Yes! Here I will display some of my favourite Asian movies; whether they be
Japanese, Korean or Hong Kong releases. I can hear you think now; "Great! as if this site needs any more trivial,
fan girl drenched pages". Well then, I say yes! It does. Stop ur bitchin' dammit!
Click on a movie poster and it'll take you to a little page, deep within
the insane and shadowy depths of SMI, dedicated to that movie in which I will try to explain to you why I so frickin' love
that movie so much. If the image doesn't link through but opens in a new browser window in it's original size; that means
I haven't made the page yet (or it is under construction).
A little word of caution and cover-my-ass-ing though; these pages
weren't created to provide professional analyses or official information. If you want that I can direct you to a handy
little site called IMDB.com or various critic sites run by people who make a living out of taking the fun out of movies. No,
these pages are merely made for my own pleasure, to express my feelings about these works of art and to tell you you
should get your butt away from the computer and go watch these movies.
Another thing I want to state is that these pages probably aren't going to grow
at a fast pace. I'm notoriously slow and lazy and because I pretty much have the attention span of a Belgian waffle iron,
I'll most likely get distracted with another project soon. Until then, I hope you'll enjoy what my shallow little brain has
concocted here.
But okay; onto the films.
Remember; these are personal favourites, and your opinion may differ from
mine on these, but I'll try to explain why these movies are up here. Many of them are absolute jewels, one or two may
be 'over-the-moon-godly' and there might even be a plain stinker that somehow entertained me to no end. Either way, why
not find out.
In other words: aaaaand action!
A Bittersweet Life
2005
Director: Kim Ji-Woon
Starring: Lee Byung-Hun, Kim Young Chul,
Shin Mina a.o.
2009: Lost Memories
2002
Director: Lee Si-Myung
Starring: Toru Nakamura, Jang Dong-Kun, Goo Shin a.o.
Oldboy
2003
Director: Park Chan-Wook
Starring: Choi Min-Sik, Yu Ji-Tae, Kang Hye-Jeong
a.o.
This movie is one of my absolute favourites. I can't tell you enough how much I adore this
film, its simple but captivating story, its gorgeous cinematography and wonderful acting of all actors involved. A must
see if you're a lover of the Film Noir genre and well...basically for all people who can appreciate a good flick.
Big budget action flick that deserves to be watched at least two times. Pretty cinematography,
great actions scenes, sufficient acting and one of my favourite actors, Toru Nakamura, in a leading role. What more could
I ask for?
This one truly shocked me.
Not because of the captivating story or the physical violence, I've seen worse I can tell you
that, but because of the pshygological and mental cruelty that unfolds when this movie progresses. Raw and ugly, refined
and beautiful.
Korean cinema at its best, truly.
Joint Security Area
2000
Director: Park Chan-Wook
Starring: Lee Byung-Hun, Song Kang-Ho, Lee Yeong-Ae a.o.
Gen-X Cops
1999
Director: Benny Chan
Starring: Nicholas Tse, Stephen Fung, Sam Lee, Toru Nakamura a.o.
The Good, The Bad, The Weird
2008
Director: Kim Ji-Woon
Starring: Lee Byung-Hun, Woo-Sung Jung, Kang-Ho Song a.o.
If you can forgive the director his pathetic choice for the two foreign "actors" (who's dreadful
performances are no less than horrifying), you can enjoy a well made, high performance movie that will keep you intrigued
until the credits. Powerful movie.
Gen-X Cops isn't a great movie.
Hell, it's not even a good movie.
So why is it here?
Two words: Toru Nakamura.
I honestly believe this man singlehandedly saved this movie from being a total waste of time.
...and maybe Francis Ng.
It's good, it's bad and it certainly is weird.
Exciting! Fun! and action packed..well done Mr Kim.
Now I realise that, to Asian people, this list may come off as generalising and perhaps even
a little condescending, but believe me that's not my intention, at all. I merely want to sum up and catalogue the list of
Asian productions I have seen and own, mostly for myself, but also for others to find a little information.
I really think people should step over that all too often used prejudice of not knowing the
language as a barrier to watch foreign movies. Reading subtitles really isn’t all that hard, dammit! *shakes fist vigorously*
This list may not be very impressive at the moment, but in time I hope it will grow into
a substantial collection and cinema experience.
Movies marked with an asteriks * are movies I have seen, but
do not yet own.
Daniel Wu
Zhang Ziyi
Nicholas Tse
I hate everything dubbed with a passion. I do not like hearing actors with voices that are not their own,
and I can not enjoy a movie if I have to watch it in a way it was not intended. Besides that; I also like the sound of the
Japanese and Korean language so I will not watch an Asian movie dubbed. I'm also a sucker for a beautifully released DVD with
a good audio track. That much a sucker in fact that I'll gladly pay more for a better release.
So basically what I'm trying to say here is: watch these movies in their original form and in decent releases.
Not only will it make all the difference in the world, but, if you're a lover of good movies like me, you'll be
depriving yourself of some great cinema if you don't.
I'm not going to write reviews of all the Asian movies I've seen (I'm nuts, but not that far gone), but
if you want to hear my opinion about a movie (or more) on this list, you can alway email me and ask what I think.
