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The Man From Nowhere (2010)
Korean action movie
Director: Jeong-beom Lee
Writer: Jeong-beom Lee
Starring: Bin Won, Thanayong Wongtrakul, and Sae-ron Kim

Summary borrowed from IMDB: A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug- and organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.

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Okay, so this is one of those great action movies that basically has everything. Movies that give me a similar vibe: The Professional, The Crow (more the TV show than the movie, actually)

The story begins with a pawnshop owner that is kind of nice to a young girl, and in return she keeps coming around. Her mother is a junkie and a thief, and the girl is poor and there’s always people teasing her and thinking she’s trash, so she gets into fights or causes trouble and things. Her feelings for the pawn shop owner have her saying that he’s her father when she gets into trouble in the hopes that he will save her. He does not, just walking off.

There’s a whole tragic backstory about his past, and while he’s dealing with that, the junkie mom gets into trouble when she helps steal from the wrong people. The pawnshop guy shows up in his fancy clothes in time to find out that the girl and her mother have been taken by dangerous criminals — men neck deep in guns, drugs, prostitution, and murder.

And that’s when things blow up into action as the pawnshop guy races to save the girl, or if he can’t do that, at the very least avenger her.

He has a secret past and is one dangerous mofo. This is a straight up action thriller, with a gritty taste and feel. There’s … Read the rest “RE MOVIE: The Man From Nowhere [Korean movie]”

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Title: White Dragon
Author: Wada Shinji
Artist: Kinutani Yu

Summary borrowed from OurManga: Pursued by the mob, a young child seeks the protection of White Dragon, an assassin with the ability to morph into male or female, and kills by using… water…

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The sad thing is that I never got to finish this, but I did read some of the books, enough to know that it was good. If the makers of “White Dragon” would like me to review the rest, please send me English translated copies and I would be happy to oblige  (^_^)/

The artwork in White Dragon is all clean lines and straight story, there’s very little messing around, which gives it a serious air. The main character is an assassin that kills with a mysterious method and has never failed in a mission. The girl is the daughter of someone he once knew, come to seek his help. But all she really brings him is trouble, yet he keeps on bending backward to help her out and faces a rivalry of his own.

The MC doesn’t seem too interested in relationships with anyone, and there is some cross-dressing involved that kind of points to something deeper going on in his head. And he really seems to go out of his way to help the girl, and there does seem to be a kind of “maternal” vibe going on between them that is cute, but also kind of creepy.
Straight up assassin fare, with him going into various undercover situations to get his mark.

The White Dragon is an unstoppable killer, able to get around any kinds of security someone thinks to come up with, and always leaves his target DEAD.

Very awesome. Appeals mightily to the 12 year old boy in me.

Rating: 3 … Read the rest “RE BOOK: White Dragon, by Wada Shinji [manga]”

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Title: Pandorum
Genre: sci-fi, horror
Rating: R
Director: Christian Alvart
Writers: Travis Milloy (screenplay)
Stars: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet

Summary borrowed from IMDB: A pair of crew members aboard a spaceship wake up with no knowledge of their mission or their identities.

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If you like gritty sci-fi horror, then this movie is for you. A pretty slick trip into a future of horror, though the story is a little too good for simple popcorn fare. A great science fiction movie.

Amnesiac Bower (Ben Foster) wakes up in his stasis tube aboard the Elysium. Hypersleep can cause memory loss and a dangerous hallucination-laden mental state called Pandorum, amidst which other ships have had their commanders jettison the whole crew.

Upon waking, Bower is joined by Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid) and they quickly discover that something is very wrong. The flight crews are supposed to be rotated over the course of their 123 year journey to Tanis. The rotation has been broken and no one has been maintaining the ship. They have no idea how long they’ve been asleep, and to top it all off they’re trapped in their crew berth, unable to access the bridge or its crew.

Desperate to gain control of the ship and discover what’s going on, Bower crawls through the innards of the ship in hopes of figuring out what’s happening. And that’s where everything really starts.

Featuring a hot chick with attitude, a Vietnamese agriculture worker that doesn’t seem to speak English, a crazy guy that just wants to survive, and a bunch of strange creatures that like to EAT people. Bower wonders how the creatures got on board the ship. He wonders if his family is somewhere in the family crew berths below or if they’re … Read the rest “RE MOVIE: Pandorum [sci-fi, horror]”

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"A Frozen Flower"

Movie: A Frozen Flower
Genre: mm, Korean, historical
Director: Ha Yu
Writer: Ha Yu (screenplay)
Stars: Jin-mo Ju, Ji-hyo Song, In-seong Jo
Rated: R for graphic violence, sex

IMDB says: A historical drama set in the Koryo dynasty and focused on the relationship between a king and his bodyguard.

HanCinema says: Source http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr  Synopsis:  In the end of Goryeo era politically manipulated by the Yuan Dynasty, the ambitious King of the Goryeo Dynasty organizes Kunryongwe. Hong Lim, the commander of Kunryongwe, captivates the King of Goryeo, and the Queen keeps her eyes on the relationship between Hong Lim and the King with a reluctant view. Meanwhile, the bilateral relation between Goryeo and the Yuan gets worse as Yuan demands to install the cousin of the King in the Crown Prince of Goryeo with ascribing it to no son the King has. The King refuses it resolutely, so the high-ranking officials of Goryeo, who are in submission to Yuan, are discontented with the king. One day, the King gives Hong Lim a covert yet unobjectionable order to sleep with the Queen instead of himself to protect the independence of Goryeo from the Yuan by making a son, the successor to Goryeo throne.

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So, okay, I watched this the other day and the only thing I can say is that the cinematography is excellent, as is the camera work in every scene. I fell in love with the characters and I desperately wanted them to have happiness in every regard. But given the nature of what they were doing and the time period when they were doing it in… well, there’s no other way it could have gone, not with the tone the movie was taking.

I honestly wish the King and guard could have loved each other the … Read the rest “RE MOVIE: A Frozen Flower [Korean]”

Through a window darkly gazing
At a sight afraid to see
Breathing deep the salted water
Dreaming dreams, of you and me.