Departures

タイトル：おくりびと
キャスト：本木雅弘, 広末涼子

この映画はオスカーを勝ったから、楽しみにした。本木さんはよかったと思いますが広末さんの演技はちょっと。。。でも、映画のOST(久石譲)も素晴らしかったと思います。

ちなみに、本木さんは以前GatsbyのCMに出た。

本木さんと宮沢りえのSuntoryCM。音楽は久石譲。

映画を見る前、食事をした。日本料理を食べた。でも、注文のチラシ丼は具が少なかった。全然足りなかった―量も満足感も。とても失望でした。同じ店へ一度も行きたくないね。

どこ：Sushi Tei (Vivocity)
だれと：妹
カメラ：LG KE970

妹のうどんセと。

高すぎるチラシ丼。全く哀れ。

ゼロです。

Detroit Metal City

タイトル：デトロイト・メタル・シティ
キャスト：松山ケンイチ、 松雪泰子、加藤ローサ

最近、日本の映画が多いですね。多分、日本の映画が好きな人がどんどん多くって。この映画は容疑者Xの献身を見た時、トレーラーを見た。面白いかなと思います。だから、妹を誘いました。とても楽しかった。ちょっとどたばたコメディーだけど。

Suspect X

タイトル： 容疑者Xの献身
キャスト： 福山雅治、柴咲コウ、北村一輝、松雪泰子、堤真一

I was really looking forward to this movie, having followed the drama serial religiously when it came out earlier. I like a good Whodunit movie and 福山 is one of my favourite actors. Then there was also the other favourites like 松雪泰子 and 堤真一. They didn’t disappoint. The cast was fantastic and the story was well-crafted with an interesting wist at the end.

K-20

タイトル： K-20 怪人二十面相・伝
キャスト： 金城武、松たか子、仲村トオル

金城はかっこい！楽しかった。

2 Weddings and a New Year

今日は旧暦の正月です。妹と「映画のマラソン」を行いました。

タイトル：Bride Wars
キャスト：Anne Hathaway、Kate Hudson、Candice Bergen

Chick-flickだから、ちょっとばかな。でも、NYの景色は綺麗ですね。そこに住みたい。

タイトル：The Wedding Game
キャスト：Fann Wong、 Christopher Lee

Ponyo by the Cliff

タイトル：崖の上のポニョ
監督：宮崎駿

大好きな宮崎監督の作品。可愛い。楽しかった。

20th Century Boys

タイトル：20世紀少年
キャスト：唐沢寿明、豊川悦司、常盤貴子、佐々木蔵之介

また期待が持てない、映画へ見に行った。唐沢寿明と豊川悦司は主演したから、この映画を見たかったです。テーマとかStorylineなど全然分かりません。元作も知らなかった。

楽しかった。パート2とパート3を期待します。

The Chaser (2008)

タイトル：The Chaser (2008) – 추격자 (Choo-gyeok-ja)
キャスト： 김윤석 (Kim Yoon-seok), 하정우 (Ha Jeong-woo)
監督： 나홍진(Na Hong-jin)

昨日、教会の友達と映画を見に行った。韓国語映画。行く前、この映画は全然知らなかった。聞いたこともない。でも、友達によると、映画の新聞評価はいい。これから、英語で。。。because my Jap is still pretty bad

I went to see this South Korean movie with a friend. She had taken a day off from work to relax and decided to call me out. As someone who has recently taken to Korean drama and culture, she was keen to watch this movie, especially after seeing that it had garnered a good rating in the newspaper review. I went along, without a clue as to the type of movie it would be. I’ve not even heard of it. You can say I went in without much expectations. I only found out the title of the show when we sat down in the cinema. And boy did the movie blow my mind. I’m not someone very into violent thrillers. I can’t take even some of the PG violence that has become so common in films nowadays. When I heard from my friend that it was going to be pretty violent, I was quite apprehensive, but too late, the die had already been cast, we were already seated and the lights had dimmed, the show was about to begin. It is only now, after the movie, when I’m looking up information to write this blog entry that I realise that this movie is actually quite a big hit and critically acclaimed in South Korea and it’s being considered for a remake in Hollywood. I just want to say to the good people there (Hollywood), “Don’t bother.” You can’t make it any better than it already is (c.f. Infernal Affairs, Il Mare, My Sassy Girl, etc.).

Synopsis adapted from HanCinema
Ex-cop pimp Jung-ho (Kim Yoon-seok) is irritated because his girls keep disappearing without clearing their debts. One night, he gets a call from a customer and sends Mi-jin. Jung-ho soon realises that the phone number of the customer matches that of the calls made by the missing girls’ last customer. As something smells fishy, he decides to set a trap to catch the customer who he suspects of selling his girls. He instructs Mi-jin to message to him her location after she has gone to the house of the said customer. However, after a long wait and unable to get through to her, he senses something amiss and decides to search for her. During his search, Jung-ho dents a car in the alley. When Jung-ho spots blood splattered on the driver’s shirt, he senses the man, Young-min (Ha Jeong-woo), is the suspect. After an intense chase, Jung-ho catches Young-min. But because of Jung-ho’s pretense as a cop, they are both taken to the police station. At the station, the man bluntly confesses to killing the girls, and the last girl, Mi-jin, may still be alive.The police, thinking that they have landed a big serial killer, try to piece together Young-min’s confession, wary of the fact that without a arrant, they may have to release him after 12 hours. Young-min does a fine job of wasting their precious time by sending them on a wild goose chase to look for corpses as evidence. Jung-ho is at first sceptical of Young-min’s confession of murder, thinking that he is trying to stall for time by making up a bogus confession. However, as he combs the dark, in all sense of the word, streets looking for Mi-jin who he believes is still alive, he comes to the sickening realisation that Young-mi might be telling the truth afterall. And it is a race against time for him, to locate Mi-jin before the 12 hours are up and Young-min gets his freedom.

This is one of the few really good shows I’ve watched recently. This despite the fact that it is a pretty violent movie, at least by my standard. Right from the get go, the violence was there. Barely 10 minutes into the movie, the victim, Mi-jin, is being hammered, literally, by the psychopathic killer. First time Director Na keeps the right amount of suspense and expectations throughout the movie. I find myself squeezing my eyes shut and plugging my fingers into my ears to shut out the sound of the hammer on the chisel on human skull (the serial killer’s modus operandi), yet at the same time, wanting to sneak a peek at this mad man’s insane deeds. And this happens quite a few times throughout the movie, i.e., trying to shut out the sight and sound, yet wanting to sneak a peek. At the same time, there are twists and turns throughout the movie to cause you to doubt your initial judgement and expectations.

The cast is wonderful. The psychopathic serial killer Young-min is portrayed very well by Ha Jeong-woo. He exudes a sense of innocence that causes you to let down your guard. But, as my friend rightly remarked, he is as cunning as a fox, and shows no remorse or even an iota of emotion as he goes about his business of slaughtering his victims.

The anti-hero Jung-ho (Kim Yoon-seok) is a flawed protagonist with less than righteous motives, at least initially, for finding Mi-jin and the killer. He is only interested in making money and prone to violence as well. Thrice in the movie, he beats the crap out of the killer, although one of the beatings is off camera. He is also the one who dragged the sick Mi-jin out of bed and literally sends her to her death. But he redeems himself in taking care of Mi-jin’s daughter and his effort to track Mi-jin down.

The movie never really explains why Young-min behaves the way it did. There are some clues along the way, but it stops short of a real explanation for his bazaar behaviour. Even when we have left the cinema, my friend and I were still discussing it, trying to dissect and analyse the characters. This I think is the success of the movie. Not only the suspense and thrill of the moment in the cinema, but the ability to get the audience talking even after it’s over.

The only flaw, if you may even call it that, is the ending scene when Jung-ho finally catches up with Young-mi and has him on the floor. He has a hammer in his hand and is about to swing it into Young-mi’s head. Scenes of Mi-jin and her daughter flashes in his mind. He hesitates. Then, the police swoop in. Jung-ho gives it all he’s got, aiming for Young-mi’s head. I don’t know if it makes contact or not. For that moment, I had shut my eyes and ears. But I was told that he did make contact, avenging all the victims, especially Mi-jin. Okay, this is really really my very very humble opinion, but I think it would have been better to show him being unable to finish Young-mi off. Yes, he is a pretty violent person himself (ex-cop Jung-ho, that is), not known to hold back on his punches. Man, he even beats the crap out of the police, his ex-colleagues. But, he still holds onto that last bit of human-ness. That last bit of sanity. That crucial bit that differentiates him from the madman killer Young-min. The killer who brings down the hammer onto his chisel to crack a hole in the head of his victims in cold blood. When they are still alive and breathing. Because I always think that there is line (no matter how thin) that differentiates normal people from murderers. And at the end of the day, it is that bit of humanness that prevents normal people from committing such acts of violence. To kill someone. That the thought of the act itself is just unthinkable.

So, except for this little flaw, and the fact that it is a very violent movie, although I can understand the need for the violence, I would have given the movie a perfect score. It is really good. I would say it is as good as another movie that I have given a perfect score, Riding Alone For Thousand Of Miles by Director Zhang Yimou.

Hanadan Final

タイトル：花より男子ファイナル
キャスト：井上真央、 松本潤、小栗旬、松田翔太、阿部力

花より男子ブログ

やっぱり花沢類の方が好きです。小栗旬はかっこいです。とても。もちろん松本潤もかっこいですが、小栗はもっとかっこいと思います。大好き。牧野だたら、類を選びます。＾＾

Cyborg She

タイトル： 僕の彼女はサイボーグ
キャスト：小出恵介、綾瀬 はるか
監督：곽재용 (Kwak Jae-young)

この監督の映画が見たことがある。韓国語の映画－My Sassy Girl (엽기적인 그녀)とWindstruck (내 여자친구를 소개합니다)。女優は綺麗なJeon Ji-hyun (전지현)です。Windstruckは日本に住んでいた時、友達と映画に見に行った。韓国語原語と日本語の字幕、ちょっとチャレンジでした。でも、面白かった。

だから、この映画を見たかった。実は綾瀬 はるかがあまり好きじゃありません。彼女のドラマは全然見てない。でも、この映画の綾瀬 はすばらしかったと思います。楽しかった。