Kamikaze Girls

Directed by - Tetsuya Nakashima
Country of Origin - Japan
Nick's Rating: (10 out of 10)


Ok . . . Japanese movies are kind of hit or miss for me. They either have an awesome storyline with fantastic acting or the far-FAR latter. I was very hesitant about this movie at first. Would it be a super girlie flick with an over all message of "men are assholes, so girls need to stick together because men are, in fact, assholes" or would it be totally lesbian porno like some Japanese movies can be? I am thrilled to say that it was neither. "What no lesbian action? Forget it!" Don't let that sway you. In my personal, totally unprofessional, opinion this was a perfectly shot, directed and acted movie. The best way I can describe it is to say that it was a beautiful graphic novel that had come to life. It seemed as though each shot was framed as though it was being plucked from the Kamikaze Girls comic. Kyoko Fukada and Anna Tsuchiya were perfectly casted for their rolls for this movie. Not to mention that this was Anna's very first movie roll - not too shabby. Unlike some films that tend to make me extremely bored with their - "let's spoon feed you the plot with some endless dialogue in a monotone setting" - this film kept me awake and involved with no hiccups in the story. So if you want to be entertained by a Japanese movie with humor and culture, but not so much culture that you ask, "What the hell is going on?", check out this movie.

P.S. The DVD extras contains an English music video by the actress Anna Tsuchiya that is pretty entertaining as well.

-Nick

The Host (Gwoemul)

Directed by - Joon-ho Bong
Country of Origin - South Korea
Nick's Rating: (7 out of 10)

First I must say that this is the first in the long line of South Korean films that I love. And it is the first that I've seen with really well done CGI. The basic plot of the film is that the U.S. needs to stay out of foreign business, especially South Korea's. American scientists pollute the Han River with toxic chemicals leading to a mutated creature being born and reaping havoc on Seoul. And throughout the movie Americans try to help the South Koreans but inevitably only make things worse. The whole time your watching a family trying to save their 13 year old daughter/niece/granddaughter from the creature while it seems the American's do everything in their power to stop them. So this basically makes you ask who in fact the real monster is, the mutated creature from the Han River or the Americans? (the American government to be exact) Sure this movie might be an "anti-Americans-being-over-in-other-countries-propaganda-thrill-ride" but it's a damn good one. I have to say that my favorite part about this movie is the way they introduced the creature, it was as if it came from one of my childhood nightmares. The fact that the whole first sequence was during the day made it that much more believable and outright awesome.
If you're new to South Korean films, this is definitely a good one to get you started.

-Nick