akatemple of reviews

The Football Factory (2004)
Directed by: Nick Love
Written by: Nick Love and John King

So being an American it is hard for me to grasp the point of these football organizations or firms I believe they called themselves, also what is even more mind blowing to me is that these firms or whatever they are called actually exist to some extent, not saying that this movie is a documentary. I watched Green Street Hooligans a while back and when I started this film I immediately was reminded of it, the main difference in my opinion was Green Street Hooligans was more of a youthful thing whereas The Football Factory is more grown up and older people that are involved in these “firms”. As I said I am American so if I am getting this wrong that they really exist just let me know and I will correct my mistake.



I am a big fan of Danny Dyer who plays the main character who is going through something big in his life, everyone telling him that he needs to grow up and stop kicking peoples face’s in. Dyer’s character starts thinking he is having some kind of breakdown because he starts seeing things on TV and Billboards that he thinks are talking directly about him, also he keeps having the same nightmare over and over where he is the one getting kicked in the face. The movie is basically building up to the big match between their team (it never sais exactly where this takes place so I have no idea) and their arch rivals, basically planning how they are going to beat the piss out of the other people that really is what this movie is about. There is a sad kind of side story about Dyer’s grandfather and his best friend, they had went through WWII together and bean best friends ever since. They have plans to move to Australia and live out there few remaining days drinking and enjoying the girls in bikinis. This was a good movie but just boggled my mind that people would actually go through all the trouble just to beat the crap out of another group of people over a football match, still I suggest if you have not seen this then you should watch it.

Memories of Murder (2003)



I have been trying to figure out how to sum up a brief summary of this movie as well as my feelings about this movie. I will start with the beginning of the movie, 1986 South Korea's first serial killer strikes and a dead body is found in a ditch in I guess what you would call the backwoods of South Korea. I am kind of bored with the movie already, there is no blood in a serial killer movie and the story is just starting off really slow. An investigator from Seoul comes to the small town to help out the police with the obvious disaproval of the local police. I thought it was interesting but I am not sure how true of how they depicted police interigations in South Korea at the time, but honestly I would completely believe that is not far from the truth, I think that American police wish that they could get away with doing some of that roughing up stuff sometimes. The interigations are quite brutal and basically they kept you in the basement at the Police Headquarters with no food or water, sometimes hanging you upside down until you confess to the crime wether you comitted it or not, so yeah it's not the most effective way to go about that.
Murders continue to happen and patterns start to emerge one of which is that the women that are killed are always wearing red shirts or tops, also that it is always raining and the same song is always requested on the radio just before the killings happen. They try to lure him out on rainy night using a female police officer dressed in a red dress on a rainy night, nothing happens, something that is a continuing theme it seems in this movie. I really wanted to like this movie but it was just way to long and drawn out, and the fact that a lot of this film is just botched police work and interogations that go nowhere. The movie is way over 2 hours long and should have been condensed down to 90+ minutes IMO.



I probably would have enjoyed this movie much more but the DVD that I got was dubbed which I always hate, and because of thin walls and annoying neighbors I had to use the subtitles anyways, normally there would be nothing wrong with that except that the subtitles did not match the dubbed dialoge and that just annoyed me so much. If you are going to watch this movie then make sure you do not get a dubbed copy.


The DVD copy I got.

The Thin Red Line (1998)
Directed by Terrence Malick
Written by James Jones (novel), Terrence Malick (screenplay)

I went and saw this movie in theaters when I was 18 and I hated this movie. I watched this again about a month ago and have a whole new take on the movie. When I was 18 I think I was expecting a super action packed movie instead of beautiful cinematography, a great story, and amazing acting from the insanely huge and great cast. Nick Nolte, James Caviezel, Sean Penn, Ben Chaplin, John Cusack, Adrien Brody, John C. Reilly, Woody Harrelson, Jared Leto, John Travolta, George Clooney, Elias Koteas, and many more.



This is the battle for Guadalcanal Island, Nick Nolte plays a intense career officer not seeming to care about how many of his men die but just caring about getting the mission complete on his superiors time table. Nolte's anger is so convincing that you are sitting there waiting for him to stroke out in one of his yelling rants. The cinematography is amazing, every shot is a masterpiece. The scenes that stuck out the most to me were the shots of the sloping fields with the tall grass, those shots made me really not want to look away from the screen. If you are one of the very few people who have not seen this movie then definitely do.

Red Cliff (2008)
Directed by: John Woo
Written by: John Woo and Khan Chan

The year is 208 AD. After years of civil war, a deathly calm has fallen of northern China. One by one, the rebel warlords have met their end under the sword of Prime Minister Cao Cao. Now, even the Han Emperor bows before his power. Yet from the south, a challenge is heard. Two leaders arise against Cao Cao's tyranny, the aging Liu Bei, and the inexperienced Sun Quan. So Cao Cao petitions the Emperor to brand these men as traders, and declare a new war against the peaceful Southlands.

I watched this movie a couple years ago and got it again thinking that I was getting the International version but wound up with the Theatrical version which I had seen before. I was disappointed but I watched it again anyways because it is just the kind of Epic Asian film with huge battles that I love, when you are watching this you might think that this was a movie written by Sun Tzu the famous writer of the Art of War (500 BC), this movie is all about military battle planning and strategies to use against your enemy. The only thing I bad I have to say about this movie is that there is only one character that you really get an emotional attachment too and that was Zhuge Liang (Takashi Kaneshiro from House of Flying Daggers and more).



Anyone who likes epic medieval war films I think would really like this movie.

In Bruges (2008)
Directed by: Martin McDonagh
Written by: Martin McDonagh

Two hit men, Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are on a sort of makeshift holiday in Bruges, Belgium after a hit gone wrong. While awaiting word from their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), Ken is interested in sightseeing and the history of the place, while Ray couldn't be more unimpressed and can't wait to just get to the bars for some pints. Ray is bored with the whole place, he’s also got a guilty conscience since it was his fault that the hit got screwed up. Ken is the older and more mature one, he enjoys art, architecture and learning about the local architecture, I think he knew what was coming so he was using this time to relax and have a brief respite from what he knows is a powder keg waiting to explode. I am not a huge Colin Farrell fan but I found his acting in this to be excellent and it was nice that he got to play an Irish character so he actually got to use his native accent. When Ray’s mistake is finally revealed it is quite a heartbreaking story, I thought that Farrell managed to portray Ray’s guilt and his attempt at redemption in a very moving way, I also love that Ray is charming, annoying, childish, and totally screwed up nut about to crack. Gleeson’s acting is also very convincing in playing the exact opposite as the quiet, calm person. He seems to be tired of the whole business of death but he knows he’s got to do what has to be done even if it means coming to blows with his evil boss Harry. When Harry is offered the Uzi his riff is hilarious about how he’s not in LA looking to go on a drive by and shoot twelve ten year olds.





The movie has a great ending, the kind of ending I love and I think I can say that without giving away too much since I do not believe I have voiced my opinion about the type of endings I love, it is very emotional and has an interesting twist right at the end. Oh yeah I haven’t mentioned the racist midget (Dwarf) who while on a cocaine bender starts going off on a rant about how there’s a war coming between the black people and the white people and not to mention the Vietnamese people, I should probably just stop there before I get into trouble but I thought the midget did the perfect job as some great comic relief. If you haven’t watched this movie then I really suggest you do.

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
Directed by: Je-gyu Kang
Written by: Je-gyu Kang and Sang-don Kim

Jin-tae is a street smart shoe shiner who also works odd jobs to help his younger brother Jin-seok to study and go to college to be the savior of their very poor family, Jin-seok is the smart one in the family on his way to university and a much better life. The joy of this South Korean family fills the screen for the first moments of the film, only to change abruptly on June 25, 1950 when suddenly the North Koreans attack at the 38th parallel, forcing communism and death down the throats of the South Koreans. Jin-seok get’s drafted the South Korean way by being put into the back of a truck and being told you are going to fight, older brother Jin-tae forces himself into a situation where he will be drafted so he can look after and make sure his younger brother is safe. The degree of honor and camaraderie amongst the entire South Korean platoon, and especially between the two brothers is a very touching and emotional element portrayed in this film. Jin-tae makes a deal with his CO that if he can get a medal that they will discharge his brother, Jin-tae becomes obsessed with killing and volunteering for every suicidal mission that comes up. This leads to a rift between the two brothers, the younger not wanting the older to take care of him, and thinking that all the killing is starting to affect him in a very bad way.



The remainder of the film explores the progress of this war with great detail, visually depicting the atrocities of war more brutally than any other war film that I have ever seen. But overriding the visuals of the war is the relationship of the two brothers and what they go through to stay together to try and make it back to their mother and Jin-tae’s fiancé. The ending to this movie is great and I have to admit that this goes on the very short list of movies I have cried at the end of.



There are very few films that I am familiar with about the Korean war, I believe that this movie did it justice in the way of showing all the brutality and the way people can turn on each other under those types of situations. This film has all violence and limbs being blown everywhere as Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, and Hamburger Hill combined. If you like war movies then you have to watch this, I have never seen a movie of that genre that can compare.