A couple of months ago, I decided to make my movie reviews bilingual as well but found that it was more work than it was worth. So, I decided to write the movie reviews only in English. I will write them in Japanese on MIXI (Japan's answer to MySpace and Facebook). Anyone is more than welcome to check out the reviews in Japanese there. Just look for somebody with the name 「弟なのに兄」. Anyway, with October almost being over and not wanting to write about what I saw in September on October's film review, I finally got around to playing "catch up". To tell you the truth, the only films I rented from the titles listed below were "Chocolate Fighter" (released as "Chocolate" in the US) and "D-Wars" (released as "Dragon Wars" in the US). The first four films I reviewed, I watched on my flight from Seattle going back to Tokyo. I decided to add them because 1) I did watch them and 2) it makes for a better blog note than just writing about two films. One other title was a US only release of a documentary taken in 1986. And the last title in this month's review isn't a movie at all, but a series from the SciFi Channel that a friend of mine got me hooked on.
THE PROPOSAL (2009) – A Sandra Bullock rom-com. This time we find her starring as a Canadian hard-nosed career woman working as the Editor-in-Chief for some big name publishing house in New York City. Unfortunately, she hasn’t renewed her visa and is about to be deported. So, while thinking on her feet, she says that she’s getting married (to her assistant, which is news to him). But there is this immigration official who believes her marriage is a scam and is keeping a close watch on her. Meanwhile, her assistant agrees only if she accompanies him to his home town in Alaska. Okay – you know the standard story after this. Hard-nosed city woman hates the wilderness and finds her assistant’s relatives a bit quirky. Assistant doesn’t like being back in his home town for the simple fact that he doesn’t get along with his father, who wants him to take over the family business, while said son wants to follow his dream of becoming a novelist. We all know how this ends but it’s still fun to watch.
THE SOLOIST (2009) – Based on the book by L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez and starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jamie Foxx. has been starring in some fine films of late. Downey portrays the journalist who stumbles upon a homeless man, Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx) playing beautiful music on violin with two strings. He delves deeper into this homeless man’s life and finds that he was once a student at New York’s prestigious art and music school, Julliard but had to drop out because he was suffering from some type of schizophrenia. The more he writes about this gifted musician, the more he becomes a part of his life and tries to help him get off the streets and lead a more normal life. A beautiful story.
STAR TREK (2009) – Being a fan of the original series with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, I had my doubts about enjoying this film. But I decided to give it a chance and had a great time watching it. Probably because I was imagining the characters growing into the ones we love and know. In this flick, Kirk and Spock just do not get along. And it if it wasn’t for Bones, Kirk would never be in the predicament he finds himself in. Watching this film makes you want to watch all your favorite episodes from the original television series.
THE HANGOVER (2009) – Very silly, but what the hell. New soon to be brother-in-law and some pals go to Vegas for one last bachelor bash. Everybody wakes up to a really bad hangover and can’t remember what happened, and they also can’t find the new groom. And one person discovers he’s gotten married as well. Throw in a Chinese gangster boss, Michael Tyson, and tiger and you have one heck of a goofy flick. Of course, when you have a group of guys, it seems standard to have one hen-pecked husband who can’t face up to his wife (until the end of the flick) and this one was no different. If you don’t believe, just check out “City Slickers” or “Wild Hogs” and you will know I am right.
CHOCOLATE FIGHTER (2008) – From the director who brought us “Ong-Bak” and “Tom Yam Koon” comes another action packed flick without use of any wires or CG and doesn’t star Tony Ja. No, what makes this action flick different from his previous two films is that the main character is a woman. An autistic woman at that portrayed by the most awesome JeeJa Yanin. Japanese fans will be surprised to see Hiroshi Abe in the flick as well. Move over Jackie Chan, retire already Steven Segal, find better scripts Van Damme, the new age of action is with Tony Ja and JeeJa!! 
HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT (1986) – I’ve been wanting to see this documentary ever since it came out. I finally asked my sister to purchase the DVD for me and got a chance to see it. The original film was only 15 minutes or so, but with the age of the internet, it has become a cult favorite. Back in the days (before the internet and when metal rules), two guys borrowed some video gear and did some guerilla filming at the Capitol Centre parking lot in Landover, Maryland during a Judas Priest concert. This is just too damn hilarious. The directors, John Heyn and Jeff Krulik, found some of the old master tapes and decided to release a DVD version of the film along with some various extras. Ten years after the famous Priest show, Heyn went back to the Capitol Centre and filmed “Neil Diamond Parking Lot”. Also included is *Monster Truck Parking Lot” and “Harry Potter Parking Lot”. This is a film every metalhead should be required to see!
D-WAR (2007) – Korean production of some science-fiction/fantasy story dealing with a Korean legend about some creature called an imoogi which has returned to earth after 500 years and is wreaking havoc while searching for some woman to devour (or something like that). The film was released as “Dragon Wars” in the US.
EUREKA (Season 3.0) - The third season of one of television's most quirkiest towns - Eureka. The program is like "Star Trek" without going into space or "The X-Files" without any paranormal activities, even though there are hints of alien encounters and such. Hope you enjoyed reading about the films as shows as much as I enjoyed watching them. I still have quite a few films lying about just waiting to be watched - "Red Cliff: Part 1", "Born into Brothels", "The Heartbreak Kid" and "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern: Collection 2". I think I might a couple episodes of "Bizarre Foods", it being about one of my favorite subjects. Either that, or I shall finish reading my current book, or better yet, I may even take a nap. So until next month (and I have watched at least three films so far) enjoy some popcorn while Mikako and I record some Korean dramas for my mother.
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