What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 09 Jun 2009, 14:56

Iron Monkey is a Wong Fei-Hung movie.

Young Fei-Hung is played by Angie Tsang.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 09 Jun 2009, 15:11

I didn't know she had that English name, I always thought it was just Tsang Sze Man (sp?)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 09 Jun 2009, 18:46

I'd say it's an Iron Monkey movie, WFH isn't in anyway the main part.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 09 Jun 2009, 23:57

WFH is a main character.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 10 Jun 2009, 01:10

He's not THE main character though, I suppose technically you can place Iron Monkey among the pantheon of films made about Wong Fei Hung, but describing Iron Monkey as a Wong Fei Hung movie is a bit like saying Batman Forever is a Robin movie.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 10 Jun 2009, 13:45

WTF! Shing. is agreeing with me for once.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 10 Jun 2009, 17:24

I don't know who did the commentary for Drunken Master, but it sounds like nit-picking to criticise them for referring to Iron Monkey as a WFH movie. Sure, he's not the THE main character, but he's A main character and that's good enough for me. You might not normally describe Batman Forever as a Robin movie, but it is. If one were to make a list of Robin movies it would be in there. Short list, mind.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 10 Jun 2009, 17:33

Technichally it's a WFH movie I guess.
I know Jeff Yang was one commentator, I think the other was Ric Meyers.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 10 Jun 2009, 20:28

I associate Iron Monkey with Wong Fei Hung.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 10 Jun 2009, 22:52

Meyers makes more than enough genuine mistakes to bash him for without coming up with new ones. lol

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 10 Jun 2009, 23:40

WOW! Are we still debating if Iron Monkey is a WFH movie?

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 11 Jun 2009, 00:04

Markgway wrote:I don't know who did the commentary for Drunken Master, but it sounds like nit-picking to criticise them for referring to Iron Monkey as a WFH movie.

Oh yeah, tis definitely nitpicking! I just meant that when you get down to it, technically it's not strictly a WFH movie!

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 11 Jun 2009, 00:07

Markgway wrote:You might not normally describe Batman Forever as a Robin movie, but it is.

... and it doesn't even star Robin's father...

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 11 Jun 2009, 16:20

ONG BAK 2.

Not actually a sequel at all, it's set in ancient times. Reminded me a lot of Apocalypto. Well-made though, and clearly the budget has been increased with an eye on international distribution. Thai-style action has been replaced, surprisingly, with Chinese Kung Fu. Jaa is an intense bastard in this one. Not brilliant or anything, but with the right marketing should do well.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 11 Jun 2009, 18:08

Sounds good. I wonder if it was just called Ong Bak 2 for marketing purposes?
I haven't seen WARRIOR KING yet.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Jun 2009, 18:25

grim_tales wrote:I wonder if it was just called Ong Bak 2 for marketing purposes?

WTF gave you that idea?

.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 11 Jun 2009, 18:27

grim_tales wrote:Sounds good. I wonder if it was just called Ong Bak 2 for marketing purposes?
I haven't seen WARRIOR KING yet.

Get it, It has been what? £2 in sales if that. Crap film as with all Thai films, but the action is amazing, stunning stuff.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 11 Jun 2009, 19:33

I have got Warrior King Romero, I just havent watched it yet.
Brad, well Mark said it wasn't a sequel so why is it called Ong Bak 2?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Jun 2009, 19:34

You've clearly not been seeing Thai action films then.

I preferred TYG to Ong-Bak but both are pretty rubbish really. I was expecting the best plot ever but a plot would've been nice.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 11 Jun 2009, 23:05

It's called "Ong Bak 2" because it tells the story of the person who will eventually be a hero and after whom the statue in "Ong-Bak" was sculptured.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 12 Jun 2009, 00:30

I missed that because the subs were slightly buggered at the beginning of my copy.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 12 Jun 2009, 02:04

I didn't understand that from the film itself. I watched an interview with Tony Jaa or Prachia Pinkaew and it was said there. Maybe we'll find out about it in "Ong Bak 3" which they started shooting at the end of last year. It is expected to be released in Thai theatres on December 5th. Let's hope it's true and that we won't have to wait another 3 years or so.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 12 Jun 2009, 14:09

Noriko’s Dinner Table (Japan, 2005) – 4,5/5
Sion Sono delivers a sequel to his masterpiece Suicide Club. Or a prequel. Or both, and much more. Plenty of time to try to figure that out during the film’s 2 hour 40 min running time. What Noriko’s Dinner Table is not, is a cheap reharsh on the original. To some extent, it’s not even of the same genre, abandoning almost all horror film elements. The theme is still the same but in Noriko’s Dinner Table’s Sone goes much deeper in his study of identity, society and popular culture. The film follows a 17 year old girl who runs from home and finds a new life – and personality – in Tokyo. The film missfires a couple of times and also explains Suicide Club a bit too much, but as an experience it’s unique and exceptionally challenging. A sequel unlike any follow up I’ve ever seen.

Exte: Hair Extensions (Japan, 2007) – 4/5
Mental case of a director Sion Sono continues to use the horror genre as his playground. Chiaki Kuriyama stars a young hair stylist trying to take care of her sister’s child and cut some hair... but the hair is about to strike back. Using J-horror cliches and heavy drama pieces alike, Sono builds a manical yet gruesome genre satire that manages to keeps its poker face most of the time. There are scenes and elements that don’t work, like Tsugumi’s role as an irresponsible mother being taken too far, but there’s also such amazingly brilliant sequences (often related to Ren Ohsugi) that smaller flaws have to be forgiven. Also, it’s nice to have Hiroshi Yamamoto in a small supporting role as a detective, even if he doesn’t have much to do.

diceman · Post by **diceman** » 12 Jun 2009, 16:04

I'm glad you liked it. Both of them, that is. Especially "Exte" is way underrated, respectively misunderstood; there are people who don't get it that this is indeed supposed to be a satire. But wait till you've seen "Love Exposure"; the only reason I haven't written something about it yet, is that I'm still lost for words to grasp the infinite genius behind it.

Here's what I wrote about "Noriko's Dinner Table" (*digs up old post*)

NORIKO'S DINNER TABLE (Japan, 2005)
Sion Sono takes his "Suicide Club"-Mythology to the next level. Or that before. Whatever. At times a strange hybrid between remake, prequel, a sequel, then again something like a spin-off offering an alternate, more mature take on the theme. Anyway, it's more character-oriented, offers deep psychological insight, not so much a mystery-thriller than a coming-of-age drama with a twist, exploring themes like loss of identity, juvenile confusion and a struggling search for something stable in life to cling to. Furthermore "Noriko's Dinner Table" plays a lot more firmly rooted in comprehensible reality than "Sucide Club" was; the typical Sion Sono strangeness is still there, though, but this time strictly originating from characters' decisions/thoughts, respectively appearing as metaphors. Just expect to be reading lots(!) of subtitles plus a runtime of almost three hours, but in the end it was absolutely worth it (thankfully without that ultimate moral/meaning being served on a silver platter). Has a subtle, but quite effective acoustic guitar soundtrack.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 12 Jun 2009, 16:29

I read a review of Exte where the writer said he couldn't understand why Sono ruined his horror movie with random (!!!) comedic bits...

Btw, Sono made a new film already:
http://jasongray.blogspot.com/2009/06/i ... share.html