I'll admit that I have a biased perception to art house director Zhang Yimou's movies. After all, his movies were my first true inspiration to explore Asian movies in general and in many ways, taught me to be very picky of Hollywood films, as horrible as many of them are. So without further ado, I found Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles to be fantastically inspirational. In a time when Japan/China diplomatic ties have been greatly deteriorating (At least that's how the US newspapers are reporting it), its refreshing to see a movie about cross cultural understanding and learning. Yes, I know its fish out of the water and the plot has been used before. But its a basic concept that many of us still haven't seemed to learn (And believe me, I'm still learning). With an added Zhang Yimou touch of character development and a wonderful location backdrop, the result is another Zhang Yimou masterpiece. The casting is also great, especially the main Japanese character undergoing his journey to China to understand his son's passion, only to find so much more. I do hope that more movies like this are made in future. If you enjoyed this movie, check out Yimou's other films.
Drunken Master 2 (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure As if not all Asian film fans already know, this movie is one of Jackie Chan's best films ever (with the exception of the cut US version). It has an easy to follow plot, humor that doesn't feel forced, and some of the best action scenes ever (again, with the exception of the US version). If you have been put off by Jackie Chan's other movies, than see this one.
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