Tokyo-1997 I found this movie to be very entertaining with lots of wonderful surprises. There were lots of unexpected and entertaining moments in this film. This film deals very well with themes of friendship, mystery and love. The ending was very touching and unexpected. Though the action may not be as good as some of the Jacky Chan movies, this movie has a great storyline. The cinematography of the film was well made. The acting was extremely fantastic, especially the acting of Karena Lam. This movie has wonderful mystery elements as well. This movie even contains some horror elements in it though it was supposed to be a physcological thriller, there were some jumpy scenes. However, there are still some minor flaws in this film. I thought the middle portion of this film where the relationship of the two girls were being bulid up was quite draggy. It would be good if they have shorten that up a bit. This movie contains a lot of action, and well paced overall. This movie is a rather original one because it deals with kidneys. This movie is highly recommended. What I actually like most about this movie is the ending. The ending was very well done due to the built up of the film. The ending was though, predictable, a very touching ending indeed. The ending for this movie is very satisfying for me unlike the one in diary. The ending shows a great relationship between the main characters. A lot of credit was given to the ending for me. Hence, I will give this movie a high score of 9/10.

Sabalon I was not sure what to expect going into this one. I adore Angelica Lee, so it was worth it, even if it were to be garbage. The premise is pretty simple and setups up the movie - Kidney thief on the loose, whose next? Or so you think. The movie goes much deeper than that. One could almost cut all that out (forgive the pun) and substitute other problems and the movie would still stand. Other than a few curses a friend taught me in college, I don't speak or understand Chinese, however the writing (if the subtitles are accurate) and the emotion in the delivery make you really feel for Ling and Ching. I think I felt more empathy for them than half the English movies I've seen lately.There is nothing supernatural in this movie and it is very believable, which actually makes it a little scarier. There are a couple scenes where they try to make you jump, but you can see those coming from a mile away. Some of the plot twists were pretty transparent, however, some were unseen. It is not a convoluted or hard to follow story at all. But the acting and direction more than make up for any implied simpleness of the plot.Really, it is that decent of a film.

bensonmum2 Koma starts with a bang - an unknown girl awakens in a tub full of ice. Written on the wall above her head, she reads the words "Call the police or you'll die". As she steps from the tub, there is an obvious pain in her side. When she examines the area with her hand, she discovers that she is bleeding from a 9 inch gash. What's not so obvious is that one of her kidneys has been stolen.Unfortunately, the movie has trouble maintaining the momentum of the fantastic start. Koma quickly becomes an all too familiar thriller. Plot points and twists become so obvious they slap you in the face. It's too easy to see where the story is headed.Don't misunderstand, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. Like several of the other recent Asian films I've seen, Koma is very well made. The cinematography, set design, art direction, and most every other technical aspect is near flawless. And, while much of the story is predictable, I still found a lot of entertainment and I never found myself getting bored. Instead, I was looking forward to what was coming next. But Koma's biggest asset is the cast. The two female leads are exceptional. Both looked and played their parts to perfection. So, I wasn't at all surprised to read that Karena Lam received a Hong Kong Film Award nomination for her work in Koma. I'm just surprised she didn't win.Finally, Koma taught me a lesson that I've passed on to my wife - If you're going to get into an Axe vs. Scalpel fight, wear sensible shoes.

suspiria10 This Hong Kong production takes the old urban legend of a person waking up in a bathtub of ice with their kidney removed and spins it into a pretty solid and very well photographed thriller. Angelica (The Eye) Lee stars as a frail woman who gets caught up in the situation when she witnesses Karena Lam in the vicinity of a kidney theft that occurs at a hotel where she was attending a wedding. Several interesting (but predictable) plot twists are thrown in quite frequently. The musical score by Chan Kwong-Wing is very strong and most of the time punctuates the jumps well. The sound design helped to give "Koma" several scenes of creepiness. The photography was very strong with a lot of wonderfully lit scenes. The script is a step above what you usually see for a slasher type film with acting being a very strong component of the film.