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darrylwad
Reviews
Biyeolhan geori (2006)
Without a doubt better than The Godfather!!!
If you are looking for more in a gangster film than just violence and fights then this is the film for you.
This is a very well rounded film, in addition to some good scenes of violence, murder, betrayal and fights, there is a good splaterring of humour, family drama and a small bit of romance too.
The film centres around a low level gangster who through hard work and various violent acts begins to rise through the ranks.
One of the major messages of the film is about trust, friendship and betrayal.
The acting and directing are all very good, without the need to go over the top due to the excellent pacing of the film and a very good storyline.
Very highly recommended, the time to the end credits is just shy of 2H18, but it's well worth the time for the excellent twists and turns as the film goes on.
Jiphaengja (2009)
An execution film with good amount of drama and humour
AKA 'The Executioner'
I saw this film for the first time last night, after seeing the trailer I knew I'd enjoy this film and I did.
The film is based almost totally in a prison where 3 of the inmates are set to be hung for their various crimes and concentrates mainly on 3 of the guards and 2 of the 3 set to be executed.
As with many Korean films there is just the right balance between drama and humour.
It's just over 90 minutes long and to me it felt longer (but in a very good way), indeed I wish it were a little longer.
Good strong characters, a well paced film, good solid acting, but if you're looking for action then skip this, as this is more a study of people in difficult situations, basically the executors (all except 1 of which have never before executed anybody before), and the prisoners that are set to be executed.
I found the film both fascinating and engrossing, recommended!!!
Sae-yi yaeseu (2001)
A gritty film with a sadistic stalker come killer
I've watched this film twice so far and in my opinion it's one of the best thrillers I've seen to date from Asia, whilst not being as good as the likes of 'Infernal affairs' or 'Chaser' I still rate this highly all the same.
The bad guy is very good and totally believable in the role, as are the couple who he decides to prey on and generally make their lives a misery, whilst slowly driving them mad with every psychological/physical turn.
There's a consistently good atmosphere in the film which is at times brutal to a pretty high degree.
The film is about the right length, overall a very good watch, it probably won't blow you away, but it's much better than most thrillers over the past 5-10 years or so, well worth checking out.
Molly and Me (1945)
Ever wish a film were longer than it is?
What a wonderful and thoroughly entertaining film this is, this is my first experience of Gracie Fields and purchased this due to Monty Woolley being in this, suffice to say not only am I a fan Of Monty's, but Gracie's, too.
There's a good mixture of fun, laughter, slapstick, farce, singing and a terrific, entertaining cast, as well as Monty and Gracie the main cast members to stand out for me are a very young Roddy McDowall (as Monty's son) and Reginald Gardner (as the Butler), the rest of the cast are all excellent and together with me the cast were clearly having a ball too!! My one and only problem with the film is that I wish it were longer, it's only 76 minutes long and just wish it'd been at least another 10-15 minutes more, but it's always a sure sign just how much you've enjoyed a film when you think this way I guess, If you enjoyed Monty Woolley in this then please check out The Man who came to dinner with Bette Davis, it's a terrific comedy, sadly only available on Region 1 at the moment.
Good sound and picture too, I've purchased this film in the Gracie Field's silver screen collection and that version at least has no subtitles whatsoever.
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
One of the greatest Sci-Fi films of all-time
I first saw this film around 25 years ago and I've always loved it, it's like the very first Star Wars film for me, it's the kind of film I can watch time and time again, week in week out and never tire of it.
It's got a great bad guy Sador played by John Saxon, Richard 'John boy' Thomas plays the good guy who's planet is threatened by extinction or it's people being enslaved (depending on whether or not they bow to Sador or not), he takes the one and only spaceship in search of mercenaries to help in the battle against Lord Sador.
George Peppard, Robert Vaughan and the stunning Sybil Danning are three of the films heroes who answer the call to arms, all of the characters are great and it's a simple and very well executed storyline with a good mix of action, character building, laughs and a little bit of love thrown in too.
This is one of the few films that I've purchased from the USA as it's the only place I could buy this film, that's how much I wanted this film on DVD before it's lost forever, that would be a very sad thing indeed!!!