All Python films are inherently uneven, but I'd say Holy Grail is marginally funnier than Life of Brian. Though the latter is the best satire, and reveals the stupidity of religion and its followers. They're smart enough not to diss Christ though.
Lau Ching Wan is a top HK actor, and in many cases better than the films he's starring in. Reason? HK doesn't have many good scriptwriters. I think he would do quite well in Hollywood or Europe if his English is acceptable. I hate to say it: but he's wasted in HK. As is Derek Yee.
I wouldn't bother with People's Hero though, personally, as it's the poorest Yee film I've seen. A lot of people seem to like it because it's quite rare. Try The Lunatics or Viva Erotica first.
A lot of people seem to like it because it's quite rare.
Nice reasoning there.
Lol, yeah, that didn't come out right did it?
I mean it's a hard to find film and so the few who have seen it feel privilaged. It happens often that as soon as something goes mainstream its cache among cult collectors lowers. If People's Hero was widely available I think most would dismiss it as the cheap DDA knockoff it is.
yes, we're all like that. You figured it out, my friend.
Laugh if you like, but you know there's a grain of truth in it.
It's like the video nasties situation in the UK.
For 10-15 years they were revered because they were banned. Now that you can get them for pocket change out of HMV no one gives a shit. Why? Because the coolness of their rare status has gone and people can see them for the shit they (mostly) are.
If People's Hero was released on DVD tomorrow I can't see many screaming cult classic can you?
You gotta stop speaking for all of us, Mark. And no, PH wouldn't make much of a blimp but would that matter? There are fans who appreciate it as it is now (OOP video release from the UK, once widely available) and that counts.
Yeah this is probably why it made me laugh so much, coz I remember talking to you once about The Kingdom and you mentioning how much the Swedes like the take the piss out of their neighbours.
grim_tales wrote:What does DDA mean?
Dog Day Afternoon Grim, People's Hero is basically an "unofficial" remake of DDA. I think I'd have to agree with both Ken and Mark to some degree here. Yee's film isn't a patch on the US original and I feel it is slightly overrated by those who have seen it, but it's a solid character drama/thriller nevertheless - and as Ken mentioned, enough people appreciate it to validate is as a worthwhile film in the director's ouvré.
Also, worst Derek Yee film? C'mon, what about Full Throttle?
Muk Gong aka A Battle of Wits(2006 - Hong-Kong - by Jacob Cheung with Andy Lau and Ahn Sung-Ki): 4,25 / 5
Hard to say...
Muk Gong is an epic movie about the Warring States period, but it's also the adaptation of a japanese comic.
There are a few fantastic elements in there that have no place in this kind of film (some elements that make you go : "WTF did I just see ?!").
It starts as a typical epic movie in the same vein as Musa or The Emperor and the Assassin, but then switches to Tragedy-mode and tries to make you think about the human cost of war, but it just doesn't work for me. Andy Lau, Fan Bing-Bing and Nicky Wu's characters are so impressive that you don't really care about things on a grand scale. Because of that, the epic ending left me with a feeling of disappointment (which is ridiculous, since the first 90 minutes were almost perfect).
There's no denying that the cinematography is great, and that some scenes are absolutely breathtaking. Some CGI shots are unbelievably dodgy (if you thought the CGI bulls in The Promise were bad... you're in for a helluva shock ) but thankfully most of the stunts are real.
Andy Lau is saying all his lines in mandarin, but he is dubbed anyway (by someone who doesn't sound at all like him).
Ahn Sung-Ki is dubbed too.
It's nice to see Wu Ma again, but his voice sounds dubbed as well.
Being a native mandarin speaker, Fan Bing-Bing doesn't seem to have been dubbed.
As I expected, the most disappointing aspect of this film is the music.
It sounds like Kenji Kawai grabbed some unused bits of music from the Seven Swords score and tried to stick them into any scene randomly.
It's annoying and it doesn't work.
Muk Gong is a good epic film, there's no doubt about that.
Better character development and a longer, more character-driven ending would have been nice, but still...
Good film. Will buy the DVD.
Kinda disappointed, though...
Maybe I need to watch it again.
*Rewinds*
I used to be "the man who loves the movies you hate".
Now I'm just "that weird french guy with a cat avatar who comes to BnB once a year for no reason and then disappears again".
Blue for introduction and conclusion, red for the rest.
I used to be "the man who loves the movies you hate".
Now I'm just "that weird french guy with a cat avatar who comes to BnB once a year for no reason and then disappears again".
Yeah this is probably why it made me laugh so much, coz I remember talking to you once about The Kingdom and you mentioning how much the Swedes like the take the piss out of their neighbours.
Don't really know why we ever targeted the Norweigans especially but when telling jokes, there is a theme sometimes that always revolves about A Norweigan character, usually the more dim out of the bunch.
I think I'd have to agree with both Ken and Mark to some degree here. Yee's film isn't a patch on the US original and I feel it is slightly overrated by those who have seen it, but it's a solid character drama/thriller nevertheless
Spot on. Not masterpiece, nor second grade shit. Enough tension, acting and entertainment to get us through the drab looking experience easily. I keep returning to my tape fairly often because of those reasons.
Knetan wrote:hey,
We like to make fun of Norweigans.
Yeah this is probably why it made me laugh so much, coz I remember talking to you once about The Kingdom and you mentioning how much the Swedes like the take the piss out of their neighbours.
Don't really know why we ever targeted the Norweigans especially but when telling jokes, there is a theme sometimes that always revolves about A Norweigan character, usually the more dim out of the bunch.
If you didn't know... we (Norwegians) to the same with you Swedes... Though, I'm pretty sure we are crueller Why I can't say... When we hear Swedes making jokes about Norwegians we say it's envy... however I'm thinking this all stems back to the days of the Swedish (and Danish, we make fun of the Danes just aswell) occupation of Norway.
Actually there's a whole set of jokes here that goes... "There was this Swede, Dane and a Norwegian..." which then goes on to belittle both Swedes and Danes while putting over Norwegians as the truly superior folk that we are
Oh... I saw... I can't remember the last movie I saw So this is just O.T. B.S.
there's no real rivalry in my mind though, just that everyone enjoys a good chuckle at those often lame jokes (How many Norweigans does it take to change a lightbulb-esque jokes...).
MANY I think, not saying I'm one of them, have this notion that they're annoyed by the apparent upbeat, care-free behaviour of the Norweigans. The language to us sounds a bit like that, kind of a similar paralell Americans draws towards Canadians I think.
It had some decent moments, but on the whole I found the film really quite dull and largely predictable. Took its time to get going and once the main character's innocence had been stated it was very easy to see what was coming. Nothing much to liven up the film. Some scenes of mother and child were quite well done, but not built on enough. I also wasn't feeling anything for the characters throughout the film. The Vengeance Trilogy got worse as it went thought. SFMV is the best by far, Oldboy was good but not great and this is less than average IMO.
degeneration wrote:Sympathy For Lady Vengeance 2/5
It had some decent moments, but on the whole I found the film really quite dull and largely predictable. Took its time to get going and once the main character's innocence had been stated it was very easy to see what was coming. Nothing much to liven up the film. Some scenes of mother and child were quite well done, but not built on enough. I also wasn't feeling anything for the characters throughout the film. The Vengeance Trilogy got worse as it went thought. SFMV is the best by far, Oldboy was good but not great and this is less than average IMO.
I agree with you, I have to watch the movie again now... I think I was a bit unfair in the beginning, there are some good acting, but the ending seems to drag along soooo much
As I was resigned to a death bed over the New Year, I managed to watch the whole of the Star Wars saga, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Collateral and Face/Off all in HD (niiice, as Borat would say ).
And that's as much of a review as you're going to get out of me, although I will give a special mention to the Bob Hoskins film for being so damn good, despite being many years since I've seen it. Loads of little things that I'd noticed before that were just great to see. Classic
If You Were Me
This is by far the best collection of shorts I've ever seen. This was quite surprising as they were put together by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. I was expecting maybe one good short and the rest to be dreadful as with other short film collections but I thought they were all good. Each short was well made and made its point most effectively. The issues covered are very relevant to Korea which has serious social and cultural issues but it was just as interesting and poignant to me. It must have really hit a nerve over there! Highly recommended. There's also an "If You Were Me 2" and "If You Were Me: Anima Vision" (animations) that have the same theme I believe. I'll be watching those soon but I won't expect too much.
Children of Men
Never heard anything about it except the title before today but someone told me to watch it so I did. Bloody good film, pretty intense and those really long almost uninterrupted handheld action shots were fantastic. I was expect something awful like V for Vendetta not a great film like this. Owen is as wooden as usual but it does no major harm. Great movie.
Pirates of the Carribean 2: Dead Mans Chest
A little above most Hollywood sequels in that it wasn't completely awful. Far too many overlong scenes and unnecessary bits and pieces. Only to tell us that in a really corny fashion that this 2.5 hours film was just the setup for number 3.
) but thankfully most of the stunts are real.
