Zatoichi

This is a japanese movie which is produced by as well as stars Kitano Takeshi. Beat Takeshi is a travelling masseuse who manages to help out others in trouble from different circumstances. The movie is quite violent with blood spurting during the showdowns. It doesn't quite contain as much action as I had hoped for though but it does have enough action scenes interspersed between quiet moments throughout the movie. Kitano Takeshi based this movie from the older japanese movies but puts his own signature into the character as well as the movie. Not only is there plenty of violence, there are moments where there are quirkiness that sort of seems out of place in this movie. An example is the village idiot who runs around town with a spear screaming at the top of his lungs and pretends to be a samurai. I was expecting a lot from this movie since it won some awards but I guess I expected too much and so I was let down. It's still a good movie, nonetheless. 7/10.

Breaking News

I have watched a few of Johnnie To's movies before, which I enjoyed, so I decided to buy the "Breaking News" DVD. Like his other movies, it was not too bad. I'm looking forward to watching "Election", which is supposed to be his best movie to date. The opening sequence of "Breaking News" start off with a gunfight between Hong Kong cops and a gang of armed thugs. It was shot so cool-ly. Is that a word? Western movie directors should take note of how gun battles should be portrayed. It was raw. It was real. It was perhaps sort of like watching something that could occur in real life. Well. Not really. But you get the idea of what I'm trying to convey here. The plot of the movie is about the police giving a live news coverage of the Hong Kong police apprehending or subduing a gang of thugs that apparently made the Hong Kong police look incompent in another incident. In order to portray the police in a better light, the news reports are edited. The bad guys are given characters as well as the cops so the viewer sees why they do what they are doing on both sides. This gives the movie viewer not just a one sided view to route for the good side like what most movies try to do. That is why I liked this movie as well as Johnnie To's other movies. Other action movies that I've seen directed by Johnnie To is "Running on Karma" and "PTU". You should check those movies out if you want to see one of the best directors in Hong Kong, in my opinion. One a scale between 1 to 10, this one is a 7/10.

Introduction

I want this site to be dedicated to movies that I've watched and therefore give you the reader, who is interested in Asian movies to have a more informed choice before purchasing the DVD. By Asian movies, I will be reviewing movies mostly from Hong Kong but occassionally, I will also watch and review Korean and Japanese movies. I will also review USA movies as well. But for fans of Asian movies, this will be your site. I will also try to update at least once a week.

Now let me tell you more about myself, I am a male. I am a Chinese Born Canadian. I like watching action movies but I enjoy romantic comedies as well due to having abundance of those types of movies from my sister who buys those. My top movies from last year in no particular order is "Kung Fu Hustle", "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", "Crying Out Love in the Center of the World", "A World Without Thieves", "Corpse Bride", "Team America", "The Incredibles" and "Collateral".

Now that you know a little bit of my tastes, you may proceed or google to another site. Hopefully, you will stay and bookmark this site.