Blog: Lunapark6

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Movie: My Girlfriend is an Agent Release Date: April 23, 2009 Country: South Korea Director: Tae-ra Shin Starring: Ha-Neul Kim , Ji-hwan Kang Runtime: 112 min. Editor Rating: 7.5 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. Holy Time warp! For awhile there, I thought well done goofy comedies like "My Wife is a Gangster" and "Too Beautiful to Lie" were a thing of the past. Thankfully, the new film [...]

Movie: Love Exposure Release Date: February 14, 2009 Country: Japan Director: Sion Sono Starring: Takahiro Nishijima , Hikari Mitsushima Runtime: 237 min. Editor Rating: 9.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. Well, there's epic films (think "Red Cliff" and "20th Century Boys") and there's epics of the unexpected kind that leaves you with the feeling of seeing something profound. Without a doubt " Love Exposure " lies in [...]

Movie: A Blood Pledge Release Date: June 18, 2009 Country: South Korea Director: Jong-yong Lee Starring: Eun-seo Son , Kyeong-ah Jang , Yeon-seo Oh Runtime: 88 min. Editor Rating: 6.5 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. " A Blood Pledge " is the fifth installment in the Korean horror film series "Whispering Corridors." If you've been keeping up with the series you'll probably agree that with each [...]

Movie: The Shonen Merikensack Release Date: February 14, 2009 Country: Japan Director: Kankuro Kudo Starring: Aoi Miyazaki , Koichi Sato Runtime: 125 Min Editor Rating: 7.5 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. "And I wanna be anarchy ... Get pissed destroy." From the multi-talented Kankuro Kudo, who has written screenplays for such films as "Drugstore Girl," "69," and "Maiko haaaan!!!," we get [...]

Movie: 20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope Release Date: December 20, 2008 Country: Japan Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi Starring: Etsushi Toyokawa , Airi Taira Runtime: 139 min. Editor Rating: 5.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. " 20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope ," the second part in the "20th Century Boys" trilogy, leaves a whole lot to be desired, but also manages to right its ship [...]

Movie: Castaway on the Moon Release Date: May 14, 2009 Country: South Korea Director: Hae-jun Lee Starring: Jae-yeong Jeong , Ryeo-won Jeong Runtime: 119 min. Editor Rating: 8.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. Like most things in life, it's rare that you'll come across a film that doesn't seem derivative of another work. The new South Korean film " Castaway on the Moon " isn't one of those rare [...]

Movie: Insadong Scandal Release Date: April 30, 2009 Country: South Korea Director: Hee-kon Park Starring: Rae-won Kim , Jeong-hwa Eom Runtime: 111 min. Editor Rating: 4.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. Perhaps part of a trend or not, but we have seen a crop of commercial Korean films centered in the thriller genre but set within a unique niche. "Marine Boy" told an entertaining tale of an [...]

Movie: K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces Release Date: December 20, 2008 Country: Japan Director: Shimako Sato Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro , Takako Matsu Runtime: 137 min. Editor Rating: 8.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. I've had " K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces " (known in Japan as "K-20: The Legend of the Mask") on my pile of to watch movies for awhile now but for one reason or another [...]

Movie: Private Eye Release Date: April 2, 2009 Country: South Korea Director: Dae-min Park Starring: Jeong-min Hwang , Deok-Hwan Ryu Runtime: 111 min. Editor Rating: 6.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. Set sometime in the early 20th century, " Private Eye " tracks the exploits of Korea's very first (fictional) super detective named Jin-ho Hong, played by the charismatic Jeong-min Hwang. And like another well known sleuth [...]

Movie: Breathless Release Date: April 16, 2009 Country: South Korea Director: Ik-jun Yang Starring: Ik-jun Yang , Kkot-bi Kim Runtime: 130 min. Editor Rating: 7.5 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. After watching " Breathless " I can certainly understand why the movie generated so much buzz at international film festivals earlier this year. The film features brutal gang violence, seething hatred towards abusive parents, and most importantly [...]

Movie: Heaven's Door Release Date: February 7, 2009 Country: Japan Director: Michael Arias Starring: Tomoya Nagase , Mayuko Fukuda Runtime: 106 min. Editor Rating: 4.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about " Heaven's Door ." The film is simply a turd. Based on a 1997 German film titled "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," the movie is just riddled with cliches, poor direction, [...]

Movie: Daytime Drinking Release Date: February 5, 2009 Country: South Korea Director: Yeong-seok No Starring: Sam-dong Song Runtime: 116 min. Editor Rating: 7.5 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. Koreans love their soju & the highly amusing indie film "Daytime Drinking" wraps an entire road film around the popular working class drink. The film also marks the debut for talented screen writer & director Yeong-seok No. Like a lot [...]

Movie: GS Wonderland Release Date: November 15, 2008 Country: Japan Director: Ryuichi Honda Starring: Chiaki Kuriyama , Takuya Ishida , Hiro Mizushima Runtime: 100 min. Editor Rating: 6.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. Never knew until watching the movie "GS Wonderland" that Japan even had a "Group Sound" period with Japanese bands copping the sounds and style of bands like the Beatles or the Monkees. In [...]

Movie: The Two in Tracksuits Release Date: July 19, 2008 Country: Japan Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura Starring: Masato Sakai , Makoto Ayukawa Runtime: 93 min. Editor Rating: 7.5 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. "The Two in Tracksuits" starts off with a 54 year old father (played by Makoto Ayukawa) and his 32 year old son (played Masato Sakai) escaping from the blistering Tokyo summer heat to enjoy [...]

Movie: Ikigami Release Date: September 27, 2008 Country: Japan Director: Tomoyuki Takimoto Starring: Shota Matsuda , Riko Narumi , Takayuki Yamada Runtime: 133 min. Editor Rating: 5.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. Geez talk about your uneven movie! "Ikigami," based on a manga by Motoro Mase, is set sometime in the future with an oppressive big brother like government randomly killing off citizens in the name [...]

Movie: The Scam Release Date: February 12, 2009 Country: South Korea Director: Ho-jae Lee Starring: Yong-ha Park , Hie-sun Park , Min-jung Kim Runtime: 119 min. Editor Rating: 6.5 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. Gotta admit I've dabbled in the world of on-line trading before and have had a few moments of glory while having many more painful moments of holding the bag long after the [...]

Movie: More Than Blue Release Date: March 12, 2009 Country: South Korea Director: Tae-yeon Won Starring: Sang-woo Kwone , Bo-young Lee Runtime: 105 min. Editor Rating: 5.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. A disclaimer should go out that I'm not much of a fan of Asian tearjerkers in general, which probably skews this review from the get go. With that said, I have craved a warm, intimate [...]

Movie: One Million Yen and the Nigamushi Woman Release Date: July 19, 2008 Country: Japan Director: Yuki Tanada Starring: Yu Aoi , Mirai Moriyama Runtime: 121 min. Editor Rating: 7.5 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. There's a lot of coming-of-age road films out there, but there's not many that features Yu Aoi in the lead role. That in itself should pique your interest in Yuki Tanada's " [...]

Movie: The Naked Kitchen Release Date: February 5, 2009 Country: South Korea Director: Ji-yeong Hong Starring: Min-a Shin , Tae-woo Kim , Ji-hun Ju Runtime: 102 min. Editor Rating: 4.0 Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. Building upon the topic of marital infidelity ala "My Wife Got Married" and the recent interest in food based films like "Antique" and "Le Grand Chef," the new Korean film ' [...]