Movies you've just watched

[EmperorIng]

Why are you watching all the lame directors when you should be watching the only Hong Kong filmmaker that mattered, Godfrey Ho?

[drauch]

Get ready to kill yourself after Bullet in the Head. So depressing. But fantastic.

Godfrey Ho is God...frey Ho. Its been too long since I've seen any. I need to correct that soon.

[blackoak]

I've been trying to clear out some of my Netflix queue... a task no doubt familiar to many. Put on two documentaries tonight, "Gashole" and "A Life among Whales."

Gashole, a painfully sophomoric conspiracy theory on allegedly suppressed engine technology, I couldn't finish. I'm pretty open to things commonly labeled "conspiracy theories", since not every conspiracy is theoretical, and the term often gets tossed around inaccurately. But this was just garbage: avoid.

A Life among Whales was very sad, and had the strengths and weaknesses of most single-issue liberal documentaries. I was reminded of why I practiced environmental law for 2 years, but I was also reminded of one of the reasons I left (although its understanding by young me was nascent and not well-articulated, then). The alarming facts about commercial whaling and pollution are answered pathetically with: "when people decide to make a change, they will." Such notes of pure idealism (and "greed" is also mentioned in a disconnected fashion as the reason whaling persists) get one nowhere. In one sense I don't want to be too critical of a man who dedicated his life to raising awareness of the wonders of whales and marine biology, but awareness as a political tract is a liberal dead end, right in there with "transparency" as a solution to corporate malfeasance and consumer safety. Ditto the protest and "awareness" raising stunts of Greenpeace, featured prominently in this documentary.

Its a glaring deficiency of almost all environmental documentaries I've seen. The truth is that the problem of whaling persists because of the economic system known as capitalism, and all its attendant side effects (ie "laws" as Marx and others have defined them). Unchallenged, they produce whaling of the 19th century; challenged, they produce a kind of "keynesian" or "reformist" whaling that takes the form of impotent regulations and squabbling, distracting nationalism (Japan BAD!). Its very sad to see environmentalists with such limited political and historical acumen, because environmentalism has the potential to be a great testifier against the current system... not a mere toothpick pressure for weak legislative reform.

[njiska]

Get ready to kill yourself after Bullet in the Head. So depressing. But fantastic.

Fortunately I don't mind depressing films. One of my all-time favourites is Grave of the Fireflies and it still bums me out on repeat viewings.

[Skykid]

Get ready to kill yourself after Bullet in the Head. So depressing. But fantastic.

Fortunately I don't mind depressing films. One of my all-time favourites is Grave of the Fireflies and it still bums me out on repeat viewings.

GOTFF is great though, Bullet in the Head really isn't. It's depressing because its overly sensational, to the point where it feels like you're watching a snuff re-enactement of the Deer Hunter. Woo got the balance wrong: the violence is far too strong/realistic with no moral basis to make up for the viewer having to witness graphic scenes of wartime murder.

Hard Boiled (and most of his other stuff) works better because it doesn't try to be anything except comic book fantasy.

[scrilla4rella]

I just saw The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on a flight. Surprisingly awesome. I really got into it despite the small screen. It really makes me want to check out more spagetti-western flicks.

Btw, I heard they were remaking Unforgiven into a samurai film. http://screenrant.com/unforgiven-remake ... -watanabe/. The cross pollination between classic Japanse cinema and the Italian western directors is really interesting.

[mesh control]

Get ready to kill yourself after Bullet in the Head. So depressing. But fantastic.

I need to see this.
Is this on netflix? I need to justify re-activating my account.

[njiska]

To my knowledge no Hong Kong John Woo films are on Netflix.

[KAI]

It really makes me want to check out more spagetti-western flicks.

You should watch Sergio Corbucci's Django, the undubbed version.

[njiska]

It really makes me want to check out more spagetti-western flicks.

You should watch Sergio Corbucci's Django, the undubbed version.

I can also vouch for Django. Great, often over-looked Spaghetti Western.

[drauch]

It really makes me want to check out more spagetti-western flicks.

You should watch Sergio Corbucci's Django, the undubbed version.

I can also vouch for Django. Great, often over-looked Spaghetti Western.

Or just Corbucci's Westerns in general. Minnesota Clay is kinda bland, maybe because Cameron Mitchell was a drunk and didn't look the part, but Companeros, Navajo Joe, and especially The Great Silence are all ace material. The Great Silence is another real cheerful one! Probably my favorite of Corbucci's, possibly.

Snuff re-enactment...

[Mischief Maker]

Btw, I heard they were remaking Unforgiven into a samurai film. http://screenrant.com/unforgiven-remake ... -watanabe/. The cross pollination between classic Japanse cinema and the Italian western directors is really interesting.

They already did that. It's called Sword of Doom.

If it's anti-samurai flicks you want, I can't recommend Harakiri highly enough. Just don't start drawing economic parallels to modern day, it may depress you.

[njiska]

Just finished watching A Better Tomorrow 2 and I think I may actually prefer it to A Better Tomorrow. It's a significantly more extravagant and over-the-top production, but it's also very powerful in it's use of character death as a motivator. Strong themes of honour and brotherhood throughout, even more so than the original. Though I'll admit that some of the plot feels contrived; especially the reveal that Mark had a twin brother just so they could bring Yun-Fat back. Really impressed with Dean Shek's performance. He may have over-sold his characters mental trauma at the loss of his friends and daughter, but ultimately I think it works. Lung Ti yet again provides a very engaging performance as Ho.

In terms of presentation the film is undoubtedly superior. Far better dubbing and foley work than the original, though it's still very obvious that the film was not shot with sync-sound. The cinematography is also better, though I still see scenes where the focus is just off. I'm starting to wonder if they were using a lens with a fixed focal length for the bulk of shooting, as that would explain why characters move in and out of focus so easily.

Action wise, A Better Tomorrow 2 certainly delivers. The final shoot out in the mansion is extremely well choreographed and is more in line with what I expect from Hong Kong cinema. Some extremely fine moments of gun ballet and the showdown between Yun-Fat and the assassin is great fun to watch. There's also a great scene of Lung Ti going nuts with a Katana that feels extremely satisfying.

Overall it's less of a drama then the original and the seriousness of the plot is completely lost by the time the three leads are sitting down, but it was great fun and very engaging.

[drauch]

Sword of Doom is fantastic!

Yeah, if you're in for much more action, A Better Tomorrow 2 certainly delivers. Quite hilarious that Chow is "back."

Watched Bonnie and Clyde ('67) and House on Sorority Row last night. Just got done with High Noon. Might try and make it through something else...

[CMoon]

Sword of Doom is fantastic!

For me I'd say 'very good', but yeah, its definitely a rather different take on the whole ronin business. Why not just be a wandering scumbag? The whole Peckinpah ending was great stuff.

[Ixmucane2]

The Dark Knight Rises
Too much screen time for boring characters and situations (e.g. the police chief, Bane's prison, and Bruce Wayne climbing) and too little for central plot points and issues (e.g. how the normal people of Gotham reacts to Bane's activity) and potentially meaningful and interesting ones (e.g Bruce Wayne's knee trouble, Blake's relationship with the GCPD, Bane's fanatical henchmen).
Important character backgrounds are sketchy (including Bane, in spite of the time allocated to tales and flashbacks about his prison) if not deliberately neglected.

Batman is seriously deprived of most of his normal activities: rather boring pain exchanges with Bane instead of properly cool fighting, only one new high tech gadget (the flying Bat-wing) and little use for old ones (who are largely used by other people instead), very little investigation and even less acrobatics. There's a deliberate intent (a difficult comeback instead of the peak of Batman's power, a sense of death and defeat, etc.) but the result sacrifices fun without being successfully tragic.

I found the ending very disappointing at the moment but, thinking of it, almost all of the mercifully compressed, rather tongue-in-cheek cliché orgy that takes place up to the last frame is forced by comics plot traditions.

Pleasant but shallow music (only one powerful but extremely simple theme), good special effects (mostly scenery and vehicles, nothing particularly bizarre).

[mesh control]

Contact

So much bullshit. I was pretty drunk and don't remember the tiny bits, but some parts were cool.


Red Planet
FUCK THIS MOVIE.
OH GOD WE JUST GOT HIT BY A GAMMA RAY BURST IN MARTIAN ORBIT
FUCK YOU
lol @ killer robot in space.

[drauch]

Oh god, Red Planet is just drivel. Stay away.

[xbl0x180]

Oh god, Contact is just drivel. Stay away.

[Mischief Maker]

Sword of Doom is fantastic!

For me I'd say 'very good', but yeah, its definitely a rather different take on the whole ronin business. Why not just be a wandering scumbag? The whole Peckinpah ending was great stuff.

Until now, when I looked it up on imdb for a link, I assumed it was part of an anti-samurai trilogy, along with Harakiri and Samurai Rebellion. Harakiri tore down the idea of Samurai Honor, Samurai Rebellion tore down the idea of a Samurai's complete devotion to his lord, and I assumed Sword of Doom was meant to once and for all debunk romantic notions about a man who completely and utterly devotes himself to the art of killing; much like Unforgiven debunked romantic notions about gunfighters for hire.

[Skykid]

Contact/Red Planet

Both are shit, but Red Planet is like 2 hours of pure anus. Brian de Palma declaring to the world that he's gotten by on a lot of luck.

The Skin I Live In - Pedro Almodóvar (2011)

Deliciously dark, rather disturbing slice of moral injustice. Blackly comic at times, frankly horrific in others, and told with a kind of evil fairy tale affection.
Almodóvar directs with an iron attention to detail and superb cinematography/set design. Just don't read or watch anything (trailers etc) beforehand, it's better to go in knowing nothing at all.

[njiska]

Continued the John Woo marathon last night with The Killer. Can't believe it's taken me nearly 5 years to finally get around to finishing watching it.

Yet again the film has a relatively simple plot, but is delivered with surprisingly good acting and some very well planned story beats. I particularly enjoyed the standoff between Yun-Fat Chow and Danny Lee in the apartment where they're forced to make up a story about being old buddies. The comedy of the scene, combined with the tension of the standoff and the blind woman they must dupe, makes for a fantastic bit of cinema.

Action scenes are yet again extremely well choreographed. Really nothing stood out as being exceptional, but nothing was lacking either. Just solid all round.

Was pleased that the audio didn't actually sound like dubbing this time around, even though I'm fairly certain it was. Given the steady progression in quality from film to film, I'm guessing that this was probably par for the course in Hong Kong cinema.

Today shall hopefully include viewings of Hard-Boiled, Hard Target and If I can muster the energy for it, all 4+ hours of Red Cliff.

[xbl0x180]

I think a lot of those HK films were dubbed post-production - kinda like Spaghetti Westerns - because they were made with the intention of being in Cantonese and Mandarin (and possibly other languages)

[njiska]

I think a lot of those HK films were dubbed post-production - kinda like Spaghetti Westerns - because they were made with the intention of being in Cantonese and Mandarin (and possibly other languages)

I didn't actually think about China having two languages, but that is a very good point! Still, my main issue is less with the fact that it is dubbed and more than A Better Tomorrow in particular is very badly dubbed. The audio levels are flat across the board, so no matter where a character is spatially with in the scene, it still feels like two guys sitting at a table with a mic dead centre between them. By the time of The Killer the dubbing has improved significantly.

[Aguraki]

to you all asian movies specialist I can´t remember which movie of or with kitano is this:
remember vaguely he´s a yakuza member and spend a lot of time on the beach then there is a massacre in the mobster house.
not sure if I dont mix different movies,I think the hero was hiding and chased by the yakuzas.

[xbl0x180]

to you all asian movies specialist I can´t remember which movie of or with kitano is this:
remember vaguely he´s a yakuza member and spend a lot of time on the beach then there is a massacre in the mobster house.
not sure if I dont mix different movies,I think the hero was hiding and chased by the yakuzas.

Sonatine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA1FE1tnXZQ

[Aguraki]

Sonatine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA1FE1tnXZQ

absolutely thx!

[njiska]

Hard Boiled:
Every bit as good as I remember. Some of the greatest action scenes in cinema history and one of the most impressive single continuous shot takes I've seen in an action film. Story was the weakest of the four Woo film's I watched, but the action fort of makes up for it.

Hard Target:
Is it me or does this just not feel like a John Woo movie? It's certainly alright for a 90s action flick, but it's really nothing special. Standard Van Damme fare.

[BIL]

Just finished Sword of Doom, loved it. Dark stuff - the ending was pitch perfect. Always a treat to get Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune in the same movie, too.

[drauch]

Hard Target is so goddamn gnarly. I'm growing a Van Damme mullet out right now. I just gotta get it all stringy and greasy and I'm ready for action.