Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

Title: Kung Fu Hustle (2004) (R)

Starring: Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen, Qiu Yuen
Director: Stephen Chow
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Action, Fantasy
Rotten Tomatoes: Critic: 90%, Audience: 85%
IMDB: 7.7/10
Language: Cantonese
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes


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Recommended
Subtitled
Available on Crackle.
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I feel like this movie is a little underrated. The people who have heard of it love it, and most other people simply haven't heard of it. It wasn't exactly a blockbuster, but it is an extremely charming movie.

This movie centers on the character Sing (played by Stephen Chow) who tries to act tougher than he really is. He wants so badly to join the "axe gang", but he is generally incapable of doing anything without screwing up. Add into this his friend Bone (played by Chi Chung Lam) who is completely incapable of any intelligent thought, and you have a pair constantly overshadowed by despair.

This movie is hilarious. It is very slapstick type of humor, and there are plenty of parts where I would be laughing uncontrollably. I wouldn't really call this a.. realistic movie.. as it does have fantasy elements (especially in fight scenes), but it is a great movie to watch nonetheless.

The action is decent, the humor of the movie adds a nice twist to the fight scenes, and all in all the movie is incredibly enjoyable to watch. There are of course versions of this movie available with dubbed English, but I am personally not a fan of watching dubbed movies. So if you have the opportunity I would recommend watching it in Cantonese with English subtitles.

As of this post I don't believe this movie was available for streaming on Netflix or Amazon Instant Video, but if it is available for purchase from your various streaming providers. This is definitely worth checking out, especially if you like a little kung fu action. This is definitely a stylized kung fu movie, but it is sure to leave your sides most assuredly split from laughter.

This movie is available on Crackle for free streaming.

Adrift in Tokyo (2007)

Title: Adrift in Tokyo (2007) (NR)

Starring:  Jô Odagiri, Tomokazu Miura, Kyôko Koizumi
Director:  Satoshi Miki

Genre: Comedy
Rotten Tomatoes: Critic: No Ratings, Audience: 87%
IMDB: 7.3/10
Language: Japanese
Runtime: 1 Hour 41 Minutes



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Subtitled
Recommended
Available on Netflix
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Here's another random one for you. This is another example of random gems on Netflix. I do have a certain affinity for foreign movies, and Japanese movies in particular I enjoy. That being said many of the Japanese movies available on Netflix fall under two categories: horror and anime. I'm not a huge fan of horror, so you probably won't seem too many of those reviewed here, but this movie is just a good old comedy.

The basic premise of this movie circles around a college student who is down on his luck. He has no friends or family and spends his time alone. To make matters worse he ends up in debt. In the very first scene of the movie, we see this debt collector aggressively try to get payments out of our main character.

So.. this is like a gangster movie? No, far from. Yes, there is the rough debt collector person who definitely acts kind of gangster.. but the plot quickly delineates from this. The debt collector Fukuhara makes our main character, Fumiya Takemura a deal to settle his debt. In order to settle his debt, all Fumiya has to do is go for a walk with Fukuhara.

Wait.. a walk that's it? That's it. As long as he goes for a walk through Tokyo, he will clear the debt. Now, the reason behind this walk becomes evident as the movie progresses, and I don't want to spoil the movie by providing further details on that.

Fumiya agrees to the deal and they head out on their walk together. This is where the hilarity ensues, and Fukuhara ends up going to visit many past acquaintances. As the walk occurs there is a lot of philosophical type banter that goes on between the two, and ultimately the movie sheds an interesting light on the nature of life and human interactions.

This was kind of a pleasant surprise of a movie for me, and I wasn't sure that I was going to like it. However, it did very well, is paced well, and has plenty of comedy injected throughout. Certainly worth a watching if you are looking for something different.

Enjoy!

Castaway on the Moon (2009)

Title: Castaway on the Moon (2009) (NR)

Starring:   Min-heui Hong, So-yeon Jang and Jae-yeong Jeong
Director: Hey-jun Lee
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rotten Tomatoes: Critic: No Ratings, Audience: 80%
IMDB: 8.1/10
Language: Korean 
Runtime: 1 Hour 56 Minutes



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Subtitled
Recommended
Available on Netflix
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Wow, here's a nice random one for you. This is the type of movie that I come across from randomly browsing Netflix's library. The premise of this movie is something that I haven't seen before and because the movie is so hilarious it just adds to that.

So here's a basic plot outline, this guy is depressed over debts and his life just generally being crappy. So he decides to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. (Wow.. getting heavy and sad.. I thought this was a comedy?) Well, hold on hold on. So he jumps from the bridge, but he doesn't end up dying. (Oh.. one of those.) He ends up on a little island in between the shores of the city.

Okay.. so why doesn't he just swim back? Well, that's the tricky part, apparently he cannot swim or has a fear of swimming. Since the water is too deep to walk across, he is effectively stuck on this island with no way of getting off the island. We see his feeble attempts to try to signal people and so on to no avail. Then the movie kind starts reminding me of Castaway ala Tom Hanks. He starts making the island his home and becomes really effective at living on this little island.

Okay, so the whole movie is like Castaway? Well, no the movie adds another nice angle. So the romance part comes from this girl who is kind of a shut in. Read like a Hikikomori who spots this guy trapped on the island from her window (she uses a telescope to look at people). Throughout the movie we see her attempts to break her own isolation because she becomes interested in this strange fellow living on this little island in the middle of a waterway. The basic feeling I get is people trying to break free from their own comfort zones of isolation.

The movie overall is very funny. It gets a little emotional (tear jerky) hear and there, and is a fun movie to watch. This is what I would call one of those hidden gems on Netflix, so be sure to check it out if you think you'll like it. Enjoy!