3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy [ Movie Review ] ★★

After the election is over, Golden Village Pictures finally released the dates for 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy. Singaporean, mark your calender down. On 21st July 2011, we can finally unleash our desires for the big screen version of this highly anticipated 3D soft porn film that features the likes of Japanese Adult Video stars like Saori Hara (who had suddenly retired from showbiz after the recent tsunami) and sexy Hong Kong actress Vonnie Liu.

According to Channelnewsasia, we will be getting the International version with no cuts and obviously this 3D soft porn will be getting the R21 rating. International version will be 102 mins long while the version shown in Hong Kong was 129 mins long. There will also be another longer version of this movie that will be released on the Director cut DVD eventually.

The Pitch

Sex sells and Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy sold like hotcakes in Hong Kong when it was first released. There were even reports of tour groups for the poor China folks (who won't be getting this movie in the mainland) to watch this movie in Hong Kong. Elsewhere, major media like Reuters are featuring news on Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy as the world's first IMAX-3D erotic film (not Asian first 3D erotic film, that honors would go to the Korean's movie Natalie) and Hoyts cinema in New Zealand and Australia were showing it in full IMAX glory (but not in Singapore IMAX tsk tsk tsk).

But of course the perks of getting this movie way later than Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand would be that we would be more informed about the movie through reviews and the words had not be kind. Ranging from your average movie goers who posted one liner in forums to this extremely crude and funny Hong Kong review (read by Chapman To)(with English translation), it's pretty easy to get the general feel of the folks who had watched this movie. Bottom line, it's bad.

It's so bad that people are going all out to tell one another to avoid watching this soft porn flick. But called it good advertising or curiosity, I for one would like to see bad this movie can get and why it caused CNNGO's Zoe Li to decide on never to have sex again because its (Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy) message of "true love doesn't need sex" was so convincing.

Yes, sometimes we head into bad movies so that we could see the wreckage with our own eyes. Or perhaps I am just simply sadomasochist. anyway let's head on to ...

The Plot


Wei Yangshen (Hiro Hayama) was a scholar who believed in pursuing the ultimate pleasures in life and had no inclination to settle down so soon. Things changed when he accompanied a friend to a matchmaking session. After meeting his friend's potential bride Tie Yuxiang (Leni Lan), the daughter of a well-off family, he quickly changed his tune as both of them fell in love at first sight. They got married quickly but their bedroom activities weren't that enjoyable as Wei Yangshen couldn't control his ejaculation and later on, we discovered that he wasn't really well-endowed down below.

To make matter worse, Wei Yangshen started to "investigate" Prince Ning (Tony Ho)'s crime by visiting the Tower of the Rarities. He became bewitched by the ladies in Prince Ning's Pavilion of Ultimate Bliss, especially Prince Ning's prized girls Reizhu (Saori Hara) and Dongmei (Yukiko Suo). Reizhu helped Wei Yangshen to overcome his premature ejaculation problem and finally our hero could finally enjoy sex.

Wei Yangshen became obsessed with having sex in Prince Ning's pleasure dorm that he neglected his wife. It became so bad that the Tie family force Wei Yangshen to agree to a divorce. After the divorce, Wei Yangshen returned back to Prince Ning's lair and helped him to discover another treasure in his vast collection. As a reward, Prince Ning allowed him to have sex with Dongmei but his micro-penis couldn't satisfied Dongmei and that gave him an inferior complex.

Meanwhile in the Tie's household, Yuxiang started to have sexual urges and lust after a coolie. 

To overcome his micro penis problem, Wei Yangshen seeked Elder Bliss (Vonnie Lui) help and he underwent an unorthodox penis transplant. With his newly acquired penis, Wei Yangshen is now able to satisfy many women.  What he didn't know was that this is all part of Prince Ning's evil plan.

The Perspective

Sex and Zen Extreme Ecstasy turned out to be as bad as what the detractors are saying. Personally, it wasn't the violent and gore that turned me off. It's a weird norm that most of Hong Kong erotic Category III infuse gory stuff into their sex scenes so it came as no surprise. I am not really a fan of Leni Lan and Vonnie Lui so there were no expectation on them to give an arousing performance. Saori Hara and Yukiko Suo are two Japan Adult Video actress who had done plenty of hardcore porn so there very little anticipation for them to top their arousing act in a softporn flick.

Putting those letdowns aside, my personal displeasure with Sex and Zen Extreme Ecstasy would have to be the plotting and characterization.

Before you question the sanity of reviewing a Hong Kong Category III (3) soft porn flick, I am comparing Sex and Zen Extreme Ecstasy with Amy Yip's Sex and Zen 玉蒲團之偷情寶鑑 (which was equally notorious back in the nineties ) and the recent The Forbidden Legend: Sex and Chopsticks 金瓶梅 (Jin Ping Mei). All three titles had similar structure but the execution differs greatly.

Basically, Sex and Zen Extreme Ecstasy is some sort of reboot of Amy Yip's Sex and Zen. The story flows better in Sex and Zen and they don't do U-turn on characterization. In Sex and Zen Extreme Ecstasy, it's like a marathon of sexual episodes with little effort on their linkage. They also tried to do too much with one movie. Sex and Chopsticks was at least wise enough to split the movie into two so that the changes that happens to the protagonist(s) could happen slowly. Here we get a crammed session of changes to the main characters that would make you roll your eyes. Personally it's hard to imagine why would anyone be affected by the morale of the story because the execution was really bad.

If there's anything that Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy had done well, it would be to utilize the "freshness" of recent 3D Fads. It's a great marketing success but I believe it's going to be hard to repeat this kind of success again. Folks might be attracted to the gimmicky pitch that shroud this film production at first but after an unsatisfying time, they might not come back for seconds. But then again, curiosity might just do the trick for them.

3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy [ Trailer ]

Safe For Work Trailers

Singapore trailer


China trailer - provides more unseen footage from the previous trailer and showcase more of the potential 3D effects with various projectile


Another Trailer ... that comes with mosaic to cover up the notti bits. But from this trailer, you can get a rough idea what to expect from the Movie

3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy [ Video ]

Press Conference with the Actress (Vonnie Lui, Saori Hara & Yukiko Suo)


A Look at Behind the Scenes cum Making Off



Just wondering if anyone need translation? I can try and write out the gist of what they are saying. Just let me know by posting a comment on this post. Cheers RLJ

The Man From Nowhere | 아저씨 [ Movie Review ] ★★★★

The Pitch

The Man from Nowhere was the Top Korean Film of the 2010 Korean Box Office. That information alone should perk some interest and curiosity for this movie. It's also headlined by Won Bin, one of the top artist in Korea with his huge fans base. But it's unlikely that the fans could push a film into the top spot. There must be something good in the movie that garnered so many viewings from non fans or business from repeated viewings.

The Plot

Cha Tae-sik (Won Bin) leads a quiet life a pawnbroker in a neighborhood pawn shop. A little girl So-Mi (Kim Sae-ron) kept pestering him and became his companion (irregardless whether he wants it or not). Troubles started knocking on their doors when thugs wanted to recover some drugs that So-Mi's mom had stolen and she kept it in a camera bag that she had pawned to Tae-sik.

What they didn't realized was that Tae-sik is not your ordinary pawnbroker and he is not a man to trifle with.

After a tense standoff, the thugs managed to leave with the drugs and So-Mi. In order to rescue them, he agreed to run an errand for them and ended up getting double crossed by the thugs. The police arrived at the exchange location and apprehended him. They were surprised to discover So-Mi's mom dead body in the trunk of his car. To make matters worse, the internal organs are missing and that would mean that these thugs are not simply trafficking drugs.

Time is ticking by and Tae-sik is forced to go all out to rescue little So-Mi before she suffers the same fate as her mom. It's not only the bad guys, Tae-sik had to content with the police force who are investigating this case.

The Perspective

The introduction arc of The Man from Nowhere felt like it's a remake of Léon (The Professional). It's awfully similar to how the young girl bonded with the quiet neighbor and the parents who are involved with drugs. I was half expecting the little girl asking for her neighbor to coach her in the ways of assassins. But then again, it's not a remake of Léon. Almost half way through, it became a movie about drug / human organs trafficking and one man's mission to rescue his young friend. He did it in a very brutally effective way and the movie took a turn for Liam Neeson's Taken.

But nevertheless, the movie has a solid run with it's rendition of those familiar elements and could stand on it's own without being label as a knockoff. It's largely based on the performance and how the story was told.

First of all, there are pretty memorable villains in this movie. The two leaders are wildly wicked and bestially cruel. Their right hand man is a cool hitman with a strong sense of ethics. The things they do to the kids are so repulsive that it makes their gory comeuppance a joy to sit through. They might be  stereotypical but they were effective here in defining the hero's struggle.

The story also had a great pace and flow. Keeping various turn of events coming a brisk pace that it will keep one on the edge of the chair. From the revelation of Tae-sik's background to the true nature of the thugs' trafficking, it just hooks you and never let go till the end credits.

Then there's the little girl's performance as So-Mi. Kim Sae-ron exude a sense of adorableness without being too annoying. There a sense of worldliness and innocence to her that makes her her a great supporting act. Given her young age, Kim Sae-ron is definitely someone to watch out for in the future. 

Last but not least, this is a Won Bin movie and he got screen charisma in spades. From the hard hitting unflinching man on a mission to one dealing with lost cause, it's easy to see why he had such a huge fan base.

The Koreans are also know for their hard hitting take on vengeance movies and they are constantly pushing edge of morality. With the right cast, performance and direction, the movie will grip hold of the audience long after the credits are over. The Man from Nowhere is one of those movies that balance violence and emotion well. One of the finest Korean movies in recent years and definitely worthy of it's placing in the 2010 Korean Box Office.


Beyond the Movie

The Korean title for this movie Ajussi means Uncle.

AV [ Dvd Review ] *** 1/2

The gist of Edmond Pang's AV would be four Hong Kong university students attempting to have sex with a Japanese porn star through the guise of making an actual movie.

But yet ironically AV is about many other things and not so much on the original pitch. In fact there is so little depth on the sexual content that it's understandable why it gotten a IIb rating (Not suitable for Young Persons) instead of a Category 3 rating (Person aged 18 and above only). But the again AV excel in those many things that one could easily forget all about the gimmicky pitch and enjoyed what this AV have to provide.


It all started when one of their friends Lok faked a film production to make out with a girl. He was sacked from his university but that tactic inspired a bunch of friends to push the envelope further. The four of them decided to get funding and hire one of the popular Japanese AV actress  over and have sex with her while pretending to be making a movie. Numerous humorous cock up started to pile up in their way as they chase after the ultimate dream of most men ~ sex with a Japanese porn star!

The most entertaining aspect of AV was ironically not about the sex bits. It was the fooling among friends and the crude sex jokes that they shared or used at each other. It's the weird and funny obstacles that get thrown in their ways and how they overcome it. In the midst of chasing their dream, AV touches on doing something meaningful and audacious in their youth so that there won't be any regrets later on in life.

Then there are the tender moments in AV that makes one wonder if it's possible to fall in love with a porn star actress. It's a interesting take as while most people around the world view the porn career as a demeaning job, a significant  portion of the Japanese population don't see it that way. In fact, it seemed to be gaining popularity with the young female Japanese as some of the Japanese porn star do branch out to mainstream media career.

One of the nice moment here was the allusion on how ultimately porn star are there to sell a fantasy to the end user. It came rather unexpected but sometimes beneath the cutesy lovable facade lies something totally different.

Well that's what you get from a Edmond Pang movie. Interesting novel concepts with boisterous humour and tender moments of love in the most unexpected fashion.

Film: 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars

DVD Extra

When it comes to Edmond Pang movie on a dvd, you will bound to find at least some sort of extra feature in the Dvd. It varies from company that release his movie but you will get at least a commentary and making off segment. It's pretty rare as generally Hong Kong movies don't get so much extra effort put in for their dvds. What make it even better would be that it contain English subtitles for most of the extra segments and that's something that even the English friendly Korean Dvds don't normally do.

Disc 1

Director's statement - The Director's Statement comes in both Mandarin and English text. It covers the genesis for this AV movie and what was the inspiration for his movie. Who would expect that director Chen Kaige would have "something" to do with this movie.

Making of "AV" - Presented as "AV news" that follow Amamiya Manami to Hong Kong for her participation in this movie. It even tried to authenticated this "AV news" with a "Japanese" host speaking in Japanese and was dubbed over by a Cantonese narrator. There are plenty amusing moments in this segment. Specially on how they poke fun at the director for being just a little horny and the rest of the cast complaining about the first guy who got to make out with the female star.

Secret message from Amamiya Manami -

The not so secret video recording contains Amamiya Manami's monologue at the start and end of the movie. She also left two other video message for the director and cast. It's hard to believe someone so Kawaii (cute) and lively was a porn star.


Theatrical trailers and TV spots - One trailer and one tv spot for this movie. The second segment contains certain video scenes that is not in the movie.

Data Bank - Contain information on the Cast and crew profiles (in Mandarin) and the Synopsis (in both Mandarin and English)

Photo gallery - Automated sideshow of the cast during the film shoot. Comes with a soothing soundtrack to reminisce the video from a different angle.

Disc 2

Video commentary by Director and Cast - Why do a commentary when you could do a Video commentary. This video commentary works as the camaraderie between the director and the main cast made it fun to watch their lively bantering about the movie and stuff beyond it.

It turned out that the story of Kar Lok using film making as an excuse to make out with a girl was based upon a true life incident. They even point out that the actual Kar Lok played a part in the movie and his tale is well known in the Hong Kong film industry.

They even touch on censorship rules in Hong Kong and how the tight film schedule for AV made it impossible for Amamiya Manami to bid farewell to the rest of the crew before rushing for her flight back to Japan. There's plenty of interesting film making information and other amusing stuff that happened during the making of this movie. Not to be missed if you enjoyed the movie or if you are a fan of Hong Kong movies.

Deleted scenes - contain 9 mins + of certain additional, alternate and extended scenes that didn't make it to the final cut. The absence of English subtitles in this segment make it impossible to understand certain scenes that's converse in Japanese (unless you understand Japanese). The most amusing bit would be Amamiya Manami consoling the guys for their inability to perform the sex scenes and various snide remarks from the crew.

NG footage - A handful of NG footages that ended with an extra long making out scene with Amamiya Manami.


Beyond the Movie


Now for some updated AV News ... FilmsBlitz style

Amamiya Manami has retired (or Graduated as they like to say in Japan) from the Japanese Adult Video (JAV) industry back in 2008. As far as my research could find out, she was actually a newcomer in the JAV industry (with only 1 or 2 titles under her belt) prior to the making of this AV in 2005. Later on in her career, she signed up with one of the major and popular JAV company, S1 and stayed there till her final video. Some fans expressed joy that she didn't end her career with companies that are much more hardcore and degrading (yes ... even in the porn industry standard, there's a degree of debauchery) as many Japanese porn stars did with their twilight career.

For Folks in Singapore

With the new M18 & NC 16 rating dvds out for rental, you could borrow this Dvd and many other goodies at the library@esplanade.