Korean

Battleship Island (군함도/Gunhamdo)





Synopsis (from Wikipedia):
About a group of about 400 Korean workers who risk their lives to attempt an escape from Hashima, and the story of forced labor on the island.

Hwang Jung-min as Lee Kang-ok
A bandmaster at a hotel in Gyeongseong, who chooses to take his only daughter to Japan in order to keep her safe. But they get sent to the Hashima labor camp instead, and there he'll do anything that's asked of him, as long as he can protect his daughter.

So Ji-sub as Choi Chil-sung
The best street fighter in Gyeongseong, a coarse man who constantly stirs up troubles in the labor camp. Under his harsh and rough exterior, he has a good heart.

Song Joong-ki as Park Moo-young
A member of the Korean independence movement who infiltrates the island in order to rescue a fellow independence fighter being held captive there.

Lee Jung-hyun as Oh Mal-nyeon
A comfort woman who gets moved to Hashima after going through endless troubles under the Japanese colonization, but never loosens her strong grip on hope.

POV: Most viewers knew they signed up for when they settle for Battleship Island - a train of feels. With the story centralised on Japanese occupation and the fight for survival for a father-and-daughter pair, it is guaranteed to make viewers sympathize, angry and upset for the main characters. I only have praises and good words for this movie as it was so well done (graphic, story, cast etc).

Spoiler


This post has been edited by sweet_pez: Jun 29 2018, 05:22 PM

Oldboy. If you're genuinely disgusted when someone breaks social taboos - don't watch this, don't even read the reveiws. It's really dark - I mean it, it's deep, twisted and too humane.

I read the story by accident, including the spoiler. Didn't feel like watching it anymore afterwards

I believe that these two countries are the leading pack of movie industry in Asia. Japan specialized in animation while Korean in action,etc.

If Japan, I would recommend any movie that is done by Studio Ghibli and especially if it directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli together really have created a number of high quality animation movies throughout their career.

1. Spirited Away


2. Princess Monosuke



Japan also produce some high quality movies.

1. Like Father, Like Son


2. The Third Murder




As for Korean movies, there are a lot if you really want to indulge. For starters as they have mentioned:

1. The Man from Nowhere
2. Oldboys

3. New World


4. Train to Busan


5.Miracle in Cell No. 7


6. The Villainess



There is plenty of movies to watch if you wanted to truly wanted explore Asia movie scene. Heck even, Hong Kong has some really good movies that could really surprise you.

This post has been edited by rong_rulez: Aug 7 2018, 05:23 PM

Thank you, you've got some good stuffs there personally am interested in The Third Murder and New World.

-

This post has been edited by sweet_pez: Aug 13 2018, 05:40 PM

Korean

Bluebeard (해빙/ Haebing - meaning thawing)





Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©
Seung-Hoon (Cho Jin-Woong) is a physician. He opened a clinic in Gangnam, Seoul, but the clinic went bankrupt. He then lands a job at a hospital run by his friend in a satellite city of Seoul. Seung-Hoon then becomes involved in a series of murder cases. The murder cases are connected when a woman's severed body comes out from the melting Han River.

POV: In addition to AsianWiki's sypnosis, I would like to add on that the clinic had a lot of colonoscopy patients lining up daily as they are the only one who offers this service. During colonoscopy, patients were sedated but very often, they talk in their sleep. The lead character's landlord's father went to the clinic and under sedation, the old man let slip that "the head belongs to the fridge". Since then, the doctor had always been on his toes in fear that the the landlord (who is also a butcher) and his father could be murderers.

Applaud this film for its highly suspenseful plot and various good moments!!! My hands and feet were cold with nervousness and bad feelings that I cannot shake off. There was more than meets the eye and you wouldn't even see that coming. It's definitely one of my highly recommended thriller. Our poor doctor only wanted a simple life while coping with his divorce and alimony fees. His life was a bore of work and staying at home. Life had been tough on him and yet...

---

Midnight Runners (청년경찰/ Cheongnyeon Gyeongchal)





Plot from Wikipedia:
The story is about two Korean National Police University students, Ki-joon (Park Seo-joon) and Hee-yeol (Kang Ha-neul), who witness a kidnapping and track it down. However, the authorities are busy with the kidnapping of a son of a business mogul. They decide to embark on their own amateur investigation, which gets them into all sorts of trouble.

POV: Our 2 lead characters have no idea what would happen when they followed a beautiful lady with the intention to get her number. Upon seeing the kidnapping, they tried to trace the men and eventually found them. Unfortunately the scale of the 'organization' proved to be too much for them to handle. There's suspense, action and humour throughout the film. It's one film where you'll see 2 guys possess friendship that one would be jealous of. 4/5 thumbs up from me

Japanese



1. Re:Born

Plot:

A legendary soldier with a mysterious past decides to unleash his inner beast to stand up for what he cares about.







2. Mumon: The Land of Stealth

Plot:

The warlord, Nobunaga Oda, is rapidly vanquishing his foes on a quest to pacify and unify the country under his rule. However, there is one region that even Nobunaga fears: The Iga Province, home to the Iga ninja, known to be extraordinary weapons of war who do not think of people as human and will assassinate anyone for money. There is one Iga ninja, Mumon, who is renowned as a deadly assassin and who has unmatched battle strength, earning him the nickname of Iga's strongest ninja. However, he is equally lazy and only seeks to earn money to please his wife, Okuni. At the same time, a ninja named Heibee Shimoyama becomes disillusioned with his people's way of living.



One day, Mumon kills a ninja from a different family for a reward, unaware that his actions will ultimately lead to a deadly battle between Nobunaga's army and the ninja of the Iga Province. The resulting battle evokes struggles with morality in a midst of colliding interests and political schemes.

I have just watched "To all the boys I loved before" with Lana Condor. The movie is American, but the actress is Korean, which akes the movie different. And it is veeery interesting.

Just look

This post has been edited by LeeAnna: Sep 4 2018, 11:53 PM

Let Me Eat Your Pancreas (2017)



The movie's title is indeed intriguing. I know its not Halloween yet, but dont let the title spook you!

Its been awhile since this movie was stored in my Movies library folder. Did not have the time to watch it until yesterday. By looking at the poster, many would judge that this movie is another coming of age/high school boy meets girl love story. I am here to tell you that it is not.

It was believe that eating one's pancreas the soul of the person that was eaten to continue to live on inside the one that ate them.

Let Me Eat Your Pancreas (2017) delivers a powerful message on living life to its potential, holding no regrets.

A melodramatic movie, but fell short in triggering your tear ducts, which is not a bad thing at all.

This movie alternates between the past and future of the main characters, but not confusing as compared to other movies.

However, one thing in the movie that lets me down the is the



Rating: 3/5

This post has been edited by Morales: Oct 19 2018, 03:24 PM

Thanks for your share of recommendations and reviews! I actually watched a little of "Let Me Eat Your Pancreas (2017)" but those bits were towards the end and I had the impression it was a mellow movie

It's been a while but 2 months ago I saw this at the Japanese International Festival with GSC.

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3ft Ball & Souls / 三尺魂 (Sanshaku Tamashii)





Plot Synopsis by https://fantasticfest.com/films/3ft-ball-and-souls

There’s a internet suicide room in Japan called Life Club where strangers get together to discuss their plans on how to end it all. Four members of this group ally with a mission: they are going to use explosive to snuff out their lives. However, at the moment of the explosion, something unexpected happens; the four find themselves thrown back to just before the moment they detonated the device. So they try again. And again. And again. Something is wrong and the group must figure it out so they can be allowed to perish. In a big explosion.

Director Yoshio Kato’s entry into the pantheon of time travel movies operates on multiple levels. Sweetly comic, outrageously confusing and beautifully human, a story of how the moment of death brings four strangers to come to understand life is explored through amazing character work and wonderful cinematography.

Winning the audience award at Skip City International Festival, this wonderful film demonstrates Yoshio Kato assertively developing his voice and becoming one of the most interesting filmmakers to emerge from not only Japan, but from within the entire genre world. (Evrim Ersoy)

POV:
This movie deals with suicide - why, how, the driving force behind one's life and each personality. It's a good movie and I was totally fixated to the screen when it started off. Everyone live with a different reason, and these group of characters have their own fair share of trouble to want to end their lives. However, they also have values - there's no way they could let a high school girl kill herself because she "has a whole future ahead of her". When we're depressed, it felt like it's the end of the world... however, if one persevere on, he/ she will eventually find joy in living.

It's one of the best Japanese film I've seen in 2018. The theme is simple, yet thought provoking to a certain extent. The mood was depressing, intense yet light at times with dark humour (sorry, my sort of thing), alongside a fantastic cast.

Here's the trailer if you're interested:



SPOILER



This post has been edited by sweet_pez: Oct 24 2018, 01:56 PM

Legend of the Eight Samurai (里見八犬伝 Satomi Hakken-den) (1983). Higgh Production value, camp galore!!!

Hahahahaha! Sadly I have no horror movies recommendation here Mov

Then again, I have not come across a good Japanese horror after Ju-On period. The newer ones probably have good themes such as group suicide etc but they are more gory than scary (ghosts/ spirits).

This post has been edited by sweet_pez: Oct 25 2018, 09:32 AM

That's okay. Cannot be freaked out all the time...

I'm a fan of Korean and Japanese film as well, sad that the movies are not shown here in the cinemas (only famous ones).

Anyway to keep the thread alive, I'll recommend some in time. Just my personal taste

GANTZ:O


This is the cream of the crop of Japanese CG animation at its best.
Not talking about the plot or the "plot" but in pure animation.

If you're a Gantz manga reader like me, then it follows close to the manga with some changes here and there.

This post has been edited by PhungTM: Oct 25 2018, 11:32 AM

This film has just been released this year, may I know when will it be released in our national cinemas?

Hi where can I buy Korean movie dvd

Plenty of places. Speedy is one if you're talking about retail. Otherwise for Online purchase, you can try YesAsia.com

Thanks sir I am looking for only son ye jin movies hard to get