Spider Lilies (2007)

Director Zero Chou's entry into the 2007 San Francisco LGBT Film Festival tells the tale of a teenage webcam tease who decides that a tattoo will make her more appealing, and the memories that meeting the alluring artist arouses. Jade (Taiwanese singer Rainie Yang) is a cute, young webcam performer who thinks that getting a tattoo will enhance her sexy performance skills. Upon venturing out to the tattoo parlor owned by half-Japanese ink-slinger Takeko (Isabella Leong), Jade recalls a crush she harbored ten years ago. Subsequently entering into a surreal cyberspace seduction that emerges through computer images, flashbacks, and lavish costumes highlighted by lime-green wigs, Takeko finds the lines between reality and fantasy blurring as Jade's teasing slowly chips away at her fragile facade. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 98 mins

Spider Lilies (2007)

Even though the main character (Jade) is lively and cheerful all the time, there is a sadness in her actions especially her on-line activities. She never really exposes herself to strangers but just teases.

The review above is pretty complete, except for the relationship each girl has with a close relative that does not remember them or past experiences. The two girls loneliness keeps them apart but eventually an intimate relationship develops. PG- Muff diving...

Extras include:
1. Deleted scene, nearly 3 minutes of extra love-making with necking and heavy petting.
2. The making of Spider Lilies.
3. Teddy Awards Ceremony.
4. US Trailer/Theatrical Trailers/ and More from Wolfe
2.

Sada (1998)

Based upon the case of Sada Abe, who on May 17 1936 killed and emasculated her lover. These events took place during a period of war, economic depression, public unease and growing militarism, a time of unrest and confusion when public opinion was, at best, unpredictable. Sada, condemned by the law, found herself lionized by the press and hailed as a 'saint' of love. Because she committed murder out of passion, the purity of her motivation elevated her from the status of criminal to that of popular heroine. Written by L.H. Wong
Sada (1998)

Really just a silly story although now I read that it was based on "A True Story of Sexual Obsession". The plot line about the student that fixed up her groin area after being sexually assaulted seemed to be missing some elements to it. All the men just went head over heels when having sex with her and she had an insatiable appetite for sex. The love making scenes were nearly comical although no nude scenes. It was a lot of jumping up and down and floating above the bed.

It was her idea to start choking him with the scarf and then he continued it on until according to the film he asks her to not stop when choking him.

At best just a mediocre film.

The Stratosphere Girl (2003)

In this imaginative independent drama, Angela (Chloé Winkel) is a French art student living in Germany who loves to draw comics and creates elaborate tales drawn in a soft and romantic style. One night, Angela meets Yamamoto (Jon Yang), a club DJ from Japan, who invites her to come to Tokyo with him. Infatuated with Yamamoto, Angela impulsively agrees, and is soon sharing an apartment with a handful of Western expatriates who work at a nightclub where Japanese businessmen drink, sing karaoke, and date the "hostesses" for a fee. When money runs low, Angela signs on to work at the club, but when a customer is murdered in an ongoing mob war, she realizes she's entered a far more dangerous world than she imagined. The frantic pace of the city and the violence of her new environment has a strong impact on her artwork, which loses its serene qualities and becomes increasingly aggressive and mechanical. The Stratosphere Girl was written and directed by German filmmaker M.X. Oberg, who shot the film on location in Cologne and Tokyo. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 85 mins
The Stratosphere Girl (2003)

Even thought this was a relatively short film, it still had a lot of shots of the main actress just reflecting on things and sketching. The intrigue was well done with each character seemingly in turn backstabbing her.

Ultimately, the film was just a reset button technique and the real story was just her writing about her boyfriend and friends into the story. Not really needed on a thriller such as this one.

Not One Less (1999)

A charming little story about a young lady that perseveres over obstacles and ultimately does not lose any of her students, although you have to wonder why such drive for only 10 extra yen. She spends much more and a lot more hassle than the extra 10 yens as well as the salary of 50 yens.

I did have a soft spot in my heart for the young people that desired to learn {for the most part} and quite a bit of attention was paid to the amount of chalk used on a daily basis. But ultimately it was a propaganda piece about socialism. And while Justin Lin shows the problems with wrong incentive structures, the young heroine {Gao} does show some desire to accomplish her tasks in the best way possible.

In a village in China mired in poverty, Gao (Gao Enman) is the lone teacher in a school so threadbare he must ration chalk to make sure he has enough for the day. The destitution of the village is not limited to the school; some of the children sleep in the schoolhouse because they have nowhere else to go, and many students have already dropped out to go to work to help feed their families. Gao is forced to leave town for a month, and no one in the village is able to take over for him except a 13-year-old girl, Wei Minzhi (Wei Minzhi), who possesses only the most rudimentary education herself. What she lacks in educational credential, she makes up for in determination -- she needs money, and teaching is an honest job that pays, and since she'll get a 10 yuan bonus if all 28 students are still attending when Gao gets back, she is determined that no one will drop out on her watch. So when one student turns up missing, and word has it he's been sent to the city by his mother to work, she travels to the city to look for him. In a place where thousands of children are working in the underground labor force or begging on the street, one boy hardly stands out from the crowd, and she has little luck. However, she's able to persuade a sympathetic TV station manager to let her make an announcement in hopes someone knows where he has gone. Despite its serious and often grim theme, Yi Ge Dou Bu Neng Shao is often light in tone and draws on the strength and humor of its characters; the film won the Golden Lion at the 1999 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide


Theatrical Feature Running Time: 106 mins
Not One Less (1999)

Samurai Rebellion (1967)

"But you can't reason with a crying child nor with your lord, as they say.
Actually quite funny to compare a child and lord in the same sentence and I am sure many times they are nearly identical.

A father and son prepare to die for their beliefs in this historical drama set in 18th century Japan. While Isaburo Sasahara (Toshiro Mifune) has been loyal to Japan's feudal system all his life, his beliefs begin to change when the local rulers demand that his son Yogoro (Go Kato) give up his bride, who has bore a child that will come to power upon the death of the current ruler. Yogoro dearly loves his wife, and Isaburo respects his daughter-in-law and does not want to be separated from his grandson. When Yogoro refuses to part with his wife and child, he and Isaburo are ordered to kill themselves. They refuse and instead challenge the forces of the feudal leaders to a fight to the death. Director Masaki Kobayashi's work on this film earned him the FIPRESCI Award at the 1967 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 121 mins
Samurai Rebellion (1967)

One of my liberal friends recommended this one, but by the time it arrived, I forgot what he thought was so interesting and revealing about human nature in it. In a way it was similar to Bandini that I watched recently in that the Heroine goes berserk at the lover of the person they love and in Bandini kill the competition and in this film get into a cat fight.

Ultimately in the end the best Samurai was defeated by guns although he did take out quite a few in the reeds. A basic love story about a families love but then again strife in the family between the matriarchal and patriarchal figures with their marriage being without love. All the more reason for him to defend the honor of his son and willingly die for the love of his son and his daughter in law. The reason for the escalation of tensions was that at first the family did not want the reject from the royal family to be forced on their son that was planning n marrying someone else. Then when the royal family went through heir questions then they wanted the young woman sent back after she gave birth to a girl.

There was the usual sword-fighting as most Samurai movies have but this was near the end with the no special effects.

Lust, Caution (2007)

Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee adapts this Eileen Chang story set in World War II-era Shanghai that details the political intrigue surrounding a powerful political figure named Mr. Yee (Tony Leung) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. Spanning the late-'30s and early-'40s, the movie introduces us to Hong Kong teen Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei), a shy college freshman who finds her calling in a drama society devoted to patriotic plays. But the troupe's leader, Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom) isn't just a theater maven - he's a revolutionary as well, and he's devoted to carrying out a bold plan to assassinate top Japanese collaborator Mr. Yee. Each student has an important role to play, and Wong puts herself in a dangerous position as Mrs. Mak: she befriends Mr. Yee's wife (Joan Chen), and slowly gains trust before tempting him into an affair. While at first the plan goes exactly as scripted, things suddenly take a deadly turn and Wong is emigrate from Hong Kong. Later, in 1941, the occupation shows no signs of ceasing and Wong is simply drifting through her days in Shanghai. Much to her surprise, the former actress finds Kuang requesting that she resume the role of Mrs. Mak. Now, as Wong again gains intimate access to her dangerous prey, she must struggle with her own identity in order to pull off the performance of a lifetime. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Running Time: 155 mins
Lust, Caution (2007)

This story is a basic tragic love story of a love that like a fine wine never gets drunk. A young girl falls in love for a man that can not love her back and thus she is willing to do any act to win his love, including joining and participating in a movement that she did not have a deep desire to join. Unlike Contempt , the woman does not get to be in the position of intimacy with her love and thus has no contempt even when she is basically pimped in the same way as Contemp's main actress.

Three Times (2005)

Millennium Mambo director Hou Hsiao-hsien explores the ever-changing cycle of love in this collection of three romantic stories set in 1911, 1966, and 2005 and utilizing the same actors in all three tales. In "A Time for Love," a fresh-faced soldier boy named Chen (Chang Chen) searches for a pool hall hostess named May (Shu Qi) who captured his heart before disappearing into the crowd. The second tale, set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and entitled "A Time for Freedom," finds an elegant courtesan tending to a young intellectual in a lavish brothel. The trilogy draws to a close with a segment entitled "A Time for Youth" in which a present-day Taipei singer who is also an epileptic neglects her female lover to seek the romantic attentions of a talented photographer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Running Time: 135 mins
Three Times (2005)

Three Times
Yes beautiful and lovely songs, but not sure it stirred in me any strong desires.

"Three stories about a man and a woman, all three using the same actors. Three years: 1966, 1911, 2005. Three varieties of love: unfulfilled, mercenary, meaningless. All photographed with such visual beauty that watching the movie is like holding your breath so the butterfly won’t stir"[3]

So this may be a better way for me to describe it:

"According to one American critic, Three Times is "why cinema exists." Only if you think that cinema has no higher calling than presenting a long series of gorgeously lit close-ups of beautiful actresses are you likely to agree."

Osama (2003)

I cannot forget, but I can forgive-Mandela

Writer/director Siddiq Barmak makes his film debut with Osama, the first all-Afghan feature released since the end of the Taliban rule. In the early days of the regime, a young girl (Marina Golbahari) and her widowed mother (Zobeydeh Sahar) participate in a demonstration for women's right to work. When the demonstration is broken up by the Taliban, they hide out with local street kid Espandi (Mohamad Aref Harat). When the Taliban take over a hospital where the mother secretly works, they are arrested and jailed. In order to go to work, the mother dresses the young girl as a boy. Forced to attend school, the girl reunites with Espandi, who refers to her as Osama. She struggles to maintain her disguise in order to survive. Osama won an honorable mention at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Running Time: 83 mins

The young girl is lucky she has not yet developed a chest and that because of their prejudice they think girls can not climb. But unfortunately she started her period when lowered into the well with a chain tied onto a back strap.

As sometimes with foreign and low budget films, the special effects can be just as valuable as the movie itself and the directors interview was worth watching it for his story and the stories he told.

2046 (2004)

ALL MEMORIES
ARE TRACES OF TEARS

Hong Kong-based filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai moves back and forth in time as he reexamines and amplifies the themes from his film In the Mood for Love in this offbeat romantic drama. Opening in the year 2046, in which a man named Tak (Takuya Kimura) attempts to persuades wjw 1967 (Faye Wong) to travel back in time with him, the film soon shifts to the year 1966, in which Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), a struggling author, asks the woman he loves, Su Lizhen (Gong Li) to sail with him from Singapore to Hong Kong on Christmas Eve. She declines, and over the next three years, we return to Chow Mo-wan on December 24 as he finds himself with another woman each year -- lighthearted Lulu (Carina Lau) in 1967, eccentric hotel heiress Wang Jingwen (Faye Wong) in 1968, and Bai Ling (Zhang Ziyi), a high-class prostitute, in 1969. In time, Chow Mo-wan and Wang Jingwen become reacquainted, and a love affair blooms, but the fates are not on their side. 2046 had its world premiere at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. A re-edited version featuring an additional 4 minutes of footage, but minus sequences by martial arts coordinator Tung Wai) premiered in late 2004. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Running Time:
128 mins

Another film of a little boy in a man's body (Breathless). This movie reminded me a lot of either version of Alfie.

The story line of 2046 being a place that never changed was a silly play to get a Sci-Fi thread through the story. In the end 2046 was a depressing place that no one found happiness as Chow just goes from woman to woman. The threads do not hold together as to why even the 2 daughters of the landlord was introduced.

Rice People (1994) Rithy Pan

The special features has a nice interview with Rithy Pan.

A poor, rural Cambodian family slowly disintegrates during the cycle of a single rice crop in this moving, and beautifully photographed European drama adapted from a novel by Shahnon Ahmad. Pouev, his wife Om, and his seven children, live in a small rural village in Cambodia. Their whole precarious life depends upon the success of their rice crop. Both husband and wife are worried, but for different reasons. Pouev is concerned because their acreage is shrinking. Om worries about Pouev; what would happen to her and the children if he died or was injured? Her worst fear is manifest after Pouev steps upon a poisoned thorn and dies. Om finds herself heavily burdened with the responsibilities of maintaining the crop and caring for seven youngsters. She suffers paranoia from worrying about whether the children are doing their share and the other villagers lock her up leaving eldest daughter Sokha to bring in the crop. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Yes the father worries about his 14 lots being divided between his 7 daughters and grandchildren and maybe handfuls of rice for his great-grandchildren...

They find a cobra and the elder tells everyone to go and search for the female to kill or no planting can happen. They get a crab infestation-seemed like a perfect time for a feast. They caught 1000s.

The sexism of their culture clearly comes out when the mother has drinks with some of the local young men. They want her to give away her oldest daughter/the strongest worker of the daughters. And the constant antagonism from locals helped push her unstable personality over the edge. Even when the she saw the snake earlier she fainted and was out for a long time and then needed a day of rest to get over it. From the break down they lock her in a bamboo cage.

Bird of separation: Owl. When the house was visited by an owl the father died.

This is an amazing film for the depth of showing how the rice fields are maintained and how they are so labor intensive. But I still have to say that I rated this as 2.5 since a lack of how this changed and was affected by the Khmer Rouge as was implicated in the interview with director.

To Live (1994)

Zhang Yimou, often regarded as China's leading contemporary filmmaker, directed this drama chronicling the ebb and flow of one family's fortunes, set against the backdrop of China's tumultuous history between the 1940s and the 1970s. Fugui (Ge You) is the father of a once-wealthy family whose addiction to gambling and chronic bad luck causes him to lose his home in a game of dice with Long'er (Ni Dabong). Fugui's wife Jiazhen (Gong Li) abandons him, and he finds himself working as a peddler, until the man who now owns his home gives him a pair of shadow puppets. Fugui learns the art of puppetry and travels as a performer; while on the road, he is arrested by Nationalist forces, until he is liberated by advancing Red Army factions, and he comes him home to his wife and children as they adapt to the nation's new leadership. While once a lazy spendthrift, Fugui vows to change his ways, and he struggles to become a better worker and citizen. But Fugui and his family soon realize that there is adversity waiting for them around every corner, and the onset of the Cultural Revolution makes it clear that China's new regime can be as corrupt and callous as the old order. While a Grand Prize winner at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and recipient of the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 1995 BAFTA Awards, Huozhe did not fare well in its homeland. Chinese censors objected to the film's commentary about political abuses in China's past, as well as Zhang Yimou's attempts to present the film at several international festivals. As punishment, he was forced to write a formal apology and was not allowed to make another film for two years. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

If you take all our pots away how will we cook?
...
We're racing towards Communism, and you worry about food?
We are setting up communal kitchens.
...
We are just two bullets short of liberating Taiwan.

Small boy: We are not going to liberate Taiwan?

While it did raise issues with Chinese Censors, it really was pretty light (IMO) on the atrocities committed by the Communists. Even during the Cultural Revolution there was no mention of the millions that died in the worst democide of modern times.

S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2002)

The brutality of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime is documented in Rithy Panh's documentary, S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine. S21 was a notorious detention center, an abandoned suburban schoolhouse used by the Angkor (the Communist Party organization) for the imprisonment and torture of thousands of innocent citizens. Prisoners were tortured until they confessed to false crimes, and were also ordered to incriminate others. Of the approximately 17,000 prisoners who were interred there, about seven survived. Panh interviews two of the survivors, Vann Nath and Chum Mey. While Mey can barely bring himself to speak of the horrors he endured, including the loss of his family, Nath agrees to return to the prison, which is now the Tuol Sleng S21 Genocide Museum, and discuss his ordeal. Panh also brings back several of the Khmer Rouge personnel, who committed atrocious acts on behalf of the regime, many while they were still teenagers. The guards and interrogators give a horrific tour, reenacting their treatment of the prisoners, and going through the regimes detailed records, including photographs, to refresh their memories of the horror they took part in. Panh allows Nath to confront them about their actions, but most of them claim that they themselves were also victims, indoctrinated in the regime's poisonous ideology, and too afraid for their own safety to show any compassion for their victims. Panh himself was imprisoned at a Khmer Rouge labor camp as a teenager, before escaping to Thailand in 1979. S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine won the Prix François Chalais at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, and was also selected for the 2003 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Nath at one part reads through the "confession" book of Mey, and notes all the people (50-60) that Mey had implicated as well as all the supposed crimes included using too much fabric. His boss was the one that implicated him so the growth of suspected criminals of the state grew exponentially as a result of torture that gave false results.

Don't be too free!"

If you're too free, why not die at birth?

It was amazing how the guards still hold to the old paradigms by even shouting "Determined, Determined". There was a long part of some of the guards playing out how he interacted with the prisoners and described in great detail his actions. And it was easy to see how dehumanizing it was to the prisoners, of course beyond the killing of nearly all people that were sent there.

I figured that something new I would find out about a new horror. They drained people's blood until they were walking corpses and they waited till they exhausted and buried in a pit. This was done whenever the hospital needed more blood. Once or twice a month a few prisoners.

And one last quote from the film...

As we use to say:
Better to make a wrong arrest than to let the enemy eat away at us from within.

Rating: 4 (/5)

PS: A nice blog article about S21 that includes lots of information that correlates with information in this film is at: Return to the Killing Fields.

PS (4-18-2008) HT Pierre France: Recalling Pol Pot's Terror, But Forgetting His Backers

Tuol Sleng - S21 Genocide Museum-YouTube Video

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)

Korean director Park Chan-wook followed up his highly acclaimed Joint Security Area with this tale of a deaf mute named Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun) trying to help his sister (Lim Ji-Eun) get a kidney transplant. Because his blood type is incompatible and no donors are available, he turns to a group of black-market organ dealers who offer to find one in return for one of his and ten million won. The dealers rip him off, so Ryu conspires with his girlfriend, a political activist, to kidnap his former boss' young daughter and ransom her for the ten million won. But a horrible complication ruins their plans and things begin to spiral out of control as the girl's father (Song Kang-ho) decides to take matters into his own hands with the help of a sympathetic cop. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide

Not to give anything away, everyone dies. Or more specifically all sinners are punished, except for the cop and the strange man that hangs out at the river and likes colorful necklaces.

Rating: 2.5 (/5)

Lady Vengeance (2005) has the same theme of good ransom and bad ransom

Lady Vengeance (2005)

A woman looks for both revenge and redemption after spending 13 years in prison in this offbeat thriller from South Korea. Lee Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-ae) was in her early twenties when she was found guilty of kidnapping and killing a young boy, and though she confessed to the crime under duress, while behind bars she dreamed of one day being able to clear her name -- and even the score with the people who railroaded her, including the police officer who brought her in (Nam Il-woo) and Mr. Baek (Choi Min-Sik), a teacher who wronged her in a number of ways. Lee Geun-ja teams up with a number of friends she made during her time in lock-up, including Woo So-yeong (Kim Bu-seon), a thief with a gunsmith for a husband; Oh Su-heui (Ra Mi-ran), who was saved from assault at the hands fellow inmates by Lee; and Preacher Jeon (Kim Byeong-ok), an eccentric man of the cloth who was struck by her gentle nature in jail. As Preacher Jeon helps Lee seek salvation for all she had to do while in prison, her other friends stand by her side as she gets even with her rivals and searches for the daughter she was forced to leave behind when she was convicted. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (aka Chinjeolhan Geum-ja-ssi) was the third film in a series, preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Old Boy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This film and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) both have the theme of a good ransom and a bad ransom. A good ransom makes everyone happier in making the family bond much closer.

H (2003)

South Korean filmmaker Lee Jong-hyeok makes his directorial debut with the psychological thriller H. Head cop Kim Mi-yeon (Yeom Jeong-ah) and detective Kang (Ji Jin-heui) lead an investigation of several copycat murders. It seems that all the recently gruesome murders are mimicked in the style of serial killer Shin Hyeon (Jo Seung-woo), who is locked in prison on death row. After the suspects start getting killed in the same way, Kim and Kang seek the help of psychiatrist Chu Gyeong-suk (Kim Seon-gyeong) to get some answers. H was shown at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Some quotes from the movie:

Detective Kang, when you face the abyss don't forget you are facing yourself. And when you fight a monster like me be careful not to turn into a monster too.
...
Someday maybe we'll be able to see the blue sky together.

The killings were based on some morality of the killers. Like in killing an abortion doctor, sound familiar?
A strong resemblance to Silence of the Lamb, in that they interview a convicted criminal that knows about the supposed copy cat killer and he plays mind games with the detectives. The one twist is the use of hypnotism.

Rating: 2.5 (/5)

Spider Forest (2004)

Kang Min (Gam Woo-seong) wakes up in the middle of a forest and wanders toward a nearby cabin, where he's shocked to find the scene of a brutal, bloody crime. A man lies hacked to death, and Kang Min's girlfriend, Su-young (Kang Gyeong-heon) lies dying of stab wounds nearby. Kang Min sees a dark figure fleeing the cabin and gives chase. Eventually he winds up in a tunnel, where he is struck down by a speeding SUV. In the hospital with a head injury and suspected of murder, Kang tries to recall what happened for his policeman friend, Choi (Jang Hyeon-seong). In flashback, we see Kang, a TV producer, try to deal with the tragic death of his wife. As he sinks into a pit of alcoholism and despair, Su-young, a co-worker who shares a secret bond with him, tries to rouse him out of his funk. When Kang is assigned to investigate rumors that Spider Forest, the remote wood where the murder took place, is haunted, he asks a girl from the region, Su-in (Seoh Jung of The Isle), to tell him all about the local legend. As it turns out, Kang has his own mysterious connection to the ghost story. Spider Forest, written and directed by Song Il-gon (Git), was shown at the 2005 New York Korean Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

Rating: Horror Vision 5, Story and Plot 1 (/5)
Definitely not for the faint of heart-even if in just black and white. Starting off with self mutilation in the opening scene of someone slicing open his thigh to insert a electrical conduit.

An hour-long feature from Japanese director Shinyu Tsukamoto, Tetsuo (also known as Tetsuo: The Iron Man) tells a horrific, cyberpunk-influenced science fiction tale about the intersection of man and post-industrial technology. The central character is a Japanese salary man, an average office worker who is transformed by a brief encounter with a metals fetishist, a man who has purposefully implanted pieces of scrap metal in his body. The salary man soon begins sprouting pieces of metal from various parts of his body, a change which is accompanied by increasingly nightmarish visions and bizarre, metal-filled sexual fantasies. As the man evolves into a strange hybrid of man and machine, he also develops a telepathic connection with another of his kind: the metal fetishist, who has been undergoing a similar conversion, and may indeed be the cause of the salary man's transformation. The two engage in a violent, destructive battle throughout the streets of Tokyo, accompanied by an appropriately industrial soundtrack. Shot on a small budget in 16 millimeter black-and-white, Tsukamoto reprised many of the images and plot elements of Tetsuo in a higher-budgeted sequel, Tetsuo II: Body Hammer. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Warning if your husband ever becomes a mechanical man and has a twirling member of steel blades, run, run, and run. Too many montages of rapidly sequenced random shots.

"Let me show you a new world"
It ends like any good Monster Movie with two monsters fighting out for control of their small world.

PS:
The main character in the movie for some reason wanted to combine man with machines. Thus a creation of the H+ man. He starts by cutting open his inner thigh and inserting an electrical conduit. Then he goes out and runs.

Eventually he combines with more and more metal stuff including some car parts he acquires in an accident. This iron man creates another iron man and in the Godzilla like battle scenes the main character combines with his antithesis to become an even bigger Iron Man that then goes out to destroy Tokyo (actually not sure city).

Metropolis (2001)

Playing like a candy-colored hybrid of Fritz Lang's film of the same name and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis borrows its plot liberally from numerous legendary sci-fi sources (despite the fact that the original manga was released in 1945, certain cinematic aspects can't help but appearing overly familiar), all the while dazzling viewers on the same cutting-edge visual level as such anime classics as Akira and Ghost in the Shell. The common anime practice of combining amazingly rendered backdrops and more traditionally hand-drawn characters continues here, though with such nuances as beautifully flowing hair and soulfully expressive faces, it becomes obvious that painstaking detail was paid to making the characters both visually and emotionally involving. However, as expressive as some of the central characters may be, it's the elaborate tri-level industrial labyrinth that encompasses the world of Metropolis that forms the film's central character, and it is a kalidescopic animated marvel to behold. Director Rintaro's beautifully composed visual design is so awe-inspiringly colorful and complex that, from the opening frames, the viewer is fully absorbed in the environment, with plot and characterization almost coming as an afterthought. And that is precisely where the film's ultimately forgivable main weakness lies. In between scenes of wide-eyed, jaw-dropping visuals, the story of human and android tension set against the backdrop of a futuristic city borrows from so many sources that it borders on cliché. Thankfully, writer Tezuka's characters are given a depth and sense of purpose that, while not altogether unconvincing or original, consistently connect with the viewer's sense of recognition and sympathy. Viewers will no doubt attest that Metropolis works almost flawlessly on a purely visual and asthetic level within the opening frames of the film. Thankfully, Tezuka's storytelling skills compliment that on a level which, while not entirely new or original, is at the very least genuinely sincere and thoughtful. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Dream of a Warrior (2002)

The time travel drama Dream of a Warrior stars Leon Lai as Dean, a police officer who must travel back in time to save Rose, the daughter of the time machine's inventor. Making matters more difficult is that fact that the brave man loves Rose, who is stuck in the past...and the time machine breaks. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

As Dean goes in the past the film has the following narration.

Dillmoon, The space of Seong-jin's former life. DillMoon was a highly developed state but only to be destroyed due to apathy against the high civilization
It's an imaginary space in the universe of neither the past not the future
Power Football is a sport that everyone can play, regardless of their class, and show off their martial art skills

They live in a strict class stratus called Katro where generals wield power and women are forced into marriages. The Senators (6) make decisions about war in a star chamber. But overall a good shoot'em up sci-fi movie.

Rating: 3.5 (/5)
Sucks-Love HK Film

Oldboy (2004)

South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook directed this violent and offbeat story of punishment and vengeance. Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is a husband and father whose reputation for womanizing is well known. One day, for reasons he doesn't understand, Oh Dae-su finds himself locked up in a prison cell, with no idea of what his crime was or whom his jailers may be. With a small television as his only link to the outside world and a daily ration of fried dumplings as his only sustenance, Oh Dae-su struggles to keep his mind and body intact, but when he learns through a news report that his wife has been killed, he begins a long and difficult project of digging an escape tunnel with a pair of chopsticks. Before he can finish -- and after 15 years behind bars -- Oh Dae-su is released, with as little explanation as when he was locked up, and he's soon given a wad of money and a cellular phone by a bum on the street. Emotionally stunted but physically strong after 15 years in jail, Oh Dae-su struggles to unravel the secret of who is responsible for locking him up, what happened to his wife and daughter, and how to best get revenge against his captors. Oldeuboi was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and won the coveted Grand Prix. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An amazingly intense movie that kept me on the edge of my seat.
But when your tormentor of your pain gives a choice of revenge or knowledge, I say, take revenge and hope knowledge is gained later the past is the past and some things are just not worth knowing. I consider the present is most important and then the future is second and lastly the past.
Similar to the situation in the original The Vanishing (1988-Franco-Dutch) where the truth cost the hero his life. I guess that is why I liked the cheesy USA one better (The Vanishing (1993)). But Roger Ebert did not like it:

"The Vanishing" is a textbook exercise in the trashing of a nearly perfect film, conducted oddly enough under the auspices of the man who directed it... The ending of the original "Vanishing" is of a piece with the rest of the film. It is organically necessary to it. No other ending will do. That is why this Hollywood remake is so obscene."

In anycase this movie was about sins of the past and forcing (creating the situation that normal would not act a certain way) is not the same as an actual premeditated sin.

I do wonder why the hero does not try to find ways out of his metaphysical cage when he recognizes it as such.

Rating: 4 (/5)

This movie supposedly inspired VT Killings: Worst of a Culture Addicted to Fame. Which was one reason to for me to watch it. Although it was very disturbing, I see nothing that would cause someone to do harm to another. It is more like remembering scenes in a movie and relating them to real life.

A nice article about Cho is located at: Was Cho taught to hate?