Skykid's Top Asian Movie List

[xbl0x180]

I will have to bookmark this thred separately from the rest of the forum.


I just finished Pistol Opera and, God damn, that was a very trying exercise in attention for me. It doesn't help that I may be borderline narcoleptic, so I was ready to go to sleep at the 90-minute mark (which netfix erroneously attributed its running time) when I was dismayed to find there were 17 more minutes to go. FFFFFFFFF***!

The good: actors, sets, and make-up and costumes (along with the chosen colours)
.
The bad: that awful (and LOUD) freejazz trumpet theme that went on and on and on and on and on. I have a phobia of getting tinnitus from listening to terrible music.

The ugly: whereas "Branded To Kill" actually had a semblance of linearity from one action to another, this one jumped and skipped from nonsense to more nonsense. It made me question whether I was watching something I didn't understand or if I understood this was supposed to not make any sense because it's a Brechtian Cinema Novo Art School Project piece of crap. It didn't help I watched it on a double-bill with "The Housemaid," so I was all ready to hate pretty much anything that wasn't life-affirming, inspiring, slow-paced, contemplative, and beautiful at the on-set. The editing in this movie is ugly and criminal, and does a disservice to the actors, whom I think did their earnest best to work with such bizarre material. Suzuki Seijun: YOU ARE NO CZECH NEW WAVER!






Somebody, shoot me from having to witness another one of these

[Skykid]

Somebody, shoot me from having to witness another one of these

Glad you finished it so I don't have to. I watched the first 10 minutes and thought "fuck this."

Avoiding modern Japanese movies reduces the chances of having your night ruined by approximately 50%. There must be something on the top list you haven't seen, why don't you watch one of those?

[xbl0x180]

Somebody, shoot me from having to witness another one of these

Glad you finished it so I don't have to. I watched the first 10 minutes and thought "fuck this."

Avoiding modern Japanese movies reduces the chances of having your night ruined by approximately 50%. There must be something on the top list you haven't seen, why don't you watch one of those?

There are very, very few movies I never finish watching mainly because I tend to avoid crap by just watching the preview. I think I can count the number of movies I never finished on both hands. Generally, I tend to choose stuff that I end up liking. I actually picked these latter two based on reading the movie topics in this forum and without previewing them


Do you know of any films from Asia that you would compare to David Lynch's Blue Velvet, Andrzej Zulawski's Possession, Luc Besson's Subway, and Jean-Jacques Beineix's Diva? Or films from Asia which have that filtered-lens, soft focus junk style popular in the 70s and early 80s (i.e., Just Jaeckin and David Hamilton) and had music scores similar to Francis Lai's or Patrick Juvet's The latter style seems to be primarily from Europe, although the US had a few.





Otherwise, I'm watching Drive tonight

[Skykid]

Somebody, shoot me from having to witness another one of these

Glad you finished it so I don't have to. I watched the first 10 minutes and thought "fuck this."

Avoiding modern Japanese movies reduces the chances of having your night ruined by approximately 50%. There must be something on the top list you haven't seen, why don't you watch one of those?

There are very, very few movies I never finish watching mainly because I tend to avoid crap by just watching the preview. I think I can count the number of movies I never finished on both hands. Generally, I tend to choose stuff that I end up liking. I actually picked these latter two based on reading the movie topics in this forum and without previewing them


Do you know of any films from Asia that you would compare to David Lynch's Blue Velvet, Andrzej Zulawski's Possession, Luc Besson's Subway, and Jean-Jacques Beineix's Diva? Or films from Asia which have that filtered-lens, soft focus junk style popular in the 70s and early 80s (i.e., Just Jaeckin and David Hamilton) and had music scores similar to Francis Lai's or Patrick Juvet's The latter style seems to be primarily from Europe, although the US had a few.

Otherwise, I'm watching Drive tonight

Drive is okay. Lightweight stuff and misses way too many opportunities, but it's watchable.

Asian equivalent to Blue Velvet? Hmm... No. Lynch is in a bit of a class of his own with that one. Nothing that springs to immediately mind anyway. Dumplings is very dark and pretty bizarre, but doesn't have that dream quality.

Loving the 70's soft filtered lens, but can't think of an Asian movies I've seen that use something like that predominantly. I seem to remember Suzhou River having some interesting filtering, but it's more noirish than anything else. Wong Kar Wai's Fallen Angels similarly.

Sorry man, Drive it is!

[xbl0x180]

I'm not looking for bizarre per se. I'm actually looking for something a little more pedestrian and common: The "glossy and dark," slick look with lots of neon lights and notable found architecture and city landscapes. I mean, when I watched Blue Velvet I immediately recalled someone comparing the look of the film to Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks"



Lynch


Zulawski


Besson



Brian DePalma used to do slick and dark films in the 70s and into the mid-80s, although his stuff was primarily Suspense/Thrillers. You weren't too far off when you suggested "Fallen Angels," which I already have on video. This is also why I liked Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Tsai Ming-Liang, and, to some extent, Iwai Shunji (including Lily Chou-Chou). I am either looking for really, really crisp photography or really faded junk. Funnily enough, Isabelle Adjani is in both Zulawski and Besson's films, as well as Walter Hill's Driver, of which Drive sometimes gets compared to... aaaaand whose first 15 minutes are exactly what I am referring to (even though the complete movie itself derails into average after the 15-minute mark). It made me think, if the cinematographer who did Koyaanisqatsi was to shoot a Heist movie, it would look like the first 15 minutes of Drive




Killer jacket

[Skykid]

as well as Walter Hill's Driver, of which Drive sometimes gets compared to... aaaaand whose first 15 minutes are exactly what I am referring to (even though the complete movie itself derails into average after the 15-minute mark).

It's kinda sad isn't it?

My favourite of Walter Hill's films is Southern Comfort, with a soft spot for The Warriors and Red Heat.

I tend to find De Palma overrated compared to how he seems to be perceived by the general collective, but Dressed to Kill and Blow Out were very good (the former better than the latter iirc.)
Raising Cain, Mission to Mars on the other hand are very unimpressive (actually MTM is a steaming pile of crap.)

Anyway, Asian movie thread, back OT.

[lilmanjs]

anyone here seen Murder Take one/The Big Scene? just saw that last night and really quite was blown away. sure at the start its a little confusing if they are doing a fake investigation for a tv show, or if its a tv show airing a real murder investigation, but it sorts itself out quite nicely. the movie though has enough twists and turns to be very good! any other murder mystery movies that are worth checking out? or is this the wrong thread for that?

[system11]

You need Red Cliff in there, loved it. Obviously you want the full version instead of the confused condensed one. I'm also a big fan of Curse of the Golden Flower which seems to get ignored alongside other films from around the same time.

I am also a film addict, no particular countries, genres or years - I'll watch anything. At last count there were over 400 blu-rays in the rack, well - in the racks and in boxes in the garage because I simply can't keep them all in the house anymore. I tend to watch a lot on demand too, plus we have a Sky subscription My avatar is from one of my desert island films.

[xbl0x180]

anyone here seen Murder Take one/The Big Scene? just saw that last night and really quite was blown away. sure at the start its a little confusing if they are doing a fake investigation for a tv show, or if its a tv show airing a real murder investigation, but it sorts itself out quite nicely. the movie though has enough twists and turns to be very good! any other murder mystery movies that are worth checking out? or is this the wrong thread for that?

Are you looking for a Murder-Mystery movie from Asia or in general? I recall seeing a Korean movie called "A Good Wife" from a series of movies called "Temptation of Eve." It was okay and had a bit of Mystery elements in it with one of the main plot devices being about a guy tracking a girl for an old acquaintance of his (a little bit like Vertigo in that sense), but, as usual, Korean filmmakers are still directing as if they were amateurs/film students, so it derailed and ended really bad

[lilmanjs]

anyone here seen Murder Take one/The Big Scene? just saw that last night and really quite was blown away. sure at the start its a little confusing if they are doing a fake investigation for a tv show, or if its a tv show airing a real murder investigation, but it sorts itself out quite nicely. the movie though has enough twists and turns to be very good! any other murder mystery movies that are worth checking out? or is this the wrong thread for that?

Are you looking for a Murder-Mystery movie from Asia or in general? I recall seeing a Korean movie called "A Good Wife" from a series of movies called "Temptation of Eve." It was okay and had a bit of Mystery elements in it with one of the main plot devices being about a guy tracking a girl for an old acquaintance of his (a little bit like Vertigo in that sense), but, as usual, Korean filmmakers are still directing as if they were amateurs/film students, so it derailed and ended really bad

From Asia of course. yea, a lot of them don't seem to end well, but this one really did work out very well. its like somebody actually knew what they were doing and it showed.

[system11]

Oh, and of course I forgot to mention a brilliant asian film I watched last week - hadn't seen this one before buying it, it really held my attention for the entire film: Vengeance Is Mine. Ken Ogata was absolutely believable in the main role - yet at times the general world around him seemed more monstrous than he was.

[Skykid]

You need Red Cliff in there, loved it.

I thought it was high gloss trash with beautiful lenses and scenery, lots of celebrities and zero substance. It was John Woo does Hollywood in Hong Kong in mainland China, and totally by the numbers.

It was barely passable as throwaway popcorn entertainment, but I didn't like the fact it was being pushed as some kind of masterpiece by the PR wheels.

Out of 47 contributing film critics it only got one mention in a list of best Asian films of the 2000's, which is generous imo. I put it down to the responsible reviewer's lack of exposure:

http://dgeneratefilms.com/uncategorized ... s-ballots/

^ This is quite a good list btw, lots of the stuff mentioned in this thread ranks very highly on here.

[system11]

You need Red Cliff in there, loved it.

I thought it was high gloss trash with beautiful lenses and scenery, lots of celebrities and zero substance. It was John Woo does Hollywood in Hong Kong in mainland China, and totally by the numbers.

That aside, it had a good story, some memorable scenes (my favourite was the arrow collecting), and it was a pleasure to watch all the way through. To me this is all that matters in a film, I don't always want a lasting message or to be made to think about anything in particular. Escapism matters, and on that count it delivered in spades. I also don't care what critics think, because a good percentage of them have totally lost the plot when it comes to films as entertainment. A good example of this would be the current rating of 63% from 'top' critics on Hobo With A Shotgun - they've missed the point entirely. It's supposed to be a crass exploitation film, a throwback to the 70s. On that count it's as good as you could hope for - they even went with technicolour.

I think you'd like Vengeance Is Mine, look it up - it has a semi documentary feel in places, but nothing like the current obnoxious wave of handycam films. It's been released on BR on the Masters Of Cinema label, picture quality is good for the most part. It's more or less a character study of a wanted killer, based on a true story.

[Skykid]

I think you'd like Vengeance Is Mine, look it up - it has a semi documentary feel in places, but nothing like the current obnoxious wave of handycam films. It's been released on BR on the Masters Of Cinema label, picture quality is good for the most part. It's more or less a character study of a wanted killer, based on a true story.

Happy to take a look. For the record I thought Hobo With a Shotgun was much better than Red Cliff, for all the reasons you mentioned and more.

[iconoclast]

Just watched Fallen Angels. I haven't seen a lot of movies from Hong Kong, but FA is probably my favorite so far. Awesome movie, and it has an awesome soundtrack too. Gonna check out Chungking Express next.

[Skykid]

Just watched Fallen Angels. I haven't seen a lot of movies from Hong Kong, but FA is probably my favorite so far. Awesome movie, and it has an awesome soundtrack too. Gonna check out Chungking Express next.

Yeah, it's great isn't it? If you found that final scene rather odd. it's a tie in/homage to one of Wai's other movies. When I first saw it I couldn't get over how cool it was that it was in there.

It's very hard not to stuff the top list with Wong Kar Wai, since so much he does is superb. Chungking Express you'll most certainly enjoy.

[Siren2011]

I'm amazed that no one here, as knowledgable as people are around these parts about foreign and obscure things, has mentioned Tony Motherfucking Jaa!

Ong Bak 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5W2p0epA6k

That is some of the best fighting choreography I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. I'm pretty sure he does all of his own stunts like a boss, and his influences include Bruce Li, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, etc. It is famously known that at age 10, he threatened his father that he would kill himself if he was not taught Muay Thai. He thought of those on screen badasses as role models and wanted more than anything to be as heroic as they were. He was obsessed with performing each fighting move his idols did, and doing it exactly how they did it. I have a lot of respect for him.

[jonny5]

I'm amazed that no one here, as knowledgable as people are around these parts about foreign and obscure things, has mentioned Tony Motherfucking Jaa!

Ong Bak 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5W2p0epA6k

That is some of the best fighting choreography I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. I'm pretty sure he does all of his own stunts like a boss, and his influences include Bruce Li, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, etc. It is famously known that at age 10, he threatened his father that he would kill himself if he was not taught Muay Thai. He thought of those on screen badasses as role models and wanted more than anything to be as heroic as they were. He was obsessed with performing each fighting move his idols did, and doing it exactly how they did it. I have a lot of respect for him.

I wasn't impressed with Ong Bak 2. I though Ong Bak 1 had better fighting; 2 had all this sword fighting and shit, while cool, not what I want to see him doing.

Also, most of the stuff he is doing isnt actually Muay Thai, it's Muay Boran.

Tom Yum Goong was bad ass too!

[Siren2011]

Dude, I also noticed that! There are parts where the sword fighting gets really boring to watch in OB2, with the second to last big fight scene being an exception. I still need to see the first one. Though I heard mixed things about the third installment.

[Skykid]

I've seen all the Ong Baks, they got some good fighting in 'em. Is 2 the one with that enormous single-take staircase battle and the line up of big white bosses at the end?

That was the best one.

[jonny5]

I've seen all the Ong Baks, they got some good fighting in 'em. Is 2 the one with that enormous single-take staircase battle and the line up of big white bosses at the end?

That was the best one.

I believe that was Tom Yum Goong(The Protector). Haven't watched any of his films in a while though so I may be mistaken.

[Necronopticous]

Yes, you are correct. It is even better with Tony Jaa as Terry Bogard.

[MX7]

Watched Yasuzo Murusama's Red Angel the other day. Incredible. I adore Blind Beast and Manji, and you can see lots of auteuristic traits in evidence across the three films. Angel is pretty much the most devestating anti-war film I have seen, along with Waltz with Bashir. Absolutely no glory, no characters to like, just endless dehumanisation. It's a tough watch, but very much worth it.

I make no bones about my love of Pistol Opera. It's pure, unadulterated joy from start to finish. I don't understand how such a fun film can be such a bore for people. You really need to leave your prconceptions regarding narrative at the door. Suzuki isn't interested in telling a story; he wants to give you everything amazing about the gangster genre with none of the flab. It's jazz, it's punk, it's immediate, unthinking, unlearned. I think watching it acknowledging these provisos might net more benefits

I've got I Don't Want To Sleep Alone on DVD, can't wait to watch it. The Wayward Cloud was absolute cinephilliac joy, as precise as Haneke, which makes the zany musical numbers juxtapose with the somber formalism even more effectively.

[Skykid]

~ After This Our Exile 父子 ~

This film won best picture at the 2006 Hong Kong film awards, which gives you a clear indicator of the general quality of Hong Kong films cos it's bloody rubbish.

A film about people who have a kid and then hate each other. Or a film about a kid who's trapped between warring parents. Or a film about a mother who's a useless bitch who abandons her kid to enjoy a happy life with a rich man instead of her simple, poor, gambling addict of a partner who she no longer loves.

Whatever.

It's long, overdrawn, rambling. Makes no real case for sympathy for any of the characters because the performances are poor (except the father). It's directed ham-fistedly, and it's all so OTT from one second to the next there's no element of believability in the character's actions and snap decisions. It's also set in Malaysia, with the Malaysian characters being played by Hong Kongese and speaking Cantonese, which just doesn't work.

Hong Kong movies struggle desperately to transfer anything they've learned as a commercial industry to create films with any realism or genuine depth. It all ends up forced and full of error.

There's only one Wong Kar Wai, and that's their fault for making nothing but glossy Triad movies.

Don't waste your time.

[xbl0x180]

I make no bones about my love of Pistol Opera. It's pure, unadulterated joy from start to finish. I don't understand how such a fun film can be such a bore for people. You really need to leave your prconceptions regarding narrative at the door. Suzuki isn't interested in telling a story; he wants to give you everything amazing about the gangster genre with none of the flab. It's jazz, it's punk, it's immediate, unthinking, unlearned. I think watching it acknowledging these provisos might net more benefits

Man, I've seen other Suzuki Seijun films, so I thought I knew what I was going in for, but the movie is way too abstract and overly long for what he wanted to display. He coulda just gone the way of Kenneth Anger and other film artists by just shooting shorter stuff. He had great material to work with: actors, costumes, props and sets; recording and editing; sounds; themes. I think the only item that didn't work so well was the music. I'm not keen on freeform Jazz or whatever that was, but this isn't something I'd choose to listen to. Pistol Opera is one of the raer instances where the separate parts are worth more than the parts put together

[lilmanjs]

I don't know why Accident hasn't been mentioned in this thread. great acting and Louis Koo's character, you really do feel like he's a man starting to lose his mind all from one failed hit. also, have picked up 2046 on dvd, but yet to watch it in full. got about 20mins in and passed out. probably not a good idea to start a movie at 2am.

[Skykid]

^ MX7 is all-round special, I know cos I've hung out with him and seen what he does when he's drunk. When it comes to movies I believe his all-encompassing love for the medium eclipses what others may consider to be flaws.

One man's abstract mess is another's artistic trophy. People like MX7 need to exist in the name of diversity.

Personally I don't know what he's rambling on about half the time, even when he's sober, but he's definitely read a few books.

I don't know why Accident hasn't been mentioned in this thread. great acting and Louis Koo's character, you really do feel like he's a man starting to lose his mind all from one failed hit. also, have picked up 2046 on dvd, but yet to watch it in full. got about 20mins in and passed out. probably not a good idea to start a movie at 2am.

Lol, 2046 at 2am, not a good idea (although I watch movies at that time tbh.)

Accident wasn't that good tbh. Ok idea, had a hook, but just a bit flat overall. Louis Koo in Connected is way more fun (they remade it in Hollywood as Cellular, which is shit.)
He's also in Baby Plan with Jackie Chan which is the last really fun JC film I've seen, I recommend it.

[lilmanjs]

baby plan? that's also called robin-b-hood, correct? I own that movie and love it to death. I guess what keeps me watching Accident over and over is pretty much the soundtrack. hopefully the next movie from the same dude, Motorway, is good. at least the music will be!

[Skykid]

baby plan? that's also called robin-b-hood, correct?

Yep, same one. It's really good fun isn't it?

[lilmanjs]

baby plan? that's also called robin-b-hood, correct?

Yep, same one. It's really good fun isn't it?

yea, great movie. sad though that we get one more action movie from Jackie Chan.