25.8.06
God of Cookery 食神
God of Cookery (Sik San) – 1996
If, like me, you mucho enjoyed Kung Fu Hustle (a sequel has been announced by the way) and Shaolin Soccer, then you may have sought out other Stephen Chow films and hopefully you should have come across this little gem, to be sure me hearties. Tis' a delight and almost as funny as the aforementioned kingly two. This one also enjoys turning the mundane into some kind of martial arts. Yes these chefs kick ass and use super-human arts to cook great noodle.
Chow plays the God of Cookery, only it soon turns out he is in fact a fake, as revealed by a rival and jealous chef Bull Tong (Vincent Kok). The only way he can get back this huge fame is to actually become a super cook. This film is full of silly and fun humour: a guy called Wet Dream, pissing beef balls etc.
The beautiful (normally) Karen Mok plays Turkey who, along with Goosehead, join forces with Chow's character to form a new business selling delicious Pissing Beef Balls... yes they piss, and helping Chow to become a great chef again. Most recommended. 6.5/10
19.8.06
Serenity
Serenity – 2005
River Tam (Summer Glau).... swiiing. After seeing this great film, I shall be trying to watch the quickly cancelled tv series it sprang from, called Firefly. Joss Whedon wrote it, the guy that brought us the Buffy and Angel TV shows as well (oh and the 4th alien film which was shitty forsooth). Having not seen the original Firefly series I found this film a little difficult to get into and the characters a longer time to actually warm too. Also includes: some brilliant action sequences, nifty camera work and a darn good story too.
It's about a crew of space pirates/mercenaries/traders/whatever (almost Cowboy Bebop-like) living on the edge of civilised Alliance space. They are protecting their doctor's sister, River, who has been turned into some kind of human weapon by Alliance scientists. However protecting her is making it harder to get jobs, so the crew is getting restless and hungry. River is telepathic and picked up secrets the Alliance wants kept hidden and so an assassin is hired to take her out and keep those secrets safe. Luckily for the Alliance River is not quite right in the head and probably does not even grasp what she knows, which buys the assassin time. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the assassin wonderfully. Nathan Fillion provides an intriguing Captain Mal. Much is revealed and much is good to watch. 7/10
18.8.06
Train Man 電車男
Train Man (densha otoko) – 2005
This is a sweet Japanese film. It's an unrealistic romance about a otaku guy who hides away from face to face contact with people preferring the world of internet chat rooms, comics, video games and collectable figurines. He meets a mature career-focused rich girl on the train after weakly trying to stop a drunken salary man hassling her. He seeks advice from other Japanese friends in an internet chat room community about this girl he wants to get to know. She is very happy that he acted rather than just trying to ignore the situation like everyone else on the busy train and so sends him a present; some expensive tea cups. He then attempts to change himself in order to be her boyfriend. An epic process, but no matter how good he can look he cannot beat his simple fear of talking to her properly and with confidence.
The actor playing Train Man, Takayuki Yamada, is actually quite good looking but plays an awkward otaku with no fashion sense very well, though perhaps sometimes Train Man gets a bit too weird and ya just want him to get a freaking grip on everything.
What I love about this film is we get brief looks into the lives of the other chat room members, which proves quite interesting. The ending is admirable. 7/10
17.8.06
The Island
The Island – 2005
Sean Bean playing a bad guy... whoooo yeah! He does it damn well too. Anyway the story: A young man called Lincoln Six Echo is living in a contained Eutopia it seems. After some kind of nuclear war survivors just like him await their chance to get transferred to the island; the last habitable place left on Earth. It soon becomes apparent all is not right and Lincoln Six Echo develops beyond his design – yep you guessed it from his name he is a robot...nah fuck that he is a clone. Cloned for the very purpose of helping his owner live longer. Rich people invest in clones of themselves for spare parts and even babies. These clones/insurance live in a secure hidden facility and are kept in perfect health. The Island is a lie and much is kept from the clones and the customers/owners, in fact. With his friend, Jordon Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson) Lincoln escapes the facility causing great trouble for all involved climaxing in fucked off Bean – playing Merrick, head of the facility.
The child-like Lincoln Six Echo exploring the outside world is played brilliantly by Ewan Macgregor, who must also play the customer Tom Lincoln (an even better performance by the Scot, possibly even just playing himself). Steve Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan, Ethan Phillips (Neelix from Star Trek Voyager) and Djimon Hounsou provide great supporting roles.
It's a entertaining film but a little annoying in places as these two highly vunerable escapees survive the impossible like a great fall that conveniently results in them landing in some random net. But it will never fuck me off as much as the utter shite Anakin pulled off at the end of the Phantom Menace. The Island is an entertaining romp. 6/10
Lady Vengeance
Lady Vengeance – 2005
The third film in this excellent trilogy of revenge stories. I find myself bothered at just how violent and depressing these films have been, but somehow I end up shrugging it off and thinking shit on me these Korean folk make good film. Still, I would say this is the weakest of the three, but it has a very very interesting and thought-provoking ending. The film is directed and written by Chan-wook Park who also made Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Oldboy. I will sit down and watch all 3 again in the future because they definitely deserve a second viewing. 6.5/10
