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

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 12 May 2007, 19:29

Well, watching it in a language you actually understand would help the old "where's the story?" problems I'm sure. But yeah Mezzo Forte is just a big dumb tits and guns show. I tend to avoid the seriously ecchi series like the plague, never understood the appeal of big animated tits and sex. I remember when I had to review Ikkitousen for DVDtimes, after 5 eps I was beginning to hate it and only bothered writing about the first volume iirc (maybe the first 2). Eventually I gave the series to Kev Gilvear because he's a big perv who likes ecchi & hentai!

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 13 May 2007, 02:08

Borat **/4

Started off funny... but wore thin and eventually outstayed its welcome.
Not enough laughs to sustain a feature film IMO. Irritatingly the deleted scenes were funnier than a lot of what made the final cut. Had they been substituted my rating would probably be a bit higher.

Brick **.5/4

Very offbeat neo-noir got me interested for a while but the impenetrable dialogue and risibility of the plot did it in. Gordon-Levitt was pretty good as the teenage hard-boiled sleuth.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 13 May 2007, 08:59

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure 4/5
Most triumphant!

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 13 May 2007, 09:04

Mezzo Forte w/ subs - 1/5
Same old crap, no improvement at all. The OVA has virtually no plot.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 13 May 2007, 09:10

BiscLimpkit wrote:Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure 4/5
Most triumphant!

Be excellent to each other.

Which is not bad way to live.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 13 May 2007, 10:05

I actually agree with you Mark about the Borat deleted scenes - some of them were even funnier. The supermarket scene is hilarious

I dont think it outstayed its welcome - 80 mins was about right IMO.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 13 May 2007, 10:17

Knetan wrote: Be excellent to each other.

And... party on dudes!! 8)

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 13 May 2007, 10:32

Have you seen Operation Condor Bisc?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 13 May 2007, 13:33

KITE - 2.5/5
Moody OVA with some nice setpieces. Pure exploitation but not too bad at all. It even has character development.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 14 May 2007, 17:57

A View to a Kill – 3,5/5
Weak middle part but great first and last thrids.

Voices of a Distant Star – 4,5/5
-

Night of the Living Dead (Savini) – 2,5/5
Falls into the ’unneeded remakes’ category. Technically good work and pretty enjoyable too but where’s all the gore? This was pg-13 stuff.

Sex & Zen 2 – 3/5
Surprisingly good sequel and definitely better than the original. I expected Loletta Lee to be the only good thing about this but thankfully there was more.

Angel Terminators – 3/5
I can understand why some love this but it didn’t hit me that hard. Still a very nice film but may not keep it.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 14 May 2007, 18:07

HungFist wrote: -

Night of the Living Dead (Savini) – 2,5/5
Falls into the ’unneeded remakes’ category. Technically good work and pretty enjoyable too but where’s all the gore? This was pg-13 stuff.

It is a gorey film and disturbing I think, but they did indeed cut a massive amount from it sadly

you can get it on VHS in the longer Unrated cut form, but not on DVD, idiots!

Savini says its what you dont see, more than what you do. Coming from a special effects man thats bollocks, I want to see them zombies explode!

not leave it to my imagination.

But hey I think its a masterpiece myself.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 15 May 2007, 01:13

I think sometimes gore can be distracting if it's obviously the film's raison d'etre. I'd rather have a suspenseful horror pic than a blood-splattered one. Dawn of the Dead is probably the best Zombie film ever but even so I think it's a bit overdone in the gore department.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 15 May 2007, 11:32

LOST S2 E1 -2 - 4/5

Very good episodes.

Anyone find it hard to get the slipcover thingy over the R1 Digipack?

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 15 May 2007, 16:35

Not really, the Futurama boxes are far more tricky

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 15 May 2007, 17:43

grim_tales wrote:LOST S2 E1 -2 - 4/5

Very good episodes.

Anyone find it hard to get the slipcover thingy over the R1 Digipack?

Please for the love of god, do not review each and every episode like you did the last time.

Lost S2 was an improvement on the first. Better season finale I felt.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 15 May 2007, 17:50

Don't worry Bisc, I won't

I havent actually seen beyond E5 (I think!?)

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 15 May 2007, 20:56

Hannibal Rising - 2 / 5, (If it wasn't to do with Hannibal, I would give it 3 / 5)
A watchable movie, good cast, but this totally destoryed what I thought of Hannibal in Manhunter and Silence. If they was to remove the Hannibal part, and make it another person, then it a good film, but a prequel to Silence, it really doesn't make sense. The film really didn't go to why does Hannibal become a serial killer, all he does in this film is take revenge for his little sister. Some great death scenes, and the lead actor (who spooky looks like Crispin Clover) is brilliant. Finally I see why everyone likes Gong Li, Didn't like her in Miami Vice, or Curse, but in this, she is extrememly sexy!!. Also if you want a samurai hannibal, then check this out

I think Thomas Harris just wanted a paycheck, tsk tsk Tom

Spider-man 3 - 3/5
Should have been venom on his own, Sandman was great good plot, actor in that was excellent prob the best part and WTF you killed off Harry!!!!, he not supposed to help Spidy and he goes mental!!!

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 16 May 2007, 00:13

Jung-Cheon aka The Restless (Korea - 2006 - By Jo Dong-Oh with Jung Wu-Song and Kim Tae-Hee): 4 / 5

I was expecting a lot from Restless...
Am I disappointed, then ?
Hell NO !

This movie is a cross between Casshern, Jade Warrior and Legend of Zu.
If you like at least two out of those three films, then keep reading.
Otherwise there's nothing for you here.

The most surprising aspect of this film is the plot. It starts out as a typical korean swordplay / melodrama, but it quickly shifts and goes into full-on fantasy mode.
An eternal and supernatural love story with a few fights thrown in for good measure. That's what this movie contains. But that's all we need, no ?

First-time director Jo Dong-Oh knows how to handle his camera, although he never tries to be ambitious or pretentious. He's just doing what he needs to do to make his movie work, nothing more.
Nothing wrong with that.

On the acting side, Jung Wu-Song is superb, while Kim Tae-Hee does a decent job as Yon-Hwa / Soo-Hwa. She lacks the screen presence of a Yun So-Yee and the charisma of a Kim Hee-Seon, but she's perfectly adequate.

Sagisu Shiro (Casshern / Musa)'s score is surprisingly discrete for most of the time, but when the big cues kick in, they are simply mind-blowingly beautiful to listen to.

So why only 4 out of 5, do you ask ?
Because this movie isn't perfect. In fact it's far from it.

The fight choregraphy is quite poor. it doesn't feel HK-style at all.
It's typically korean (cramped and jerky). I don't know who did the fights, but I'm betting on either an overrated Kim Won-Jin or a very uninspired Jeong Du-Hong.

Second problem: the constant lack of originality.
While the plot itself is nothing short of ground-breaking, Restless borrows heavily from other movies (Lord of the Rings, WuJi, Legend of Zu, Final Fantasy VII, Bichunmoo and Star Wars to name a few) and it shows.

This is not a big problem, but I don't like to notice these things.

Thankfully, the good outweighs the bad (by quite a big margin).
Watched it. Loved it to bits. Will buy the DVD right away.

Note: I'm expecting everybody on this board to hate this film (as usual).
But you already know my taste in movies, so don't complain.

DangerousLeeHandsome · Post by **DangerousLeeHandsome** » 16 May 2007, 00:38

Cradle 2 The Grave - 1/5
Easily Jet Li's worst movie to date. DMX's acting is easily on par with his music--IT SUCKS! Tom Arnold and Anthony "The Departed" Anderson were annoying as hell. Mark Dacascos was criminally underused. Only reason why I'm even giving it 1 star is for Jet Li. Poor Jet.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 16 May 2007, 08:13

tom2681 wrote:Jung-Cheon aka The Restless (Korea - 2006 - By Jo Dong-Oh with Jung Wu-Song and Kim Tae-Hee): 4 / 5
This movie is a cross between Casshern, Jade Warrior and Legend of Zu.
If you like at least two out of those three films, then keep reading.

Thats all I need to read, now finding this movie!!!!

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 16 May 2007, 12:19

Curse of the Golden Flower - 3/5

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 16 May 2007, 12:43

Freedom Downtime - 5 / 5
Documentary on Kevin Mitnick made by his group/friends, and them telling their side what about happened. Very very interesting indeed, Kevin is made out to be a terrorist, and before 9/11, Kevin was under lock without a trial for 3 years. Unheard of then, sadly after 9/11, this is normal. If you have an interest in Kevin story and hackers then watch this, it very good, plus the evidences against Kevin was very flawed, in fact the main reporter didn't have the facts, and neither did the Fed. It was simply they was scared of the man and wanted to lock him without trial. He was in solitary confinement for 8 months..

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 16 May 2007, 12:48

LOST S2: Episode 3-4 - 4.5/5

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 17 May 2007, 10:31

hey,

The Tough Ninja Shadow Warrior 1.5/5

Tomas Tang's Filmark re-edited and inserted their trademark ninja footage into the HK crime actioner Unreal Dream and thus another flick could get international exposure. The original film seems rather bland but to be fair, it's actual impact, good or not, have been taken away. It's clear though that it slows the film down, making one wish Tomas Tang had opted for even more inept ninja footage. Coupled with the English dubbing, it's classic camp stuff when the focus of the film. Watch the fat bellied ninja leader slim down in his fight scenes and a Bruce Lee copy appearing for no reason. They knew their market alright...

Phillip Ko and Dai Sai-An appeared in the original and appears in the new scenes as well.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 17 May 2007, 18:34

hey,

Duel Of Fists 3/5

Chang Cheh takes a break from actual cinema to make a Thailand travel documentary with David Chiang and Ti Lung. Boy is it fun, irrelevant stuff from the legend. It's a mess too but once you acknowledge what you're in for, you'll be amazed at the poor pacing, prolonged sequences and David's groovy wardrobe.