Top Favorites **** :   1. 2001: A Space Odyssey 2. The Shawshank Redemption 3. Jaws 4. Psycho ('60) 5. Amadeus 6. Better Luck Tomorrow 7. Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings 8. Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle 9. Sean Wang's DIDI 10.Everything Everywhere All At Once 11. The Accidental Getaway Driver 12. Searching 13. Randall Park's "Shortcomings" 14. Justin Chon's Blue Bayou 15. Always Be My Maybe (2019 - A.Wong / R.Park dir. N.Khan) 16. Ping Pong Playa 17. Office Space Other Favorites ***:   Lee Byun Hun in "The Match", Last Breath, Atlas, Don't Make Me Go (w/ John Cho), Barbie (2023), Love Hard (w/ Jimmy O. Yang), Ghost / Grotesque Mansion (K-Movie 2021), Fast 9, Wish Dragon, Tran Quoc Bao's The Paper Tigers, Stowaway, Evan Jackson Leong's "Snakehead", Lee Isaac Chung's "Minari", Tigertail, Over The Moon, WF Productions' Everything Before Us, Bong Joon Ho's "Parasite", Evan Jackson Leong's Linsanity (The Documentary), Mayhem, Lee Chang Dong's "Burning", Justin Chon's 'Gook', 'Ms. Purple', Surrogate Valentine, Daylight Savings, Hang Loose, K-Town Cowboys, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, Finishing The Game, Jet Li's Fearless, The Year Of The Yao, To Be Takei, Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira (The Original Anime), Katsuhiro Otomo's Memories, Katsuhiro Otomo's Metropolis, Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro, Miyazaki's Nausicaa in the Valley Of The Wind, Pixar's Up, Toy Story, Office Space, Beavis & Butt-Head Do America, Idiocracy, The Ringer, Jackass 3, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Shine, The Goonies, The Karate Kid ('84) / Part II ('86), Forrest Gump, Dead Poet's Society, Rocky, One Hour Photo, Poltergeist ('82), John Carpenter's The Thing, John Carpenter's Halloween, Saw, 1408, Pet Sematary ('89), The Amityville Horror ('79), Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek, Star Trek Beyond, Back To The Future Trilogy, The Breakfast Club, First Blood, Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, Cool Runnings, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The School Of Rock, The Hustler, The Color Of Money, Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, Rain Man, Fast Five, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious 6, Best of the Best, The Matrix/The Matrix Reloaded/The Matrix Revolutions, The Terminator, Alien, Aliens, Casino, The Godfather Trilogy, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, The Maze Runner Trilogy, Escape From Alcatraz, Fast Times, Die Hard, Die Hard With A Vengeance, Ghostbusters ('84), Monster House, Spaceballs, Employee Of The Month, The Usual Suspects, Wreck-It Ralph REVIEWS AND THOUGHTS 06/21/2025: Happy 50th to "Jaws" **** From the opening credits of the three actors names (foreshadowing the showdown), the ominous music of the POV shark, to the first victim on the beach. You know the film was already heading in the right direction. Here are my reasons what made "Jaws" a classic / well-made film, despite the production-hell stories: 1. On-location - it was filmed on an island and on the ocean, not some damn studio. 2. Shark is unseen for most of the film, with the camera POV as the shark. 3. Hired actors who didn't stand out at that time, not to overshadow the shark. 4. During the final act of the showdown with the shark, Spielberg made sure not to show any land as if the Orca was in the middle of nowhere or lost. 5. The famous Jaws theme 6. The mechanical shark looked more real than any CGI shark ever (unfortunately, the Jaws sequels didn't have such luck - as bad as the CGI ones). 06/08/2025: The Match ***1/2 Autobiographical / true story films are a dime a dozen, and K-Films definitely do them right. "The Match" is about a Pro "Go" Champion who's been unbeatable or been at the top for years in the '80's. Until he takes on a child prodigy to teach, and the student eventually matures to become the top, unbeatable player as a young adolescent - overthrowing the teacher. Their styles clash, but in the end - it was the student's "own" strategy or way of playing that won him championships. The film centers around Cho Hoon-Hyun, the reigning champ, until Lee Chang-Ho becomes his humble student and reaches the top. The two players are real-life players, still actively playing today so I hear. The game of "Go", is a complete mystery to me. It appears more intricate than Chess itself. It sure as hell takes helluva long time as well. I felt the film flowed well, and captured highlights and key moments fluidly / stylishly. K-Films are becoming must-watches these days. Lee Byung Hun does a fine job as Cho. While I don't know the actual players themselves, I could tell that his potrayal was oozing authenticity with a side of dramatic effect. 05/31/2025: Happy 40th / 50th Anniversaries! Last year and this year marks some anniversaries for quite a few well-known, classic films. If I were to save a playlist with classic films celebrating milestone anniversaries: 1. Jaws 50th 2. The Shawshank Redemption 30th 3. Back To The Future 40th 4. The Goonies 40th 5. The Breakfast Club 40th 05/11/2025: The Accidental Getaway Driver **** A Masterpiece in a tense drama or character-study that felt real and surreal. If you're looking for mindless or senseless action, a lot of shouting / over-acting, you're in the wrong place. Sometimes, popcorn movies are fine. But high-quality films like this are a rarity, or hidden gems. Kudos to Dustin Nguyen, the director Sing Lee and the cast. Especially the central character of the elderly Cabbie played by an elderly actor. How do you act scared when you're that old. You can do the usual crying, weeping, pleading, etc. But the film captures the Cabbie's emotions enough just by filming the Cabbie's flabbergasted facial expressions. His gaze said enough. Kidnapping movies are usually violent and involve some hero rescuing the kidnapped. Or the kidnapped escaping. A tiresome formula. Here - Tay (played by Dustin Nguyen), one of the escaped prisoners / kidnappers forge a "father / son" bond with the elderly Cabbie. The "ring leader" of the trio is ruthless in a quiet way. You can tell he was planning to kill the cabbie eventially. Also incompetent, only hiding it by insinuating, "Do I have to fucken do everything myself!". There isn't a lot of dialogue, but just enough. Perhaps Tay was always a good person - a victim of circumstance, and was just unfortunate in life. He just made poor choices. Same with Eddie Ly, but a bit incompetent. The full-on villain seems to be the ring leader, Aden. All in all, we can probably sympathize with some of the escaped prisoners - they are just as fallible as any human, feeling scared and uncertain. This movie was your atypical escaped prisoner / kidnapping movie. Based on real events, obviously the dramatic or fictional elements made all the more compelling. This was noir-ish character study. MORE FILM REVIEWS... "Play"time No More: A Homage I grew up watching Pee-Wee's Playhouse as a child. Pee Wee's Big Adventure was a cult classic - every scene quotable, repeatable and hilarious. You can't think of Paul Reubens without thinking of Pee-Wee Herman. Of course - he's been in countless other films as cameos or support actor. But the iconic character of Pee Wee Herman is etched or ingrained forever. By now - the news is out that Paul kept his cancer hidden for many years. Did he even hide it from doctors, or even refused to get treatment. That's what makes it tragic. In this day and age, 70 is not that old anymore. Hell - some are living way past 90 now. Like or hate the actor (never mind his sketchy past - besides, even Bobby Lee did it haha). I don't think anyone discount the influence of Pee Wee Herman - the child-like magic is in all of us whether we want to admit it or not. "Things You Can't Understand." "Things You'll Never Understand." *long pause* "Things You Shouldn't Understand" - Mike's Bike-O-Rama Click for Archived Film Trailers / Videos