Laosungdao

Kengo Kaji, who wrote Tokyo Gore Police, both wrote the story for and directed this new gore-fest from Japan. Yoshihiro Nishimura handled the make-up effects, as he did for Tokyo Gore Police. So if you loved Tokyo Gore Police - which I really did - you'll probably like Samurai Princess. It's a sci-fi kind of thing that's set in an alternative Japan. The Samurai Princess is the sole survivor of a group of young women who are raped and murdered. She becomes an android to avenge their deaths. There's also a white haired Buddhist nun, with lovely white eyelashes and white fingernail polish(?!), who shows up from time to time. The story may not make much sense, but who really cares? It's a fun and hilarious splatter-fest of gore. Not quite up to the level of Tokyo Gore Police, which had a much better story-line, but still quite enjoyable. Some upper frontal female nudity, but not a lot.

This is a light-hearted cop comedy about a young female policewoman who reluctantly goes undercover in a high school. Her assignment is to get close to the daughter of the second in command of the "Whacker", the biggest crime syndicate in Seoul. Actress Seon-a Kim is wonderful as Detective Chun Jae-in. She has the kind of plastic face and flexible body that can perfectly convey comedy in a physical way, a useful asset in a foreign language film where words and phrases often don't translate well. It's interesting to note that she is roughly ten years older than Sang-mi Nam, the actress who plays Seung-hee, the daughter of the crime boss. Sang-mi Nam was about 21 years old when the film was made, yet Seon-a Kim is totally believable as her peer. The film is a bit weak in the occasional action set pieces, and a lovely female gang member is woefully underutilized. Still, the movie, whose English title is "She's On Duty", is charming, delightful, and quite amusing. The DVD, which I picked up in New York City's Chinatown, looks great and has some decent extras: a still photo gallery, a music video, and an enjoyable video of the photo shoot for the film's posters and box art.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is one of the most recent of a number of cinema treats that I regard as perfect. Sure, one could change a word here, or trim a second or two from a scene there, but to what purpose? There's just no way I can imagine substantively improving this masterpiece. Great story, great actors (male and female), and magnificent action sequences. And scenes don't come along very often that are as touching as the final one with Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh. See it on a big screen if you haven't already. See it again on a big screen if you have. Then watch the fine DVD release from Sony. My only suggestion there is to stick with the subtitled version; the dubbed audio track just doesn't work at all, in my opinion. Thank you Ang Lee and all others involved.