I Sell Love (Hong Kong: 2014): it could be accused of glamorizing prostitution if it weren’t so dull

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Rose Chan & Pakho Chau

Rose Chan & Pakho Chau

What could have been an insider view of the practice of compensated dating and prostitution devolves into a romantic drama involving two good looking people like we’ve seen before. I’d lost interest long before Mr. Perfect showed up.

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Fish Story (Japan: 2009): A cult hit song creates a cult

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Atsushi Ito finds inspiration from an obscure text

Yoshihiro Nakamura’s Fish Story appears to be most noteworthy for its non-linear narrative.  But syuzhet chutzpah aside, the story about a punk rock band saving the world comes together in the end to relay a clever story about the origins of belief, myth-making and finding religion in unexpected places.

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Hwayi: A Monster Boy (Korea: 2013): Joon-Hwan Jang Returns with A Vengeance

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Yun-seok Kim educates Jin-Goo Yeo

Yun-seok Kim educates Jin-Goo Yeo

Ten years after his flamboyant debut, director Joon-Hwan Jang steps out with a much tighter and straightforward crime saga. While it isn’t Save the Green Planet II, Hwayi stacks up well against other Korean vengeance thrillers. In a genre crowded with first rate films over the past decade, Hwayi shows that there can always be room for another.

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Cinderella (USA: 2015): In case you haven’t heard, the shoe fits and she marries well

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As a children’s film, Kenneth Branaugh’s live action Cinderella is probably worth a visit for the high production values, lush sets, gorgeous costumes, and magical CGI. For adults, however, the movie offers nothing more than Disney’s take on the story from 1950 with no noteworthy changes that might offer a new perspective on the same old story.

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Tell No One (Italy: 2012): Coming Out, Italian Style

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come-non-detto-e1342776572599-600x392A classic Italian-style comedy, Ivan Silvestrini’s Tell No One focuses on contemporary attitudes toward homosexuality through one man’s attempt to either come out to his family on his last night in Rome or risk having his lover do it for him. While it is consistently funny, there isn’t enough new to the story to push the film out of the average zone.

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Silent Youth (Germany: 2012): The start of something big, or just a bad date?

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Martin Bruchmann and Josef Mattes

What would happen if two people started a journey of discovery and just didn’t want to ever talk to each other?  As far as “first encounter” movies go, Silent Youth is very low key, but audacious in its own way, creating awkward silences where we normally expect bonding.

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Kundo: Age of the Rampant (Korea: 2014)

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Jung-woo Ha: the clear-eyed, incorruptible, horse-hung butcher for justice.

Jung-woo Ha and Dong-won Kang shine in this period-action film about a clash of two men cast aside by Joeseon society. Director Jong-bin Yoon pulls Kundo together from a mix of styles, heavy on the Spaghetti western, but true to contempory Korean martial arts action. Overall, the film stays light and fun, but the slow exposition over the 137 minute run time keeps this good film from greatness.

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