Audition

Rating:
Summary: i spit on your stump
Review: Right off the bat let me give my wholehearted recommendation for this film. If you've heard of the millenial new wave of east asian cinema treats and only have enough money for one DVD(and Ringu and Battle Royale) this is a must have title. Unlike Ringu, The Eye et al its non supernatural but no less frightening for it. Having said that it still taps into very modern concerns balanced with ancient,for want of a better word superstitions,as those pictures do.
We've all dated a psycho(guys and girls) but covergirl Asami(played to mathematical perfection by Elii Shiina) goes a bit further then leaving to many messages on your machine or buying you unwelcome ties. ALOT FURTHER! If youve heard anything at all about this pic its probably that people have walked out of hte theatre(hand over mouth gagging) but if I were to cut ten minutes from the film youd never no why and it would still stand up as a pleasant and engaging slice of eastern cinema. But those ten minutes - you wont see the like of it coming out of Hollywood especially given the current climate(you know what i mean).
The violence is not graphic but horrifying, theres a difference. The context of the violence makes it so. Psycho Cop 3 The slashining has graphic violence but is never scary. Is it that the person inflicting the violence is so beautiful and pure looking, the very plausible idea that behind such a lovely face could lurk cold hearted insanity or the fact the director has poured so much effort into getting the audience to invest with these characters. In any case there are three scenes of extreme and visceral mutilation and torture. If that sort of thing offends you then give this movie a pass. Takashi is a guy who has been accused of being a courter of shock and controversy for its own sake but here I think most people would agree the violence is central to the well crafted story and completely justified artistically. Oh and you horror exploitation nuts just go buy Versus instead this movie will be too slow moving for you.


Rating:
Summary: Gosh
Review: You know how they say some movies "aren't for the faint of heart"? And you snicker when you hear that, like it's a sign stuck on the side of a roller-coaster, and who ever dies on a roller-coaster. Well, this movie is not for the faint of heart. Seriously. Miike movies generally aren't, but this one suckers you in with subtlety before doing all sorts of nasty things to your brain.

If you're interested, do your best to avoid spoilers and check it out as soon as possible. One of the more challenging and brutal statements on sexual politics that I've ever seen.

Rating:
Summary: Find this movie, watch this movie.
Review: AUDITION is slow to cook, but when it's finished, you may never fully recover. I bought it about 3 months ago and watched it one evening and it hasn't left the shelf since.

And don't get me wrong, it's not a bad film; On the contrary, it's an amazingly compelling film that will suck you in from the get-go. The last half hour of the film will stick in your mind for quite some time thereafter.

This is a disturbing love story of obsession and on some levels, betrayal. The gore level isn't as high as you would think, but wow, it the twisted image quotent right up there...

Rating:
Summary: Movies don't scare me. This one scared me.
Review: It's a pitty that this movie is so horrific, because it's actually quite good. Unlike Ichi, which hid a mediocre movie beneath a display of things that nobody in their right mind wants to see, this movie just plain worked.
It starts off innocently enough. The plot gets interesting, we're getting to know our amiable characters, the cinematography is great, the dialogue is nice, then WHAM.

It suddenly becomes the scariest movie I've ever seen. Nothing else can even compete. It actually came in at number eleven in "scariest movie moments" on some cable TV show about horror flicks. I think they left it at number eleven because they were affraid if it were rated higher people would actually see it and sue the network.

If you call your cat like I used to, opening the back door and going "kittykittykittykitty!" You'll never do that again after seeing this film. Egad.