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

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 05 Nov 2006, 20:15

hey,

yea well...some films and directors I've gotten a good vibe from reading about and Kim was one.

I'm washing away this trip to the darkside with Naked Poison next!

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 05 Nov 2006, 20:16

Haha

that title alone brings thoughts of cheapness from the depths of HK

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 05 Nov 2006, 20:20

hey,

actually it is but it's also a rare late injection of good ol' Category III excess according to reviews. Was made in 2000, well after the golden era of Cat III films had passed. We have director Cash Chin to thank for that and he also gave us the classic Eternal Evil Of Asia a few years earlier.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 05 Nov 2006, 20:40

Ken have you seen Naked Poison II?

Its like a sexploitation version of Memento

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 05 Nov 2006, 20:47

hey,

tried to get it in the same order but I think it's oop now. It's indeed modelled after Memento and reviews keep singeling out Sophie Ngan as a slightly more talented actress for the genre.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 05 Nov 2006, 21:16

Gotta love that name of the director, CASH Chin

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 05 Nov 2006, 21:21

hey,

the sky's the limit when it comes to Hong Kong people's English names, especially in films.

Chow Yun-Fat has been known somewhere along the line as Aman and Donald.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 05 Nov 2006, 22:05

Didn't know that, Yuen Biao was called BILL YUEN at one point.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 05 Nov 2006, 22:06

Knetan wrote:hey,

A Bittersweet Life 3/5

I like Kim Ji-Wun and loved A Tale Of Two Sisters but his combo of over the top gangster violence, deadpan absurdities and heartfelt poignancy doesn't quite gel, especially when mixing in the latter. All questionably meaningful but still a fun, gory revenge saga.

I'd give it a 3.5 but yeah, I agree with your thoughts on this one.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 06 Nov 2006, 00:15

Knetan wrote:hey,

A Bittersweet Life 3/5
...over the top gangster violence...

I love Jong Doo-hong's brutal and realistic fight choreography by the way. He is usually working as a fight choreographer, but every now and then he appears as an actor, too. He played the bad guy in "Arahan" for example and plays the good guy in "City of Violence".

As for "Naked Posion 2"... "Memento"? WTF? I decided to fast-forward when I saw that it was completely shot on DV and only stopped at the skin-scenes.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 06 Nov 2006, 00:19

@LD:
Jeong Du-Hong was awesome in Natural City and Fighter in the Wind too.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 06 Nov 2006, 00:25

tom2681 wrote:@LD:
Jeong Du-Hong was awesome in Natural City and Fighter in the Wind too.

True!

Man, I wish I could tell you something now, but it's still to early for that.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 06 Nov 2006, 19:33

hey,

Naked Poison 3/5

Kind of the definition of being jerked around but as late as 2000, the Category III rating didn't get as depraved of a treatment as it gets here and there's an appreciation that could be directed towards that choice. So sue me....thank you, Cash Chin.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 06 Nov 2006, 19:49

Ironically, DV made Naked Posion II cheap and nasty looking, if you want to see Sophie Ngan get her ample breasts out, you'll be happy with NP II though.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 06 Nov 2006, 20:09

hey,

I believe Naked Poison was advertised as THE film where she would reveal her points.....and she did.

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 06 Nov 2006, 23:10

Dog bite Dog 2.5/5

One of the most downbeat films I have ever seen. Shot in a dark, grainy, gloomy style that makes David Fincher's Seven look like The Wizard of Oz. It seems as though Soi Cheang wanted to make it so pessimistic just for the sake of it. I would have given it a higher score if it were not for several plot inadequacies that just don't make a lot of sense (especially in relation to Edison Chen's vicious bulldog Cambodian hitman). However, if you like violence and this kind of thing, then you may get some fullfilment out of it. For me, it is Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance-lite.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 07 Nov 2006, 03:20

Haute Tension 1.5/4

Extremely gory French update of the 70's exploitation movie.

Technically proficient, but really just another slasher movie, with less plot and character that your average Friday the 13th hackjob.

Cecile DeFrance is a better actress than you normally get in this sort of film, but not even she can make a ludicrous final twist fly.

Scored better with critics than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, presumably because it had subtitles.

uberbloke · Post by **uberbloke** » 07 Nov 2006, 09:23

<b>UltraViolet</b> 0.5/5 (and that's generous)

I **really** enjoy Equilibrium (sometimes watch the last 20 mins just for hell of it) and thought I'd give this a go to see for myself if the "it's crap" brigade were wrong.

They weren't

It's crap.

It is also an insult to the phrase "style over substance", because there is no substance.

Oh, and the "special" effects are anything but, and I think the CGI was done on my old amstrad (and it's the typewriter kind)

It's nominally about something to do with people that arent vampires but are but they dont use the word and some kid who dies and this girl called Violet who can kick ass (but in a not very convincing, what the %&*& happened to GunKata, sort of away) whose called Violet (so do you get it, do you, like shes Violet, and shes Ultra in, like lots of ways, so what can we call the film then....)

Summary

Avoid

Oh, and the bit about the kid dying, that's not a spoiler, it was a blessed relief only slightly spoilt by the eventual ending

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 07 Nov 2006, 18:29

I've not met one person that would give Ultraviolet a higher score than that.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 08 Nov 2006, 11:48

what score did romero give it then?his type of movie i'd have thought.

i wasted £10 on this,lucky i got £8 back on ebay.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 08 Nov 2006, 12:45

Even Romero only gave it 2.5/5 or something (AFAIK).

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 08 Nov 2006, 13:21

Markgway wrote:Haute Tension 1.5/4

Extremely gory French update of the 70's exploitation movie.

Technically proficient, but really just another slasher movie, with less plot and character that your average Friday the 13th hackjob.

Cecile DeFrance is a better actress than you normally get in this sort of film, but not even she can make a ludicrous final twist fly.

Scored better with critics than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, presumably because it had subtitles.

i thought it was pretty decent myself,daft ending notwithstanding. i'd give it a 3.5.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 08 Nov 2006, 18:44

hey,

Girl With A Gun 1.5/5

Mild Taiwanese variant of I Spit On Your Grave and the likes. Seems to tell a lot but cheap tricks such as inverted colours, a theme song repeating 25+ times and gritty violence without the desired effect largely sinks this one. Select moments are chilling towards the end. Alan Tam could've been replaced with a flower pot without anyone noticing....

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 08 Nov 2006, 21:11

Howl's Moving Castle 3-3.5/5

Didn't enjoy this as much as I was hoping and expecting to. As usual the visuals are incredible, but the story just didn't have the same impact on me as Spirited Away. And possible spoilers the theme about someone basically coming out of their shell and falling in love with someone, then being the one who kinda saves the day for all seemed very much like SA, so it lost marks for the feeling of repetition. Good, but not great.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 08 Nov 2006, 21:22

A mark out of 4? Why even bother to give it a rating it doesn't tell you anything 8)