[Recommendations] South Korean, Chinese and Japanese Movies.

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The Bib-iest of Nickels
Hello. It has been a while since I've posted on Movie Forums. A pity, considering I recently celebrated my 7th year as a member of the forum. I recently decided to re-launch the website where I review movies and videogames. It isn't so much I stopped doing it, but now I think I'm ready to kick it into a higher gear than years prior.

Something I've begun developing is a "Championship" deal. Basically, as I bring my reviews (223 movie reviews, collected over the course of about 6 years) slowly over from my old Weebly page to my WordPress website as well as begin to write new reviews, I want to crown Champions.

Long story short, whichever's the best film by Review #50 on the website will be crowned the inaugural champion. I won't post my old reviews all at once, instead, I'll post them when it makes sense from a synergy standpoint (when a new superhero film comes out, I'll add 5-10 of them, etc.). If a film is able to last 25 reviews without being dethroned as Champion, they will become a [Select] or a special film among my rankings.

It's all very weird and not at all imperative to this thread, mind you, ...

I want to review a more diverse series of films in-order to make my "List" more educated and "prestigious".

Thus far, I haven't dabbled very much in either South Korea, China, or Japan. I've found a lot to love about South Korea (I Saw the Devil, Oldboy, etc.), but I haven't scratched the surface in either other country (I reviewed Monster Hunt a few months back for China and am looking forward to reviewing Nezha when it becomes available. I've reviewed Fullmetal Alchemist in Japan and recently watched Tokyo Ghoul for a review. One of my personal films in Japan is a drama called Nobody Knows.)

Question: What South Korean, Chinese, or Japanese film would you recommend? My tastes range often in the darker I Saw the Devil territory and I am a devout horror fan, but I am open to other films as well.

Thanks.

Note: I write these for a website and thereby, it'd be beneficial if the films were timely and/or relevant. That doesn't mean I won't watch films failing to meet that standard, mind you.



South Korea:
Train to Busan (2016) - Fantastic South Korean Zombie movie.



Japan:

Seven Samurai (1954) - Wonderful Japanese good vs. evil oppressors movie It was beautifully shot.
Battle Royale (2000) - The basis for the fights in The Hunger Games. It is a lot of fun.

Suicide Club (2001) - If you want dark, this is fairly dark and it subverts your expectations at several turns.



China:
Hero (2002) - A beautiful movie in the traditional Chinese fashion.
Kung Fu Hustle (2004) - The above movie is serious and drama. This one is a fun comedy and is great in a funny way the way that Hero is great in a serious way.



These are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head. I hope that these help.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Shoplifters
Shadow
Burning
Mirai
Shirkers
[fudged this but it should be seen]
Microhabitat
Blade of the Immortal
Okja
__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



Araburu tamashii-tachi [Agitator]
Bin-jip [3-Iron]
Chugyeogja [The Chaser]
Dalkomhan insaeng [A Bittersweet Life]
Faa yeung nin wa [In The Mood For Love]
Gongdong gyeongbi guyeok JSA [Joint Security Area]
Hana-bi [Fireworks]
Janghwa, Hongryeon [A Tale Of Two Sisters]
Kokuhaku [Confessions]
Moon to [Protégé]
Shi [Poetry]
Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo [Brotherhood Of War]



The Bib-iest of Nickels
Thanks, guys! I'll have to take some time to look at everything soon.

South Korea:
Train to Busan (2016) - Fantastic South Korean Zombie movie.
I've always ignored Train to Busan for a very odd reason. I watched a South Korean film called The Wailing, which had earned rave reviews from critics. The film ran near the three hour mark and, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't get into it. When a film is boring, that's one thing, but when it's a foreign film you have to read subtitles of, it's one of the most grating things in the world for me. For some reason, maybe simply because they're both South Korean films that are (or were?) on Netflix and very highly praised, I've always associated them together. Stupid, I know. I'll definitely need to watch this film though.



South Korea:

Must watch:
Failan
Oasis
Christmas in August
My Sassy Girl
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.....and Spring
The Isle
Memories of Murder
A Tale of Two Sisters
The Handmaiden
Sympathy for Lady Venegance

Very Good:
Time
3-Iron
Bedevilled
Castaway on the Moon
The Man from Nowhere
Ms. Baek
Madeo
The Yellow Sea
The Chaser
The Host





Japan:

Anything by Hirokazu Kore-eda



The Bib-iest of Nickels
Hey! I've been preoccupied lately, and so, I haven't been able to "dig in," the way I want. I did find out TubiTV, a free streaming service, has a few Chines and South Korean films. I prefer to be able to comfortably watch my films either through owning a copy on DVD or being able to comfortably watching it on my television. Unfortunately, I have such trouble finding any real, legal way of doing that.


I watched Money King: Hero is Back on TubiTV. I am excited for the Chinese animated film Ne Zha, but this was an absolute mess of a film. The animation resembled something like Strange Magic, the story felt flimsy and thrown together, and the humor reminded me of the films we always give Hollywood hell about, the fart-joke Norm of the North type animated films. I found out like an hour after watching it that they're actually making a Monkey King video-game (two years after the film, what are the odds?) and I'm a little interested in that.

TubiTV also has Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance, Mr. Vengeance), which I've already seen, but I want to revisit since it has been a few years and I never archived reviews of them.