DangerousLeeHandsome wrote:FEARLESS: Director's Cut - 4/5
I liked the original theatrical cut but always felt the movie was very uneven and undeveloped. But no need to worry because that's what the DC is for. I thought the new footage really did make the movie better. I especially liked the extended scenes with Yuanjia and the villagers; all of which are crucial in showing Yuanjia's slow transformation into his new self. I know, everyone was upset about Michelle Yeoh's footage being deleted from the original cut but I thought those scenes were useless and pointless. That footage should've been cut and left somewhere else on the disc as a bonus feature. I'd give the film a higher mark had it not been for those scenes. Other than that, great film.
I havent seen the theatrical version, so I cant compare, but i do agree about the Yeoh footage being out of place.
I think the big fuss by the fans was because many of us thought she would be part of the movie, like a character. But she's only there to talk about the values of wushu. I like Yeoh as much as the next guy, but yeah, it shouldnt have been in the movie.
I was there, the big BNB blackout of november, 2008. We lost many that day...
Dracula 1931 - 2/5
LOOOOOL!!! this is hilariously cheesy, Bela Lugosi had me in stitches with the eyebrow thing. and the bat at the window just hilarious.
but tho funny, it isnt a good film really, the storyline is rushed, renfield (dwight frye) was good, but still, the films crap, but deserves some respect for being one of the first horror films made in hollywood, and still holds an influence over the horror genre today
Explain a bit more Bisc, I didnt rate this movie much, kinda boring really. I know Bradavon likes this movie, and Naomi got a nice body, but the overall story didn't really appeal to me.
Shen have you seen Boris Karloff in The Mummy? I liked the creepy atmosphere and the excellent make-up (for 1932) but it seems slow IMO even though its only 70 odd minutes long. Stephen Summers 1999 Universal/Indiana Jones homage was a lot more fun
There aren't many shocks in the original, apart from the burying alive scene. It even seems a bit sad.
nope i havent, tho i've researched karloff i havent watched any of his films, i just watched dracula so i could write a report on it. but it was just funny. im not into bad horror films, granted they were scary for their time, but now they are usually just dire. tho next year in film class we are looking at Nosferatu,
tho i would like to see the early german horror, which was a predecessor of hollywood, highly influenced by german expressionism. might try and get hold of stuff like "der student von prag", and "der golem". etc.
karloff and lugosi are like the grandfather of horror, but i still just cant be arsed watching their films lol.
Ann Hui seems to mix it up here, being more of a true Ann Hui movie that occassionally features the gloss of the gunplay thriller. Told partly in flashback, this Mainland China lensed, downbeat portrait of devotion musters up quite the bit of interest but ends up struggling with its particular arty and commercial styles, only to face up to the fact that it's a draw between them. I'll take that anyday.
slasher13 wrote:
Explain a bit more Bisc, I didnt rate this movie much, kinda boring really. I know Bradavon likes this movie, and Naomi got a nice body, but the overall story didn't really appeal to me.
Overall, I thought the storyline was better than the director's debut film Amores Perros but the editing felt erratic just for the sake of looking cool. The ending was also a little convinient but I can't think of how else to end such a film.
Generally solid thriller that doesn't much benefit from its extreme exposition of a not so riveting murder-mystery. Michael Chow and Hilary Tsui gets to take on stereotype cop characters but are still likeable and appealing in their respective ways.
Blood Diamond - 3.5/5
DiCaprio has become a really good actor. Djimon Hounsou outshined him however. This film could easily have been a 4.5/5, but Jennifer Connelly's character was not needed in my opinion and was out of place most of the time. Like some producer of the film said, "We need some love interest for Leonardo."
What started out like some untypical Hollywood flick became just rudiculous when they are ambushed in the jungle and she manages to calm them all down by her stupid camera. I liked the ending.
The Wicker Man - 4/5
Whoa! Check out the rating and the comments over at IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450345/
Don't know, but I liked the film a lot.
I hate it when movies feel the need to throw in some love-story, when it's not actually needed. It usually brings the movie down. Enemy at the Gates had the same problem, and many more movies I cant think of right now.
Fist of Legend did it right btw, cause that love story was there to make clear the difference between normal japanese people, and those japanese that wanted power and war (the miltary), plus she was there to also show that also the chinese wouldnt accept her, and werent perfect either, plus causing the great fight between Jet and Chin Siu Ho.
So that'sa good example where the love-story was an integral part of the movie and it gave the movie an extra layer. It also wasnt stretched out or whatever.
I'm not sure if I'm interested in Blood Diamond. I'm affraid it's too much 'Hollywood' for my liking...
I was there, the big BNB blackout of november, 2008. We lost many that day...
No doubt not possessing as much of a biting impact as Cala, My Dog! but definitely on par with The Making Of Steel, Lu Xuechang immerses us via actors, scenery, themes and continues an interesting path as a Mainland filmmaker.
Agree with what LD says about it. Leo has really become a good actor.
I also liked the idea they had for the ending, but I think they could have executed the last scene with Di Caprio differently.
Blood Diamond is very good, but I don`t think it deserves as many nominations, as it has got...
Anyway
3.5/5
Other movies I´ve seen over the last few days:
Dog Bite Dog
Great. Absolutely fantastic. Purest HK-cinema. I thought the weakest point of it wa, although very stylish, the "final fight", because it was a change of style and didn`t fit the rest of the movie.
4.5/5
Infernal Affairs 3
Needed some time to get used to the jumping from present to past to present again. IA3 has some great ideas (the beginning with Tony Leung and Chapman To is awesome!!!) and some flaws.
Andy Lau`s acting was great in my opinion.
Overall the darkest and most pessimistic of the IA films
3/5
Memories of Murder
Awesome. Very intense, thrilling and interesting.
One of the very best Korean movies I`ve seen so far.
5/5
Catch me if you can
Liked it. Funny and much more tragic than I had expected
Arty arty arty arty arty. I'm not an artist. Very confusing and I'm still not completely sure what all the film was about. In places it is trying to be as arty and metaphoric (I think) as it can be, with close up shorts of Jackman's mouth as he eats something and other strange goings on. 96 min film, but it felt like longer. Maybe you have to be the arty farty type to appreciate a film like this.
Even for a no-brainer action flick, the Phillipines lensed High Voltage scores astoundingly low. Alebit slightly better than a Phillip Ko Fei production, this is thrash from otherwise reliable genre director Andrew Kam (The Big Heat, Fatal Termination)
Yi-Long wrote:I'm not sure if I'm interested in Blood Diamond. I'm affraid it's too much 'Hollywood' for my liking...
I was thinking the same, to much gloss.
But thats the way Swicks older films were like, and many of them are masterpieces. Glory is a stand out even now years later. Gloss doesnt hurt a film at all and he rarley makes anything but a great film.
