I was fortunate enough to attend the International Premiere of "Life Can Be So Wonderful" at the Miami Film Festival this year. At the premiere Director Osamu Minorikawa presented a question and answer session after the movie to explain his creative process behind the film. He described his movie as turning pages through the lives of five wandering Japanese people. It is perhaps better to address this movie as five different movies, presented in a way that was incredibly different and fresh to me--movie poetry. Each of the five movie poems followed the mundane life of a person living in Japan. The first, a nude model, is a woman who is tangled in the beauty of modeling for art, its connotations, and her desire to be a muse of art. The poem incorporated a weave of images that captured different visual aspects of her story--interview-like images of the woman talking on a couch, lush plants outside the subway station that she passed everyday, and other flashes of scenes that portrayed her thoughts. While there was an absence of plot throughout the majority of the poems, which I can only guess will irk many of those who do not appreciate the essence of poetry, the movie served a different purpose: catering to the visual and auditory senses, Osamu Minorikawa accomplished with film what Ezra Pound managed to do through words. Many of the images will remain to haunt me, others were completely temporary, but it was the sensitivity of the film that really carried it to a different level. While many will disagree with its slow unraveling beauty in a culture of instant gratification and reason, personally, I found this film to be a breath of fresh air and an astounding journey. Not eligible to be branched in the category of Academy Award dramas, the film is of a different genre. The only way to describe the five movie poems of "Life Can Be So Wonderful" would be to compare it to watching the beauty of waves on a beach-- it enables you to see the wonder in life.

13-year-old Tae Ok felt strong feelings of love when he first met his cousin at the family gathering. "12 years later, my heart started beating again." A letter arrives from Ah Ri while he is on military duty.

At school Shiori hears a rumour about someone who had a spiritual experience while playing "Creepy Hide and Seek". That day when visiting her brother, she finds no one there but a webbrowser suspiciously opened on a "creepy hide and seek" bulletin board. Together with her brother's childhood friend Shiraishi, she goes out to find her missing brother.

A pair of Chinese lovers, who can't wait to get away from their hectic city life, set off on a road-trip holiday in exotic and enthralling Malaysia. A drive through the lush setting and coastal township whets their appetite for some private time together. They unwittingly pick up a mysterious but gorgeous Korean girl who strangely backpacks alone, hitching rides from village to village. A holiday get-away for the Chinese pair slowly turns to a run for their lives as the lone beautiful hitch-hiker reveals herself to be a psychopath on a twisted vengeance...

Tenant Mr. Li of an apartment high-rise is weary of the return of his late mother's ghost. When she appears in the apartment, she haunts Li and his wife, who she blames for her death. Caught in the commotion is a crazy girl named Kwan and the apartment building's inept security guards. They are repulsed by all the paranormal activity; therefore, they seek the unlikely help of an escaped mental patient, Leon, a Professional-type wannabe who just happened to be passing by the apartment high-rise when all the ghostly events were taking place.

A pathetic minor league Soccer Goalkeeper was given a task - to spend 1 Billion in thirty days, if successful he will get 30 Billion. However, he's not allowed to tell anyone about the task and he must not own any valuables by end of it.

During the Empress Wu Zetian's reign, Detective Dee supervised the case of "Red-eyed monster" causing trouble and eliminated Prince Wu Minzhi, who tried to usurp power and seize the throne, preserving the stability of Jiangshan.

Is it worth living for three short days only? Is it sensible, to wait for something impossible for a lifetime? Can you tell if somebody's else life is worth living? This is quiet movie but it's a strong voice in defence of those who are fighting for each day lying motionless in bed. It remains us how fragile we are.