You are currently browsing all entries tagged with 'Ringu'

10 J-Horror Essentials

  • September 21, 2011 1:46 pm

To continue my reputation as a Japanphile, I am going to show you my 10 favorite J-horror movies. I was in love with Japan by age 6, and my mom was rather annoyed and kept telling me, “Don’t ever say you love Japan in front of your grandparents. They went through the Japanese occupation and your grandmother was almost raped!”

“But I love Japan,” I insisted. My mom would raise her hand to slap me.

Well, years later I still love Japan, especially the last wave of genre changing horror films from the Asian country that refuses to be Asian.

• Ju-on & Ju-on 2 (The Grudge I & II, Japanese Theatrical Versions)

Takashi Shimisu’s Ju-on and Ju-on 2 are truly brilliant movies that have changed the discourse and structure of modern horror films. They are elegant postmodern and fragmented narratives that only make sense until you finish the entire movies. Imagine a Wong Kar Wai film that is continuously compelling and scary.  Read more...

5 Things Asians Should Avoid According to the Movies

  • July 18, 2011 12:01 am

I know that when many of our readers think of Asians in film, they usually think of negative stereotypes and a general lack of representation. But the movies have also taught us valuable lessons about how to best live our lives. And one way they’ve done this is by showing us what we should steer clear of. So here, according to the movies, are five of the things all Asians should avoid:

1) BEFRIENDING WHITE PEOPLE

Fu Manchu puts his trust in his British colleagues and what happens? They betray him during the Boxer Rebellion leading to the death of his family, which, in turn, leads him to vow to destroy the white race. Ken Watanabe decides to take pity on poor Tom Cruise and schools him in the ways of the Samurai and what happens? Watanabe ends up dead on the battlefield while Cruise gets to bang his hot sister and live happily ever after. Even my fellow Offender Sung taught young Lucas Black how to drift and received thanks in the form of a fiery automobile death robbing him of the chance to appear in the subsequent and lucrative Fast sequels.

The lesson here is don’t befriend and do nice things for white people ‘cause it will lead to death and destruction. So…wait…what? I’m being told that Sung does appear in the subsequent and lucrative Fast sequels. Really? But…but…he’s dead! Yo Justin, what up?

 Read more...

Five Movies Asian Chicks Should Not Take White Guys To See

  • March 11, 2010 3:16 pm

I recently blogged about the films my Asian American brothas should never watch with a white woman they want to mack. Well, I’m all about the equal opportunity and I know there are some Asian American sistas reading this who also have a craving for the white meat. So if that’s you, here are five flicks you should never watch with your white dude if you want to keep him from bolting out your door.

RINGU (1998)

The one that started it all–this is the original Japanese horror film about a girl who seeks vengeance from beyond the grave via a cursed videotape. This is a chick who gets conked in the head and thrown down a deep well–after which the well is tightly sealed. Yet, she still manages to somehow climb out of your TV to fuck you up good. There are people who already think Asian chicks especially Koreans are crazy (not me of course), so do you really want your white man to worry that you’re going to track him down and fuck him up good if he does anything to slight or upset you? Do you want him to think this will happen to him (and yes, that is Hiroyuki Sanada from Lost):  Read more...

1,001 Reasons I Love Movies: (#4) Asian Horror Films

  • October 26, 2009 10:13 pm

a_tale_of_two_sisters_movie_posterAnother entry in my month-long celebration of all things Halloween

I’ve written previously about my love for horror flicks. I grew up on them and my childhood is filled with many pleasant memories of sitting in front of the TV and watching everything from the old Universal monster movies (the classics—Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman) to things like Poltergeist which seriously fucked me up. But I have a special place in my heart for the ones from Asia.

It’s not necessarily because I’m Asian (though that may play a small part in it), but I think it has more to do with the fact that a lot of these genre works from Asia are truly bizarre and have a very distinct sensibility that I can only describe as…different.  Read more...