The Returner is a 2003 Japanese Sci-Fi and action movie directed by Takashi Yamasaki starring Anne Suzuki and Takeshi Kaneshiro. It was distributed by Japan Toho/Pony Canyon Inc and was released in the U.S. Under Columbia TriStar Video.
The Plot
The year is 2084, Human race is on the hiding against an alien they called “Daggra”. Their last stronghold in Tibet has been penetrated by a hoards of alien force. Equipped with impenetrable force field and better weapons, humans is now on the verge of extinction. In order to save humanity a young female soldier Milly decided to travel back in time to stop what started the war. With their newly built time portal in place, she landed in a cargo ship 82 years into the past (2002) where a group thugs is conducting an illegal business just about to start.
However, the transaction is interrupted by a shootout where we could only imagine started by none other than Miyazako, a vigilante who holds a vendetta against one of the thugs leader, Mizoguchi. After the gun battle, Miyazako finally has Mizoguchi at gunpoint only to be interrupted by Milly. Mizoguchi escaped, while Miyazako accidentally shot Milly. Lucky enough the young soldier is unharmed and despite having a different objective in mind, the two must worked together to defeat the enemy.
My Review
Although the plot is nothing new, this is one the most entertaining Sci-Fi movie I have seen out of Japan. Sure it does borrows elements from such movies as E.T., Terminator, and The Matrix, but it shows an artistic CGI blend with great acting scenes.
Dolls is another spectacular film by popular movie director, Takeshi Kitano was actually a trilogy all with the same theme of “undying love” The first one was a chronicle of a young couple named Matsumoto and Sawako who loved one another so dearly: However, a tragic thing to their everlasting of love. It all began when the president of the company where Matsumoto worked, decided to choose him to tie the knot with his daughter. Moreover, his parents coerced their son with the engagement.
On the day of the wedding, Matsumoto received melancholic news that told him that his “true love” attempted to take her life and she suffered from catatonic syndrome, one form of a psychological disorder. Due to this incident, Matsumoto felt guilty and took her out of the infirmary. Consequently, the sudden decision of his affected their own lives. The second story was all about an aging yakuza that constantly strolled and waited in a park for her girlfriend after thirty years to rekindle their feelings for one another. Last but not the least, was about a pop star that had an avid fan who eventually became his stalker. After a tragic car accident, the avid fan decided to be more intimate with her beloved idol.
As to my judgment about the film of “The Beat,” (nickname of Kitano) the flick all started with an entertaining overture, Dolls became a victim of ambiguity when there were certain sections of the film characterized by the inexplicable “jump cuts”. Therefore, a “carousel of incoherence and confusion” superseded the film. In addition, the idea of Kitano to use a long red cord that tied together the lovebirds seemed on my own viewpoint as something that was absurd and unnecessary because in real life, this will cause ambulatory difficulty on their part. It is not bad however to think of unique and loving ways to profess eternal; love, But the notable director should have thought of other means to demonstrate the “burning furnace of love” A ring with a heart design could be appropriate enough.
M. Night Shymalan’s forthcoming action-adventure-fantasy movie “The Last Airbender” has released a new trailer. This new trailer will be shown during the Superbowl although it is already available over the web. It will show a considerable amount of footage about the movie. This movie is live-action adaptation of an animated series “AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER”. The release of the trailer was preceded by the release of two character posters. One of the posters featured taekwondo-trained actor Noah Ringer, who will play the title role of Aang. The second poster showed Dev Patel, who is more known for his role in “Slumdog Millionaire”, will play the role of Prince Zuko, Aang’s nemesis. The film was based on a popular Nickelodeon animated series, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Asian mythology and philosophy has been a big inspiration of the series as well as the movie. It is about Aang, the descendant of long line of avatars. He has the task of bringing peace into world by stopping Prince Zuko from enslaving all the other nations, the Water Nation, The Earth Nation and the Wind Nation. Aang is a member of the Air Nation while Prince Zuko is a member of the Fire Nation.
There are some issues regarding the inaccuracy of the race of the characters, something that may not hold well with the fans of the series.
The movie itself is a thrill to watch. Other members of the cast are Jackson Rathborne (as Sokka), Nicola Peltz (as Katara), Shaun Toub (as Uncle Iroh), Seychelle Gabriel (as Princess Yue) and Aasgi Mandvi (Commander Zhao)
The movie is scheduled to be released on July 2, 2010
Sources: kungfucinema.com, imdb.com and wikipedia.org
Takeshi “The Beat” Kitano portrayed the role of a ruthless and patriarch whose love and obsession for money annihilated all the people that surrounded him. The story of this movie was adapted from the bestseller novel of Yang Seok- Il. Its story began when a humble man left his town in 1923, to seek for greener pastures in Osaka, Japan, which could change his life forever. Kim Shun Pei faced and bore in his heart all kinds of discrimination that a lowly and poor man could ever take. As a result, he was coerced to work under agonizing and inhumane conditions
Our lead character started to build and envision his dream of alleviating himself from extreme poverty by putting up a steamed fish cake factory with nothing, but his remarkable strength and staunch determination to achieve the fulfillment of his elusive dream. As the years passed by, he became an inconsiderate and ruthless businessman. In addition, he carried on his tyrannical attitude to his personal life. In other words, his greediness and obsession for so much wealth and money, which turned him into a “loan shark,” became the ultimate cause of his unexpected downfall.
This was one of the finest and yet, one of the most unforgettable performance of Kitano as an actor. Since he played the role so realistically and effectively, which added more than life to the character he portrayed. Moreover, he had allowed the ferocity and indifference of the protagonist to take control of his persona to make it an excellent acting performance of which I had admired and appreciated from beginning to end. This only proved his versatility as an actor while not working behind the camera meanwhile, the director of this film, created the flick with fine artistry compounded with economic, emotional, and social significance. With these properly thought of significances, it has made the movie interesting and poignant. Most importantly, “Blood And Bones was able to effectively stir the emotions of movie viewers, which included the nuances, anger, and frustrations as a consequence of extreme poverty and so much desire for worldly, material wealth.
After what very long wait for the much-delayed slasher film directed by Pang Ho-Cheung, “Dream Home” finally released it first teaser trailer. The film, which was first reported early last year, appears to be near its completion and may be released to the big screen later on. The movie was put on hold for almost a year due to some legal wrangling on the final result of the movie. The producer of the film, actress Josie balked at the harshness of the film, but Pang did not want anything on the film to be changed. The film, which had a budget of $4 million, was funded by the father of Josie Ho, casino mogul and philanthropist Stanley Ho. It was supposedly a part of a projected 3 to 5 films with a budget of $ 12.8 million, to be funded by the mogul. The differences may have been settled with the release of the trailer. The trailer itself was reportedly shot by the husband of Josie Ho, which features Edison Chen, who will not be a part of the movie itself. The trailer was nicely done even though Pang did not shoot it. Pang was able to complete another movie, “Love In A Puff” which is a romantic comedy, while waiting for the resolution of the predicament.
In the movie, Josie Ho takes the role of a woman who does everything she can to acquire her dream home even up to a point that she tries to get the life insurance of her father.
