Eat Drink Man Woman - Foodie's Delight

Eat Drink Man Woman

Mandarin, English Subtitles

1994, 124 minutes

5 Stars

A "foodie" movie of pure excellence; the inspiration of Tortilla Soup. Eat Drink Man Woman is director Ang Lee's masterpiece. A delightful story of an aging widower who still has his adult daughters living at home with him and how they all find love and get on with their lives. You won't need hankies in this comedy, but you will need bibs! The food sequences are phenomenal (be sure to watch the 'extra' where Ang Lee talks about the preparation and filming of the sequences;-) This is a complex film where the stories are brought together at the end, and tied with a beautiful bow. Winner of several awards, and deserving of each and every one, this movie is a "must see" if you like comedy, food, romance! Some sexual content.

Trailer of opening scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs5WiddD7i0

Shower

Shower

Mandarin, English Subtitles

1999, 94 minutes

5 Stars

A 'feel good' movie about Da Ming who left his small, provincial town to seek his fortune in the big city, who, when he receives a postcard from his developmentally disabled brother Er Ming, returns home thinking his father was ill. Dad and Er Ming run a bathhouse where the local men come to get a bath, right crickets, and enjoy life at a leisurely pace. However, Modernization rears its ugly head, and the neighborhood is to be destroyed to make way for high-rise buildings and shopping malls. There is much humor and the acting is uniformly excellent. This is a film the whole family can enjoy (there is nudity, but not frontal or sexual). Even if you are not a fan of subtitles, these are so well done they seem to disappear. Da Ming realizes the meaning of family.

I, Robot

I, Robot

English

2004, 114 minutes

5 Stars

Rainy Day's introduction to the science fiction genre was through Isaac Asimov's books, and she loved the Robot books/stories and how Asimov would work around his three Laws of Robotics. When this movie came out, Rainy Day avoided it. How could she enjoy it, when she knew it would not do proper homage to the original? Well, last night, it was on TV--again. Rainy Day realized she couldn't remember much, if anything, about the original story, so watched the movie, and thoroughly enjoyed it! Rainy Day discovered years ago that if she knows a movie will be made from a book she wants to read, she waits until the movie is out, and she's seen it, before she reads the book, otherwise the movie is just too awful to contemplate. Rainy Day is very glad she waited to watch the movie.

click here for trailer

Little Big Soldier

Little Big Soldier

Mandarin, English Subtitles

2010, 96 minutes

5 Stars

Jackie Chan and Leehom Wang star in this movie. Chan also wrote and produced it, while Ding Sheng directed it. If any of you wonder if Jackie Chan can really act – he can! He plays a simple farmer conscripted into the army of Liang who manages to survive a horrendous battle and finds and captures the only other survivor, the young general of Wei, his enemy. Jackie is determined to return his captive to Liang, alive, for the reward of five acres of land, and some cash. A well done comedy, well acted, and well, just great fun to see Chan, the simple farmer, with his educated and somewhat condescending captive, as they struggle to stay alive; one to maintain the status quo, the other to escape and change it. Set against the background of the Warring States period.

For a trailer, click here.

A Funny Lone Wolf and Cub type Chinese Movie

New Legend of Shaolin

Cantonese, English Subtitles

1994, 94 minutes

4 Stars

Another great Jet Li kung-fu romp! If you like lots of action, not-deliberately-funny subtitles, and a rather thin story, this is the perfect movie. Pure escape. Rainy Day doesn't know why the subtitles for Chinese movies tend to be much more fun than for Japanese movies, but they are. This movie appears to be very loosely based on Chinese history when the Ching Dynasty was destroying the various Temples of Shaolin.  Some of the most enjoyable acting was from the six young boys who were quite accomplished martial artists on their own. Be sure to watch it with subtitles, much better than the dubbed version. A lot like Lone Wolf and Cub, only funny.

For a trailer, with the boys practicing their kung fu, click here.

Cheers and Tears, A Guest Review

Cheers and Tears – The Booze Cruise

English

2003, 120 minutes

1st of 3 discs

A hilarious series of television films that originally aired on Britain's ITV in 2003, Cheers & Tears follows a group of polar-opposite friends who gather for unlucky road trips, peculiar pranks and other shenanigans, with petty arguments a constant.  Plenty of British humor and interesting characters.  This is the first DVD in a set of three and covers a day trip to France to stock up on wine.  Various misfortunes befall the five men and their wives who stayed home.  There is a very funny scene when a couple of the wives decide to do a little wine tasting of their own.  The other movies in the set are the Treasure Hunt and the Scattering. And yes, I have taken that very same day trip for the same reason.

This review is by Carole, a Brit friend of Rainy Day. She love the movie, so I'm assuming it gets high ratings from her. Have you seen this movie? What did you think of it?

Have you seen a good movie lately? Please consider writing a review. Contact Rainy Day through this blog, or her email (upper right side of page)