Alive (2002)

Starring:
Hideo Sakaki - TenshuYashiro
Ryô - Yurika Saegusa
Koyuki - Asuka Saegusa
Shun Sugata - Matsuda
Erika Oda - Misako Hara
Tak Sakaguchi - Zeros
Jun Kunimura - Kojima

Based on a popular Manga by Tsutomu Takahashi ("Sky High"), "Alive" combines the tension of Vincenzo Natali's "Cube" and Kitamura's own "Versus". For the brutal murder of his girlfriend's rapists, Tenshu is sentenced to die in the electric chair. Resigned to his fate and unmoved by his actions, he survives the lethal high voltage punishment. He is then given the choice to burn again, or take part in a vicious experiment pitting him against another prisoner and a mysterious alien life force. Here is where the true punishment begins.

OMG! This movie was totally kick butt. Not what I expected. I was expecting some serious gross out, so that delayed my viewing pleasure.

I will admit the movie is terribly slow. So how come I think the movie rocked? I can't explain it. It was wicked. It sort of reminded me, visually, of Miike Takashi's Big Bang Love, Juvenile A. It was dark. The colors were black, grey, smokey, some white and red and that was it.

A few flashbacks of Tenshu's life as to why he was sent to prison for murder. I got a little confused because they said he killed his girlfriend but yet I got the impression she killed herself. Not sure about that part but the rest of the story was ironically stunning.

You will, at first, feel sorry for Tenshu but the feeling never goes a way. The story won't let you. You catch yourself routing for Tenshu.........

The end had some nice sequenced action scenes with an ending that leaves you blinking.........

Sakaki Hideo

Red Cliff (赤壁 -2008)

Starring:
Tony Leung Chiu Wai - Zhou Yu
Takeshi Kaneshiro - Zhuge Liang
Chen Chang - Sun Quan
Wei Zhao - Sun Shangxiang
Koyuki
Shido Nakamura - Gan Ning
Fengyi Zhang - Cao Cao
Jun Hu - Zhao Yun
Chiling Lin - Xiao Qiao
Yong You - Liu Bei
Dawei Tong - Sun Shucai
Jia Song - Li Ji
Yong Hou - Lu Su
Chun Sun
Qingxiang Wang - Kong Rong
Jiang Tong - Li Tong

It's A.D. 208 China. Rival states Shu and Wu join hands against their common enemy, the evil and ambitious General Cao Cao of the Wei kingdom, but are seriously outnumbered by his million-strong army. But with the charismatic leadership of Gen. Zhou Yu (Tony Leung), the perfect strategy of scholar Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), and the support of emperor Sun Quan (Chen Chang), they manage to declare a small victory. While Cao Cao scoffs at this as no big deal, it adds fuel to his fury.



Wow! Stunning art work from master director John Woo. Totally spectacular.

I've been reading and reading and evidently this is an all-time grossing film and most money ever spent on a Chinese masterpiece. Yeah, masterpiece. I said it. Chinese and masterpiece usually doesn't spill out of my lips. So you'll probably won't hear me say it again.

From the beginning till the end....end would be figuratively because this movie isn't over. Yeah, a number two is coming out. How do I know? Because at the end....it says "To Be Continued." Duh! That my friend really pissed me off because I want to see the end....NOW!!!! Why should I have to wait any longer for this?

I was pleasantly shocked to see Nakamura Shido in this. First, he's Japanese and I didn't know he could speak Chinese. Woooooah Nelly! Yeah, yeah. I know that don't mean nothin' cuz Takeshi-kun speaks it fluently too. But then, he's half Taiwanese, so he's got the handicap, ya know?

Back to the movie......It was visually stunning. The action was abundant. The acting was expectedly top notch. The only gripe other than the ending is that Takeshi-kun had not one fighting scene. Okay, he's a scholar/strategist in the movie but that shouldn't stop him from kickin' ass. So maybe Part Two he'll get that chance. Oh yeah, another thing that bugged me....this was supposed to be A.D. 208. It seemed like this era could have been more along the lines of somewhere along the lines of 1300-1500's. I'm no historian so I could be absolutely wrong.....ehh.

Other than that this movie is really worth sitting down, eating popcorn, and chillin'. Definitely a really good movie.

Searchin' For My Polestar (天体観測 （てんたいかんそく）,Tentai Kansoku -2002)

Starring:
Ito Hideaki as Sayama Kyouichi
Sakaguchi Kenji as Kawamura Tomoya
Odagiri Joe as Kisaki Takeshi
Koyuki as Sawamura Mifuyu
Tabata Tomoko as Miyabe/Yamase Satomi
Konishi Manami as Ida Yuri
Yamazaki Shigenori as Yamazaki Kenta
Hasegawa Kyoko as Arisaka Nanae
Uehara Misa as Matsumoto Arisu
Matsushige Yutaka as Matsubara
Otani Naoko as Mama Terumi
Tanaka Tetsushi as Yamase, Satomi's husband
Jinbo Satoshi as Section Chief Yoshida
Koike Teppei
Asami Reina
Yasui Kenichiro
Asano Kazuyuki
Yashima Norito
Akimoto Naomi
Okada Megumi
Ogi Shigemitsu

The main characters of "Searchin' for My Polestar" are 7 friends that met at college while in the astronomic observation club "Sagittarius." Being in the club was just an excuse for them to go to the beach in summer, and skiing in winter. Actually, the only time they ever observed any stars was at summer camp during their senior year.

Dreaming of a bright future, the seven exchange vows for eternal friendship. However, over the next several years, their busy schedules cause them to begin drifting apart.

It's been 3 years since that summer when they laughed together gazing at the stars. Will their friendship continue to drift farther and farther apart? Or will they manage to strengthen their friendship again? --Fuji TV

Okay, okay. I'm totally balling like a baby. Episodes 8-12....killer! I was not expecting this drama to catch me, hook, line and sinker. First of all, I started watching this because of my Joe-san. He's so kawaii! Well, I have to be upset with the wardrobe department....why do they dress him off like he is a hustler from the 70's? Drives me CRAZY!

This was an awesome drama. Actually, I really think the Japanese drama, Friends, is a knock-off of this drama. Okay, there is no wife beater in this drama but the husband of one of the main characters is distant and treats her like a servant. Totally a jerk. Then you have the friends all go through some rough patch in their lives and someone always trying to fix the others problems. Then the interlove triangle/quadrangle that never really was a love thing in the first place. That was totally confusing.

The end...well, suffice it to say.....just tore me to shreds. I'm still in tears. It was wonderful. My only beef was the very, very, very, very last scene.....when the main three characters walked in different directions. That just tore me up because they are ALL best friends....they should all be together to the very end. At that point, I wanted a best friend like all seven of them were. I want that sort of relationship. Something that is not gender bound and that special person in the group would always be there for me. *Okay the tears are really flowing again. My throat hurts from holding back the sobs. And the snot won't stop running out of my nose.......*

God, I really LOVED this drama.

Ito Hideaki


Koike Teppei

Ummmm? He has abs....OMG!!! Too bad he's too young for my taste......So I know some other girls will likey this pic. LOL!

Antique (アンティーク-2001)

Starring:
Takizawa Hideaki as Kanda Eiji
Shiina Kippei as Tachibana Keichiro
Fujiki Naohito as Ono Yusuke
Koyuki as Izuka Momoko
Abe Hiroshi as Kobayakawa Chikage
Enari Kazuki as Yoshinaga Shota
Nishino Taeko (西野妙子) as Uchino Akane
Tsuji Kazunaga (辻萬長) as Munakata Katsuo
Manabe Kaori as Shimazaki Tamami
Muta Teizo (牟田悌三) as Kanda Genichi
Yachigusa Kaoru as Shirai Fukiko
Ikuta Etsuko (生田悦子) as Tachibana Hiroko
Kimura Midori (木村翠) as Shirai Eiko
Kobayashi Susumu as Noma Atsushi
Nonaka Isao as Kisha Saeki
Aoki Tadahiro (青木忠宏) as Muto Tadahiro
Konishi Manami as Nakano Itsuko
Nagatsuka Keiji (長塚圭史) as Onizuka Toru
Imai Eri as Namiko (Toru's girlfriend)
Nakagoshi Noriko as Makino Junko
Shiraki Makiko (白木美貴子) as Obayashi Yukiko
Oshima Yuko (大島優子) as Obayashi Kayoko
Sudo Risa as Toyama Midori
Murano Mia as Takeuchi Hideko
Masu Takeshi as Ono Keisuke
Hosokawa Naomi as Ono Reiko
Suzuki Sawa as Morooka Mieko
Nishiyama Mayuko
Uematsu Mami


This story is about four men who work in a confectionary. Tachibana Keiichiro (Shiina Kippei) is the owner; Ono Yusuke (Fujiki Naohito) is the superb baker that has a mysterious and mesmerizing aura; Kobayakawa Chikage (Abe Hiroshi) is the waiter and close bodyguard of Tachibana; and last but not least is Kanda Eiji (Takizawa Hideaki), the ex-boxer who loves cake so much that he becomes a waiter at 'Antique'. This is a refreshing, yet heartfelt comedy about the 4 very unique personalities that work until the wee hours of the night at the small confectionary. The series follows the romance, family life, and most importantly friendship that these 4 men from different generations experience.

This is a confectionary with a "flavor" not like most. Located in the middle of an ordinary residential area, "Antique" stays open until 2 a.m. Every single thing in the shop is antique, in fact even the sherry glasses that water comes in look like they would cost 50,000 yen. On top of this, all the sweets that are sold are unbelievably delicious. The thing that is most peculiar about "Antique" though is that all 4 of the men that work here are very handsome, and each has an interesting past. Those that frequent the store also have a story to tell.
Edited Excerpt from JDorama.com

Okay, I loved, loved, loved this drama. Maybe it's the older dramas, I don't know, but they seem to keep my interest much longer. Maybe the stories aren't rehabilitated or reconditioned into another story. Again, I don't know.

My only upset with this movie, was with the subtitles. I wish SARS or another top notch Japanese subber could redo this. The only episodes I could find online were Chinese subtitled and then resubbed into English. Well, the person or persons who subbed them totally screwed up. I hate having to translate someones latent scope of the English language. (Example....past tense, future tense, present tense) It took me forever to figure out this person's usage for "milk oil" was really "cream". Eeergh. So here I sat for almost 2 days having to translate English to where I could undertand what the cast might be saying. I got through.

Anyway, this might seem a little boring to some. I thought it was sweet. I have to say that Ono was freaking GORGEOUS! That beautiful face! Aaaagh! *dreaming* Those bedroom eyes simply melted my soul. The one scene with he and Kanda, showing Shota-kun how to kiss a girl, was so freakin' amazing. I have to say I felt my heart quicken. It was sooooo sexy! Even if it was between two guys....well, those of you have read my blog know I'm fascinated with "yaoi". HEHE!

Give this one a go. If you can handle the subtitles, and let me tell you, you won't find any better subs because I've checked everywhere.......watch it!

Fujiki Naohito