Those movies I saw three weeks ago or so and I'm a lazy bum, okay?
The first movie I watched was Trivial Matters by Pang Ho-cheung, which works as a series of shorts only linked by the thematics of sex and miscommunication. Many of those were fresh and hilarious, although not always in a tasteful way. Not usually liking short movies; I was surprised by how much I appreciated those.
The Chaser by Zhang Chi is a noir movie centered around a former cop pimp investigating on the reason why some of his whores are disappearing (a hint : extreme violence is committed against them). The movie got the price for Action movies at the festival, and it is indeed a well constructed, well filmed, well acted movie with tight storytelling. It is also a very violent movie, with most of the extreme violence directed against women in a way that I did not, in the end, found bearable; and with absolutely no ending in the storytelling to redeem or justify it. Slightly more sophisticated than a fridging, but in the end, not worth much more, so I would no recommend it if you care about feminism in the least.
Fireball by Thanakom Pongsuwan was the only genuinely bad movie of the lot, although in a hilarious way. The plot is about a game of basketball where you fight people at the same time, and a guy going out of prison looking forward to avenge his brother who was put in a coma due to the game. It is wonderfully cheesy and full of cheesecake, of course without any hint of real characterisation, and even the action sequence are pretty bad because they're badly cut and quite confusing. On the other hand, I had fun watching it ;)
The Moss by Derek Kwok is a more atmospheric noir movie revolving around several characters, it's a little bit difficult to sumarise : it revolves mostly around a brothel, there's a young girl child who arrives there to try to win money, one of the older whore who takes her under her wing, and she dates a crooked cop, there's the spoiled son of an organised crime lady boss who goes visit the brothel while carrying an emerald as a gift for his mother and who never got home, and the freakishly strong homeless guy who lives nearby. I mostly liked this one, perhaps because it was one of the movie where the whores character fought back (after the Chaser i needed that, although they take as many hits); and because of the overall fairy-talish atmosphere and the way the city itself is a character.
Island Etude by En Chen is a road trip movie where a hard of hearing college boy decides to bike all around Taiwan and meets various people as he goes. There isn't much of plot, of course, but it's still very pleasant to watch, very fresh in its postcard way and succeeds in making you want visit Taiwan :)
Kabuli Kid by Barmak Akram starts when a woman in a burqa abandons a young baby in a taxi cab after a course, the story revolves around the taxi drivers as he decides what to do with this burdensome package. One of the big interest of this movie was simply seeing day to day life in current days Kabul. I'm not sure there was much of a point to story (apart perhaps from life go on, even if it's difficult), but the slice of life aspect was very well done.
The Sniper by Dante Lam is a pretty generic action movie about a swat team of, you guessed it, snipers, which tries to talk about competition and vengeance and only manages being amusingly cheesy and fun looking. It's watcheable, mind you, and not badly done in its over the top way, and it's got some very pretty male lead characters, yummy.
A Frozen Flower by Yoo Ha was a breath of fresh shoujo-ish air after all the testosterone-heavy action movies I'd watched. It's a Historical movie set in Korea about a king who was in love with the captain of his elite guards, and convinced him to sleep with his wife in order to get a successor and not be overridden by another country (which I think is China, but is called Yuan). It's very well done, extremely pretty, melodramatic in all the right ways, has good action scenes as well, and some of the most risky and lush sex scenes I've ever seen.
The Divine Weapon by Kim Yoo-jin is another historical Korean movie, but more of an adventure one this time, and a pretty fun one. Rag-tag team of merchants are charged with protecting the daughter of an inventor in time for her to finish forging the ultimate explosive weapon they need in order to protect themselves from their neighbouring country (China again). There's no much surprises in the plot, but it's beautifully done, entertaining, has cool action, some very sympathetic characters (including several bad ass female characters!), and a rather endearing Excuse Me Princess romance. It's was ever so slightly 'explosive weapons kill lots of people, YAY' at the end for my comfort, but that's the only real criticism I would make.
Departures by Takota Yojiro. A cello player gives up on his musical career as hopeless, and return to his natal city with his wife. The only job he can find is as someone who prepare corpses for funerals. This is a beautiful both funny and deeply touching movie which I could not recommend more warmly for everyone to go watch if they have the chance.
All About Women by Tsui Hark is an over the top, extremely crackful and rather cynical comedy revolving around three women and their misadventures revolving about romantic (and unrequited romantic) lives. I found it highly hilarious and fun to watch. It is not feminist (by a lot), but the female characters are pretty well rounded and strong (if not exactly sympathetic), and they don't all end up happily in couple, in a turn of event that rather cheered me up (although the narrative may not have intended it this way).
That's all!
The Chaser by Zhang Chi is a noir movie centered around a former cop pimp investigating on the reason why some of his whores are disappearing (a hint : extreme violence is committed against them). The movie got the price for Action movies at the festival, and it is indeed a well constructed, well filmed, well acted movie with tight storytelling. It is also a very violent movie, with most of the extreme violence directed against women in a way that I did not, in the end, found bearable; and with absolutely no ending in the storytelling to redeem or justify it. Slightly more sophisticated than a fridging, but in the end, not worth much more, so I would no recommend it if you care about feminism in the least.
Fireball by Thanakom Pongsuwan was the only genuinely bad movie of the lot, although in a hilarious way. The plot is about a game of basketball where you fight people at the same time, and a guy going out of prison looking forward to avenge his brother who was put in a coma due to the game. It is wonderfully cheesy and full of cheesecake, of course without any hint of real characterisation, and even the action sequence are pretty bad because they're badly cut and quite confusing. On the other hand, I had fun watching it ;)
The Moss by Derek Kwok is a more atmospheric noir movie revolving around several characters, it's a little bit difficult to sumarise : it revolves mostly around a brothel, there's a young girl child who arrives there to try to win money, one of the older whore who takes her under her wing, and she dates a crooked cop, there's the spoiled son of an organised crime lady boss who goes visit the brothel while carrying an emerald as a gift for his mother and who never got home, and the freakishly strong homeless guy who lives nearby. I mostly liked this one, perhaps because it was one of the movie where the whores character fought back (after the Chaser i needed that, although they take as many hits); and because of the overall fairy-talish atmosphere and the way the city itself is a character.
Island Etude by En Chen is a road trip movie where a hard of hearing college boy decides to bike all around Taiwan and meets various people as he goes. There isn't much of plot, of course, but it's still very pleasant to watch, very fresh in its postcard way and succeeds in making you want visit Taiwan :)
Kabuli Kid by Barmak Akram starts when a woman in a burqa abandons a young baby in a taxi cab after a course, the story revolves around the taxi drivers as he decides what to do with this burdensome package. One of the big interest of this movie was simply seeing day to day life in current days Kabul. I'm not sure there was much of a point to story (apart perhaps from life go on, even if it's difficult), but the slice of life aspect was very well done.
The Sniper by Dante Lam is a pretty generic action movie about a swat team of, you guessed it, snipers, which tries to talk about competition and vengeance and only manages being amusingly cheesy and fun looking. It's watcheable, mind you, and not badly done in its over the top way, and it's got some very pretty male lead characters, yummy.
A Frozen Flower by Yoo Ha was a breath of fresh shoujo-ish air after all the testosterone-heavy action movies I'd watched. It's a Historical movie set in Korea about a king who was in love with the captain of his elite guards, and convinced him to sleep with his wife in order to get a successor and not be overridden by another country (which I think is China, but is called Yuan). It's very well done, extremely pretty, melodramatic in all the right ways, has good action scenes as well, and some of the most risky and lush sex scenes I've ever seen.
The Divine Weapon by Kim Yoo-jin is another historical Korean movie, but more of an adventure one this time, and a pretty fun one. Rag-tag team of merchants are charged with protecting the daughter of an inventor in time for her to finish forging the ultimate explosive weapon they need in order to protect themselves from their neighbouring country (China again). There's no much surprises in the plot, but it's beautifully done, entertaining, has cool action, some very sympathetic characters (including several bad ass female characters!), and a rather endearing Excuse Me Princess romance. It's was ever so slightly 'explosive weapons kill lots of people, YAY' at the end for my comfort, but that's the only real criticism I would make.
Departures by Takota Yojiro. A cello player gives up on his musical career as hopeless, and return to his natal city with his wife. The only job he can find is as someone who prepare corpses for funerals. This is a beautiful both funny and deeply touching movie which I could not recommend more warmly for everyone to go watch if they have the chance.
All About Women by Tsui Hark is an over the top, extremely crackful and rather cynical comedy revolving around three women and their misadventures revolving about romantic (and unrequited romantic) lives. I found it highly hilarious and fun to watch. It is not feminist (by a lot), but the female characters are pretty well rounded and strong (if not exactly sympathetic), and they don't all end up happily in couple, in a turn of event that rather cheered me up (although the narrative may not have intended it this way).
That's all!