This month has to be a month of Asian movies. Five of the seven movies I have watched are from Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong. So where shall I begin? Ah, the beautiful Korea Actress Son Ye-jin (The Classic) in the romance comedy The Art of Seduction. The movie was immensely entertaining with Son Ye-jin playing the seductress faced off with her seducer. Need not to say, I was very much seduced throughout the show.
What I did not expect was the action packed romance drama show Daisy. I thought I was up for a romance comedy and I was wrong. Jeon Ji-hyn – none other than the famous actress behind My Sassy Girl and Windstruck – played the painter who found herself in love with a government agent and an assassin in a miss-timed fashion. There is a nice twist at the end and you just have to watch and see.
The Sentinel played by Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, and Kim Basinger has surprisingly exceeded my expectation. Is it a movie that has re-watch value? Probably not. Though the plot is less of an original but it does give you the level of suspense that kept you entertained till the end.
Of all the Korea movie I have watched so far, You Are My Sunshine – a movie that I kept forgetting that it is based on a true story – is one of the best. The actors and actresses may not be the typical Korean eye candies. But their acting is more than adequate to make you realise that Koreans can make serious movies. In fact, out of 7 nominations of the 26th Blue Dragon Awards, the show has won the Best Director, Best Actor and Best Couple award. The movie starts with an unmarried farmer who has fallen in love with a pretty waitress at a local coffee shop who provides more service than just coffee delivery to her customers. It is a romance tragedies and it reveals the essence of love that though many may not be able to relate but definite able to celebrate with.
I have always been intrigued by Japanese Animation. When Final Fantasy VII – Advent Children first hit the store, I grabbed one home. I was delighted and amazed at how fast pace and beautiful crafted the movie is. I wish I have followed the Final Fantasy franchise since the beginning. That way, I could have appreciated the movie much more.
Jasmine Women played by Zhang Ziyi and Joan Chen is about three generations of women living through the Japanese occupation, rise of Chinese communism, and the modern 80s. In this three chapters of stories of three generations, Zhang Ziyi always plays the younger one (daughter or granddaughter) and Joan Chen always plays the older one (mother or grandmother). It is a story starts with a decision of not to carry out an abortion and ends with the same decision that needs to be made. A very emotional movie I must say and Zhang Ziyi’s acting was superb.
Finally, Mission Impossible 3. Or simply M:i:III. Awesome, it is awesome. By far the best Mission Impossible movies I have watched. I seriously do not remember any bits and pieces of the previous installments (except the pigeons flying off when Tom Cruise walked by … that scene, remember?) but the storyline of this latest installment is well-crafted. It was never a dull moment from beginning till the end.
3 replies on “Asia Movies Rock! (And Some Others Too)”
M:i:III asian movie? Written by dunpanic on 2006-05-16 19:56:26
——————————————————————————–
Lucky you, of all the movies you mentioned, I only managed to catch one: M:i:III. Agreed with you it is awesome in terms of gripping the audience and keeping us on the edge of our seats. However, why did you consider it an asian movie? Surely the inclusion of Shanghai in the later part of the movie does not qualify, otherwise many other Hollywood movies (Entrapment, some James Bonds movies, and more) would also qualify as an asian movie. As for the part of Tom Cruise walking away with the pigeons, I think it is in part II, where John Woo was the director, given pigeons being his trademark. This time around, J.J. Abrams wrote and directed M:i:III. If you watched the Alias series created by him, you will see that M:i:III is something like a big-screen version of Alias, with the main role changed from a female to a male. Even the nerdy-geek character is mirrored from the TV series to the movie. In any case, I love Alias, so I enjoyed M:i:III thoroughly. Wanted to ask you more about The Sentinel. What is it that makes it re-watchable? For me the attraction is the fact that Kiefer Sutherland is in it. His Jack Bauer character in 24 leaves a deep impression, and I would like to see how he carries a similar character (is it similar) here.
Woot! Good to see you! No no, there are 2 Western movies out of 7 movies I have watched. And it is pretty rare for me to catch so many Asia movies in a month’s time. Hence the title: Asia Movies Rock. Ah, as for The Sentinel, I said it is probably has no re-watch value. However, the storyline is pretty tight so that it is pretty enjoyable. And the plot, I think, is more believable than M:i:III. Ya … you have correctly pointed out. Definitely there is an “Alias” feel to M:i:III and I am glad it does.
[…] I love watching Korean movies. More so, I love watching Jeon Do-yeon’s performance. “You Are My Sunshine” still breaks my heart every time I think about […]