What Have You Just Seen... Marks Out of 5

ReconFive · Post by **ReconFive** » 30 Nov 2005, 04:16

While the American soldier in Address Unknown may be a bad actor, the way he talks and behaves in the film is not too far off from the exact way a good portion of American soldiers really are. I found the general situation with him and the Korean girl to be very realistic as to what often really happens between American GIs and young Asian girls. It may seem like just terrible acting (which it very well may be).. but it does portray the character in a realistic way.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 30 Nov 2005, 08:39

Fistful of Dollars (with Christopher Frayling commentary) - 4/5

Easy to listen to and quite funny and interesting as well, what a commentary should be.

You may know the story of Akira Kurosawa writing a letter to Leone after he refused t5o say Fistful was a remake of Yojimbo - "Your film is a very fine film. But it is MY film".

The irony was Leone didnt understand the rude undertones and went around saying Kurosawa said his film was very fine!

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 30 Nov 2005, 09:13

@Recon
I never said it was unrealistic. What I'm saying is that they unfortunately, cast such a lousy actor for such a necessary and important role in the movie.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 30 Nov 2005, 09:57

Rinjin 13-gô aka THE NEIGHBOR No.13 Director's Cut - 4/5

Okay reviewing this is hard, the story is a good story, it has a david lynch feel to it in the beginning. The movie takes a look at a kid being tormented at school, and the scars that he has grown up with. I won't spoil it too much, there is a lot of character to this movie. The lead Jûzô Murasaki (played by Shun Oguri) is very good, he is the kid with a troubled past. The past and pain represents another character - 13-gô/No. 13 (Played by Shido Nakamura)
One thing about the movie is that it not that gory. The packaging says that it brutal due to the way the kid has got treated when he was young. There was times where i had to look away. This is a slow paced psychological movie. The movie is very visual, like the the cabin in the beginning of the movie which represents the Murasaki mind. Overall i did like the movie, and did like Miike Takashi cameo. For me i'm glad i brought this movie, however people expecting ICHI or similar may be disappointed. Don't believe the hype! watch it for its own merit

ReconFive · Post by **ReconFive** » 30 Nov 2005, 10:16

thelostdragon wrote:@Recon
I never said it was unrealistic. What I'm saying is that they unfortunately, cast such a lousy actor for such a necessary and important role in the movie.

I agree in a way.. all i meant was that the bad acting emphasises realism in that particular character, and therefore makes the poor actor an oddly appropriate choice, IMO.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 30 Nov 2005, 10:37

Hmmm... I don't get that logic. How can a bad actor be a good choice? Even if you have a story about a bad actor, I'd still want a good actor to portray him.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 30 Nov 2005, 12:06

thelostdragon wrote:I gave "Life Aquatic" a 3/5.

Golden Swallow - 3.5/5
Cool Shaw flick. Cheng Pei-pei is sweet as ever.

Maybe its'a 3.5/5, not sure. Its' actually more like a spoof documentary at times (?) and I wasnt sure what to think at first. But it is good, does have some great laughs as you say.

In Golden Swallow (1968), does CPP play the same character as in Come Drink With Me?

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 30 Nov 2005, 14:30

In Golden Swallow (1968), does CPP play the same character as in Come Drink With Me?

I've been told Chang Cheh took the title name from her COME DRINK WITH ME character but that she's not playing the same person in GOLDEN SWALLOW. Personally I'm not entirely sure as it seemed to me like she COULD be. Make up your own mind I guess...

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 30 Nov 2005, 22:37

The YMCA Baseball Team - 3.5/5
He he he! What a funny Korean film. It takes place in 1905 - 1906 and is about the very first Korean baseball team.
Song Kang-ho is great as usual. This guy can perform any character.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 01 Dec 2005, 13:07

slasher13 wrote: Rinjin 13-gô aka THE NEIGHBOR No.13 Director's Cut - 4/5

Okay reviewing this is hard, the story is a good story, it has a david lynch feel to it in the beginning. The movie takes a look at a kid being tormented at school, and the scars that he has grown up with. I won't spoil it too much, there is a lot of character to this movie. The lead Jûzô Murasaki (played by Shun Oguri) is very good, he is the kid with a troubled past. The past and pain represents another character - 13-gô/No. 13 (Played by Shido Nakamura)
One thing about the movie is that it not that gory. The packaging says that it brutal due to the way the kid has got treated when he was young. There was times where i had to look away. This is a slow paced psychological movie. The movie is very visual, like the the cabin in the beginning of the movie which represents the Murasaki mind. Overall i did like the movie, and did like Miike Takashi cameo. For me i'm glad i brought this movie, however people expecting ICHI or similar may be disappointed. Don't believe the hype! watch it for its own merit

Sweet review imo.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 01 Dec 2005, 17:35

The Myth - 3.5-4/5

I really liked this

The opening period scenes (and all others throughout the movie) brought to mind Musa or Hero with great epic detail and were sometimes unusually brutal. These get quite emotional at times and are more dramatic than the modern day scenes.

The modern day ones were more typical "Jackie" terrortory, ie an action comedy (not that there's anything wrong with that). I liked the story and the action/fights in both eras (in particular the one on the conveyer belt in the modern day) and the woman who Jackie meets in India (in modern times) is gorgeous

The video quality and DTS were great.

However I didnt think the film was perfect in the way it kept switching between modern day/ancient times without warning, and the last act was a bit of a mess.

Does the modern day Jackie actually go back to the time of Qin by going behind the waterfall? And Ok Soo thinks Jack is really Meng Yi?

I still enjoyed the film a lot though, could have been the new Armor of God.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 01 Dec 2005, 20:37

However, its really annoying the film stops abruptly before the credits and theres a message saying "In order to provide the best video quality, the credit roll and bloopers are on Disc 3" WTF?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 02 Dec 2005, 10:10

Its' cool all the extras (including the commentary) have English subtitles though

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 02 Dec 2005, 13:16

Anyone else think The Myth's soundtrack was really good?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 02 Dec 2005, 13:21

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 02 Dec 2005, 13:34

Duel To The Death - 3/5

Pretty standard 1980's swordplay film, some entertaining bits (especially the blood and guts!) but the story didn't really seem to flow too well for me. Its still interesting to see Ching Siu Tung's earlier works though...

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 02 Dec 2005, 15:27

The Machinist - 4.5/5

Superbly taut, exciting mystery thriller that brings to mind Christopher Nolans' Memento due to its dream-like structure and narrative, and the post-it notes and clues left around by the central character.

Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) is suffering from serious insomnia, and it's not long before his lack of sleep causes him to have an accident at work. Rather than his co-workers rallying around him, however, they instantly turn against him, and events only get stranger...

I must comment on his amazingly powerful performance - he lost 63lbs for this film which is astonishing and shows amazing dedication - he looks frightingly gaunt at times

Several characters are heard to say "If you were any thinner, you wouldn't exist".

Was "Ivan" the killer (did he really exist), was he Stevie's ex or was he in Bale's imagination? What caused Nicolas to faint on the ghost train? Maybe it was Bale himself who started the machine so Miller lost his arm, he doesnt know it?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 02 Dec 2005, 16:38

grim_tales wrote:Was "Ivan" the killer (did he really exist), was he Stevie's ex or was he in Bale's imagination?

To me it seemed as if he was in Bale's imagination.

What caused Nicolas to faint on the ghost train?

Wasn't that due to the kid's illness?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 02 Dec 2005, 16:46

I didnt know he had an illness? Maybe I'm not paying attention

How can it be in Bale's imagination? Doesnt he hear Stevie talking to him on the phone?
How is Maria (the girl at the airport) not real? Remember we see her near the start as he talks to her, then they spend time away from the airport. Later on he's told "There's no Maria here" by a different waitress. Eh?

What did you think of Machinist BTW? I'm sure, like Memento, Audition and Abre Los Ojos, it can provoke discussion about what it all means

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 02 Dec 2005, 18:08

The Island - 4.5/5

Aye great flick. Much better than I had expected and it may be my favourite film of 2005. Reminded me of JSA, beautiful touching stuff.

Must Love Dogs - 2/5

Ugh what a pile o' pish min. This movie made me hate dogs. Tries to be witty and amusing but is embarisingly awful.

Dinosaur - 3/5

Pixar it aint but this is a reasonably enjoyable fun family movie. The bit with the dinosaurs walking around was pretty cool, imo.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 03 Dec 2005, 04:28

Serenity - 4/5
Pretty damn good. Joss Whedon is indeed a competant director and storyteller, he can't direct an action scenes for shit though. The action consisted of shaky cam and too many medium-shots - like alot of recent action films (The Bourne Supremacy and Batman Begins come to mind.)

The story was good IMO and completed the narrative of the excellent Firefly series.

Pitch Black - 3/5
A fun well-made medium budget action-horror film IMO. The aliens designs were rubbish and the coloured filters trying to hide the fact that in was shot in the Australian outback were very unconvincing; I half-expected Mad Max to drive by in his Holden Charger (or whatever that car is). Vin Diesel did ok as an anti-hero, but he had no presence. The "warming of the anti-hero's heart" at the end was so utterly cliched and predictable.

Blood Simple - 4/5
A terrific atmospheric noir film from the Coen Bros. Nice to know that they had a sense for dark humour even back then.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 03 Dec 2005, 21:45

Sha Po Lang (SPL) - 4,75 / 5

Holy Shit ! I had forgotten that Hong-Kong movies could be this good.
Classic Wilson Yip-esque storyline, good performances, bad cops, amazing fight sequences... everything you need to make a good movie.

Too bad the ending is ruined in the mainland DVD (at least it doesn't "feel" right).

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 04 Dec 2005, 19:18

She's on Duty 3/5

Aye you guys seen this? As a comedy it's pretty naff. I mean we've all seen this before. It's like My Boss, My Hero all over again. However the last quarter was entertaining and threw in some unexpected twists.

However the lead actress looked way too old to pass as a school girl. Plus her voice started to give me a headache... what a pitch!

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 04 Dec 2005, 20:27

Awww... I loved She's on Duty.

I thought it looked pretty fresh for a comedy.
+ I loved the action scenes with Lord of the Dance as background music

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... hp?p=12268

ReconFive · Post by **ReconFive** » 04 Dec 2005, 21:24

No Man's Land - 5/5
If you guys have not seen this film, see it. Outstanding in every respect.
Exceptionally crafted portrayal of the absurdity of war.