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new and improved
09-08-08
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Zenzen daijobu (Fine, totally fine) - Yosuke Fujita (2008)

I have to say up front that I'm not a big fan of Asian comedies. There are very few that have actually managed to make me laugh which is why I felt compelled to write something about what is probably the best thing to come out of Japan since Taste of tea. Japanese comedies are usually either outrageously over the top slapstick (which more often than not simply doesn't work) or the quiet, awkward comedies that make you laugh out of sheer embarrassment. Fine, totally fine falls in the latter category and is a surprisingly accomplished debut feature from the 45 year old Yosuke Fujita. It revolves around 3 central characters; Teuro, a soon to turn 30 manual landscape worker with a passion for scaring people, his friend Hisanobu, the far too nice hospital administrator and Akari, the clumsy, inept artist whom Hisanobu tries to employ and eventually falls for. There's also Teuro's father, a listless bookshop owner in the midst of a midlife crisis.

The majority of the film's humor comes from Teuro, played by the perpetually type-cast as the overgrown baby YosiYosi Arakawa. Up till now his task has been to provide comic relief in supporting roles (I've seen him in the dreadful Survive style 5 and Memories of Matsuko, both comedies of which he was pretty much the highlight) so this is his first film in the lead and he pulls it off with great success. Finally the extended screen time has allowed him to develop his character, a boy trapped in a man's body and forced by his friends to try and take life more seriously (at which he naturally fails miserably). The only thing that bothered me a little was Akari's character which was just a little too similar to the "heroine" of Memories of Matsuko. Thankfully, Fujita never allows her to veer too much into the pathetic self-deprecation which pretty much destroyed Matsuko for me.

The film has won the top prize at the biggest Japanese film festival in the world, the Nippon Connection in Frankfurt, the audience award at the New York Asian film festival and the Japan film angel prize for new scriptwriters. Unsurprisingly, because it really is a breath of fresh air and hopefully a sign of good things to come from Japan this year.

Last edited by adidasss; 09-08-08 at 10:40 AM.



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09-11-08
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Save the green planet! - Joon-Hwan Jang (2003)

It's well known that of all the Asian cinematographies, Koreans cater to Hollywood tastes the most. They churn out an unbelievable amount of films, mostly popcorn garbage, but now and again, there is a proper gem that makes the festival rounds and dazzles everyone. This film is definitely not one of them, although it has built up a bit of a cult following. I didn't like it and considering the amount of time I invested in this piece of garbage (2 freakin' hours), I'm a little pissed so I'm gonna rant a bit.

The premise is promising enough; Lee Byeong-gu thinks the president of a large corporation is an alien from the planet Andromeda. He also believes the aliens are planning an invasion during the lunar eclipse and the aforementioned unlucky president is the only one who can contact these alien forces and I suppose convince them to stop the invasion (it all got a bit murky after the ensuing nonsense). So he and his "quirky" (retarded) girlfriend kidnap the president and then torture him for the next hour and a half. Groovy aye. Not so much. What you get is a classic Misery rip off; imprisonment, torture, foiled attempt of escape, more torture, outsider get close but fails to see the cry for help, gets killed etc...it's all very predictable and overdrawn without so much as a hint of suspense. I was about to through in the towel when after what seemed a successful escape, the captive killed the captor, only to resuscitate him while stomping him in a fit of rage.

The predictability of this wannabe thriller kinda makes you not care about the plot development (yes, there is apparently more to it than mere sadism). Near the end we start to find out what has made Byeong-gu a crazed psychopath (and mass murderer, I forgot to mention, he apparently killed quite a few other people whilst "searching for aliens"). You guessed it, he had a rough life. So he snapped, and started killing everyone that pissed him off at one point. How profound (not to mention original).

So, we start off by not really being sure as to whether Byeong-gu is insane or there actually is some validity to his claims, to completely ignoring this point in the torture and attempts of escape that take up most of the film, to being convinced he's a complete nutter to the last twist which I'm sure you could guess but I'm gonna say it anyway, yes, the president really is an alien. Shocker. Do I care? Not much no.

To return to the opening bit, this turned to out be an Americanized piece of popcorn garbage. I suppose the MTV style editing and computer effects should have tipped me off that this isn't going to be anything spectacular, but that cult status and a few scenes from the beginning had me hoping against hope that something would salvage it in the end. Well, I was wrong, and so is everyone who likes this film (let alone calls it a masterpiece, I'm looking at you, twitchfilm.net). "Fearless, daring, original" my ars.




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09-16-08
Thanks for review Adi I will walk straight past it if I see it at the video shop
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Parm A Shaun
09-20-08
When do I get a Fritz the Cat review hmmmm?
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got mad game, yo
09-20-08
Hmmm, i really liked Save The Green Planet but then again, not seen it for what must be pushing a few years so may reconsider when (and if) i rewatch it. Though, think i liked the whole Hostel meets Zebraman angle which maybe why i dug it more than you.
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09-21-08
Originally Posted by Powdered Water
When do I get a Fritz the Cat review hmmmm?
I've had that on my computer for a long time actually, but I haven't watched any films during the summer. I promise I'll see it soon...

Originally Posted by Pyro Tramp
Hmmm, i really liked Save The Green Planet but then again, not seen it for what must be pushing a few years so may reconsider when (and if) i rewatch it. Though, think i liked the whole Hostel meets Zebraman angle which maybe why i dug it more than you.
Well like I said, the familiarity of the plot ruined it for me. That's why I didn't think much of Ne le dis à personne (Tell no one), even though many (including Holden) think it's a great thriller. :\



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there's a frog in my snake oil
02-21-09
I remember liking the bees. (Thought the tension, cinematography and story were working well around that point. Everything else either side was pretty scrappy & patchy tho, all told. Kinda forgave it on exuberance grounds)

Two of my friends have never forgiven me for choosing it tho
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Just sayin.....
05-14-10
Originally Posted by adidasss
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Vozvrashcheniye ( The return ) - Andrei Zvyagintsev

This is a story about 2 young boys who go on a ( supposed ) fishing trip with their father, a dark, mysterious and authoritative figure that has suddenly resurfaced after 12 years. At first the boys are really excited about their fathers return, but as the trip goes on, they discover that their father is not what they had hoped for.

I know several people did a review on this film but i feel it's not getting enough attention on this respected forum. I saw it about a year ago in the theatre but i picked it up again as soon as it came out on DVD. This gave me a chance to look at the film more closely in all it's glory and brilliance.

The narration is built in daily chapters, like the diary that the boys have sworn to write each alternatively. The photography of the film is dark and cold, cristal clear, just like the lakes of the russian tundra . The sounds, like a horn in the mist, give you this incredible chilling feeling.


The actors, especially the younger brother, are amazing, i got chills down my spine when i saw the scene in the rain, the boy is so expressive and such a talented actor that i simply couldn't imagine he's actually acting in front of a camera ( that's a little test i do to see if someone is a really good actor ).
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The fact that this film is simply a work of art aside, the story itself and the relationship between the father and his sons impressed me the most . What was depicted is a typical relationship between a cold, authoritative patriarch, a man who commands, displays no emotions on the outside, has no softer side or keeps it barried deep within, and his children, who, given that he wasn't arround for a long time, have not learned how to act arround such figures which leads to confrontations and ultimately a tragic ending.

The climax of the film was such an atomic bomb it sealed the deal for me, it made it one of the best films i have ever seen. It moved me in ways i can't even explain. As it says on the back of the DVD, this film is an unforgetable study of the primordial yearning for a father figure. And even though many questions were left unanswered, for instance, why did the father return? Why did he take them on a trip with him? Where was he all these years? What was in the goddamn box?! Why did the mother let him take the boys just like that? All of those questions don't really matter, at least to me, because your mind is void after that last scene ends and you are left with this feeling of awe because you have witnessed a masterpiece....then the slide show of pictures the boys took from the trip starts accompanied with this beautiful russian folk song....and you almost feel like crying.......
I just watch this last night on NetFlix it's available to watch instant streaming, and it was great. It held my attention from start. good review.

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