CASCADING FILMS DOT COM

Dragon Wars is a personal movie for me. Some of you may already know that I'm Korean and that Dragon Wars too shares the same origin, so this may not come as a surprise. And let's be honest here: there's no way for me not to favor something Korean over something that isn't. Of course, oftentimes this may be so insignificant that it doesn't affect anything fundamental, but being minuscule shouldn't negate it.

I remember watching Event Horizon in the theater at the last showing. My brother and I walked to his car talking about how horrible we felt after watching the film. The next day, I think I remember telling my friends to go catch it while it's still playing in theaters. Guess we all want to share that bad, terrible, horrific feeling with the others.

One lazy Sunday morning, I walked into Hollywood Videos, looking to buy some previewed DVD titles. This was when video rental chains were still trying to figure out their value. Three movies for twenty bucks seemed reasonable, but I soon realized I had to work for it. After almost an hour of flipping through movies like Gold Digger and Frankenfish, I was lucky enough to spot some foreign films, Full Time Killer being one of them. It was going to be a blind purchase, since I didn’t know anything about the movie (the only recognizable cast was Andy Lau). Then again, these foreign films were there for a reason, handpicked by studio executives. It was going to be entertaining at worst.

Personally being only the second Thai film (first being Ong Bak) I've seen, Last Life in The Universe is an impressive film for its visual beauty, character development, and performances. Beautifully shot by the famous cinematographer, Christopher Doyle, and directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, this Thai film again shows that United States isn't the only nation that can produce well-made cinema.

I wasn't really sure what This Charming Girl (여자, 정혜) would be about except that it's about the female lead's life... having just seen this, this film is now one of my favorite films this year.