Asian Cinema

The third film in the series has redneck teen Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) being sent to Tokyo to live with his father. Once there he gets mixed up with another high school punk who just happens to be the nephew of a powerful gangster (Sonny Chiba). The first film in this series was good and the follow-up wasn’t too bad when you considered everything that it was. This third film, however, is a complete disaster from the word go and it’s rather shocking that this here didn’t put an end to the entire series. Even more predictably Sean’s forbidden romance puts him in the middle of rival Yakuza drift racing gangs. Moving the story to Japan is reasonable because it will change many aspects of the previous films, but sadly isn’t enough to make the movie good. Too bad the only things that I really enjoyed about this experimentation project are the soundtrack and the racing scenes, since the cheesy dialogs and the campy characters ruined many minutes of this movie. The most important part of The Fast and the Furious is inarguably the racing sequences and their overall effectiveness. I will admit that the sequences themselves are well-filmed and eye catching, highlighting the cars, as they should. However, except in a few fleeting moments, they are not as enthralling as they should be and this is one of the most disappointing aspects of The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift. The final confrontation, for me, is pretty good to watch, but only arouses the senses once in a while. The fact that you see confident Asian characters portrayed by talented Asian American actors, while smoothly giving the audience the feel of what it is like for an outsider to visit Japan. I would also like to add that it was actually Lin himself who volunteered to take on this project when he realized that it was the only major Hollywood theatrical film to predominantly feature an Asian American cast in 2006. Lin read the script, realized it was riddled with stereotypes. Lin just could not bare to see the fact that a film with this much exposure around the world was going to misrepresent Asians and Asian Americans, so he bit the bullet and took one for the team, and decided to take this on as his next Hollywood directorial assignment. Although Lin could not get his way in casting Sung Kang as the lead for “Tokyo Drift,” because the studio specifically wanted a white actor for the lead role, Kang was still given a prominent role as the non-stereotypical Asian American mentor for the male lead. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-EheX9m-dE Also, the big “final race” occurs, and the hero’s dad has the body of a classic 60s Mustang in his garage (a somewhat unlikely situation in Japan — not just the car, but the idea that he has a entire garage for this purpose in one of the world’s most expensive and crowded cities). So Sean and his friends take the engine out of one of the Japanese cars he has wrecked earlier in the film, and in a few hours they manage to install this into the 60s muscle car. I admit I am not a mechanic or specialist, but it does not seem logical that you could retrofit a Japanese front wheel drive engine into a vintage 60s American rear wheel drive car….if it could be done AT ALL, it seems to me that it would take a long time and involve a lot of custom parts. That’s not even considering that they drive on the opposite side of the road in Japan, or that a 60s era car would be much heavier than a current model Japanese car. There are too many other absurdities to list, along with the inclusion of the Yakuza (Japanese mafia). I wish I could say that “Toyko Drift” was campy, or that you could have a good time just laughing at the many absurdities, but actually its fatal flaw is that it is extremely dull.

Since the beginning of time, women have always been competitive creatures. Female drama begins at early stages in life, and only get worse with age. It seems they will do just about anything to get what they want, and bullying happens to be the solution. Men, fashion statements, money and a proper title are the main targets when it comes down to it. In the strange world of woman, its all about competition and being the best of the best. Many women may deny this until they’re among trusted friends sipping on their tea, but what happens when keeping quiet is no longer an option. Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s 2LDK is the story of Nozomi (Eiko Koike) and Rana (Maho Nonami) who are competing for the same movie role. While waiting to see who gets to be a Yakuza wife, they’re fixed in the same apartment over night. Nozomi is a quiet yet determined girl from a little town, who’s striving to make something big of herself, while also proving she’s not as timid as she looks. Rana is a high maintenance-pageant girl with a dark secret, hoping to win the role to fix her reputation and damaged self esteem. While one believes she has what it takes, and the other feels that she deserves her big break, you’ll begin to wreck your own brains wondering who’s gonna get the part. Other then the obvious food labeling and marking territories, it starts with simple eye rolling, mind gossip and sarcastic comments. But when one is overcoming their own personal battles, keeping sane becomes a difficult task when your competition is in the next room. It doesn’t take long before the girls really start to push each others buttons, but when they realize they’re both fighting for the same boy’s affection, all hell breaks loose. Simple poking, prodding and hair pulling is now the stuff of child’s play. Only one can get the role. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUXUkb34Dms Along with Ryuhei Kitamura’s “Aragami”, 2LDK became apart of the Duel Project and was filmed within an astounding eight days. There’s even a supposed American remake in post-production staring the cute Alexa Vega; but as we all know, nothing tops an original. Winner of the Jury Award’s best director, 2LDK is a mesmerizing tale that can make the simplest everyday girl question who’s friend and frienemy material. No doubt, it’s the perfect flick for a girls night in, you’ll surely laugh and rekindle old memories. Just hope when you’re hugging it out, your bestie doesn’t chop off your ponytail.

(This review originally appeared online at Bumscorner.com in 2007)"Who farted?"And with that, my friends, you get the perfect indicator of the level of humor that's in store for you when you recklessly insert DELTA FARCE (2007) into your DVD player. If you adjust your expectations accordingly, you may enjoy yourself. Otherwise--"well, we warned you." Maybe this film should open with a prologue from Edward Van Sloan, like DRACULA.This is the first time I've ever seen Larry the Cable Guy, and judging from this, he wasn't really worth David Cross getting all that worked up about. He's just a comic playing the character of a politically-incorrect moron based on a particular regional stereotype, same as Andrew "Dice" Clay. The film opens with Larry as an inept waiter in a greasy-spoon restaurant ("Don't mind the hair--I've been usin' a new conditioner") being informed by his skanky girlfriend that she's pregnant. The joyful Larry cranks up the P.A. system and announces the good news to everyone, then proposes. His girlfriend takes the mike to inform him that the baby isn't his. It's a mildly funny scene, but not "guffaw" funny, which pretty much describes the rest of the film.Bill Engvall plays Bill, the henpecked married guy who would love to get a divorce but can't because his wife has incriminating pictures of him, and whose vision of paradise is a murder-suicide pact. I like Engvall's hangdog style and low-key delivery, and "Bill" is my favorite character. Rounding out the trio is 97-pound weakling Everett, played by THE CORE's D.J. Qualls. He's a bit of a pervert who lives in a storage facility and likes to expose himself while brandishing a samurai sword. These are our heroes, god help us.As members of the Army Reserve, these three morons are "weekend warriors", so to speak, but the base that they report to is so lax that their monthly duty is spent getting drunk and eating junk food--until super-scary pitbull D.I. Sgt. Kilgore (our old pal Keith David of THE THING and ARMAGEDDON) shows up to chew their sorry butts out and announce that they're being shipped off to Iraq. At that point, the unsuspecting Everett blows in with a sack full of beer and whips out a long, tubular meat product with the greeting, "Hey, Sarge! Snap into a Slim Jim!" Okay, I laughed. But it wasn't technically a guffaw.During their flight to Iraq, the plane runs into trouble and the pilot is forced to dump their cargo, including a jeep that Larry, Bill, and Everett have crawled into for some shut-eye. Sgt. Kilgore gets tangled up in some rope and is also ejected. Thus, our heroes parachute into danger and find themselves in the middle of the Iraqi desert, ready to engage the enemy. They find Sgt. Kilgore, declare him dead, and bury him. Trouble is, he isn't dead. And on top of that, they aren't in Iraq--they're in Mexico.Eventually, the three warriors happen upon a small village that is being pillaged and terrorized by bandits. When they decide to use their superior military training and resources to help the villagers, DELTA FARCE surprisingly becomes a deft modern-day retelling of Akira Kurasawa's classic THE SEVEN SAMURAI as filtered through John Sturges' THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. Just kidding. It's more like a variation of THE THREE AMIGOS as filtered through the Three Stooges, sprinkled with leftover material from Jeff Foxworthy's act and shot on the Monogram backlot. Robert Rodriguez stock player Danny Trejo seems to be having a great time playing the bandit leader, Carlos Santana (people keep asking him, "Carlos Santana, the guitar player?" and he angrily retorts, "No! I'm the real Carlos Santana!") The grateful villagers fall in love with Larry, Bill, and Everett (well, maybe not Everett) and I enjoyed seeing them basking in the adoration. For sheer novelty value, I also enjoyed seeing Keith David in a red, see-through nightie, which actually happens in this movie. Really, I never thought I'd ever see that particular thing. Other memorable moments:

Logo for the Japan Film Festival of San Francisco. Image courtesy of NEW PEOPLE. 14 Live-Action and Anime Films at NEW PEOPLE Cinema from July 27-August 4 Source: MediaLab press release Official Site: jffsf.org Special Thanks to Erik Jansen The 2013 J-POP Summit Festival, the popular yearly San Francisco summertime Japanese Pop Culture celebration, has announced the launch of the Japan Film Festival of San Francisco, the first fully-dedicated annual Japanese film event for Northern California and the S.F. Bay Area. SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO is among nine live-action films screening at the festival. Photo courtesy of NEW PEOPLE. © 2010 SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO Production Committee The week-long Japan Film Festival of San Francisco will take place at the NEW PEOPLE Cinema beginning Saturday, July 27th through Sunday August 4th. The festival will also be a prominent feature of the 2013 J-POP Summit Festival, taking place across Japantown on Saturday and Sunday, July 27th and 28th. A complete schedule and advance ticket information is available on jffsf.org. Nine live-action films representing a vivid cross-section of the best in recent Japanese cinema will have their exclusive U.S. and/or San Francisco premiere at NEW PEOPLE. Live-action films include director Miwa Nishikawa’s DREAMS FOR SALE, Sakuran director Mika Ninagawa's HELTER SKELTER, Sion Sono's award-winning masterpiece, HIMIZU, architect/author Kyohei Sakaguchi’s documentary, HOW TO BUILD A MOBILE HOUSE, director Takashi Miike’s LESSON OF THE EVIL, director Shinsuke Sato’s LIBRARY WARS, actor Kazunari Ninomiya’s PLATINUM DATA, the samurai adventure of RUROUNI KENSHIN, and SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO, based on one of Japan’s greatest anime properties (known in the U.S. as STAR BLAZERS) and a must-see for any sci-fi aficionado. Films will be presented with their original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. Continued...

Well didn’t say we could spot a winner when we see one, and its no surprise to us that The Hollywood Reporter has just dropped the news that Paul Hough’s narsty little indie horror The Human Race has just picked up a swathe of sales at Cannes; for release in the U.S., Germany, Australia and Japan. No doubt there will be more to come. Synopsis: 80 people are ripped out of their daily lives and all re-appear in an undisclosed location. These people are from all walks of life: young and old, athletic and disabled, white-collared and homeless. The rules to a race boom in their heads, in their own voice and language, laying out what will become a horrific race of terror: “If you are lapped twice, you die. If you step off the path, you die. Race...or die." Human Race trailer

Thailand’s leading actress ‘Chompoo’ Araya Hagate walked down the Cannes Film Festival red carpet today wearing a Zac Posen aqua green puffy gown creation from his Spring 2013 collection. The dress looks like an upside down aqua-colored rose blossom. Interesting choice. She looks beautiful. Chompoo went to Cannes as a L’Oreal Paris spokesperson for Thailand. The two Asian ladies are keeping a close eye on Chompoo. The little details make this ensemble unforgettable. Straight from the catwalk to CannesSource: Pantip

This is a great Anime that is more unexpected then typical fantasy comedy romance ones. The story starts with Ririchyo a Girl who comes from a very wealthy family whom is sent to live in a special Hotel with other special wealthy people who each get their own Personal Body Guard. This one starts very typical with a few silly moments put in here and there. Until it gets to a point where some would be thieves decide to rob the residents. Its then revealed that the reason for the tight security and the Body Guards is not to Protect the Residents from the outside, but actually to protect the outside from the Residents. Every Resident and Body Guard are not what they seam and are actually quite powerful and dangerous if they want to be. In addition to this revelation, the viewers are also introduced to a budding love story between Ririchyo and her would be Body Guard. What makes this an excellent series is how it introduces the Audience to all the characters. Their personalities couldn’t be more different; she hides her shyness by being harsh with everybody and he is so desperate to please her that he is almost obsequious. Over the course of the series it becomes clear that she has feelings for him but it seems impossible that she will find away of expressing them. The other characters are an entertaining bunch which includes a self-styled delinquent who turns into a cute tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) Ririchiyo’s ‘fiancé’ Kagero who believes everything is either sadistic or masochistic and Zange, a character who doesn’t appear to take anything too seriously. I rather enjoyed this series; at only twelve episodes it did not outstay its welcome; in fact I wouldn’t have minded if it had been longer. The characters are an entertaining bunch that provided plenty of chuckles. While it was fairly obvious that by the end Ririchiyo and Soshi would end up together there were some twists and turns along the way that made it seem possible that they wouldn’t. A background is given for all of them to give them all depth. This allows a viewer to understand the point of view of each character no matter who they are. Also an excellent attention to detail from one episode to the next is kept. What i mean by this is that if there is damage or something happens in a previous episode, this is recalled later which has an effect on the later episodes. Each episode is mostly encapsulated story wise so that the viewer doesn’t have to recall every single episode to keep up. And the comedy is superb with its flare of making fun of differing character types. It should be noted though that this series has a story that does not follow the Comic/Manga exactly. In essence its a retelling of the story in a differing way. With superb Animations and dialogue this is a definite must watch for anyone who is interested Fantasy/Comedy/Romance genre animes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krjnRF7esOc This DVD collection offers all 12 episodes from the series along with another “episode” that appears to be three shorts that I had never seen before. The shorts do require that you see the series to fully understand but no one in the client-agent class of residents from this apartment complex is left out. These shorts also touch upon later issues of the first manga series. Personally I found the English voice actors to be good but there were a few awkward moments when they spoke over each other and a voice seemed out of place; that’s an issue for the English version director. The subtitled version does not seem to have these issues. A very unusual romance with absurdity and a touch of kink makes this not for children but perhaps also not for every adult. The comedy is fairly gentle with little to offend and there isn’t too much fan service… although some viewers may think Nobara, the large chested blonde girl crosses the line a few times! Overall this is a fun series which is well worth watching if

Running Out Of Time was a box office success. Johnnie To decided to create a sequel to the film with Lau Ching-Wan coming back to reprise his role as Inspector Ho but something was missing. Andy Lau is nowhere in sight to cause havoc for Inspector Ho. Instead, Ekin Cheng replaces Andy Lau and plays the thief who will give Inspector Ho fits. How would their chemistry compare to the irreplaceable chemistry between Andy Lau and Lau Ching-Wan’s characters? How would Inspector Ho deal with this new adversary? Is Ekin Cheng a magician? Sorry, that last question isn’t really relevant. Or is it? Ekin Cheng plays a nameless thief (cause what’s cooler than a character with no name?) who brings Inspector Ho back into his comfort zone: a cat and mouse game with thieves. Inspector Ho is puzzled by this nameless thief and tries to figure out why this nameless thief is doing the wrong that he is doing. Later on, he teams up with a businesswoman played by Kelly Lin who is involved with the nameless thief because he has three priceless artifacts insured by Lin’s business. There is something about 20 million Hong Kong dollars in fake money and an eagle because the nameless thief trains birds. Unlike the first film, which gave Andy Lau’s character a reason for doing his cat and mouse game with Inspector Ho, the reason that there is a cat and mouse game in this film is not given. The character just smiles for the camera and acts like a complete clown. To put it lightly, their chemistry is nowhere near as relevant as Andy Lau and Lau Ching-Wan’s. The acting is okay with Lau Ching-Wan being the only real reason to smile but everyone else is just there to get a paycheck. Assistant Commissioner Wong Kai-Fat becomes even more of an idiot in this film and he almost destroys Inspector Ho’s case in the process which begs the question; why is he still a police officer? Shouldn’t he be fired? Did he get his brain removed? Does he owe Inspector Ho a favor or something? Kelly Lin’s acting is also unreliable and while she looks good, her acting is anything but. Ekin Cheng had to resort to using smoke bombs and magic tricks while Andy Lau just left without making a sound. Either Ekin Cheng’s character was a super genius or the cops in this movie were very, very stupid. While the film is mildly enjoyable, there is nothing here to truly recommend for people to watch. If anything, check out the first film because that film is a film that showcases Johnnie To’s directing abilities. The humor usually falls flat and the drama does not add any tension at all and it feels like everyone was trying WAY too hard to top the first film. If this film was in any other person’s hands, this film may have been a much worse film but regardless; this is a miss in Johnnie To’s resume.

Source: Sentai Filmworks press release Official Site: konodan.com/merman (Japan) Special Thanks to David Williams Key art for THIS BOY CAUGHT A MERMAN. © Soubi Yamamoto / BE / CWF Sentai Filmworks is proud to announce their newest acquisition: THIS BOY CAUGHT A MERMAN (??????????????, Kono Danshi, Ningyo Hiroimashita., 2012)! From rising star Soubi Yamamoto, creator of THIS BOY CAN FIGHT ALIENS, and the innovative CoMix Wave Films studios comes a tail of a different color. Sometimes finding the right person is like searching for a single drop in the entire ocean. They say look before you leap and make sure you can swim before you go in the deep water, but when a picture of his late grandfather falls into the ocean, Shima jumps in after it without thinking. Nearly drowning as a result, he is instead saved by a very perfect stranger... one whose strangeness extends to only being human from the waist up! For Shima, who’s always felt like a fish out of water himself, it’s more than just a revelation, and the young man and merman quickly begin to bond in ways neither anticipated. And yet, it’s going to be far from easy sailing. After all, Shima and Isaki aren’t just from opposite sides of the tracks, they’re from entirely divergent species, and swimming in separate gene pools may make maintaining a long term relationship a whole different kettle of fish! Continued...

A wedding video filled with irony. Not the best gift to your childhood friend who is getting married. But a great gift to the audience. Filmmaker Liao Jiekai opens a door into the mind of a bride who is about to be received by her groom, one where the romanticism of a wedding mixes with the practicalities of the rituals, where mushiness mixes with some delightful humour.In ‘Before the Wedlock House’, the bride allows filmmaker Liao to follow her in close lengths documenting her pre-dawn conversations with her make-up artist and the early birds in her wedding entourage. In conversational chapters, we learn about the relationships between her, the filmmaker and the greater environment that surrounds them.The film relentlessly documents how the bride disparages the filmmaker’s profession and craft, saying she might only watch his films if they were like Koran dramas. Yet, she has inadvertently brought the film and the artistry of Liao’s vision to life by way of her matter-of-fact straight-talking honesty. The film also slaps on another ironic layer with her describing how she used to idolize the filmmaker when they were children, though she now calls him a ‘poor artist’.On another level, the film offers us a peep-hole into society through the make-up artist’s anecdotal contributions in the conversation, alluding to unhappy couples who fight before or during their wedding or family troubles that have dented many ceremonies. Together with objective and sentimentally detached shots like the establishing pre-dawn HDB wide shot, they seem to point towards a wider commentary the filmmaker wishes to make. Interestingly, the filmmaker’s also found a good defending voice in the make-up artists who tells the practical bride that the filmmaker friend may one day become famous and earn lots of money.The film’s resonance also lies in the duality the bride displays and how the camera has captured her varied moments. She is chirpy and humorous at one moment and reflective at another. Maybe it’s the veil that clouds our view of her, giving her a natural atmospheric aura, even though her behavioral swings are undeniable. Or perhaps it’s the camera’s attentiveness to the subject, celebrating her joys on at one moment with full-on shots of her beaming smile, while meditating on her pockets of contemplation the next moment with the dreamy, white-washed overtones.Review by Jeremy Sing