Shutter (2004)

When I was young, I used to love watching horror films even if I know that I will not be able to sleep properly for at least a week just because my mean imagination thinks that whatever I saw in the movie could happen to me too.

Now that I'm much older, I still watch scary movies every now and then but before I do, I make sure that I am not home alone. Haha!

When someone asks me about a good horror movie that he/she can watch, the first film that comes to my mind is the Thai flick called Shutter. I'll never forget the first time I saw that movie inside my parents room with my cousins. The movie was dubbed in Filipino which made it better so we can really focus on the what's going on in the screen. Ooooh... There were so many scary and shocking scenes in the movie that all of us were screaming in the room at that time.

For the benefit of those who haven't seen the movie yet, I've decided to just write down a quick summary of the movie.

SUMMARY

Shutter (Thai: ชัตเตอร์ กดติดวิญญาณ) was a Thai film back in 2004 about Tun, a young photographer, and Jane, Tun's girlfriend, who discovered mysterious images appearing in every photo that Tun takes.

It all began when Tun and Jane was on their way home one night after attending a party when all of a sudden, a girl appeared on the road out of nowhere and Jane hit her. Tun however asked Jane not to get out of the car and just drive away leaving the girl lying on the road. 

 

Days passed by with still no word about the accident in the news, the couple thought that there's nothing to worry about anymore.

However, things started to change when a strange figure/image keeps on appearing on every photo that Tun takes. Jane was convinced that it has something to do with the girl she hit in the road that night. Determined to find answers, Jane started tracing down information about the girl until she discovered the girl's link to Tun's past.

What happened to the girl that Jane hit that night? How is the girl related to Tun? What are those strange figures showing up in Tun's photos?

Unravel the answers by watching this Thai horror flick!

QUICK FACTS

Remakes of this movie has been made in different parts of the world such as in the US (2008) with the same English title. In India, several remakes were made like Click (2010) in Hindi and Sivi (2007) in Tamil and Photo (2007) in Telugu.

MY TAKE

This has to be the BEST horror movie that I have seen as of this writing. I mean if you are looking for something that will make you crap in your pants and keep your lights on at night, then this is the film that you may want to consider. Just make sure that you watch this original 2004 Thai version and not the remakes.

The reason why I like this movie so much when talking about the horror genre is because of the simplicity of the concept of the story yet the way the story developed and progressed was delivered in a way that will make viewers hold their breath, scream like they were in the film, shudder at the thought of the kind of ghost in the movie and debate with theirselves as to whether they should keep the light on that night after watching the movie or not.

Okay, I know, it may sound as if I'm exaggerating things but that's just how sold I am to this film.

Anyways, I hope you have a great weekend everybody!

Way Back Home (2011)

A Filipino light drama back in 2011, Way Back Home was a movie I clearly remember watching in our New Delhi home during the Christmas season. And boy did it make me feel homesick so bad.

Movie Poster

SUMMARY

The film was about two sisters, Jessica Santiago and Anna Bartolome, who were separated from each other when they were still young due to an accident while their family was vacationing at a resort.

12 years after the incident, both girls met again at a swimming competition and later found out that they were sisters.

Will Anna join her real family again? Will Jessica and Anna find a way to reconnect with each other? Find out the answers by watching this film that tackles about family, forgiveness, acceptance and love.

Photo credits to abscbnpr.com

QUICK FACTS

Julia Montes and Kathryn Bernardo who played Jessica and Anna respectively rose to fame for their portrayals in the remake of Mara Clara.

AJ Perez was the original love team partner of Montes in the movie but due to his untimely death, he was later replaced by Sam Concepcion.

MY TAKE

The issues tackled in the movie were the things that made me like the film. From sibling rivalry to losing a child and even experiencing young love, they are real issues that people can definitely relate to.

Since this was the first time I saw Kathryn and Julia act side by side, I was pleased to see them do justice on their respective roles that I shed a tear or two at some of their scenes.

If you are looking for some family themed film to watch this weekend, you may want to consider watching this. Just make sure you ready some tissues with you since there are some scenes that will definitely tug your heart strings.

So Close (2002)

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"Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near. Just like me, they long to be close to you."

If you have seen this movie, you probably heard those famous lines from The Carpenter's song entitled "Close To You" in the film.

So Close (Chinese: Chik Yeung Tin Si  / 夕阳天使) is a Hong Kong action (with a little bit of drama) movie back in 2002 about two assassin sisters named Lynn and Sue.

Movie Poster

SPOILER ALERT!

The film began with Lynn infiltrating a building to kill a powerful businessman named Chow Lui. With the help of her younger sister Sue and their late father's secret high tech satellite, Lynn successfully killed their target. It turns out that the sisters were actually hired assassins and that it was Chow Lui's younger brother, Chow Nun, who paid them to put his brother down so he could reign and take control of their family business.

Photo Credits to SonyMovieChannel.com

After successfully fulfilling their mission, an investigation was started and Hong Yat Hung, a police inspector was assigned to complete the task. And to make matters more complicated, Chow Nun has decided to put the assassins down to make sure that no one will point him as the traitor who had his brother killed.

In the mean time, Sue thinks that Lynn sees her as a weakling that is why she is secretly wishing that Lynn would let her do the dirty work in the future instead of getting stuck at home doing all the computer job to prove to her that she is also capable of what her older sister can do.

Until one day, while Sue was out buying a cake, she was cornered by Kong Yat Hung and called Lynn, who was at home that time, to help her get out of the situation. While Lynn was helping Sue, Chow Nung's people broke into their house, killed Lynn and framed Hong Yat Hung for the death of her sister.

Vowing to avenge her sister's death, Sue struck a deal with Hong Yat Hung wherein they will help each other kill Chow Nun and clear the police inspector's name.

Photo Credits to SonyMovieChannel.com

QUICK FACTS 

• The English title of the movie was derived from the song "Close To You" by The Carpenters which played a pretty big role in the film.

• The sisters Lynn and Sue were played by Qi Shu and Vicki Zhao respectively while Karen Mok bagged the role of police inspector Hong Yat Hong.

MY TAKE

I remember seeing this movie sometime back in 2002 or 2003. At that time, I did not expect anything from the movie since I was completely unaware of what the story was all about. All I knew that time is that I wanna watch it because I've been hearing about it from others and that it's an Asian movie and Asian movies are awesome. So at the end of the movie, I could say that I really enjoyed it and thought that the story was quite unique because it's not every day that we have badass chicks as main characters that kick butts and are not damsels in distress. Talk about girl power! Also, I guess another reason why I liked the movie is because even if I am not really a big fan of action movies the fight scenes in this film were so well choreographed that I enjoyed watching every bit of them. That sword fight in the end was epic! Oh! And I even secretly wished that I am as badass as any of the main chick characters but minus their complicated lives. Hihihi! Lastly, the little drama scene where Sue was burying the camcorder with a still of Lynn in the screen and then decided to dig it up again as she discovered that Lynn recorded an apology video for Sue was convincing that it pulled some of my heart strings that I shed a tear or two.

So have you seen this movie? If yes, what's your take on it? And if not, try watching it and let me know wachuthink about it!

Til next time!

My Sassy Girl (2001)

I still remember very well the time when I first got swept away by the Korean wave back in 2002. Movies and tv series are not that accessible yet via online so people like me rely on hardworking fans that find a way to spread the word about the best films, tv dramas and albums at the moment.

It was a friend who strongly suggested that I watch this Korean movie My Sassy Girl. After some time, I gave in and the rest as they say, is history.

Since that's the first ever K-movie that I have seen, I think it is also fitting to make it as the first film that I am going to talk about and share with you.

SPOILER ALERT!

My Sassy Girl (Korean: 엽기적인 그녀) is a hugely popular Korean Romantic Comedy (RomCom) film shown in 2001. Its fame became so great that word of mouth crossed the shores and made it to different parts of the planet.

Movie Poster

The story revolved around two characters, "Sassy Girl" (SG) and "Gyeon Woo" (GW). GW is an engineering student who is unlucky when it comes to his love life. One day, while eating out with friends, his mother phoned him and asked him to visit his aunt for a potential date. Dismissing the idea, GW finished the call and went on eating with his friends. On his way home, GW met the drunk SG for the first time at a train station. She mistaken GW as her boyfriend and that's how their story began. The silly and kindhearted MG tried to stay away from SG but it seemed like he couldn't leave her even after the train station incident so he finds himself meeting SG in places where she wants him to show up and do things that SG asks him to do.

SG and GW playing while on the train.

As the story went on, it turns out that SG lost her boyfriend one year ago when she and GW met at the train station for the first time hence her drunkardness. Finally knowing SG's pain and loneliness, GW decided to never leaver her side. However, it was SG who decided that it's time for them to part ways since she is unsure of what her feelings might be and if she is ready to fall in love again.

GW and SG going to the club.

Before parting ways, the two wrote down letters for each other and bury them in a time capsule agreeing to meet again after two years in the same spot (under a tree in the mountains) so they could read the letters together.

Two years have passed, GW and SG showed up at the meeting place but did not meet each other because they came at a different date. During SG's visit, an old man was sitting under the tree and told her that the tree has a secret. He later revealed that the tree she is seeing at the time is not the same tree that she saw when they buried the time capsule a couple of years ago. A lighting struck and killed the tree a year before that time and a young man planted a similar looking tree on the same spot to make sure that his special someone will still find the right spot and won't feel sad.

After 2 years, GW waited for SG at their meeting spot but she never came.

Upon hearing what GW has done, SG knew that it was time to get in touch with GW but she couldn't find a way to connect with him again.

A year has passed since the supposed to be meeting under the tree, GW has finally agreed to meet his aunt for lunch and meet the lady his aunt wants him to see. When his aunt finally introduced the lady, it turned out to be SG and the pair smiled at each other like there's no tomorrow.

QUICK FACTS

• This movie is based on real life blog posts written by Kim Ho Sik.
• The main casts consist of Jun Ji-Hyun as Sassy Girl and Cha Tae-Hyun as Gyun Woo.
• The name of the girl in the story was never revealed.
• Its huge popularity resulted to several remakes done by countries such as Japan, China, India and USA.

MY TAKE

First of all, let me just tell you that I am a sucker for RomComs. Now, having said that, I bet you will know what I will say next. Yes, I did enjoy this movie very much not only because of the funny and cheesy scenes but more importantly because of the uniqueness of the story. I mean, yes, there are many movies that tackled the role of destiny or fate or the universe conspiring or whatever you wanna call it when it comes to two people who are meant to be together but the way the story unfolded in this movie was just too good.

If you want to just relax, be greatly entertained and feel all mushy and corny, this movie is something that you may want to consider watching. It's even better if you watch it with your special someone so you could also reminisce the crazy and fun times you've had so far while you watch SG and GW fall in love with each other.

Til next time!

Welcome to My Asian Movies Diary!

Hello there! My name is Ankamil and I like watching movies, tv series, telenovelas and basically whatever is on the tv or in the big screen. And because of that, I've decided to create a blog that will allow me to share the movies I've seen so far. Since movies and tv series are a plenty, I just went ahead and focus on my most favorite of all and that is Asian movies. Asian movies are so vibrant, colorful and very refreshing since each Asian country has its own flair that exudes in its movies.

Below is a simple guide that I have created to those who are interested to join me with my Asian movies escapade.

Diary Content

First of all, I would like to tell everyone right now that I created this blog to share the movies that I've seen and whatever else I write aside from the movie's plot is just my opinion. I am not a professional movie critic or whatever people call those individuals who meticulously dissect every part of the movie to later on declare whether that movie is a hit or a miss. I will definitely talk about what I think are the good and bad points of the movie and if it was worth my time or not but they will all be just parts of my point of view. I will still leave it all up to my readers whether they would like to watch that movie or otherwise.

Spoilers

Since I will be talking about the good and bad points of the movie (in my opinion), spoilers will definitely pop up during those times. But don't worry. I will put a reminder or a spoiler alert shout out for the readers who haven't seen the movie yet so that it'll be up to them if they still want to continue reading or close the window right away.

Movie Genres

Now, when it comes to movie genres, I'm the usual chick who digs RomCom or Romantic Comedy flicks. However, don't be alarmed because I do watch non-RomCom films. In fact, I'm open to all kinds of movie genres as long as the story or even just the title has captured my interest.

Up to Date Movies

The Asian movies that I will be blogging about could be the latest film showing in cinemas now or it can also be something that has been shown years ago. Don't worry. I'll include the date on the blog title for reference.

Country of Origin

Most of the movies I am going to talk about will most likely come from countries such as Philippines (where I am from), South Korea (my dream destination), India (where my husband is from and where we are currently staying) and Thailand. However, it does not mean that I will not be posting movies from other Asian countries. I will do my best to watch at least one movie from every Asian country there is. How about that?

Suggestions

I am definitely open to movie suggestions so go ahead, drop me a comment and let me know if there is one film that I shouldn't miss and I'll definitely include that on my popcorn bucket list.

Up next is a 2001 Asian movie that I've seen and enjoyed so much back in 2003. It became so famous all around the globe that they did an American remake in 2008. Do you know which movie it is? Find out soon!