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

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 03 May 2007, 03:21

Of course it's deceitful. The distributors don't want you to know you're not getting the real deal. Advertising cuts could only serve to put potential buyers off and they're not gonna do that in a hurry (though they should be forced to).

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 04 May 2007, 10:23

I actually watched some films last night

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) - 3/5

Interesting but I prefer the 1986 musical version

The Mr. Mushnik character sounds like Roman Abramovich or Mourinho

(possibly the thick accent).
The 1960 ending is darker as Seymour is actually eaten by Audrey Jr. at the end

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) - 4.25/5

A daring hero, a beautiful princess, a trecherous magician, a magical genie, strange creatures (including a cyclops and snake-woman) and the stop motion genius of Ray Harryhausen - what more could you want? Really enjoyed this - great family film

Jack Dee: Live at the Apollo 2002 - 4/5

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 04 May 2007, 10:36

grim_tales wrote: The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) - 3/5

LOL, someone rating a Roger Corman movie highly.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 04 May 2007, 11:01

I'm only rating it that high because of what I know/enjoy about the 80's version.

OK, its very cheap looking or whatever, and the acting is pretty awful, but isnt *so* bad considering it was apparently shot in 2 days.
Maybe its 2.5/5 then

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 04 May 2007, 23:14

hey,

Ah Fai The Dumb 1.5/5

Whirlwind of annoyance Eric Kot plays dumb Fai who turns to smart Fai after falling of a roof. Drama-comedy with a well-meaning script by Raymond To but seriously lacking in heart and warmth as executed. Director Derek Chiu (who still went on to helm his most memorable films, including the underrated Johnnie To-produced Comeuppance) does nothing to stop the Kot-madness but does give us a touching scene towards the end where a calm Kot triumphs for a few seconds. He was thankfully well utilized subsequently in Juliet In Love and Butterfly.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 05 May 2007, 03:31

The Prestige - 4.5/5
Nolan rocks.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 05 May 2007, 08:11

Tokugawa irezumi-shi: Seme jigoku (Inferno of Torture) – 4/5
Probably Teruo Ishii’s most coherent exploitation work. Technically top notch with endlessly stylish visuals and haunting soundtrack. This level of film making is rarely reached even by so called A-film directors. Despite the english title the actual theme is tattoo, not torture. Beautiful, sad and slightly shocking half-masterpiece.

School of the Holy Beast - 4/5
Norifumi Suzuki’s most acclaimed exploitation film. Stunningly good looking film that is about as far from cheap looking trash as possible. This time Suzuki doesn’t even waste time for unneeded sex scenes. He also makes full use of the convent setting and religious themes. Fumio Watanabe has a nice little role as the priest.

Wonderful Days – 2,5/5
This is probably (hopefully) the closest the Koreans come to making a Japanese anime. Visually great although a bit too computer generated looking for my liking. Opens not very interestingly but gets better later. Some scenes at the end are excellent but the very last scene is awful and almost drops the overall rating to 2.

Mr. Vampire – 4/5
Ricky Hui can be a bit irritating at times but he’s really the only downside, everything else is great. Lam Ching Ying is the coolest Taoist priest in the history of cinema, only rivalred by Anthony Chan who also appears in the film. Moon Lee is cute as usual and Pauline Chan makes a good ghost, lol. Several hilarious scenes, decent martial arts and plenty pure HK cinema essence.

Mr. Vampire Saga 4 – 3,5/5
I haven’t seen many gyonsi films yet but so far they’ve all been great. Mr. Vampire Saga 4 is another highly enjoyable fantasy/action/comedy filled with good ol’ HK cinema feel. The first 30 minutes hilarious, then it gets a bit too repetitive but the ending is nice with some good martial arts. No Lam Ching Ying this time but Wu Ma, Anthony Chan, Chin Kar Lok and the young Loletta Lee (who’s extremely cute in this film) more than make up for it.

300 – 3/5
Better than expected. Awesome attitude but little else.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 05 May 2007, 08:46

hey,

Anthony Chan's character I'm sure you recognized as one appearing in the original, yea?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 05 May 2007, 09:07

Knetan wrote:hey,

Anthony Chan's character I'm sure you recognized as one appearing in the original, yea?

I figured out it was the same character afterwards. I actually watched part 4 first (which made me an immediate Anthony Chan fan), then part 1 which I had seen a looong time ago and didn't even know Anthony was in it.

Got Mr. Vampire 2 on order, and just received Vampire vs. Vampire. Mr. Vampire 3 I'm having seriously hard time tracking down. Somebody want to sell his/her Deltamac disc? The film is on Joy Sales' digitally remastered list.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 05 May 2007, 09:47

hey,

After the original, I think 3 offers up the best mixture, especially so since it has Richard Ng in support as a conman that orchestrates exorcisms. A plotline somewhat echoed in The Frighteners.

Anthony Chan also directed (and co-starred) in a dear favourite of mine, A FISHY STORY.

http://www.sogoodreviews.com/reviews/afishystory.htm

Also directed fellow Wynners compadre Kenny Bee in a number of other romantic comedies.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 05 May 2007, 11:43

HungFist wrote:Wonderful Days – 2,5/5

Which cut did you see? Is the plot as badly written and incoherent as people say? From what I've heard, the English-dubbed "hack job" Sky Blue is the best version of the film, cuz they've tweaked the writing a bit to make the film far more coherent.

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 05 May 2007, 12:20

Kung Fu Vs Acrobatic 1/5

Yet another dire HK fantasy martial arts film. Stupidity crossed with poor comedy and not that good martial arts. Not worth seeing.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 05 May 2007, 12:35

hey,

go back to a prior film of Taylor Wong's instead, Buddha's Palm. A lot more fun with animated effects.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 05 May 2007, 13:49

EvaUnit02 wrote:
HungFist wrote:Wonderful Days – 2,5/5
Which cut did you see? Is the plot as badly written and incoherent as people say? From what I've heard, the English-dubbed "hack job" Sky Blue is the best version of the film, cuz they've tweaked the writing a bit to make the film far more coherent.

I'm not sure which cut it was. It was on TV. It ran approx 110 min with commercials which would make it about 95 min without commercials. But those are just quesses, I had woken up at 6:40 AM that morning and the film started after midnight so I was kinda tired...

The plot was pretty much worthless, not a single original idea to be found but it didn't bother me too much. Visuals and music was the main selling point here IMO.

But it was a bit weird experience, basically watching anime in Korean. Felt somehow strange at first... kinda like seeing an american action star doing wire fu, lol

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 05 May 2007, 14:04

The American Friend - 3/5.
Meh. The weakest Wim Wenders film that I've seen to date. Wenders was simply the wrong director for this sort of material, it may've turned out fantastic in the hands of Brian De Palma.

Radiohead: The Bends - 4/5.
Good solid guitar album.

Radiohead: Hail to the Thief - 1.5/5.
Anti-Bush album told via beeps & clicks.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 05 May 2007, 18:06

I don't know who told you the plot to wonderful days was incoherent Eva, it's a pretty straightforward film, and a very generic dystopic future fantasy. The uncut original is still only 94mins long and the visuals are "pretty" so, while the story is dull as dishwater, it's at least a reasonably watchable film. I'd probably give it the same rating as Hung.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 05 May 2007, 18:11

Spider-Man 3 - 4/5

Not as good as Spider-Man 2 but it still rocked all the same. Peter wasn't quite dark enough when he was supposed to be & there was a bit too much going on (to be honest, I think if they hadn't bothered with the Sandman plot it would've worked better) but an excellent end to this trilogy.

I loved it!

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 05 May 2007, 18:19

Shingster wrote:I don't know who told you the plot to wonderful days was incoherent Eva, it's a pretty straightforward film, and a very generic dystopic future fantasy. The uncut original is still only 94mins long and the visuals are "pretty" so, while the story is dull as dishwater, it's at least a reasonably watchable film. I'd probably give it the same rating as Hung.

Yup it makes sense thats for sure, its quite nice to look at and sounds great. May not change the world, but its well worth a quick watch.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 05 May 2007, 19:52

Dasepo Naughty Girls (Korea - 2005): 2 / 5

No, no and No !

Was sure this would be a fast-paced wacky comedy.
20 minutes in, I still thought I was right...

Should have known better.
This is a movie that is just plain weird.

It's colourful, it's got good actors (and good acting) and many interesting subplots. Unfortunately, that's as good as it gets.

This movie is severely flawed. The good jokes are too short and the bad ones are too long. I found myself repeatedly looking at my watch, and that's always a bad sign.

The other problem lies within the plot. The movie ends with some kind of action sequence that isn't at all connected to the little bits of subplot that I liked.
Very disappointing ending indeed.

Watched it. Liked some scenes. Too boring at times + crappy ending. Will not buy the DVD.

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 06 May 2007, 15:45

spider-man 3

3/5

meh

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 06 May 2007, 23:55

I'm a Cyborg but that's OK (2006 - Korea - Park Chan-Wook): 4,5 / 5

How to redefine "nonsense".
Like K-Pax on ecstasy.

Kinda low-key for a PCW movie, though. He could have made something huge with such a plot, but he chose not to.

This is a small and simple movie. A bit too simple perhaps, but that's OK.
The actors and the cinematography are good enough.
I don't think that Park enthusiasts will be disappointed.

Watched it. Enjoyed every second of it. Will buy the DVD.

DangerousLeeHandsome · Post by **DangerousLeeHandsome** » 07 May 2007, 01:02

Spider-Man 3 - 2.5/5
Mildly disappointing. Part 1 was good; 2 was spectacular; but 3 is waaay off. The plot goes haywire with so many unnesccesary plot elements that don't pay off. The villains were so weak. Sandman? Venom? Harry Osbourne aka The New Goblin (who BTW actually doesn't turn out to be a villain at all!)? I thought Doc Ock was a pretty weak opponent but these villains fail in comparison. The action scenes and CGI are spectacular as expected but overall, Spidey 3 is mediocre at best. Not a good way to end the series.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 07 May 2007, 04:00

Lost - Season 3 - Episodes 14 - 19 - 4.5/5
Dude, after a few obvious filler episodes and my vacation to Jordan, I came back and caught up with the last 6 episodes. Dude!! I can't wait to find out more.

Top bastard characters right now: Ben and Sun!!! :shock:

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 07 May 2007, 11:09

hey,

it sounds like you've been surfing in California, LD.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 07 May 2007, 11:11

Knetan wrote:hey,

it sounds like you've been surfing in California, LD.

There's a California in the Middle-East? First I've heard of this, it's location must be exclusively known by vikings.