TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

lazarillo This is a very Japanese movie, and as such, much of the satirical humor was lost on me. Still you can tell that it is a very wry and clever movie that doesn't insult its audience by assuming that they will watch anything as long as there are enough naked women it--something very unusual for a sexploitation film from ANY country. The movie concerns a Keiko, substitute weather girl, high-wire karate expert, and chronic masturbator who manages to take the regular weather girls place by flashing her panties on the air. This somehow leads her to the top of the struggling network. The unfortunate former weather girl has to become her personal (topless)maid whose job includes licking the soap bubbles off her body after she takes a bath in her private suite. There's also some weird dominatrix scene involving a male ad. exec. who tries unsuccessfully to get Keiko fired, and, of course, a musical number or two.So far, so sexploitative, but then the plot kicks in when the Paris-educated daughter of the elderly station owner shows up and gets the weather girl fired via a sex scandal (apparently flashing your panties--or lack thereof--on live TV is not considered scandalous in Japan). The movie then quickly descends into bizarro/manga territory as Keiko teams up with a male admirer (who, outside of Japan,would be called a stalker) to take supernatural revenge by "harnessing the power of the weather" in an elaborate ritual involving a thunderstorm, a lightning rod, self-flagellation, and of course much more female masturbation and gratuitous nudity. Still it is a pretty enjoyable film and, if nothing else, you're pretty unlikely to see anything like it again (at least outside of Japan).

Alice Liddel One is tempted to suspect the feminist credentials of any male director, especially in a film boasting graphic female onanism, and a not-exactly-hostile-to-adolescent-male-fantasy bath scene featuring naked women, licking, foam and cute maid's outfits. Nevertheless, one must applaud Hosoyama's intentions - he far outstrips the similarly themed and styled 'To Die For' in terms of both visual imagination and ideological sympathy. What begins as a media satire turns into a gleefully bizarre S&M martial arts fantasy. The terms of the conflict are gendered - the sterile post-modern male world of the media and virtual reality; and the older female world of magic and nature. This tends to reinforce stereotypes, especially when the villainess is punished for wanting to be man, but who cares when you're having this much fun?

calvinc This is a great little film with lots of interesting (and hilarious and erotic) twists and turns. I'm always a little put off when I hear "satire", but this is satire that never descends into cynicism. The film makers obviously enjoyed making this. I also highly recommend the sequel, "Weather Woman Returns", which is just as good.

Vegie I've always been a fan of crazy, erotic asian romps, and this comedy is one of the best. Hell, there's even a lesbian sex scene thrown in with no relevance at all(not that I was worried). It was followed by a mild sequel that isn't worth seeing, but this one(based on a popular manga comic strip) certainly is. You'll never look at your local TV weatherperson the same way after this.