Highly Recommended
The Longest Nite (1998) (Chinese Action/Drama) (repeat viewing) – A corrupt cop (Tony Leung) goes toe-to-toe with a criminal (Lau Ching Wan) while unaware of a grander scheme at play. This movie does a good job at creating a dangerous scenario where some characters are walking on eggshells to solidify a gang truce and other characters are trying to cause problems to disrupt the truce. With two of Hong Kong’s greatest actors at the top of their game, there are dramatic scenes in this flick that are absolutely electrifying. In terms of action, the boat station sequence is thrilling and the glass-shattering finale is highly entertaining. This is very fast paced stuff that’s only 80 minutes long. It flies right by, and the filmmakers do a great job of keeping the viewer on edge. Toss in some great scoring, some surprises and ultra-stylish direction, and you’ve got yourself a great film.
From Beijing With Love (1994) (Chinese Comedy/Action) (repeat viewing) – Stephen Chow directs/stars as a spy who must recover a stolen dinosaur head while his new contact (the lovely Anita Yuen) tries to kill him at every turn. Despite the fact that this is a James Bond spoof, it has a distinct Hong Kong style as it mixes humor with bloody violence (which will assuredly give some viewers something to complain about). The script hits on all cylinders with tons of funny moments and chugs along at a blistering pace from start to finish. Even the fight sequences are spot on in their absurdity. This is one of Chow’s best films, if not the best.
Sleep Tight (2012) (Spanish Thriller) – Apartment concierge Cesar (Luis Tosar) is a miserable person who believes he was born without the ability to be happy. As a result, he decides his mission is to make life hell for everyone around him – and his next target is a cheerful woman named Clara. The nutcase is the main character of the movie, so we follow him as he does all kinds of dubious things. This is an interesting tactic by the filmmakers. There are some good scenes of suspense, as well as some surprises. The odd thing is that some of the tension comes from the possibility of the stalker being discovered, which is something the viewer should be rooting for. It’s a bit difficult to tell where the movie is going during the second half. I really like the ending.
Recommended
Samaritan Girl (2004) (Korean Drama) (repeat viewing) – A teenage girl must deal with the psychological effects of helping her best friend into prostitution. Focus is also aimed at the relationship between the girl and her father, which develops nicely. The ending may seem like an anticlimax, but I really like it. You would think that the theme of teen prostitution would result in a bunch of depressing scenes, but the director explores the subject in refreshingly interesting ways. This is a solid film by Kim Ki-duk.
Seventeen Years (1999) (Chinese Drama) (repeat viewing) – After an unfortunate incident, a woman returns to her home town 17 years later in this deliberately paced drama. The structure of this film is broken into three parts: childhood, journey, and reunion. The first part sets up the conflict, the second develops a friendship, and the third offers the conclusion that packs a nice punch. Bingbing Li anchors the good acting, which is omnipresent.
Hit and Run Squad (2019) (Korean Crime Action/Drama) – Officers of the hit-and-run task force attempt to chase down a psychologically disturbed former Formula One racer who is now committing crimes with his madness for speed and cars. I really liked the performances in this one, which are led by Hyo-jin Kong. It feels a bit different from a typical Korean crime movie, maybe because it had a few unexpected moments. There’s a great scene near the middle that I was not expecting, and it had a dramatic foundation to it. One of the car chases ends in a way that is entirely realistic, but you almost never see it in a movie. This is a movie that is accentuated by good quality drama and character development.
The Witch: Part 1 – The Subversion (2018) (Korean Thriller/Action) – A high school student with amnesia is pursued by an evil organization, but eventually discovers that she has superhuman abilities. The opening 40 minutes have a nice setup and some slow-burn tension, but the pacing definitely drags during the middle 20 minutes. Thankfully, the film comes back to life near the one hour mark with a nicely violent scene that is a bit surprising. The finale bloody good fun. Not a lot of action on display, but when it arrives . . . it satisfies. Da-mi Kim is impressive in the lead role. Direction is very stylish in this intense thriller.
Aurora (2018) (Filipino Horror) – The passenger ship Aurora mysteriously collides into a large series of rocks, causing loss of life. Unfortunately, the spirits of the dead may be returning to the nearby shores. The development of the story is backloaded to the second half of the film, but there’s a ton of atmosphere to enjoy throughout. Practically the entire film takes place on or near a gloomy coastline that features huge, jagged rock formations, a vast wavy sea that stretches out forever, rainy weather, and you can see the shipwreck that is still propped up against the rocks offshore. The setting and environments are fantastic. This is directed by Yam Laranas and stars Anne Curtis.
Not Recommended
High Society (2018) (Korean Drama) – A deputy curator of a chaebol-funded art gallery and her husband, a politically ambitious economics professor, will do anything to join the uber-elite. Some interesting discussions early on involving economics, as well as a quick scene involving a rigged art auction, but those aspects are not explored much. Most of the film shows how the marriage is strained by infidelity and shady business deals, which is pretty generic. There are a few lengthy sex scenes that don’t add much. Acting is good and there’s an unexpected scene near the end, but the script is too bland overall.
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018) (American Animated Action/Comedy) – Teen Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man of his reality, crossing his path with five counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities. Yeah, we have to sit thru Spider-Man learning his abilities for the first time . . . again. Even worse, the script is contrived nonsense that throws in a bunch of people from “alternate dimensions” . . . just because. All attempts at serious drama are lazy, cliched and unearned. The animation is nothing special. The soundtrack is painful garbage and constantly distracting. The comedy is forced, with every character making quippy remarks every 5 seconds. The voice-acting is average at best. A few of the action scenes are pretty good, but the finale is a mess of random crap thrown at the screen. This has to be one of the most overrated animated films of the last 20 years.
Grass (2018) (Korean Drama) – A woman (Min-hee Kim) observes the customers at her cafe and writes down their thoughts. Sang-soo Hong is one of those directors who is content with making the same film over and over again. This film is no exception, but it is of a lower overall quality when compared to his better films. The opening 10 minutes feel like the final episode of a soap opera, but you missed all of the prior episodes. The score is obnoxious in its loudness and it becomes immediately distracting. Shot in black-and-white and only 66 minutes long, but it somehow fails to hold interest.
Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) (American Thriller) – NYPD detectives Shepard (David Carradine) and Powell are working on a bizarre case of a ritualistic Aztec murder. Meanwhile, something big is attacking people of New York and only greedy small time crook Jimmy Quinn knows where its lair is. This movie starts great with a hilarious scene involving a perverted window washer, but that’s arguably the best part. This is a low-grade movie where you barely get to see the monster. The attacks last a few seconds each and are very badly filmed. There are a few entertaining moments here and there, but this is mostly boring to watch, with lots of dull filler.
The Whispering (2018) (Korean Horror) – Some annoying college kids come upon an abandoned amusement park that is haunted. There are a good number of scares but they get progressively worse with lots of cutaways and few money shots. Most of the film takes place in a cave, which is really disappointing and monotonous when one considers that this should have had a greater variety of amusement park settings. This is crap.
