How about Asian cinema?
 

Some of the best movies I've seen the past few years have come out of Asia. Most of them I caught after signing up for Netflix since they have a very large selection of the genre.

Here's a few of my faves.

Battle Royale - Long before there was Hunger Games there was this.



Internal Affairs - The inspiration for The Departed and there's many scenes that are completely aped.



Mother - hugely moving picture about the lengths a parent will go for their child.



The Man From Nowhere - Best revenge picture ever IMO.



I Saw the Devil - What a mind f*ck of a movie!

Some of my favourite movies are asian, mostly Japanese. But most of them are older movies.
Judging by the ones you posted here, I think you might like "A Bittersweet Life". In a way it's a pretty generic revenge film, but it is very well done and for some reason much more memorable, than those movies usually are. And Lee Byung-hun really has a great Alain Delon thing going.
If you want some really insane ****, watch "Ichi The Killer". It's totally over the top crazy and violent, but so humorous and entertaining, that one doesn't mind the extreme gore and the constant mind****.

Chung King Express is one of my favourites. Not really that knowledgeable on Asian cinema though.

This is in my queue. Will check out that other one too.

Good thread Chula, ive heard alot of ppl say they prefer Battle royale over the hunger games.

Im definitely checking out Mother tonight. it looks good.

Count me as one. And by a wide margin.

Not sure if it's your fare, but House of Flying Daggers, Hang the Red Lantern, and Hero are all huge favorites of mine in terms of Chinese actors and work. For Hong Kong, In the Mood For Love also comes to mind. My favorite Japanese movie is probably Survive Style 5+. Is that on Netflix? I'd be surprised :D

Check 'em out if you haven't already.

Btw, I love/have loved/will always love Battle Royale.

Nice list Chula! I'm a big fan of Infernal Affairs, Mother and The Man from Nowhere.

some girl i talk to who is obsessed with asian culture had me watch "i saw the devil." it was pretty good tbh but besides that i have never really explored their movies or culture in general all that much. i feel like that's one of those things i might do later in life when i get bored of western culture.

Poetry
The Chaser
Oldboy/Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance/Lady Vengeance
Going By The Book
In the Mood for Love
2046
Memories of Murder
The Host
Woman on the Beach
I'm a Cyborg, and That's Ok
Castaway on the Moon
The Host
3-Iron
Drug War
Sonatine
Hero
Kung Fu Hustle
Anything and everything by Mayazaki and Kurosawa


All quality films.

Essentially anything Ozu or Kurosawa is gold. Aside from that it's a genre I for sure need to explore more.

Shaolin Soccer. :)

Damn. I need to branch into Ozu. I have not seen a single film.

:thumb:

Better than Kung fu hustle imo

Nobody got love for Chung King Express? I think it's fantastic.

I think it was mentioned above.

Yeah that was me. Was hoping somebody would pat me on the back but alas, we end up here :(

Hollywood copies so many Japanese movies--Ring, Shall We Dance, etc. Even "The Magnificent Seven" was taken from "Seven Samurai". They even tried to make a Godzilla movie and it blew absolute chunks. There is a Japanese-American remake of a Korean movie called "Shutter", a horror movie, that's worth a look. I still think "Audition" wins in the horror genre hands down but, of course, I'm open to suggestions.

A superb Japanese movie is "Okuribito" a.k.a. "Departures." The plot, at points, is predictable and yet it is so well done that it grabs you anyway. It's the acting. The acting is best I've ever seen in a movie. It does not appear to be acting. You really think it's real, it's so well done. The acting sells the whole movie. It's a tear-jerker and I usually hate that genre because they try too hard to be poignant and I never come close to crying. "Saving Private Ryan" for example just left me cold. "Terms of Endearment"--same thing. But "Departures" just hits the mark perfectly. Typically Japanese movie philosophizing on love and death--and the acting sells it and you'll buy it hook, line and sinker.

I've got The Good, the Bad, and the Weird in my queue too.

Oh man, it's a must. It's a style of filmmaking I have seen no where else. Incredibly subdued and subtle. Tokyo Story is the visual starting point, but my favourite of those I've seen is Tokyo Twilight. Very dark film, which is odd to see in such a strange style.

I didn't add it to my list cause you mentioned it. It's a wonderful film.

Subtle and subdued like Haneke?

somebody at work recently recommended this to me. i might have to give it a watch. i don't know why but if i see the same film or show or whatever pop up twice from two unrelated sources it makes me more interested in seeing it.

Thanks man, I really needed that :love:

Similar vibe, but it's taken to the extreme. Almost unbelievably so. The camera rarely moves, and the majority of shots are at ground level to reflect traditional etiquette in Japan where they sit on the floor to eat. Certainly wouldn't be surprised if he was a major influence for Haneke.

I'm a pretty big fan of Detective Dee and the Phantom Flame. Quirky, unique fun that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Another great newer film is "Cure" (1997). It's a horror movie, but there is something unique about this film. It's difficult to put your finger on what it exactly is though. It has a beautiful, but subtle visual style (as do all Kiyoshi Kurosawa movies), some extremely powerful scenes, great acting and the story does have a lot of well known elements, but it seems like the movie mostly plays with them, hinting at something different at the bottom of it altogether.

My exchange student recommended that to me and I watched it. It was beautifully done and I agree 100% about the acting, but the movie didn't affect me actually. I also found it extraordinarily slow-paced.

Considering the theme primarily deals with death, that might be the reason. Death doesn't seem to bother me or get me emotional in movies. Good to hear of someone else who's seen Okuribito, though.

Ghost in the Shell
Easily my favorite animated film, the Ghost in the Shell franchise is an unparalleled dive into techno-capitalism, evolution, the nature of consciousness, the nature of information & intelligence, cyber-security, telecommunications politics, cyberization, techno-poverty, globalism & digital economics, the evolution of food and drugs, and nearly any other subject regarding the evolution of a technological civilization that you can possibly imagine. The original film is fantastic in both English and Japanese, the sequels are almost equally as enjoyable, and the episodic series is massively ambitious and thoroughly enjoyable start to finish. Absolutely essential viewing for anyone fascinated by the evolution of our species & technology.



And I'm a real sucker for Japanese cyberpunk films.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man
Legendary exercise in style and atmosphere. Extremely abrasive, dark, loud, obnoxious, cold, alienating, and relentlessly absurd. A soundtrack designed to get under your skin and shift around like a terrible itch, unsettling stop motion animation, and countless scenes of unsettling metal fetishism.



Rubber's Lover
Psychologically jarring, confusing, and surreal. An oftentimes repulsive mixture of cyberpunk, science fiction, technophilia, and primal claustrophobic horror.



964 Pinocchio
Sickening love story between an escaped lobotomized cyborg sex slave and a psychopathic homeless girl with no memory. Relentlessly disgusting, dark, unsettling, and uncomfortably comedic.

How nice to see there are other people who have seen Rubber's Lover and Pinocchio. That's some far out stuff. Can't say I loved those films, they are really annoying at times, but overall they are a fun experience.

I can highly recommend The Good The Bad and The Weird, too. Loved the movie, should see it again. It's kind of Tarantino-esque, unsurprisingly. Chan Woo Park has directed some of my favorite foreign films but other than him I really can't think of any Asian (woof! what a broad list of countries!) directors who I'm familiar with. Also Grindy those all look way awesome.

I'm not too familiar with Asian cinema (aside from some of Japan's animated output), though I really liked Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (which reminds me that still need to watch Oldboy and Lady Vengeance). Time to go on a download spree and grab some of the other films mentioned in this thread that aren't on Netflix, I guess.

I also just noticed this on Netflix earlier today and it sounds gloriously stupid. I'll watch it later this weekend.

Is Ip Man Asian cinema? Because I really loved that film.

I finally watched Parasite. I liked it. Any recommendations on good Asian movies?

Not a huge fan of asian movies. These days purchased myself a ticket to the cinema and it was canceled for unknown reasons.
Anyone tried getting cineplex refund in the past? How does it work? Do i need to visit them personally?