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Mei li jiu ba (2005)
Bad attempt of something that could have been interesting
Beauty regents a bar called "Bar Paradise" where all kind of low- lifes spend their time. Feeling targeted, she hires a new bodyguard ,Cheuk, that soon will fall for her...or him. He will not the only bodyguard, as Hai a gangster wannabe is also working there and in some ways he shares his interest in Beauty, making his girlfriend go crazy.
This movie supposedly made just around 60 euros during his full theatrical run, and while I can't say that is the worst Hong Kong movie I've ever seen (that title would be for those rip offs of famous movies or those lame horror flicks like Devil Eye), I understand it. The biggest problem here is nor the director or the writer knew where they wanted to go. From the beginning, where Cheuk appears in the bar and stops a man holding a gun (we don't get any explanation for this for example) till the end with the baby story arc, going through the numerous meaningless scenes, the incoherent story and the sometimes awful editing (the speech Eric Tsang gives without moving his lips for example), scoring and acting.
The biggest example of this problem is the story of the killed "SWAT" member, which is presented as the reason of why Beauty becomes a target, but after being presented is been left apart and the reasons changes to another theme (his trans-sexuality).
And then everything is partly resolved in a rush in the last 5-7 minutes, leaving you with the sense of a wasted chance and that they didn't know what they had in their hands.
Gipgo puleun bam (1985)
Forgettable movie of koreans 80's cinema
Baek Ho-min (Ahn Sung-kee) leaves for the United States, leaving behind in South Korea his wife which is pregnant, to get the green card, which will allow him to bring them to the US. In order to achieve his goal, he will do whatever he needs to do. Jane (Jang Mi- Hee) is a Korean woman living in Los Angeles working as a waitress and that after her marriage with African-American fails, she will start to get married with several men for money to help them to get the green card. What started as a regular "business" relationship, will become more complicate as the contract ends and Jane develops new feelings toward Baek even after knowing his past.
Probably the only incentive to watch this movie is to see Sung-kee playing a "bad guy" in one of his oldest available movie with English subtitles around (just A Ball Shot by a Midget and Housemaid would be older), as the rest of the movie is totally forgettable, not remarkable acting and a script that could have been much better with some work. Special mention for the English subtitles in the DVD that even when the characters speak English doesn't really match what they are saying and what is written on them (the immigration officers visit gets hilarious because of this). So if the Korean spoken parts are translated so poorly there is a big chance the general impression is affected because of it.
Hallellu-ya (1997)
Forgettable and predictable comedy wannabe
Duk-gun is a low life scammer that spends his life going in-out from jail. One day, while trying to blackmail one woman, he witness a car accident. After taking the unconscious victim to the hospital, he realizes that is a pastor that is heading to a church to collect a 100 million wons donation. He now will take over him and with the help of his friend Dong-pal will try to get as much money as he can.
There is nothing special about the movie, at some point seems it will go deeper on it's attempts of satirizing the religious cults, but at the end, when Duk-gun conscience seems to wake up, it goes for the easy and moralist conclusion. The acting is average (even Park Joong-Hoon doesn't stands out) and the only funny moments, maybe are the few times where the ghost of Duk-gun's father appears.
Eomaeobtneun haneularae (1977)
Interesting drama about the rural life in the 70's in South Korea
Yeong-chool (around 10) lives happily with naughty young brother Yeong- moon and his parents in the house provided by the salt farm where the father works. But soon things start getting bad. The father is suffering from a mental disease that gets more and more serious, and the mother after having the a new baby has to overwork till a tragic ending. Soon after this Yeong-chool will have to take over and become the family man.
The most remarkable thing about this movie are the acting of both brother who deliver a pretty good performance, sadly none of them continued their acting career. The movie tries to depicts in a realistic way the hard life on the rural area in South Korea in the 70's, the importance of the community, the innocence of the youth (specially the young brother). Though it doesn't surprise and is pretty predictable, it's worth a watch.
Eomaeobtneun haneularae 2 (1978)
A bit inferior to the first part, but still watchable
Yeong-chool, Yeong-moon and their little brother, are together again after the attempts to separate them of the village head. After the diaries of Yeong-chool had become popular now they don't have to struggle to get food and now they are allowed to live in the house of the company where their father used to work...but they still on their own.
This second part of the trilogy, follows in a predictable way the story presented in the first part. Though this time there are some elements that breaks the realism of the first part (like even though they keep receiving food and gifts from all over the country and even the president is aware of their situation, they keep living in a miserable way...they don't have the money to pay the medical fees of the father, or the sudden miraculous release from the hospital of the father). There are also some overdramactic situations brought by the director to get some easy tears specially in the final part.
There is still a third part, but no available in internet, plus after the way it ends the second part doesn't really seem to have a real relation to the story of the brothers.
Gibbeun woori jolmeunnal (1987)
Nice example of korean cinema of the 80's
After seeing Hye-rin (Hwang Sin-Hye) in a play, Young-min (Ahn Sung-kee) falls completely in love with her. He sends fruits, chocolate, flowers to hear to every play she does, but his shyness makes almost impossible for him to ask her out. On a Christmas eve he is decided to make the big movement, but Hye-rin has other plans.
While the story may not be original at all, the movie is enjoyable and shows how the korean cinema was back in the 80-90's before the new wave of the korean cinema. The only problem I see, is that 75% of the movie is just about the Young-min chasing Hye-rin while the in last 30 minutes "everything" happens and in a fast way. Despite the over-dramatic resolution, the movie gives you a "feeling good" vibe. Besides is a good opportunity to watch one of Sung-kee's oldest available movies. A movie recommended to all the ones who wants to experience how the korean cinema was before the boom of the 00's.
Khon baw phii baa paachaa taek (2003)
Terrible and childish attempt of horror-comedy
Lur-Lerd and two subordinates go from Bangkok to the countryside to try to buy some lands and build a resort. On arriving to their destiny their car dies and have to spend the night there. In the village they will meet with some local chiefs that will do everything in their hands to make the deal and the opposition of the monks and the ghosts who live in a cemetery included in the lands of the deal.
While Thailand cinema is evolving and giving great movies during the last 10-15 years, this movie is the example of the opposite. It fails in every aspect. The story is never really explained and the viewer has to guess from the beginning. The editing is terrible giving the sense that the movie is just a bunch of different sketchs that have been put together. The effects...this may be the worst...not only silly sounds are included any time some childish joke is made (some of the characters name is just Dickie and Pussy as example of the humor of the movie) but also the supposed scenes that happens during the night were filmed in daytime and then added some blue filter to make them look different from the real daytime scenes. And the acting, well that will be the less bad part of the movie. If you are looking for some horror-comedy from Thailand I'd recommend you to skip this one and try something like "Buppah Rahtree"...but if you are fan of really bad Thai movies like "Diecovery", "The sisters"...then, this one is for you.
Dongbaek-kkot (2005)
Nothing special
The Bogil island is the witness of 3 love stories: In "Kim Chu-ja", Chun-ha sees his old boyfriend on TV and decides to call him and go with him and his daughter to the Bogil island in a try to take up their relationship again. In "Drifting Island" a taxi driver and a mechanic live their difficult love story only when are in the island. Finally, in "La Traviata", a woman goes to the island, looking for her ex-husband's boyfriend, who now runs a cottage with his current boyfriend.
Apart from being gay love stories, this movie has nothing special. For me, the worst story by far is the second one, which is a bit incomprehensible, though maybe the problems are the subtitles (they are quite bad). The third story is interesting but we have to suppose some parts of the story to have everything clear. The first one, is the best of the three stories with some funny and interesting moments, like when Chun-ha explains how the relation with Wang-geun started, first speaking directly to the camera and later with some anime scenes or the musical scene.
Pulisi gae-im (2004)
Good intentions on Jung Sung-hyun late debut
Hyun Tae is an architect who doesn't like the commitments and spends his life going from one woman to another incapable of being more than one night with them. One day, when he was hanging out with his friends, he meets a strange woman (Hee-jae) who apparently is looking for her fiancé. At the same time, a car accident will change completely the life of Hyun Tae and his friends.
According to the info that can be found on internet, this movie is the culmination of Jung Sung-hyun dream, a movie lover that has wanted to do a movie since he was young but it took him till he was 52 to make it.
In this low budget (though there are scenes filmed in Nepal and Sydney) Sung-hyun shows some good intentions that should earn him the chance to direct another movie without the limitations "Foolish Game" had. The acting maybe is not brilliant, but unlike what happens in others low budget Korean dramas is quite solid. I would say the only weak point is the script, because while we have some unimportant information about some characters, we miss the causes of some of their acts (for example, the story about Hee-jae's fiancé)
Popee (2002)
Interesting film for anybody who has a dog
After his dog "Popee" passes away, an unsuccessful director (played by Hyeon-jin Baek) tries to pay a tribute to his pet by making a documentary about the live and habits of dog owners and their pets on Seoul.
Firstly, I have to say that despite what it looks, "Popee" ins't a documentary or at least Kim Ji-hyun says it isn't, though some of the stories told here are said to be true. The movie starts with Soo-hyun and his mother taking Popee to the vet, where they receive the news that he is critically ill. After he died, Soo-hyun decide to film a documentary in order to pay homage to his lovely pet. From this moment, and for almost the rest of the movie we are the witness of the shooting of the documentary.
The documentary is divided in three parts. In the first one, some dog owners tell different stories about their pets, for example Oh Yun-hong (The Power of Kangwon Province fame) explains the problems she had when she bought a dog (though we can't know if it's true). In the second part, the director interview some people about their thoughts of neutering dogs. And in the final part, anonymous people answer some questions about the life of their pets, like if they think their dogs dreams and if so, what do they think they dream.
Overall, Popee is an interesting movie that should be watched for all those persons who think that the dogs are a plate of food for Koreans.
Widaehan yusan (2003)
Nothing you haven't seen before
Chang-shik is a Psychology graduate who is too lazy to find a job and has been living with his brother and his wife for two years. Mi-yeong, is an actress wannabe who always fails in the castings, so she helps her mother to run the family videostore. They don't get on well since Chang-shik rarely returns the videos on time and don't want to pay the fines. One night, they meet completely by chance and are the witness of a hit and run accident. Thinking of the money they could get for the reward they decide to go to the police to declare. Soon, the things will start to get complicated.
Like the title says, this movie is nothing you haven't seen before, especially if you are a fan of the Korean cinema. The movie follows the typicals points of the Korean romantic-comedies, here we have the rude girl, the weak boy, some unexpected events and of course, a scene in a motel room. It even has the most common defect on the modern Korean cinema, because the film last too much, in 100 minutes they could have told the same and make the movie more entertaining. Also, the story is quite predictable, if you have seen any of the romantic-comedies that have invaded the Korean scene on the late years, you will easily know how it ends. So...why a 6? Well, I don't know, it has some funny moments, Kim Sun-ah is on it...and maybe the fact that I haven't seen any Korean romantic-comedy in a while. Anyways, the hardcore fans of this type of films won't be disappointed.
By the way, watch the credits! One part of the story is solved there.
Miso (2003)
A common drama without nothing remarkable
So-jung is a young photographer who dreams of finishing her education in the United States of America. But one day is diagnosed with tubular vision disease, which will make her to lose her eyesight little by little. In this new situation, she decides to pursue a new goal and leaves all she had behind, including her boyfriend Ji-seok. Now she only desires to get the flying license so she can have a "wide vision" of the world.
Firstly i have to say that this movie is extremely slow-paced, in fact, it can be comparable in this way with the cinema of Shunji Iwai or Kim Ki-Duk (sadly Kyung-hee Park isn't as talented as Iwai or Kim), so if you don't like this kind of film you better avoid this. The main problem of the movie is that almost half of the film (all the stuff about So-jung friend's family)has nothing to do with the story, so the movie could have perfectly lasted just for an hour and this would have made "Miso" a better movie. Another problem is the lack of a score or music during all the movie (maybe there are just a few seconds of score) which sometimes gives the feeling of emptiness or that something is missing.
On the other hand, the acting is solid and the movie has a nice cinematography.
A+ salm (1999)
One of the worst Korean drama of the last years
On the night of Yoon-joon's high-school graduation, the Park family suffers a car accident where the mother dies and the father results seriously injured. The need of Yoon-joon to get money so he can pay the operations that his fathers needs, leads him to become a gigolo. One day a girl appears in his life, and Yoon-joon seems to have finally found happiness, though he still struggling with his inner devils.
First i have to say that i'm very fond of the Korean dramas, i watch all Korean drama movies i can, and this is the worst i have seen, without a doubt. It's not a surprise taking into account that the director is the same of "Hera Purple" the worst Korean movie i have seen along with "Teenage Hooker Became Killing Machine in Daehakroh".
I give it 2 points, because the script was interesting (though it was developed bad) and because the music score has a nice guitar melody, but the rest of the movie is terrible. Make yourself a favour and avoid it.
Jilju (1999)
Nice Korean unknown movie
Ba-ram, Seung-hyun, Sun-woo and Sang-jin are a group of young Koreans that spend all their time chasing their dreams. Ba-ram is the leader of a rock band and for her there isn't nothing but her music, Seung-hyun doesn't believe in love and all he want is spend each night with a different girl, Seon-woo only dreams about being a powerful person and the only goal of Sang-jin is to find the true love and take care of her little sister, Sang-hui. Though all of them work in the same building there is no relation between them...or at least that's what they think.
The movie is divided in 6 parts: weekend, which explains the origins of the four main characters, amazon, in which they meet for the first time,eden building, party, under ground and rush. Though it hasn't much to do with the 1999 movie Go, while i was watching Rush, it reminded me a bit of it. The acting is solid, the script although it can be quite predictable, catches you over the 100 minutes that last the film and the soundtrack (important part of the film) is very good. The only bad thing i see, is that sometimes the director cut some scenes too fast and abruptly letting the sensation that we're missing a part of the story.
It looks like this movie isn't very known and i really don't know why, so if you have the chance, at least give it a try.
The Commitment (2004)
Thai horror at its worst
A group of friends go to a place known as "the house of the spirits" where is said that if you make a wish and offer something good enough in exchange for the wish, it'll come true. After being there, everything seems to go fine for the girls as they wishes come true, but the things start getting wrong when some of them don't carry on the promises.
This movie, is a perfect example of the typical Thai horror films, which have more in common with the occidental teenage horror flicks than with the Asian horror movies. Of course, not all Thai horror films are so bad, there are a few exceptions like "Shutter", but in general they are...
In this case, there is almost nothing to save, the acting is quite bad, the story poor and predictable, some of the supposedly scary moments are hilarious (specially the two "hair attacks") and the final is....Also, there is one homage to Psycho and another one to One Missed Call that defines perfectly how bad is the movie.
Sentimental City Marathon (2000)
Japan meets Wong Kar-Wai
Matinée and Soiree are two twin sisters that were separated when they were young. Nowadays, one is a hit-man in Tailand and the other one, who decided time ago to stop speaking and let people think that she is dumb, runs a flowers shop in Japan. Though they try desperately to find each other, they seem to be destined to be alone...
This movie has been described as the Japanese answer to Wong Kar-Wai, and in some way, it could be. Especially if we are talking about the Wong Kar-Wai of "Falling Angels" and "Chungking Express". The movie is divided in two parts, each one tells the story of each sister and some moments are filmed with a style and rhythm that reminds of the before mentioned Wong Kar-Wai. Also has a good soundtrack. The only bad point is that the film only last 70 minutes and would have been fine to see more of this interesting film (more, taking into account that there is no news of more films by this director).
Naniwa yuukyôden (1995)
Bad but funny Miike film
Makoto and Eiji are two friends that have been ejected from the school. In order to get money, they answer and advertisement on a magazine that supposedly offers a good job, but in reality this is just a swindle made by the Kinsu family to get new members for the group. Once they are members of the Yakuza, the two friends will discover that this world isn't like they imagined...
Firstly i have to say that i'm not a big fan of Miike...in fact after having seen almost all of his released works i'm still think that is one of the most overrated directors...along with Kitamura.
As for the movie, i think it's one of Miike movies i have enjoyed more with, you won't stop laughing. In fact this is more a comedy where the Yakuza world is totally mocked than an action or crime movie, and there is no trace of the typical bizarre things, Miike has become popular for.
Ggotpineun bomi omyeon (2004)
Maybe a bit slow-placed but still a good movie.
After receiving a call from his ex-girlfriend confirming that she is going to get married, Hyeon-woo lefts Seoul and his mother behind and moves to the countryside with the hope that he could start everything from the beginning. There, he starts working as music teacher for the music band of the middle school of Dongye which hasn't won a competition in years. Furthermore the music program of the school is in danger of disappearance if they don't do well in this year tournament.
Despite what could it seems, the movie doesn't focus on the music tournament, but in the personal life of Hyeon-woo and his relations with his new neighbours.
Like happens in every movie he stars in, one of the best things of the movie is Min-sik Choi's performances (for me, the best korean actor and one of the best worldwide) though this time he plays a different role we are accustomed to. Also the music is notable (somebody knows if Min-sik Choi himself plays the trumpet and the saxophone?). On the other hand, "when spring comes" suffers the most extended defect in todays korean cinema, that is to say, the almost obligatory necessity to run all their movies over the two hours.
To sum up, this is a very good drama, that should please people who likes dramas like "christmas in august" or "one fine spring day" (indeed the director worked in both films)
PD. For some inexplicable reason, this movie seems to be very unknown, even to the Asian movies fan people, so don't miss it.
Kangryeok 3Ban (2005)
Rhythm less and a bit long
Kim Hong-joo is the leader of a police squad that is having a lot of problems to fulfill their arrest quota. One day, thanks to his intuition he arrest a low class drug dealer who in order to get a lower sentence, lead them to a big crime organization.
Though the film starts fine, soon shows one of it's defect, the rhythm less. The other main defect is the running time, the film doesn't tell so many things to fill almost two hours at a good level, though this problem is becoming more and more common in the korean films. The movie can be also quite predictable because is a story that has been told before a lot of times.
If one of your reasons to see the film is the main actor, Min-jun Kim, i highly recommend to see "No mercy for the rude" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0856052/ instead of Never to lose.
Horobicheu-reul wihayeo (2006)
Predictable but nice film
Ji-su is the daughter of a middle class family who spent most of their money on her musical education. Unfortunately she didn't have the success she expected and now runs a little piano academy. One day a young problematic boy, Gyung-mi, appears in the academy and Ji-su discover he has a great natural talent for the music.
First of all, if the music (specially classic music) is not your thing, you better skip this movie.
Though the movie is quite predictable, it worths watching it, at least for the concert moments, which are very good. The movie has the typical korean genre mixes, here we have comedy (specially when the owner of the pizzeria appears in scene), drama (in the relation among Ji-su, Gyung-mi and his grandmother) and a bit of romance.
In conclusion, a inoffensive movie but will entertain you for almost two hours.
Khoht phetchakhaat (2005)
So bad you will laugh a lot
Well, before i started to watch this movie i knew it didn't gonna be a good film, but i expected something else. I read somewhere that it has some good CGI but the person who say that must not see the film or maybe she/he has a strange concept of what a good CGI are.
Talking about the movie, is very bad but is that kind of bad films that are funny. The worst of the movie (apart from the caiman) is the ridiculous romantic moments shot in slow motion. The direction is terrible, the director seems only knows how to pass from one scene to another by fading out (is like in the simpsons episode where homer does flanders date video). The only good thing about the movie is the photography.
Gangu shuriya (2002)
Toy Reanimater (english title)
The movie tells the history of a strange thing (called Yohgu-Sohto-Hohtofu) that lives in the forest and repairs everything that the people left in the front of his house, but only repairs the qualities that the "clients" says. The problem begins when one girl goes with her dead sister to the Yohgu-Sohto-Hohtofu...
The best of the film is the visual aspect that is very good (i read somewhere that they used the last cinematic technologies (called CPF)), the acting is good but the story maybe is quite simple. Recommended for the people who likes series like "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" or the innocents episodes of "the outer limits".
Jigoku kozô (2004)
Extremely bad
This movie is the worst movie i have seen in my whole life.
It have nothing to save, all is bad, the actors and the acting is comical, the make up sucks, the plot is totally predictable...nothing can be saved.
At least, the suffering ends after only 45 minutes, and seems that the director and the rest of the crew don't take the movie seriously.
I read somewhere that this movie is the first part of a hexalogy based in Hideshi Hino's tales...i hope the rest of the movies will be better...because if the are worst than this, this will be without a doubt the worst saga of horror films.
Wo zhen xi jian dao gui (2002)
Bad, bad, bad...
This "movie" must be one of the worst Asian horror film ever.
The film is like a 70 minutes (in fact there are less minutes of "original" film, because some passages are repeated...maybe to do a more length film?) music-video (and in this case, this, impedes you to get into the film "story") and there is nothing to save: the acting is poor, the plot stupid, the direction no comment...the problem is, that this movie isn't the kind of bad films which you can enjoy watching, maybe the only good thing is that the running time is only of 70 minutes.
After watching this film, you will look Uwe Boll or David DeCoteau's films like a masterpieces.