EggXpert

You just *have* to watch these movies at least once.. You don't know what you're missing! These are my Netflix "Deserves more than 5 stars" list...

 

Memoirs of a Geisha (Japanese Trailer)

 

House Of Flying Daggers (Chinese Trailer) 

 

 

Not One Less (Chinese)

 

The Road Home (Chinese Trailer)

 

Nobody Knows (Japanese - Trailer) - Based on a true story of abandoned children in Japan

 

Lady Vengeance (Korean - Trailer)

 

 

Shaolin Soccer (Chinese Comedy - Trailer)

 

Battle Royale (Japanese - Trailer) [Warning: Very violent & graphic movie]

 

Seven Samurai ( Japanese Classic Black&White - Fan made Trailer)

 

 

Howl's Moving Castle (Japanese Anime - Trailer) 

 

Grave of the FireFlies (Japanese Anime - Trailer)

 

Shanghai Triad (Chinese - Trailer) 

 

Chushingura (Japanese - No Trailer Available)

Netflix Link  

 

(Millenium Actress - (Japanese Anime - Trailer)

 

(Kamikaze Girls - (Japanese Comedy - No Trailer Available)

 

Load up your Netflix queues and enjoy the movies!

Still a few more movies to add to the list (I'll add the trailers to YouTube if I have to..)..

So keep checking back for updates!

Edit: Updated Links 09/02/09

 

bravo Sid. we began to assume that you are Asian...anyway, nice post...I've seen several of them above. and I was deeply touched by the grave of fireflies

luv the movie recommendation...waiting for more

unicorn:

bravo Sid. we began to assume that you are Asian...

Ahhaha.. No I'm not.. Not even a drop..  I spend a lot of time watching Japanese & Chinese TV over the Internet for the past 6 years because I don't have Cable and never did.. Even before then I had access to fan subtitled videos which a "fan" of the series would often make of their favorite episode..  Dating all the way back to when "Napster" was the filesharing of choice because it was the ONLY one out there( before even Kazaa)  you could get subtitled videos of Chinese and Japanese TV shows..   Also, the "World" was far less concerned about Copyright infringement on the Internet, and it seemed like China was actually encouraging Americans to download and watch their television shows while the United States wanted to hang people on crosses for watching their shows over the Internet.. That had something to do with it also I'm sure.....  Only stations I have at home are ABC & NBC since my parents hate cable (overpriced garbage blah blah blah)..   So pretty much I grew up from a very young age on the Internet (early 90s) and spent far more time watching World TV than American TV, much more so than anybody of my other little school friends.. So I was pretty much left out of all of my friend's discussions about Power Rangers (early 90s) all the way up through Homer Simpson (late 90s).. It didn't really seem like I was missing much anyway, and the Japanese / Chinese equivalents of the shows were usually a million times better anyway (especially the original Japanese equivalent that Power Rangers was based on)..  .   Though I must admit, it wasn't until about a year before college that I started studying Japanese..  And 2 years after I started college to start studying Chinese as well ( I completed my 4 year degree as a Comp Sci major last fall, the language studies were just for fun)..     But it's just so much more fun to sit in bed writing Hanzi over and over on a sheet of paper while watching Chinese TV.. I'm just strange like that .. Little "obsessed" you could say..  Even still, my Chinese and Japanese language skills are pretty bad.. Nowhere near what they should be I think..

But even still, of my movie recommendations above, at least a couple of them I heard about by my teachers.. House of Flying Daggers was recommended to the class by my Chinese Language teacher (Chinese I) and we also watched it in class (Yes! In a college classroom! Which was awesome!).. And my Japanese Art&Culture teacher told me about the Seven Samurai and many other Akira Kurosawa films.. He was obsessed with them I think, and I ended up watching all of Kurosawa's films (like all 50 of them).. But favorite of all Kurosawa films is 7 Samurai.. Now that I think about it, Chushingura was another awesome old Japanese movie, and unlike 7 Samurai, it has been remade dozens of times over the years.. Might be a bit difficult finding a good trailer for it, but it's a good movie for those interested in the *REAL* traditional style Samurai culture (Instead of the fake c**p they try to sell you in Samurai Animes)..

 

unicorn:

.I've seen several of them above. and I was deeply touched by <EM>the grave of fireflies</EM></P>

  If you want to watch another movie like that.. I seriously suggest you check out "Nobody Knows" (Dare-mo-shira-nai which is actually translated closer to "Everybody is totally unaware").. It's quite a shocking movie and is very close to the true story.

 

What?  No Hero (which I thought was WAY better than Flying Daggers)?  And you've left out some very good Hong Kong action movies, too (John Woo is John Woo for a reason).    There are also a lot of other Chinese movies that seemed to have introduced the West to Chinese cinema (and culture and mythology): Crouching Tiger, Hidden, Dragon; Raise the Red Lantern; Farewell, My Concubine; etc.  Oh...and if you liked Shaolin Soccer, check out Kung Fu Hustle (same guys.  I thought I'd seen pretty much all they could do w/ SS but they surprised me).

Just about any of the Miyazaki animated films are good (though they get split into 2 camps: environmental ones and...ones that are more cute than agenda-y).

There are also a ton of good Asian horror movies (all of those stylized American movies from the last few years have been culled from Asian movies, such as The Grudge, The Ring, Dark Water, etc.)  I haven't seen The Host yet (it came out earlier this year), but it looked good.

Good list, though, Sidicas.

I hated Hero, can't remember exactly why..  But I know I saw it, gave it like 2 stars and then totally forgot about it. I don't even remember what it was about anymore...  Crouching Tiger I think wasn't all that great either, it just dragged on too long and got a bit repetitious.. (Edit: Now that I think about it, I think both Hero and Crouching Tiger were in a group of those movies that I fell asleep while watching it trying to pay attention to what was going on but really wasn't interested enough to do so... Can't really remember so well)There was a lot of fan made parodies based off of Crouching Tiger that were a lot better, (and more exciting) but they weren't real movies, just short clips that poked fun at the movie..  I saw Kung Fu Hustle..  I didn't think it was as realistic as Shaolin Soccer, I didn't like the story as much either.. It was too "meh.." for me.. It was an interesting movie, but I think I didn't like the story at all.. And it certainly wasn't anywhere near as hilarious as Shaolin Soccer was.. If I had to choose between the two on my list Shaolin stays.. Edit: The problem with Kung Fu Hustle, Crouching Tiger (and I *think* hero as well) is that if the person isn't interested in those Chinese fighting movies, they're going to be sleeping or wishing there weren't fight scene after fight scene followed by chat scene followed by fight scene, etc. etc. End of movie.. Again, just my opinion... It seems like the movies were built from the ground up with the idea to cram as much fighting into the movies as possible while maintaining some bits&pieces of story line..

Raise the red lanturn I never saw, Netflix doesn't have it for some reason..  Farewell My Concubine I saw at least over a year ago, and gave it 3 or 4 stars for some reason so I don't think I liked it very much either for whatever reasons..  Another movie I kinda just forgot about...  It just wasn't a very memorable movie. There were just too many similar movies, if I saw it again, I'd be like "ooooh that movie.. Yeah, it was good but not something that really distinguishes it above such and such other movies other than the Director's name"  But I know a lot of people like those movies, but this is my list, if you want to make your own list, by all means go right ahead..  

Well, sure all the Miyazaki movies are great in my opinion, but I kept pruning my list and bumping off some of the less memorable (in my opinion) movies with the ones that had a larger impact on me..  And a lot of the Miyazaki movies just got bumped off (Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the sky, etc.).. I like to think that most of my movies on my list have a fairly strong love it or hate it feel.. Either you're going to love it and remember it or hate it and remember it..  I loved all of them and remember them all very well, even though it's been at least a couple years since I saw Battle Royale, I remember it quite well since it was just one of those movies you never forget... Though granted, I think I watched it half a dozen times.. Normally I hate bloody/gory movies, but Battle Royale has so much human->human strategy, hunting, deception, etc. in it that it was far better than some of the other  Asian bloody/gory/horror movies that were just rip-offs of American style horror movies (die die dieeee! Zombies, bugs or vampires will killl youuuuuu! Or that dude with a chain saw behind you.. Oops, too late.. Yup he was the one who did you in... ).. In fact, I wouldn't even consider Battle Royale a horror movie at all.. It is one of those movies that just go to places nobody has thought of (or dared) to go before with a movie..  If I did think Battle Royale was a horror movie, it probably wouldn't be on my list..  

Meowmi:

There are also a ton of good Asian horror movies (all of those stylized American movies from the last few years have been culled from Asian movies, such as The Grudge, The Ring, Dark Water, etc.)  I haven't seen The Host yet (it came out earlier this year), but it looked good.

I never saw any of those, I don't really watch Horror movies much (though some say BR is one as I noted, when it really isn't in my opinion).. Asian horror movies are usually just rip-offs of their American counterparts, maybe you can prove me wrong on that since I don't watch either very much..

If you want to make your own list, I look forward to seeing it..

Sidicas:

I never saw any of those, I don't really watch Horror movies much (though some say BR is one as I noted, when it really isn't in my opinion).. Asian horror movies are usually just rip-offs of their American counterparts, maybe you can prove me wrong on that since I don't watch either very much..

Actually (and I don't watch horror movies much, either), I think that Asian horror is a little different than American horror (especially since American horror started ripping off Asian movies): the depiction of "evil" or supernatural entities is usually new enough that it freaks me out (has anyone played any of the "Fatal Frame" games?  Those Japanese dolls STILL make me a little edgy to this day).  I also like checking out the way that other countries depict their ghoulies and ghosties and things that go bump in the night (e.g., Nightwatch).

As for the other movies that you might not have liked as much, it might just be a cultural thing.  I'm Chinese, but I was born and raised in the U.S.  People like to see me as very Americanized, but there are still very basic Chinese ideals that I retain, simply by dint of being raised by immigrant parents.  I think that some of that plays into why certain movies speak to me and not to others who aren't Chinese.  This is simply a theory, though...who knows?   Any thoughts on it?

Sidicas:

You just *have* to watch these movies at least once.. You don't know what you're missing! These are my Netflix "Deserves more than 5 stars" list...

 Load up your Netflix queues and enjoy the movies!

Still a few more movies to add to the list (I'll add the trailers to YouTube if I have to..)..

So keep checking back for updates!

Chushingura - ive read the book a dozen times, but i wasnt sure about the movie, does it compare.... and how well does it follow the story?

Nope, no thoughts here.. I never had the time to get deep into Chinese culture (except maybe doing some Feng Shui stuff)..So I have no idea how my list would be different from a Chinese person's list..
.. I'm sure it would be interesting if you made your own list..  To see how many similarities and differences to mine..

 

TempestKing:

Chushingura - ive read the book a dozen times, but i wasnt sure about the movie, does it compare.... and how well does it follow the story?

It's a great cultural movie for those interested in traditional Japanese culture.. But if you're not interested in it, you'll be sleeping for sure.. It REALLY can drag on and on.. And often it can be very difficult to understand some of the samurai's motivations for doing what they do.. I was really thinking about bumping it off my list.. There are at least a couple dozen Japanese remakes but only a few have been released here in the United States.. To the Japanese it's an important movie that preserves some of their "lost" culture and it's one of those movies that often gets shown once a year.. Similar to something like the American "It's a wonderful life" in cultural importance but of course it's a very very different movie..

Sidicas:

Nope, no thoughts here.. I never had the time to get deep into Chinese culture (except maybe doing some Feng Shui stuff)..So I have no idea how my list would be different from a Chinese person's list..
.. I'm sure it would be interesting if you made your own list..  To see how many similarities and differences to mine..

 

I'm not a big moviegoer to begin w/ (I always watch trailers and *say* I want to see something, but once it comes out in the theaters, I'm as likely to watch it as not), so I'm not sure that I can make a list of "must-see" movies.  All I know is what I like from the pathetic pool I've sampled. 

Just a little update...

Millenium Actress is available from NewEgg for $9 which is quite a steal..

Edit: Video links moved up above! 

the kamize one looks funny...but their costumes and make-ups are a lil bit like Visual kei which I dont like

Well, Kamikaze girls is quite an interesting movie and I think it's original since I haven't really seen anything like it.. The entire movie plays off of absolute extremes, you've got this one girl who is in a fantasy world of her own creation, spends most of the time day-dreaming, and wants to be a Rococo princess who looks pretty and eats sweets.. And then you have another girl who is this very violent gang fighting biker chick.. Both have totally twisted perspectives on life and worship different idols.. And some how they actually become friends and that's a good part of what the movie is made up of.  The movie is both entertaining and hilarious because they see the same thing from totally different perspectives.. Which makes me really think about how much of who you are affects how you perceive things and the world around you.. Though the movie really isn't as deep as I make it .. It's simple, cute and hilarious..

 Though I probably should put a "Rent before you buy" stamp on it..  Some people might not be interested in seeing the movie more than once..  I've seen it 3 times and look forward to seeing it again when I buy it..

Shameless *BUMP*