“Departures” (おくりびと, Okuribito) is a multiple award winning Japanese movie and winner of the best foreign language film at the 2009 Oscars.
Directed by Yojiro Takita and starring Masahiro Motoki, the movie follows the story of a nokanshi whose job is to prepare the death for encoffinment. Other main leads include Ryoko Hirosue and Tsutomu Yamazaki etc.
“Getting Home” (落叶归根; Luo Ye Gui Gen) is an award winning Chinese black comedy directed by Zhang Yang and starred veteran comedian Zhao Benshan.
“The Warlords” (投名状; Tau Ming Chong) is a 2007 Chinese movie, directed by Peter Chan and starred Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Xu Jinglei. The movie was the biggest winner of Hong Kong Film Awards in April 2008, capturing the best movie, best director and best actor awards etc.
“The Chaser” (추격자; Chugyeogja) is a Korean movie which won multiple awards at the Daejong Film Festival in 2008. I watched the movie shortly after the film fest, and I think their wins are quite justified… it’s simply a great movie.
“Attention Please” is a 2006 Japanese drama, adapted from the same title manga about the training of flight attendants for Japan Airlines.
The drama starred Aya Ueto, Ryo Nishikido, Saki Aibu, Miki Maya, Misa Uehara, Chihiro Otsuka, Kotaro Koizumi and Fumiyo Kohinata etc.
“On Air” (온에어) is a Korean drama about TV drama production… behind the scenes, the challenges, struggles, teamwork, scandals and relationships.
The drama is directed by Shin Woo-chul and written by Kim Eun-suk, the team behind popular dramas “Lovers in Paris” and “Lovers in Prague” etc. Leading the cast are Lee Beom-soo, Kim Ha-neul, Park Yong-ha and Song Yun-ah.
Sinking of Japan (日本沈没; Nihon Chinbotsu) was a a 2006 remake of 1973 film Japan Sinks, based on a fictional novel by Sakyo Komatsu. The new movie was directed by Shinji Higuchi and starred Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Kou Shibasaki etc.
The story is about Japan sinking into the sea due to tectonic plates’ motions… and time is running out for the Japanese as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis began to devour the soil.
