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

Film Reviews and Release Comparisons
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BiscLimpkit
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Post by BiscLimpkit »

Pirates of the Carribean: At World's Ends 2.5/5
Dreadful plot with way too many holes and inconsistencies. Decent enough pirate banter though. The Pirates trilogy is like the Matrix trilogy but with Pirates.

Dolls 4/5
Now that's a film. Way to go, Kitano.

The Bourne Supremacy 4/5
Needed to watch this before Ultimatum. Solid action piece. The shakey-cam was miles overused though.

Flags of our Fathers 3/5
Not what I expected. Wonder if Iwo Jima is any better?
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thelostdragon
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Post by thelostdragon »

BiscLimpkit wrote:Wonder if Iwo Jima is any better?
Yes, way better.
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romerojpg
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Post by romerojpg »

thelostdragon wrote:
BiscLimpkit wrote:Wonder if Iwo Jima is any better?
Yes, way better.
Nahh I liked them both about the same (gave them both 3.5 out of 5) :) but Jima is far more in depth at getting to know the cast and remembering the names and faces etc.. that was my problem with Flags, I didnt have a clue who anyone was talking about, esspecially with all the ignorant time line travelling. Got confusing as hell.

As a whole watching them back to back is superb I thought, makes you think thats for sure :) both for £6 from CDWOW you cannot go wrong at all.
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BiscLimpkit
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Post by BiscLimpkit »

Cheers guys and I thought the same Romero - there were so many characters that it took me a while to figure out who was who...

Are there scenes/characters from Flags that are in Iwo Jima and vice versa?
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EvaUnit02
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Post by EvaUnit02 »

Flags worth bothering with? I've only seen Letters.
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thelostdragon
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Post by thelostdragon »

Not necessarily, no.

@Bisc
No.
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Knetan
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Post by Knetan »

hey,

That Day On The Beach 3.5/5

One of Edward Yang's first films and a rare one at that, Sylvia Chang's character recaps in a reunion with a friend, her apparent tragic marriage that ended in an apparent tragedy on a beach. I say apparent because Yang's constantly shifting within eras reveals puzzle piece by puzzle piece that adds up to a more deeper coda for the characters than you might expect. The film strongly touches upon the roles of married women not only in Taiwanese society but also in a wordly perspective.

I'm sure I missed a lot of things and the current tape print available isn't the prettiest to go along with the film (and it's dubbed in Cantonese to boot) but unlike Yang's A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY, an intensely personal and for me vague experience (even actor Chang Chen has said that he didn't know what he was acting in), this flick reaches you. Hopefully someone will unearth it properly sometime.
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Post by romerojpg »

EvaUnit02 wrote:Flags worth bothering with? I've only seen Letters.
Personally I say one big YES, they really work together and create some sense of both sides.

I kind of think of them as one film now as they interweave with each other at various points and do use the same timelines and battles, but from different perspectives and each film also tells you a little about the other one, so yes they do cross over many times, I guess thelostdragon didnt notice them bits?

Maybe not the same cast, but scenes do cross over into one another, and tell you why certain things kind of happened. I wont go into detail, but a fair few scenes kind of clicked in my head and I thought thats why they did that, or ohh thats how they got him, or now I see what they did that etc.. :)

Some of the bigger battles shots Even using the same footage at times, which isnt what I like to see it has to be said, thats something you expect from a TV show :D
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Post by Lourdes »

Knetan wrote:hey,

That Day On The Beach 3.5/5
You pirate you, but I'm glad for that, I'd have ordered the VHS had I not known it was dubbed.
I've seen the film twice in the cinema and would give it a 4 myself. Very impressive for a first full feature and that it's Doyle's first time as DOP makes it special too. It's just that it's a little dull. :oops:
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Post by Lourdes »

Lethal Weapon 4 - 7/10
It's a little less dated and dodgy than the other films, decent action flick.

Rush Hour - 8/10
Good fun film.

Rush Hour 2 - 7/10
Not quite as 'tight.'

U.S Marshals - 7/10
It's good but no Fugitive.

The Fifth Element - 8/10
It's such naff and cheesey nonsense but I still quite like it. What I don't understand is how it manages to be 2 hours long. Nothing happens!

28 Days Later - 7/10
I'm only 5 years behind. Him running around at the end spoiled it for me, it was much too neat for a 'zombie' film.
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Post by DangerousLeeHandsome »

Above The Law (aka Righting Wrongs) - 4/5
Great movie. Bummer ending though. DD's DVD is quite awesome so go get it if you haven't already.

Shanghai Express (aka Millionaires Express) - 4/5
Again a great film. Haven't seen it in more than 10 yrs. Love all the cameos.
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Post by HungFist »

DangerousLeeHandsome wrote:Above The Law (aka Righting Wrongs) - 4/5
Great movie. Bummer ending though. DD's DVD is quite awesome so go get it if you haven't already.
Mono in sync and sounding ok?
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Post by grim_tales »

The Simpsons: Season 6 - Disc 2 (E4-7) - ****/*****

There are some great moments in all the episodes, the bit in the "Barts Comet" episode when everyone sings Que Sera, Sera on the hill is a sweet moment :) The lyric isnt changed so Flanders still sings "When I was just a little girl..." :D
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Post by HungFist »

Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread – 4/5
Etsuko Shihomi is back and kicking just as much ass as she did in the first film. The action is great although zoom is over used. Near the end there’s one wonderful surreal scene that reminded me of the colourful visuals of some pinky violence films of the time. The main villain is played by the great Hideo Murota, although the fighting part is left mostly to Masashi Ishibashi who seems to appear in just about every other Sonny Chiba/ Etsuko Shihomi film ever made. It’s not a problem though, the guy is awesome every single time.

Return of the Sister Street Fighter – 3,5/5
The third part isn’t quite as good as the first two but still a lot of fun. The main villain is less impressive than before and the film is missing the especially memorable scenes but the action is well shot and the cast is pretty nice. Masashi Ishibashi (for the third time) and Yasukaki Kurata (for the second time) return in different roles, and the lovely Michi Love appears in one fight scene in the beginning. The story is rather non-existent but the coolness factor remains high most of the time.

Sister Street Fighter: Fifth Level Fist - 3,5/5
The last part in the series is a sequel only by name. The characters are different and so is the style. Less graphic violence, more humour and romance and also Etsuko in a kimono, giggling like a little girl and of couse kicking a lot of ass. That's a dream combination. And it gets even better, Michi Love (still lovely) is in the movie too and gets to speak plenty of english. Her brother is played by Ken Wallace who's excellent as well. And as if that wasn't enough, we have Masafumi Suzuki as Etsuko's dad and Claude Gannyon (the american villain from Return of the Street Fighter) as the american drug lord. And finally, the soundtrack is excellent with a great new theme and some very nice tunes throughout the film.
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Post by Markgway »

DOMINO 2/5

Reasonably entertaining piffle ruined by ludicrous headache-inducing over-direction. Keira was surprisingly convincing much of the time and Mickey is always welcome. The story was a bit of a mess though and it all got way out of control by the end at which point Tony Scott decided to rip off (badly) his own True Romance finale. This should have been so much better.
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Knetan
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Post by Knetan »

hey,

Royal Warriors (IFD....not the Michelle Yeoh flick) 3/5

Here comes Godfrey Ho and saves another dull film with wonderfully badly inserted Ninja footage with Richard Harrison and Mike Abbott. They are among the regular white dudes in ninja outfits (with a headband saying Ninja, just in case). Too much insanity to mention here.
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Post by EvaUnit02 »

Markgway wrote:DOMINO 2/5

Reasonably entertaining piffle ruined by ludicrous headache-inducing over-direction. Keira was surprisingly convincing much of the time and Mickey is always welcome. The story was a bit of a mess though and it all got way out of control by the end at which point Tony Scott decided to rip off (badly) his own True Romance finale. This should have been so much better.
Better or worse than Deja Vu? Ditto question for Man on Fire.
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thelostdragon
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Post by thelostdragon »

Markgway wrote:DOMINO 2/5
I don't believe it! Mark just rated as film out of 5. :D
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BiscLimpkit
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Post by BiscLimpkit »

I agree Mark - Domino's acid-trip style camerawork was overkill.
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Post by EvaUnit02 »

BiscLimpkit wrote:The Pirates trilogy is like the Matrix trilogy but with Pirates.
So one of them gets Jesus-like powers and has a big DBZ-like fight at the end with the main villain? :D
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BiscLimpkit
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Post by BiscLimpkit »

Aye, more or less.
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Markgway
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Post by Markgway »

EvaUnit02 wrote:
Markgway wrote:DOMINO 2/5

Reasonably entertaining piffle ruined by ludicrous headache-inducing over-direction. Keira was surprisingly convincing much of the time and Mickey is always welcome. The story was a bit of a mess though and it all got way out of control by the end at which point Tony Scott decided to rip off (badly) his own True Romance finale. This should have been so much better.
Better or worse than Deja Vu? Ditto question for Man on Fire.
Worse than Deja Vu... about the same as Man on Fire.
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Lourdes
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Post by Lourdes »

I'll pass on Pirates 3 then, I found 2 bad enough.
DangerousLeeHandsome
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Post by DangerousLeeHandsome »

HungFist wrote:
DangerousLeeHandsome wrote:Above The Law (aka Righting Wrongs) - 4/5
Great movie. Bummer ending though. DD's DVD is quite awesome so go get it if you haven't already.
Mono in sync and sounding ok?
Yes, in synch and is genuine.
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Post by grim_tales »

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - 4.25/5

Very good film :) Bogart, Lorre and Greenstreet are especially good/memorable IMO.
I like the ending where the bird is fake. In other words they've been through this for NOTHING!
I fell asleep during the commentary though (I was tired). :(