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

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

Post by grim_tales »

Strange that the theatrical trailer is missing from my BD - did the DVD have that? :?
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

Post by saltysam »

grim_tales wrote:Strange that the theatrical trailer is missing from my BD - did the DVD have that? :?
is it that important? why sweat the small stuff?
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Its not that important, just wondering :)
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

Post by saltysam »

grim_tales wrote:Its not that important, just wondering :)
you wonder far,far too much.live life instead of worrying about trailers.
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

Post by Killer Meteor »

grim_tales wrote:Strange that the theatrical trailer is missing from my BD - did the DVD have that? :?
It's not on the R1 DVD. I remember it was on the old VHS, and the IVL DVD.

I think DD dropped all the extras for their Shaw releases after 2008, with the exception of the Bey Logan commentaries for Five Venoms and Disciples Of The 36th Chamber.
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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I didnt know that, thanks :)
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Original theatrical trailers are always appreciated by me - they're great extras.
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Ivan Drago wrote:EH also released a Cantonese theatrical print (with burnt in subs) of Snake Deadly Act on VHS, but when they did the DVD, they replaced the Cantonese track with an English one, but with the theatrical subs still on!
Epic fail. Best download rips of the VHS tapes.
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Oh! Invisible Man (Japan, 2010) – 2/5
A teenage boy discovers a way to become invisible – and heads towards the girls’ changing room. A slightly amusing manga / anime adaptation that runs out of steam before halfway. The joke is too simple even for a 60 minute movie, though amazing special effects and cute supporting idols (especially Maika Suzuki) compensate. Nudity is left for second grade shower-idols rather than the main cast. Still, God bless Japan for producing such non-pretentious otaku entertainment.

Yakuza Graveyard (Japan, 1976) – 4/5
Another nihilist crime film from Fukasaku, this time from a policeman’s point of view. Tetsuya Watari stars as a hard-boiled detective who begins to lose his sense of justice as he drifts ever deeper into the yakuza world. Not quite as impressive as Fukasaku’s best yakuza films, but comes with a load of terrific scenes and expectedly strong supporting performance by Meiko Kaji. For Fukasaku beginners Yakuza Graveyard is perhaps an easier starting point than some of his other films for being rather straight forward and focused on one character rather than complicated yakuza politics.

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

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LION VS LION (1981)

The first half of this Shaw comedy is pretty excruciating, with endless scenes of comedy relief (relief from what?) and yet another excuse for me to by mystified by the fact that Wang Yu (the comic star, not Jimmy) was a big star at the time, as he's really dreadful. Lo Meng does provide some great kung fu though, and when the plot actually arrives nearly an hour into the picture, things improve. The titular Lion dance occurs part way through the film, and features blatant cheating from our "heroes". The dance itself is very impressive. Later, a great fight between Wang Lung Wei and Chin Yuet Sang proves a highlight and shows what this picture SHOULD have been. The finale is a bizarre mix of half-assed Chang Cheh style heroics and half-assed jiangshi horror, which kinda sums up the film as a whole: half assed.

5/10

PS - this is yet another crap kung fu comedy where we are presented with kid penis jokes. Be warned
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Futari (Japan, 1991) – 4.5/5
A junior high school girl communicates with her dead sister in Nobuhiko Obayashi stunning fantasy drama. The 2½ hour film hits the essence of adorable, yet manages strong character drama and heavy topics at the same. Idol Hikari Ishida is terrific in the lead role, in terms of both acting and coming up with one of the cutest performances ever seen in Japanese cinema. Joe Hisaishi’s score, which sounds like lifted from Studio Ghibli movie, completes the package. Indeed, Futari is very much a live action Hayao Miazaki film if there ever was one – and every bit as great as Miyazaki’s best movies. It’s almost a shame director Obayashi is internationally known only for his lesser (though classic) movies like House.

Izo (Japan, 2004) – 3/5
Takashi Miike goes political. A “follow up” to Hideo Gosha’s Hitokiri (1969), Miike’s film is an insane, non-compromising arthouse massacre with no mercy for the viewer. Izo is a restless spirit of a killed samurai who travels through time and kills everything that stands in his way: men, women, children, students, teachers, commandos, politicians, anything. The only thing he doesn’t kill is himself. Endlessly repetitive but strangely fascinating, strongly political, filled with major movie stars, and set to a brilliant folk-score by Kazuki Tomokawa. Izo is the most hard-core Miike film out there. Strongly not recommended for ordinary viewers.

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

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HE HAS NOTHING BUT KUNG FU (1977)

Early attempt at a kung fu comedy from the Lau Brothers, with Wong Yue as a con-man who finds himself mixed up with an admiral's estranged son, Gordon Liu, who has forgotten his memory...except in kung fu!
Unlike much of the kung foolery that followed, this is very tolerable and pleasant, with good comic timing, a humourous compiled score, a hilarious opening credits sequence and a great gaggle of bad guys (mixing Shaws alumi Chiang Tao and Lee Hoi Sang with Golden Harvest regulars Lam Ching Ying and Mars). The only let down is the ending, which is far too abrupt (a common complaint of many Lau movies). Still...8/10
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Barren Illusions (Japan, 1999) – 3/5
Here is a challenging film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Unlike the yakuza and horror films he is best known for Barren Illusion omits the mainstream catch (scares, yakuzas, storyline) and goes for a social commentary. With a near future setting, where people experiment a new medicine against an epidemic, it’s essentially a sci-fi film but without sci-fi imagery. Even the hallucinations caused by the medicine are so discreet they are likely to pass unnoticed by the less observant viewers. It’s an interesting film, but somewhat unrewarding for those looking for a character focus. Kurosawa’s characters and minimalist filmmaking are merely tools for observing the society rather than individual characters.

Battlefield Baseball (Japan, 2003) – 3.5/5
Asian sports movies are a breed of their own – and this original baseball violence musical still holds the honor as the genre high (=low) point. Director Yudai Yamaguchi had to tone down the splatter down in order to ensure the pg-12 rating (which did not, however, prevent uzi-massacres, chainsaw attacks, and a truckload of body parts) but compensated the loss with a steady delivery of low-brow gags. The outcome blurs the line between genius and retard. Best enjoyed under the influence of intoxicating beverages. And the film’s best part? Tak sings!

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

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A Better Tomorrow II - ★★½
Spiritual Kung Fu - ★★
New Fist Of Fury - ★
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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TWO CHAMPIONS OF SHAOLIN (1980)

Chang Cheh's updating of his Shaolin cycle, featuring the Venoms in place of the likes of Fu Sheng and Chi Kuan Chun, is mostly a sign of lethargy intruding on the great director, with an very dull beginning of characters sitting in chairs and providing a Greek chorus.

Once the action commences, things improve, though the reasonable period authenticity of the earlier Shaolin films has gone out of the window - everyone looks dressed for a Village People video. The Shaolin heroes are amazingly brutal and callous: I found myself 100% behind the Wu Tang clan here!

Phillip Kwok is noticeable absent from the cast, though he did contribute to the fights (this is due to a dispute between him and Lu Feng over who would be the fight director). The main focus is on Lo Meng as "Shaolin Hercules" Tung Chen Chin (a minor character in Men From The Monastery and Showdown At The Cotton Mill) and Chiang Sheng as Hu Wei Chin (played by Chi Kuan Chun in those two films as well as Shaolin Avengers). For guys supposedly tormented by revenge (Tung's wife is killed before the wedding night nuptuals!), they seem rather jolly and care free, even when tearing guy's penises off! Poor old Sun Chien gets precious little to do, and is given an especially awful pudding-bowl hair-cut that looks like someone forgot to eat the pudding first. The famous characters Fong Sai Yuk and San Te make brief appearences of little consequence: the actor playing San Te is particularly awful.

On the Wu Tang side, things are rather more interesting. A very young Chin Siu Ho makes his official debut as a kid with confused loyalties: frankly, he comes off as incredibly selfish and smug, but maybe that's the point. Still, it's nice to see that at least one of Chang Cheh's latterday discoveries went on to become a regular star. Wang Li and Yu Tai Ping get better roles than usual, and Candy Wen makes a very good impression as a real rarity: a genuinely interesting female character in a Chang Cheh film. There's also some ugly Monkey fighters - in fact, most of the supporting cast in this seem to have been selected for being especially weird looking, possibly because Chang Cheh was getting fed up of the Venoms being called ugly!

But the main highlight of this film is Lu Feng as the main villian (it's meant to be a surprise, but come on, when it came to "surprise villians", Lu Feng was Shaw's answer to James Tien!) Lu had won an award the previous year for his role in Shaolin Rescuers, but it's here he really gets to shine: mixing charm with evil with great charisma.

Fights are a bit clunky: there is an awesome finishing move at the finale that makes up for the stodge though. Chang Cheh's usual sexual weirdness comes to the fore when a guy is hit in the back, and what is supposed to be either brain or spinal fluid instead looks like a very large ejaculation!

And yes, this is the movie that appears in the Chemical Brother's video for "Get Yourself High."

6/10
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Dragon Fist - ★★★
- Not bad at all, actually. Probably my favourite of Jackie's films for Lo Wei.
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Which DVD did you see? I cant remember if I've seen the full, original language version (probably not).
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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I got the HKL off eBay.
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) – Movie: 4/5, Cinema Experience: 5/5
No need for further comments on Tsukamoto’s beloved cyber punk classic! Instead, I gotta thank my amazing luck. I missed Tetsuo two years ago when I was living in Japan – caught high fever just when the Tsukamoto retro kicked off and had to skip the early works. Now, a few weeks after returning to Japan there’s a Tetsuo / A Snake of June double feature in Kineka Omori. I’ve only got enough time for the first movie but that’s not such a huge bummer because I already watched Snake in cinema two years ago after surviving the fever! The puzzle comes together - though the construction worker who gave me the wrong directions did his best to wreck my plans!

Henge (Japan, 2011) – 4.5/5
Here’s a title to memorize. Henge (Metamorphosis) marks the most impressive horror movie to come out of Asia in decades. The Cronenbergian body horror drama builds on strong character focus, stunning atmosphere, and old school make up effects. Director Hajime Ohata manages a seamless fusion of drama and horror as he follows a married couple’s struggle when the husband’s nightmarish visions begin to take physical and increasingly violent forms. While slightly weakened by (sparsely used) CG-blood, as opposed to hand-made effects that make 95% of the film’s SFX, the ending alone is stunning enough to leave the audience in a need of medical treatment! This film you will be hearing about again – a lot!

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- in more detail: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6382
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Kagemusha: 4.25/5

A very good film with the basic story (a poor thief impersonating a warlord) that I found quite easy (in the end) to follow though its not as exciting to watch as something like Seven Samurai. The exact ins and outs of the story I found a bit harder.
The use of vibrant, bright colour really shows of the beauty of costumes and sets and the use of Western style (non traditional Japanese) music at times, is an interesting choice but works very well, theres a beautiful climax with music using a trumpet and Japanese drums that seems almost like Morricone. Japanese instruments such as Noh drums are used as well.
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Donzumari benki (Japan, 2012) - 2.5/5
Another gritty indie from a Japanese female director (who, a bit ironically, have a tendency to leave the sappy girl-cinema to their male colleagues). The psycho-sexual film follows a mentally disturbed girl (Nanaha, from Zeze’s Heaven’s Story) and her brother (Kuniaki Nakamura) trying to get along under the same roof. The girl’s only aim in life, however, seems to infect everyone around her with her misery. Occasionally intriguing and sometimes shocking indie fare comes out a little bit staged – an issue not eased by the instantly recognizable digital look of it. Acting is good, but cannot fully undone the common issue of traumatized characters not being all that interesting due to their obsessive behavior. Despite the large amount of sex featured in the film there is no bare skin on display – an artistic (?) choice that doesn’t feel quite natural in the context. The film marks feature length debut for the 27 year old director Haruhi Oguri.

Monsters Club (Japan, 2011) - 3/5
A Japanese take on the Unabomber theme, by punk-art director Toshiyaki Toyoda who was one of the most promising Japanese directors before his drug bust in 2004. Monsters Club pushes the balance further towards art house, coming out somewhat more pretentious than the director’s early, energetic and violent yet poetic films. Set in a cabin in the middle of a snowy forest with a young man (Eita) fighting the society by posting explosive mail, it’s an occasionally beautiful though dialogue/monologue heavy film. Indeed, Monster’s Club suggest of a slightly new kind of, though still easily recognizable Toyoda. His past rock soundtracks have made way to more classical tunes, and raging yakuzas have stepped down in favor of voices inside the protagonist’s head. There’s a more artistic and perhaps theatrical feel to it – which doesn’t always work but comes out clumsy in places. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting work from a director who has his own voice.

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Lovely, if infuctional site: http://monsters-club.jp/
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Dead & The Deadly - ★★★★
Hapkido - ★★★
In The Line Of Duty (IV) - ★★★
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Mardock Scramble: The First Compression (2010) - 3.5/5

Arghh as if it was only an hour long, I hope the second part comes out here soon. My favourite line was, 'I'll gouge your eyes out and skull-fuck the empty sockets!'. Only just noticed there's also the director's cut on this Blu-ray, good excuse for me to watch it again before returning it to Lovefilm :D
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

Post by Keung »

The Kick - ★★
- Some fancy kicks and childish comedy. That's about it...
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Re: What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of

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Redline (2009) - 3.5/5

Wacky Races meets Dead Leaves. It was a nice surprise to see the characters from Trava!
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