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Hello TL,
my frist Blog YaY!!
Since im a big movie fan and im getting interested in asian movies,im asking you movie experts out there for some recommendations for movies that are worth watching.
Until now i have only seen a few asian movies , for example Oldboy (easily one of my favorite movies of all time) and some recent Donnie Yen movies, which were pretty bad in my opinion (except Ip man 1 of course)
All in all I dont care if those are japanese,chinese or korean movies as long as they are good 
Also im pretty open for any genres, but i would prefer more "serious" movies and less comedy,which also include any kind of weird C-Movies.
The movies themselves dont neccesarily need to be dubbed as long as there are subtitled versions
Right now on my to-watch list are:
Seven Samurai (as far as i heard its supposed to be a masterpiece and i really look forward to it)
Battle Royal ( from what i read its quite a splatter movie,but it has some messages f.e. about society it tries to deliver)
so im really excited and hope you will help me discover some great movies and thanks in advance for any recommendations
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A Tale of Two Sisters is a Korean horror movie and is one of my favorites in the horror genre. It starts slow, but is pretty scary as it goes -- in a psychological way rather than a gory or shocking way.
13 Assassins is a samurai movie and is the best movie about sword-fighting that I have ever seen. If anyone knows of a better one, I would love to see it.
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Infernal Affairs Trilogy :D
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I was surprised at the quality of Seven Samurai; great movie. Battle Royale was alright. Definitely watch Zatoichi (the 2003 one), and if you're open to a bit more comedy at some point, Kung Fu Hustle.
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Let the bullets fly, pretty funny movie though I don't know if they ever did a translation.
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I agree that Internal Affairs (Origin: Hong Kong) was so fucking intense. Much better that the hollywood version: The Departed.
(The descriptions of films can usually be found with the trailer.)
Letters from Iwo Jima (Origin: Japan) Well, produced by Americans but the whole movie was in Japanese so it counts as an Asian film.
1911 (Origin: Hong Kong) Directed by Jackie Chan
Trailer:
+ Show Spoiler +
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Origin: Thailand)
Winner of the Golden Palm Awards at Festival de Cannes 2010
Trailer:
+ Show Spoiler +
Kon Khon (Origin: Thailand)
One of the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming 84th Academy Awards. Not released yet, but looks promising.
Trailer:
http://www.movieseer.com/th/movies/22111--Kon_Khon
Never watch dubbed movies, they really destroy the film. I'll add more to the list later.
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The Family Game - Japanese
Cape No. 7 - Taiwanese
Once Upon a Time in China 1-3 - Chinese
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I really enjoyed "The Man from Nowhere" aka "아저씨." It's a pretty famous Korean movie starring Won Bin. Other Korean movies that I really enjoyed were: 71: Into the Fire, Chingu, I Saw the Devil (has the same actor from Oldboy), and Mother. However, one of the best movies that I've ever seen is Taegukgi, which takes place during the Korean war. If you get the chance, then I highly recommend this movie.
As far as Japanese movies go, you should try and see as many Akira Kurosawa movies as you can. He has been the main influence to many famous western directors.
There are a lot more that I can't really think of at the moment. I'll try to update later, and if I can't find this thread then I'll try to PM you.
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13 Assassins is worth a watch.
Basically some asshole young son of the emperor goes around and gets drunk/kills people for fun/sport and there's a group of people out to kill him now because they're sick of his shit. They assemble a crew of 13 and build this bad ass area of this town to trap/fight him in. Its like 13 vs 200 peeps or something.
Also 'Hero' with Jet Li is decent, just because I used to have a huge thing for Zhang Ziyi.
EDIT:
I also loved watching Rumble in the Bronx as a kid. Its like not really a good movie, but I just always watch it when its on. Just something with my child hood I guess. Some cool stunts in it too.
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Ah, no comedy means missing out on all the Jackie Chan movies. His 80's movies are so sick. If you like martial arts movies in any capacity, at least check a few of them out like "Project A" (1983) and "Drunken Master pt. II" (1994).
Since you've already got Seven Samurai lined up, might as well check out Yojimbo and Sanjuro which are also samurai movies by Akira Kurosawa.
"A Better Tomorrow" starring Chow Yun Fat
"Hero" w/ Jet Li
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On December 22 2011 04:34 Nizzy wrote:
13 Assassins is worth a watch.
Basically some asshole young son of the emperor goes around and gets drunk/kills people for fun/sport and there's a group of people out to kill him now because they're sick of his shit. They assemble a crew of 13 and build this bad ass area of this town to trap/fight him in. Its like 13 vs 200 peeps or something.
Also 'Hero' with Jet Li is decent, just because I used to have a huge thing for Zhang Ziyi.
i was just about to post 13 Assassins, so much blood, so much quality, great fckign film.
When The Last Sword is Drawn - Japanese (A man split between his family and his lord and clan)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359692/
May 18 - Korean (The story of events leading up to the 1980 Gwangju massacre in South Korea when thousands of students and protesters were killed by armed troops during an anti-government demonstration.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800341/
War of Arrows - Korean (One archer faces an army to save his loved ones)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2025526/
Friend - Korean (Despite their different family backgrounds, four friends grew up together in the wearisome years of the 70s. But as time goes by, each of them takes a different life path.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281718/
Sex is Zero - Korean (funniest korean comedy i've seen)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0341555/
off the top of my head, will update more if needed!
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Kay so I did some research on Japanese cinema for a paper, and I would advise Kurosawa's works (~1950-1960): The seven samurais, Yojimbo, Rashomon, Throne of blood. Those are jidai-geki, historical movies. If you like samurais, go ahead!
You might also be interested in Ozu and Mizoguchi, but those are considered a bit more "intellectual", focusing on the aspects of Japanese contemporary life. If the 20th century in Japan doesn't interest you, move along, but you could give it a try.
I also recommend Wong-Kar Wai's works, such as In the mood for love, 2046, Fallen Angels, or Chungking express. The most accessible one being Fallen Angels I think, but the most known is the first one (you've probably heard the main theme, "Yumeji's theme" many times now).
I don't know much about Korean cinema, but I would REALLY recommend Joint Security Area (forgot the author), a very moving film about the relationship of the two Koreas, through the tragic fate of four soldiers. You will laugh, dream and cry. Watch it.I hear that some prime minister actually gave the DVD to a North-Korean representative during a ceremony, but I'm not so sure.
Just to throw another name in there, you can also watch Poetry. A tale about Korean poetry as an answer to the ugliness of life... or the ugliness of life as an answer to poetry. Or both. A beautiful movie.
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Can someone tell me that movie where they put highschool kids on an island and they have to kill each other. The one that survives gets money or some prize? I liked that movie, but not sure what it's called. It's the only Asian movie I have ever seen too.
Edit: is it battle royal?
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On December 22 2011 05:47 RedTail wrote:
Can someone tell me that movie where they put highschool kids on an island and they have to kill each other. The one that survives gets money or some prize? I liked that movie, but not sure what it's called. It's the only Asian movie I have ever seen too.
It was Battle Royale. The one that survives gets the prize of still being alive, unless you were talking about a different movie.
I'm a long way from being any kind of an expert, but I haven't seen any movies posted above that I didn't enjoy. Then again, I haven't seen a lot of them...I think I've got some to look into myself. Still, I liked 13 Assassins and Oldboy enough to watch them 3 or 4 times. I liked I Saw The Devil, but I couldn't unsee Dae-Su from Oldboy, which made it...different, I think. I liked Hero a lot and rewatched it often for its style, and Ip Man was just too much badass to only watch once. I didn't think Ip Man 2 was bad, either, but it seems like you didn't from the OP.
I feel like Battle Royale deserves a special mention here. That movie...really got to me, for some reason. Yeah, I cried at one part, so what. It was a manly cry. Go watch it.
As for movies that haven't been mentioned...sorry, I haven't got much. Though you said you'd rather avoid comedy, I think above suggestion Kung Fu Hustle was probably alright -- better than I'd say it was, from memory, -- but I liked Shaolin Soccer (2001) a lot more. Ong Bak (2003) was fun, too. Since you said you didn't much care for Donnie Yen's more recent movies, I assume you watched Wu Xia (2011) and didn't enjoy it much. If not, I'd say you should at least give it a shot.
If you're into romance, a neighbor recommended One Day (2011); I didn't get around to finishing it myself, though, so I apologize if it's actually terrible. If there's a Korean Vampires option, Thirst (2009) was a recommendation from IRC that I watched with my roommate a few months ago. It was interesting...but freakin weird.
I'm admittedly not too into anime, but if it's an option (hey, it might be), I'd say Akira (1988) is a given if you haven't watched it before, and Sword of the Stranger (2007) was surprisingly interesting. Also, Ninja Scroll (1993). It feels silly adding animated movies to this list just because of the context...but, they're movies, too, and if you haven't seen them before, I think they're worth watching.
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36th Chamber of Shaolin
Watched this from TV a while back and quite enjoyed it, it's an old kung-fu movie though so you need to know what you're getting into.
As many others did I also would recommend 13 Assassins, and Seven Samurai is obviously a must see.
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Love Exposure is so good
Survive Style 5 as well
I discovered those in the big movie thread that was popular on TL a couple of months ago
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Kokuhaku is a pretty amazing Asian movie - VERY serious too.
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EPT
