Some more short movies reviews....
One Night in Mongkok - A HK film starring Daniel Wu and Cecillia Chung. Mongkok is apparently a district of HK that is the most densely populated in the world. It's an unflinching look at the ugliness of crime in HK (and to a lesser extent, the poverty)... Basically, 2 rival gangs get into a fight. One side hires a hitman from China to kill the leader of the other gang. The hitman doesn't really want to do it, but has to do support his family.
Upon arriving though, he quickly discovered that the police are after him. So he hides out. And stays at a "love" hotel (ie, for prostitute) where he somewhat inadvertantly stops a guy from beating a prostitute. She is grateful, and he discovers that she is also from the mainland, having come to HK on a short term visa to work as a prostitute to support her family.
In the mean time, there's a group of somewhat disintersted cops looking for them. They aren't really bad cops, but when one of them commits a faux pas (sorta), they cover up for him.
It's a very powerful film.
Marebito - This is a japanese horror movie, from the guy who directed The Grudge (both US and Japan variants). It's a very weird movie. It's about a creepy middle aged guy who works as a camera man. Not just works, he really loves video. Anyway, he shots an image of a guy killing himself. He becomes fascinated by the look on the face of the guy. He then goes and investigates what he possibly saw.
At first I thought it was just going to be those Japanse ghost children, you know, pale, long hair, crawl funkily, etc. But that was just sort of a fake out. Sorta. Instead, he goes and explores the tunnells below Tokyo. Pretty cool. Almost Lovecraftian for a while. But apparently based in the old Shaver Mytery, with deros and all that.
But then he finds a girl chained up below ground. And rescues her. But then he keeps her as a pet. Which is when the movie gets sorta creepy. As he tries to rehabilitate her, she gets better, but he seems to get crazier.
Upon arriving though, he quickly discovered that the police are after him. So he hides out. And stays at a "love" hotel (ie, for prostitute) where he somewhat inadvertantly stops a guy from beating a prostitute. She is grateful, and he discovers that she is also from the mainland, having come to HK on a short term visa to work as a prostitute to support her family.
In the mean time, there's a group of somewhat disintersted cops looking for them. They aren't really bad cops, but when one of them commits a faux pas (sorta), they cover up for him.
It's a very powerful film.
Marebito - This is a japanese horror movie, from the guy who directed The Grudge (both US and Japan variants). It's a very weird movie. It's about a creepy middle aged guy who works as a camera man. Not just works, he really loves video. Anyway, he shots an image of a guy killing himself. He becomes fascinated by the look on the face of the guy. He then goes and investigates what he possibly saw.
At first I thought it was just going to be those Japanse ghost children, you know, pale, long hair, crawl funkily, etc. But that was just sort of a fake out. Sorta. Instead, he goes and explores the tunnells below Tokyo. Pretty cool. Almost Lovecraftian for a while. But apparently based in the old Shaver Mytery, with deros and all that.
But then he finds a girl chained up below ground. And rescues her. But then he keeps her as a pet. Which is when the movie gets sorta creepy. As he tries to rehabilitate her, she gets better, but he seems to get crazier.
