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

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 26 Jul 2007, 12:54

DVD Talk are idiots when it comes to transfers. The Traffic HD-DVD incident is proof of that.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 26 Jul 2007, 14:05

Hana & Alice: 2 / 5

130 minutes... for this ?!
Sorry, but no way.

The storyline is barely thick enough to fill a 90-minute romantic comedy.
The camerawork is poor, the editing is clumsy and the pace is too slow.

It's my first Iwai film and probably the last, by the look of it.
1 point because I like the concept, and 1 point for Ann Suzuki (who is both funny and cute).

Watched it. Thought it was boring and clumsy. Won't buy the DVD.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 26 Jul 2007, 14:09

tom2681 wrote:Hana & Alice: 2 / 5

130 minutes... for this ?!
Sorry, but no way.

The storyline is barely thick enough to fill a 90-minute romantic comedy.
The camerawork is poor, the editing is clumsy and the pace is too slow.

It's my first Iwai film and probably the last, by the look of it.
1 point because I like the concept, and 1 point for Ann Suzuki (who is both funny and cute).

Watched it. Thought it was boring and clumsy. Won't buy the DVD.

You haven't seen a truly shit movie until you've seen All About Lily Chou Chou.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 26 Jul 2007, 14:19

Lily is a stunning film and Hana is great, but you really should start from Iwai's best films like April Story and Picnic.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 26 Jul 2007, 14:46

Saying the camerawork in an Iwai film is poor is like saying the choreography in a Lau Kar-leung film is amateurish.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 26 Jul 2007, 14:49

hey,

If I Were Real 3/5

Interesting but not riveting Taiwanese made tragedy set in Shanghai during the Communist rule in the 60s. Alan Tam plays a low-class citizen wishing to be transferred from farm duty and into the city where he can hopefully start a life with his pregnant girlfriend. He risks it all by infiltrating the Party, acting as the son of an official. Like it when Alan Tam made other things than fluff.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 26 Jul 2007, 15:07

I remember how I was supposed to take a few caps of Anne Suzuki in Hana and ended up taking like a hundred caps because the visuals were so exceptionally great...

EDIT: motherfucker, 256 caps. That's just how good the films looks (which doesn't necessarily completely mean the cinematograpgy is good, but still...)

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 26 Jul 2007, 19:08

I found the visuals in Hana and Alice simply atrocious.
Wonder whether we're both talking about the same film at all.

Bah...

dragonhero005 · Post by **dragonhero005** » 26 Jul 2007, 19:16

A Warrior's Tragedy

Written, produced and directed by Frankie Chan, this cheap-looking film starring the legend Ti Lung himself in a very cool role as a silent swordsman has it's moments but overall is pretty bad. The costumes and settings look cheap, comedy and drama don't work well together and charakters come and go throughout the film (it is said that the original version was 3 hours long, but had to be cut). The worst thing sadly is Frankie Chan himself, playing a happy-go-lucky sidekick charakter, who totally seems to be out of place.

1.5/5

What Price Survival

Yes! That's the kind of movie I'm always looking for. Suit-wearing swordsman in an unknown snowy world, where the best warriors have the say. In visual terms the movie absolutely satisfies and the old-generation actors David Chiang, Tsui Siu-keung and Damian Lee truely deliver great performances. Unfortunately they pretty outdo the 'youngsters'.
Nice to see Charlie Young in an early role, btw.
More of this crazy stuff please!

4/5

[/b]

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 26 Jul 2007, 20:57

The problem with What Price Survival is that feels like this brilliant 3hr epic that has been seriously edited down to around an hour and half.

tom2681 wrote:I found the visuals in Hana and Alice simply atrocious.
Wonder whether we're both talking about the same film at all.

I am completely at a loss of how to respond to that other than: Did you watch the film with deep, dark shades on? Maybe all those crappy, vaccuous - but glossy - new-age swordplay films have addled the part of your brain that would appreciate the delicate cinematography of a low-key quirky production like Hana & Alice.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 26 Jul 2007, 21:02

hey,

and they start the flick with basically giving it away in trailer form. The beginning of Daniel Lee's so called style, one that basically only has worked to some form of effect in his dramas!

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 26 Jul 2007, 22:37

The Simpsons Movie - 4.5/5
Hilarious film! Watch the credits by the way.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 26 Jul 2007, 22:44

hey,

listened to the Green Day version of The Simpsons theme today. was pretty cool. Planning to see it Sunday.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 26 Jul 2007, 23:00

That's funny, because Green Day actually die in the movie.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 26 Jul 2007, 23:10

dragonhero005 wrote:A Warrior's Tragedy
(it is said that the original version was 3 hours long, but had to be cut).

I've seen the 3hr cut and it's still no great shakes but probably more coherent.

dragonhero005 · Post by **dragonhero005** » 27 Jul 2007, 08:04

Knetan wrote:and they start the flick with basically giving it away in trailer form.

That's something I disliked as well.

I like the style of the movie, it absolutely fits. And I'm also sure that it doesn't work with his dramas. Haven't seen one of those so far, though.
But somehow I'm interested in seeing Dragon Squad now, although it got very bad reviews everywhere...

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 27 Jul 2007, 08:38

Robocop - 4/5

As brilliant as the first time. Arguably, it gets even better with each viewing. The pacing is perfect, with a very lean script and amazing score.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 27 Jul 2007, 09:15

Knetan wrote:hey,

listened to the Green Day version of The Simpsons theme today. was pretty cool. Planning to see it Sunday.

Is it better than the Sonic Youth version?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 27 Jul 2007, 09:49

Green Day's music in recent years has been utterly terrible. Warning = bad album. American Idiot = unbearably bad. Their recent single about the Sudanese genocide had me yelling at the TV in outrage at its awfulness.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 27 Jul 2007, 10:09

Black Rain - 3/5
The action sequences are worse than the dodgiest of HK films but on the whole I think this film is a bit underrated. It should really have taken the Noir thing further because I was loving that.

Fancy Dance - 3/5
I liked "Sumo Do, Sumo Don't" and "Shall We Dansu?" well enough. They're very formulaic films with little depth but almost everybody finds them likeable enough. This one falls short of this mark, it's not amusing enough.

dragonhero005 · Post by **dragonhero005** » 27 Jul 2007, 16:51

Death Proof

Tarantino's latest was even crazier than I would have expected it to be. The ending is like something I've never seen before and Tarantino's cameo is the absolute highlight of the movie.
Death Proof at some points feels as if Tarantino wants to fool the audience. The question is whether it laughs with him or is sore

I thought it was funny.

3.5/5

Fearless

Finally also I could see it and I was absolutely blown away. Great!

5/5

Markgway wrote:
dragonhero005 wrote:A Warrior's Tragedy
(it is said that the original version was 3 hours long, but had to be cut).
I've seen the 3hr cut and it's still no great shakes but probably more coherent.

What do you think about Ti Lungs gesture at the very end of the movie, btw?

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 27 Jul 2007, 18:40

Captivity 0.5/5

Damn this is awful.probably the worst film in a while to get a major cinema release,it's like something you'd find on the zone horror channel at 2:30 am in the morning.Bad acting,obvious plot,no thrills,unlikeable characters it's hard to believe this was directed by Roland Joffe who has made a few respected movies in his time.the half a star is for Cuthbert's cleavage

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 27 Jul 2007, 18:47

dragonhero005 wrote:What do you think about Ti Lungs gesture at the very end of the movie, btw?

Er, I don't remember what he did?

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 27 Jul 2007, 18:48

EvaUnit02 wrote:Green Day's music in recent years has been utterly terrible. Warning = bad album. American Idiot = unbearably bad. Their recent single about the Sudanese genocide had me yelling at the TV in outrage at its awfulness.

I liked their first two albums, especially Insomniac. I never bothered after that.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 27 Jul 2007, 18:54

gasteropod wrote:
saltysam wrote: 300 (hd-dvd) 3.5/5

Excellent if far fetched entertainment, the nearly 2hr run time flys by. This isn't hd-dvd demo material though,it's very grainy at times,i assume an artistic choice by the director.
From what I've read, it is superior to the Pirates film in terms of HD transfer. Grain is indeed a good thing, it's a part of the film, get over it!

here you go gasteropod, read this review of the 300 hd transfer from a well respected site 8)

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/300.html