Junk's Recent Activity

list Junk's Recent Activity - Spout http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Junk on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg Junk's Recent Activity - Spout http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 Film:Junk http://www.spout.com/films/Junk/211258/default.aspx

Title: Junk
Year: 2000
Director: Atsushi Muroga
Plot: Japanese horror films are becoming increasingly popular among cinephiles. Perhaps more accessible to Western audiences than such decidedly more Japanese efforts as Kairo and Uzumaki, due in part to the influences it draws from, Junk does offer a few original touches in terms of both gender roles and the intelligence of its undead. Whether it be a female getaway driver who is more willing than her male partner to drive headlong into a horde of zombies or a prototype female zombie whose strength and abilities exceed that of five men, director Atsushi Muroga's refreshing reversal of traditional roles and refusal to take the proceedings too seriously make for a movie ten times as entertaining as the majority of recent stateside efforts. For those who associate subtitled foreign films with deliberate storytelling, Junk will certainly shatter those preconceptions with gleeful abandon. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 3
Number of Lists: 4
Number of blog posts: 2
Number of discussion threads: 2
SpoutRating: 2
]]>Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:50:43 GMTJunk2000Atsushi MurogaJapanese horror films are becoming increasingly popular among cinephiles. Perhaps more accessible to Western audiences than such decidedly more Japanese efforts as Kairo and <a href=/films/151704/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Uzumaki</a>, due in part to the influences it draws from, Junk does offer a few original touches in terms of both gender roles and the intelligence of its undead. Whether it be a female getaway driver who is more willing than her male partner to drive headlong into a horde of zombies or a prototype female zombie whose strength and abilities exceed that of five men, director Atsushi Muroga's refreshing reversal of traditional roles and refusal to take the proceedings too seriously make for a movie ten times as entertaining as the majority of recent stateside efforts. For those who associate subtitled foreign films with deliberate storytelling, Junk will certainly shatter those preconceptions with gleeful abandon. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide3Slightly Tagged (1-5)4222http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t33626k9lph.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Junk/211258/default.aspxFilm Spout Post: Junk (1999) review. Written about 6 years ago. http://www.spout.com/blogs/diabolical_shadow/archive/2008/8/2/33436.aspx

Post By: Diabolical_Shadow
Post To: Diabolical_Shadow Blog
Post Date: 8/2/2008 12:42:23 AM
Body: It seems like it happened when nobody was looking, the return of the zombie film. They’ve been popping up all over the place. Heck, even the local Cineplex 47 near the mall has been showing ‘em. Great news indeed. Especially for all of us who’d prefer to see the fat zombie on that abandoned boat in the harbor get shot again… rather than resigning ourselves to another evening of “I Screamed On Halloween When I Heard The Legend of The Witch Who Knew What You Did Last Valentine’s Day… Part IV”. It may lead to a surprising revelation to stop and think, for a moment, about who it is that has left the deepest bite-marks upon the neck of this most beloved sub-genre as of late. It’s not Italy, it’s not America and it’s not Spain. Who’s left? Japan, that’s who. They have unleashed some of the wildest, weirdest and wettest zombie films seen in over a decade. Witness the savage and uncontrolled excesses of Wild Zero (2000), Stacy, or Versus (2000), and you’ll see what I’m getting at; anything can, and usually does, happen in these films. Not since zombie-maestro Lucio Fulci was in his prime have I been this excited about the cinematic undead! Junk (1999) opens in a familiar way. Well, familiar if you’ve seen Zombie 3. Pretty much the same goings on here with a few significant differences. The corpse set for re-animation is a pretty (pretty naked…) Japanese woman. Also, instead of just sitting up and scaring everybody, she rips the throat right off of the doctor (horrible Caucasian actor, by the way) in charge. When I was first told about this, it was described to me as “the Japanese Zombie 3”. Yeah there’s the opening scene and a few other things as well but believe me Junk is its own entity. The military is behind all of the experiments that led to the incidents (of course) that opened the film and now they need some help to cope before it all gets out of control. They turn to Doctor Nakata. He was originally one of the inspirations for the creation of the serum that brings the dead back to life, called DNX, but with its dangerous properties and the militaries misuse of his creation, he decided to leave it all behind and go for a normal life. Didn’t last long. While all of that is being sorted out we meet a group of would-be criminals, three men and a woman who are about to rob a jewelry store. After it’s done they call Ramon (Tate Gouta). Ramon is the prerequisite Yakuza bad ass with piercing eyes, long silver hair, tattoos covering his body and a vibe similar to a cobra about to strike. Sort of accurate really. His intention is to screw over these amateur hour criminals and keep all the jewels to himself. Ramon tells the group to meet him where? Yep, the “abandoned” factory that’s out of the way of everything. The same place, of course, where the dead now walk. Cut back to the military now, Nakata insists that they use the computer systems fail-safe. He wants to blow the place to shit. It takes some convincing but the General goes for it. They set the timer and… and… well, and nothing. The clothing-impaired female zombie from the opener has shut down the system locally, leaving a message for Nakata in the process. It’s a message he understands and within moments he is on board an Army chopper heading for the factory. He knows who she is and she knows who he is. Without saying too much more, they had a life together… before. She is not an ordinary zombie, nope, not even close. As all these little side stories come together the proverbial shit really begins to hit the fan… hard. Saki (Kaori Shimamura), the female criminal (who despises men) and Akira (Osamu Ebara), the drug using small-timer who Saki may have a “thing” for, are soon on their own against Yakuza with big guns, zombies with big teeth, and even zombie Yakuza! That isn’t all though. That female undead (now leather clad), like I said, isn’t your average everyday shuffling maggot bucket. With each “death” (for lack of a better term) she becomes progressively stronger. Even the old standby, a bullet through the brain, only manages to piss her off. When Nakata shows up to put her down once and for all and meets up with Saki along the way (who is definitely of the “I’ve had enough of this crap” mindset), oh yeah, it’s on baby. Atsushi Muroga was previously behind the derivative 1995 action/crime flick Score (2000) (wrong date listed in link) and some of that influence carried over into this project, which is a good thing. Yes, it’s creepy, moody and atmospheric but it’s also been meticulously balanced with drama and action. These action scenes, like the robbery for example, are amazing to watch. With low angle slow motion intensity and fast pans mixed with high impact violence, these moments leave you remembering them. At the same time, the smoky, backlit corridors feel like they are actually closing in on you. Muroga doesn’t miss any of his targets. Now this is a zombie picture right? So there’s going to be at least a little gore right? Wrong. There’s a LOT of gore! Throats are chewed, torn, ripped and impaled. Heads are removed, shot, splattered and rolled down stairs. Guts are strewn, chomped, ripped out and seem to drip down nearly ever wall in the place. Like his previous outing, this film is full of a bunch of things that you’ve seen before that probably shouldn’t work but… it works. Versus seems to be the film with all the hype yet Junk hasn’t really gotten any of the recognition that it so rightly deserves. It’s violent, filled with strong performances (English actors not withstanding), moves faster then a go-go dancer on amphetamines and delivers on every level, technically and emotionally. You can’t ask for more than that. The tagline is “Everybody Fights” and that’s accurate. Junk is anything but.
]]>Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:42:23 GMTDiabolical_ShadowDiabolical_Shadow Blog8/2/2008 12:42:23 AMIt seems like it happened when nobody was looking, the return of the zombie film. They’ve been popping up all over the place. Heck, even the local Cineplex 47 near the mall has been showing ‘em. Great news indeed. Especially for all of us who’d prefer to see the fat zombie on that abandoned boat in the harbor get shot again… rather than resigning ourselves to another evening of “I Screamed On Halloween When I Heard The Legend of The Witch Who Knew What You Did Last Valentine’s Day… Part IV”. It may lead to a surprising revelation to stop and think, for a moment, about who it is that has left the deepest bite-marks upon the neck of this most beloved sub-genre as of late. It’s not Italy, it’s not America and it’s not Spain. Who’s left? Japan, that’s who. They have unleashed some of the wildest, weirdest and wettest zombie films seen in over a decade. Witness the savage and uncontrolled excesses of Wild Zero (2000), Stacy, or Versus (2000), and you’ll see what I’m getting at; anything can, and usually does, happen in these films. Not since zombie-maestro Lucio Fulci was in his prime have I been this excited about the cinematic undead! Junk (1999) opens in a familiar way. Well, familiar if you’ve seen Zombie 3. Pretty much the same goings on here with a few significant differences. The corpse set for re-animation is a pretty (pretty naked…) Japanese woman. Also, instead of just sitting up and scaring everybody, she rips the throat right off of the doctor (horrible Caucasian actor, by the way) in charge. When I was first told about this, it was described to me as “the Japanese Zombie 3”. Yeah there’s the opening scene and a few other things as well but believe me Junk is its own entity. The military is behind all of the experiments that led to the incidents (of course) that opened the film and now they need some help to cope before it all gets out of control. They turn to Doctor Nakata. He was originally one of the inspirations for the creation of the serum that brings the dead back to life, called DNX, but with its dangerous properties and the militaries misuse of his creation, he decided to leave it all behind and go for a normal life. Didn’t last long. While all of that is being sorted out we meet a group of would-be criminals, three men and a woman who are about to rob a jewelry store. After it’s done they call Ramon (Tate Gouta). Ramon is the prerequisite Yakuza bad ass with piercing eyes, long silver hair, tattoos covering his body and a vibe similar to a cobra about to strike. Sort of accurate really. His intention is to screw over these amateur hour criminals and keep all the jewels to himself. Ramon tells the group to meet him where? Yep, the “abandoned” factory that’s out of the way of everything. The same place, of course, where the dead now walk. Cut back to the military now, Nakata insists that they use the computer systems fail-safe. He wants to blow the place to shit. It takes some convincing but the General goes for it. They set the timer and… and… well, and nothing. The clothing-impaired female zombie from the opener has shut down the system locally, leaving a message for Nakata in the process. It’s a message he understands and within moments he is on board an Army chopper heading for the factory. He knows who she is and she knows who he is. Without saying too much more, they had a life together… before. She is not an ordinary zombie, nope, not even close. As all these little side stories come together the proverbial shit really begins to hit the fan… hard. Saki (Kaori Shimamura), the female criminal (who despises men) and Akira (Osamu Ebara), the drug using small-timer who Saki may have a “thing” for, are soon on their own against Yakuza with big guns, zombies with big teeth, and even zombie Yakuza! That isn’t all though. That female undead (now leather clad), like I said, isn’t your average everyday shuffling maggot bucket. With each “death” (for lack of a better term) she becomes progressively stronger. Even the old standby, a bullet through the brain, only manages to piss her off. When Nakata shows up to put her down once and for all and meets up with Saki along the way (who is definitely of the “I’ve had enough of this crap” mindset), oh yeah, it’s on baby. Atsushi Muroga was previously behind the derivative 1995 action/crime flick Score (2000) (wrong date listed in link) and some of that influence carried over into this project, which is a good thing. Yes, it’s creepy, moody and atmospheric but it’s also been meticulously balanced with drama and action. These action scenes, like the robbery for example, are amazing to watch. With low angle slow motion intensity and fast pans mixed with high impact violence, these moments leave you remembering them. At the same time, the smoky, backlit corridors feel like they are actually closing in on you. Muroga doesn’t miss any of his targets. Now this is a zombie picture right? So there’s going to be at least a little gore right? Wrong. There’s a LOT of gore! Throats are chewed, torn, ripped and impaled. Heads are removed, shot, splattered and rolled down stairs. Guts are strewn, chomped, ripped out and seem to drip down nearly ever wall in the place. Like his previous outing, this film is full of a bunch of things that you’ve seen before that probably shouldn’t work but… it works. Versus seems to be the film with all the hype yet Junk hasn’t really gotten any of the recognition that it so rightly deserves. It’s violent, filled with strong performances (English actors not withstanding), moves faster then a go-go dancer on amphetamines and delivers on every level, technically and emotionally. You can’t ask for more than that. The tagline is “Everybody Fights” and that’s accurate. Junk is anything but. Spout Post: Re: Favorite Foreign Scary Movie http://www.spout.com/groups/HORROR_MOVIES_101/Re_Favorite_Foreign_Scary_Movie/222/25994/1/ShowPost.aspx

Post By: divinemsjunebug
Post To: HORROR MOVIES 101
Post Date: 3/9/2008 5:00:09 AM
Body: Brotherhood of the Wolf is one of my favorite movies, I just love watching it. I have never seen Junk before and just watched the Trailer for it, it looks so cool, it is going on my Netflix Queue next. You don't see too many Japanese Zombie films, it's usually hauntings. It looks really fun. Audition still gives me the shivers. That was really good, but I can't watch it again...whew. [quote user="apostasy"]Brotherhood of the wolf was great, as was Bio-Zombie. But I do believe my favorite (right now) would have to JUNK. I dont know what it is about that movie but i just get a kick out of it everytime. I just love the part when the one zombie pulls his own guts out and takes a bite. It's pretty "sic".[/quote]
]]>Sun, 09 Mar 2008 09:00:09 GMTdivinemsjunebugHORROR MOVIES 1013/9/2008 5:00:09 AMBrotherhood of the Wolf is one of my favorite movies, I just love watching it. I have never seen Junk before and just watched the Trailer for it, it looks so cool, it is going on my Netflix Queue next. You don't see too many Japanese Zombie films, it's usually hauntings. It looks really fun. Audition still gives me the shivers. That was really good, but I can't watch it again...whew. [quote user="apostasy"]Brotherhood of the wolf was great, as was Bio-Zombie. But I do believe my favorite (right now) would have to JUNK. I dont know what it is about that movie but i just get a kick out of it everytime. I just love the part when the one zombie pulls his own guts out and takes a bite. It's pretty "sic".[/quote] Spout Post: Re: The Zombie Phenomenon http://www.spout.com/groups/HORROR_MOVIES_101/Re_The_Zombie_Phenomenon/222/8551/1/ShowPost.aspx

Post By: IronAbacus
Post To: HORROR MOVIES 101
Post Date: 5/11/2007 10:57:51 AM
Body: Something that you and the author of the MSN article touch on, which I find irresistable about the zombie genre, is that it seems to be tailor-made for sociopolitical themes, kind of like the way that vampire movies are all about sex when you look under the cape and fangs.So the Romero films are among my all-time faves. I liked Land well enough, but whenever I crave a little crypto-Marxist social commentary, I go straight for Dawn of the Dead. I also enjoyed the remake. It can't touch the original in my opinion, but it does have a political side to it, whether intentional or not. Most of the characters are classically self-interested according to social contract theory, and they get, shall we say, market-corrected over time.28 Days Later packs a similar kind of punch for me, even though the zombies are less about mindless consumption and more about urban decay (uh, or at least I think they are). I've read some advance reviews that 28 Weeks Later can be seen as a commentary on the Iraq mess, but I'm going to withhold judgement until after this weekend, when (hopefully) I get the chance to go to the multiplex.I've been spoiled by the best in the genre, so when something like Junk comes along that doesn't seem to be operating with any kind of irony whatsoever, it's a disappointment. A lot of horror I can watch on its own merits, but with the zombie stuff in particular, if there isn't some sort of subtext, I get bored.
]]>Fri, 11 May 2007 14:57:51 GMTIronAbacusHORROR MOVIES 1015/11/2007 10:57:51 AMSomething that you and the author of the MSN article touch on, which I find irresistable about the zombie genre, is that it seems to be tailor-made for sociopolitical themes, kind of like the way that vampire movies are all about sex when you look under the cape and fangs.So the Romero films are among my all-time faves. I liked Land well enough, but whenever I crave a little crypto-Marxist social commentary, I go straight for Dawn of the Dead. I also enjoyed the remake. It can't touch the original in my opinion, but it does have a political side to it, whether intentional or not. Most of the characters are classically self-interested according to social contract theory, and they get, shall we say, market-corrected over time.28 Days Later packs a similar kind of punch for me, even though the zombies are less about mindless consumption and more about urban decay (uh, or at least I think they are). I've read some advance reviews that 28 Weeks Later can be seen as a commentary on the Iraq mess, but I'm going to withhold judgement until after this weekend, when (hopefully) I get the chance to go to the multiplex.I've been spoiled by the best in the genre, so when something like Junk comes along that doesn't seem to be operating with any kind of irony whatsoever, it's a disappointment. A lot of horror I can watch on its own merits, but with the zombie stuff in particular, if there isn't some sort of subtext, I get bored. Spout Post: Junk http://www.spout.com/blogs/ironabacus/archive/2007/5/9/8454.aspx

Post By: IronAbacus
Post To: Haiku Reviews of Extreme Asian Cinema
Post Date: 5/9/2007 11:06:00 AM
Body: This zombie flick, while not quite dead, shambles along in need of a soul | ●●○○○ | IMDb | AMG | Spout
]]>Wed, 09 May 2007 15:06:00 GMTIronAbacusHaiku Reviews of Extreme Asian Cinema5/9/2007 11:06:00 AMThis zombie flick, while not quite dead, shambles along in need of a soul | ●●○○○ | IMDb | AMG | Spout Spout Tag:japan http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/japan/MemberTagFilms.aspxjapan
Number of films tagged: 745

Number of people who tagged: 73

Number of times used: 132

]]>Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:35:11 GMT74573132Tag Spout Tag:zombie http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/zombie/MemberTagFilms.aspxzombie
Number of films tagged: 449

Number of people who tagged: 65

Number of times used: 152

]]>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:55:30 GMT44965152Tag Spout Tag:gangster http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/gangster/MemberTagFilms.aspxgangster
Number of films tagged: 4065

Number of people who tagged: 60

Number of times used: 145

]]>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:37:08 GMT406560145Tag Spout Tag:gore http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/gore/MemberTagFilms.aspxgore
Number of films tagged: 246

Number of people who tagged: 50

Number of times used: 136

]]>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:53:52 GMT24650136Tag Spout Tag:monster http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/monster/MemberTagFilms.aspxmonster
Number of films tagged: 1143

Number of people who tagged: 41

Number of times used: 95

]]>Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:22:02 GMT11434195Tag Spout Tag:army http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/army/MemberTagFilms.aspxarmy
Number of films tagged: 868

Number of people who tagged: 27

Number of times used: 77

]]>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:16:35 GMT8682777Tag Spout Tag:beast http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/beast/MemberTagFilms.aspxbeast
Number of films tagged: 139

Number of people who tagged: 6

Number of times used: 7

]]>Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:03:13 GMT13967Tag Spout Tag:jewelrobbery http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/jewelrobbery/MemberTagFilms.aspxjewelrobbery
Number of films tagged: 405

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Number of times used: 3

]]>Tue, 12 May 2009 13:09:30 GMT40523Tag Spout Tag:genderroles http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/genderroles/MemberTagFilms.aspxgenderroles
Number of films tagged: 56

Number of people who tagged: 0

Number of times used: 0

]]>Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:02:57 GMT5600Tag