The Butterfly

"So many people have died, even hell is packed."

The Flowers of War was released shortly after the 74th anniversary of the Nanking Massacre. A drunk Westerner with no political alliance, a dozen church school girls, and a dozen prostitutes take refuge in a cathedral compound as the rest of the city lies in ruins. Surrounded by Japanese soldiers, the unlikely group of people will have to work hard to find a way to survive.

This film is not for the faint of heart. Dead bodies line the streets and civilians are shot whenever found. Children are raped and adult women are gang raped, tortured, and murdered. Where this film did not work for me, and I say this as an ardent Zhang Yi Mou fan, there was too much sexual flirting and beautiful images in such a stark and unsavory story. The film was based on a novella inspired by an American missionary's diary. The missionary, Minnie Vautrin, fought to protect students and refugees at Ginling College where she was president. Instead of someone like Minnie, we were given John Miller, a drunken reprobate. He transformed into a heroic knight willing to do whatever was necessary to save the girls overnight. His character growth was shockingly unbelievable. The prostitutes had the same saintly transformations just as quickly. We never learned the names of most of the school girls or prostitutes. It ended up being simple. Virgins must be saved. Prostitutes are expendable. I thought John's makeover time came across too lighthearted when the mortician was basically working his magic on women who were going to a terrible death. The Japanese were almost uniformly categorized as evil. It's not surprising. With a national trauma of 200,000-300,000 killed and countless women raped, that's a wound that does not heal easily.

Christian Bale was serviceable as John. Though a big name, his acting style doesn't appeal to me. John wasn't a very sympathetic set of western eyes to view the atrocities through. Ni Ni in her first role showed she had acting chops, even more impressive in a role that called for her to speak English much of the time. Her Yu Mo was seductive, strong, and sorrowful. I hated that they had Yu Mo fall for the uncouth John, it was more relatable when she used him for his western face to help save her and her friends. Huang Tian Yuan as sweet George made the most of his pivotal and heroic role.

Every action in this film was designed to elicit an emotional reaction and get the viewer's tear ducts flowing. It felt too contrived most of the time. It was hard to emotionally bond with female characters, both young and older, who had no names. The time was catastrophically devastating and those who survived the murderous onslaught faced horror after horror, there's no easy way to put that on film. Had there been more believable character growth and fewer flirty moments, I could have gotten on board with this film better.

9/27/28

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"The time to decide was looming"

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs showcased Takamine Hideko's acting range as Yashiro Keiko, a bar hostess who had come to a crossroads in her life. Elegant with a backbone of steel, Keiko struggled endlessly to do the right thing when doing the morally gray thing could deliver her dream of buying her own bar far quicker. Director Naruse never took it easy on his characters and Keiko was no exception, watching her courageously face setbacks with a concentrated determination was highly compelling.

"I hated climbing those stairs more than anything."

Keiko worked upstairs in a bar that catered to businessman entertaining their clients. The men liked having a pretty woman or two around as they made their deals. Because she was a widow in her 30's the younger hostesses and even the patrons called her Mama. Keiko and the bar manager (charismatic Nakadai Tatsuya) also dealt with the business side of collecting from the companies and businessmen who owed on their tabs. Keiko hated her job, but needed the money as she also provided for her mother and adult brother and young nephew. She had three choices to better her life—get married, buy her own bar, or find a patron to help supplement her lifestyle. At her age, she didn't think the first one was a possibility. Buying a bar required more cash than she had. The third one was a form a prostitution she wasn't ready to submit to.

"The best go by cab, the second-rate take the train, and the worst go off with their customers."

One of the younger women had left and started her own bar, but she found herself swimming in debt with creditors hounding her every move. Another hostess married and moved away. A third young woman had no problem exchanging sex for money. Wealthy customer Goda offered Keiko the capital to start a bar if she would be his mistress. A likeable customer proposed to Keiko and for a moment she was happy until she realized he had not been truthful with her. The man she had fallen in love with was also living a double-life. Every time it looked like she might have found happiness or an answer to her problems, fate was waiting around the corner to trample her. Despite always seeking to do the right thing she was seldom rewarded for it. This was Naruse, not Ozu, so not surprisingly the characters fought to survive and make a living, let alone find love. He preferred a more pessimistic worldview where obstacles confronted or crushed his characters at every opportunity. Whether it was more realistic is up for debate, but the conflicts and character growth did make for an entertaining film.

"Women working in the Ginza fought desperately for survival…it was a battle she couldn't afford to lose."

Keiko strove to get ahead financially only to have her family continually siphoning off her savings. She didn't enjoy drinking but did so to make money. She despised drunks pawing at her, but she tolerated them to make money. What she wasn't willing to do was to sell herself. During one particularly poignant moment near the end of the film, she revealed her character's strength and resolve in a captivating way that left her integrity intact.

"There are limits, even in business."

Beautiful Takamine Hideko brought an elegant grace and strength to Keiko. I thought she did a wonderful job of conveying a wide gamut of emotions, subtly and effectively. When she emoted more forcefully with anger or sorrow, it was believable and organic to the scenes. Mama was a complex character who wasn't perfect, she made mistakes but she also took care of the people around her. She knew when to draw the line with problematic behavior and when to walk away. She didn't rail at the patriarchal society that limited her options or the widening division of the classes. Keiko took her blows, dusted off her kimono, got back up and kept moving forward even when life refused to offer her something better. As the people around her encouraged her to loosen her grip on her integrity, Keiko stayed true to who she was. After weathering numerous personal storms and losses she refused to buckle. Whether it was acceptance or resignation, she continued to walk up the stairs she dreaded, paste on a fake welcoming smile, and somewhere deep inside hope that her efforts would grant her the future she dreamed of someday.

"…the trees that line the streets can sprout new buds no matter how cold the wind. I too must be just as strong as the winds that gust around me."

8/1/23

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A picture is worth a thousand words, or is it?

If you are not old enough to remember rolls of film, one of the commonly used rolls had 36 shots on it. This film was told in 36 segments based largely on camera shots or the memories from those shots as if labeling a picture or a memory. The film leisurely and gently explored the relevancy between photos and memories and the malleability and impermanence of both.

Sai is a film location scout and Oom is the art director. They meet scouting out an abandoned love hotel from the Vietnam War era that Sai has memories of being in her old neighborhood. Sai uses a digital camera, taking many pictures that she will later store and keep. Oom still uses a film camera and often takes pictures of people when they aren't looking even though he refuses to have his picture taken. Though he says he will send them a copy, he rarely does. The two spend a lot of time discovering the nooks and crannies of the possible set and also negotiate with the landlady over room prices for the cast and crew. Oom takes a picture of Gita, the landlady's 12-year-old daughter that later may prove important. Afterwards, Sai and Oom enjoy an evening breeze from the roof and take their picture with her camera in front of the beautiful sky. Soon the "end credits" appear after the 11th shot.

The film jumps into the future 2 years. Sai and Oom have gone their separate ways. When the director she is currently working for discovers the building he built his new script around has been leveled, Sai mentions the other building. She attempts to recover the photos but even after a friend works to restore them, only a few survived and not the one of her and Oom on the rooftop. She returns to the building and talks to the landlady. It turns out Gita died and the landlady would love to have the picture Oom took of her. During the process of trying to find Oom and restore the pictures, she realizes her feelings for him were stronger than she had known. As the film closes in on the 36th segment, Oom looks at the picture of them on the roof faraway on his computer (unknown to her he had copied her images from the shoot long ago), Sai smiles as she remembers the special moment they shared.

36 was shot in an artful way that could also distance the viewer from the characters. Oom is never seen face on, and often shots of other characters were in profile or from behind or even half hidden by architecture. I liked the labeled 36 bits of the story, like looking at a picture album where the photo had been annotated and saved. The OST was also lovely, I especially enjoyed the piano music.

Just as film cameras have mostly transitioned over to digital cameras so are most movies now shot with digital film. The danger of digital film was also addressed in that backups are necessary, because once a disk or other device has been damaged the pictures are likely lost for good. Her friend Kai mentioned how many people brought hard drives to be fixed saying they needed them immediately, but instead never returned for them. A drawerful of memories lay untouched. For one reluctant woman who came to pick hers up, he offered to erase those memories.

Which is more important? To see a bird or to take a picture of it? To experience the person you are with, or only the relative engagement of photos? The argument is made for both the value of the human experience and memory as well as the memories that are brought back by glancing at a photo. For the director whose childhood building was destroyed a picture is all that is left of it and his memories. Ironically, at the end of the movie, Oom who always valued the human experience more is found looking at Sai's picture and reminiscing. Conversely, Sai goes back to the place they shared and the memory floods her mind as she gazes fondly to where they had been together. Memory is a fragile, fading construct of the mind, subject to change. While memories are important, photos help to shore up the time and events. Buildings crumble, people die, digital photos can be erased, photos fade and relationships shatter, 36 touched on the concept of impermanence as well. There comes a time when no one remembers the people or places in the pictures.

While I enjoyed this film, it also failed to emotionally capture me with the relationships involved. The ending was meaningful to the arguments of photo or memory, but it left a hole in the picture I had hoped to find. I was hoping for a 37th epilogue image or a new roll of film to begin. This is a very slow, artful movie, more philosophical than touching. Yet for its shortcomings I did find it engaging. If this genre is of interest to you, it would be well worth trying.

5/23/23

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We are the stories we tell

Taipei Exchanges is a gently introspective slice of life about two sisters who ponder what stories hold value when they set up a barter system in their coffee shop. This film is not for everyone. The changes in the sisters and their customers are small and quiet and will go unnoticed if you don't pay attention from your table in the corner of their café. If coffee and discovering the meaning behind the stories people tell about their lives and belongings interest you, pull up a chair, order a coffee and cookie and see where the film and memory takes you.

If someone gave you the money to do one, which would it be? Use the money to study or travel?

Doris is practical and has always wanted to open an elegant coffee café. When she finally has the opportunity fate turns her dream into the quirkiest shop in Taipei. Without giving too much away, on her opening day she ends up with a plethora of calla lilies and invites people to bring something to exchange for them. Afterwards with their shop full of junk, her sister has the idea that customers can bring something to exchange for whatever is in the shop thinking it will create more foot traffic and people will stay longer and drink and eat more. Doris reluctantly agrees hoping it will lead to financial freedom for her. Josie wants a car for herself and a set of bone china for her mother.

Along the way, the sisters find that what things are worth is a deeply personal belief. What is the story behind it? Love letters, songs, a mirror ball, stuffed alligator, and even cleaning out the backyard drain are up for exchange. As Doris hears the stories of the places people have traveled, a shift begins to take place in her.

What do you treasure the most?

Doris makes a decision that seems radical and perhaps it's radical self-love to realize that what we value may change over time. The sisters believe that whatever you are looking for someone has and it's only a matter of time before the need to have and the need to release meet each other. Often our lives can be changed by one small incident and decision, in Doris' case a fender bender with a small truck full of calla lilies led to small change after small change leading to a larger change in her life and the lives of those around her.

Taipei Exchanges is beautifully and thoughtfully shot, within the store and around Taipei. The OST is soothing and won't jar you out of the existential questions that arise over what we value, why, and what is our inner value to ourselves and others. For the most part the acting is natural and the sisters have good chemistry in the way that sisters love each other still bicker. Some of the basic business issues are touched upon when starting up a business, but don't weigh the story down. People off the street answer two of the questions above and though some may sound more scripted, others are quite relatable.

Everyday we tell ourselves stories about our failures, hopes, dreams, and even the lies about ourselves that help us sleep at night. We cherish the stories behind an object or even despise an object because of the emotional baggage that it carries. Is a song worth a book? A Barbie dollhouse worth a mirror ball? What happens when people exchange goals and dreams? This film will not turn your world upside down, but it may cause you to take a moment to look around and even within yourself and wonder what has value and why?

If you had the choice between money and calla lilies, which would you take?

2/24/23

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"Tragedy in life starts with the bondage of parent and child"

The Only Son is considered director Ozu's first talkie. Even with the spoken dialogue he still leaves space and silence to contemplate his characters' actions and conflicts. Classically Ozu, he studies the relationship between a parent and grown child. Instead of the wealthier families of some of his later films, this widow and child are living in poverty. In this film he also has the son and mother begin to define what success means to them and the emotional cost of failure.

The story begins in 1923 in rural Japan. The mother works at a silk factory doing rigorous physical labor. Her son wants to continue his education, an education she can't afford. His teacher who is preparing to leave for Tokyo stops by the house congratulating the surprised mother on allowing him to go to high school as the son had told him she'd agreed to it. Ultimately, she decides to make whatever sacrifices she must for him to have a better chance in life. The last thing he tells her is that he will become a great man.

The story jumps ahead to 1935 with the mother missing her son and deciding to go visit him in Tokyo. Mother and son have not seen each other in years and seem happy to be together again. The son has a surprise for his mother, he is married and has an infant son. He also is working as a night school geometry teacher and living in a small house in view of the garbage incinerator smokestacks. This brings about the critical theme of the film. The son is ashamed of his job and lifestyle after the sacrifices his mother made for him. The mother is disappointed that he seems to have given up on attaining a better life. Much like in Tokyo Chorus, 1930's Tokyo is portrayed as the great dream destroyer.

Later in the film, the son helps a neighbor in such a way, that the mother beams at him with pride. He may not have become the great man she'd hoped for, but he had become a good man with a good wife. For her, this is enough to ease her worries about him. This is success in her eyes.

Ozu uses many of the techniques and compositions that will define his later work. Filming from the mat, even when in a car is in place. His ubiquitous teapot takes center stage in many scenes. As always, every prop, every angle is thoughtfully and creatively brought together to be aesthetically pleasing and to help tell the story. At one point after an emotional confrontation between mother and son, with his wife sobbing in the background, Ozu lingers on a shot of a painting on a wall near a window and holds that shot for almost a minute, as night turns to day. Almost as if the raw emotions of his characters needed time to be processed by them and us.

Tokyo was the great soul crusher, and during this time the depression had finally caught up with Japan, making work hard to come by. The son's teacher had to become a cook in a small restaurant. The teacher was played by Ozu regular Ryu Chishu, someone you could always count on to bring a character quietly to life. Lida Choko conveyed the mother longing to see her son, happy to be in his presence, and also discouraged at his negative resolution perfectly. Himori Shinichi felt like the weaker acting link. He spent much of his time smiling and gave no inkling of his character's desperate emotions for most of the film.

Interestingly Ozu had the mother and son go to the movies and watch a popular German talkie. Rather lengthy clips of the film were shown. The son's house also had some posters from German movies. Though imminently Japanese, the great director was also open to influence from foreign films.

The German film was one of the only outings we see that the son took his mother on as he spent most of their money trying to show her Tokyo. Unlike so many of the ungrateful male characters in older movies, ones women sacrificed everything for, this son, despite the financial hardship, wants his mother to have a special time. He wants to make her sacrifice worthwhile and up until then had felt he'd completely failed. Even with hardships, disappointments, and setbacks, the film had a warmth and gentle humanity to it. Life wasn't easy, but the film showed the value of family and friendship, of looking out for each other.

As so often happens in Ozu's films, the parent ends up alone. The mother may have been alone, but after seeing the man her son had become could find acceptance in her trials and life. The son, reinvigorated from his mother's belief in him, sat aside his nihilistic acceptance to once again hope. This quiet film was realistic and engaging on many levels. Easily one of my favorite Ozu films.

10/24/22

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Let's Start Over!

Hand Rolled Cigarette is an old school violent crime drama that almost makes itself into something a little more special, but just misses the mark. Even in the face of debt and despair, two criminal misfits keep marching forward, hoping for that chance to start over. Along the way, the disparate strangers find themselves counting on each other to survive.

The film begins with the turnover of Hong Kong and the servicemen previously in the Queen's army now being left behind. Chiu bolsters his military brothers by saying it's their chance to start over. Years later, some have made it better than others. Chiu and another military brother had borrowed heavily and invested in the stock market only to watch it crash and lose everything. Deeply in debt, Chiu hustles on the triad fringe to try and stay afloat, now shunned by his military brethren. His next big deal is as a middle man for a guy selling illegal turtles and a local kingpin, a deal that goes south landing Chiu in trouble.

Mani is an Eastern Asian immigrant, reluctantly in the drug business with his brother/cousin Kapil. Mani also takes care of his younger brother who is still in school. Due to racism, the family runs into financial and social walls everywhere. Kapil wants to take greater risks to make bigger scores which leads to deadly events after he makes a major mistake. They find out that drug dealers keep track of their product and are neither kind nor forgiving, especially with those who steal from them.

Desperately fleeing a vicious gang, Mani ducks into Chiu's apartment and hides. Chiu isn't thrilled when he finds the interloper but against his better judgement allows the young man to continue to hide there as long as he doesn't touch anything. They don't have many interactions but Chiu does help when Mani's younger brother gets into a fight at school.

Eventually, they decide to sell the stolen drugs to try and pay off everyone they owe. All of which leads to a violent no holds barred final confrontation.

Hand Rolled Cigarette is more of a character study at times than crime drama. Chiu keeps a video of his military days when he respected himself and what he did. He suffers enormous guilt over his past actions leading him to act self-destructively at times. Mani wants a better life for his younger brother, including a good education, even if it means sacrificing his own. The two small time criminals both are good men at heart forced into grim decisions by their crumbling circumstances. Recognizing that in each other they do make a bond.

Be advised there are scenes of torture and brutal murders. Mani is repeatedly called by a racist name. They don't shy away from expressing the racism underlying the society. It can be a difficult film to watch.

The cinematography while showing greater Hong Kong at night, also shows the suffocating world the men live in and all the deadly and dangerous things that can happen in small places.

This film is dark as the two men try to navigate the dangerous world of the triads, forming an unlikely bond. My only real caveat is that their friendship felt underdeveloped to me. I would have preferred a little more buildup of their relationship, events that might have shown the evolution of their devotion more. Or maybe they were just two guys that were hunkered down in the same foxhole with only each other to rely on as the bullets and bombs whizzed by. Either way it was an entertaining Hong Kong crime film, but with a little more relationship development I would have rated it higher.


9/15/22

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"Men will remain clueless unless we're more open about these things"

Our Rainy Days tackles a topic not only men are uncomfortable with, but many women as well---Menstruation. That monthly visitor most of the 51% of the population will deal with in some form or fashion in their lives is all part of being human for the female part of the species. Too often not medically studied or properly funded, because it's a "female problem", women have often suffered in silence. Period shame and period shaming will only end when people realize it is normal and healthy. This special takes a look at a photographer and a model both having to handle their symptoms on the job and in public.

Kojima Hikari is a photographer on her fist big shoot and it's for a men's magazine. Aoi is a small time idol who wants to transition to acting and is following the path of a bikini shoot to get noticed. Hikari awoke to her alarm warning her it was PMS time, also that it was her first big shoot and to not screw it up. The day starts out raining as they travel by bus to the beach. Aoi's visitor pops in during the shoot causing problems that the men have no idea how to deal with.

This special discussed how not every woman can wear a tampon, much to the crew's chagrin. It also showed that despite their pain and other symptoms the two women were able to come up with creative solutions and do their work. As Hikari says, "Some crisis are opportunities, others leave you stuck." Menstruation is normal but it can also be challenging.

Our Rainy Days wasn't a be all end all in the discussion, but it did one thing that needs to happen more often-communication. By sharing our stories with each other we normalize something that is normal. What works for one may or may not work for another. There are lots of period paraphernalia options and medical ones for those who need it. Don't be afraid to talk with a medical professional or trusted female friend or family member. Most of all, be proud of being a woman and all that entails. And if you are a man, man up and learn about what the women in your life go through each lunar cycle and practice your empathy muscle. Sarcasm and shaming are no longer acceptable. And girls/women we have nothing to feel ashamed of, it's okay to be okay with our periods. So ends The Butterfly PSA addendum to this review. ^^




9/6/22

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"If you keep on believing, the dream that you dream will come true." -Cinderella

Two of my favorite Chinese actresses, Zhou Dong Yu and Zanilia Zhao starred in The Palace. More Cinderella fairytale than actual historical tale but entertaining nonetheless.

Chen Xiang and Liu Li came to the palace as 13 year-old girls to serve as maids and became fast friends. Chen Xiang lost her earring in an abandoned garden on her first day, think Chekov's gun or Cinderella's slipper. Quickly fast forwarded 7 years, the two turned into Dong Yu and Zanilia, now twenty-year-olds still prone to giggling and screaming. Each had their dreams of winding up with a handsome prince no matter how remote the possibility. But in fairytales even remote possibilities can become reality. Chen Xiang met the 13th Prince once again in the abandoned garden only this time she wore a scarf over her face as they had a chaste memorable time. Liu Li, uh, banged into the nefarious 9th Prince. Before you could say mistaken identity the 13th Prince and Liu Li were to be married. Chen Xiang found herself becoming her friend's servant while Liu Li turned into a wicked stepsister to keep their secret.

Chen Xiang was the childlike, virginal, self-sacrificing heroine complete with a repertoire of giggles and screams. Liu Li with her lusty desires for sex and power went from fast friend to Fast Times at Ridgemont High turning evil at the drop of her clothes. There was never much of a reason for Chen Xiang to keep her secret other than to be the traditional martyr and long suffering heroine. I wasn't crazy about the portrayal of the young women. In this fairytale all women were considered pretty much alike and were designed to please men in order to have any security, which given the times probably wasn't too far off the mark. There was no shortage of examples of what happened to maids or concubines who failed to please. The fact that the 13th Prince couldn't tell them apart reinforced their interchangeable nature.

The costumes and sets were luxurious, with mood fitting lighting and exquisite cinematography. Every shot was beautifully framed. No pumpkin coach or mice, but there was a stunning CGI dragon and lots of luminescent butterflies. The actors were cornered into stereotypical roles but still managed to bring their characters to life.

Once the movie got past the giggling, so much giggling, it became more enjoyable for me, even when it dipped into melodrama and political intrigue. Being a fairytale all that mattered was the romance and Chen Xiang winning the Prince's heart through her kind and selfless acts. But it was a Chinese fairytale so that meant being able to avoid being beheaded, beaten to death or exiled in the process.


9/5/22

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Hard to Be Righteous, but Easy to Be Evil...

Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok returned as the characters they made famous a decade earlier in Storm Riders. Wind and Cloud were an unbeatable team who kept the bad guys at bay until The Evil Lord Godless and his son Heartless with their Japanese army kidnapped the emperor and searched for the treasure within the Dragon Tomb.

I enjoyed The Storm Riders (1998). It was cheesy and the CGI was rudimentary, but the story was coherent and the action fun. The Storm Warriors (2009) took itself way too seriously and replaced storyline with endless slow-mo action scenes. Dialogue and character development were kept to a bare minimum. If you haven't watched the first one it may not matter because the atmospheric boys were hard to distinguish with the poor writing for them.

Simon Yam as The Evil Lord Godless seemed invincible and pretty soon it was just Wind and Cloud left to fight him and save China. They didn't have long for a super charged training montage so that they could take their revenge on the over-compensating dressed warlord. Wind went to Lord Wicked and took the, well, wicked route via an evil mud bath while Cloud went the righteous way and was trained by the wounded Nameless at the same time. Before you could say Buckets O' Blood, super slow motion, comic book style fighting with plenty of dismemberments and red goo flying through the air, took place and Cloud had to try and bring Wind back to the good side.

The story was frightfully thin and convoluted. Shu Qi knew what she was doing when she passed on the sequel and left her role to Tiffany Tang. The movie could have easily been 20 minutes shorter if the fights had been shot at regular speed. By the last twenty minutes I didn't really care about the consequences or who lived or died I just wanted it to end. A few of the fights were beautifully shot and the CGI was better than the first movie, but they dragged on at a glacial speed. When CGI replaces actual story and character development I lose interest quickly. During one of the overcooked fight scenes I really thought one of them might yell out, "Kamehameha!"

The Storm Warriors had a cast I was very excited about but they were criminally underused. Ekin and Aaron had grown as actors since the time Storm Riders was filmed but it was irrelevant as most of the time they were filming fight scenes in overly dramatic slow motion. They certainly didn't have to worry about learning many lines. Simon Yam was at least properly menacing as an undefeatable warlord, a nifty trick given how little time he had on screen. Nicholas Tse as Heartless had little to do except look pretty and scowl. Charlene Choi as Dream had little to do but look pretty and worried for her few scenes. Even for comic book characters the lot of them were mostly lifeless. Ultimately, I didn't care about any of them.

The OST was nice if melodramatic at times. As with many of the movies in this genre, the costume department used a lot of leather, gold lame, and metal looking armor. There was no shortage of wind machines as Ekin and Aaron had their long layered mom hairdos seemingly always flowing in the wind.

If you enjoyed The Storm Riders, don't get your hopes too high for this sequel. Several storylines were left dangling, completely forgotten. Maybe I am truly the Heartless one because I actually laughed during the last scene which I'm sure was so supposed to be emotional but came across as absurd to me. As one of my favorite TV baking judges would say, The Storm Warriors was style over substance. It might have looked good, but it didn't taste very well going down.




8/24/22

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Dream Team vs Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster!

Earth is imperiled when a meteor drops a world ending monster in her lap. King Ghidorah threatens all life on Earth and only a reluctant team of Kaiju can stop him led by Godzilla.

This movie is a fun monster ride. The writers threw everything at the screen in order to entertain the audience-a foreign princess with a death squad after her who is taken over by an alien presence (from Mars, Venus, or Jupiter depending on the version you watch), a police officer trying to protect her, an intrepid and annoying female reporter, various scientists, and a doctor who will look familiar to fans of Kurosawa movies.

The alien inhabited princess tries to warn the earthlings that danger in the form of the three-headed fire breathing Ghidorah is coming their way and that Rodan is waking up from inside a volcano. Everyone thinks she's a crackpot. Shimura Takashi as the doctor runs a number of tests on her to see what's going on inside her head even as the death squad appears with guns blazing. The Cosmos return to help out and warn that Rodan and Godzilla are headed back to town. Finally, people decided it's time to start running and screaming as the three giants make their presence known.

Ghidorah rains down destruction upon the people in town while Rodan and Godzilla fight each other in the countryside. Mothra, in her caterpillar form, arrives to try and convince them to fight together against a common foe to save humanity. And their response was, "what's humanity ever done for us?" When Ghidorah attacks the squabbling monsters, the story finally picks up and it is a royal rumble for the ages.

Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster feels like a movie aimed more at children than adults, but there is enough for adults to enjoy, too. Even though the movie spends too much time leading up to the monster fights, the humans and human-alien were more entertaining than in Godzilla movies from this era. Ghidorah was nearly always a worthy opponent for Big G and it was fun to watch the Dream Team of Kaiju take him on. If you enjoy the Showa era movies, this is definitely not one to miss.

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This coming of age drama revolved around five friends, three of whose lives were poised on the edge of a knife. Their lives were complicated by poverty, lack of parental guidance and support, and lack of mental health resources. All these kids wanted was to have a better life, to live and to love. Beset by problems, they often made dangerous decisions out of desperation.

The production values of this older Taiwanese drama weren't terribly high yet it felt real and honest. If it had one flaw it's that it confronted too many social issues and was unable to spend enough time on each for the characters and the audience to fully digest their consequences.

Days We Stared at the Sun was gritty, raw, and devastating with glimmers of hope quietly woven through the unlikely friendships.

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Though an extremely simple story, it was not well told. The CGI/Special Effects were very good but should enhance the story and not be the star of it. The two humans were simply along for the ride.

Unless one is familiar with the book it's hard to get a handle on how this world works, because they simply did not spend the time needed to build it for us. The leads bonded together faster than Wolverine and Rogue with a similar relationship dynamic. The gruff, world weary, reluctant hero and the abandoned young woman with a power that frightens people.

It felt like the FL's one acting note she was given was to stand there and look pretty and forlorn. Not a lot of depth to the performance. The ML spent most of his time running and jumping which to his credit, he did well.

The CGI was very good and creative. The problem for me was that the story overly-relied on it and over-estimated how interesting it is without an emotional story to propel the characters through the monsters and labyrinths.

It's a shame they didn't spend a few more minutes developing these characters because there is an interesting story behind the wall of CGI.

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"The only thing you can do for a person who is gone is to live"

I’m always hesitant to write reviews on films based on mangas or books because people who have read them are often able to fill in the gaps with their reading experience. Having not read the manga my review will be based solely on my reaction to the film.

Shiino works for a verbally abusive boss. He’s labeled “@sshole boss” on her phone. While eating lunch she is horrified to hear on the television that her best friend has died. She discovers Mariko has already been cremated and the ashes given to her father. With little thought she talks her way into his apartment and steals her friend’s ashes at knife point. After running barefoot through town and seemingly owning only one pair of shoes, Shiino decides it’s time to take a road trip to the beach with her friend. She digs out an old pair of dilapidated Doc Martens, fumigates them, and takes the first bus out of town with Mariko’s ashes in hand.

Through flashbacks we learn that Mariko and Shiino had been friends since childhood and also that Mariko’s father had been abusing her since then. Their friendship endured many of Mariko’s cries for help and ultimatums. On her journey to take Mariko’s ashes to the ocean, Shiino suffered set-back after set-back aided only by a man dressed like the Grim Reaper who appeared whenever she needed help. While ostensibly this was Shiino’s journey through agonizing grief at her friend leaving without saying good-bye, I was always distracted by Mariko’s ongoing abuse at the hands of the men in her life. Were there no child services called or available when she showed up to school bruised and broken from head to toe on a regular basis? Did Shiino repeatedly try to get her friend to see a therapist to deal with the traumas she’d suffered? Why didn’t they call the police when one of the men beat both of them and attempted to break into their apartment or when one of Mariko’s lovers broke her arm and robbed her? Was there ever a point when Shiino stopped enabling Mariko’s self-destructive behaviors and attempted to get her the help she desperately needed? Shiino had her own issues that could have used a professional helping hand as well.

Grief and its 1000 cuts by haunting memories filled My Broken Mariko. But it also left unanswered the most important question of how both women’s lives might have been changed if they’d stop accepting whatever abuse was heaped upon them and sought to gain some agency for their own lives.

3 August 2024

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Time manages to weave together the disparate stories of a retired assassin team, the problems of the elderly, assisted suicide and team pregnancy. It brings together a cast of well-known older Hong Kong actors---PatrickTse, Bobo Fung, and Lam Suet and gives them a chance to shine. They did not fail to take advantage of the opportunity to show that they've still got it.

Patrick Tse at 85 showed he could still be a menacing threat as the flying blade assassin who had been relegated to cutting noodles in his golden years. Bobo went from terrorizing her victims with her throwing weapons to singing in a small-time cabaret. Lam Suet, the getaway driver, now suffering from various illnesses and struggling to pay for and receive proper medical care spends his free time with a prostitute he's fallen in love with.

Without being morbid, Time shines a light on the plight of the elderly---illness, loneliness, ungrateful children, poverty, and the knowledge that more sand has run out of the hourglass than remains. The old team gets back together when they find the older population requesting their services and they earn extra spending money respectfully doling out assisted suicide. This works out fine until the blade man discovers his intended victim/client is a teenage girl.

Bobo did an amazing job as the mother with a child who believed because she gave birth to him, she was eternally responsible for him. The fact that he was a grown man who was married and a father and responsible for his own child escaped him. Lam Suet gave a heartwarming performance as the team member who kept them all together, finally getting his chance at a quality main role. The actress who plays the teenage girl was the weakest link in this movie. She was unable to keep up with the rest of the experienced cast. The youth story threatened to take over the narrative, but stopped just short, or maybe went slightly over the line. It did give Patrick's loner character a chance to connect with someone and discover a part of himself he didn't know existed.

There are many touching scenes in this movie and Time deals with its gray-haired characters and their problems with sensitivity and gentle humor. It shows that people of a certain age need love, time, attention, and care. And in the case of Time, it showed that actors who are no longer young still have stories left to tell.

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Mainly a recap of the drama

When I watched My Housekeeper Nagisa-san on Netflix it showed 10 episodes, so I watched 10, or at least tried to. The events in episode 10 began not long after the events in episode nine. It was only when I came to MDL to add the drama to my Watched List that I discovered the 10th episode was a solo affair.

If you don't want to watch My Housekeeper Nagisa-san or you are short on time you could just watch this recap of the drama to get the gist. Most of the highlights of the nine-episode drama were shown. After a negative introduction to the special, the recaps began in earnest. There were a few new mini-scenes that were interspersed. Unless you are a diehard fan that wants to relive the drama, or catch a glimpse into the future for some of the characters, it is definitely skippable. Or fast-forwardable. Or skippable.

11 May 2025

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