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Asian Movies
Asian Movies are not all about martial arts and gunfights? There’s a whole segment of Asian cinema about drama, and if you’re interested in the first kind, you should try to explore the second too. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring, the Korean selection for 2003 award submission, is a human tale of a monk and a boy’s lives in secluded temple. While the focus of the film is spiritual growth, it does have its share of excitement.
One thing I am sure confuses a number of fans of action movies is why martial art sequences in western movies have, for the most part, been greatly inferior to any typical martial art sequence in Asian Movies. Even the cheapest Asian Movies usually have much better fight choreography and editing than in western movies costing ten to a hundred times more. Of course, there are a lot of answers that immediately come to mind that answer a large part of this. The most obvious one is that the martial arts are not only a significant part of Asian culture, but have been so for hundreds of years - they've had a lot of time to practice and improve on their art for an audience constantly demanding more for their buck. And hence all Asian Movies are segmented differently.
Also, some aspects of Asian Movies making give filmmakers more leeway - unlike their western counterparts, they are often able to spend weeks or even months to shoot a fight sequence. While those facts certainly answer a lot of the question, they also inevitably add to the mystery by prompting some new and equally obvious questions. Like: Why don't western film companies very often hire Asians who are skilled in making great fight scenes? And the few times they do hire Asians, why don't they leave them alone instead of heavily influencing them to make the fights more "western"? And why do the major Hollywood distributors hardly ever go to the trouble to simply find an Asian movie with great fights, buy the rights to it (for what would probably be considered peanuts), and release it to theaters on these shores?
Top 5 Asian Movies: Again the list is based upon my own judgment coupled with other reviews of many great sites in this field, but we take no responsibility of whatsoever regarding their authenticity.
Oodishon (2000): A slow-burning psychological thriller that builds ominously and inexorably to its shocking pay-off and then leaves you squirming in your seat - but with enough subtlety and depth that for days afterwards you will be trying to pick up the pieces. 'Audition' is a meditative, melancholic masterpiece that is not for the squeamish. Overall a great name in Asian Movies.
Koroshiya 1 (2001): An absolute masterpiece of extreme filmmaking in Asian Movies.. Guaranteed to amaze, shock, disgust and intrigue in equal measure, 'Ichi the Killer' is one of the most striking films ever made.
Spirited Away (2001): 'Spirited Away' is a masterpiece of animation that has more than enough in it to keep young and old alike entertained, enchanted and awestruck.
The Story of Ricky (1991): While not for the squeamish, or indeed for fans of Mary Whitehouse, this film is a cult classic - fast, silly, jaw-droopingly outrageous, and a true original, unlike anything else you will ever have seen. And impatient viewers will be delighted by the padding-free pace of 'The Story of Ricky', which never fails to cut (and slash) to the chase.
Dark Water (2002): Women on the verge of a Japanese ghost story.
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