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

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 26 May 2007, 17:17

Jim Carrey can definitely act.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 26 May 2007, 18:59

Desperate Housewives Season 3 4/5
Better than Lost. Sad end to the series.

Lost Season 3 3/5
Started off guff but gained momentum towards the end.

Smallville Season 6 1/5
Shit. Pure shit. However, the slow-mo Justive League scenes were smart.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 26 May 2007, 20:33

hey,

Love Is Not A Game, But A Joke 4/5 (Encore viewing, 16:9 Japanese dvd)

Riley Yip's fantastic debut movie is still shaky at its initial stages, perhaps intentionally as the hunt for Karen by three friends (Andy Hui, Jan Lam and Wallace Cheung) is on its own terms, extremely silly. But as soon as focus lies on the women the three respective guys utilize during their hunt, Yip's screeplay offers up one magical moment after the other. It's a whimsy, quirky frame at times (Jan Lam's obsession with scenets being one fun element the otherwise grating actor nails) but for instance watching Andy Hui and a terrific Shu Qi talk of issues of men and women in an refreshing yet ordinary way is very captivating. Jingle Ma's visuals (a job he should not venture outside of!) accompanies Yip's touches within the cityscape very well and the often Latin flavoured soundtrack (that includes a re-take/remix on the Macarena!) outside of Beyond's classic Canto-pop ditty adds on to the atmosphere that eventually turns touching in a valid way. Late 90s gem.

Riley Yip went on to make Metade Fumaca, Lavender, Just One Look (highly neglected piece of nostaliga filmmaking) and Elixir Of Love but has sadly been MIA for the last few years.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 26 May 2007, 20:36

I really liked Eternal Sunshine too. And Carrey was very good in it.
I also liked Being John Malkovich so there

Lord of the Rings: On Stage - 4.25/5

Extremely ambitious stage/theatre production of LOTR. Visually spectacular with some great effects, I really enjoyed it. That said, I've probably been spoiled by the Jackson movies as I kept seeing Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee (not saying the performers weren't good), there were also (sadly, IMO) largely unmemorable songs (apart from one or two I found myself humming, eg - a song sung by Frodo and Sam in the 2nd act).
The incidental music and sets were superb, it really added to the atmosphere.
A lot of the Hobbits did have West Country accents - it was like a bloody cider festival

Great show!

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 26 May 2007, 20:41

EvaUnit02 wrote:Hidden (Cache) - 4/5
A solidly plotted thriller that holds attention from start to finish.

I was like "WTF... HAHA" when the Algerian guy slit his throat. It seemed to come out of nowhere.

Eva, I really liked this one too. The ending is ambiguous:
We still dont know who sent the tapes, the Algerian guy or his son?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 26 May 2007, 20:42

@Ken
MIA?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 26 May 2007, 21:01

Missing in Action, LD

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 26 May 2007, 23:11

Thanks!

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 27 May 2007, 10:34

hey,

Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters 2.5/5

Not signaling Tsui Hark's return to form but collaborating with Wellson Chin who had done plenty of horror movies during the 90s (was the man behind the "Date" series, that included Thou Shalt Not Swear, The Third Full Moon and July 13th), the echoing of genre filmmaking of the past works well in bursts. Characters are flat assed but the duo decide upon introducing CGI enchanced elements such as the vampire inhaling the life out of victims and the tone is generally creepy at times. Very welcome choice and it's much due to Chin's skills as a director. His voice was sort of born back there in the 90s and not via The Inspectors Wears Skirts-series.

BUT, this US edit plays out quite, quite tight which leads us to:

The Era Of Vampires 3/5

The version available in Singapore I assume is or is close to the original version of the film and has some welcome additions. A narrated prologue and epilogue (with a more clearer downer ending as opposed to the chop, chop technique in the US version) and various plot extensions, in particular concerning the still rather flat romance, makes the film a bit more elaborate in a welcome way.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 27 May 2007, 11:40

I loved some of the sets on LOTR - with some of them you had the impression of a 3 dimesional film moving in front of you. And the music was good. Valliant effort though it doesnt come as close to Enya or Annie Lennox from the film soundtrack.
I expect too much I know 8)

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 27 May 2007, 19:54

Ken,

I believe ERA represents the director's cut.

That's the version I saw.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 27 May 2007, 20:17

The Simpsons S4 - Episodes 11-16: 5/5

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 27 May 2007, 21:30

Truck Yaro: Totsugeki Ichiban-boshi – 4/5
This a weird bird in the Truck Yaro series. Repeated themes is a series trademark however this seventh film comes with more than a few surprises. Bunta has no rivalry driver, Kinya doesn’t forget his kids’ names (cause his family doesn’t even appear in the film) and there is no topless bath house girls. But the girls that are in the film, Ako Nakamura (cute) and Mieko Harada (cuter), are among my favourite female stars in the series. Totsugeki Ichiban-boshi is another great instalment in the great series.

Truck Yaro: Ichiban-boshi kita e kaeru – 4/5
More changes in the sight as the eight film doesn’t have the usual opening and closing themes (sung by Sugawara and Aikawa) at all. Damn. Jonathan’s (Aikawa) family is back though, as so is the rivalry driver (the excellent Toshio Kurosawa). But the bath house girls are still missing. Ako Nakamura was supposed to be somewhere in the film but to tell the truth I couldn’t spot her. The driving finale was one of my favourites in the series so far, and some of the landscapes are stunning.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 27 May 2007, 21:33

Does the subtitle mean First.. star.. something?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 28 May 2007, 00:09

I does

Refers to Sugawara's character

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 28 May 2007, 10:05

Thanks

The Simpsons: S6 - Disc 2 (Eps 1-3) - ****.5/*****

I don't even like the Lisa on Ice episode very much, still there are some lovely tender moments towards the end of the episode, when Bart and Lisa are pitted together in a hockey game, but they decide not to face-off in the final penalty shot, and remember being nice to each other

Beautiful

The Homer Badman and Grandpa v Sexual Inadequacy episodes are marvellous.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 28 May 2007, 11:50

I hate Lisa episodes. The only reason I don't turn off the TV when they're on is that I hope for a Homer subplot.

Night at the Museum - 1.5/5
What the hell was Ben Stiller thinking?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 28 May 2007, 11:59

Yeah, I prefer Homer/Bart episodes. I don't like the main story in "Lisa's Rival" for example, the "B" story with Homer and Bart trying to make a fortune off sugar is much better and funnier

Have you seen Itchy and Scratchy Land, LD?

"Hey its the 12 noon robot parade! Hurry or we'll have to wait for the 12:05 parade!"

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 28 May 2007, 12:02

Yeah, I love that episode.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 28 May 2007, 13:09

I like the episode with the "Cops" intro (cant remember which one)

"They're cops. they're cops!"

Homer Badman is rated 12 now, it used to be a PG.

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 28 May 2007, 13:18

Peace Hotel 2/5

Very underwhelmed by this. Action was pretty pants when it happened, story was ok, and that's it.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 28 May 2007, 13:58

grim_tales wrote:I like the episode with the "Cops" intro (cant remember which one)

"They're cops. they're cops!"

Homer Badman is rated 12 now, it used to be a PG.

Homer vs. New York in one of the DVD sets? I hope so, they might've gone into ultra PC mode after 9/11.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 28 May 2007, 15:19

Homer Badman is hilarious.

Manages to take swipes at political correctness, the media, and feminism in a single 20 min episode.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 28 May 2007, 18:33

thelostdragon wrote: Night at the Museum - 1.5/5
What the hell was Ben Stiller thinking?

Yeah it's not that great but I found the monkey teasing quite amusing.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 28 May 2007, 21:50

Yeah, I think Homer v New York is S9 Eva. Thankfully uncut/unedited AFAIK.