sure how many regular Film Junk readers would admit to having seen The Notebook.) Anyway, this is one of those rare films that will highly appeal to a select audience including people like me.

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Killer Imports: Ong Bak 2

Reed — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:00:24 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. After listening to the Macho Movie Review of Ong Bak 2, I was prepared to enjoy an awesome action flick when I inserted my DVD of the movie into my player. To be honest, I had purchased the DVD prior to listening to the review, and I had sampled some of the action scenes. Like Wintle and I imagine other movie lovers, I have a backlog of unwatched DVDs that is growing rather than shrinking. So the acclaim given and enthusiasm shown by Wintle, Nagy, and Billy in their review moved Ong Bak 2 to the top of my stack. Yet, their review came out weeks ago, and I have finally written my review. Why the delay? Because I was disappointed. I guess I should have been skeptical after Billy said that Ong Bak 2 was now his most favorite action flick, supplanting Conan the Barbarian. I wasn’t sure that my opinion was worth expressing especially since I gather that the majority of people really like this film; however, there is a fair share of negative reviews out there, too. Maybe I might have appreciated Ong Bak 2 more if I hadn’t been unduly influenced by the MMR. I would rather write a review of a movie that had some merit or at least appeal for me. Wait, that’s not true. I think I would enjoy writing about a movie that I really hated, and that sparked some ideas worth expressing. But I don’t think I really have much to say about Ong Bak 2. For me, it was simply okay. I think I enjoyed the first Ong-Bak more, probably because of the stunts in the modern locations. Ong Bak 2 does amp up the fighting with stronger opponents for Tony Jaa. I didn’t see a connection at all between the two movies other than the star, Tony Jaa. He’s not even playing the same character, I don’t think. I read that Ong Bak 2 is actually a prequel to the first film. I never did bother to find out what Ong-Bak means after watching the first film. I thought maybe if I found out, I could understand the connection between the two movies. In Thai, “Ong” refers to a Buddha statue. “Bak” means a scar or mark created from a blade. The stolen Buddha statue from Tony Jaa’s character’s village has a mark on it, so “Ong-Bak” is the village’s Buddha statue. There is a village legend about a Muay Thai teacher who risked his life in retrieving the statue from Burmese invaders; Buddha supposedly protected the teacher by transferring a wound from the teacher to the statue. The Buddha statue appears during the opening credits and shows up later as well. Oh, I think I understand why Ong-Bak plays a role in Ong Bak 2 now. Saying any more might spoil the film, so I’ll stop this line of thought. I also enjoyed The Protector aka Tom Yum Goong; I think I prefer it over Ong Bak 2. (Tom Yum Goong is a popular Thai dish that is hot and sour; it was supposed to imply that watching the movie would be like having Tom Yum Goong. That is, both are stimulating.) I had seen at stores the DVD releases of The Bodyguard and The Bodyguard 2 with Tony Jaa on the cover, but I had not picked them up because I thought they might have been Ong-Bak and The Protector released under new names. Research on the Internet uncovered the information that they were different movies; however, Tony Jaa only has a small role in each of them. So avoid them unless you’re a Tony Jaa fanatic. Some people have enjoyed The Bodyguard and The Bodyguard 2 on their own merits though. I do find Tony Jaa’s high-pitched talking voice kind of wimpy. (And yes, I do realize my own voice is high-pitched.) Because Ong Bak 2 doesn’t have much dialog, I can’t complain about Tony Jaa’s voice in the movie. Tony Jaa plays a character that is orphaned early in the film. He is abducted by slave traders and rescued by a gang leader who admires his spunk and utter fearlessness. He is raised in a gang village occupied by individuals who teach him various martial arts and magic. This allows Tony Jaa the opportunity to demonstrate different styles of martial arts as well as the use of weaponry. For me, the liberal use of the knees especially after a long leap was the trademark action move of Tony Jaa’s Muay Thai martial art. For those who can’t get enough knee action, don’t worry. Jaa hasn’t abandoned the knee slam. Jaa later does a solo theatrical dance routine during the course of the movie, but I don’t recall the gang village having a dance instructor. (Maybe the deleted scenes on the DVD will have that training sequence. I’m kidding. Actually, he learned the dance as a kid.) As an adult, he leaves the village to seek revenge against the man who killed his parents. Now the MMR of Ong Bak 2 makes a point of saying how good the story is, and how looks among the characters reveal intentions and feelings making dialog unnecessary. I’ll agree that the simple plot services the film in allowing the sequences of fight scenes. But to me, there’s not much of a story. As for the fight scenes, I didn’t find them very interesting. I suppose I’m much more into balletic choreographed action, but I can appreciate visceral messiness as well. Having seen so many action films, I need something special to impress me. I will say that the fight scenes are certainly better than any of the ones from the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I realize that’s not much of a compliment. I wasn’t impressed by the weaponry either. I should mention that I did find the scenes involving elephants to be awesome. It does seem to be rather abusive, or maybe I should say disrespectful, in the way that some elephants are treated like furniture. I have seen film footage of zoo elephants going on berserk rampages, so the docility of the Ong Bak 2 elephants seems strange. The elephants don’t seem to mind someone swinging on their tusks and running around and under their bodies. I guess the elephants were well-trained. I assume they were real. Tony Jaa did say that he had to spend several months with the elephants so that they would become familiar with him. The cinematography failed to show the natural beauty of the locations. The lighting on the combatants I felt was often too dark. There are some night time scenes I felt could have been better lit as well. Ong Bak 2 had a troubled production history that isn’t apparent from the final film. The final budget was triple its original estimate. Ong Bak 2 was directed by Tony Jaa and his mentor Panna Rittikrai. They also co-wrote the story. Rittikrai was brought in as co-director to complete the film after Jaa had a money dispute with the producers and walked off the job. Gone are the repeated multiple angle shots of key action stunts. Some people think that the repeated multiple angle shots in earlier films were “amateurish.” I’d love to see this done for a dramatic dialog sequence. Ha ha. Jaa’s unprofessionalism during the production of Ong Bak 2 has apparently not affected his clout in the Thai movie industry, because he still has directing, writing, and producing credit for Ong Bak 3, scheduled to be released on December 5, 2009. And plans for an Ong Bak 4 have already been laid out. Magnolia Pictures recently picked up the rights to release Ong Bak 2 domestically in the US. It’s scheduled to be released later this year. I don’t know if it will be released theatrically or direct-to-DVD. If you want to hear an effusive review of Ong Bak 2, I suggest you listen to the MMR of it. Even though the story is simple, I think I may have misunderstood the ending. I think I need Wintle to explain it to me.

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Killer Imports: Shaolin Girl

Reed — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:27:57 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. In 2007, Sean posted on Film Junk about a sequel to Stephen Chow’s phenomenally successful Shaolin Soccer. The sequel would be financed and made by Japanese and only be produced by Chow (who is Chinese). The sport highlighted would be lacrosse rather than soccer. Only one comment was made. Chris thought the movie would be worth seeing for the lead actress, Kou Shibasaki. And then later in the year, Sean posted about a teaser trailer for this movie, now titled, Shaolin Girl. And again only one comment was made. Mike said he would probably see it, but he was disappointed that Chow wasn’t directing. And I never gave a second thought about this movie again. Then I watched All About Women, which I reviewed. And I was charmed by the actress Kitty Zhang. So I looked up her previous movies and I noticed Shaolin Girl, but I had completely forgotten that this was the Shaolin Soccer sequel. The DVD cover was awfully designed in my opinion, but the garish coloring is instantly recognizable, so I guess the design isn't so bad after all. Anyway, I happened to notice the DVD at the shop, so I decided to have a look. At the risk of having to hand in my movie reviewing badge back to Sean, I must proclaim my love for this movie called Shaolin Girl. I was absolutely mesmerized by this film. When I had finished watching this film, I wondered why I hadn't heard anyone singing the praises of this film. So I was quite dumbfounded to discover from the Internet that practically everyone else hated this film. I read some of the reviews and it felt like I had not seen the same film as these other people. I think I only read one mildly positive review that said the movie was fun, which I agree with. The rest of the reviews were negative. At this point, I guess I should issue a disclaimer and say that ninety-nine percent of you will probably not share the same opinion of this movie as I do. The one percent of you who share the same likes as I do should read on. Here's a quick synopsis to establish the setting. A Japanese girl (Kou Shibasaki) who had been sent to a Shaolin Temple at an early age decides to return home and spread the art of Shaolin kung fu. She returns home to find that her dojo has been abandoned. She finds her former kung fu teacher is now a cook at a Chinese restaurant. At the restaurant, a waitress (Kitty Zhang) takes a fancy to her and implores her to join the girls lacrosse team at the university even though she doesn’t know what lacrosse is. She agrees to learn how to play lacrosse if the lacrosse team in turn agrees to learn Shaolin kung fu. The university president (Toru Nakamura) has an ulterior motive that will ultimately result in a confrontation. Now I admit the mood of the movie swings kind of erratically which is the kind of thing many reviewers criticize. They normally say that a movie can’t decide whether it wants to be: a comedy or a drama or whatever. Well, I was prepared to flow with the tonal shifts in this film. There are goofy moments. Some sweet moments. The violence isn’t too brutal. (I don’t recall any blood. Just some bruising.) Some things don't play out as you might expect or hope, while other things are somewhat clichéd. One big reason for my acceptance of this film was that the whole film was photographed beautifully. One other reviewer acknowledged this as well. The frame composition is magnificent. The camera placement is crucial to frame composition, and not only that, the accompanying camera movement is also important. I haven’t gone to film school, so I am unable to completely articulate why I think the composition is magnificent. A picture really would be worth a thousand words. Scene transitions were also nicely handled. I'll just mention one simple example at the beginning of the film that takes place at the Shaolin Temple. Some priests are walking and talking as the camera is dollying with them. When a temple column passes across the frame in front of the priests, the zoom shifts abruptly closer to the priests. And with each successive column wipe, the viewer is given an increasing sense that he is eavesdropping on an important conversation. The Japanese girl with the Shaolin skills is portrayed by Kou Shibasaki of Battle Royale fame. Apparently, she isn’t a martial artist, but she did spend a year training and I thought she acquitted herself admirably. Although she lacked speed, her form seemed convincing. I would equate her martial arts skills with those of David Carradine in the '70s television series Kung Fu. He didn’t move very fast, but he seemed to move in a hyper-reality that caught his opponents off guard. Shibasaki needed to show martial arts skills more than she needed to demonstrate lacrosse skills, and there are moments where she fights upwards of a hundred opponents at once with no weapons. The main villain is played by Toru Nakamura whom I recognized, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen him. So I looked up his previous movies and noticed two films I had seen: 2009 Lost Memories (ironically enough) and Tokyo Raiders. Coincidentally, Kou Shibasaki was also in Tokyo Raiders. (Both Tokyo Raiders and its sequel, Seoul Raiders, are fun films.) He doesn’t have much to say, but his portrayal of a bad ass was menacing enough. I guess I should mention Kitty Zhang since she was the reason I bought the DVD in the first place. Her character seems unbelievably wholesome and cheery throughout the film and even in dire circumstances. Since this film isn't supposed to be taken seriously, I didn't have a problem with this. The director, Katsuyuki Motohiro, had worked with writer Masashi Sogo previously on a film called Negotiator which referenced American action films of the '70s and '80s. Motohiro is a self-proclaimed action geek and Shaolin Girl references many martial arts moments. Since Stephen Chow is himself a big Bruce Lee fan, you can expect several Bruce Lee nods including one with a Bruce Lee look-alike. Concerning the martial arts action, there is a liberal amount of CGI and wire-fu. The fighting is varied enough so that it doesn’t get too boring. One amusing scene shows you the end of what you might imagine a long fight would look like with the combatants never getting knocked out or giving up. There is an inventive fighting sequence on top of water where one can push his or her opponent through the water. Steven Chow had wanted an underwater shark scene in Shaolin Soccer, but the visual effects people recommended against it for maybe time, budgetary, or technical reasons. I wonder if the Japanese made the effort for this sequel to do some water CGI scenes. The climax of the final showdown has been mocked by some reviewers, but I can guarantee that you have never seen a fight end like this before. The action director, Fuyuhiko Nishi, had choreographed the martial arts in only one other film before handling the chore for this movie. He directed the recently released High Kick Girl which showcases karate without the use of CGI or wires. Since this film mixes lacrosse with martial arts, the writers have cleverly included a lacrosse training sequence that takes place in a bamboo forest. And why lacrosse, you might ask? Supposedly, lacrosse is a big sport in Japan. It started in the mid '80s when some Japanese saw the sport during a visit to America and then invited some Americans over to Japan to demonstrate the sport. Japan now boasts the largest number of lacrosse players next to Canada and the US, and Japanese school girls are the main contingent. Since Shaolin Soccer was a big hit in Japan, some Japanese financiers contacted Stephen Chow for the rights to a sequel. I suppose it was natural to choose a popular sport in Japan for the sequel. Be sure to watch the coda that runs through the entire end credits for additional Shaolin lacrosse action! My last paragraph answered why this movie had ties with Shaolin Soccer even though Shaolin Girl could be seen as a completely standalone film. I guess the producers thought that mixing martial arts with a sport was the reason for the success of the first film. The characters Iron Shirt (Tin Kai Man) and Weight Vest (Lam Chi Chung) from Shaolin Soccer work in the restaurant and do lend some martial arts aid to the girl. Having them in the restaurant does provide an opportunity for an egg gag. Music often influences my appreciation of a film and I must comment on the awesome, generic Hollywood musical cues. Now I'm using the term "generic" here in a totally complimentary way. Normally bombastic music is not looked on kindly, but for this type of film, I think it is appropriate. Because the credits are only in Japanese, I don’t know who the music composer is. And I couldn’t find it from the Internet either. The sound design and mix were done at the Skywalker facilities and this is quite apparent to me. Despite the naysayers, I found Shaolin Girl to be a fantastic, fun film appropriate for all ages. But it would be remiss of me not to say that perhaps its saccharine nature will be off-putting for the majority of you.

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Killer Imports: The Road Home

Reed — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:49:34 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. I’m going to review an older film called The Road Home, because it’s one of my top ten favorite films ever. I realize that this is a highly subjective opinion, because I doubt there are more than a handful of people who might put this movie into their top ten. This film has garnered some attention so it’s not like a hidden gem that I’ve discovered. It did win the Audience Award at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, and it won the Grand Prix Silver Berlin Bear at the 2000 Berlin International Film Festival. (I don’t know what other films have been given this honor.) The director, Zhang Yimou, is one of the most famous Chinese directors known in the world. I’ve reviewed his Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles for Killer Imports. And the lead actress, Ziyi Zhang, is one of the most famous Chinese actresses in the world; though, at the time she made this film, she was an unknown. Her film after this, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, would make her an international star. The story starts in black and white in the present day. A son returns home to his mother. His father has died and the mother wishes him to be buried in a special place, but the son doesn’t understand why they need to go to all this trouble. The story flashes back to how the mother and father met, and the difficulties they had in getting together. You might expect that the difficulties include things like a war interrupting their lives or some other major world event, but we only see the simple life in a village in rural China. Then the story returns to the present to resolve the issue of the father’s burial. A simple G-Rated for General Audiences story told without any humor. There is no profanity. There is no nudity, no sex scene, no kissing, and not even any holding of hands. There are no gunfights, no sword fights, no kung-fu fights, no fights of any kind at all. Okay, the mother’s feelings are hurt when the father tells her that he has to leave town right away. And one bowl gets accidentally broken. (I might have revealed too much. Just kidding.) There are no explosions, and no vehicle chases. Oh, there is a scene where the mother chases after a cart. Basically, there’s nothing that I usually watch movies for. If someone were to say that nothing happens in the film, then I might have to concede that point. So what is it about this film that makes it deserve an entry into my top ten favorite films? It represents a much idealized version of love. In a time when arranged marriages were the norm in China, this story is about a woman who chooses who she wants to be with even though the attraction seems rather superficial in a Chinese cultural sense. Some reviewers have been unkind as to suggest that the father is "ugly" in appearance. But the father is a school teacher, a highly respected position, from outside of the mother’s village, and so he would be seen as good husband material. Given that the mother is still living in the same village when her husband has died would seem to indicate that she did not have aspirations of a better life elsewhere and so the love and devotion she had may not have been so superficial after all. The lifetime of love shown in this film does ignore the difficulties that arise from living together and raising a child. Perhaps this film is a celebration of the new freedoms within China. It doesn’t criticize the past. Even though the Chinese language is not a romance language, the Chinese have never had a problem keeping their numbers high. Quite the opposite. Culturally, earlier Chinese generations did disapprove of divorce. Maybe love isn’t all you need? I would say that anyone’s top ten favorite films should be a reflection of the individual. And the reasons why any film is on someone’s favorite’s list may be varied. Each film will have its own special meaning to the viewer. What makes this film special to me is the feeling that it gives me. I don’t need this film to surprise me with anything. For me, a film doesn’t need to be re-watchable to be great, but I never seem to get tired of watching this film. Could it be that I’ve become smitten with Ziyi Zhang? I’ve already written about how I did not initially find her physically attractive in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In this film, she is bundled up in clothing all the time and it is her face that is captivating. I find that she emotes well with facial expressions. Beyond that, I read that she affected an unusual waddle running style for the film based on her observations of locals at the location. The music is by San Bao. I really should do a more thorough search to find some other music he has composed. The soundtrack for this film consists mainly of variations on a single theme. For me, this single theme never loses its charm. I have some of the tracks on my MP3 player. When I used to ride my bike home after work late at night with no one on the streets, this music would lift my spirits and make me happy. Like the film, I will keep this review short and sweet. The film is not too sentimental. Any tears you shed will be those of happiness. I will leave you with some words that I first heard from Rod Serling. They are taken from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet:

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.

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Killer Imports: All About Women

Reed — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:28:38 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. Tsui Hark, “the Steven Spielberg of Asia,” is a legendary figure in Asian cinema. He is a multi-talented individual who has produced, directed, written, and acted. He was involved with the A Better Tomorrow series with John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat. He was involved with the Once Upon a Time series with Jet Li. He was one of the Asian directors who failed to make Jean-Claude Van Damme a superstar. His recent work hasn’t gotten the acclaim of his earlier stuff, but I enjoyed Time and Tide and Seven Swords, somewhat. All About Women is a comedy, a genre that Hark hasn’t been involved with for quite a while. I have not seen his earlier movies, but I was willing to give him a chance with this movie. He is credited as a director, producer and writer for this film. Unfortunately, this film won’t be restoring his legendary status. All About Women is an accurate title insofar as the movie is not about all women. The three main characters are female and I would hazard to guess that they do not represent a cross section of all females, but rather a selection of exceptional lives: a business woman, a scientist, and a rock musician. There are males who play an important part in each of the females’ lives. When I think about it, if males had been cast in the female roles and vice versa, I don’t think the script would have needed to change. I think that’s a reflection of current society where males and females can achieve the same level of status if not necessarily pay level. We are first introduced to a geeky, pheromone scientist (Xun Zhou) who has a problem being around men whom she is attracted to. She experiments with her pheromone patches, and ends up using them to attract a rock musician (Stephen Fung) whom she has fallen for. This rock musician is friends with a rebellious female rock musician (Lunmei Kwai) who was abandoned at an early age and has fixated on a pop star (Godfrey Kao). She imagines the pop star is with her and has imaginary conversations with him. The successful businesswoman (Kitty Zhang) has problems keeping girlfriends because the men they are involved with are always falling in love with the businesswoman despite her every effort to dissuade their advances. She has a male assistant (Eddie Peng) who is her cousin, thus explaining why he is able to resist her charms. The male assistant falls for the female rock musician. The businesswoman gets involved in setting up a deal with an environmentalist (Alex Fong), but she uses an ordinary looking woman to impersonate her in order to prove to everyone that she is successful not because of her looks. Anyway, the pheromone patches end up being accidentally attached to some of the players in this story, and everything culminates in an outdoor rock performance on factory grounds with the bizarre sight of the business woman rocking out with an erhu. (An erhu is a Chinese musical string instrument.) Many Asian films take their cues from American films, but this movie is not derived from Sex and the City. What makes me think that the movie should really be called “All About Men” is that each of the female leads does not have other female friends, so the females should really be males. Maybe I’m adopting the stereotypical viewpoint here, but it should be noted that the story and screenplay were developed by two men. Much of the movie follows each of the females separately. Circumstances in each of their storylines conspire to bring them together. The casting of Kitty Zhang as the businesswoman who charms men by her mere presence was quite appropriate. She really is drop-dead gorgeous. In real-life, she is only 20 years old, but she pulls off playing a 31 year-old with her confidence and bearing. I remember there was an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Famke Janssen portrayed an alien female who men could not resist. To me, she was drop-dead gorgeous in the episode. Strangely, having seen Famke in other roles (she portrays Jean Grey in the X-Men movies), I don’t find her that attractive. I’ve seen Kitty before in Stephen Chow’s CJ7, but I didn’t recognize her. I remember thinking she was attractive in CJ7 as well. The environmentally friendly professor is portrayed by Alex Fong, who reminds me of Harrison Ford, not in his appearance but in the way he carries himself in all his films. And like Ford, he seems adept at handling drama, action, and comedy. This film is handsomely put together. Everything looks great. The sound editing is great. I don’t usually comment on sound editing, but it sort of stands out with weird noises being in the soundtrack to emphasize the comedy. When I think about it, the plot is kind of inventive in the way it brings the lives of the females, and the males in their lives, together. But even as the film starts connecting people together, it doesn’t really build momentum. I think the film fails to create any empathy for the characters. I suppose the film is about the difficulty the women have in finding men to love them. I don’t think the women come off as being adorable enough to sympathize with them. Maybe the film avoids some of the bonding clichés of Hollywood romance films, but it hasn’t replaced these types of scenes with anything better. Usually, Chinese comedy relies a lot on slapstick and flatulence jokes. Thankfully, there is none of the latter. For me, the comedy falls flat in this film, and I’m not quite sure if the actors are to blame. I only know of a few Chinese comedic actors. Stephen Chow of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle fame has made a lot of comedy films, but it’s only with the aforementioned films that I’ve really enjoyed his films. They don’t really make me laugh, but they have a goofy inventiveness to them. I’ll give you a few examples of the type of humor you can expect in this movie. There’s one comedic set-piece in which the scientist has a problem applying contact lenses, so we see her try various methods. This is kind of inventive, if not overly amusing. During an auction, she inadvertently starts a bidding war. How many times have we seen that? Coincidentally, I happened to catch an episode of a television show called “Howie Do It” that pulls pranks on unsuspecting victims and one of the gags involved getting the victim to accidentally bid on an item. Then there’s a scene of her in a wedding gown being chased down the street by a horde of running grooms. I wonder if this is in homage to the Chris O’Donnell film, The Bachelor. One bizarre translation issue I found is that the lyrics of a song sung in Chinese had an English translation where the lines rhymed. I can’t tell if the Chinese lyrics rhyme. I’m guessing the English translation doesn’t match the Chinese. Does anyone know how songs are translated from one language to another? I guess I can’t recommend this film. I wasn’t bored by the film, but it doesn’t have any highlights. I suppose you won’t be seeing this film in Tsui Hark’s selected filmography. The next film Tsui Hark will be directing is an action crime thriller starring Andy Lau. It’s tentatively called D-Project and is scheduled to start shooting in May. After all these years in the business, Tsui Hark must be doing something right.

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Killer Imports: The Machine Girl

Reed — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:42:57 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. The Machine Girl sounds like a bad translation for The Bionic Woman. The literal translation for the title of this Japanese movie is “The One-Armed Machine Girl,” which sounds like a female Terminator with one-arm torn off. A more accurate title for this movie would be “The Girl with the Machine Gun Arm,” or if alliteration is desired, “The Girl with the Gatling Gun Arm.” But I guess one look at the DVD cover would clear up the confusion. I suppose this review continues my trend of reviewing movies with female protagonists. To be honest, I had not heard about this movie before I saw it at the DVD store. The DVD cover with a Japanese girl in her Sailor Moon school uniform and an arm replaced by a Gatling gun was too intriguing to pass by. There was another DVD with Japanese girls in bathing suits on the cover. The title was Attack Girls' Swim Team Versus the Undead. I was looking for a movie that might be of interest to Film Junk readers. I settled upon The Machine Girl because the cover design was the nicest, and it sounded classier. I think there’s a whole genre of Asian films with women whose body parts are replaced with weapons. There’s probably a psychological interpretation of this, but for adolescent boys, I think the visualization of the concept is awesomely cool if not practical. (Maybe I just made that up because a quick search of mine resulted in no other films in this genre. I can’t remember if Yo-Yo Girl Cop involved body part replacement. Perhaps there’s some anime or manga that I glanced at. There’s at least a Japanese fetish for the school girl uniform.) Apparently, the idea for the M4 carbine rifle-legged Rose McGowan character in Planet Terror popped into Robert Rodriguez’ head while he was driving. I wouldn’t be surprised if the inspiration came from the Asian genre (if it indeed exists). Or maybe Ash’s chainsaw arm in Evil Dead was the precursor of everything. Anyway, before The Machine Girl was released, it was apparently on many cult film anticipation lists. The Machine Girl starts quickly with an action set-piece involving the Machine Girl and a gang. We get to see the machine gun in action as the opening credits play while the blood shed continues to play out. If you can’t handle the blood and gore in the first five minutes, then this film is not for you. Then the film continues before the Machine Girl has had an arm replaced. Her brother and his best friend are bullied by the son of a Yakuza member. They are both killed. In attempting to find out answers, she gets an arm sliced off. Her brother’s best friend’s parents are mechanics and replace her arm with a machine gun. There’s a ninja attack. A final showdown takes place at a Yakuza hideout. With the Japanese preoccupation with rape, it’s nice for a change to see the girl’s vengeance brought about by the death of her younger brother. In my plot summary, I made sure not to spoil any of the inventive use of weaponry besides the machine gun arm which is hard not to mention since it’s the title of the movie. The movie plays out with one fight scene after another, so the glee in watching this film comes from seeing the variety of weapons, some common and others not so common. There is dialogue and acting, but it seemed inconsequential to the main proceedings. With this type of movie, you have to ignore logic. And especially physics. You would think that a machine gun would trump every common weapon besides grenades and dynamite, I suppose. Oh, but these are Yakuza ninjas, so I guess they can sometimes dodge bullets. Some of the violence is simply cartoony while some seems rather realistic. Well, as realistic as I can imagine. The visuals are so overwhelming that I can’t remember the music if there is any. There is some dynamic music during the opening credits. The movie looks like it was shot on videotape, so the colors seem muted except for the red of the blood. Maybe because there’s so much blood that the red is hard to ignore. The editing allows the camera to linger on all the visual effect and gore make-up shots. There is one nice camera shot of characters walking on a road with the background completely filled with a dense forest. Just to let you know, I’m not into the Faces of Death video series or any other pretend snuff films. Or the real stuff either. I think I am desensitized to watching things on video. I think watching a fake or a real snuff film would be the same to me. I don’t really enjoy watching horror films to see the inventive ways that people could be killed. Real life is different. I think I would faint if someone had his finger cut off in front of me. I would definitely faint if it was my own finger. With all that said, nothing in The Machine Girl made me squirm. Supposedly, the trailer for this film ruins many moments in the film. I watched some of the trailers and I suppose they do ruin some weird surprises, but if the trailers are supposed to attract an audience, then they do a good job. A trailer for the sequel is already out. The sequel is called Shyness Machine Girl with the following tag line: “She’s Back. With a Vengeance.” This tag line doesn’t really make sense. There’s a different girl in the starring role, and I don’t think she’s supposed to be the same character. She already exacted vengeance in the first movie. But I suppose all these movies have a vengeance plot. Still, they could have been more imaginative with the tag line. I watched the trailer for the sequel. She has an extra weapon. Sorry, I have to ruin it for you, because it’s so bizarre. Avert your eyes if you don’t want to know, but I’m guessing that knowing won’t ruin the movie for you. You might be guessing that it was already done in an Austin Powers movie with bullets that come out of the breasts. But no, the extra weapon is a machine gun that protrudes through her skirt and out her ass! And it retracts! So I’m not going to recommend you see this movie even though I found it somewhat entertaining. But if you’re into fake blood, then you would be remiss to ignore this film.

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Killer Imports: Bandidas

Reed — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:55:56 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. Bandidas is a France / Mexico / USA co-production, so I wasn’t sure it qualified as a film to be reviewed under the Killer Import heading, but Sean gave me the go ahead to review it (at the risk of being ridiculed). When I purchased the Bandidas DVD, I didn’t realize that it wasn’t a Hollywood film, so I wasn’t even considering it as a possible candidate for a Killer Import review. I admit that I was feeling somewhat guilty for only reviewing Asian cinema. Being able to sing the praises of this non-Asian film is a relief. (I know. People are going to say I can’t sing.) After I enjoyed the film, I went on the Internet to see if people shared my opinion. There seems to be a mixed-reaction. Those of you who didn’t enjoy Silver Hawk will most likely be better off disregarding my opinion of Bandidas, but I hope you’ll continue reading to get some insight into why some people like movies that you couldn’t care less for. I’ve only done a few Killer Imports, but I’ve unconsciously been able to balance the films so that women are the protagonists in at least half of them. In Bandidas, the focus is on Salma Hayek playing a University-educated daughter of a Mexican high official and Penelope Cruz playing an uneducated daughter of a Mexican farmer. The setting is Mexico in the period of the Old West. Dwight Yoakam plays a corrupt bank officer who is corruptly taking over land from Mexican farmers and killing those who put up any resistance. Steve Zahn plays a crime detective who is an early adopter of the science of forensics. Hayek and Cruz band together to rob the banks that Yoakam has taken control of, all so the stolen money can be used to buy food for all the displaced farmers and their families. Sam Shepard appears as a retired, experienced bank robber who teaches Hayek and Cruz how to rob banks. I think that about covers the plot. The last Western that I recall seeing with women as the protagonists was Bad Girls with Drew Barrymore, Mary Stuart Masterson, and some other women. Despite my lack of resistance to feminine wiles, I didn’t like Bad Girls. (I think Bad Girls was in answer to the male-bonding flick Young Guns.) Bandidas probably has more cleavage than Bad Girls, but Bandidas has more than cleavage going for it. The real-life friendship between the female leads comes off in the chemistry between the two characters. The initial enmity changes to friendly rivalry over things like who’s the better kisser. How’s that for a character arc! Cruz and Hayek regularly engage in playful banter and silliness throughout the movie, but also play the dramatic scenes with the necessary required seriousness. The humor between the female leads is reinforced when Steve Zahn decides to aid the women after being convinced that something corrupt is going on. Both Hayek and Cruz had worked with Zahn before. Actually, Cruz had shown Zahn the script while they were working on Sahara. Zahn plays a level-headed character for a change, but acts as a nice comedic foil to the zany antics of Cruz and Hayek, especially when the women introduce themselves to Zahn. Having Zahn use forensics reminded me of the Bruce Campbell Western television series, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. I loved the forward looking nature of the series when they used inventions that were precursors of technology we currently use even though the inventions most likely didn’t exist at that time. Bandidas was a film initiated by both Hayek and Cruz who had both wanted to work together. So I guess this is a vanity project for them. They came up with the idea of doing a Western, and approached their mutual friend Luc Besson who ended up co-producing as well as co-writing the screenplay. The directors are Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg. These Norwegian directors had only directed a science fiction short film called Dag 1 previous to helming Bandidas. Besson is known for giving young talent a chance, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a hand in hiring these guys. I thought the directors did a great job in their use of camera angles, placement and movement. The stunt doubles used were indistinguishable from the actors and were integrated into the film creatively. One scene has Cruz’ double walking on a roof, swinging down onto a balcony railing, followed by a recognizable Cruz jumping onto the balcony all in one camera motion. Another scene has Hayek looking into the camera as she falls into the river below. There is an amazing action scene with everything playing out in slow motion as the camera whip pans to catch different points of view. The beautiful Mexican scenery and realistic looking locations add to the realism of the film. There is an awesome cave location where the displaced farmers gather. On the DVD commentary, Cruz and Hayek credit the Director of Photography, Thierry Arbogast, for lighting scenes nicely as well as making them look good. Although the plot may seem hackneyed and familiar Western conventions might abound, the execution is more often than not quite inventive. How many of you would expect hockey skates to play a part in robbing a bank? Come to think of it, were there rinks in Mexico at the time? Perhaps it goes without saying, but there are various points in the film requiring major suspension of disbelief. Quite a number of the reviews I read contradict my statement about imagination being shown. Maybe I haven’t seen enough films. But don’t all Westerns follow a few basic templates? I don’t want to ruin all the moments in the film, so I’ll just mention one small example of the not-so-subtle cleverness from the filmmakers. There’s a scene where Zahn is crossing between a roof top and a balcony by straddling a rope held taut by a horse. The horse gets distracted, so the rope starts dipping, lowering Zahn who is seen behind a Mexican guard tuning his banjo. The note played by the Mexican dips lower as the rope is lowered and then the note goes higher as the rope is raised when the horse returns to its proper position. Well, I thought it was clever. Speaking of banjo tuning, the music by Eric Serra appropriately captures the Western adventure throughout the film. Some reviewers think the script suffered from a lack of comedy, but I wasn’t expecting Cruz and Hayek to spout out Woody Allen one-liners. The humor also doesn’t stoop to the lows of a Blazing Saddles, and that was fine by me. Small humorous moments like Cruz’ interaction with her horse and a dog’s affinity for Hayek added to the enjoyment of the film for me. Even Sam Shepard’s tough guy bemusement made me smile. I should mention that at the beginning of the film when the film rating comes up, nudity is mentioned. I’ll ruin this for you right now. Yes, you get to see Steve Zahn’s bum. (Or maybe that was his body double.) This film was made in 2006 and had a limited release domestically in a Latino theatre chain. I guess it can be considered to be a direct-to-DVD release, but this is in no way a B-movie. The production values are high and the movie is as commercially slick as anything I’ve seen from Hollywood. Perhaps movie distributors didn’t think the public wanted a Thelma and Louise set in the Old West, or a female version of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. (Not that Bandidas deserves to be held in as high acclaim as either of those two films.) On the commentary track provided by Hayek and Cruz, Cruz admits that this is the first commentary she has ever done and I think Hayek admits the same. Seeing as they were responsible for getting this film made, I guess they felt obligated to add a commentary in hopes of possibly increasing DVD sales. Because they are real-life friends, their banter comes off as charming. They are astute in knowing that they can’t be too candid, but at the same time, they feel they need to say something. I’ll give you a quick rundown on what was said in the commentary. There is no juicy gossip, but I’m offering this information as a feature of Killer Imports. If you don’t want the DVD commentary be spoiled, or if you have no interest in the personal lives of Cruz and Hayek, please skip to the next paragraph. Here we go. Cruz and Hayek had a near death experience together on an airplane. Cruz adopted a dog from Mexico during the film. Cruz is a photographer. Cruz and Hayek wore the bottom half of wet suits for the river scenes. Cruz and Hayek wished they had kept the boots from the Bandidas wardrobe. Hayek learned how to throw a knife for the film. And Hayek got many paper cuts from stuffing the paper money into her shirt. One strange thing about my Bandidas DVD is that the manufacturers put the widescreen version on the wrong side. The DVD has both the widescreen and full screen versions on it. The inner ring should indicate which side to play in order to get which version. Normally, this would not have been much of a problem. But I had bought a used rental copy that had magic marker writing on the widescreen side! If I had rented this DVD, I would have been angry. I was able to use a cleaning solvent in order to play the widescreen version. For me, Bandidas managed for the most part to give a slight twist to familiar elements. Perhaps you can fault it for not being particularly innovative; nevertheless, I found it a fun film to watch. I didn’t even mind the “riding into the sunset” and freeze-frame ending.

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Killer Imports: Ip Man

Reed — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:02:07 +0000

Killer Imports is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. Ip Man is a martial arts movie based on a real person. Previously, I had only known Ip Man as Bruce Lee’s Wing Chun instructor. I had not known how renowned a figure he is in China. I don’t even really know how much of the movie is factual. One only has to view Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story to see how filmmakers can distort the events in someone’s life. Wing Chun is a martial art that has not been given much exposure in Western films even though Bruce Lee was a practitioner who extended some of the concepts for his own martial art. I must admit that my limited knowledge is based on having my brother demonstrate the techniques on me. The techniques are so unusual that if you were to implement them in a one-on-one bar fight, I’m sure you could pummel any bar patron not familiar with the techniques. There are two aspects of Wing Chun that have always intrigued me. One is the training method of "sticky hands" where opponents stand facing each other about a yard apart with arms bent forward and wrists touching the opponent’s wrists. With an economy of movement, the opponents try hitting each other with face and body blows while maintaining arm contact and using pushing, yielding and redirection. Grabbing and elbow striking are allowed with the opponents returning to the original position after a strike. Now don’t take my description as being official because I’m not a licensed Wing Chun instructor. The other aspect is the "straight blast" or "chain punching" technique that involves wind-milling your fists in front of you. Anyway, both of these aspects are displayed to great effect in Ip Man. The martial arts actor playing Ip Man is none other than Donnie Yen who coincidentally starred in Painted Skin, which I reviewed two weeks ago. In that review, I mentioned how I had gotten bored of Donnie Yen’s fighting style. Well, Donnie Yen hasn’t used Wing Chun in any other film I’ve seen of his, so I have to say that Donnie Yen’s fighting skill in this movie is mesmerizing to watch. For the record, there is some wire-work in Ip Man, so the fighting isn’t all realistic Much praise should probably go to the action director Sammo Hung. If you don’t already know, he’s a legendary actor and director in martial arts films. He had his own American series, Martial Law, some years ago. In Enter the Dragon, he was Bruce Lee’s somewhat fat opponent at the beginning of the film. (As a side observation, it has always bugged me that Bruce Lee’s opponents in Enter the Dragon didn’t seem like much of a challenge. Sammo is unusually skilled for a fat guy, but he didn’t seem formidable in Enter the Dragon. Lee’s other opponents were a slow American, a bunch of scrawny minions, and an elderly Chinese guy. On the other hand, it’s now a cliché that the climax of a martial arts film involves the hero fighting a formidable opponent. Actually, Bruce Lee’s Return of the Dragon followed this formula with Chuck Norris as the ultimate baddie Lee fights at the end. But even having some Karate championships under his belt, Chuck still seemed flabby and not worthy of Bruce Lee in my opinion.) Ip Man starts with the man already skilled in Wing Chun and practically unbeatable in his town in China just before World War II. We never know how he got to be so skilled or why he got involved with Wing Chun in the first place. This eliminates all the potentially dramatic, but action-less, back story that usually comes with biopics. He has a wife and young son, both of which tend to get ignored over practice fighting with friends. (His wooden dummy for practicing “sticky hands” is affectionately inscribed with the word “wife” in Chinese.) Donnie Yen’s limited acting range is well suited for playing Ip Man because Chinese men stereotypically hide their emotions (except for anger). There is an air of arrogance and condescension that Ip Man seems to have behind his outward display of humility. If he wasn’t able to awe you with his ability, then you might find him unlikeable. There is the requisite village outsider who comes to challenge all the master teachers of martial arts clubs in town. He is played by Siu-Wong (aka Louis) Fan whom you may recognize if you’ve ever seen the gore classic Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. There is some mild humor during the Ip Man fight sequences as martial arts seems to be about having fun while disciplining the mind and body. And then the Japanese invasion occurs. Ip Man is somewhat like Jet Li’s Fearless in which martial arts becomes a way to demonstrate nationalistic superiority. Unlike Fearless, Ip Man does not attempt to be politically correct in showing any redeeming qualities of the Japanese. In this regard, Ip Man becomes like Bruce Lee’s Chinese Connection or its remake, Jet Li’s Fist of Legend. It is interesting to see how Ip Man deals with the Japanese invasion. How does a seemingly invincible fighter deal with an invading force with firearms given that this movie is based in reality? I’ll give you the answer, because I wouldn’t want you going into the film expecting some brilliant solution. He endures the occupation, willingly giving up his grand residence and well-off lifestyle. Initially, anyway. Of course (and I hope this isn’t ruining the film for you), there’s a final showdown with a Japanese general played by Hiroyuki Ikeuchi. The movie does offer an explanation as to why Ip Man changes his mind about something of which we are made aware at the beginning of the movie. I’ll let you discover this on your own. The director, Wilson Yip, has directed three recent Donnie Yen films: Flash Point, Dragon Tiger Gate, and SPL (aka Kill Zone). As I’ve mentioned previously in the Painted Skin review, each of these films has moments of awesomeness. There’s a scene in SPL where the camera tracks Donnie Yen as he runs towards a stationary car, jumps on it, pulls the driver out from the window, and proceeds to pummel him. For anyone who’s ever had road rage, this scene will have you cheering (even though the scene has nothing to do with the driver being a bad driver). Ip Man is beautifully shot. There’s a scene with the Japanese general talking to his captain in a hallway with hanging lamps. Each light only illuminates a small area with the rest of the background in darkness. It’s gorgeous! Ip Man is well-paced. I never felt bored at any point. There’s something about the way period martial arts films are being done nowadays that makes them more appealing to me than the older martial arts films like the Shaw Brothers classic films. Nowadays, the stories aren’t any better, but the production values are higher. The sound effects are better. The music is better. The acting is perhaps more naturalistic. And the fighting seems less choreographed. To see whether my tastes had changed, I watched Sammo Hung’s 1977 classic, The Iron-Fisted Monk, recently. For the most part, I was bored. I also remember being disappointed by Donnie Yen’s Iron Monkey, a film that Quentin Tarantino championed. During the same shopping session in which I purchased Ip Man, I picked up another Chinese DVD called Shuang Long Ji. Coincidentally, the fighting style used is Wing Chun and Sammo Hung plays a role, although he’s not on the DVD cover. The awkward fade out transitions seemed strange until I later found out that this movie was edited together from a Chinese 2007 television series called Wing Chun! The Afro-Brazilian martial art, Capoeira, became widely used in movies and television as a result of being popularized by the Bourne movies. I’m thinking that Wing Chun could become popular if Ip Man manages to catch the fancy of Westerners, but Wing Chun might require more skill to be impressive. Some people might complain about the hackneyed storytelling, but the thrill of seeing Wing Chun in action makes watching the tale of a single man fighting oppression seem fresh again. If you don’t want to wait for a North American distributor to decide to release this, then I suggest you purchase the available Hong Kong import DVD or Blu-ray. There’s a sequel already planned or even in production, and another biopic of Ip Man scheduled for release. Ip Man is one "flavor of the month" that I’m currently savoring.

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