Dark Water
The original Dark Water from 2002 was the first DVD I ever bought, which was back in 2003. To this day it’s still one of my favorite horror movies. It’s scary, yes, but it’s also a very touching and sad story and I’m especially thinking about the ending here. I have yet to watch the US remake, but I’m pretty sure it won’t beat this, as I’ve only watched about 3 American horror movies (The Shining, The Ring and The Grudge) I would say I like.
Another thing I liked about Dark Water was that I thought it was visually stunning even though it might not have had a big budget like most Hollywood movies. But they took advantage of what they had and created a movie with an incomparably dark atmosphere. This is a movie that shouldn’t be missed.
After winning a custody battle for her daughter Hitomi tries to make a new start. The apartment she moves into seems perfect at first. Soon though, strange things begin happening. Huge water stains appear on the ceiling and drip constantly, more liquid oozing into the rooms every day. She calls the landlord in but he refuses to do anything about it. A childs red bag shows up in odd places and soon the child herself starts appearing. Hitomi then discovers the origin of the ghost…
Here’s the trailer (sorry about the French subtitles):
Suicide Circle
Intrigued by the controversial opening scene of Suicide Circle (aka Suicide Club), where 50+ schoolgirls throw themselves in front of a train making for one of the bloodiest scenes I’ve ever watched, I decided to give the movie a go after having wanted to watch if for such a long time. What I ended up with after watching it was a mixed bag. Some scenes were really cool and spectacular, but some seemed to drag on for too long with the whole investigation and were a bit boring from time to time and some were almost too gross and made me a bit uncomfortable, which is a rare thing. I almost gave up on the movie and made the mistake of not watching it in one sitting and kinda left it hanging on the gross part, which of course contributed in convincing myself that the movie was quite mediocre. I watched the final 25 minutes of the movie today and must say I’ve changed my mind about the movie. It was pretty exciting and stylistically well done, so even though I still sit here with mixed feelings about the movie, the ending was really good.
“Suicide Club” opens with 54 cheerful teenagers throwing themselves in front of a train for no apparent reason. Other inexplicable suicides follow, but further events yield more questions than answers. What is the purpose of a mysterious white bag containing stitched human skin found at some of the scenes? What sinister role does the seemingly innocuous but overexposed teen band Dessert have in this? What is the meaning of a mysterious website that seems to predict the suicides before they occur? Time is running out for the police and their unlikely ally, a cyber jock known as “The Bat”. The suicide rate has climbed to a spectacular rate, and the country is in the grip of an obsession with death. Unless this is stopped, anarchy will consume Japan.
Writer/director Shion Sono presents an impressive satire on the power of popular culture and its control over the mindset of a country. With the media telling us how to dress, what to watch, and what to think, why not have the media tell us to kill ourselves? Granted, it’s an unlikely scenario, but for the purpose of “Suicide Club” it drives the point home. Think for yourself and be yourself, Sono seems to be saying, and not what television and magazines say. Truly a laudable message and certainly advice worth taking.
Here’s a fanvideo:
Infernal Affairs
Since I had heard so much about Infernal Affairs beforehand I decided to buy it last summer, but just finally got around to watch it last night (!). Something I’d wish I had done sooner. It was actually really good, and now I get why there’s a US remake coming later this year directed by Martin Scorsese. It was just so exciting (and a bit confusing from time to time admittedly) watching Lau (Andy Lau) and Chan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) trying to blow each other’s covers. Chan who is with the police has been working undercover for almost 10 years and has been with the Mafia to such an extent that he hardly knows who he is anymore, while Lau is having the same problems, just the other way around, because he’s a mole working for the Mafia but is in the police.
The setting is the never-ending war between the police and the traids of Hong Kong. Chan is a cop who’s been assigned to undercover work inside the traids for so long that he’s been able to rise through the ranks to a position of some authority. Lau, meanwhile, is a secret member of the triads who has infiltrated the police force with an equal level of success. As they feed their bosses information on the plans and counter-plans of the organizations they pretend to serve, they both begin to feel the stresses of their double lives as they become torn between the oppressive obligations they owe to their superiors and the growing camaraderie they share with the foot soldiers around them. As the two organizations become increasingly aware of the moles in their midsts, the race is on for Chan and Lau to try and get out of the game alive.
All in all a very cool flick (from Hong Kong!) and it gets a solid 8/10 rating from me.
Here’s a music video of the movie:
Ping Pong
Ping Pong is a movie based on a manga by Taiyo Matsumoto that has grown on me and has now become one of my all-time favorite movies. Last night I watched it for the third time and it just gets better and better each time. When I bought it back it back in August I honestly didn’t think it was THAT good. I thought it was worth buying of course, but didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary. Now I’m really excited just writing about it. It’s fun, entertaining, serious and heart-warming all in one convenient package. What’s not to like?
“The film traces the growth and friendship of 2 very different high school ping pong players. “Peco” Hoshino is a brash, arrogant player, determined to turn “pro”. He taught his quiet, nerdy childhood friend, “Smile” Tsukimoto. “Smile” frustrates his coach and rivals who recognize his talent for the game since it is just a game to him. To teach him, his high school coach learns that coaching is more than just training the students to be good ping pong players. Ironically, as “Smile” begins to develop his game, “Peco” undergoes a severe crisis after his defeat by rival players. “Peco” is unable to play well until he rediscovers the original reasons why he plays ping pong.”
I hunted down the trailer and uploaded it to YouTube:
UPDATE: Heh, this is kind of “funny”. I went over to FantasticSuperClub.org, where I used to post a bit a while ago. Well, I just stumbled upon what I had to say after watching Ping Pong the first time.
Posted: Jul 16 2005, 08:27 AM
I watched Ping Pong for the very first time yesterday. Then I was ready to rate it an 8/10 but it seems it has grown on me in some weird way the more I think about it. So 9/10. Wonderful movie.
And that was about a year ago, and as I mentioned above in the post it has apparently grown on me even more, hence the perfect 10/10 rating. If it continues like this, it’ll be off the charts in no time. :-P