35
110
7
The Butterfly
The story begins with a man who had lost his wife revisiting places she loved with her ashes. Throughout the movie as he met people, he told them about different parts of their relationship in sweeping flashback. There was nothing extraordinary about this devoted couple, but it was their devotion to each other through the years that made it meaningful.
Both characters, originally from Beijing, met in New Zealand and worked to find their way in their new country. They assimilated fairly easily, making good friends and starting their own business. However, Luo Yun, the wife, quietly struggled with their idyllic life in a remote town where they ran a small restaurant. Sui Dong Feng, the husband, was the practical sort who found the best in whatever situation he was in. Yang Cai Yu and Huang Xuan had a gentle chemistry that made something magical out of their characters' ordinary existence.
New Zealand should have been listed as a character as there were many shots of its gorgeous scenery, whether green bucolic fields, panoramic mountains, the Southern Lights or oceanic whale watching shots.
The OST was also saccharinely emotional, but fit the mood perfectly. The cinematography bestowed lush, warm shots, nestling us into the embrace of Yun and Dong Feng's life. I could almost feel the director pushing me toward tears, something I usually fight off. Instead of rolling my eyes, I found myself reaching for a tissue at several key moments. If the story was predictable, it also felt sincere in the lavish telling of this couple's love story.
Though dealing with the death of a loved one, Only Cloud Knows avoided melodrama and became a celebration of life and love instead.
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The movie opened with a spider spinning her web. Political intrigue and battle strategy were woven throughout, complex and yet fragile. This three hour movie was divided into three segments. The first focused on Ku Shen Chai, an underachieving scholar and painter and his relationship with his mother. She harangued him for his lack of ambition and single status almost constantly. Strangers began wandering into town, including Hsu Feng's Yang Hui Ching bringing with them danger and subterfuge. The second segment turned into a battle between a large troop of government troops against a small band of rebels. Ku's knowledge and battle trickery came into play as his character evolved. The third segment moved into the spiritual realm as the monks sought to have both the good guys and bad guys move beyond the temporary conflict to peace.
ATZ was unusual for a martial arts movie, the fights didn't begin until after the first hour. The movie wasn't structured around the fights, the fights were used to enhance the story being told. The cinematography, sets, scenery, and costumes were extraordinary for a 1971 Taiwan martial arts movie. Hsu Feng had helped fund the restoration of this film and for that we should all be grateful. Clear, vibrant, lush, it was a treat for the eyes. King Hu's camera direction caused the viewer to ever look upward as the film progressed, symbolic for the message being woven throughout. His fight set among the bamboo inspired later films such as House of Flying Daggers.
Hsu Feng's character was a woman who spoke few words, preferring to let her blades do the talking. Wanted by the current corrupt regime, she was aided by two disgraced generals. They had hoped to find peace far away from the palace only to have trouble and death follow them. Hsu gave a quiet, yet memorable performance. Pai Ying 's General Shih also moved through the world with little to say. Only Ku and his mother chattering about gave the film a verbal foundation to stand upon. I enjoyed all the performances with the possible exception of Shih Chun's Ku. He seemed out of place with the other actors but perhaps that was the point. His character certainly evolved the most and showed that even someone without kung fu skills could still be beneficial in times of need. Lastly, Roy Chiao's performance as a Buddhist monk still connected enough to worldly events to aid those fleeing evil and spiritual enough to care about the evil doers was quite good.
Though clocking in at three hours long, A Touch of Zen kept my attention throughout. I could easily recommend this beautifully shot movie to martial arts movie enthusiasts and those who can look past a few dated performances and special effects to see the hidden gem lying beneath.
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Jimmy Wang Yu played the top student at a kung fu school. A disgruntled former student returned after learning judo and roughed up a bunch of students and then was promptly dispatched when the master showed up. The master explained that while kung fu was used for sport and self defense, karate was used for killing. Later, the former student showed back up with a crew of Japanese karate experts led by Lo Lieh in a bad wig. The karate experts went on a killing and eye gouging rampage in the school only leaving a few wounded alive, including Jimmy's Lei Ming. The karate thugs seized the opportunity to take over the town and made it into an illicit gambling den.
The familiar plot ensued. After Lei Ming recovered, he secretly learned the Iron Fist technique and light body skills. Then it was his turn to to on a bloody rampage. The fights were okay, Jimmy wasn't a martial artist and it showed. Blood spurted a plenty and the movie sported a high body count. Lei Ming taking on a bunch of katana wielding samurais in the the tall grass was entertaining. Too many of the fights were chop and block and not terribly fast. Lo Lieh, as always, had great screen charisma even if he wasn't on screen much and was required to do some screaming that seemed out of place.
The sets were all very nice and most were nicely destroyed with fists, kicks, and bodies thrown through them. Fake snow and real snow abounded. It's one of the few final fight scenes I've seen where there was snow and ice on the ground which seemed hazardous for the actors and crew. You could tell where they cleared a few areas off down to the dirt to provide a better place to spar.
It was fun to see these actors when they were very young, aside from Wang Yu and Lo Lieh, Chen Sing, Yuen Woo Ping, and Chen Kuan Tai, among many well known martial artist bit players were in the background.
There was an unnecessary rape scene that took away from the movie for me. Also several birds were killed which left a bad taste as well.
Jimmy's acting wasn't as stiff in this movie as in others I've seen him in and his directing was quite good. As a first entry into the "modern" kung fu era it was a respectable entry and worth watching for the historical implications at the very least.
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The basic plot is the evil eunuch desires a magic red pill created to heal the emperor and grant him immortality. In the process of stealing it and securing his position he secretly pits the Wu Dang clan against the Lunar clan. The white-haired witch belongs to one clan and the impetuous fighter who falls for her in the other. A few misunderstandings and an astonishingly high body count later and you've got the gist of the story.
The acting was fine for what was required of the actors. Most weren't on screen long enough to form any real bond or hatred of. The actual running time was probably closer to an hour, making it shorter than some drama episodes which means there was a dearth of character development. At one point I wasn't really sure who belonged to which clan because there hadn't been enough of an introduction for me to identify the characters in even the most vague way. Not to give too much away, but by the time I figured out who belonged to which team it was pretty much irrelevant anyway.
The CGI was good for a film that felt low budget and the fights were entertaining. I'm always happy to see a strong female protagonist who can wield a sword and long, lethal hair. There were some creative fight elements and magical weapons and abilities which kept the fights interesting.
I wouldn't put this movie high on a kung fu watchlist but it was an entertaining hour of CGI fights, betrayals, and a little romance thrown in for good measure.
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The best part of this movie for me were the villains, especially the dastardly Dr. Hu and his plot to use Kong to dig Element X from under the North Pole. Given that in the dubbed version I watched the voice actor was Paul Frees who voiced many characters in Rankin Bass Christmas stop action movies (the Berger Meister Meister Berger!) I fully expected to see Santa's castle in the mythical land. Dr. Hu with his great teased white hairdo, magnificent cape and malevolent voice was easily the most entertaining part of the movie. His cohort in crime, Madame Piranha/Madame X, played by Mie Hama, a bond girl in You Only Live Twice, played a great femme fatale.
The Good Guys were a bland and mostly ineffectual lot, although I enjoyed seeing Takarada Akira who performed in several Toho productions going back to the original Godzilla. The object of Kong's affection/friendship in this movie, played by Linda Miller, isn't afraid of Kong and tries to help him out of trouble as I guess Kong speaks English or Japanese depending on the version you watched. Maybe he's multilingual?
MechaKong definitely looked cooler than King Kong although lacking in weaponry like MechaGodzilla. Kong's fights with Gorosaurus and MechaKong were okay. The fight with MK was far too short. The doll he carried around at times which was supposed to be the blonde female had red hair which was funny.
This is silly escapism that requires checking your adult brain at the door because little of it makes sense. Depending on how well you can do that will determine how much you might want to escape with Kong from this movie.
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When two young Shaolin monks are kicked out of the temple and have to find their way in the world, one chooses evil and one chooses good. The friends' choices, of course, put them on a collision path to betrayal and destruction.
Jet Li handles the fights scenes just as you would expect him to-marvelously. He's fast and believable even in some over-the-top wire scenes. Michelle Yeoh is agile and elegant whether wielding a sword or in a flying table fight. Their characters help each other out in their darkest moments without resorting to a forced romance. It was refreshing to see a friendship built on mutual respect for each other and each other's abilities.
Chin Siu Ho, who plays the friend who chooses the wrong path, does an admirable job of falling down the well into power and greed. The supporting cast of characters were fleshed out enough that I cared about what happened to them.
My only quibble is the comedy/madness portion of the movie which goes on too long even if it results in Jet Li's character developing his new skill set. This isn't a true spoiler for kung fu movie enthusiasts, it's the common formula. Good guy gets beaten, goes off to develop a new kind of kung fu, goes back and confronts the bad guy. In a movie with a high body count, those supposedly funny moments dragged on too long for me.
The cinematography is good but not great. The focus is on the fights and Yuen Woo Ping excels as always in coming up with creative ways to stage fights--even a giant game of kung fu Jenga!
The movie may be dated, but Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh make up for any story deficiencies. Tai Chi Master has spectacular fights throughout the movie featuring two of the greats of the genre, definitely worth the price of admission.
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Shuna Lijima plays Jun who wants to be an actress and is paying her bills by working as a "hostess" in a seedy bar where her boyfriend works. All she has worked for is destroyed in one night with his betrayal leading her to return to the home she hasn't seen in five years. Home is not a safe haven, but she's hoping to get a share of an inheritance to start a new life. She hooks up with an old childhood friend after she returns to the small town. This would seem to be a natural place to infuse some sort of healing instead the hits keep on coming and spiraling ever downward sometimes inexplicably.
Lijima is the highlight of this film as she gives a powerful performance throughout. The male actors are adequate but not much more.
The cinematography and score are excellent, the fault isn't with the technical movie making. There is no breathing room in this film, no moment of light in the dark and tormented places in this woman's life. None of the characters are particularly likeable, including Jun. Her childhood friend, Yuki, makes a bad decision that seems drastically out of character. There is an awful lot of bad behavior from every character in the movie which can make it difficult to watch. The problem I have is that the focus could be interpreted as being around Jun leads to bad things. I'm more inclined to believe that she finds herself drawn to bad people because of her childhood experiences. This doesn't mean she doesn't make some horrendously bad choices, because she does, without ever looking for an answer that wouldn't lead to disastrous consequences.
Bad Poetry Tokyo may not be a bad film but I didn't find it to be a particularly good one either.
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The actors all did a fine job with what they were given. Vincent Zhao handled his fight scenes well, but Zhou Xun was the heart of the movie. The child actor wasn't one of the stronger ones I've seen but he was mostly supposed to cry and yell so I can't lay it all on him. Gordon Liu who played Beggar Su in Young Vagabond made a guest appearance. Michelle Yeoh and Bryan Leung also make special appearances.
My problem with the story was with Su. At first he was unbelievably naïve to the point of endangering his family. At other times he was next to useless, self-absorbed, selfish, or short-sighted. Without giving away any spoilers, let's just say he was never going to make father or husband of the year. His wife, Ying, could see when danger was approaching and also when the time to act was. Her first thought was how to hold the family together and looking for ways for them to survive. For me, she was the real hero of the movie.
The fight scenes were good as one would expect from a Yuen Woo Ping movie when they weren't relying too heavily on CGI. In a 2 hour movie it would have been nice to have had a little more dialogue between characters and some character development. I wasn't given much of a reason to care about any of these people.
Most egregiously, the final act seemed completely unrelated to the rest of the movie in style and tone dragging out the story in what appeared to be more of a political statement.
The fighting in True Legend was exhilarating, if exhausting. It just needed a little more heart, and some better editing, to make it memorable.
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I love a woman who has a sword and knows how to use it, but it helps if she knows how to use her brain as well. It took a long time for her to figure out who the mastermind behind the plot was. I knew in an instant who it was. If this guy is on the screen hide the jewelry, don't turn your back and refuse anything he offers to eat or drink.
Shu Pei Pei did a fine job with all of her fight scenes. Every time Tang Ching showed up they played music very similar to The Man in Black's (Clint Eastwood) theme evoking an American Western feel.
Unfortunately, the plot felt inconsistent and disjointed with fight scenes going from being indoors to on the top of a mountain in an instant. There were no emotional consequences to any of the events that occurred on screen. The prop department must have maxed out their credit card at Buckets 'O Blood and Trampolines 'R Us. While I don't mind some leaping around and filming jumps backwards this one seemed to over use the technique.
This was Wu Ma's first directorial experience and he choreographed the fight scenes as well. Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung have said Wu Ma is the one guy they wouldn't want to face in a fight because he's the real deal. I'll have to watch for other movies of his to see if he improved as a director. This one wasn't bad, but it wasn't very good either.
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Once I accustomed myself to the 20-year-old Hong Kong production values, I settled in and enjoyed this energetic romp complete with minions on bungee cords and rollerblades. The bad guy was a tall, skinny version of Dr. Evil who did everything but cackle maniacally. Silver Hawk has to save a kidnapped scientist with the help of a cop she meets on a plane, Richie Ren. The actors all looked like they were having fun and put a lot of energy into their roles as they fought with each other and the baddies.
This is not a movie for everyone because the movie is dated and comes across fairly low budget. Aside from Michelle Yeoh, the acting is sometimes not as strong as it could be from the supporting cast, but not horrible. The movie feels like a mash-up of 1970’s kung fu movies, James Bond, and Batman if Batman acted like he was actually having fun. If you can loosen your critical eye for 90 minutes it makes for some silly diversionary entertainment.
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The story is a thin borrowing of Dr. No, complete with a villain having a metal hand who carries around a white cat. Bruce works with the Hong Kong police to bring down this evil drug lord who had a hand in the death of his sister. The bad guy’s lair is on an island of course, with traps and lots of minions. Bruce is headed there to join the tournament where the Big Bad looks for new recruits and new victims.
John Saxon plays an American guy in deep debt looking for a score at the tournament. Jim Kelly’s character is there because he likes to fight and win. Sadly, John Saxon has most of the dialogue and while he is engaging enough, his fighting skills are sorely lacking. I would have preferred more dialogue from Bruce Lee and the charismatic Jim Kelly (who was a real karate champion).
Sek Kin, who was around 70 years old when the film opened seemed to take great delight in his villainous role and fought with vigor. Bolo Yeung picked up his stage name from this film. He often played the bad guy the hero fights to show his ability but I always find him interesting to watch. Sammo Hung had a brief scene at the beginning sparring with Bruce.
Bruce Lee is incredibly fast and usually slows his moves down for the camera, but in one scene he goes at full speed and it looked like one move, but if you slow it down you can see it’s several. And of course, Enter the Dragon has THE iconic kung fu fight scene where Bruce Lee and the Big Bad fight in the mirrored room.
What I liked most about the fights is instead of landing several hundred blows that the opponent shakes off, this time the fighting was quick, brutal, and often deadly.
The production values were higher than the standard kung fu movie. The music was much better than most kung fu movies and the sets were nice if a little heavy on the red lacquer and dragon imagery. The language was dated and women are mostly there for the men’s pleasure. There are also scenes with racism in them. It’s not a perfect film.
What it did well was raise the bar for kung fu movies in how they were shot and how fight scenes were choreographed. Bruce Lee’s moves are legendary for a reason and as an actor he is compelling to watch. The movie earned $350,000,000 world-wide against a budget of $850,000 proving that Western audiences were open to what he was offering.
This was Bruce Lee’s last movie, not counting the ones that were spliced together with old footage and look-a-likes, and it makes you wonder what more he could have accomplished. He worked to be a bridge between East and West and this movie took a small first step in doing that.
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This review may contain spoilers
This was one cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs little drama, but it was entertaining. At the Aino Mating Agency the ringmaster of this circus is a former ethologist who dresses in outrageous suits and breaks into song and dance at least twice an episode. Every move is exaggerated for dramatic effect. On the plus side he has a nice voice, unfortunately the rest of the cast that often join him doesn’t.
His assistant is a Catholic nun because...well, why not? As she falls in love with every client I don’t think she will be one for long.
The agency has a 100% success rate of relationships leading to marriage. Aino Shingo repeatedly says there isn’t a more wicked emotion than love and that love is data so he tries to take that variable out of two people getting to know each other. The couple isn’t allowed to meet in person until they agree to marry.
In each episode Aino practices a strange alchemy of ethology observation techniques and logic, insight, and a little magic to match two seemingly disparate personalities. He then guides them on their way through various obstacles to marriage. The fun is in figuring out how two people fit and what threatens to keep them apart.
The Aino Mating Agency is a zany, feel good comedy, often bordering on the ridiculous. If you are feeling blue this singing and dancing ethologist and matchmaker with his nun sidekick just might lift your spirits.
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"Keep your enemies closer"
Knight Flower was a funny, entertaining cross between a female Robin Hood and Zorro. The story may not have had any surprises, but in this genre as in most. execution is key and Knight Flower kept the action moving and the long boring monologues by the villains to a minimum.Yeo Hwa never even met her husband who was killed on the way to the wedding and has been a cloistered widow for 15 long years. Stuck in the family shrine most days, never being able to set foot outside of her in-laws’ property she only has her maid Yeon Seon for company as she waits on her older brother to finally return and take her with him. What no one in the household knows except for Seon is that at night Yeo Hwa dresses in black and helps the helpless with her money and martial arts. Everything is going smoothly until she runs into the new Capital Defense officer, Park Su Ho. With lots of push and pull between the upright lawman and the vigilante, as well as the requisite romantic tension, the two find they have much in common as well as common enemies.
The first episode felt slow to me, but it picked up the pace as it went along and never slowed down again until the last episode. Given the prison-like existence of the widows and pressure to commit suicide for the family honor, it was a whimsical release to have the heroine running over rooftops and rescuing the male lead on occasion. Of course, only women were held to these standards. Widowers were free to go about and even encouraged to remarry. Repression reconfigured to look like honor.
I enjoyed the story, but stumbled some with the casting, or perhaps the writing. Full disclosure, I enjoy a good noona romance so that wasn't an issue . Nor do I have a problem with an older woman being an action hero, much older men do it all the time. Lee Ha Nee is a beautiful woman but at 40 she did not look 32 nor very athletic. Her character was someone skilled with living a double life for years, but Yeo Hwa could not manage a poker face when needed. Yeo Hwa was quick to act but often slow to catch on to the bad guys’ plans. Lee Jong Won looked like a sweet puppy who adored Yeo Hwa, but added little depth to his character. A quick glance at the cast list and it was easy to pick out who the baddies were going to be. When one used his kind grandpa voice instead of putting a character at ease, chills should have been running down their back. And Jo Jae Yoon can always be counted on to chew up the scenery maniacally.
Knight Flower, aside from bringing up the appalling way widows were treated, was for the most part a romantic action comedy. While there were some fights, they weren’t bloody or deadly. Most of the deaths occurred 15 years prior to the current story. The one murder in the present story actually felt quite deserved. So, if you like your historical dramas light and funny, with a little romance and a little action, this might be a good fit.
21 February 2024
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"When you have it you don't want it, when you don't have it you want it"
Hello Ghost is a remake of the 2010 Korean movie by the same name. It is a comedic movie with the dark thread of gut-wrenching loneliness running through it for one man.Ah Wei has been alone his whole life. On his 21st attempted suicide he briefly stops breathing. His life is saved by a pretty EMT on the way to the hospital. When he awakens, he can see four ghosts who refuse to leave him alone. A shaman tells him he must grant their wishes before they will leave, not an easy task for these ghosts. There’s the older woman, crying woman, smoking man, and mischievous little boy. The four lead him on a merry chase getting him into all sorts of trouble. He also keeps running into Yu Xiao Yin, the EMT.
Unlike so many ghost stories, there was no threatening entity, no mystery to resolve. The ghosts appeared to want to have a good time. The only external threat was to Xiao Yin’s brother who was deeply in debt to loan sharks which also made her life miserable.
The comedic moments often bordered on cringe-worthiness although there were some genuinely funny scenes. The slapstick didn’t feel as over the top with this version. Aside from trying to make you laugh Hello Ghost also tried to touch your heart, deeply enough to hear it beat. This story would have benefited from more backstory for Ah Wei, and why he never created a family or friends for himself. Why would a hospital kick a suicidal patient out without any mental health counseling, especially after he admitted to hearing voices? Why was Xiao Yin so attracted to Ah Wei who had attempted suicide multiple times and talked to people who weren’t there? As with the Korean version, the ending saves this movie and gives it meaning. Even knowing how it ended, I still teared up.
As good as parts of this movie were, like with the original, it left me disappointed that the rest of the film wasn’t as moving as the final ten minutes. Hello Ghost is a movie that with more character development and either less or better slapstick might have been as deep as it wanted to be. Overcoming hopelessness is not an easy fix. Despite its shortcomings, if you’re prepared to be patient, Hello Ghost is a movie worth trying.
2 February 2024
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"What is the meaning of those days?"
The Days focused on the immediate aftermath of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami and their catastrophic effects on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The events were shown from the side of the workers and their heroic efforts and the political side which was hindered by personal stakes, ineptness, and evasion of responsibility. The performances were engaging and nuanced and by far the strength of this drama based on the tragic real-world calamity."Mistake or destiny?"
When the earthquake and tsunami devastated the electrical grid, the power plant was left without electricity relying on back-up generators to keep the safety measures going. Never dreaming that a tsunami would reach the heights it did, the generators were ruined by seawater. Men in the control room were in the dark both literally and in relation to what was going on in the deadly monsters they were in charge of. Maejima was assisted by veterans Furuya and Osugi as well as younger operators who sought to do what they could only aided by flashlights.
"Forlorn hope"
Manager Yoshida Masao set up headquarters in the Seismic Safe Room to assess the damage and brainstorm responses to the critical issues. Hampered by a loss of almost all communication after the tsunami and largely cut off from the rest of the world the plant operators had to use what they had to try and determine the status of the four units. They resorted to using car batteries to attempt to open vital valves. Things went from bad to worse with aftershocks and hydrogen explosions. Yoshida sought to protect his workers as best he could even while knowing they risked their lives as they attempted to gain information by traveling into the belly of the radioactive beasts and for the workers who fought to remove radioactive debris to bring the fire trucks and the hoses needed to supply water to cool and de-pressure the escalating situations. Eventually, he made the hard decision of who would stay as he ordered the evacuation of most of the workers, knowing that those who remained might die if the worst happened.
"Our company has lost its mind."
On the political side of things, Prime Minister Yan was not advised by nuclear power experts but often those who seemed to be political appointees-who needs an economist during a nuclear disaster? The management at TEPCO was completely unprepared for such a disaster and the manuals gave no guidelines. Both the political and business advisors seemed to be more concerned about giving unpleasant news or being held accountable. They also worried about looking bad to the public and never mentioned the nuclear meltdowns by name. Their ineffectual echo chamber could have led to even more devastation if Yoshida had listened to them. Yan at one point belittled the heroes' efforts. While the people safe from harm worried about plausible deniability, they failed to supply the plucky workers with the basic supplies they needed.
"We don't have a guide, we're in it to the end."
Yakusho Koji gave a powerful performance as Yoshida. Without histrionics he conveyed the calmness and strength of the man in charge of saving the nation with his decisions. Yakusho expressed grief, horror, resoluteness, and exasperation with his face and body movements and provided a stalwart character for the others to trust in and lean on. He showed Yoshida's defiance with deftness and even humor. It has been a long time since I have been so engaged by an actor's performance. Takenouchi Yutaka, Kobayashi Kaoru, and Musaka Naomasa played the operator warriors in the dark control room who braved the dangers so close to the deadly radiation. Though their faces were often covered by protective equipment and respirators the veteran actors' performance came through. These men portrayed, like Yoshida, knew their chances of surviving were slim to none and yet they did whatever was necessary for the greater good.
"I can no longer leave here alive."
The drama displayed the events and actions almost hour by gripping hour. I was always shocked by how much the operators had accomplished when the time clock was shown. Yoshida came across as the hero of this story and the faithful men who risked their lives to cool down and calm the radioactive beast that had the power to leave a third of Japan uninhabitable for decades. The actors who played the fearless Daiichi workers gave understated and formidable performances that were compelling and emotional. The Days was a cautionary tale of human hubris in the face of nature and yet how there are still heroes among us. It is a drama well worth the time for viewing.
9/7/23
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