Silver Hawk - China

          Director:  Jingle Ma

          Year:  2004
          Plot:  “A Chinese socialite, in her spare time, fights the forces of evil.  She teams up with her childhood buddy, Mr. Rich Man, who is a police officer, to foil a kidnapping ring with more sinister undertones.”


          I forgot to write this up after I watched the movie.  I might be missing some things that I wanted to say about this movie, but I will do my best to get all the important stuff in here.
          I have to say one of the reasons I watched this movie is because I am a bit of a Michelle Yeoh fan.  This movie did really disappoint me either.  I found this movie to have been rather enjoyable for the time I spent watching it.  It isn’t one that I would own besides the fact that it would be a good addition to a Michelle Yeoh collection, but it wasn’t bad.
          As far as the comedy goes in this movie, I felt that it was rather good.  A few points were rather ridiculous, but the majority of the movie had very well done humor.  I absolutely loved Rich Man and Kit though.  Those to following Silver Hawk as she went after the bad guys was quite funny, especially with Kit pretty much laying on top of Rich Man to see, and constantly hitting him.  You also gotta love, “Ten more minutes.  Five minutes?  Two.”
          This is rather reminiscent of Batman, but I did find this movie to be the better one.  The comedy in this movie kept it from suffering from the same problems that the Batman movies did for me.  This was more entertaining than a rich guy in a bat costume, and the action sequences were better as well.  I enjoyed the scenes between Silver Hawk and Jane, and Moris the most.


          This isn’t one that I would own necessarily, but it is definitely worth a watch when you need something to do.  The comedy in it, though sometimes a little too much, is very entertaining and enjoyable.  Also it is one that a Michelle Yeoh fan needs to watch simply because she is in it.  n.n

Antique - Korea

           Director:  Kyu-Dong Ming
           Year:  2008
           Plot:  “Jin-hyeok opens a cake shop in an old antique shop, hiring Seon-woo, Korea's best pastry chef, who fell in love with him in high school.  Also there, are Su-yeong, crushing on Seon-woo, ex-boxer Ki-beom, and Seon-woo's French ex-boyfriend.”


           I simply had to watch this one when I seen this on the site LetMeWatchThis.  I figured a Korean Gay Comedy wouldn’t be too much of a waste of time.  It turns out that I was right.  I absolutely loved this movie.  Oh, and I haven’t read the comic it is based on or anything.
           It is always seems strange to me when I find a comedy that I enjoy.  I usually find comedies stupid, but maybe that is just the American ones.  I absolutely found this movie genuinely funny.  I still can’t get over Su-yeong.  I think he was about the funniest person in this movie.
           I thought they did a good job bringing all of the characters history into this movie.  You got a little piece of everyone’s story, and that really helped to understand them better.  It is sad what Jin-hyeok did to Su-yeong when they were in school, but it really wasn’t done on purpose.  At first you look at it and think of him as a horrible person, but by the end of the movie you realize that he would have never done that if something hadn’t happened just moments before.  Of course I won’t tell you what happened, that’s for you to see for yourself.
           I think Su-yeong is my favorite character in the whole movie, and it’s not just because he is the gay guy, or cause he is pretty.  I just felt bad for him, especially with his ex-boyfriend, now there’s someone who deserved worse than he got.  Nothing may have happened between any of the shop employee (though between the two would have been nice), it seems Su-yeong was happy just working there, which is cute.
           The mystery taking place behind the cute comedy front was a very nice touch.  It really did give this movie something to keep everything in balance.  This movie might not have done so well without such an intriguing story.  I found the ending rather interesting though.  I had expected it to end a little different, but it wasn’t bad the way it happened either.  I am sure you will understand me if you watch the movie.  n.n


            This is definitely a movie I have to own.  It has a great balance of an intriguing mystery, and light-hearted humor.  Parts of this movie though may be a little off-putting to homophobes, for those who don’t mind, it is very cute.  n.n  This is definitely one to check out.

Time Traveler - Japan

          Director:  Masaaki Taniguchi
          Year:  2010
          Plot:  “Yoshiyama Kazuko works as a pharmaceutical researcher secretly developing a formula for time travel.  When she is left comatose after a car accident, her daughter Akari learns of her mother's first love, Fukamachi Kazuo.  Believing that finding Kazuo will allow her mother to regain consciousness, Akari uses Kazuko's formula to leap back in time to the 1970s in hopes of finding a younger Kazuo. I instead, she meets and befriends Mizorogi Ryouta.  Together, they attempt to search for Kazuo, but love begins to blossom between them.”


          There was some mixed opinions on the site I watched it, but most said it wasn’t good because it wasn’t up to par with the anime.  Well I haven’t seen the anime, as it is still in my To Watch list.  I wanted to see the live action first, because, well that is the version I would have less argument with trying to get my family to watch with me.  n.n
          Though I didn’t watch the anime, I have to say that this is a very good movie of itself.  There were of course some points that were kind of off, like the time travel sequence (bad sfx), and the lack of explanation, but all in all, it was a good movie.  I really loved Akari’s whole experience in the past.  She really did make a great little trip for herself, but too bad those things can’t last.
           I absolutely loved the fact that this movie took me by surprise.  I never thought the story of the past would end like it did.  I really felt bad for Akari, but at least that point she didn’t have to be a part of for long.  I also loved the idea of the promise, even though time had past, and they couldn’t really remember things, they were still able to keep the promises that were made.
           Like I said, I did have a problem with the lack of explanation in the movie.  It would have been even better if it had explained how the time travel was possible.  Simply telling us that someone created an elixir isn’t very satisfying.  The rest of the storyline though keeps this point from ruining the movie.


          This is another movie that I am going to have to own.  It was really a nice story though I kind of wanted it to end differently, not because the ending was bad, but it is just kind of sad to see even if it realistically had to happen.  I am also going to have to watch the anime sometime, because if it is even better than this movie, it will be well worth my time.  n.n

Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler - Japan

          Director:  Toya Sato
          Year:  2009
          Plot:  “Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalizing cars, and drinking booze, a debt collector named Endo arrives to collect money.  The debt collector then offers two choices to Kaiji: spend 10 year paying off your loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay your debt & possibly make a whole lot more.”


          I decided I simply had to watch this movie because both Tatsuya Fujiwara and Ken'ichi Matsuyama are in this.  Both, of course, also star together in Death Note as Light and L.  Now even though I simply watched this for the two stars, I actually enjoyed this movie for other points.
          I saw on one site that someone didn’t like the fact that pretty much only a few parts actually have anything to do with gambling.  I would certainly have to disagree with their point.  Gambling isn’t just about an actual game such as cards for money.  You can gamble at anything with money, or simply with your life.  Not everything has to be an actual game.  This movie starts with a game and ends with one.  Though the middle part isn’t a game in a normal sense of gambling, it is still a gamble.
          I really enjoyed this movie because of the characters.  I absolutely loved the fact that Kaiji was seemingly nothing more than garbage to those who saw themselves as superior.  The only problem is that they failed to realize what true worth is.  Kaiji may have been penniless, but he was a good person.  He had the chance of breaking free but choose to stay with a man he was trying to help.  Not only that but that same man didn’t care about his own prosperity but that of his daughter in the end.  I also have to say that I love the strategies that are used in this movie.  I especially loved the final round of E-Card.
          The person who had an issue with the seemingly lack of gambling also mentioned over acting as being a problem.  This didn’t really bother me.  They happened to mention the beer scene as a major problem.  This didn’t seem like over acting to me though.  I mean living the life he was, I think I might have acted the same way getting something ice-cold.  I do have to say though that sometimes the acting does seem a bit much, but because the storyline is so interesting it isn’t too much of a problem with me.


          I would have to say that this is one I would recommend.  There might be some points that aren’t great, but the movie as a whole is really good.  I feel that I have to add this one to my collection as it goes quite well alongside Death Note.  I couldn’t tell you how dedicated they were to the original manga when they made this movie, but it was good for someone who has never read the manga, or previously heard of it.

          Check out my review of Kaiji 2: Jinsei dakkai gemu!

Kimi ni Todoke - Japan

          Director:  Naoto Kumazawa
          Year:  2010
          Plot:  "Kuronuma Sawako, called Sadako by her classmates for her resemblance to the character from The Ring, has always been feared and misunderstood because of her appearance.  Despite her appearances, she is a sweet and timid girl who longs to be able to make friends with everyone and be liked by everyone else.  When her idol, popular boy Kazehaya, begins talking with her, everything changes.  She finds herself in a new world, trying to make friends and talking to different people.  Slowly, but surely, a sweet love is blossoming between the two as they will overtake any circumstance or clear obstacles in their way."


          When I seen this movie listed on a website, I just absolutely had to watch it.  I am a fan of the manga, though I couldn't tell you what chapter I was last on because I lost my manga file.  >.<   Anyway, I thought the manga was sweet and just had to watch the movie when I found it.
          Because I haven't read the manga in quite awhile, there are some things I simply can't remember.  As far as what I do remember, this movie turned out to be very good.  There were some points that didn't quite make it, but I am not sure if they were just want I wanted to see or if they were actually in the manga.  (I have simply read too many to remember what goes with what in most cases, unless it is one of my favorite action ones.)  Anyway, it really doesn't matter because this was a good movie.
          I really loved the way that Sawako was portrayed.  I felt that the actress did very good with the character, which could have ruined the movie if played poorly.  It wasn't just Sawako though, the whole movie was casted really well in my opinion.  Though I can't say whether they stuck perfectly to the manga at the moment, but they did well enough to make a very good movie.
          There wasn’t really any point within the movie that I can say that I was disappointed with.  Though some parts made me mad or upset, it wasn’t because of the movie, but because of things within the storyline.  By this I mean that I was mad a let’s say what a character did or for that matter didn’t do, not with something that was done by the filmmakers.


          This movie is well worth the watch.  The storyline is well done, even if you don’t quite know the manga.  This is definitely one movie that is good enough for the average audience and not just the manga fan.  I have already decided that this is one movie that needs to go into my collection especially as a live action anime movie.