“Modus Anomali” (2012) – Indonesian Suspense / Horror

Whoo-hoo!! This wee lady has scored herself a nifty new copy of Indonesian filmmaker Joko Anwar’s  latest effort, 2012′s suspense/ chiller “Modus Anomali”!! Now your Favorite Catgirl’s been a fan of Mr. Anwar’s work for several years now, and once word came out waaaay back in 2011, that his latest film was going to be done completely in English language…. well… naturally I began my dogged pursuit of a copy of any DVD release available without further adieu. Three years later… and it’s mine. Obsessed? Nawwww… I prefer to think of myself as a dedicated fangirl…

The synopsis for it goes like this: “A man, without memory, awakens buried in a shallow grave alone in the forest with no idea of how he got there. Soon he comes to suspect that not only has an eerie inexplicable fate overcome him, but also a pretty wife and children whom he no longer even remembers. With only a wedding band and a photo of his family to guide him, he must risk it all to save them from whatever horrors lurk within the seemingly empty forest before it is too late… too late for them all.”

Oh yeah… now this one sounds pretty darn good. Joko Anwar has proven his talent to me before with such films as “Kala: Dead Time” and “The Forbidden Door” and so this wee Catgirl had no doubt he’d hit another home run with this effort. My only problem was scoring a copy of the film for my lil’ self. Indonesian DVD’s aren’t all that easy for me to get these days but… thankfully… it seems he’s a really big deal in Germany (where this one has the impressively “Teutonic” sounding title “Modus Anomali – Gefangen im Wahnsinn”) as well as at home in Indonesia, so with the recent Region 2 PAL release of this one I was all set for an evening’s movie watchin’ thrills and chills.

So watcha waitin’ for Gentle Visitors? Let’s “Read On” and find out all about this one…!!

Apple Blossom Time…

Finally… Oh yeah…. it’s been a waaaay long time since I’ve posted at the ol’ Litterbox, almost a new record, but that’s just how the month of May usually is for this lil’ Catgirl. I’ve been hard at it at work plowing through all the last minute stuff that the college graduations always pile on us here at the restaurant… catering… in house special parties… and of course the “Bataan Death March re-enactment” that is the day of the ceremonies themselves. As always… we lost a couple of our seasonal workers right at the beginning of this crunch time, so there’s been extra hours and extra shifts aplenty for me while I scramble to see it all gets done. Never let anyone tell you being the boss is the easy job….

What with all that and my recent personal dramas of late, I’ve had a grand total of just 2 days off in the last 20 where I didn’t have to spend some measure of time at work. Somehow, however… they never seem to be complete days off. “Life” has a way of finding stuff that just can’t be put off till later. Sigh…

The one nice thing about May… and my personal favorite… has to be the way everything finally greens up and tells me the world is coming back to life. That and the arrival of the Apple Blossoms…. they always say, “Hang in there Miyuki… the busy time is almost over!!”

Yes…. by the middle of May I need that reassurance… I really do.

So then… you well may wonder what else has been going on of late, o’ Gentle Visitors? Well let’s get right to that…

“3 A.M. – 3D” aka “ตีสาม 3D” (2012) – Thai Ghost/ Horror

Ooohh!! I’ve finally an afternoon off to my lil’ self and.. thanks to the recent Taiwanese DVD release of the 2012 Thai horror anthology “3 A.M. – 3D”, your Favorite Catgirl has gotten the much needed fix of creepy ghost stories I’ve been needing of late. Kung fu and swordplay are nice… but there’s no denying it… this wee lady just loves her ghost stories….

Our synopsis? “Thailand’s latest horror is made up of three chilling and stomach-churning stories… ghosts, demons and vengeful spirits are all out to haunt at 3AM, the scariest hour of the night.

In a wig shop crammed with lifeless heads of dolls, something turns out to be not really lifeless… Mint and May are sisters from a wig-making family, the two can’t get along but were made to man the shop while their parents went out of town. Their nightmare came alive when May unknowingly acquired hair of a dead person….

In a stranger’s house with a dark history, two corpses lie peacefully, side by side… Tos is assigned to take care of Mike and Cherry – a couple killed in an accident just before their wedding. Their parents decide to keep their corpses, as the couple loved each other so much – and their parents still treating them as if they were still alive. With Tos spending all his time with the corpses, he soon falls in love with the dead, but beautiful Cherry… what will this twisted love leads too?

In the middle of the night, the office is as deserted as a graveyard, strange things happen… Karan and Tee are owners of a company whose office is in building rumored to be haunted. The two aren’t scared, and actually enjoyed playing pranks on their staff who work late at night. But soon, the pranksters are no longer certain if the strange things that happened in the office are their game – or someone else’s…”

So… sounds like these stories ought to be right up my alley. But.. to know if they might be the sort of thing you’ll want a look at o’ Gentle Visitor, then you’ll wanna “Read On” and find out all about the creepy goings on…

“When The Going Gets Tough… The Tough Go Picnic..”

Well it’s been a couple of weeks since my sweetie basically blew her whole world to smithereens by finally “coming out” to her Mom and Dad about her and I… and Life here at “El Casa De Neko” went into a serious downturn happiness-wise. Not that anything has changed between Carolyn and I… but it’s been terrible for her to feel so rejected by her parents and seeing her dealing with that has me so sad and angry and feeling generally impotent to do anything about it at all. In short we both feel miserable most of the time lately…

But…. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t at least try my darnedest to beat those nasty blues and make things better. Wanna hear about it? Then, Gentle Visitors, it’s time to “Read On” and hear all about my recent efforts to put a smile back on my sweetie’s face where it belongs.

“Thiên Mệnh Anh Hùng” aka “Blood Letter” (2012) – Vietnamese Martial Art/ Action

Your Favorite Catgirl’s recent flirtation with all things “Martial Art-y” continues here at the ol’ Litterbox with a review of director Victor Vu’s 2012 swordplay fantasy “Thiên Mệnh Anh Hùng” aka “Blood Letter”. With the recent release of this one on Region 2 DVD over in Germany, unfortunately without those ever so handy English subtitles this wee Catgirl needs, I honestly had begun to despair ever getting a look at it any time soon. But…. the Wuxia Fairies have deigned to smile on a certain wee “Warrior Princess wanabee”, and… thanks to an admittedly suspicious All region, supposedly Chinese made, DVD… that is no longer the case! Yay!!

Our synopsis? How’s about this: “Adapted from a popular novel by Bùi Anh Tấn, the film begins with a dying man delivering a mysterious young boy at the shore of a remote mountain monastery. Scared and alone, the boy grows to manhood under the care and martial arts tutelage of the one lone monk who is the sole caretaker for the lonely remote temple. Twelve years later, Nguyen Vu discovers his true identity, that he is the single living descendant of the nobleman Nguyen Trai, advisor to the late king, who was beheaded, along with the rest of his family, when he was wrongfully implicated in the murder of his liege. Two Eunuchs from the Royal Court learn the truth and when they try to escape are hunted down. One of the eunuchs writes his dying testimony in blood before he dies and this “Blood Letter” then disappears. Nguyen Vu then embarks on a quest to find this letter so that he may clear his grandfather’s name. Along the way he meets two sisters who are also on a quest to carry out vengeance against the Royal Court and the evil Empress Dowager.”

Sounds all epic and “kung-fu-licious”!! Yep… this wee Catgirl’s hooked. But then… your truly is a real Wuxia movie nut… So should this one also be on your “must see” list too? Well… before spending those hours scouring the Internet for a copy of this one, why not let a certain crazy Catgirl tell you all about it first?

Pssst!! That’s your subtle invite to “Read On”…. C’mon… You know ya wanna!!

“The Guillotines” (2012) – Chinese Martial Art/ Action

Time for a little less of my own personal Drama of late, and a bit more chop-socky Martial Arts movie action here at the ol’ Litterbox, Chinese style, with a look at director Andrew Lau Wai-Keung’s remake of the 1975 Shaw Brothers classic “The Flying Guillotine”, this time out titled simply as, “The Guillotines”.

Our synopsis goes like this: “During the Manchurian-ruled Qing Dynasty, Manchu Emperor Yong Zheng established his own personal secret assassination squad known only as “the Guillotines” to eliminate all who opposed him. Serving the Qing Court unquestioningly, and wielding a powerful flying weapon that can decapitate any enemy in a split second, they have never failed in 348 missions to eliminate their targets since their inception.

But their success has made them arrogant and complacent. Now serving under the new Emperor Qian Long, their latest mission tasks their new team leader Leng and them to rescue kidnapped team member Mu and capture the cunning peasant leader Wolf, a dangerous Han rebel leader who has stubbornly managed to elude custody. With palace official Haidu tagging along, the team follows Wolf to a village. However, the team doesn’t know that Qian Long is also treacherously planning to end the era of the Guillotines by replacing cold weapons with modern firearms and eliminate them to conceal the truth of his rule in Historical record. If they make one false move, they will become the hunted. Facing annihilation, Leng and his Guillotines must outfight and outwit enemies from both sides.”

Sounds pretty good… now if only the new CGI effects and modern film-making tricks will be enough to eclipse the legend of the original Martial Art cult classic. It’s always hard to beat a legend….. So let’s all “Read On” and see if “The Guillotines” is up to the task.

“Best Laid Plans…”

Monday morning… another day off for me and a chance to pause and let my thoughts spill out in words before they clog my poor lil’ brain but good while my sweetie is at work.

Well… Carolyn had her luncheon with her sister and her parents over the weekend and “let the cat out of the bag” regarding she and I. Both of us have been anxious about this all week and I think both of us knew in our hearts it wasn’t going to go well, that just wanting the best wasn’t going to make it happen. Sometimes when you stand in the middle of Life’s highway and see that big ol’ truck bearing down on you, there’s just no possible way to get out of it’s path, even though you see it coming. You just know you’re going to get hurt… really, really hurt… but you just can’t dodge out of it’s path and the best you can do is hope it doesn’t flatten you…..

Well… that big ol’ truck left tire prints all over us this time for sure. To hear the grisly details you just have to “Read On”, o’ Gentle Visitors.

“This Girl Is Bad-Ass!!” aka “Jakkalan” (จั๊กกะแหล๋น) (2011) – Thai Martial Art Action/ Comedy

Remember Jeeja Yanin, the amazing Thai kickboxing girl from “Chocolate” and “Raging Phoenix”? Well she’s back… or at least she was back…. waaaaay back in 2011 that is…. with the release of “Jakkalan” aka “This Girl Is Bad-Ass!!”, a film your Favorite Catgirl has been impatiently waiting to see… for like…. well…. forever!! The Thai DVD release was, as with most other Thai DVD’s these days, totally English subtitle free…. Auuuugghhh! No fair!! I expected it to quickly pop up in Hong Kong or Malaysia, but no such luck… So what’s a wannabee Wuxia Princess to do to get herself some bone-crunchin’ kickboxing action with an honest-to-goodness cute girl dealing out the hurt to all the nasty villains? Why keep her lil’ eyes peeled…. and breathe deeply while practicing the Zen-like patience needed to wait out such a release to surface. ‘Cause eventually… as with all good things… it always will.

Our synopsis? How’s this for the short and sweet plot basics: “Jakkalan is a young girl who earns her living as a bicycle delivery courier using a fixed gear bike as her vehicle. When a very important package goes missing, the gangster who gave her the assignment thinks she has stolen it and tries to hunt her down. Then it’s time for her “tough but loving” uncle Sawang and her awesome “bike-as-weapon’ fighting skills to combine to bail her and her friends out of the dangerous situation.”

Ooooh! Ooooh!! Like this wee “Warrior Princess” is soooo there!! Where’s the popcorn? It’s time for me to snuggle with my sweetie, pop in my new Taiwanese English friendly DVD and get a big helpin’ of that sweet crazy action fun. Naturally, I’ll tell you all about it, so whatcha waitin’ for? It’s time to “Read On!!”

Slush… Or Just When You Think Winter Can’t Be Any More Annoying!!

Sigh… Winter is finally fading away at last in your Favorite Catgirl’s neck of the woods. How do I know? Well… other places get their own seasonal signals to herald the coming of Spring, the Sparrows return to Capistrano…. the cherry blossoms bloom in Kyoto… the monarch butterflies leave sunny Mexico to return to their homes in Canada like a beautiful orange cloud of fairy magic… and well…. yours truly gets the annual wonder of wonders that is the “Miracle of Slush”…..

You’ve probably noticed by my continued absence of late that my Seasonal Blahs still have me in the dreaded Mongolian Headlock of Death. Sorry all…. I’ve really so wanted to be more active, perky and fun, but I honestly just haven’t had it in me of late.

Right now… outside my window the snow that has been piling up for months is in that nasty process of turning to wet slushy crap, with all the “magic” of Frosty the Snowman being hit by a perfectly delivered napalm strike. Add in the mud, and it’s like my whole world is covered with all the worlds leftover chocolate snow cones. But nowhere near as tasty…. Sigh…. but that’s Spring hereabouts.

In the middle of all this yucky wintery “afterbirth” it occurs to me that along with not really keepin’ up on my Reviews of late, I also haven’t done any Diary posts since… well… waaaaaaaay back before Valentines Day. Well…. Then it’s high time I did somethin’ about that.

So if you’ve wondered about the boring personal life of a certain lazy Catgirl, let’s get to it and by all means, “Read On”!!

“Pridyider” (2012) – Philippine Haunted Refrigerator Horror

At last!!… some free time for another review… and just when your Favorite Catgirl thinks she’s seen about every wacky horror film to come her way out of Asia… something always comes along to prove me wrong. If you think that Indonesia’s haunted toilet epic “Toilet 105″ was about the craziest ghost story ever… then you’ll absolutely love the latest Philippine ghost horror story to hit DVD, “Pridyider” with it’s… wait for it… honest-to-goodness haunted refrigerator… Oh yeah…. I kid you not…

Our synopsis? Well that goes like this: “Several years ago, Tina (Andi Eigenmann) was sent away to the United States to live with her aunt because of a tragic and horrific incident involving her parents kept as an embarrassing family secret and never adequately explained to her. Grown up and in need of a fresh start to her life, she moves back to the Philippines and into their old home. Unfortunately for her, she’s not alone in the house. The kitchen is home to a demonically possessed, human-eating refrigerator. Tina must dig into her hidden past to discover the truth about what really happened to her parents, and to somehow find a way to defeat the infernal appliance before it is too late.”

A movie with an evil refrigerator with it’s own nutty “Cthulhu” style Hentai tentacle demon? Think this wee Catgirl could pass on this one? Are you thinking you just gotta see it too? Well then hunker on down and let your Favorite Movie Lovin’ Catgirl Princess tell you all about it.