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

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 02 Oct 2007, 16:56

Spider Lilies – 4/5
Zero Chou’s film about a web cam girl and a tattoo artist is pretty much a perfect mainstream drama. There’s some clumsiness in storyline but the lesbian theme is handled well and without much underlining on clichè. Both leads (Rainie Yang and Isabella Leong) do excellent job in portraying extremely likable (and cute) characters. The audio visual side is top notch with a beautiful soundtrack and colourful cinematography. Web cam image is occationally used to a great effect.

Dasepo Naughty Girls – 3/5
”Those with a sex disease will be removed from the class”. Dasepo Naughty Girls has a real promising start but little by little it gets less exiting as it advances. The ending I wasn’t sure whether to love or hate but ultimately, supported by a school girl fetish, I decided to convert my feelings of the film to the positive side.

Paprika – 3,5/5
Had nothing better to do before the next screening so I went to see this again. Still highly enjoyable, still not on the level of Kon’s previous work.

Bloody Tie – 2,5/5
Typically loud Korean crime film. For some reason (and after a long break from the genre) I was really feeling like watching a film like this and partly because of it ended up somewhat enjoying it. The ending was genuinely good, though.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 02 Oct 2007, 17:21

hey,

Miraculous Flower 3/5

Eventually lively and cheap Taiwanese Wuxia with Pearl Cheung (all round creative force on WOLF DEVIL WOMAN). Talky and melodramatic during first half, we do get glimpses of moody indoor sets and a varied, fighting landscape (including in snow, at the edge of waterfalls, fiery caves etc). By the halfway point, finally everyone wakes up and let Pearl go on bowel-removing, bloody revenge and it's quite a fun spectacle from this point.

Was released through Joseph Lai's IFD as PHOENIX THE NINJA. A version that possibly even longer than the Mandarin version as presented by Ocean Shores (fullscreen, remastered subs).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 Oct 2007, 17:37

Hung have you had your face super glued to the screen?

I don't know how you manage to watch 4-6 films 7 days a week.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 02 Oct 2007, 17:41

Because he does not waste hours and hours on the net looking and reading about films, he watches them

as do many of us.

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 02 Oct 2007, 17:47

Planet Terror 4/5

Awesome! Loved it.

Like a zombie version of From Dusk Til Dawn. Much more fun than Death Proof. Plus, Rose McGowan and Marly Shelton are smokin' hot.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 Oct 2007, 17:48

romerojpg wrote:Because he does not waste hours and hours on the net looking and reading about films, he watches them as do many of us.

Fair point, but even so. I'd never want to watch more than 2 films in one day. I wouldn't be doing them justice.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 02 Oct 2007, 17:55

Justice? how is it different watching one film every few days, and 5 films in one day. As long as you are awake and pay attention, I do not see any problem with watching as many as you can

I have watched an entire TV Season of many shows in 24 hours, doesnt make it any worse. Same goes for films, as long as they are not all identical shitfests

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 02 Oct 2007, 17:59

bradavon wrote:
romerojpg wrote:Because he does not waste hours and hours on the net looking and reading about films, he watches them as do many of us.
Fair point, but even so. I'd never want to watch more than 2 films in one day. I wouldn't be doing them justice.

HungFist wrote: Paprika – 3,5/5
Had nothing better to do before the next screening so I went to see this again.

That was after three movies

Seriously, 5 movies a day isn't that bad. I think I would even survive 6 but then I wouldn't have any time to eat...

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 02 Oct 2007, 18:10

It all depends on what else you have to do. If I had the time free I would sit and watch films and TV shows all day. But I still manage plenty of films and TV, I know when to get off the net.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 Oct 2007, 18:10

romerojpg wrote:Justice? how is it different watching one film every few days, and 5 films in one day.

Because usually after seeing a film I like to take in what I've just watched and think about aspects of the film that I particularly liked or interested in. It's more than just the physical 2 hours of entertainment, which granted viewed from that light you should be able to fit in 12 films in the same day.

Some films are so emotionally draining too. Fair enough though, each to their own.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 02 Oct 2007, 18:20

Well I would not want to watch 5 rape/revenge/nazi war camp films back to back

mix and match films I say, comedy, action, horror, a serious one etc..

Film series are great back to back, did Lord of the rings last week, its da bomb back to back, even if you have to leave quite a few hours to fit them in.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 02 Oct 2007, 18:21

Brad, this is how you watch movies at a festival (had to skip half of the festival because of school, therefore the missing days)

Friday 21.9
16:30 Metallic Blues (Andorra) (90 min)
18:30 Retribution (Kino Engel 2) (103 min)
21:00 Black Book (Bio Rex) (145 min)

Saturday 22.9
12:00 Paprika (Bio Rex) (90 min)
14:00 Tuli (Maxim 1) (113min)
18:30 Dai Nipponjin (Kino Engel 1) (113 min)
21:00 Eastern Promises (Bio Rex) (100 min)
23:00 Like a Dragon (Bio Rex) (110 min)

Sunday 23.9
14:00 Lost in Beijing (Kinopalatsi 7) (112 min)
16:30 I'm a Cyborg but that's OK (Kinopalatsi 8 ) (105 min)
19:00 Breath (Bio Rex) (84 min)
21:00 El Custodio (Kinopalatsi 6) (93 min)

Monday 24.9
16:30 13 Tzameti (Kino Engel 2) (95 min)
18:45 London to Brighton (Maxim 2) (85 min)
21:00 Triangle (Bio Rex) (101 min)

Friday 27.9
21:00 El Cobrador (Bio Rex) (90 min)
23:00 Tabunfire (Bio Rex) (103 min)

Saturday 28.9
12:00 Tekkonkinkreet (Bio Rex) (110 min)
16:30 Spider Lilies (Kino Engel 1) (94 min)
18:30 Dasepo Naughty Girls (Bio Rex) (103 min)
21:00 Paprika (Kino Engel 1) (90 min)
23:00 Bloody Tie Kino Engel 1 (117min)

EDIT: that's a direct copy of my festival schedule / notes, therefore the additional info (theaters, running times etc.)

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 02 Oct 2007, 18:27

When I am working, I am lucky to get in 2-3 films a week.

The only other way is to watch them in dribs and drabs (but I'd prefer to watch them all in one go).

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 02 Oct 2007, 18:52

well, as my post here shows I too have hard time getting much movies watched normally. But I still manage a few every now and then.

Children of Men – 3,5/5
Works quite nicely as a plot driven movie but lacks too much detail to be a truly great film. The technical execution is first class the blown out visual look thankfully isn’t as over-done as it could be.

28 Weeks Later – 4,5/5
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo delivers a huge surprise with this sequel that not only exceeds the original but is in fact one of the best horror movies of the last 15 years. The script features comes with some problems but the amazing and totally rutheless execution makes up for it. While there has been some convincing end of the word visions this is on a level of its own.

Blue Velvet – 2/5
Lynch’s vision is impressive and professionally put together but whether it offers anything to the viewer is another matter. 115 minutes of this unexhilarating even if remotely interesting weirdness is way past the tolerance limit.

those three I actually saw during the festival, but from dvd (Velvet, Children) or normal cinema (28 )... After having sit through 4 or 5 movies per day I'd go to my friends place for night and he wants to show a movie... or at least a few episodes of House M.D. (which was pretty good)

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 02 Oct 2007, 19:01

HungFist wrote:Blue Velvet – 2/5
Lynch’s vision is impressive and professionally put together but whether it offers anything to the viewer is another matter. 115 minutes of this unexhilarating even if remotely interesting weirdness is way past the tolerance limit.

Aww, that's genuinely one of my favourite films, I never tire of it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 Oct 2007, 19:50

That's some insane movie watching Hung.

Blue Velvet is excellent (a strong 8 out of 10), only trumped by Mulholland Drive which is Lynch's best work IMO.

brooce-leroy wrote:When I am working, I am lucky to get in 2-3 films a week.

Me too. I usually find I'm too knackered after work.

brooce-leroy wrote:The only other way is to watch them in dribs and drabs (but I'd prefer to watch them all in one go).

I've done that on occasion but agreed it does tend to ruin the film a bit.

I did watch all bar the last 50 minutes of Fearless: DC back in March and still haven't watched the rest

. I was enjoying it too.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 02 Oct 2007, 19:53

Flash Point (Wilson Yip / Donnie Yen): 2,75 / 5

Almost an OK film, but not quite.

Let's start with the bad stuff.
My biggest complain with Flash Point is that it brings nothing new to the genre. It's nowhere near as stylish as SPL and it lacks the raw simplicity of Tiger Cage and In The Line of Duty.

In many ways, it's very similar to Police Story. The whole film is built around the main character. Its only goal is to show Donnie Yen's physical prowess.
But Donnie is no Jackie Chan. Sure he can jump, punch and kick, but he can't carry a film on his own.

The lack of realism is quite irritating as well.
For example: even though this film is set in 1997, Donnie drives a 4x4 BMW. Everybody knows BMW wasn't making 4x4s back then.
And when you hit a big tree with a car (and there's a bad guy standing on a high branch), it shouldn't make the bad guy fly 20 feet through the air.

On the acting side, it's not too bad.
Donnie is perfect in his usual "playboy-who-knows-kung-fu" role and Fan Bing-Bing is adequate, although she still can't speak cantonese (her voice is therefore dubbed).
Louis Koo doesn't fit, however. He doesn't possess the necessary acting range to be a convincing mole. And in some scenes he's bad enough to let the whole film down.

The cinematography is good.
Not groundbreaking, but good. Very Wilson Yip-esque.

And the fights ?
There are 2 small ones and 3 big ones.
Nothing we haven't seen before. Good use of Donnie's techniques, though.

This film is pleasing but it has no originality.
If all you're looking for is a fun way to spend 87 minutes, you'll probably be happy with Flash Point.

If not, do what I do: stick with SPL.
It's the same film, only better.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 02 Oct 2007, 19:57

@Hung:
When I was still at school there was a time when I used to watch as many movies. I'm just wondering if you are experiencing the same phenomenon as I did. I often couldn't remember in which film a certain scene took place. Know what I mean? Because it had been so many movies a day, my brain often mixed their storylines into each other. LOL! I'm serious!

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 02 Oct 2007, 20:41

thelostdragon wrote:@Hung:
When I was still at school there was a time when I used to watch as many movies. I'm just wondering if you are experiencing the same phenomenon as I did. I often couldn't remember in which film a certain scene took place. Know what I mean? Because it had been so many movies a day, my brain often mixed their storylines into each other. LOL! I'm serious!

I know the risk. That's why I wrote all of those mini reviews on paper between the screenings. Otherwise I would've forgotten half of the reasons why I liked which movie. But I very rarely mix movies together. The last time that happened was when I watched 10 Truck Yaro movies in non-chronological order...

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 02 Oct 2007, 20:43

I've only recently started watching movies again properly, going to the cinema again etc, it's great

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 02 Oct 2007, 20:49

i thought Flashpoint was ok.i think Donnie is currently doing much better work than Jackie Chan,who is sadly looking over the hill. i hope he's got one last great movie in him though

DM 3 please

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 02 Oct 2007, 21:22

For example: even though this film is set in 1997, Donnie drives a 4x4 BMW. Everybody knows BMW wasn't making 4x4s back then.

Well, I know NOW...........

Is there something wrong with that cap, Tom, or has Louis Koo finally turned into an orange?

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 02 Oct 2007, 21:48

Nope... Louis Koo always looks like an orange.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 02 Oct 2007, 21:54

It's that stupid Wilson-Yippy orange tint.
Dragon Tiger Gate had it as well.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 03 Oct 2007, 23:19

Nosferatu (1922)

This one is very hard to give a rating. I've never seen a silent film before so have no basis for comparison. I happened to spot the other day my local arthouse cinema is showing this for the one night only.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out when I turned up they'd arranged an actual live orchestra (imagine that in a cinema), which turned out to be a one man band. Who was bloody excellent, he must've been in his early 20s.

He had some strange guitar shaped instrument but played it like an obe. Very unusual. He also had an electronic piano. The music was unreal, it really helped to add depth to the film. I've no idea how authentic it was but boy it sounded right.

Okay on to the film. The iconic imagery we've all seen of Nosferatu was a real joy to finally properly see and especially on the big screen. That said (and this is probably a lot explained at being my first silent movie) the film was hard work. Obviously without any speech period you were solely reliant on the visual imagery and the inter-titles. The inter-titles were often displayed in a somewhat annoying italic font which made them hard to read.

The main problem however was the disconnected story. I'm sure this is just a sign of how old the film is but I had real trouble understanding what on earth was going on, it seemed to jump all over the place for no apparent reason.

I am pleased the film is only 90 minutes long as boy it was depressing, something not helped at all by the continually depressing (but glorious) music being played.

Still like I said overall it was a real joy to listen to great music and see Nosferatu after so long. It has made me want to check out my Metropolis and M DVDs more now though. I'll definitely pick up the forthcoming Masters of Cinema 2 Disc SE when it drops in price.

I'm going to give it 7 out of 10 but it's almost impossible to judge the film on a contemporary basis.