Asian Drama

Yumi decides to prepare for her contest after leaving her job to become a writer, which has been her long-time dream. From the schedule cell that creates her perfect writing schedule to the writer cell that runs around to find...

Rika is known as a good person at school, almost too good, while Hibiki is more logical and does not like wasting time. One day Rika got a copy of her Family Register in order to submit to the school, she found out that she was adopted and felt in shock. Rika and Hibiki try to find out the truth and visit the address written on Family Register paper. They find an area with several townhouses built closely to each other where unique people are living…

Duration: 22 min.

Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

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Thot, the killer of the gang, was released from prison. Then came back to work in a pizza shop with his brother Singha. Fah, his brother's wife, had a strong impression of Thot but got rejected by Thot. Even if Singha raised him but he doesn't like Thot at all. Sergeant Chai, a police officer nearing retirement, loses a bet at a casino. Unwilling to sell the golden revolver that he left to Simon, the owner of the casino. But Simon returned the golden revolver to Sergeant Chai because he wanted Sergeant Chai to help him transport gold from Bangkok to Pattaya.

(Source: Thai = komchadluek.net)

Duration: 1 hr. 57 min.

One of the five best Japanese films I've ever seen. The story is of two people. One is deaf, the other deaf and dumb. They marry after meeting at a school reunion, and the film follows their trials and tribulations ... and joys. The beauty of this charming yet realistic film is that the couple (who communicate with each other exclusively in sign language, which is subtitled) are neither patronized nor glorified by the director. They are treated straight, as two very normal people with ordinary lives, who just happen to be hearing-impaired. Alfred Hitchcock once described drama as "ordinary life with the boring bits cut out". Another great feature of this film is that much of the story consists of bits of ordinary life, yet it never becomes boring. Indeed, and this is amazing considering the domestic quality of the storytelling, the film proceeds at a cracking pace, covering about a decade in just under two hours. The couple decide to have a child, but the baby dies, and only because of their parents' deafness. After agonizing about laying blame, the couple put this tragedy behind them and have another child ... who turns out to be a ghastly little boy. And this is only the beginning of their troubles. The acting is first rate by all the major players. I particularly liked Akiko's spirited mother. But it's lead actress Hikedo Takamine who turns in a tour-de-force, with her expressive pierrot face. I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. It is simply wonderful.

Quick Counterattack (2023)

Among the steady stream of new Chinese movies opening in America, “A Beautiful Life” stands out — rather than an overstuffed, jingoistic historical tale or martial-arts blowout, it’s a contemporary romantic melodrama with a plaintive pop soundtrack that might call to mind “Terms of Endearment,” “The Other Sister” or, most strongly, a Nora Ephron comedy minus most of the laughs. (There’s also a bit of “Memento” thrown in.) It’s no great shakes, but a substantial number of American moviegoers — soft-hearted, slightly masochistic and largely abandoned by Hollywood — would like it if they found their way to it. The first hour, especially, is charming, before the balance shifts from romance to melodrama to, in the final minutes, the kind of maudlin crescendo that Asian audiences are accustomed to. The director, Andrew Lau, gives further proof of his versatility, having already shown that he can make very good gangster movies (“Infernal Affairs”) and so-so kung-fu epics (“Legend of the Fist,” which opened in the United States last month). He practices heroic restraint and delicacy, given the five main characters he’s been handed: one’s blind, one’s autistic, one’s mute, one has early-onset dementia and one’s a healthy, bitter drunk. Mr. Lau is helped by his charismatic stars, Shu Qi and Liu Ye, both of whom are very appealing within the narrow range set for them. Mr. Liu plays an upright cop who’s slowly losing his memory and leaves himself notes to remind him of his daily tasks; Ms. Shu has the Holly Golightly role as a real estate agent trying to strike it rich in Beijing so that she can support her parasitic Hong Kong family. (One not very convincing theme of the film is Beijing incorruptibility versus Hong Kong decadence.) She’s a bit forced and shrill in her drunk scenes, but otherwise she underplays adroitly and flashes some sly humor.

A homicidal case in a coastal town forces a man to go on the run. Yang Jiadong (Jing Boran) is a rookie policeman who has just arrived in town. He chances upon a case involving Tang Yujie (Zhang Songwen), the director of the construction committee who died after falling off a building. Yang Jiadong launches an investigation that gets him dismissed from service. He goes to Hong Kong to escape the men that are after his life where he meets Xiao Nuo (Sandra Ma), the daughter of the victim. As Xiao Nuo helps him unravel the truth, Yang Jiadong doesn't realize that he's fallen into a love trap.

A young woman leaves her job and lover in Japan to start a new life in Thailand.

The Making of Shogun covers every aspect of production and gathers almost all the (living) principal players for interviews. Three short historical featurette provide insight into "The Samurai," "The Tea Ceremony," and "The Geisha."

An employee has a secret love affair with her married boss.

Unemployed youth Zhou Ao and internet writer Jiang Ziwei were changed faces in an adventure and became assistants of the future intelligent high-tech robot OMG. In order to complete the task, they helped female celebrities and debtors change faces under the guidance of robots, so as to collect the life experiences of different types of face changers, and also helped them find their original intentions.