Title(s) AKA: You've Got A Call; Chakushin Ari
Film Director(s): Takashi Miike
Released: 2003 [Japan]
Genre: Horror
Sub-Genre: Thriller

Overview:
Takashi Miike is a busy man, but his hard schedule doesn't seem to be affecting the quality of his films. "Chakushin Ari", released in theaters in early 2004, is the story of college student Yumi Nakamura, played by Shibasaki Kou ("Battle Royale"). Bored at a singles party, Yumi waits for her friend Yoko, who arrives to the party late after finishing work. While Yoko is changing clothes in the ladies room, she receives a phone call with a spooky ring tone she has never heard before. To make things creepier, the call appears to be from her own phone. Yoko listens to the message, which is dated three days in the future, and hears her own voice saying "It's started raining." The short message is followed by a bloodcurdling scream. Several days later, the events heard in the message actually occur, and Yoko meets a gruesome death.

However, Yoko isn't the last person to hear this strange ring tone. Others begin getting similar calls and meeting similar fates, and Yumi finds herself in a race against time to solve the mystery before her own number comes up...

Cast:
Kazue Fukiishi, Atsushi Ida, Renji Ishibashi. .

IMO:
OMG! if i were to watch this in a cinema, i would have been just as scared as the first time i watched the ring... 4get about dollmaster, this is the next horror movie that sends a chill up my spine... scary but i was hooked, the twist was good loh, but the ghost maybe can do better, whats so scary about a marilyn manson looking ghost compared to that creaking weird walking posture which sadako adopts... the ghost not scary, its the twists that stun... most reviews have stated this was too similiar to the ring, but if both were to be released at the same time, i think one missed call would have done better becos of the bigger twist...

heck, i like this so much i even got the ringtone from the movie whereby the ghost calls her victim's handphone...

Rating:
4 1/2 out of 5 snoopys

Title: Naked Poison 2
Film Director(s): Batman Hung (Chung Hap)
Film Producer(s): Stanley Tong (Gwai Lai)
Released: 2002 [Hong Kong]
Genre: Mystery
Sub-Genre: Erotica

Overview:
During the murder of her boyfriend, Ann is hit and loses her ability to remember more than the previous 15 minutes at any given time. But she swears to find the murderer and recall her past with the aid of her tattooes, which provide her with vital information. Starting with a blank canvas, she must make sense of the people around her--a cop, a business woman, a divorcee, and a transsexual--in order to make put the pieces together.

Cast:
Sophie Ngan (Chin Man), Mark Cheng Ho-Nam, Joey Wong Cho-Yin, Coco Chau, Ng Ting, Yoyo Ng. . .

IMO:
a memento-style nude flick... eh just like all HK cat III, the storylines are boring type la, but at least this is a bit better than the rest...

Rating:
3 out of 5 snoopys

Title(s) AKA: Brother; Aniki
Film Director(s): Takeshi Kitano
Released: 2000 [Japan]
Genre: Crime
Sub-Genre: Thriller

Overview:
Brother is the story of a displaced yakuza gangster (played by Kitano), whose crime family is annihilated in a Tokyo gang war, and who flies to LA in search of his brother. Stranded in an unfamiliar culture, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young hustler (Epps), as they engage a violent struggle to take over the down-town LA drug turf.

Cast:
Takeshi Kitano, Omar Epps, Kuroudo Maki, Masaya Kato, Susumu Terajima, Royale Watkins, Lombardo Boyar, Ren Osugi, Ryo Ishibashi, James Shigeta, Tatyana Ali, Makolo Ohtake, Kouen Okumura, Naomasa Musaka, Rino Katase. . .

IMO:
yakuza movies are always full of action n drama... but this one is very good neh... imagine yakuza, joining with the brothers in the hood, chasing the cubans off their turf, recruiting little tokyo boss to rid the mafia... lol this is gang politics at its best... must SEEE!!!

Rating:
4 1/2 out of 5 snoopys

Title(s) AKA: Dead Friend; Ryung
Film Director(s): Kim Tae-Gyung
Released: 2004 [Korea]
Genre: Horror
Sub-Genre: Thriller

Plot:
Ji-won is a college student suffering from amnesia and regular nightmares. Gradually, she discovers that something happened to her in high school, which becomes clearer as members of the high school clique she supposedly hung out with wind up dead...

Cast: Kim Ha Neul, Ryu Jin, Nam Sang-Mi. . .

IMO:
tries hard enough, kim ha neul a surprisingly role considering she always get those weak women type of roles... nice to see her with that evil smirk, so bad yet so arousing!!! the only bad thing is the twist could have been a bit more dramatic...

Rating:
3 1/2 out of 5 snoopys

Title: Dharma Goes to Seoul
Director: Yuk Sang-Hyo
Studio: Cinema Service
Rating: 15 Up
Genre: Comedy

Plot:
As a sequel to box office smash Hi, Dharma! released two years ago, Hi, Dharma 2- Showdown in Seoul continues to offer a hilarious tale over its monks versus gangsters plot.

Requested by the deceased old monk, three monks head to Seoul to transfer his remains in Mushim Temple. The host monk of the Temple, however, has already left the temple without any notice due to his heavy debt, leaving behind a large group of monks and child monks in the temple. Seeing this difficult situation, the three monks determine to help the Temple by promoting it to the public and raising funds through donations.

When everything is going well, a team of four gangsters reach the Temple indicating their need to reclaim the Temple for their urban redevelopment project. They even take away the donation box. Not just the money being taken, the lottery ticket that wins 30 billion won jackpot is also gone with the donation box. To save the Temple and the donations, the three monks have no choice but to play games with the gangsters to win them back.

Starring:
Shin Hyeon-Jun, Jeong Jin-Young, Lee Won-Jong

IMO:
plain fun comedy, not really that fun though... :X

Rating:
3 out of 5 snoopys

Title: Dollmaster; Inhyeongsa
Film Director(s): Jeong Yong-Gi (Jung Yong-Ki)
Released: 2004 [Korea]
Genre: Horror
Sub-Genre: Thriller

Plot:
Five people are invited to a doll museum tucked away in a forest, where they are expecting to pose for a sculptor who will create dolls in their likeness. However, the members of the museum's massive doll collection may have other plans for them.

Cast:
Im Eun-Gyeong (Lim Eun-Kyeong), Kim Yu-Mi, Ok Ji-Young, Shim Hyeong-Tak. . .

IMO:
this is one real scary movie, girls who like life-like dolls should think again manz... scary, could have been even better but too bad no twist at all... just scary scary scary... scare factor = very very high

Rating:
4 out of 5 snoopys

Title(s) AKA: Gohatto; Taboo
Film Director(s): Nagisa Oshima
Released: 2000 [Japan]
Genre: Drama

Overview:
In the Nishi-Honganji temple, the militia of Shinsengumi is selecting new recruits in presence of the commander Isami Kondo and the captain Toshizo Hijikata. The candidates have to take on the best warrior of the militia, Soji Okita.
On this day, two men stand out from the rest and join the militia: Hyozo Tashiro, a lower-ranking samurai from the Kurume clan, and Sozaburo Kano, a young man whose bewitching beauty attracts many an eye. Tashiro is immediately smitten with Kano.

Cast:
Takeshi Kitano, Ryuhei Matsuda, Shinji Takeda, Asano Tadanobu, Koji Matoba, Masato Ibu, Kei Sato, Yoichi Sai, Tomorowo Taguchi, Kazuko Yoshiyuki. . .

IMO:
just dig kitano, hehehe... weird plot about gay samurais though since samurais are always portrayed as very man type and frequent those geisha joints with their dual katanas... if 2 gays only never mind, but his power of attraction is so great that other samurais from their unit become inclined towards him... siao kia one they all... lol, see the ending you will think that everyone is gay liao

Rating:
4 out of 5 snoopys

Title(s) AKA: One Night In Mongkok
Film Director(s): Derek Yee Tung-Sing
Film Producer(s): Henry Fong Ping
Released: 2004 [Hong Kong]
Genre: Action/Adventure
Sub-Genre: Thriller

Plot:
After a rivalry between two gangs escalates to new levels, one of the gangs hires a Mainland assassin (Daniel Wu), who seeks his prey in the crowded streets of HK's Mongkok district with the help of a street-wise hooker (Cecilia Cheung).

Cast:
Daniel Wu Yin-Cho, Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi, Alex Fong Chung-Sun, Chin Kar Lok, Leung Chun Yat, Ken Wong (Hop Hey), Lam Suet, Che Biu Law, Henry Fong Ping, Sam Lee Chan-Sam. . .

IMO:
this is the movie that snatched the best director award away from stephen chow's kung fu... high class triad movies always get the attention u kno what i mean... infernal affairs trilogy, jiang hu are intriguing while the young n dangerous series is more for ah bengs who like ah lians...

the main difference between these two type of gangster movies is no one is right or wrong, while the other is you are just good n he is just bad...

Rating:
4 out of 5 snoopys

Title(s) AKA:Female Market; Ryojoku Mesu Ichiba: Kankin [Original Japanese Title]
Film Director(s): Yasuro Uegaki (Yasuaki Uegaki)
Released: 1986 [Japan]
Genre: Thriller
Sub-Genre: Erotica

Overview:
Young women are being abducted by a gang of modern day slave traders, only to be prepared as exclusive sex toys for their "business relations". When some of the girls try to escape from their prison, the gang retaliates in a brutal and vicious way.

Cast:
Kaori Aso, Minako Ogawa, Kayo Kiomato, Nobutaka Masutomi, Mami Fujimura, Tamaki Komiyama, Ryoichi Sato. . .

IMO:
imagine being abducted one day by some guys and then all ur rights were taken away, ppl could fuck u as n when they like before they got tired of them and selling them off to rich arabs while they lost their identity... a woman manage to escape but theres nothing she could do when it appears theres no existence of the organisation anywhere...

Rating:
3 out of 5 snoopys