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10.
Tom
Yum Goong
Tony Jaa and Prachiya
Pinkaew's 'Ong Bak' follow-up may not have as much going on as that film, but contains some of the best martial arts scenes ever put on film. A mad-as-a-bag-of-snakes story has Jaa travelling to Sidney to retrieve his elephant, kidnapped by some exotic gangsters, and uncovers a vile trade of rare-animal trading. The story is bunkum, but the fisticuffs are laugh-out-loud fantastic, with Jaa once more proving that gravity poses no problems. The high point is a single take four minute fight sequence up a four storey restaurant that is so well orchestrated it suggests Pinkaew could become an all-time great director given better material. Petchtai Wongkamlao is on hand for zaniness, and his
'Ong Bak' co-star Pumwaree Yodkamol has a nice cameo.
[Read
The Full Review]
9.
Japan
Organized Crime Boss
My review says it all, but Fukasaku
Kinji's early crime flick contains all the themes and motifs he would rework over and over right up until
'Battle Royale'. A bloody tale of honour and violence, effortlessly cool and wonderfully hard boiled,
it's a machete blow of a movie.
[Read
The Full Review]
8.
Fearless
Is this Jet
Li's martial arts swansong? If so, Fearless is not a bad way to bow out. An old-fashioned feeling epic, focussing on Jin
Wushu's founder Huo Yuanjia, the film follows the traditional path of talented, but callow youth suffering for his arrogance and emerging spiritually purer for it. Li is at his best playing historical figures (Wong Fei-hung, Fong Sai-yuk) and his winning performance here makes retirement a genuine shame.
Here's hoping the director's cut will restore those scenes with Michelle Yeoh.
7.
The
Unforgiven
South
Korea's national service is a harsh and pointless punishment inflicted upon young men in their prime according to Yun
Jong-bin's The Unforgiven. A young man seeks out an old national service buddy to share a dark secret of a terrible wrong committed while in the army. Controversial in Korea due to its focus on petty power-plays and casual brutality, The Unforgiven is a sober and measured critique of the Korean military and the failings of young Korean men.
6.
Wandering Ginza Butterfly
Meiko (Lady Snowblood) Kaji is the one Asian goddess still missing a fervent fan-following. A cult star and actress of not inconsiderable talent, DVD releases of her films are well overdue. Wandering Ginza Butterfly is an ultra-cool B-movie telling the tale of tough ex-jailbird Kaji, and her attempts to go straight in the hostess bars of Tokyo. But, the local yakuza are putting pressure on her old acquaintances and she and her boyfriend must deal out rough justice of their own! A pool contest as exciting as any John Woo shootout and a bloody denouement are merely two high points in a massively enjoyable film.
5.
Luxury Car
Shamefully still without a UK distributor, Wang
Chao's first rate Chinese weepy may be the most quietly devastating movie since Remains of the Day. A country professor journeys to the big city to find his lost son and reunite with his daughter, before his ill wife succumbs to cancer. The old man discovers his son may have met a sticky end, and his daughter is hostessing at a sleazy club. A clash of values between two generations is nicely played out in a film that resists easy melodrama for something far more profound.
4.
The
Bad Sleep Well
Kurosawa's savage anti-business melodrama was inspired by Hamlet and shot like a film noir. Mifune, in a buttoned-down, pent-up performance, is the young rising exec who infiltrates a corporation to seek retribution for a past offence committed by upper levels of management. All human weakness is here: avarice, greed, ambition, indifference, and the shadowy photography is as black as the heart of the company president, an all-too-human monster.
3.
Imprint
Takashi
Miike needs no introduction, but even the most ardent fans will admit the master has not been at the top of his game in recent years. But, Imprint is a real return to form: a gruesome story, shot in English for the Masters of Horror TV series, but deemed too disturbing for broadcast in the States. A period tale of broken minds and deformed faces, cruel geisha and abortion, this contains more unsettling moments and intelligence in one hour than some directors manage in a career.
Miike's latest, Sukiyaki Western Django will be shot entirely in English with a Tarantino
cameo... maybe he should stick to the short TV format.
2.
Paranoia
Agent
Satoshi
Kon's 13 part anime is as unsettling, creepy and brilliantly assured as his other masterwork Perfect Blue. Lil Slugger, a roller-skating kid with a vicious metal baseball bat, is assaulting seemingly random Tokyo citizens. But, two local detectives uncover a conspiracy that is as unbelievable as it is terrifying. A fractured take on modern Tokyo, with a vicious, funny script taking swipes at suicide cults, videogame nerds, franchise merchandise and pop psychology, Paranoia Agent is impossible to summarize in a capsule review. Top notch animation, first class scriptwriting and regular flashes of genius make this an essential purchase.
1.
The
Host
Taking everyone by surprise at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival Bong
Joon-ho's monster mash is a classic. A genetically mutated fish/tadpole/thing makes off with Song
Kang-ho's little girl, and he must unite his wacky family to get her back while avoiding some very unhelpful authorities. Mixing Jaws style shocks, genuine warmth, anti-US military barbs, and sharp humour this is Cronenberg does Godzilla and begs the question why
can't we make them like this? We had a whale in the Thames for God's sake!
Written
by Rob
Daniel
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