My Favorite Movies

I will call this my all-time favorite movie. I don't think I'll ever tire of watching it. Such a smartly written film.

Poetic. Dreamy. Surreal. There's just something about the way Sion Sono puts together a film that appeals to me. The assemblage maybe more than the film.

An engaging movie that takes a bleak, but also beautifully hopeful look at the lives of four young women who live on the margins of life in contemporary Tokyo. Sex in the City it's not. The portraits of these women are, almost unnervingly, complete. Great great independent film for adults.

More:
sitenoise at the movies: Strawberry Shortcakes

Absolutely beautiful! Brilliantly assembled simple story of a writer in search of his muse, told with rich colors and lots of black, dream logic, humor, inspired editing, and a soundtrack that matches it beat for beat. I wanted to applaud almost every scene. Arty without pretension and a poet's attention to detail.

sitenoise at the movies: M (2007)

If you like Sono's work you will not be disappointed by this. If you haven't seen anything by him, why not start with a four hour movie? The music is great.

Clergymen praised this film for it's theological value. This was the true beginning of Bill Murray's career as an actor.

Mark Wahlberg should have won an oscar for his performance in this film. And the writer of the screenplay for giving him the part. And the cinematographer for the unique look of the film.

This is a painful and gorgeous film. Not sad. Painful. And gorgeous. And painful. Be advised that there are a couple scenes in this film that rank up there as a couple of the most difficult scenes to endure in cinematic history. You don't actually see anything, but it's clear what's going on and it is essential to the meaning of this movie. You will squirm in your seat. Guaranteed. And if animals being harmed in the making of a film bothers you, and you consider fish and frogs animals, stay away.

An amazing love story. Outstanding performances!

Jong-du is a social misfit, heading for retarded. When his brother tells him he should think before he acts, he responds "I don't know what you mean", and he doesn't. He can't see the need to.

Gong-ju has cerebral palsy. Jong-du doesn't see it, or he sees right through it. Clearly. It registers nothing in him.

A thoroughly engaging film on the surface. The creative camera angles, the mostly gray/green color palette accentuating a sense of disease or decay, the original music and sound design, and the beauty of the actors add up to a sensuous ninety minute delight.

Charlene Choi is magnificent as the schizophrenic, sad and lonely Winnie.

More:
sitenoise at the movies: Diary (Mon seung)

Perfectly executed. One of the most well-crafted films I've ever seen. Dizzying animal terror. Swirling, whirling cameras and a soundtrack designed to induce nausea make watching this film a physical experience. Super punk. Not for everybody. I'm glad it went backward. Ends sweetly. Super sweet. Bravo.

High octane intimidating sense of humor.

Simply Beautiful. This is Brokeback Babbling Brook. Incredibly insightful story about one-sided young gay love that transcends itself. The woman who made this film is the daughter of a famous film director and I'd say its given hera wonderful head start. She's young and destined for greatness if the gentle and mature way she put this film together is any indication.

This is my guilty pleasure 5 star film.

I smiled from ear to ear watching this movie from the time sensitive boy was introduced until the very end. This is an exceptionally well done film.

More:
sitenoise at the movies: Blue Gate Crossing (Lan se da men) (2002)

A gold standard

No denying it. So much passion went into the making of this film it drips off the screen.

Doesn't everybody bow to the greatness of this film?

A surprising, illuminating, entertaining, enlightening, educational program. Michael Palin is perfect for this. He's an everyman with a sense of humor in some very foreign places.

James Earl Jones: The equation of life on the Serengeti is simple. Herbivores eat plants. Carnivores eat herbivores. Magnificent.

Beautifully written, beautifully shot, beautifully acted, and bewildering

sitenoise at the movies: Spider Forest Review

It's a buddy cop comedy mystery thriller melodrama. Typically over-the-top Korean style done very very well. World of Silence peels off layer upon layer, uncovering about five film's worth of internal demons and other dramatic tragedies, but it ends, and it seems to end a few times, like a sportscaster screaming "No! No! I don't believe it! Don't ..." and then "Great shot!" when it goes in.

More:
sitenoise at the movies: World of Silence

If you like a good mind-fuck ... and who doesn't? ... a little kinky sex and a lot of tension, go here. Trying to figure out the layout of this apartment was mind boggling. It was supposed to be.

sitenoise at the movies: Next Door (Naboer)

Post modern disgust at its finest and most endearing. Hal Hartley at his best. Nobody acts in this film, they just deliver lines. Lead character carries around a hand grenade at all times ... "just in case."

Naomi Watts's performance of a lifetime ... Wow!

Great filmmaker, great cast.

Like an army of films rushing at you all at once. Frustrating to follow sometimes (best to just let it fall all over you), but the sheer strength of Kseniya Rappoport's performance pulls you through the film and her character's life. It's a stunning portrayal of love, fear, and determination.

More:
sitenoise at the movies: The Unknown Woman (La Sconosciuta) (2006)

Lost in Beijing is banned in China and its filmmakers are banned for two years from making films in China. What kind of nonsensical time-out is that? I want more of them to fall through the cracks and make films like Lost in Beijing--which is nothing like Farewell My Hero's Kingdom of Flying Yellow Flowers.

sitenoise at the movies: Lost In Beijing

A gripping thriller with a bewildered sense of humor made possible by the kick-ass performance of Yun-seok Kim. Highly recommended. There are a handful of groan out loud plot moves in The Chaser, but so what. There are also more than a handful of plot moves this film doesn't do, moves that most people will be guessing it will do, that it more than makes up for it. This is a film I know I'll watch again just for the performance of it. The plot won't matter. It's that good.

More:
sitenoise at the movies: The Chaser

I don't think there was a single misstep in this film. Javier Bardem is one of the creepiest bad guys to come along in a long time. His downright silly haircut adds to it. The man lives outside the bounds. It's hard to imagine someone so evil. And it's a great morality play without .... uh ... I dunno.

The dialog in this film is so quick-witted I could barely keep up with the subtitles. It's very funny, and very punk. It's dark and violent and nihilistic and truly bizarre. Each member of the band must have a handicap. One has a really bad lisp and lives on the ceiling (see poster)-(only in his own home, tho), another has a debilitating mother complex and a stiff right arm, another is deaf and addicted to crack, and the drummer's handicap is that he can't play drums ... but he's writing the story. The soundtrack is magnificent and the acting is all spot on. If you like punk, you gotta see this.

sitenoise at the movies: Ex Drummer

Director Yibai Zhang's got a real knack for capturing a city on film. His previous work "Longest Night in Shanghai" showed the glamour of that city at night. This one captures the gray industrialism of Chongqing. There's a mystery brewing beneath this slice of life low-key indie that's never fully explained, only suggested. Solid performances from Karen Mok's beautiful legs and especially Wenli Jiang. It's great to see mature independent minded stuff like this coming from the mainland.

sitenoise at the movies: Lost, Indulgence (Mi Guo) (2008) China

Smart, fast, and funny. I might have played Malkovich's character a little less over the top but everyone else in this ensemble comedy is spot on. I think J.K. Simmons, in two short scenes, steals the show, and Tilda Swinton can never be denied. The Coen Bros know how to write stories and create worlds that unravel into absurdity.

Sadness is seldom more unrelenting than on ONE FINE SPRING DAY, a film with no plot and very little dialog. I was riveted by the intelligence and realism depicted on screen, knowing that the film plays differently depending on the viewers own experience. Masterfully done!

Charlie Kaufman is a contortionist of the mind. How this film didn't sweep the Oscars I don't understand. Wait, yes I do. It's relentlessly bleak, but it's also belly crunch hilarious. I had to stop and rewind a dozen times because I missed things, overcome by a wheezing laughter. There is not a feel good moment in the film and yet it left me strangely uplifted.

sitenoise at the movies: Synecdoche, New York

A debt collector offers Fumiya an opportunity to erase his debt: walk with him around Tokyo. What we get is a road movie, a very funny road movie, where the unlikely duo walk instead of drive. There's eventual male bonding, marvelous footage of Tokyo, and a smorgasbord of odd characters and situations along the way. Very enjoyable.

sitenoise at the movies: Adrift in Tokyo [2007]

The weight of this film rests almost entirely on the shoulders of two twelve year old actors ... and they deliver the goods. There's nothing groundbreaking about the story but even in a story we've seen before it's a joy to spend it with these two characters, a testament to how delicately the film is directed. The cinematography is ice cold beautiful and adds to the isolation we feel from the teenage outcasts. This is a masterful production.

As far as hand-held camera things go, I really enjoyed this one. The supernatural aspects of the film are on a different level than the gritty realism of the rest of the movie, and there are a couple ridiculous scenes thrown in for plot, but all in all a fun, fast ride. It's waaay better than the remake "Quaratine", which throws in a few extra scenes for plot that are waaay more ridiculous.

A perfectly cast film by David Mamet.

This is one of those films that uses the device of repeating scenes from different perspectives to embellish a simple story and it does it in spectacular fashion. There are a couple lonely hearts, a couple con artists and a very well-mannered Yakusa boss who all intermingle over the course of one evening and a suitcase full of money. The scene where the Yakusa boss hiding under a bed sees only the shy dance of feet of the initial interaction between the two lonely hearts that we had seen earlier from a different perspective is one of the most hilarious and sweet scenes I've witnessed in a while. It's all handled in a lighthearted and charming manner. The film is chuckle friendly all the way through and the whole cast is perfect. Very highly recommended.

This is the best plotless film where nothing happens I've ever seen. The film focuses on three characters, their loss and loneliness. If there is a story arc it's that each of them finally reaches out to make a connection, a sexual connection, with varying degrees of success. Throughout the film we simply observe them doing, well ... not much of anything, but practically every scene is cut so that you wish you could stay with it for at least a moment longer, to be with that person in that situation for just a bit more time. You can't make a film like this without masterful execution of the crafts of acting, cinematography, and direction. Check, check, and check. I was stunned by this film ... even without considering its symbolisms and allegories.

I was a bit surprised by the sometimes frank and honest dialog coming from Aoi Miyazaki's character in what for the most part is a very family friendly bit of Japanese young love/first love cinema. But it is appropriate for her character, a set-to-mature-at-any-moment young woman deficient in some necessary growth hormones needed to push her over the edge (that when triggered by a first kiss could ultimately be her ... undoing) and seems trapped in young adolescence. It's a very cute and cute-funny, and really sad, sad, film. Miyazaki teeters the edge between coy and seductive so well it made me dizzy ... with delight.

The film is beautifully photographed. The 'heavenly' forest is fairy-tale gorgeous, as are the three young actors we spend time with. The story is engaging too, clearly a novel-adapted one.

Wow. Just wow. This is the most adorable cartoon I've ever seen. It's beautifully animated (by the master Hayao Miyazaki) and the two kids portrayed seem uncannily accurate. I highly recommend NOT watching the English dubbed version. Dubbing might seem like less of an issue with animation than with real people, but I saw a dual audio version and flipped back and forth and for some reason the English voices made it seem less magical. It's a simple story about a father and his two young daughters who move, and must adapt, to the country, but it's executed perfectly. You will feel happy after watching this movie. It's soothing, and as a friend says, it seems almost healing. I agree.

Big surprise. Comparatively speaking, this is a plain and simple love story from Japan. One of the participants has legs that don't work so her granny pushes her around in a baby carriage but that comes off as beside the point. She's suffered and she's not expecting love to be a part of her life. She's not looking for it, but when it shows up, she gets it. She understands and appreciates it even though she knows with certainty that she will be lonely again. Chizuru Ikewaki brings a poet's depth to her role and Satoshi Tsumabuki is puppy dog cute as the boy who falls, surprisingly and so naturally, in love with her. This film could have been manipulative but it isn't, not in the least, and that's what is so refreshing about it. This is a bittersweet gem.

sitenoise at the movies: Josee, the Tiger and the Fish

Somehow, thirteen year old Wei Minzhi, who appears unable to act her way out of a paper bag turns in the performance of a lifetime. Blushing, awkward body language, a drifting gaze, and an pre-adolescent thespian's grasp of dialog pacing, filmed docu-realistically, come together to create the most endearing character I've seen in a long time. The film employs nonprofessional actors throughout, mostly children, to amazing effect. It's painful to think that this film portrays a reality of rural China so the story all by itself will probably make you cry. Seeing the story presented by a cast of real people makes it all the more powerful. The stubborn persistence of Wei's character, at first unrealistic, becomes poetic and inspiring. The ending might seem a little contrived but if ever there was a story that deserved a happy ending it's this one. A remarkable film.

After three and a half slow paced, sepia toned hours experiencing pain and anguish I still watched the credits roll. The film starts off with a guy hijacking a bus and killing most everyone on it. The driver and two middle school kids survive and we spend the rest of the film watching them live with it. We watch them fall asleep watching television and other mundane maneuvers but there is not a wasted frame in this movie. There are a remarkable number of plot points that keep the film moving forward but it still feels like suspended animation. Koji Yakusho is sublime and Aoi Miyazaki, at like twelve years old--and without saying a word the whole film--is mesmerizing. This film is a masterpiece.

This is a wonderfully surreal 90 minutes spent with interesting characters involved in interesting situations, not so much story wise but in each of the set-pieces on display. It's an experimental film using it's own internal logic telling its story in non-linear fashion but it's easy to follow because it's engaging. One of the reasons Chinese independent films can be so good is that the directors of many of them, like this one, are able to employ top tier actors. Zhou Xun is one of mainland China's best contemporary actresses and Xia Yu is no slouch. He's the captain of goofy suave. The film hops around space and time, sometimes during a single conversation and one of the most remarkable features of this production is the sound design. It remains a constant through all the jumping around making it easy to hang on to the roller-coastering ride. Very well done film.

This movie was a great big surprise. A film about the world of compensated dating in Japan, made in Japan, could easily be exploitatively cheap or cheaply titillating, but Bounce Ko Gals is neither, and much to some people's chagrin, considering its subject matter, it turns out to be a sweet, sort of melodramatic film about friendship. There is no sex or nudity in the film but it is pretty insightful and blunt about such things. It's not a kids film by any means and as much as many adults might like to think its subject matter inappropriate for teens, it's pretty spot on in its portrayal of youth culture, particularly that of contemporary Tokyo.

Bounce Ko Gals is a hip, fun, frank, and furious look at the, some would say uniquely Japanese, phenomenon of teenage girls who have discovered their sexual power and find very little reason not to use it even though the endgame of designer handbags and other assorted accessories might seem superficial--not to mention mind-boggling to those of a more mature bent. The straightforward approach to this subject matter is assisted by the director's documentary style of filming and it's got a great soundtrack. Highly recommended.

sitenoise at the movies: Bounce Ko Gals

There are three things that contribute to the superbity of this film. The first is the cinematography by Mark "Pin Bing" Lee. Remember that name. If he's the director of photography on a film, you can count on it at least looking good. The second is the soundtrack by World's End Girlfriend?which is actually just one guy who specializes in other-worldly noise experiments with hints of jazz and classical. His work here creates a hip, contemporary, and dreamlike atmosphere, and since this is a film about the emptiness and isolation of modern life, it's a good thing. The third contributing factor is the masterstroke of casting Du-na Bae as the Air Doll. It's hard to think of another actress who could have made such a success of the role. Bae is a fearless, talented, versatile actress and she also somewhat looks the part with her large expressive anime inspired eyes. She's also Korean, giving her a head start playing a fish out of water in this Japanese film. There are few actors who can convincingly run through a range of several emotions in a matter of seconds without moving a muscle in their faces. Bae is one of those actors, and she does it often.

sitenoise at the movies: Air Doll

Possessed is more thriller than horror. It's got some scares and a few jolts here and there, but it's really more eerie than frightening. The story concerns a girl who returns home from college when she learns her younger sister has gone missing. She discovers her mother has become a religious fanatic who believes only prayer will bring her sister back. But back from where becomes the big question. People all around her commit suicide. There's a cult, a Shaman, and a handful of freaky people who engage in weird ceremonies with a hope for salvation or cure from disease. It's not a pedantic essay on religious belief but that is the main theme of the film and it serves to give the proceedings some depth. It also situates the film on a terrain of the supernatural which, when you make a film, gives you license to bend realities and play visual tricks from time to time. But nothing is cheap here. The intended audience isn't the summer of fear kids. It's more serious than that and it never gets close to outrageous.

sitenoise at the movies: Possessed (Bulsinjiok) Living Death ? Disbelief Hell [2009]

The film begins with Ah Yu, played by Taiwanese singer Tarcy Su, being released from prison. We aren't told why she was there or how long she was in for. She makes her way to the home of a weathered motherly woman named An-an, played by veteran actress Yi-Ching Lu, whom she had come to know in prison. An-an takes her in and gives her job at the hostess bar she operates. After an arranged date doesn't pan out the way Ah Yu expected it to, she quits the bar and takes a job at a computer factory. Her relationship with a young supervisor she meets there, along with her ongoing and anchoring relationship with An-an, is the meat of this film.

more:
sitenoise at the movies: Blue Cha Cha

This is in the same league as A Moment to Remember ... if you like this kind of stuff. It uses pretty much the standard terminal disease of the week Korean melodrama template: the first half is fun and lighthearted (to set context and set up the sadness); in the first two-thirds of the second half, we watch the knife go in; and in the final third of the second half, the knife is unmercifully twisted.

Strange thing though. The film didn?t make me cry. I found myself thrusting my fists in the air, in a very sports-like manner, at how well directed, and how well acted were the scenes that were supposed to make me cry. Once this film reaches the second half and leaves the detritus behind it?s like floating on a cloud.

If you think the twists work they?ll seem brilliant. If you don?t, you may frown upon the whole thing. I?m, of course, not going to say what they are, except to say I think they work and give the film a unique spot amongst the ranks of Korean high-art melodrama.

sitenoise at the movies: More Than Blue

This film blew me away. In a nutshell the film is about a thirty years young Korean man in search of his biological mother. With extras.

Having said that, and saying that this film touches on many of the related topics of child abandonment, identity, adoption, loss, being young and pregnant and alone (not to mention some very pointed exposition on Korean nurseries and clinics), in very powerful ways, it's not a message film nor an after-school special level catharsis. It's way weirder, and more literary, and much more poetic. The film is more like a painting than a story. The second act is pretty much a riff on Albert Camus' Le Malentendu.

sitenoise at the movies: A Blind River

The most beautiful film I've ever seen in my whole life.

This is a rare gem. The feature film debut of director Nobuhiro Suwa. It's a no-budget, mostly improvised slice of emotionally repressed life which observes a young couple for a short period of time as they struggle to communicate. I wouldn't say things are going badly for them at this particular point in their lives, they seem very much in love, but the relationship is uncomfortable. A small, quiet film with characters that seem overflowing with histories right when we meet them.

Confessions is not perfect but it's pretty close. It's dark and gorgeous. It's unsettling. It's got Takako Matsu and Yoshino Kimura; Radiohead and Boris on the soundtrack. It gets crazy and goes by quickly at times (hard to catch all the subtitles), even though a good portion of the film is in slow motion. It's a testament to the skill of the director that everything makes an impression, even fluttering by. A few times, for a moment, it seems like it might lose steam and then whoosh! There it goes again. This is hands-on film making. An audio-visual package right up there with Myung-se Lee's M. It gets physical. And that's what I like about it. Nakashima gets how to manipulate sight, sound, and time moving through time that creates both a sense of being on a rollar coaster and being suspended in time. Like being in a dream or a car wreck.

It's creepy that most of the players in the film are 14 years old, talking about killing people and their mommy problems. The film gets most of its fuel from mommy problems. Shocking that it seems so believable that these kids understand what they are talking about. Tetsuya Nakashima makes these kids smart. It's very refreshing.

The first and last acts are both tours de force. If you over think this film it can fall apart. If you're the type that does that kind of thing you won't like it as much as I did. But unless you are also sensitive to slow motion or post rock emo soundtracks it's hard not to be overwhelmed by this masterfully crafted film.