Gurren Lagann

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Tengen toppa gurren lagann Release Date: 2007-2009 Netflix Link IMDb Link

Hmmmm. Gurren Lagann starts off like a Japanese animation series like any other. The first volume is comprised of elements that could be in any other mecha anime series; an unwitting main character bestowed with powers, an over the top smart ass character who spurs him along on a quest, other characters added along the way, and even a love interest, but then it just keeps going. Gurren Lagann has a dozen different places where it could end, but it just refuses to die. Oh, that’s the end, right? No, it’s still going. That’s gotta be the end, right? Nope. The plot just doesn’t stop, but morphs into something bigger every time you think it’s over, until eventually they’re battling the whole damn universe and beyond.

The difference is, that unlike an American show where they drag things out after the ending for ratings and more money, this one seems intentional. It seems as though they want you to think it’s all nicely wrapped up only to sucker punch you with something else. The only annoyance with this series was the clip episode stuck somewhere in the middle. I don’t need a wrap of of what’s already happened, thanks. Gurren Lagann is not spectacularly great, but it’s certainly fairly original as far as mecha anime goes.

Linda Linda Linda

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Release Date: 2005 Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita Netflix Link IMDb Link

Another Japanese High School movie; my expectations were pretty low, and rightly so, but Linda Linda Linda has a lot of heart. Even though it does seem like a manga come to life, complete with the choppy sequences and little denouements everywhere, it manages to be engaging. What makes this movie is its cast and the ridiculously catchy songs by The Blue Hearts that they play. I’d never heard of that band before, but they seem to be something of icons in Japanese culture. They’re referred to as punk, but that’s a bit of a stretch. Still, the songs are, in fact, quite insistent on staying put in your brain.

The cast is excellent, the story leaves a bit to be desired, but overall, it’s worth a watch if you’re into this sort of thing. I think I might even go and scare up some of the original tunes by The Blue Hearts. Linda Linda Linda isn’t among the best of its genre, but it’s certainly above average.

Shinjuku Incident

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: San suk si gin Release Date: 2009 Director: Tung-Shing Yee Netflix Link IMDb Link

I don’t know why I expected anything good from Jackie Chan after he jumped the shark with that babysitting spy movie (which released in the US first). I figured since this was an HK movie instead of pure Hollywood tripe, it might be alright. I figured wrong. With the exception of Daniel Wu in a silver wig (for no apparent reason), there is not a damn thing in this movie I haven’t seen elsewhere a billion times.

Since there are no martial arts scenes, Shinjuku Incident relies heavily on the plot which is its major failing. When it bothers to make sense, it’s clichéd, but most of the time it doesn’t even do that. The character motivations are nonsensical and the transformations they make over the course of the film are not only unbelievable; they’re ridiculous. The only really interesting thing about it is the portrayal of Japanese xenophobia, but even that has been done better elsewhere. Shinjuku Incident takes an interesting, promising premise and runs it into the ground. It’s also overly long, it drags; it has no martial arts, little violence and not enough gushing blood. Boooo. 3 meh stars.

Purple Noon

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Plein Soleil Release Date: 1960 Director: René Clément Netflix Link IMDb Link

It’s probably evident throughout this blog that I’ll watch pretty much anything with one of my favorite actors in it. I’ve waded through a lot of direct-to-video nonsense due to my irrational completism. That torrid, romance novel cover alone would normally steer me away from this film. Purple Noon falls into the ‘I wouldn’t have even bothered watching this if not for Alain Delon’ category.

Purple Noon was remade as The Talented Mr. Ripley. I haven’t seen the remake, nor am I likely to, but if it’s anything like the original, I certainly wouldn’t bother now. I can’t imagine that Matt Damon could come anywhere near Delon’s awesomeness, and really, Delon is the only reason to watch this film.

Purple Noon is supposed to be a thriller. Perhaps I’m a little jaded on the concept of what is thrilling, but this wasn’t it. Hitchcock did it better in Rope. By that I mean that we know whodunnit and the tension lies merely in whether the killer will be caught and how.

If you’re interested in seeing Delon in a swimsuit, it’s worth a watch, but others really needn’t bother. Although, I would probably recommend this version over the remake (that I haven’t seen), but 9 times out of 10, I’d do that anyway.

In China They Eat Dogs

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: I Kina spiser de hunde Release Date: 1999 Director: Lasse Spang Olsen Netflix Link IMDb Link

I do love a good heist movie, and In China They Eat Dogs has one of the most interesting capers I’ve seen. It also has one of the dumbest resolutions ever. If not for the ending, I definitely would have given it 4 stars, but no, they had to go and ruin it. I have no choice but to drop a whole star off of my rating because of the ending and it’s lucky to get that.

In China They Eat Dogs definitely had potential. It has a good cast, some moments of humor, and even some really big explosions and lots of gushing blood. It also has an an interesting snowball-effect plot where the every-man protagonist attempts to change his life and seeks help from his violent, criminal brother setting off a downward slide deeper into the hole they dug for themselves. Again, I say, if it hadn’t been for the atrocious resolution that, quite frankly, pissed me off, this would have been a good film, but as it is, it’s a fail. It is worth watching up until the last five to ten minutes though. I’d recommend just making up your own ending.

Protégé

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Moon To Release Date: 2007 Director: Tung-Shing Yee Netflix Link IMDb Link

I watched this one because it stars Daniel Wu, Andy Lau and Louis Koo. What more could you as for? Well, how about a plot I haven’t seen a million times before? To be fair, it does throw in some fairly unique scenes involving Daniel Wu trying to save a junkie and how drugs are really bad for you. Wait, nope, I’ve seen that before. Actually, I’ve seen that before in another Daniel Wu film even. Hmm, OK then. Protégé is also overly long at nearly two hours. A lot of the scenes don’t really go anywhere. Do we really need to go traipsing through poppy fields throwing candy to children while riding an elephant? Oh, I guess we do.

Anyway, Andy Lau is brilliant, as usual, and Daniel Wu, while he’s an excellent actor, furthers the notion that he doesn’t actually have any teeth since he never once smiles. I barely recognized Louis Koo at all. Protégé is not highly recommended, but it’s worth a watch I suppose. I’ve rounded up to 4 stars since it was better than mediocre. It’s slightly better than meh, but not good enough to be good.

No. 3

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Release Date: 1997 Director: Neung-han Song Netflix Link IMDb Link

If you've been paying attention, you know that I'm quite taken with a lot of the Korean crime dramas I've seen lately. The problem with No. 3 is that there's nothing "lately" about it. It is yet another curious example of a late 90's film looking and feeling like a late 80's film. Matters are not helped any by the magical mullet sported by the lead actor (it's on the cover). Instead of a tense, edge of your seat thriller, it ends up being just another Korean gangster dramazzzzzzzzz. This film probably came out before they knew what the hell they were doing. Min-Sik Choi, who's one of my favorite Korean actors and most likely the reason I bothered watching this in the first place, has a relatively small part. For what it's worth, it's been about a week since I saw this one, and already, I've pretty much forgotten the plot. There are a lot of good Korean gangster dramas out there, but this is not necessarily one of them.  I wouldn't really recommend it unless you're really desperate for something to watch. No. 3 gets my ho-hum rating of 3 stars. In fact, to cleanse my Min-sik Choi pallet, after watching this, I watched Thirst again.